Aztech Biomedical Associates

## Description:

Founded in 2028 CE, Aztech Biomedical was created through an alliance of Mexican drug cartels in the wake of The Fiscal Suicide of 2020; this alliance, rumored to have ties to Kodian Enterprises prior to the Fiscal Suicide, took advantage of the collapse of the Mexican government and declared Mexico a Narcostate under their control. In the age of megacorporations, where legality is a matter of bribes or bureaucracy as opposed to defined legislation, the cartels obtained "legal" recognition as a global "pharmaceuticals distributor" very easily, and took Mexico as their corporate property. The company has since dedicated itself to the production, transportation, and distribution of various drugs worldwide, from their relatively-new strain of marijuana - referred to as Smokeleaf - to expensive customized designer drugs or combat stimulants. The megacorporation maintains positive relations with most other megacorporations, save for Kodian Enterprises and Hermes; Aztech views Kodian Enterprises as a monopolistic and bullying replacement for the United States government, no better than the company's sovereign predecessor, and views Hermes as their competitor in the transportation and distribution of illicit substances.

### Organization:

#### Headquarters: Mexico City

Aztech Biomedical Associates is organized, on the surface, as any other corporation, with a CEO and Board of Directors and investors, managers, executive, office workers, etc.; under the surface, however, official company rank is used only as a formality in the presence of strangers or on official documents. The company's CEO, a man named Rafael Matias Cotilla, is referred to as the group's "boss of bosses," a rank used by organized crime groups to refer to the leader of the collective federation, or cartel; regional managers - the company's Board of Directors - are referred to as "bosses," the title within a cartel given to regional leaders that operate under the singular leader. Other ranks like General or Lieutenant are also used in the same manner as they are in gangs, but are not used publicly; despite the thin veil of secrecy that Aztech operates under, the group works to maintain the semblance of secrecy very hard, to prevent external pressures but maintain their reputation on the streets.

The corporation recruits in two primary manners: through the conventional legal routes of hiring academics, scholars, and college students, and their secondary source of employees, which stems from pro-cartel propaganda, induction of children into the ranks of the company's armed "security" wing, and the promise of better wages or additional benefits for those employees to undertake less-than-legal responsibilities. Aztech Biomedical Associates derives all of its employees from the Mexican or Central American populations, and prefers not to hire foreigners of any kind; keeping with their cartel roots, the group prefers to treat itself and its members as family.

Aztech Biomedical Associates dedicates most of its resources to the production, transportation, and distribution of its various "pharmaceutical products" across the globe. These goods are protected by Aztech's Coatl Division, the group's security subsidiary that produces the company's weapons, armor, and vehicles. Aztech continues to use many of the routes that its cartel predecessors used, despite there no longer being laws or borders preventing movement between regions; Aztech is known to bribe Supercity officials in order to let them smuggle their goods into Supercities unrestricted.

Aztech's Coatl Division comprises 80% of the group's armed forces, with the extra 20% being third-party mercenaries that the company keeps on their payroll; while these mercenaries may not always be on-mission for Aztech, many are drip-fed a small fee regardless of active employment status as a way of ensuring loyalty. Additionally, these Aztech mercenaries are known to also be small gangs, mobs, or cults that are sympathetic to Aztech's work and products; the mercenaries are the only part of the company that are comprised on non-Mexican individuals.

### Equipment:

Aztech Biomedical is known for its high technological development, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry; the company produces the overwhelming majority of recreational narcotics and is also known for its more specialized designer drugs and combat stimulants. The company's total control over Mexico ensures that the company has all of the resources and space it could possibly need for its operations, and also guarantees that the company has the manpower to protect their product; Aztech street thugs are known to use regular ballistic weaponry while the Coatl Division use Railweaponry.

The group does not employ many psychics and sees them as dangerous and unstable. Unlike most other megacorporations, Aztech embraces mutants and the inhabitants of The Outside, relying on them as dealers and buyers of their products and as low-level employees or smugglers; mutants receive far more respect from Aztech than they do from almost any other company or group, and have actual prospects working for Aztech.

The higher-level members of Aztech Biomedical Associates are fitted with the highest level of Organic Augmentations, while the lower-level employees are often decked in Chrome. These augmentations and implants make even the lowliest Aztech dealer a formidable enemy in combat.

#### Military:

Aztech Biomedical Associates employs the Coatl Division, the megacompany's security subsidiary, for its military needs.

##### Ranks/Subdivisions of Coatl Division:

1. Las Icamiabas: An all-female unit within Coatl that specialize in tracking, hunting, and guerrilla warfare tactics in jungle environments; geared for assassinations and defense of regions of Aztech control.

### Corporate Culture:

The corporate culture of Aztech Biomedical Associates is polytheistic in nature and focused inwardly, centered around the "Narco Aesthetic" of their cartel predecessors and therefore the pantheon of the Aztec, Maya, and Olmec civilizations; Christianity is the second most common faith in Aztech territories. Aztech employees are taught to believe in a "warrior's afterlife" that awaits those loyal Narcos who die fighting for their company, their "family." Aztech believes in the ancient Aztec/Mayan deities, but does not believe in the supernatural; despite this, many Aztech employees are superstitious. Holidays within Aztech celebrate the succession of new leaders, major events, and religious holidays passed down from the company's ancestral faiths.

#### Corporate Values:

1. Loyalty: Employees of Aztech are expected to be undyingly loyal to their company, and are expected to die for their company if the situation calls for it; self-sacrifice is necessary for the good of the company and the success of the business.
2. Courage: Cowardice is punished severely, and slights - both real and imagined - are treated harshly and swiftly, often in very personal ways; payback is usually bloody.
3. Respect: Employees of Aztech are trained to respect their superiors and treat everyone, especially family, with the utmost respect; failure to comply with this rule ensures a short and painful career with the company.
4. Honor: Employees of Aztech, particularly those of Coatl Division, are held to a superior standard of morality than other people, and are expected to uphold their honor at all costs; even the lowliest of dealers is expected to respect this rule, and the penalties for failing to do so are quite severe.

#### Cultural Aspects:

Aztech uses lots of Christian and Aztec symbols in their art, as well as "Narco" symbols like guns, bullets, and drugs. The group's favored colors are red, orange, black, white, and gold.

The company sponsors and produces lots of media for advertisement, but also creates art to further their "Narco" propaganda. The group puts out music, television shows, online webshows, podcasts, films, video games, and commissions pieces of classical art to fill their villas. The group uses art as a way of declaring their sophistication despite their actual occupations; many Aztech employees, especially the higher managers and executives, will become quickly infuriated if one insinuates that their job is illegal, criminal, or unethical.

The average age of employment in Aztech is ~22 years old; Aztech employs children of as young as 10 and adults as old as 70+ in higher management positions. Entrance into the company is accompanied by a celebration.