Mexico survived the Great War largely untouched. Many died in the northern territories from the radiation that contaminated the air and water. Bombs that hit the U.S. had a second hand effect on Mexico and this was enough to cause many problems. The collapse of global civilization eventually leads to economic collapse and social strife. A revolt threw out the Mexican government and a loose association of rebels groups divided the country up into sectarian zones. In the north of Mexico an alliance of former soldiers,
drug cartels, and political radicals linked together to form the umbrella organization that Americans refer to as NEMO. The New Era of Mexican Order has formed around an ambitious plan to invade the southwest and reclaim the land that was stolen from Mexico. This invasion
managed to take over the city of Phoenix but there the effort stalled. The various factions within NEMO took to raiding and organized crime as a means to survive. Competition between rival gang bosses lead to competitions to see who could snag the biggest prizes. In this manner the sphere of influence surrounding Phoenix steadily grew as NEMO’s fearsome reputation spread across the Wastelands.
Organization and Leadership
The New Era of Mexican Order is a semi-political faction with close ties to bandit kings living inside the borders of old Mexico. The New Era nation is comprised of a dozen major gangs as well as hundreds of smaller raiding bands. The leaders of the major cartels meet regularly in a sort of high council where important issues are discussed, protection payments are divided and raids are planned. The council has no power to enforce its decisions. The best it can hope for is that a majority of gang bosses will voluntarily comply. On a few rare occasions a powerful boss will declare himself King and gather the support of enough council members to back it up. The result is inevitably a bloody raid or an attempted invasion of some other territory. Kings are short lived and not one has survived a year before falling in battle or succumbing to an assassin’s blade.
Individual gangs and raider bands are much more organized than the NEMO hierarchy. Each cartel is led by a gang boss who is in turn served by “capίtans” who act as military commanders. The boss receives both protection and advice from a small cadre of “hombres.” This tight knit clique is comprised of close friends and family members who have fought together for ages. Lower down the ranks are the professional killers, bodyguards, and street hustlers who make up the middle management of the gangs. Toward the bottom are the soldados, or soldiers. Each of the major raiding cartels has formed alliances with the various smaller bands that fight under NEMO’s banner.
The raiders of the New Era have a complex relationship with the merchants and street gangs that inhabit Phoenix. NEMO is an occupying army that levies taxes against all trade within the city itself. The gangs and businesses of Phoenix are locals who want to look after their own. The gang bosses solved this conflict by incorporating many of these factions into an auxiliary wing of NEMO. Various NEMO members are directly involved in everything from prostitution to drugs and weapons. This blurring of the lines makes it hard to tell who is a hardcore NEMO member and who is a common criminal.
Officially all members of the New Era raiders must be born of “la raza,” or the Latin race. In practical terms, the organization will accept anyone who can lay claim to any amount of Hispanic lineage or even someone who just speaks passable Spanish. New recruits into a raider gang are put through their paces under the brutal tutelage of more experienced killers. Much of a new recruit’s training comes on the job.
Martial Capabilities
No faction in the Wastelands can match NEMO in terms of raw numbers. They do not have the technology or training of groups like the Steel Disciples or the Mutant Army. However, the raiders of NEMO are fierce combatants who do not back down easily. Their fearsome reputation and vast numbers are enough to make most Wastelanders wary of crossing NEMO’s path. Raiding parties of various strengths and levels of organization operate in the territory immediately around Phoenix. The city itself is home to hundreds of NEMO foot soldiers in addition to the vast legions of street gangs and armed citizens that are loosely affiliated with the New Era. Most NEMO fighters are armed with some combination of small arms and melee weapons, while the more elite squads are outfitted with heavy weapons, vehicles, and good armor. NEMO has access to small artillery pieces, landmines, and similar weapons.
NEMO
106
Territory
NEMO controls the city of Phoenix completely and they can operate freely throughout the rest of Arizona. They regularly attack the Tribal Nation who inhabits northern Arizona. They also make crossing the Arizona desert extremely dangerous as they attack caravans and travelers whenever they come across them. Organized raiding expeditions can be found traveling far beyond the borders of Arizona as they search for
richer targets.
NEMO soldiers patrol the streets of downtown Phoenix, ensuring that law and order is maintained. Individual neighborhoods are protected by a certain raider group or a local street gang. Vigilante justice is very common in NEMO controlled areas. This protection comes with a price and these thugs make no promise to be fair or even handed. Local businesses and residents often have to endure shakedowns and assaults from local foot soldiers in addition to the “taxes” that they pay to the NEMO high council.
