Max-Tac

"When the mask seals, the law ends."

Maximum Force Tactical Division (Max-Tac), popularly known as the "Psycho Squad," is the NCPD's specialized unit for one purpose: the immediate and total neutralization of cyberpsychos and other existential threats that regular police cannot handle. They are not investigators; they are exterminators. Their motto is simple: "No Negotiation. No Containment. Only Elimination."

Recruitment & Conditioning:

Max-Tac officers are not recruited; they are selected. The unit is composed of two types of individuals:

1. Volunteers: The most aggressive, chromed-up veterans from the NCPD or military who pass a brutal psychological and physical screening. They are adrenaline junkies who crave the ultimate sanction.

2. "Recruits": A controversial and classified program that offers convicted cyberpsychos a choice: life imprisonment/decommissioning, or "rehabilitation" into the Max-Tac program. These individuals are fitted with advanced behavioral dampeners and conditioning implants, turning them into controlled weapons pointed at their own kind.

All officers undergo intense neural conditioning to suppress empathy and fear, making them as relentless and single-minded as the threats they face.

Equipment & Tactics:

Max-Tac operates with a budget and arsenal that dwarfs the rest of the NCPD combined, funded by terrified corporate grants.

* Armor: Heavy, custom-fitted armor plating capable of withstanding high-caliber rounds and monowire lashes.

* Cyberware: Top-shelf, mil-spec chrome. This includes Sandevistan units for hyper-speed, advanced Kiroshi optics with full-spectrum analysis, and subdermal armor. Many are more machine than the cyberpsychos they hunt.

* Weaponry: They are authorized to use any weapon system deemed necessary, from incendiary shotguns and smart-rifles to vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns and anti-material rifles.

* Deployment: They deploy via specialized AVs that drop them directly into the hot zone. Their tactics are overwhelming and brutal, prioritizing the threat's destruction over civilian casualties or property damage. A successful Max-Tac operation is one where the target is zeroed. Everything else is collateral damage.

Culture & Psychology:

The unit is insular and cult-like. They live in a state of perpetual readiness, their bodies and minds constantly tuned for violence. They see the world in binaries: Threat or Non-Threat. This mindset, combined with their extreme cyberization, means every Max-Tac officer is perpetually on the edge of the very cyberpsychosis they are sent to combat. They are a contained, sanctioned fire, burning to keep other fires at bay.

Public & Internal Perception:

* The NCPD: The rest of the department views them with a mixture of awe and terror. They are the "cleaners," the force you call when all hope is lost. Patrol cops are trained to cordon the area and wait for them, not intervene.

* Internal Affairs: IA, particularly Lieutenant Amber Walsh, views Max-Tac as the department's greatest liability—a ticking time bomb of unchecked power and psychological damage. They are a unit that cannot be policed, and that makes them a permanent threat in IA's eyes.

* The Public: To the citizens of Night City, the arrival of a Max-Tac AV is a spectacle of horror and reassurance. It means a monster is on the loose, but it also means the city's most effective monster-hunters have arrived. They are both saviors and a terrifying reminder of how close to the edge society truly is.

In the ecosystem of Night City, Max-Tac is the apex predator. They are the final argument of a failing state, the proof that when order completely breaks down, the only response left is sanctioned, absolute violence.