Operative Hours

SLA Operative:



"This gauss train from Meny will be my last. A journey I started four years ago ends today and I can’t wait to start my new life as a SLA Industries Operative. I have my certificate marking me out as sanctioned for Strike and Sweep and I’ve been given a squad allocation. They told me eventually I get to choose my squadmates, but more often than not, Ops stay with the team they start with, which makes sense as we’re all on the same side. I hope I get to work with a Shaktar, as I knew a couple in the combat classes and they seemed cool. They kept to themselves on campus, but apparently they mix more with humans like me once they’re Operatives.
The train carriage was a bit manky, but the adverts were new; the glue was still wet on some of them. The adverts were a mix of the direct and the odd. FEN and BLA were well represented, along with some weird hostels for Ops that don’t like their new digs. There was even one for an APC cot and a bag for Operatives that want to live in their van. Weird, I know. I’ve heard some Ops get sent straight out to the cannibal sectors, but that might have just been someone bullshitting the rookies. I hope it was a wind-up as I’m looking forward to the streets of Mort City. My youth was spent ducking in and out of the shanty shops in the shadow of the sector wall and I saw how the Shivers changed when they started getting sent out. Regular street coppers, with a ‘clip round the earhole for nicking shit from stalls off you go kid don’t let me catch you again coppers’, turned to hundred-foot face veterans who weren’t entirely there.
But you know what I’m really looking forward to? Sure, it’s the SCL card, the headset communicator, the body blocker and the 603, but most of all, I’m looking forward to a Klippo of my own. Watching Merkar Aceford on the telly, shooting up a room of Carrien with the slow clicking of a Blitzer, pulling out a filtered Dead Will Dance and sparking up with his SLA Operative Klippo. The close-up on his smirking face as you could see the logo on the lighter held to his cigarette, nothing was cooler to me aged eight.
I spent years dreaming about being an Operative and I’m not going to say it was easy, but I aced a few of the early aptitude tests and put the effort in at school. I wasn’t the strongest or the smartest, but I was good at learning stuff and made sure I passed the classes they told me Ops needed to pass. I’ve got first aid badges I earned over the holidays one year, that’s how determined I was.
I mean, of course I wanted to leave home and strike out for myself and avoid becoming one of the lifeless slobs claiming dole and watching TV all day, but more than that, I wanted to be an Operative. Getting into Meny was hard and I failed on the first application, but here I am. I’ve got a suit of Body Blocker and a 603 waiting for me in Mort Central, in the Operative Express arrival zone and I’m in a carriage with a couple of hundred new Ops, all shitting ourselves about our first day out of class. But I’ve got something to look forward to. Something that got me to where I am today.
So, yeah, I’m getting a fucking SLA Klippo."


A SLA Operative is glorified as a freelancer that picks and chooses their role in the World of Progress, wearing their sponsorship deals on their pristine armour, wandering a photogenic offworld paradise, brandishing the finest composite firepower FEN has to offer. The reality is a different matter altogether, with Operatives having to take pretty much any job, from clearing sewers to tangling with a fraying reality, from breaking up an illegal cherry soda soft company to fighting alien monsters, from investigating a serial killer to risking their very soul engaging with a deadly cult, only rarely realising they are the product SLA pushes on the World of Progress.
Operatives have to make ends meet, like everyone in Mort City. They need to pay their bills, repair their armour and pay exorbitant prices for their ammunition. They need to look good, fight clean and deliver on whatever they’re asked to do, just in case the cameras are watching. Please, let the cameras be watching.

An Operative begins their career as a graduate of Meny, the main training facility that serves as both university and military boot camp for the successful Operative. SLA Ops are usually screened for at schools, steered into different classes the moment they turn into teenagers, but some employees will put their children into Operative/Employee early-placement classes at a much younger age. Prospective Ops will typically graduate aged between eighteen and twenty four, depending on their aptitude, species and training packages. Ebonites start a year earlier and have an extra year’s worth of training. Stormer 313s are also trained slightly longer, but typically start their education at birth and graduate after seven years. Shaktars and Wraithen who are fluent in Killan, the language of the World of Progress, take as long as human and Frother students, but those who are not as integrated into Mort’s culture and language have an additional year of education. Some students may have to repeat years, if they are struggling, but are still deemed worthy of the effort or if their families are rich or important enough to lobby on their behalf. It is rare to see anyone repeating more than two years of the standard five.

Once Operatives graduate, they are assigned to a squad, either replacing a dead squad member, making up numbers or being assigned to a Greenhorn Squad, where everyone is a fresh recruit. Each squad has a leader, determined democratically, historically or determined in advance by SLA Industries. That leader is the point of contact whenever a squad interacts with SLA Employees or Shivers and is also the most likely to get disciplined when squads can’t decide whose fault an infraction is.

