Atlas
From Autonomicon Mk. II
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| [Source] | |||||||||||||||||||||
Contents |
Overview
Atlas is, for lack of better words, the primary private provider of assassination, sabotage, reconaissance and theft in the Orion region. Operating on entirely bipartison policies and with a degree of finesse almost unheard of, their services are highly sought after by those with the wealth to afford them. They leave no trail, and even in the rare case a mission does not go as planned, the client, and indeed Atlas itself, is always safe from repercussions. Their motto is simple; Percision, Effeciency, Security
History
Founding
Atlas was founded in the spring of 2021. The organization rose out of a simple premise; the powers that be need dirty, deniable jobs done, and it is most practical to provide them with an easy, unified means to do so. Even before the assassins, saboteurs, spies and other "specialists" inhabiting the underworld banned together under the flag of Atlas, various smaller organizations had grown into creation organically. It is simply easier to ply such a trade when many individuals are working together, and looking out for each other's back.
Seeing a fractured underworld, a greek man, Nikolas Despotakis, an experianced Assassin himself, determined the only way men like himself could prosper would be to work together. The powers that be had their own skilled agents, and only if all the private minds of the world worked with unity could they offer a superior service, and of course maintain their way of living. Many larger firms and guilds provded resistive to his ideals, so rather than try to convert those who already had power, Despotakis rallied the numerous small bands of skilled individuals together; eventually forming a front more powerful than any other organization in existance. Those left either joined, or found themselves with no trade to ply, with all contracts going to the dominant "Executive Solutions." (Atlas's original name)
Not being a corporation in the true sense of the word, Atlas never really had an exact "founding date," however it is generally agreed upon that taking the name "Atlas" and the occurance of several reforms which created the organization known today in 2021 is the time in which Atlas truely came to be.
Pre-Colonization
Most of Atlas's contracts pre-colonization came from the underworld, rather than the powers that be. A single planet divided between several human Superpowers, combined with the Scinfaxi presence south of the equater ment tensions were always too high to risk assassinating a significant rival. Thus, Atlas busied itself perfecting its trade on drug lords, smugglers, rebels and cults. Most of the practices developed by the organization came into being during this time period as the relatively steady influx of new members meant new ideas were always being added to fabric of the group. Such practices will, however, be covered later.
Colonization Era to Today
Atlas truely became a "known" entity in the chaotic years of rapid human expansion into the cosmos. Senior members of the organization quickly procured a moderately sized transport through several front companies, and began to ply their services abroad. Earth's eventual fate was well known, so little time was wasted in securing a position amongst the stars.
Atlas's first contract post-exodus came from the Democratic Federation. Given the more "open" nature of DF member nations back on Earth, the organization was already known, but was always largely ignored as far as contracts went. With massive colonial efforts underway by several major nations, the DF simply did not have the resources to deal with "unforseen problems." Thus, they turned to an entity they did not fully understand; Atlas. The contract was simple, an Abwehr agent had stolen aboard a major DF colonial transport, and no DF personnel were in position to prevent him, aside from the ship's own lackluster security. His identity was unknown, all that was for certain was he was on board the specific vessel. 45,000 credits were paid to the Atlas account specified, and three days later, the Abwehr agent was found dead in the ship's engine room, a day after a routine stop for refueling.
From this simple contract, Atlas became infamous. Seeing their ruthless efficiency, the DF began to hire Atlas agents for more and more missions that were either high-risk or unable to prosecuted by DF personnel themselves. Eventually, German, Soviet, Tawhid, Japanese and virtually every other indepedant or semi-independant state in human space began to gain knowledge of Atlas, and began to hire their services as well, often after seeing their masterful skills in use. Thus, as demand increased, so did cost, and the risks of the missions required by the paying clients.
Today, Atlas is the premiere indepedant specialist agency. While not neccessarily superior to the agencies serving the Great Powers, they possess a particular elan when it comes to leaving no trace. Their services are always in demand, with no end in sight.
Resources
Wealth
Atlas is incredibly wealthy. There is no question to their immeasurable wealth gathered by equally innumerable contracts. Current estimates place their overall "stockpile" at ~150,000,000,000, credits, with the wealth of individual members all but unknown. From each contract, 65% goes to the organization as a whole; providing the economic means to procure information, new designs, new ships and the various other "neccesities" of a modern specialist agency. The individual wealth provides the agents the means to operate independantly once they have left the safety of the Atlas HQ. Bribes, equipment repairs, munitions and allies are all procured from the Agent's own myriad of accounts. Of course, given the immense contract prices, a veteran Agent, no matter his or her field, can become a multi-millionare after only a dozen contracts.
