The Rust Belt

Role in New Vance City

The Rust Belt is the territory controlled by the Gear Rats. It sits in the ruins of old factories and shipping yards on the edge of New Vance City. No other faction governs this area.

This district exists to turn broken industry into weapons and vehicles. The Gear Rats tear apart cranes, towers, trucks, and rail equipment for usable parts. What they cannot use gets melted down. The weapons, armor, and war rigs built here are used in raids on convoys, power lines, and outer neighborhoods. Extra scrap and gear are sold through black market routes.

Almost everyone in the Rust Belt works for the Gear Rats. That includes their families and people they force to work. A few outsiders pass through to trade or smuggle, but none are safe. There are no laws here. Survival depends on deals backed by violence.

To the rest of the city, the Rust Belt is both a problem and a shield. Gear Rat raids damage infrastructure and drain supplies. At the same time, raiders and shamblers are drawn toward the Rust Belt instead of weaker districts. No faction has tried to wipe the Gear Rats out because the cost would be too high.

Landscape and Industrial Ruins

The Rust Belt covers what used to be heavy industrial land. Broken smokestacks, collapsed factories, and twisted cranes fill the area. Rail lines and loading yards divide the ground into tight paths and dead ends. Wrecked robots, smashed trucks, and rusted scaffolding block most open space.

The air is dirty and hard to breathe. Oil fires burn day and night. Melted plastic, fuel, and rubber coat everything in soot. Anyone who stays too long without protection gets sick.

Inside the factories, the Gear Rats run old machines again. Belts move scrap to sorting pits. Magnets pull useful metal from junk piles. Crushers and cutters shape parts into armor and vehicle frames. Power comes from stolen city lines, generators, and salvaged solar panels. Breakdowns happen often and kill people when they do.

Below ground, old cooling pools and waste tanks have filled with leaks and runoff. Some tunnels hold boiling sludge. Others are packed with unstable dust that reacts when disturbed. Some doors and machines still activate without warning. The Gear Rats use these areas to store loot, set traps, or dump bodies. People who wander down there alone usually do not come back.

Moving through the Rust Belt is dangerous if you do not know the routes. Vehicles can only travel through a few cleared paths reinforced with metal plates. Foot patrols use catwalks, ladders, and narrow platforms that locals memorize. This is not a neighborhood. It is a working machine built on wreckage.

Gear Rat Society and Daily Life

The Rust Belt is where Gear Rat culture is strongest. Scrap is money and proof of worth. Armor, weapons, and vehicles are built by hand from whatever can be salvaged. Status comes from how well your gear works, not how it looks.

Their rules are simple and brutal. Anything inside a crew’s marked yard belongs to that crew. Large finds are taxed, and part of the haul is sent upward. Betraying your crew leads to public punishment. None of this is written down. Everyone knows what happens if you break the rules.

Most days are spent salvaging and building. Crews push into ruined zones to drag back engines, weapons, and tech. Mechanics weld broken machines into usable gear. Drivers and gunners test vehicles before using them in raids. When not working, Rats drink, fight, gamble with scrap, and tell stories about past jobs.

The foundry pits also serve as fighting grounds. Crews settle disputes there. Rank challenges and loyalty tests happen in full view of others. Fights range from fists to weapons to vehicle duels. Losers often end up burned in the furnaces.

Housing is crude but usable. Crews turn offices into bunk rooms, stack containers into towers, and hang shacks from crane arms. Food comes from raids and trade, with some grown in barrels and tanks. Water is bought from smugglers or stolen from damaged lines. Medical care focuses on keeping people alive and working. Cybernetic implants are rough, reused parts bolted into place.

Cog’s Rule and Internal Conflict

Cog is the leader of the Gear Rats in the Rust Belt. He is large, heavily augmented, and always seen in soot-covered power armor. Stories say he survived a factory collapse and climbed his way up from mechanic. What matters is that he controls the largest stockpiles of fuel, scrap, and finished vehicles.

Cog stays in power by controlling supplies. Every major salvage run pays him a cut. Every large foundry answers to him or someone he appointed. In return, he assigns gear for major raids and defenses. Crews that cooperate get better equipment. Crews that refuse lose access to fuel and parts.

Below him, lieutenants manage specific jobs and areas. Some oversee factories. Others handle raids, vehicles, or chemical processing. Rivalries are common. Cog allows limited fighting to keep them sharp. If it threatens production or draws outside attacks, he steps in. Punishments include taking vehicles, stripping territory, or sending crews on deadly missions.

This creates constant tension. Crews want better yards and more power, but they rely on each other to hold the district. Small arguments over scrap or insults often turn into street battles. When the fighting ends, Cog’s enforcers decide who gets rebuilt and who is left behind.

Relations With Other Factions

The Rust Belt interacts with nearly every major faction in New Vance City. Gear Rats raid Hydro Hegemony convoys, Solar Guardian supply lines, and Citadel-linked shipments. They attack raiders who trespass on their salvage grounds. They clash with the Perimeter Watch when raids cross into guarded zones.

At the same time, they sell gear and take paid jobs. Shadow Syndicate brokers buy weapons and tech from Rust Belt workshops. In return, they supply medicine, information, chemicals, and access to hidden routes. Some Citadel figures quietly buy unmarked Gear Rat equipment through these channels.

Silent Walkers avoid the Rust Belt when possible. The noise and constant movement interfere with their methods. When they do appear, it is for specific targets or items. Their presence makes everyone nervous, since normal defenses do little against shamblers or cult forces that do not react to pain.

The Gear Rats see everything as material. Metal becomes machines. Fuel becomes fire. People become workers or parts. If something can move, they want to mount a weapon on it. If it cannot, they cut it apart and feed it into the next build.