| OSCAR-5 a Lazarus Special Operation Team by Gary Astleford |  |
LAZARUS SPECIAL OPERATION TEAMS The Lazarus Corporation, known around the world for its mercenary army, has much more to offer the discerning client than an entire regiment. In some circumstances, clients may wish to contract a smaller team. In many instances, when an executive or private individual needs only a six man team of highly trained operatives, they usually pick up the phone and dial their local Arasaka branch. Or worse, they put the word out on the street for a group of ill-trained, ill-equipped freelancers. What does such a person do, though, if they cannot afford an Arasaka ops team? How does one expect to succeed if one uses a group of untrustworthy rabble to get one's dirty work done? Lazarus now proudly presents its very own special operations teams - good quality personnel at reasonable prices. The teams are broken down by specialty, and designated by a phonetic code (see below). Teams specialize in military endeavors, and are not intended to be used as bodyguards or private security forces. Prices are based on team strength, skill, availability, and expenditure of supplies. Teams can be hired by the hour, day, week, or month. Yearly rates, while uncommon, are negotiable. TYPES OF TEAMS There are several different team formats available. Our strategists and consultants will analyze your situation and its feasibility, and suggest the right team for you. Most teams are reasonably priced, with a base cost of 500 eurodollars per man per day, with a minimum team strength of at least four personnel (Sierra teams must have at least two personnel). Additional fees for equipment (AV support, munitions, special weapons, etc.) are added to the base cost. Bravo and Papa teams are (generally) four or five times the normal cost, depending on the circumstances. Read the contract completely. Some terms are negotiable. Please ask your consultant if you have any questions.
LAZARUS SPECIAL OPERATION TEAM OF THE MONTH - TEAM OSCAR FIVE Team Oscar-5, lead by Captain Scott Bauer, is one of Lazarus' most successful (and highly-prized) units. They specialize in small unit assault tactics. All of Oscar-5's members have experienced heavy combat, and each is highly trained. Captain Scott Bauer - Team Leader Age : 32
Ht : 5'10"
Leadership +8 Awareness +6 Expert : Cadre Tactics +7 Shadow/Track +5 Athletics +6 Dodge/Escape +5 Handgun +6 Kung Fu +5 Melee +4 Rifle +5 Stealth +6 SMG +7 Russian +2
SHORT HISTORY Captain Bauer was a field officer with the United States Marine Corps, stationed in Peru from 2007 til 2010. The young officer quickly proved his initiative, and his platoon suffered 75% fewer causualties than most infantry units in the war at that time. After leaving the Corps in 2018, he worked as a civillian contractor in eastern Europe. Shortly after his return to the States, Bauer signed on as an officer for Lazarus, where he has served with honor and distinction ever since. ROLE-PLAYING NOTES Bauer is a natural leader, and he is well respected by his men for his quick thinking and blunt honesty. He has very few moral qualms when it comes to keeping his team alive. MSGT Carl Baker - NCO/Demolitions Age : 29
Ht : 6'
Chemistry +7 Awareness +5 Expert : Cadre Tactics +6 Shadow/Track +6 Athletics +8 Handgun +6 Judo +6 Melee +7 Rifle +7 Stealth +6 SMG +5 Leadership +5
SHORT HISTORY Baker joined the U.S. Army in 2009 at the tender age of 19. His expertise lay in the creative use of explosives, and he gained a reputation as a lunatic. His constant antics and practical jokes involving home-made explosives made him less than popular with his fellows. After four years in the service, his history is unclear. It is suspected that he worked freelance, building bombs for IRA terrorists, but there is no conclusive evidence. He joined Lazarus in July of 2016, and spent time earning rank in a Delta team up until six months ago, when he joined Oscar-5. ROLE-PLAYING NOTES Carl is fearless, cold, and cunning. He will never back down from a fight, and will always strike to kill an opponent. His dangerous sense of humor is still evident, but Bauer ensures that such pranks are niether dangerous nor performed while on duty. The rest of the group may not like him, but they respect his experience. SGT 1st Class Patrick Phillips - Medtech Age : 26
Cybertech +3 Cryotank Op +6 First Aid +10 Biology +7 Awareness +6 Expert : Cadre Tactics +4 Athletics +4 Handgun +6 Karate +5 Melee +3 Rifle +3 Stealth +4 SMG +6
SHORT HISTORY A medical wunderkind, Phillips has had no previous military experience. He joined Lazarus at age 22, after dropping out of med school, claiming that the facilities there were crowded and the education less than sufficient. Learning of his medical talents and desire to be a field medic, they sponsored a corporate education in medicine, much to his chagrin. He has served with Oscar-5 for four months. This is his first Lazarus assignment. ROLE-PLAYING NOTES Humble and modest are two words that do not describe Pat Phillips. He is one of the most arrogant, self-worshipping bastards on the face of the earth. He's a very good medic, though, and the rest of the team knows it. It is for this reason, primarily, that he hasn't been subject to more abuse from the rest of his team. When he works on a patient, he is more worried about the end result than the patient's comfort. He has no desire to implant cybernetics into his body, preferring organic replacements. SGT 1st class Barney Smyle - Technician Age : 25
