The Martian Rangers

Few organisations are as legendary as the Martian Rangers, its stetson wearing duster clad men and women revered, and feared, across the solar system. They are the paragons of law and order, protectors of the defenceless, and enemy to all who would prey upon them. And now, even though their numbers are few, they remain as formidable and respected as they always were.

Origins

The Rangers began shortly after the Cataclysm ripped through the system, destroying the Elnorian civilisation and plunging all into chaos. Mars, as one of the Three Sisters, was a thriving populous world under Elnorian rule and its numerous cities, suspended from an orbital ring due to the lower gravity of the planet, quickly fell into bloody anarchy. The group that would become the Rangers were at that time a small militia group under the command of a minor Elnorian noble, and with their leader gone saw their world falling apart around them.

So they took up their arms and worked to bring order, using reason then force if needed. And slowly, their efforts paid off. They quelled mobs, took down looters and brokered peaceful trade and cooperation between emergent factions. They recruited more and more to cope with their increased responsibilities and one by one, the Martian cities began to become stable, peaceful and orderly once more. As the rest of the solar system went to hell, Mars was a outlier. A global government was formed made up of elected members from each of the newly emergent city-states.

And the militia? They were renamed the Rangers and granted full authority to serve as keepers of the peace and punishers of wrong-doing by the Council as well protecting Mars from those outsiders who would bring harm to their peaceful world. Quite where and when their signature stetson hats and dusters came be their uniform is unknown, yet for as long as any care recall, a Martian Ranger always wears a stetson upon their head and a duster on their back.

Mars and Beyond

In time the Rangers would spread beyond Mars, answering calls from other worlds, habitats and asteroid colonies to adjudicate over legal matters or apprehend dangers criminals. They were utterly impartial, meting out justice with a fair but firm hand and utter incorruptibility. The wealthy and powerful sought to bribe them, or buy their services, and always were rebuffed. Criminal groups worked to eliminate them, and though a few lone Rangers may be slain the perpetrators found themselves facing the organisation at its most dangerous and vengeful with every Ranger coming to avenge their fallen comrades.

The Rangers Today

Even in these days were baseline humans are a dying breed, the Rangers endure still. Even the most powerful transhuman Nobles treat the organisation, dwindled though it may be, with a grudging respect, and are cognizant that they fulfill an important role in the maintaining of law and order throughout Sol. Their numbers have diminished over the years since their heyday, and it is rare to find groups of them numbering more than a pair or trio. Mostly now, the Rangers operate on their own, relying upon their skills, their equipment and their badges to continue their duty in increasingly dark and dangerous times.

Recruitment

Once there were numerous recruiting offices across Mars and even throughout the rest of the system. Now but a single recruiting office remains on Hudson, a station orbiting Mars. It is run by Ranger Jethro Torbin, a grizzled veteran who is now a good sixty percent mechanical with the rest being too mean to die. Jethro is notoriously picky when it comes to potential recruits and the office, which can sometimes see a few Rangers gathering in, is a quiet and empty place most of the time.

Elsewhere, a Ranger will sometimes recruit those they see as worthy enough as trainees and teach them their ways. Only those who can prove themselves will be granted the title of Ranger, and in these times that is a rare thing indeed.

Equipment

Beyond their obligatory stetson and duster, a Ranger will be attired and armed however they see fit. Their weapons of choice are usually a handgun of some sort along with some sort of rifle or carbine, though in truth a Ranger will be fully trained in any number of weapons and be quite deadly with all of them. They also always armed with the Martian Bowie, a long bladed and heavy knife that in the hands of a Ranger is quite a deadly weapon and one they can always fall back on if need be. Some Rangers, mostly the lone wolf types, have an animal or robot companion at their side.

Notable Rangers

Nathaniel Doyle is a Ranger of legendary standing amongst his peers. He was thought to be retired after marrying his childhood love and fathering a daughter with her, but something terrible happened to them, something Nate will not speak of. He has since donned the stetson and duster and taken up his twin Cullen Pistols once, a vengeful arbitrator of justice quite unlike the man he was before.