Vehicles
At its core, Atlas is an agency about "up close and personal" operations. However, to ignore spacecraft in this day is foolishness. As such, a small fleet of heavily customized fighters are maintained for the use of individual agents. They are generally purchased anonymously from mothball fleets or surplus from the many powers that be, than brought up to Atlas standards by teams of skilled mechanics. Oversized engines, expansive cargo holds and unique, specialist weapons are common sights on Atlas vehicles. They are, however, at their core, tools for transport, rather than the means of executing a mission.
Network
No agency such as Atlas can function without a network of spies, informants and "friends in high places." However, given Atlas's penchant for secrecy, many of these tools do not know who exactly they are serving. Pay arrives regularly, information is passed on to dead drops or false identities, which are then retrieved by another layer of tools, which finally pass into the hands of Atlas analysts. Greed serves Atlas's purposes well, and none of the informants or "allies" possess any ability to betray the organization beyond simply no longer sending the information required. The downside to such a network, however, is that in the event a contract goes wrong, an Atlas agent has no safe house to return to; and as such have to rely entirely on dissapearing into the population.
Headquarters
Not unlike some mercenary corporations, Atlas maintains a mobile headquarters. The Argead serves as the HQ for the organization, and provides a safe haven to members between actions. This vessel, which's origin is unknown, houses all the members of the organization, its vessels, armouries and information. Fuel and neccessary supplies are either procured from uncharted asteroid fields, dead planets or other "isolated" regions, or are delivered from Atlas member-manned tankers, all owned by front companies of the organization.
Organization
Note: Atlas positions are often denoted in ancient Attic or Doric greek terms. This is a holdover from the original founder's Hellenic ancestry. Make no mistake, however, there is no ethnic "favouritism" amongst the organization, almost all backrounds can be found amongst the ranks.
Services
Atlas provides virtually any service a power may be. Whether a corporation needs a rival's data stolen, or the Soviet Union requires a German Field Marshal assassinated before he can commit to battle, Atlas can provide. Analysts determine the difficulty of the mission, assign a contract price based on the difficulty, and the Archon, the head of the organization, chooses the most suitable Agent. Primary services include;
- Assassination
- Sabotage
- Information Gathering/Retrieval
- Counter-Espionage
- Theft
Several other services can be provided, but are generally unique to the client's demands, for instance, Baron Ludwig von Mises of Luktopia paid 1,000,000 credits for an Atlas agent to procure the recipe for the Soviet Premier's favourite desert. Such "curiosities" are rare, however, and most Atlas actions fall under the realm of "traditional" espionage.
Specialists
Due to the exacting demands of the contracts laid upon them, Atlas agents are generally quite specialized to their art, and as such, the organization is heavily "divided" along certain lines. The specializations are as follows;
- Makhaira - Assassins. Members trained in the art of stealth assassination, often specializing further into a specific form of fighting. Common trends are sword/rapier fighting, advanced small arms combat (not unlike the "Gun-Fu" popularized in film), or unarmed combat.
- Eleutheroi - Spies. Individuals trained to procure information or individuals from high-security or hostile territory. They are masters of blending into a locale, and many undergo surgery to change their appearance to something suitably "generic." Often trained only with "traditional" weapons, in the event they must escape and use local equipment.
- Aphistemoi - Saboteurs. Agents trained in the art of explosives, subterfugre, infiltration and general destruction. The smallest of the three branches, but often the most "well equipped" as their missions often entail significant acts of violence. Many members custom-build their own equipment or means of destruction.
Given their materiel wealth, agents, no matter their field, are often equipped with cutting edge technology, often stolen from their own clients or targets.
Leadership
Atlas is headed by a single individual, the Archon. This agent is chosen by his peers, the seniormost agents, the Epilektoi. He retains his positions for the remainder of his life, unless removed by the Epilektoi themselves. He commands complete authority, and controls the practices and "bias" of Atlas during his reign. Only once in the history of Atlas was an Archon voted into power without a unanimous vote, and only one Archon has been removed forcibly from office.
Comparison
It is important to understand why the Great Powers use Atlas in favour of their own agents. It is not some magical property or innately superior technique; there is only one reason why the powers that be make use of Atlas: Plausible Deniability. An Atlas agent may be no better trained nor equipped than a KGB operative, but he was one distinct advantage; there's no trace. If an agent is killed, his captors will discover he simply doesn't exist. No database holds any records of his existance, no paper trail ties him or his equipment to any other individual in the Galaxy, and certainly no connection exists between his acts and the client, aside from the obvious fact that the client likely wanted them killed. If an agent is wholly successful, the instead of whispers and shadows as evidence, the target has nothing with which to grasp, and as such can pin no blame on the client.
As such, Atlas agents are generally hired for only the most important missions by the Great Powers, missions which would, under normal circumstances, be pretenses for war. Only when hired by third parties, independants or "Lesser Powers" are the missions anything other than critical.