Cybertech +8 Electronics +8 Electronic Security +6 First Aid +5 Weaponsmith +5 Awareness +4 Expert : Cadre Tactics +4 Athletics +6 Dodge/Escape +5 Handgun +8 Boxing +5 Melee +4 Rifle +4 Stealth +4 SMG +2
SHORT HISTORY Smyle is Oscar-5's field technician. While Phillips takes care of bodily ills, Smyle is always there to repair equipment malfunctions. He originally attended CalTech, but was unable to find a job in the competitive corporate market. Since then, he has become a Lazarus employee and a valued member of his team. While of average skill with most weapons, his accuracy with handguns is uncanny. ROLE-PLAYING NOTES Smyle tends to communicate better with machines than with humans. Consequently, he exhibits an odd habit of talking to inanimate objects. He is a master of analytical thought and logic, but tends to either lock up under stressful situations, or go bonkers and attempt to kill anyone who gets in his way. SSGT Hiro Nagashima - Sniper Age : 21
Heavy Weapons +6 Awareness +7 Expert : Cadre Tactics +6 Shadow/Track +6 Athletics +6 Dodge/Escape +6 Handgun +4 Wrestling +6 Melee +6 Stealth +8 SMG +4 Fencing +5
SHORT HISTORY Nagashima is a fourth generation Japanese man who spent a good deal of his youth hunting with his anglo-American step-father. By the time he turned 18, Hiro was participating in several national rifle competitions, and was rated one of the top five shooters in his division. It was then that the Lazarus corporation discovered him and offered him training and a job, specializing in sniper work. ROLE-PLAYING NOTES Hiro is warm, friendly, and always smiling about something -- unless he's working. Whenever he snuggles up close to the butt of his gyro sniper rifle, he becomes an expressionless weapon of the utmost lethality. He hopes someday to become a member of a Sierra team. SGT Miguel DeJesus - Heavy Weapons Age : 22
Awareness +6 Expert : Cadre Tactics +6 Athletics +6 Handgun +5 Brawling +8 Melee +7 Rifle +6 Stealth +4 SMG +5 Intimidation +8
SHORT HISTORY Miguel grew up a hardened Los Angeles gang member, known in the ghetto for his strength and fighting prowess. He was drafted into the SoCal militia at age 19 and forced to serve a two year tour of duty patrolling the SoCal/NorCal border, performing anti-smuggler sweeps. During this time, he became fond of using heavy weapons. When his discharge papers came, he returned home to find nothing that he remembered. While drinking at a local bar, he saw a commercial for Lazarus on TV and signed up the next day. ROLE-PLAYING NOTES Miguel is big, mean, and ugly. The rest of the team refers to him as the "Chicano Charles Bronson." He doesn't care. DeJesus is territorial, and always itching for a fight. He is incredibly loyal to the rest of his team, and will defend them with his life. His favorite weapon is a battleglove-mounted wrist rocket launcher which he has nicknamed "Pepe." 1st Lt. Rachel Barnes - Aerodyne Pilot Age : 21
Pilot Gyro/Helicopter +7 Leadership +4 Awareness +5 Athletics +5 Handgun +6 Heavy Weapons +6 Tai Kwon Do +6 Melee +5 SMG +5
SHORT HISTORY Rachel spent most of her high school career in ROTC, hoping to join the Air Force or Navy as a female combat pilot. Upon graduation, she sorted through her options and found the perfect employer in a Lazarus brochure. Since then, she's received training as a pilot and flown several combat missions in and around the free state of NorCal. ROLE-PLAYING NOTES Rachel is a plain-looking country girl with freckles on her cheeks and a crazy gleam in her eye. She enjoys games of chance, and isn't above playing "chicken" against other AV pilots. She has a boyfriend in Lake Tahoe, CA, that she visits whenever she is on leave. 2nd Lt. Joshua Wilkes - Aerodyne Crew Chief/Co-Pilot Age : 19
AV Tech +8 Leadership +2 Awareness +4 Athletics +8 Handgun +5 Heavy Weapons +6 Savate +5 Melee +6 SMG +5 Rifle +2
SHORT HISTORY His father being an airline captain, Wilkes wanted to be a pilot, but found he preferred the technical aspects of aerospace. He joined Lazarus right out of high school and gave his all in officer training. In his spare time, he studied aerotech skills. In return for all his hard work, Lazarus assigned him to Rachel Barnes' AV-4 as crew chief. He wouldn't want it any other way. ROLE-PLAYING NOTES Joshua is an excitable young man, still a child, really, who loves the thrill of flying. While perfectly capable of operating an AV himself, he prefers to watch Barnes (who has has developed a fairly large crush on). His romantic aspirations towards his superior are well-concealed, however, and cause very little friction on the job. He prefers to avoid armed conflict outside the safety of his vehicle, however, and has been called things worse than "coward" before. He carries a BB/pellet rifle in the field