The Berserkers are a faction of well organized mercenaries who have been known to do some raiding when it suits them. They are not openly hostile to the player character unless said player harms one of them or unless the player has a price put on their head. If the player is so inclined, he/she can even join the faction, provided certain criteria is met. The Berserkers are one of the factions that can be lead to victory in the end game by the player.
The Berserkers are led by a man known only as Hammer, who is highly skilled in combat and strategy, and under his control the Berserkers have become a major force in the (insert location here) Wasteland. Hammer uses an intense training regimen that has been proven to turn any wastelander into a fierce killing machines.
In combat, the Berserkers employ guerrilla tactics and quick hit-and-run style attacks which compliment the swift and deadly nature of their warriors to vanquish their enemies. This has enabled the relatively small faction to go to war against - and defeat - even more powerful armies for land and resources. It has been said that the Berserkers could stand toe-to-toe against any Army and at the very least cause catastrophic damage.
History[]
Around fifteen years before the start of the game, a mercenary by the name of Hammer whose team was betrayed by his company after a job-gone-bad. Everyone on his team was killed except for his best friend, Kent Longstreet. Agreeing that justice must be served, Hammer and Longstreet waged a personal war against their company, and managed to kill the traitor (leader of the organization) himself. Upon doing this, the two were able to take over all of the company's resources including funds, equipment, and most important of all, personnel. They were able to convince the employees of their employer's treachery. They then proceded to build their own organization out of the ashes of their old company.
Beliefs[]
Central to the Berserkers' beliefs is the fact that the organization comes first. Always. The men and women are trained from induction to lay down their lives for their squadmates, and for their mission. The intense camradery and honest belief in the organization is not entirely dissimilar to that of Caesar's Legion, albiet without the idea of Hammer being a godlike entity. They all believe firmly in their organization's overall mission, which they themselves are not even aware of.
Organization[]
At the top of the chain of command sits the undisputed leader, Hammer, and his second in command, Kent Longstreet. They surround themselves with three other advisors who each deal in different areas. These five people are the only ones in the organization who are aware of the "master plan". Aside from this inner circle, the squads are the only other part of the organization.
Squads can number from larger companies (10-50) to smaller special operations groups and scouting parties (1-6). The squad leader is entirely in charge of the chain of command within the squad and is the only one of the squad to report to the inner circle for orders. It is up to the leader to decide how the orders are carried out. Every squad member is trained to be independent and to think for themselves in situations of emergency.
Variants[]
Despite every member being trained as universally usefull assets, every squad member specializes in something specific. There are three variants of Berserkers that can be encountered in the wastes.
Shock Troopers These troops make up the bulk of the Berserkers' army. They wear heavy armor and carry high caliber weapons. Larger squads are made up mostly of these soldiers for support and distraction while the smaller squads complete their missions behind enemy lines and escape.
Blades The Berserkers' special forces soldiers, known as Blades, carry out incredibly dangerous missions and assassinations. Blades are armed to the teeth with various weapons, depending on preference, and whatever type of armor they choose. While the shock troopers bare the burden of battle, the Blades are charged with completing objectives vital to the overall success of a job. There is no scarier sight that an enemy of the Berserkers can face than a squad of Blades approaching them.
Scouts Scouts are named so because they do just that; scout. They are responsible for recon and occasionally sabotage missions. They are outfitted with a pistol and either a sniper rifle or a sub machine gun and always wear light armor. Though they don't seem like fighter, it is important to keep in mind that every Berserker is trained to kill without mercy and even their weakest sub group should be considered extremely dangerous to the average wasteland raiding party.
Functions[]
The Berserkers can be hired to do anything from assassinations to small scale wars with local gangs and raiding parties, even though they themselves are sometimes seen raiding supply carrivans of larger factions for weapons and supplies.
These jobs, however, are only taken to bankroll the "master plan" that Hammer and Longstreet have been preparing to carry out for years. This plan includes the swift and (mostly) bloodless takeover of a major population center in the (insert location here) wasteland in order to exponentially grow their army to the point where the Berserkers can challenge and easily dominate every other army in the area for total control. Taking over the population center would be particularly easy because most people in the (insert location here) Wasteland view the Berserkers as freedom fighters with the peoples' best interests at heart.
Note from the Writer[]
If any of you are reading this, I would like to thank you for your time and hope that you have found this to be a good idea. This blog has been submitted for your consideration for the FO:A Home Viewer Challenge.