ADMIN NOTE: This page is undergoing reconstruction to clean up some outdated information and to provide more organized data about the Ministry. If you have any questions at all about the Ministry or are unsure about any of the information here, please do not hesitate to contact a moderator or admin.
Uniformed and armoured in ghostly shades of white, their faces and identities concealed by protective masks, the Ministry are the elite armed hybrid enforcers and bureaucrats of Unity. For some they are galant protectors. For others, militarized demons.
Whether your character is an outer classer or UniClasser, this section will help to give you a basic idea of how they can expect to be treated by the Ministry. Or if you're applying for a Ministry character, this section will explain how to play him or her in a manner that is consistent with the organization's tight protocols.
Take note, though, that due to the advanced RP experience requirement, and the immense responsibility that comes with playing a Ministry character, applications for Ministers will be very strictly reviewed to a higher standard than those of any other character types. Playing a Minister is a privelage, not a right.
Important Info On Creating and Playing Ministry/Ex-Ministry Characters
Basic Guidelines For Ministry Procedure and Philosophy
Overview
For its early years following Dr. Frey's assassination, the Ministry was little more than a highly-advanced hybrid-led military bureau with interim control of city government, rapidly formed to lead the city's fledgling civilian militias and speahead the fight against crime, racism, and terrorism, thus earning the trust and approval of citizens for its heroic efforts. In time, its duties shifted to include social-political purification, the championing of hybridization as the path towards eliminating racial division and ushering in a new age of enlightenment and peace - Unity. Presently, the Ministry has assumed control over all city government agencies, ensuring that Einheit City's state facilities reflect the Ministry's vision for utopia. Today, the Ministry holds the UniClass as the most precious asset to Unity. While some purebreds do reject their obsolete ways and answer the call to Unity, the UniClass must be protected at all costs, from threats both outside and inside.
Those critical of the Ministry often hold the incorrect impression that it is little more than an army of trained hybrid thugs, yet this could not be further from the truth. Although extreme brutality is standard procedure, individualistic acts of bravado and machismo are NOT tolerated in the field. They are professional soldiers, officers and agents. Punishments upon the enemies of Unity are carried out with stern protocol, never emotional passion or arrogant pomp. Individuality in the Ministry does not exist, and all operate as cells of the Einheit City organism, working day and night to secure the safety of the UniClass, and to advance the utopian dream of Unity.
The court system has been essentially dissolved, as the Ministry concluded that public trials were too easily manipulated by racist elements. As the Ministry asserted itself as the sole caretaker of legal process, Einheit City's legal code was re-written to assign individual squads and officers with the task of operating as judge, jury, and executioner. For, in the eyes of the UniClass, if the Ministry is the true guardian of Unity, its judgement is unbiased and unquestionable, hence there is simply no need for criminal processing. Trials, in the few instances in which they are ever conducted, are done more as a demonstration of the accused party's guilt and to reinforce UniClass morale.
Special note must be made on the fact that Ministers are heavily monitored by a secret surveillance network and clandestine internal affairs agency commanded by the High Ministry, ensuring that all are within mental conformity of the Ministry ideal, and are proper role models for Unity. In the rare instances that a Minister should ever harbour discordious thoughts or actions, the individual in question can be guaranteed a swift and painful elimination. Simply put, non-conformity is death within the Ministry.
In the years after Dr. Frey's death, most of Einheit City's ancient technological artefacts were collected by the Ministry. While these artefacts were centuries old, many were far more advanced than any modern technology of the time. In the years since then, the Ministry's studies of these ancient relics have produced many new forms of vehicle and computing hardware, as well as weaponry. By monopolizing these technological secrets during the final years of the Species Wars, the Ministry put itself years ahead of the Colonial enemy, as was demonstrated by its total annihilation of the Colonies in 29 ECE.
After the end of the Species Wars less than a year ago, much of the surplus hardware was recycled or put into Toride storage, yet most of it is still very active in the Ministry's steel grip over Einheit City in the present. AirCam surveillance drones, armoured patrol & pursuit cars, halftracks, APCs, armoured hoverdynes, patrol aerodynes, jetcopters, airships, and MCAs (Mechanized Combat Armour) are regularly seen in some form or other throughout the city. The thousands of information-broadcasting telescreens mounted in public places throughout the Toride and Midcity areas are similar monuments to the Ministry's rule. Less overt means of maintaining complete authority are also thickly present, as known in its wide network of hidden surveillance over the city.