Most starting operatives will be members of an assigned Greenhorn Squad and must come up with a leader and squad name pretty much on the spot. If they can’t come up with one in their induction, SLA will assign them a squad name and allocate a leader. Squad names need to be unique and SLA-approved, although the approval process is automated, based on uniqueness, as the company assumes any squad stupid enough to choose a daft name will change it the moment they get turned down by a sponsor.

A starting Operative will generally be able to get a single-room apartment organised in advance of their graduation. This can sometimes play a part in their squad allocation, with SLA Industries preferring to have Operatives living in the same sector of Downtown. In other cases, they might have a clean and safe apartment in Suburbia, or a room in a shared rat pit in Downtown District 6.

All Operatives start their career in Mort City and very few of them ever leave the planet, let alone live offworld.Those who do end up living on another planet will have spent at least two years on the streets of Mort. The exception to this rule is an operative who screws up so badly, they get given the option of serving a four year sentence in military service on one of the many War Worlds needing fresh bodies to serve. As most of them never return, this is not considered a career move.

Security Clearance Level (SCL):
Very quickly, an Operative will realise that everything they are able to do, information they need and the jobs available all hinge on their security clearance level, or SCL. A regular SLA Employee will have an SCL of eleven, the lowest clearance available. Shiver Units also have an SCL of eleven, with some specialists or high-ranking officers gaining the next level, the level of starting Operatives, SCL 10. At SCL 10, you are able to buy firearms and openly carry them anywhere. Upon graduation, an Operative gains a security clearance badge along with their FEN 603. A badge that says SCL 10 may be looked down upon by experienced operatives, but it is the opening of a lot of doors and signifies the start of new opportunities.
SCL can be increased in a few ways, but an Operative is most likely to gain more of the company’s trust by earning it one step
at a time, through Blueprint News Files and, or as their careers progress, Hunter Sheets. These two methods of getting jobs are the tried and trusted methods of improving an Operative’s lot in life and most Operatives will do nothing but BPNs their entire careers.
Increases from BPNs are typically awarded in amounts from 0.1 to 0.4, with an Operative usually having to perform at least three BPNs flawlessly to gain a letter increase in their security clearance.

SCL Levels
11 (Employee)
10 10A (Operative)
9 9A 9B
8 8A 8B 8C
7 7A 7B 7C 7D
6 6A 6B 6C 6D 6E
5 5A 5B 5C 5D 5E 5F
4 4A 4B 4C 4D 4E 4F
3 3A 3B 3C 3D 3E 3F
2 2A 2B 2C 2D 2E 2F
1

Civilians and SCL 11 Employees have the right to only buy CAF civilian-grade firearms. Higher SCL levels grant Operatives access to better sponsors and privileges. SCL 1 is only available to Mr Slayer.

From SCL 10, an Operative has the rights to:
. Bear arms.
. Information belonging to SLA Industries at their SCL level.
. Buy and sell stocks and shares from SLA Industries.
. Apply for Blueprint News Files (excluding Platinum BPNs).
. Control Shiver Units at a crime scene the Operative is assigned to.
. Enforce Search and Seizure warrants against civilians.
While this seems like the Operatives are at the top of the pile, they know that they answer to SLA Industries and are constantly monitored by Station Analysis, Cloak Division and Internal Affairs.

Blueprint News Files (BPN's):
Once an Operative squad has been given their starting equipment, signed their employment contract and found out where they will be living, the clock is ticking and they have to start earning money. Progress doesn’t happen by itself, after all.
Their first job and possibly every job they ever see, will come in the form of a BPN, or Blueprint News File. This docket comes in a variety of colours, each colour denoting a type of task. Each BPN will have the title of the job, the amount the squad will be paid,
per squad or per operative and the type of attention they’re likely to receive. Getting a BPN is a squad’s first task as they start their career in the service of SLA Industries. Receiving and successfully completing BPNs is the best source of income open to the operative, and BPN objectives and assignments vary in purpose. The missions operatives undertake from BPNs are colour coded to specify the task in hand.