as a joke, and loves to shoot at birds, lizards, and small rodents. OSCAR-5's ORIGINAL FUNCTION Long, long ago, I ran a cops game which came to be known in common parlance as "Night City Cops." The players portrayed officers transferred into a rag-tag Special Investigation (SIn) unit from various areas within the department. They subsequently were assigned to infiltrate an illicit mercenary organization that was performing black ops in and around the local area. Once they had established themselves with the group, they were assigned a task - to accompany a fellow named Heatseeker (see Deadeye's file) to SoCal, where he was supposed to kill someone. They crossed the NorCal/SoCal border in an AV-4 flying nap of the earth to avoid surface to air missiles. Once dropped off, they proceeded by van to a house in a suburban area of northern Los Angeles, where Heatseeker killed his mark. On the way back, they were ambushed on a deserted stretch of highway by a group of what appeared to be nomad road pirates. The group veered from the road towards the safety of an abandoned arcology complex. While the group holed itself into one of the decaying complex's apartments, the pirates sealed the area off. Team Oscar-5 arrived a short while later in a Lazarus AV-4. WHAT HAPPENED THEN - OSCAR-5's POINT OF VIEW The team had been contracted out to EBM's Los Angeles field office mere hours earlier, when it was found out that one of EBM's top American programmers had been killed by what appeared to be a freelance hit team. A group of EBM-sponsored road pirates was alerted, and began to scout the area for the players' vehicle. Once the players were located, the pirates were to capture or trap them, and report back to their superiors. Once this was done, EBM immediatly scrambled Oscar-5, which had been preparing for the operation. Upon landing, Captain Bauer and MSGT Baker consulted with Bobcat, the pirate leader. They discussed how many individuals they were after (at the time, four), where they'd hidden (an area easily identified by it's higher heat signature), and what sort of equipment they had (Bobcat's men reported nothing heavier than an assault rifle or two). Once briefed, Bauer ordered SSGT Nagashima to take up a sniping position on the roof of an arcology building that lay parallel to the structure the players were hiding in, and to prepare to flush them out using incendiary ammunition. In the meantime, MSGT Baker accompanied by SGTs Smyle and DeJesus, gained entry to the structure's lower floors, preparing the assault the players' location. Bauer and SGT 1st Class Phillips remained outside to serve in an auxiliary capacity, while the AV-4 and crew remained active in case air cover was dictated. When the team was in position, Bauer gave the signal. Nagashima, sighting through a thermal imager, began to harass the players with his gyro sniper rifle. Baker's team began to ascend the stairwell with DeJesus on point. At this time, Nagashima reported movement on the rooftop across from him. The players had taken flight and moved to the rooftop in their panic. Hiro resumed his sniping, while Baker, DeJesus, and Smyle headed up in pursuit. One of the enemy on the roof (Heatseeker) began firing short bursts towards Nagashima, which forced the sniper to keep his head down, while the other two made a run for the fire escape. Baker's team, after reaching the trap door to the roof, popped several smoke grenades and threw them out to cover their entry. Once out and in the open, they fired upon the players, injuring one. Heatseeker turned his weapon onto the newcomers, taking out Smyle and seriously wounding Baker. DeJesus pulled back behind cover to appraise the situation. This allowed Heatseeker time enough to grab the wounded and jump down onto the fire escape, temporarily out of harm's way. At this point, an AV-4 with NorCal registration (later checked and found invalid) arrived. Barnes and Wilkes immediately took off to intercept the bandit. A dogfight ensued, in which Barnes' AV was hit and forced into a hard landing some 300 yards from the arcology. The surviving AV-4 performed several strafing runs on the road pirate personnel before landing to pick up the player characters. It then took off and headed to the north at an approximate altitude of seventy-five feet. IN CLOSING... While team Oscar-5 was less than a complete success in the game I ran, they can be a valuable tool for any GM wishing to teach their players a lesson about military tactics. Most of the players' success hinged on the fact that both Hiro and Baker's squad made such horrendous rolls. In all actuality, it was a fun game, and the team did one hell of a job intimidating the player characters. If you plan on using Oscar-5 and are unfamiliar with small unit tactics, I suggest you pick up some source material on the subject. Remember that they are a tight-knit, disciplined unit, and they will probably tear most small groups apart with relative ease. Oscar-5 is merely an example of what a Lazarus Special Ops Team might be like, and there are many possibilities for other teams in both function and size, limited only by your imagination. |