Maxtac
MaxTac is the Night City Police Department's elite C-SWAT rapid response team, comprised of its most combat-capable and highly trained officers. Its members are equipped with top-tier military armor, weaponry, cyberware, and vehicles. Their primary objective is to monitor highly augmented individuals and be ready to deploy swiftly, engage forcefully, and employ lethal force if a target descends into cyberpsychosis. All MaxTac officers are supremely fit, agile, and capable of enduring significant damage. While their main purpose is hunting cyberpsychos, MaxTac also functions as an elevated form of SWAT, called upon whenever an overwhelming threat endangers innocent lives and regular officers are unable or unequipped to resolve the situation. If an NCPD SWAT team fails, the cyberpsycho squad intervenes.
MaxTac operates in SPAR (Special Purpose Assault Rescue) teams. Due to the nature of their work, many members are so heavily cybernetically enhanced that they themselves are on a watchlist, with some even having undergone full body conversion. The NCPD views this "fight fire with fire" strategy as effective, despite many officers being on the verge of cyberpsychosis themselves. MaxTac's weaponry is universally designed to neutralize heavily cybered individuals, including non-lethal and experimental arms, which typically means high-caliber rounds capable of penetrating any armor. EMP weapons are rarely used because they pose as much risk to the SPAR team as to the target cyberpsycho. Death is the usual outcome for a psycho hunted by MaxTac, with capture and rehabilitation being uncommon. However, a number of MaxTac officers are former cyberpsychos who were forcibly recruited after apprehension and reconditioning, as exemplified by Ares, and decades later, Melissa Rory.
History
MaxTac, or the Maximum Force Tactical Division, has a long and complex history within the Cyberpunk universe, evolving from specialized anti-cyberpsycho units to an elite, terrifying force.
During the 2000s, as cyberpsychosis became a rampant issue across the United States, standard law enforcement proved ineffective against highly augmented, murderous individuals. This led the US government to establish specialized tactical units for hunting down and either capturing or eliminating cyberpsychos. SWAT teams began forming their own "Cyborg Suppression Units," known by various names such as C-SWAT, PSYCHE-DIV, CYB-Enforcement, or MAX-TAC. These early units were equipped with advanced gear, vehicles, and weapons ranging from light cannons upwards, and their members, often heavily cyberware-laden, were notoriously dangerous and morally ambiguous.
As the number of cyberpsychotic cases continued to surge, these units eventually separated to become their own distinct C-SWAT divisions, a common sight across the USA. In Night City, MAX-TAC, officially known as the Cyborg Suppression Unit, was headquartered at the Municipal Criminal Justice Complex.
A notable event in 2010 saw the capture of a rampaging cyberpsycho named Ares, though it cost the lives of over thirty police officers and civilians. Due to his extensive background as a soldier and mercenary, Ares was controversially integrated into the Cyborg Suppression Unit after a prolonged and challenging personality reconditioning, despite widespread protests. He soon took charge of the unit, gaining significant notoriety for his daring tactics, often appearing in the city's news.
In 2019, the psycho squad responded quickly to Lake Park to neutralize "The Claw," a mass murderer, in a brutal confrontation that made headlines the following day.
In the aftermath of the **Fourth Corporate War (2020s-2040s)**, Commander Max Hammerman was instrumental in preserving the remnants of the NCPD, primarily MAX-TAC, through his sheer force of will and incorruptibility. Hammerman strategically separated MAX-TAC from the rest of the NCPD to establish absolute control over suspected cyberpsychotic elements in Night City. He methodically rebuilt the unit, expanding from neighborhood to neighborhood, dismantling ad-hoc protection rackets, and recruiting new officers.
By 2030, the cyberpsycho squad was fully re-established, though local "Psycho Squad Militia" groups also emerged, targeting borged individuals without official authority. At some point in the 2030s, MAX-TAC successfully hunted down Hextra, who was then the leader of the Maelstrom gang.
By the **2040s**, MAX-TAC operated as an independent law enforcement department, securing contracts with various entities across Night City, including neighborhoods, governmental bodies, and even private citizens. Their mandate was to address the most egregious threats to the public, such as hostage situations, cyberpsychos, the use of military-grade weapons, and terrorist activities. Under Hammerman's leadership, C-SWAT was renowned for its efficiency, dangerous effectiveness, and remarkably, its reasonable morality. Their core philosophy centered on maintaining law and order and protecting the innocent, adhering to an impartial code: end fights, regardless of who started them. When MAX-TAC arrived, the expectation was immediate surrender, even if one was acting in self-defense, or they would open fire. They rarely took prisoners, with criminals only remanded to security facilities if they survived the encounter. Around **2045**, MAX-TAC considered recruiting Lieutenant Jessie Brasso of the NCPD, but Brasso, while acknowledging the offer, viewed Hammerman as a traitor for his mercenary leanings.
At some point during or after the **Time of the Red (2040s-2070s)**, MAX-TAC was reincorporated into the NCPD. By **2077**, MaxTac continued to uphold its fearsome reputation, actively hunting down cyberpsychos and any lawbreakers deemed too powerful for the regular NCPD to handle. Unlike other NCPD divisions, MaxTac is even permitted to operate in the highly dangerous district of Dogtown.
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