To date there are eleven colour code variants which are as follows:
BLUE -Street Maintenance: Suppressing urban and civilian disturbances, sewer clean-up and extermination of Carriens vermin. City control in its broadest terms.
WHITE -Investigation: Following up enquiries, investigating murder cases and serial killers. Analysis and observation of Downtown society and proceedings.
YELLOW -Retrieval: Investigate and recover stolen and missing SLA Industries property. Also comprises of the retrieval and restoration of present and ancient artifacts.
GREEN -Expeditionary: Mainly out of Mort Central-expedition into the furthest regions of Mort's Cannibal Sectors. Rarely operatives may be offered off-world assignments and explorations.
RED -Emergency: Commonly known as' Red Alerts'. These are up to the minute combat situations that need to be dealt with immediately i.e. DarkNight raids on Mort Central.
GREY -Cloak/Internal: BPNs designated solely to the uncovering and termination of operatives and employees who are traitorous or subversive towards the SLA regime: Perpetrators who have breached contract.
JADE -Ebon Related: These are SLA assignments of a purely Ebon nature. Such missions can involve tracking traitors and feral Ebons with little more than an Ebon sense as the single clue. Jade BPN's require at least one Ebon in each group taking the file.
BLACK -Suicide Operations: 'Black Operations' are among the most well paid and well televised assignments available. They are also the most fatal. Basically the operatives' application for a Black operation places them in a suicidal predicament that, to an outsider, seems completely insane and impossible to survive or complete. The operatives are outmanned, outgunned and sometimes even outclassed. They can be thrown up against Rival Powersuits like the Thresher 'Sarge', sometimes entire Downtown gangs or even renegade Necanthropes, but if the operatives can survive the unreasonable odds and look good on camera, they are as good as made.
SILVER -Media: Silver BPNs encompass the media side of things and can comprise of public speeches or promotion. Caution must be taken when pursuing Silver BPNs as failure to meet their requirements for completion and success can cost the operatives, and to some degree SLA Industries, dearly. Operatives must have smart wits and talk fast to succeed in a Silver BPN since the public is so impressionable, especially regarding mistakes.
ORANGE -D-Notice
PLATINUM-Head Office: Operatives cannot ask for Platinum BPNs -they can only be given to those whose experience, skill and reputation deserve it. These are the highest attainable BPNs as well as the most prestigious. Platinum BPNs are issued by Mr. Slayer personally and, as one can imagine, Mr. Slayer's wishes cannot be refused. Platinum assignments are usually secret missions of an obscure and/or mysterious nature. Some operatives have left Platinum BPNs mentally scarred and unstable from history and information previously kept under wraps, even after success. Platinum missions are also very rare and are only open to those of an extremely high SCL. Certainly not for the faint hearted.

Naturally, SLA Industries has to protect its own interests, so many BPNs have no media viewing or undertaking, whatsoever. Such BPNs deal with SLA matters that 'wouldn't interest the public', like long winded investigations and retrievals or sometimes uncovering once loyal traitors or missions of such a dubious nature that they may be detrimental to SLA Industries' reputation.
There are two sub-companies that control and organize the issued BPNs for SLA Industries that deal with or without media response; Third Eye News and Station Analysis.
Third Eye News are contacted to give surveillance and media coverage that is as subtle or blatant as is required. Third Eye News, depending on how important the BPN is, are at the operatives disposal and will try to give them as much time and television footage as they can. Such operations will be covered by the media regardless of whether or not they are successful.
Station Analysis give the operative complete discretion and privacy as sometimes operative investigators and the like have no need or wish for media coverage. Being watched by Mort's millions can be quite off-putting. The last thing they need is the 'mass murderer' knowing the operatives are coming for him after watching the news or reading a newspaper. Station Analysis primarily work for the Department of Internal Affairs and sometimes Cloak Division or even the Investigation department where they can obtain countless BPNs of a businesslike and undercover nature.

BPN Halls:
Typically, a squad will head to Slayer’s Crib, the largest BPN hall and the nearest to the induction centre at Central Station, for their first BPN. The hall is a busy building that houses bureaucracy and disappointment. If you are lucky, you will be able to register your presence at the BPN hall and get a ticket with a number on it. There are screens around the hall that show numbers and the displays will update with a new number, sometimes in sequence, but occasionally seemingly at random. Once your number comes up, or if your squad name is called over the tannoy, - something else to watch out for - you are expected to make your way to the booth, office or desk of the BPN officer who is going to take care of you.
Smaller halls of varying quality are dotted all around Mort Central, Uptown and Suburbia, providing Operatives choice, but most will head to Slayer’s Crib, meeting up with other squads and catching up on the latest scuttlebutt before getting their next job.
Slayer’s Crib has a few booths with windows, but most BPN Officers have their own cramped office with a desk and an in tray, while Operatives will have to wait outside the offices on benches or huddled around small tables with form dispensers and broken pens on chains.

