Waster-Varmints

*"The Ark's going to attract people far and wide - and we're going to bleed them dry in more ways than one."*

An organized gang of cannibals. They are operating from the Kombat Zone gladiatorial arena, where they organize brutal fights between slaves and random people from among those unable to pay for the entry and cruelly constructed robots, and are feeding the remains of slain contestants to the public, in form of a tasty BBQ. Waster-Varmints gang members are constantly searching the surrounding countryside for the fresh victims, to resupply their rapidly depleting supply of food and living "volunteers" for the fights. Their weapon of choice seems to be meat cleavers, however, they may use other weapons.

Although their trade is almost universally disliked, the guild has few overt enemies. Smaller towns in northern the former American Southwest are usually too weak to deter visiting slavers, while the larger ones greatly benefit from the guild's business: Vault City frequently purchases slaves from guild traders from the Den,[9] while New Reno buys them for prostitution, manual labour and even drug testing. They are one of the largest customers of the Slavers Guild, with the Jet project alone having consumed at least a hundred slaves during development.[10]

The primary opposition to the guild comes from the New California Republic and its anti-slavery laws[11] and the paramilitary outfit called the New California Republic Rangers. The latter is particularly difficult for the guild, as they continue to harass their operations, striking at slaving operations from hidden safehouses in the north, killing slavers and liberating slaves. As such, the guild constantly looks for ways to eliminate the opposition, or at least undermine their operations.

## History

"Waster-Varmints take whatever they want, whenever they want, and their favourite pastimes are torture and murder."

The Waster-Varmints became a unified tribe united under the leadership of Abraham Tell, who led an exodus into the Ark Wasteland from Outlands. Conflicts with the Corporations pushed them to settle at the Kombat Zone. The Kombat Zone is an inhospitable location, lacking adequate food and water. Using basic science and chemistry skills , the tribe has developed a profitable drug trade to support itself. From here, the tribe began to attack the corporations, raiding their caravans, towns, and camps The tribe trades for necessary items with nearby Fiends and residents of Westside.

The Waster-Varmints scavenge throughout the wastes for functional robots and parts, which they reprogram and heavily customize, subsequently used for raids or base defence. Any robots they cannot capture or reprogram are stripped down for either parts to maintain their existing robot cohort, or to build armour for themselves. The Waster-Varmints are openly hostile to everyone, including other raider gangs.

## Organization

Slavery in Lamentus is centralized in the gang, with the bulk of slaves being traded by gang-affiliated traders. Their captures are traded all over Lamentus, sold to farmers, merchants, even Ark City to provide inexpensive manual labour. Slaves are typically acquired from remote tribes and nomads in the wasteland or bought from independent traders. They do not breed slaves, relying on tribes migrating into the area.

Each member of the guild is identifiable by the tattoo they bear on their forehead, which is mandatory for everyone. Although formally the guild is headed by a single guild master (Metzger in 2241), their operations are usually decentralized and local guild heads have the final word in all affairs.

A typical slave run will usually be performed by three slavers: Two capture the slaves, while the third one is responsible for security: Eliminating anyone who opposes the operation. The "muscle" is typically just an enforcer, while the slavers responsible for subduing prospective slaves are specially trained. Losing them is a problem for the guild and the gang master is rightfully pissed off when that happens, docking the pay of the enforcer severely.

## Equipment

In order to have a chance at surviving the Island's hostile environment, Waster-Varmints protect themselves with leather and metal armour pieces. For offense they utilize standard gear, ranging from pipe guns hunting rifles. The occasional melee weapon may also be employed, often taking the form of meat hooks or, more rarely, pole hooks. Waster-Varmints make no use of energy weapons or irradiated gear, so having good ballistic damage resistance is enough to mitigate most of their threat potential.

Slavers typically use inexpensive, reliable armour and weapons: Conventional firearms using commonly available ammunition, like the 10mm pistol and 10mm ammo are frequently encountered alongside leather armour, leather jackets and even metal armour.

Holding pens tend to be chain-link fences with barbed wire, though some slave guild outposts, utilize electronic locking mechanisms.