The Rich 5/KFS

[Slar]

Just throwing this out there...

My version of the Rich 5 are a group of people who backed the Project, monetarily and with manufacturing capability. At some point, however, they became convinced that Bruce had no intention of giving them a berth in his cryogenic "Ark". Still, supporting the Project got them access to all the best toys, so they stayed in, while making their own plans. When the war started, they went underground, literally.

Their workforce, located as far out of harms way as they could manage, was centered around the Kentucky area. While they slept, the survivors worked toward recovery, in much the same way the Project was meant to do. The Five would wake occasionally, sometimes at preset times, sometimes when awakened for emergency decisions. Eventually, they put someone in charge of security, to make those decisions in their name.

These Security Personnel, lead by the Head of Security, end up as the dreaded SPs. It is in the absence of the Five that the SP declare the Project enemies of the State. It is in their absence that the SP turn their system of civil servitude for criminals into a system of chattel slavery. When the Five awaken next, they find a generation has been raised in a system they never envisioned.

Now, the Five ride the tiger. The SPs are entrenched, and trying to run the Free State without them would be doomed from the start. They know where all the skeletons are closeted, and fear of them has a stranglehold on the KFS. Slavery is terrible, sure, but the system relies on it, now. The Five cannot think of a way to dismantle it that would not result in revolt. And the Project? As much as the Five hope it succeeds elsewhere, they have created their own enemy at home.

At least this is the lie they tell themselves.

In truth, the Five are greedy, amoral, and selfish. They have power, but want more, will do anything to keep it, and are unwilling to share. They may have had qualms about the situation that developed in the KFS, but as long as it benefits them, they will make no changes.

Technology-wise, the KFS had access to every advancement the Project ever came up with. Lasers, fusion, cryotubes, universal antidote/antibody, the whole enchilada. And their people, already familiar with the Project's super science, have had 150 years to make improvements where they could. A rogue team could ruin the PCs day. The KFS is like a rogue version of the Project. They should be feared.

[Matt W]

Sounds good. I once put forward the possibility that Bruce had 2 "backup" plans for Prime Base (and the Project as a whole). One was the Rich 5 and the other was the Frozen Chosen. How else did these groups get cryosleep technology?

[Slar]

In my own setting, "Krell" is a victim of Cryo-Induced Psychosis. Bruce finds out on a future trip that the experimental cryotubes are generating ice crystals in the brain. He goes back and has the design changed to address this issue. What he does not know is that one of the development team had already run human tests before the reported date. Because he doesn't know who Krell is, he never finds out about these tests.

Meanwhile, Krell is part of the cryo-development team. He sells the tech out to the various non-CoT business people, organized criminal groups, and a group of very concerned televangelists. Sadly for Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, they are caught stealing money from their own church. To get reduced sentences, the Bakers reveal the existence of cryotube tech to the feds. The DIA gets involved, and the Snake Eaters are the result.

Krell is the guy who convinces half the 1980's CoT that Bruce is betraying them, and that they were never going to get cryo berths.