Downtown BPN's:
Operatives will likely find most of their missions taking place in Inner Downtown and the types of BPNs they will receive and threats they will face runs the gamut. Nearly every collateral enemy of SLA can be found lurking here and in a short space of time the Operative Squad will encounter all of them.
“Y’know, me and the rest of the squad hasn’t left Inner Downtown in well over a month. It just takes too damn long going back and forth to Central. Why not just stay here and tough it out. And sure, it means using the BPN Terminals, but if I’m entirely honest? I kinda like it? The missions are brutal, weird and totally random, but our squad’s been going for a year and it’s working out. You never know what you’re getting anyway, so for a laugh we just got our resident Frother to sit on the keyboard and wait
to see what the dispenser gives us. MacDonald’s ass has gotten us Whites, Blues, Reds and all manner of stupidity, and we just
get out there and do it.
Good times…”
Mr Burnykins, Brainwaster Operative SCL 8c,
Squad ‘How do I change Title/Name?’

A squad that’s looking for work in Inner Downtown doesn’t have the luxury of a BPN Hall and has to rely on the aged network of BPN Terminals, machines that have a display screen and a keyboard for a squad to fill in their details and swipe their leader’s SCL card. The machines are old enough that they still use the previous style of BPN card and unreliable enough that experienced Operatives know to write down the details of the BPN on the screen before pressing the print button, as they sometimes don’t print out the docket, leaving an Operative or a squad with a job allocated to them without giving them a copy of the instructions.
The BPNs from terminals are usually local, but occasionally they will hand out an unexpected remote job or a little more than the Operatives bargained for.

The Love of Money:
There are two linked currencies in the World of Progress, Credits (c) and Unis (u). The Credit is a virtual currency equal to ten Unis while Unis are a physical currency with coins and notes changing ownership throughout the known universe.
Civilians don’t get access to Credit accounts, managed through an Operative’s SCL badge, which acts as a way to keep Operative-level firepower out of the hands of civilians as SLA firearms are not sold outside the Perimiter Wall and Unis are not accepted anywhere within the enclosed keep of Suburbia and Uptown.
In Downtown, however, very few shops accept credits and Operatives have to buy Unis from dispensers or banks to purchase food. However, the black market is rife with SLA-sanctioned weapons obtained through nefarious means, as well as those made by other rival companies, most notably DarkNight.

Finance Chip:
The Finance Chip is a small semi-biogenetic device that is inserted into an employee or Operative’s skull. It links the user’s brain directly to their bank account, showing their bank balance and the time and date on a heads up display directly in the user’s brain. The Finance Chip also transmits whatever the employee sees to Station Analysis to allow for quick, cardless financial transactions. Even with a 100c induction bonus and a stipend of up to 200c a month, most operatives choose not to have one fitted, especially after a few high-profile breach of privacy cases. As its popularity wanes, the Finance Chip is starting to become a worthwhile project failed by departmental overreach.

"Is my urine meant to be blue?"
"It's a side effect of the chip. The power supply is dissolved..."
"Will it stay this colour?"
"No, it's only temporary."
"Shame. It's a nice colour..."
Discussion between James Bowness and Dr Huf-farr following chip fitting.

“We once had an IA BPN to take out some Station Analysis creep who was patching into SummerBi’s partner’s Finance Chip feed and selling slugs of their intimate moments, if you know what I mean. And by that, I mean fucking, of course. Oh shit, we were supposed to keep that secret. Fuck. Don’t tell anyone I told you. Wait, are you chipped?”
Grayson Beaver, Human Operative, Deceased

Shiver: Street & Home Investigation, Variable Espionage & Reconnaissance



"Ladies and gentlemen, you have now completed the final stages of your training, and are about to go out on the streets to do your duty. I hope you do not expect to gain respect because of the uniform that you wear; if so, your first tour will leave you sadly disillusioned. Your uniform will make you stand out as a target - an enforced of law and order. The civilians that you will come across do not respect law and order. They do not want law and order. They want anarchy, the law of the jungle, the freedom to do exactly what they want to do. It is your duty to protect the innocent and punish the guilty, to contain the violence that threatens to explode in Downtown, and to enforce the wishes of SLA Industries.

"One easily-forgotten facet of your duty is that you do not simply provide back-up for Operatives. It is also your duty to monitor them, to watch them for signs of disloyalty to the Company. Operatives are not perfect, and you must make sure that any irregularities in their behavior are reported are reported to authorities. They are too dangerous to be allowed to roam through the city unobserved. Someone must ensure their loyalty. That someone is you.

"Operatives will have higher SCL's than you, but they are not gods. Do not, repeat do not, attempt to approach any Operative you think is behaving irrationally. SLA Industries has invested too much time and effort in you to have you killed by a "rogue" employee. If you have any doubts, any at all, you will approach your squad officer and you will inform them of these doubts. You will never attempt to apprehend an Operative without strict instructions from your superiors. Watch them, study them, but if they step out of line, report them. Your first duty is to SLA Industries, and it is up to you to ensure that nothing happens to hurt the company. Whether civilian or Operative, if anyone acts against the best interests of the company, they will be dealt with.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the rank of the Shivers, and good luck!"