Minimum standards for enlistment are extremely high, and only the truly capable make it through recruit training to earn the title of Minister. For this reason, the Ministry itself has always been comparitively small compared to the Colonial horde-armies of the past, yet made up for this in the sheer skill and ability of its personnel, thanks to its uniquely advanced training methods. Although its technology its far more advanced than that of any other known past military, it is well known that even when stripped of their equipment and machinery, Ministers will still often accomplish their mission objectives. Organic ability through extreme mental, physical and emotional condition is emphasized as a combat skill, with technical ability and technological affinity through further training only being taught once the organic basics are fully mastered. Just as teamwork is a vital component of the Ministry's combat prowess, even a lone Minister with only basic equipment, separated from his or her comrades, will often be worth anywhere from five to fourty of his or her foes.
The Ministry maintains a technocratic balance, both by carefully guarding its own secrets, and by weeding out any potential technological threats that turn up amongst in the outer class. Thus, the Ministry's resources are vastly superior in virtually every way to technology available to the outer class (and even civilian UniClassers). Much of its more advanced technology is based off of ancient Architect-age machines uncovered in Einheit City during its discovery, which were later on collected and taken away to Ministry research labs.
Additionally, the Ministry possesses perhaps the world's largest collection of literature and art, nearly all of it illegal in the strictest terms. While most contraband media is simply burned and its distributors arrested or executed, the Ministry has made a meticulous effort to preserve samples of dissident media to serve as a map of purebred thought process. This vast archive, of course, is only accessable to Ministers with special clearance, due to its ideologically dangerous content. Only the purest of Ministry minds are permitted to freely view the archives.
One final thing of note setting the Ministry apart from other military governments throughout history is the complete absence of sexism. One will just as easily find an equal number of females as males in command or combat positions.
There are two main sections of the Ministry, the Low and the High.
Low Ministry (LM)
This is the vast majority of the Ministry, and by far the most widely encountered. These are the troops and officers who are commonly seen directly watching over city affairs, whether it's in the form of an aerodyne patrolling over a cold Midcity slum, a heavily-armed Toride gate checkpoint, or the door of an purebred's apartment being blasted in for a sudden search. The Low Ministry combines the roles of Einheit City's military and police into one organization, holding several armoured patrol divisions, mechanized combat armour squads, air patrol units, elite force divisions, and a covert network of undercover operatives.
Whenever a potential threat is detected, the soldiers of the Low Ministry are the ones sent in to dispose of it, and are almost always more than enough to accomplish such tasks. One should never, ever make the mistake of assuming that the Low Ministry is made up of mindless storm trooper fodder. They are expertly trained elite, ideologically motivated, cunning, and by far the most deadly fighting force in history. Over 97% of the time, the LM is all that is required to handle a threat.
Off-duty, the soldiers of the Low Ministry are everyday UniClassers and have families and friends like anyone else. They are brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, all living as ideal role models of their hybrid communities.
The general structure and format of the Low Ministry is similar to that of most militaries throughout history, consisting of the lower enlisted ranks led by commissioned officers. For all practical purposes, the Low Ministry operates separately from the Higher Ministry, and could be considered an entirely different organization, though still unquestioningly obedient when the HM issues an order or steps into LM affairs.
Standard issue equipment varies from one Ministry specialty to another. With the exception of undercover Ministers, most Low Ministry troops are equipped with the following while on duty:
- WhiteGear body armor system - The exact style and shape of the armor can vary from one Minister to another depending on their specific duties, though the white color theme is constant. Standard-issue Ministry body armor provides extremely high levels of protection against ballistic and blade penetration. All WhiteGear has a built-in thermal control system which effectively camouflages a Minister in infrared spectrums, while providing adequate internal heating to protect the wearer from cold weather hazards. It is also common to see certain WhiteGeared Ministers wearing long white tabards or coats over the body armor, depending on their specific duties. Rank and unit symbols are generally not visible on WhiteGear, but are instead displayed via HUD visible to other Ministers.
- WhiteGear helmet & facial mask - A specially combined gas mask & night vision/IR visual system worn with the WhiteGear. Includes a voice vocoder, which electronically distorts the Minister's voice, so as to reinforce anonymity. A comm-radio, HUD, helmet video camera, is also built into the headgear. Note that Ministers do NOT remove the facial mask in public, and may only do so when un-suiting at their respective precinct or station when off-duty. This serves both as a defensive application, as well as a symbol of the shedding of one's individuality when serving the Ministry. Only in special circumstances are exceptions made for this.
- ID Handheld - A small PDA-like device carried by every Minister. When its DNA testing prongs make contact with the skin or fur of an individual needing to be identified, the device painlessly determines their exact genetic makeup to determine their species or hybrid combination thereof. It will also bring up whatever available information there is on the individual in the Ministry database, such as their social class (UniClass or outer class), general ID information, personal background, and so on.
