The Mercenary Contract Board is not a stabilizing force, a civic institution, or a moral authority. It is a clearinghouse. Its sole purpose is to accept contracts, evaluate risk, assign manpower, and ensure the job is completed. Whether the city benefits, suffers, or bleeds in the process is irrelevant to the Board—as long as terms are met.
They do not preserve New Hope City.
They monetize it.
To the Board, the ruined city is an operating environment, not a home. Violence is a service. Death is a metric. Survival is proof of competence.
The Board does not maintain a visible headquarters. Instead, it operates through a network of Board Houses—bars, clubs, back rooms, and neutral venues embedded inside every major faction’s territory. These locations are owned outright by the Board or held under ironclad agreements no faction is willing to break.
Board Houses serve as:
Contract intake points
Assignment hubs
Payment and arbitration sites
Ranking review locations
No matter whose colors fly outside, Board business inside is untouchable. Even the most brutal factions understand the cost of disrupting the system that feeds them mercenaries.
The Board believes only three things matter:
A contract is a transaction
Capability must be measured
Results outweigh intent
They do not care why a job is taken.
They do not care how it is done.
They only care that it is finished within agreed parameters.
Collateral damage is not immoral—it is inefficient.
Failure is not tragic—it is a miscalculation.
The Board ranks mercenaries to reduce uncertainty, not to reward heroism. Rank is a liability index: how dangerous a job can be before the operator becomes the problem.
Ranks apply to individuals and crews separately. A capable leader with weak personnel is still restricted.
Tier 0 – Unlisted
Unregistered operators. No contracts, no protection, no arbitration.
Tier I – Runner
Low-risk support work: courier jobs, scouting, escorts, salvage assistance.
Tier II – Cutter
Basic combat contracts: small infected clears, enforcement, protection, retrieval.
Tier III – Breaker
Veteran operatives trusted with contested zones, extractions, and complex engagements.
Tier IV – Vanguard
Elite specialists assigned to missions others won’t take—deep zones, assassinations, long-duration operations.
Tier V – Apex
Crisis-level assets used sparingly. High autonomy, extreme risk, maximum compensation.
Tier X – Blacklisted
Permanent removal from the system. No work. No shelter. No mediation.
Rank changes are constant. Success raises it. Unnecessary losses lower it. Recklessness erases it.
The Board does not enforce morality—but it does enforce contracts.
If a mercenary fails, lies, or destabilizes a district beyond acceptable thresholds, the response is administrative, not violent. Access is revoked. Routes close. Payments vanish. Names stop appearing on lists.
Mercenaries do not fear the Board because it kills them.
They fear it because it makes them irrelevant.
All factions use the Board. None trust it.
@The Ledger Syndicate relies on its predictability.
@The Streetweight Collective uses it for fast muscle.
@The Breakwater Confederacy contracts escort and enforcement.
@The Shard Coalition treats it as a neutral necessity.
@The Reclaimers tolerate it but never rely on it.
@Gutter Saints exploit its anonymity.
@Neon Knives bypass it when secrecy matters.
@The Outriders rarely engage it at all.
No faction controls the Board.
No faction can afford to lose access to it.
In New Hope City, people say:
“The Board doesn’t pick sides.”
“It just picks winners.”
If your name comes up on a Board slate, it means one thing:
Someone decided the problem was worth paying to make disappear.