Excerpts from a speech by Captain Buchanan to new Shiver Units, 903sd

Mort's Shiver units are regarded by many as the poor cousins of Operatives, lesser versions of the highly skilled individuals who defend the security of the public and dominate the media. In comparison with the Ops, the Shivers are poorly armed and armoured, have much less authority and are paid a pittance.

Shivers have a lot of responsibility, however; they have to deal with Mort's riots, fires, growing criminal element and violence. This is in addition to providing medical support and back-up for Operatives, cleaning up after their actions and being in hand whenever needed. Shivers also deal with the citizens of Mort on a much closer basis than Operatives ever will. As such, they are the targets of the citizens' rage and frustration. Despite all this, they provide an excellent service, but are still viewed with contempt by Operatives and civilians alike.

Few people realize how important the Shivers are. Every day, they risk their lives for the civilians of Mort who treat them with such disdain. It must be remembered that for every Operative on active duty there are at least 10 Shiver squads. Armoured Shivers can be seen on every city street. From the shining spires of Central to the crumbling slums of Downtown, the Shivers patrol constantly, looking for any signs of unrest or trouble.


Standard Shiver:



"Why the hell should I bother? I got 15 years of this bullshit until I can retire. I'll be dead before then and for what? I'll tell ya, a big fat nothin'. I bust a gut out on these streets day in day out and all I get is shot at, stabbed, stoned and stuff you don't even want to hear about. Do they thank me fir the 654 arrests I made last year? No! I give up... this city sucks. I make 80 Credits a month. You know how much those friggin SCAFs make? 110 Credits a month! I  mean come on. What's the game here? They don't know what an arrest is. You know what I mean? How the hell can you arrest someone when you're doin' 400 klicks an hour. Son, never be a Shiver."
Shiver Gail Barnet, Downtown Station 45, 903SD
The Standard Shiver units make up the vast majority of the organisation. With their bright green Body "Blocker" armour and the GA9442 Browbeater rifle, they are an unmistakable and forbidding sight as they patrol their areas. This type of Shiver deals with the everyday tasks that crop up on the streets of Mort.

Traffic Control is a tedious, unrewarding job, but one that is relatively safe. While on Traffic Control, it is up the Shiver to try to keep everyone moving and to make sure that no-one blocks the roads by parking illegally. Occasionally a gridlock will occur, causing utter chaos and taking hours to sort out. Traffic Control duties are usually in the more prosperous parts of Mort, and it is very rare for any Shiver to be sent to Downtown for such a duty.

Forensic Suppot is another common Shiver work detail. This involves providing back-up to the Operatives and specialists that go to investigate crime scenes. Mostly, Forensic Support ends up as simple bodyguard duty, but can include passing information, transporting samples to the laboratories or following up on clues that the specialists discover.

Street Patrol involves a Shiver squad (one Sergeant and 9 Shivers) physically walking the streets. This is intended to act as an obvious deterrent. Whether this practice works to discourage criminals or not is open to debate.

Street Patrol is one of the most unpopular and dangerous duties. Certain Downtown gangs have initiation rites which involve killing a number of Shivers to an assortment of rules. Needles to say, members of these gangs are treated very harshly when they are apprehended by Shivers.

Standard Shivers interact with Operatives far more than any other type. Past friction led to the development of guidelines for these interactions, which can be seen in any Station House.

Sleeper Shivers:

"I've seen it. I've seen the soul eater. Digger. It came over the top of Gate One. We let rip with the 60mm, but it just bounced off him. Nothing can stop it... and you want to know why I do Sleeper? I'll tell you. It keeps me away from all the madness of Shivers stabbing each other in the back. Why bother? Digger can do it for you. You see this scar..."
Sleeper John Fergison 903SD
The worst duty for any Shiver is the Sleeper Tour. Sleepers are Shiver squads who take an APC into Downtown and occupy an allotted area for six months. The APC is provisioned with enough food and ammunition for several weeks. The Shivers report back to base once a day by radio as they patrol the depths of Downtown, where SLA Industries is nothing more than a name.

A Sleeper squad is made up of 10 Shivers, one of whom will be a Sergeant. The individual Shivers take turns manning the communication, computer and gunnery systems, with the others either resting or patrolling their given area. Two of the passenger spaces within the APC are converted into bunks; they take it in turns to make use of them. The Shivers take Drum to provide sufficient rest on this long and exhausting tour of duty. Each APC carries large supplies of the drug, and the Sergeants dish it out as and when they deem it necessary.