Economics
Raiders by trade, the bandits of NEMO fund their every endeavor through pillaging and theft. Their primary targets are small settlements in Arizona, California, and New Mexico as well as caravans that are traveling across the Wasteland, usually on route to Alamogordo or to Bullshead. Raiding provides the New Era raiders with wealth in the form of barter and slaves. While the short term benefits of this practice are enormous, the system is ultimately unsustainable. They have to venture further and further from their home base to find loot. Every time they burn a settlement they rob themselves of future plunder. A long distance raid against a powerful target is a sure way for a gang boss to make a name for himself and his crew of raiders. However it is rare that such an adventure will ultimately be worth the trouble.
NEMO is one of the largest slave traders in the Wasteland. They also make a good income from the sale of plunder. Some of the bigger gangs have started accepting protection payments from villages that wish to avoid the horrors of a NEMO raid. Collecting tributes makes more sense in the long term but it also means that vast numbers of NEMO soldiers would be sitting idle in Phoenix, surely a recipe for disaster. The crews have also begun to get more and more involved with trade within Phoenix itself, controlling much of the drug trade, the prostitution business, gambling, prizefights, etc. NEMO procurement experts provide people with extremely rare items, for a hefty price of course.
The city of Phoenix is a haven for people who are on the run from justice or who are just looking for trouble. People flock to this city while searching for weapons, vice, or a hired gun. Caravans and merchants make a killing trading with the raiders and street gangs. Wasteland travelers stop here just to grab some supplies and maybe a good time. Traffic between Phoenix and Mexico is heavy and much of the food sold in the city has been brought up north by mule trains. Mexican farmers sell their goods to traders who head to Phoenix to trade for hard to get items. Ruffians and young punks who want to make names for themselves flock to Phoenix like moths to a flame.
Relationships with Outsiders
The leaders of NEMO regard everyone outside of their organization as a potential target. In the eyes of most raiders, there are two kinds of people;
those who have something worth taking and those who are simply killed for sport. There are a few groups who are safe from the New Era’s gunslingers and do not have to fear being shot, though individual members of these groups will still have to watch their mouths if they know what’s good for them.
Slavers like doing business with NEMO because they are reliable suppliers of human flesh. They are also willing to trade slaves for weapons and ammunition. New Era raiders will pay above market price when trading captives for heavy weapons, vehicles, or explosives. Sometimes NEMO raiders will have a hard time distinguishing between the Slavers that they do business with and the ones that are fair game for a raid. Lack of communication between the various raider bands only makes matters worse.
The New Era high council intends to stay on very friendly terms with The Children of the Apocalypse. Phoenix is a growing city and NEMO needs a constant influx of building materials. The New Era has sent a large contingent of troops to The Junkyard in order to secure the scrap routes and prove their goodwill to the Children and their maniacal cult. The NEMO high council does not know that some of their troops in Las Angeles have converted to the religion of Holy Fire and its message of cleansing the world of impurity.
NEMO allows the Savior’s Army to move and live within their operational territory. In exchange the Savior’s Army trains the healers and medics who patch up NEMO soldiers after their battles. The NEMO hierarchy has access to private doctors and clean hospitals. Many of the lower ranking raiders and gang members are forced to rely on unskilled sawbones when they get wounded. The Savior’s Army branch in Phoenix has its hands full with the victims of violence and poverty that fill their tents.
Notable Personalities
Emilio “Little Papa” DeLobos: This notorious gang boss runs a large crew of raiders operating under
the umbrella of NEMO. A shrewd tactician and expert raider, Little Papa doesn’t commit his forces to a raid unless he has gathered enough intelligence to determine if the raid will be worth it. He also crafts brilliant plans to skirt around enemy defenses and overrun settlements without risking casualties. His cautious approach to banditry makes DeLobos one of the least active raiders in NEMO. In order to support his growing forces, Little Papa and his crew have invested heavily in the drug trade. They are also active black marketers and export the looted goods they buy from other raiders. This potential King provides protection to entire neighborhoods in Phoenix and settlements across Arizona pay him annual tributes. The DeLobos cartel operates brothels, gaming houses, fighting rings, and drug houses in the settlements that fall under their sphere of influence.
Emilio DeLobos is a family man who places a great deal of pride in his children. He is constantly surrounded by a swarm of brothers, cousins, uncles, nephews, and other relatives who comprise his inner circle. His capίtans are loyal to a fault and the squads they command are treated extremely well. Even the lowliest lookouts and couriers are well paid and treated with respect. Members of the Phoenix street gangs get on waiting lists to audition for a shot in the DeLobos crew. The common thread that binds these various levels of people together is loyalty; loyalty to the cartel and loyalty to NEMO. Little Papa rewards loyalty well and selfishness is deeply frowned upon. Courage and honor are also important to the gang boss and he makes certain to model these traits in himself.