Law Enforcement and the "Harriers" (original) (raw)

Law and order is maintained within Elysium by three distinct, dovetailing government branches.

The day-do-day procedural work (from getting kittens -- or kittenmechs -- out of trees to investigating theft, murder and worse) is handled by the Civil Judiciary Division (CJD), or "Gendarmerie"; essentially the police force and court system of the megopolis rolled into one.

Search-and-rescue, and the occasional necessary crackdowns on dissidents, labour disputes turned violent or the odd radical policlub that's managed to amass weaponry to get their message across are the domain of the paramilitary personnel of the Elysion Tactical Division (ETD).

On frequent occasions there can be some stepping on of toes between the Gendarmes and the ETD, should their jurisdictions overlap -- for example, if a radical policlub suddenly started on a spree of brainwashing or murder-suicides.

The "unspoken third" of this trifecta is the Elysion Intelligence and Security Division (EISD), a blending of intel and black-ops personnel who serve as the leading source of classified information, infiltration and surveillance of Elysium's general population. The average EISD operative is probably not a well-liked individual.

The so-called "Harriers" are the individuals and teams that specifically target the Bleeds -- and the Phages that escape from them. Though many Harriers are drawn from the ranks of the law-enforcement agencies (especially the ETD), in recent times trained independents have been tested, vetted and given a 'letter of marque' as it were to capture and / or dispatch Phages and bring Bleeds under control. This has been the major reason behind the newer nickname of "Privateers" -- dispatching the forces arrayed against people and government for the 'prize' of reused and claimed technology and reinbursement from the Federacy.