Every Sleeper APC holds a pair of tiny cells, little more than upright coffins that prisoners can be locked in. These are used when the APC is far from the nearest Station and needs to bring a captive back. For preference, the Sleeper squad will simply call for back-up from the nearest Station and let them deal with the details, such as paperwork and arrests. Sleeper squads tend to deal with any trouble they come across quickly and harshly, leaving the soft approach to their colleagues who are based at a Station.

Whenever supplies start to run low, the Sleeper squad will head towards the nearest Station and re-stock before going back onto the streets. Apart from getting supplies and dropping off prisoners, Sleepers have no personal contact with other Shivers or Stations.

It is standard practice, if against regulations, for a Sleeper APC to hold non-standard weapons. Most Shivers (and all Sleepers) carry a weapon other than their Browbeater. The Browbeater is all well and good but, in most Shivers' opinions, it is nothing more than an overgrown pea-shooter. The Sleeper squads like to have something with a bit more stopping power. No Sleeper would consider beginning a tour without being certain that every member of the squad had a side weapon to complement their issue rifle.

In the deepest and most dangerous parts of Downtown, far from Shiver Stations and Observation centers, Sleeper patrol the streets enforcing the laws of SLA Industries. These regulations are not appreciated by the residents of the area, and the Shivers are regarded as fair game for anyone that cares to take on a fully armed APC. Unfortunately there are plenty of people disturbed enough to do this, and the mortality rate amongst the Sleeper squads is high.

Being on edge for six months solid is extremely stressful. By the end of the tour, the squad can no longer recognize mistakes. They take risks that they would normally avoid, their reactions have slowed down, and much of the rigorous training and obedience that has been drummed into them has been forgotten. It is common for Sleepers to use drink or drugs to release tension and the ragged crew members coming off a tour are a far cry from the efficient company employees that started it.

Living in a confined space with nine other people for six months brings pressures all of its own. The Sergeants of Sleeper squads have been trained to cope with psychological problems and personality clashes, but tempers still run high. It is not unusual for fights to break out amongst the crews, and these have occasionally ended in one of more deaths.

Despite all the problems and the risks involved, the Sleeper squads are a vital part of the Shiver organisation. They take SLA law to the parts of Downtown that are not normally accessible to either Shivers or Operatives.

Fire Shivers:

"The fire started at 15:12. I happened to be in the area at 15:13. The Shivers were here at 15:15. They drove through our van, killing the link man and three technicians. The fire was out by 15:18. The building was a derelict warehouse with nothing or nobody in it. I am a cameraman, not a reporter. A civilian is holding my camera for me. I think this is... er... naughty. Sorry about my poor speaking, I am a cameraman. Are we on the air? I hope the Shivers aren't naughty again. I lost two friends and two people I know. I suppose they were friends too. I'm not having a good day. Hey! Come back with my camera..."
Cameraman Blutowski, prior to his arrest as a media subversive for calling the protectors of the city "Naughty".
Fire Shivers wear adapted Body Blocker armour, easily identified by the darker green panels on the shoulders, knees and elbows, and travel in modified APCs, known as Extinguishers. The Extinguishers sacrifice much of the cargo area of the standard APC for the tanks that hold compressed fire-dampening foam. The foam is jetted from high-powered nozzles located at the rear of the vehicle. They are placed at the rear so there is less chance of their being damaged when the vehicle forces its way past obstructions. If necessary, these powerful jets can be turned on crowds, and in this sense, they act in exactly the same way as a water cannon.

Fire-fighting detail is an exciting but dangerous duty. Whilst assigned to this, the Shiver is based at a Station and does not leave until a fire has been reported. As soon as the fire report is received, the Extinguisher crashes through the city at terrifying rates. Fire is such a danger in the crowded, built-up streets of Mort that collateral damage and loss of life caused en route are considered irrelevant. Few are foolish enough to stay in the path of a moving Extinguisher. The adapted APCs have specially strengthened armour in the front of the vehicle and are often used to force other vehicles off the road. Occasionally, they have been seen crashing through buildings to get to a blazing property.

It is a little-known fact that many more people are in fact killed by the Shivers that disperse crowds watching fires than are killed by the actual fires themselves.

