Background

Welcome to Atomic City, and the year 2257!

Home to 8.5 million people, located on the north eastern coast of the Republic of United States, Atomic City is a paragon of human achievement. It was here, in 2241 that Dr. Eric Sorenburg created and successfully contained mankind’s first artificial wormhole. Dr. Sorenburg’s discovery opened in a new age of technology for mankind, the age of Singularity Mechanics -- freeing him from the constraints of gravity, and allowing the creation of cheap and practical anti-gravity propulsion units. It is this technology that powers the anti-grav engines of today’s transportation, allowing us to create flying vehicles and cities that literally float on air.

At just about the same time same time that Dr. Sorenburg was tinkering with minus-epsilon containment fields, two young scientists met at an artificial intelligence symposium in Belfast, Vermont. In 2242 exoindustrial engineer Kevin Tannis was making important and groundbreaking advances in the field of exoskeletal limb replacements, and applied computer sciences graduate Nikomi Kyoto was working on her doctorate in electro-neural replication and playback. Unbeknownst to either of them at the time, when the two of them met over kamakazi shooters at an after-symposium mixer, history took a new course. Six months later the two of them had combined their expertise and passion, and created the first synthetic human prototype. The patenting of that invention, and the corporation they formed to manufacture and produce the synthetics they created ushered in a new era of human-robotics development, and by 2257, most every household in the USR has its own family synthetic.

But like every human city since the dawn of mankind, for all of the glitz and beauty it presented to the newcomer, Atomic City had corruption growing from within on several fronts. The easy availability of flying vehicles and personal AGPP’s (Anti-Grav Propulsion Packs) meant it was easier than ever to escape from the scene of a crime, and vehicular assaults grew at a dramatic rate. Organized crime families began to arm their vehicles even more heavily, and it was well known that most of their weapons came from Sorenburg Systems itself, which had grown into a multinational corporation that was into everything from flying cars to moon shuttles. To make it worse, the ACPD had long ago gotten in on the action, turning blind eyes to the weapons being smuggled into Atomic City across the Sutton Bay, collecting tidy amounts of money from both parties.

In 2256 the corruption came to a head and exploded out onto the streets of Atomic City when Sorenburg Security Forces, ACPD, and Pacelli Family goons clashed with each other in a multi-district flying, rolling, explosive battle. Sixteen people were killed, dozens more injured, millions of dollars worth of property damage. The people of Atomic City had had enough, and the entire Republic cried for something to be done.

So in 2257, the USR Federal Council approved the Vehicular Security Act, whose primary purpose was the creation of a special task force to oversee the cleanup of vehicular crimes in major metropolitan cities. The first of such task forces was formed in Atomic City, and its members were given special, state-of-the art government vehicles and weapons with which to carry out their duty. The Vehicular Strike Force, or VSF, operates independently of the police force, and reports directly to the Federal Council. However, they are in the heart of Atomic City.. and their numbers are few. And the numbers of corrupt police, Sorenburg Security Forces, and mob bosses are great. Accidents have been known to happen.