The Syndicate

Norman Meston

Judge Richter

The **Syndicate** was a massive criminal organization stretching across the western wastes of the former United States. Headed by Marko, it combined mercenaries, raider gangs, tribals, slavers, and drug traffickers into one large criminal gang. It has been largely destroyed thanks to the effort of the Courier.

## History

### Rise and Relationship with the NCR

Previous NCR administrations had been pushing criminal elements into the eastern frontier of Nevada. While the NCR moved their efforts south to take on the Legion and Hoover Dam, Marko, an upstart raider boss and allegedly the toughest man in the wastes, united these elements into the Syndicate. When Hoover Dam and the nearby Strip couldn't be totally annexed, the NCR moved their focus back north, hoping to surround Vegas and control its northern trade routes. There, they were opposed by a united Syndicate.
Ambassador John Brookshire was sent by Kimball to oversee the elimination of the Syndicate. Instead, Brookshire struck a deal with Marko: if the Syndicate could take over Vegas's underworld, then the NCR would take the heat off of them in the north. In the long term, the newly added state of Vegas could even essentially be their's. Marko agreed to these terms; he himself was growing older, and hoped to conquer Vegas for his younger brother, Sergio.

### Taking Over the Mojave

Marko, a ruthless leader, had made many enemies as he rose to the top. One man, Steve Randall, who's wife had been raped and killed by Marko, founded a bounty hunting firm in the Mojave. Randall's most prominent bounty hunter was Red. The Courier was a mere footnote in Marko's plans at the moment. Marko allowed Red and Randall to eliminate a large amount of criminals in the Mojave before having his associate Richter murder them. Randall was seemingly killed but Red survived and killed Richter. Nevertheless, Marko's plan had worked; a vacuum had opened in the Mojave for the Syndicate.

While Marko remained at their headquarters in the Frost Hills, his lieutenants moved into the Mojave. Sergio handled the chem trade; Norman Meston and the Shadow Company handled the muscle and mercenary contracts, and a raider named Red Bear oversaw the slave trade. However, the deaths of both Randall and Richter opened a vacuum for bounty hunting as well. Ambitious NCR Rangers led by Larry Scull set up a government-sanctioned bounty hunting firm in the Mojave. Having gained quite a bit of fame by now, Red was hired by Scull.

Marko still had little worry about the Courier, which proved to be the Syndicate's undoing. Red eliminated several of Meston's mercenaries, and, after gathering his companions, raided the Shadow Company Bunker and killed Meston and his mercenaries. This sent alarm bells through the Syndicate, however Red killed Red Bear before he could flee. Sergio retreated to a valley outside the Mojave. Red tracked him there and Marko's brother was gunned down as well. Red gave Desmond Harper Sergio's duster and took Sergio's lucky harmonica for himself.

Meanwhile, the Syndicate employed the Angels, a band of former tribals in Freeside, to eliminate the Kings, which aided both the Syndicate and the NCR. Instead, the Angels were wiped out in a turf war involving enforcer Honcho Biggs, who killed the Angels leader, Angel Eyes, in a shootout.

### Destruction

Marko now realized the danger of the Courier and decided to meet the man himself. Adopting the guise of a mercenary named Virgil, Marko met Red and invited him to the Frost Hills. Red agreed and traveled to the snowy wastes of Utah. A town there, also calling itself Frost Hills, was a thriving pioneer community made up of anti-authority rebels that disliked the NCR. One of them was Steve Randall, who rather than killed, was tortured and turned into a ghoul before escaping. The NCR did maintain a presence there through a hidden embassy headed by none other than Ambassador Brookshire.

Working with Randall, Red and a fellow bounty hunter, a wide-eyed idealist named Ford, destroyed much of the Syndicate's remaining base. However, Ford and Brookshire betrayed Red and Randall, revealing they were in league with Marko all along. With his operations in ruin, Marko decided to salt the fields, destroy everything, and take the Jet Road to the East Coast. Brookshire appoints Marko as an honorary officer of the NCR and sanctions his decision to slaughter the inhabitants of Frost Hills for their previous crimes against the NCR. The townspeople are killed down to the last man, Ford kills Randall, and Marko tortures then buries the Courier alive, saying the only thing he'll be remembered for is his failures.

A repentant mercenary named Thorne frees the Courier. Thorne advisers Red to flee back to the Mojave, but Red came there for a reason. The Courier's actions over the next few days are considered legendary. A mangled Courier interrupted a celebration in the town's bar by Ford and Syndicate bounty hunters. The Courier is said to have killed twenty armed men inside a single bar, with Ford's head getting blown off of with a shotgun. Brookshire had already traveled back to the Mojave. All that was left was Marko.

Tracking Marko, Red found the man in the middle of a massive graveyeard in front of Sergio's headstone. Marko stated he wasn't truly surprised by Red's survival; the two of them, they're different than all the others. They may not be the strongest or smartest, but they are the most determined. They will do anything to get their goals accomplished. So what happens when the two meet? Marko states that won't matter, because all of the Mojave will remember Red as a failure for failing to protect Frost Hills.

It's said this is where Red decided on the future on New Vegas. The Courier unveiled the Platinum Chip and said this would give him the future of New Vegas, one where determined men like himself were in charge. Red fires back no one will remember Marko, because when it came to his greatest challenge, defeating Red, he failed, because Red's will and determination was stronger than his. But enough talk, Red, said, reaching for Maria.

The duel in the graveyard is another part of Red's legend. Said to be the greatest duel in the wasteland, Red and Marko battled back and forth across the tombstones of the graveyard until both were bloodied and wounded. With the last of the bullets in his Cowboy Repeater, Red immobilized Marko long enough to shoot him with Maria between the eyes. Red was said to have to spent the rest of the night sitting next to Marko's body, gazing at the stars.

He left Frost Hills the next morning, the Syndicate no more. The breaking of the Syndicate destroys most of the criminal element of the wastes, with the few remaining Syndicate members joining the remnants of the Slaver's Guild or fleeing on the Jet Road.

## Members

* Marko - Leader
* Sergio - Marko's brother and head of the Syndicate's chem trade.
* Red Bear - Raider and head of the Syndicate's slave trade.
* Norman Meston - Commander of Shadow Company and head of the Syndicate's mercenary operations.
* Richter - Head of the Syndicate's bounty hunting operations.
* Angel Eyes - Head of the Angels and Freeside operations.
* Ford - Bounty Hunter