Paramedic Shivers:

"Damn, this bullet wound hurts. How long will the Ambulance take? DarkNight swine. You're all dead now."
...BLAM BLAM...
"Serves you right, you damn corpses. Stop looking at me!"
...BLAM BLAM BLAM...
"My head hurts and I'm bleeding. Hurry up ambulance! Hey! DarkNight! Your tank doesn't frighten me. I'll kill you all. That's right! Run! Ha!"
...BLAM BLAM...
...BADOOOOOM...
...BADOOOOOM...
"Hello, Home base? Doctor Clarkson here. Scratch one Operative. He was delirious and he shot at us. Our other wounded guy in the ambulance had a MAL assault cannon. He fired from his bed through the side of the ambulance and totalled the Operative. He left a mess here, he shot sixteen civilians, lined up the corpses and was torturing them. One of the civvies must have had a gun and plugged him. That's when he called us. Send in a clean-up squad. It's a mess."
Medical service on Mort is near as responsive as the fire services, yet they don't have the authority to take lives in the course of arriving at their destination. They work mainly to save the lives of SLA Operatives and employees as part of their medical cover plan. Civilians have a form of health service entitling them to free medical treatment and hospital bills. The civilian service, headed by the Department of Health and Safety, is not as good as that which the Operatives receive but at least it is free.  

Medical Shivers are always easy to spot in any scene thanks to their specialized Boopa Medical Helmets and stark white clinical robes (rain- and bloodproof), and more often than not, they will be surrounded by a cordon of Street Shivers as they are one of the few Shivers whose training has little to do with hurting others and every Shiver in existence will count a Paramedic as one of the most vital parts of their profession and will go to great lengths to protect their comrades in white. Paramedics will piggyback practically every active investigation that Shivers are called out to, usually waiting patiently in the squads APC until the shooting and the screaming stops and their work begins. When a call by Operatives goes out that they have need for medical assistance, it is a Street Shiver team and their Paramedic that is the likeliest closest team available, especially anywhere within Downtown. In Uptown and Central any call will most likely be responded to by dedicated ambulances with a full crew of Paramedics, many with additional specializations.

The new LAD-teams that respond to flatlining LAD-account holders do not fall under the Shiver-organization and come much better equipped, trained and protected and will attempt a retrieval anywhere, even in active combat zones.

Tech Shivers:

The unsung heroes of the Shiver, the Tech Shivers are the ones sent out to fix all the problems caused by giving expensive equipment that couldn't operate a knife and fork, much less powered armour and automatic weapons. Their attitude often reflects this disdain for their less-gifted compatriots.

It is a often assumed that your average Operative will never even learn that such a specialization exists within the Shiver, but the truth is that more than a few Operatives fresh from meny have had to request aid from one when failing to either open or seal their suit of powered armour on the field.

DAC Handlers:

It is easy to assume that in the World of Progress with all of its wondrous technology and Intruder's Chosen that old fashion animal senses would have no place in, but frequently enough Shivers will be placed in active pursuit of a suspect that is too good at covering their trail or a mob scene that requires something a bit... extra... to the unsubtle touch of Dispersal Shivers.

Enter the DAC Handlers. Striking a strange image in their heavily modified and reinforced Body Blocker armour and heavy, ballistic cloth overcoat, but it is rarely the handler himself that draws the attention of a viewer rather than the DNA Altered Canine companion at his side. For your average consumer, their only touch to DNA Altered animals are the ones being marketed on their TeeVee, the cute puppies and kittens that, if desired, can remain like that forever, but the origin of the program by Karma was to produce killing machines to be deployed on distant war worlds, far from the eyes of the general public. What the DAC Handlers use are much closer to the latter than the first. Each handler usually operates a single DAC bred for size, power, speed and an extraordinary array of senses. The resources that go into breeding even the class of animal designated for Shiver work is still rather high, limiting the number of DAC Handlers available, even for a full precinct house, meaning that most precincts have to share their few handlers.
But on the rare occasions one of these brooding characters arrives to the scene, most mobs tend to disperse and once the fleeing suspect hears the throaty huffs and howls of the DAC on their trail, it is often too late to beg for a bloodless arrest.

Dispersal Shivers:

"The main problem here is that Mr. Slayer doesn't give us enough control. We need the same freedom to operate as his Enforcers. That way we could happily kill people without doing all that really boring paperwork at the end of it. Eh... No. Sorry, I mean widen our jurisdiction so that we can enforce the law quicker and keep the streets safe. That thing isn't on, is it? Oh..."
Former Dispersal Shiver Mary Kimberly 902SD, just before transfer to Sleeper duty.
With their suits of PP8 Exo (Heavy) armour and FEN 603 loaded with standard rounds, these Shivers are a far cry from the Standard squad. They are more skilled in the use of their Pacifier Baton than other Shivers and the riot shield that they all wear, gives them a great deal of protection. The shield sits in a rectangular housing unit on the left arm of their armour, stretching from the knuckles to the elbow. Upon activation, mounded ceramic plates fan out to form a circular shield, 60cm in diameter. The use of these riot shields is strictly limited to Dispersal Shivers.

