Just before the war, as political tensions rose and the threat of conflict increased, the Russian military went forward with a plan to smuggle small guerilla units into U.S. soil where they would lie in wait, and in the event of America declaring war, the Russians would already have an army on U.S. soil. The ultimate plan was to inflict casualties using guerilla warfare, until each sleeper cell reunited with one another to form a small army. In order to do this, however, required the Russians to operate under the utmost secrecy, utilizing border countries such as Canada and Mexico in order to slip past the American borders and enter their home soil.
One such group of Russian Spetsnaz soldiers was deployed into Mexico, and once there, travelled under the disguise of civilians through Texas, ultimately ending up in the Nevada desert. They chose the region to set up their base of operations due to the isolated environment, and built themselves a small stronghold atop a rather inhospitable mountain, hidden away from prying eyes.
Unfortunately, the nuclear exchange occured before they could receive orders, and the Spetsnaz unit found themselves dealing with adapting to the breakdown of civilization and toxic enviroment like the rest of the world. Over the years, their isolationism dropped as they welcomed other survivalists within their ranks, and as decades passed they had mated with the locals and reproduced in a manner that dulled their once-prominent Russian features, such as the thick accents. As time progressed, less and less of them even spoke Russian. Life in the mountains helped keep the paramilitary survivalist group from having to deal with the roving gangs of marauders, and allowed them to avoid the robot scourge that plagued the desert off-and-on.
But peace doesn’t come so easy.
Climbing the ranks of the military ladder, a young soldier of Asian descent by the name of Mao, eventually seized control of the Spetsnaz and returned them to their roots… favoring isolationism to shut out the rest of the world, and clutching a tattered copy of the Communist Manifesto to inspire him. Fueled by the faded print of Karl Marx’s teachings, Mao forged the Spetsnaz back into a rigid military war-machine, hoping to use this private army to assimilate the rest of New Nevada into his dream of a perfect communist society. The Spetsnaz clashed with both the Desert Rangers and the Badland Originals alike during this period, yet aside from the skirmishes that plagued them, Mao never succeeded in conquering either faction. Shortly afterwards, Chairman Mao mysteriously vanished, leaving a power vacuum in the Spetsnaz’s leadership.
It remains unclear as to what triggered Mao’s disappearance. Some speculate that he died in the wastelands, and his body was eaten by scavengers. Others believe foul play was involved, and perhaps Mao’s life was ended by his own subordinates, weary of marching to the beat of Mao’s communist doctrine. Some hypothesize he was exiled, or possibly just got up and left.
Regardless of Mao’s disappearance, a few years after the event, control of the Spetsnaz was seized by Viktor Gorchev, who at first, only signed onto the Spetsnaz after coming to New Nevada in search for his son. After a while, through his dedication, Viktor had taken the seat of power. While the Spetsnaz at that time remained a well-equipped paramilitary faction, Viktor had no interest in continuing Mao’s quest for rebuilding a perfect society. With the communist banner dropped from its agenda, the Spetsnaz were looked upon more favorably by the wasteland’s inhabitants, and the faction was actually going somewhere. Alliances with other factions were made, and Viktor found that their Soviet weaponry and various supplies were excellent sources for income and trade.
As more time passed, Viktor seemed to sculpt the Spetsnaz into something more than just a simple paramilitary group of survivalists. Already well-versed in the criminal underworld and its operation, due to his origins in Chicago, Viktor evolved the militia into a well-organized crime family. As Viktor utilized his personal friendship with Shub-Yarithne N’grath, the trade of drugs and weaponry skyrocketted between the newly-formed Gorchev Syndicate, or “Sindikat” as Viktor put it, and the largest marauder clan in the region: the Badland Originals. Profit increased and business was booming due to the Badlanders’ constant turf wars with rival gangs, and Viktor was able to expand his business by hitting the open market with his wares. After the acquisition of the Kinetek weapons plant, Viktor’s income continued to climb to astronomical levels with the creation of the Sinetek Arms company. The Sindikat was now able to construct their own weapons and sell or trade them at their leisure, whether it be selling submachine-guns and bullets by the crate to their allies in the Badlanders, or selling individual weapons to vendors in any local town gun-shop or street bazaar.
In sharp contrast to the Badland Originals, the Sindikat are an incredibly well-oiled machine in regards to efficiency and profit. While the Badlanders thrive on bloodshed, open warfare, and preying on others, the Sindikat’s motivations are predominately economical, using their vast networks and connections to make money, or have somebody disappear. Whether it be weapons, drugs, prostitution, gambling, or wetworks, the Sindikat seems to be involved in, if not in outright control of, New Nevada’s organized crime networks. It’s often joked that “You’d need an extra hand to have your fingers in as much shit as Viktor Gorchev”.
With this wealth of blood-money, the Sindikat is able to hold an immense presence in New Nevada, dominating the lesser crime families not only in Nevada, but in some of its neighboring regions as well. Well-equipped, well-funded, and highly disciplined, the Sindikat is the end result in a long road of the faction’s evolution.
Leader: Viktor ‘Vitya’ Ivanovich Gorchev
HQ: Aequitas
Elite: Spetsnaz(part of the Sindikat Private Army)