Dispersal Shivers are basically a quick response riot suppression division, called on whenever a civil disturbance of any size (more than 50) erupts. They are dangerously efficient and induce terror in all who see them.

Operatives have no control over these units. In fact, any Operative interfering in the duties of a Dispersal Shiver will find themselves in very serious trouble indeed. The minimum they can expect is a fine of 1000 Credits and the greatest penalty is a summary execution. Dispersal Shivers are sent out for specific reasons and nothing and no-one should interfere with them while they perform their assigned tasks.

Once the Dispersals are called out, they do not make arrests or listen to excuses, they simply break up any gathering at the area that they have been sent to. Once the crown has been scattered, the Standard Shivers arrive to make arrests and patch up anyone who was unlucky enough to get caught in the charge.

From the first days of their training, Dispersal Shivers are taught to work as a synchronized unit. Their greatest advantage is the way that they work in complete unison during their baton charges. There are never any weak links in the charge and the Shivers can rely on their companions to either side of them to do their jobs.

Dispersal Shivers will never question an order from a superior officer. They are the least corrupt of Station-managed Shivers.

Enforcer Shivers:

"There is one thing that I don't like about the way the Shivers operate. Those Enforcers, They kill people for nothing. Isn't it wrong, or something? Don't those guys have feelings like everyone else? I was there that day in Host Park, when they came down and killed a whole load of demonstrators for no reason. All they were doing was mellowing out in the park and chanting and stuff. When the Shivers arrived, we thought that they would just bust a few heads and leave, but no. They came out of the APC with guns blazing. The sound of Blitzers filled the park. In seconds, men, women and children were cut down in the hail of fire that the Enforcers laid down. I saw 50 people die in seconds. I think that SLA should take a long look at the way in which their Shiver units operate. Someone important could have been killed. Lucky it was only civilians."
Sue Dickinson, civilian (Chairperson: Hallowe'en Jack Fan Club) 899SD
Of the assorted types of Shiver, the Enforcers are surely the most mysterious and least understood. Seldom seen and heard less, the Enforcer Shivers go about their business silently and efficiently. Wearing dark green PP8 Exo (Heavy) armour, these Shivers deal only with the most difficult and covert tasks. These normally involve the suppression of any activity SLA Industries deems detrimental to the fabric of the Company.

An Enforcer will never speak to anyone. If approached, they will either walk away or stare silently through their helmet until the intruder leaves. In addition to standard equipment, they carry BLA 046M Blitzers loaded with HESH rounds; if called out, their intention is not to make arrests. The Enforcers most disconcerting practice is known as "bagging". Essentially, bagging consists of shrink-wrapping dead and dying criminals, resulting in stiff, upright corpses to ease transportation and storage.

Enforcers are trained killers who have had all emotion drained away from them and blind obedience poured in its place. No one is allowed to stand in their way.

Shiver Copter Airborne Forces (SCAF):

"Well, lets see. I've been flying now for... oh, 10 years and never been hit once. They just keep making us Flyers better and better. That's why they pay us so much, because we are the best. Those groundhogs don't know nothing about what it's like to police a city. They only see a little bit of it down there in the shit. We see the whole thing. We are the true police of the city, not those other saps."
SCAF Judy Richads 899SD
There are 100,000 SCAF pilots in Mort City. Everyone has seen them, flying around on their small helicopter bikes, acting as scouts or rapid response units. Even though the pilots normally avoid dangerous situations, they can be an effective force, thanks to the ball mounted FEN 706 Power Reaper that is part of the heli-bike. This weapon connects to the Heads-Up Display in the pilot's helmet that permits hands-free targeting and firing.

The sight of armoured police bearing down at 400km/h on a heli-bike can be terrifying. Few will even attempt to face down a SCAF patrol. One drawback to this presence is visibility; SCAF make excellent targets for the murderous and insane. Their best defence is speed, but the need for surveillance often makes traveling flat-out unfeasible.

SCAF pilots are used heavily to patrol the edges of the Cannibal Sectors and the more remote areas of Downtown. It is often the SCAF pilots who alert ground forces to hazards, dangers and potential criminal activity. In times of crisis, the SCAF may mobilize as a coherent aerial assault force.

All SCAF pilots carry pistol versions of the Browbeater Rifle, held on a special mah-holder. The pilots wear customized armour designed to keep out the cold and the driving raid. The armour has had to sacrifice some of its strength, but few pilots mind that.

SCAF pilots may not be the most vital part of the Shiver organization, but they are surely the most extravagant and stylish. The public and the media love the SCAF units, and anything that keeps the public happy, makes SLA Industries happy. The Shiver Copter Airborne Forces are here to stay.