- Vital signs monitoring system - In the unlikely but still possible event that a Minister should be killed on duty, the vital signs monitoring system in their gear sends an inaudible distress signal with co-ordinates on all Ministry frequencies, which alerts other troops to the exact location of the downed Minister. This device, in addition the Ministry's dense surveillance network, makes it especially difficult for the parties responsible for the killing to escape in one piece.
- Office Dress Uniform - Normally worn in place of the WhiteGear by Ministry personnel in more desktop or office-oriented work where the full armor of WhiteGear would be impractical. Normally consists of a white-themed fabric uniform, sometimes with a white trenchcoat over it, and a service cap or beret.
Standard equipment for average Ministry troops includes a submachine gun or assault rifle, handgun sidearm, nightstick/tazer, and handcuffs. However, equipment varies greatly from one specialty to another. A heavy weapons specialist will most likely have heavier armor and carry a larger weapon than a regular enforcer, whereas a medic will be armed rather lightly, and so on.
Military grade mechanical/biomechanical cybernetic body modifications are occasionally employed in the Ministry. Most commonly they are used as prosthetics for lost limbs or organs.
Though it should be noted that cyberware is not a vital part of the Ministry so much as an occasionally used tool to serve as prosthetics. Most combat-oriented Ministers, through the extreme physical and mental conditioning and efficient training they undergo, simply do not need any artificial augmentation, and even an elite Colonial military cyborg during the Species Wars would've been hard-pressed to match the average Minister in a one on one fight.
High Ministry (HM)
NOTE: This is a highly restricted character class in City of Unity.You must contact the game staff and obtain special permission before playing or NPCing a High Minister.
For many years, the High Ministry was something of a myth; a cabal of the bureau's top commanders and scientists, or perhaps Frey's original research team which discovered and activated the Heart Machine. In time, its existence was more or less accepted as truth, though very little is known about it. How one becomes a High Minister, how many there are, and who they are, is unknown even to the highest ranked officers of the Low Ministry.
What is known is that the High Ministry is the only organization with access to the top level of the Toride, where the Heart Machine – the source of all power in Einheit City – is housed. In the few known instances in where a High Minister is ever present outside this area, all other Ministry personnel obey them unquestioningly. High Ministers may move about wherever, whenever they need, with or without a Low Ministry escort, and hold veto power over all matters in Einheit City and beyond. Just as they hold godlike say over government affairs, the physical and possibly paraphysical abilities of High Ministers are similarly powerful. Those who've ever witnessed a High Minister in the field claim that they can predict bullets before they're fired, that they can fold shadow and defy physics. Most evidence suggests they may be augmented with Architect Age cybermods, technology capable of creating pockets of pseudo-reality which allows a High Minister to bend physics to their will.
It is a noteworthy event that even a Low Minister would see a High Minister. The High Ministry operates miles above and beyond the LM, its thoughts and actions on an almost alien level of existence, only stepping in to direct and command affairs when it is deemed necessary. But it is possible to visually identify High Ministers, from the few times they have ever been encountered. Unlike all other Ministry personnel which wear white, High Ministers are entirely black, both bodily and in clothing, their faces never visible, always seeming concealed by permanent shadow. The only armament a High Minister carries is a long katana. Knowing their almost supernatural-appearing abilities, this is perhaps far more than a High Minister would ever need in combat.
There have been a few incidents where a group or individual proved themselves to be enough of a threat to Unity to warrant the attention of the High Ministry. In each case, the presence of only a single High Minister was ever required to completely eradicate each threat in question, no matter how well-armed, cunning or numerous the threat may have been.
Should one be unfortunate enough to be sought after by the High Ministry, their only hope is to run. To turn and face a High Minister, for all practical purposes, is suicide.
Important Info On Creating and Playing Ministry/Ex-Ministry Characters
Due to the extremely strict and rigid police-military structure of the Ministry, its ideology, and the specific ways in which the Ministry operates, applications for Ministry/Ex-Ministry characters will be reviewed to a much higher quality and setting-consistency standard than those of other character types. Because characters who are or were Ministry service members hold a great deal of social and physical power, RP mistakes made with them can be particularly troublesome, for both the player and character, as well as other involved parties. Hence, Ministry/Ex-Ministry characters are reserved for players who have demonstrated advanced understanding of the game's setting and rules.
We highly advise new players to avoid submitting any Ministry-related characters until they are more familiar with the game. If you do intend to create a Ministry character, it is strongly suggested that you create one of low rank, due to the extremely high IC responsibility that comes with playing a mid to high ranked Minister.
Here's a few basic rules:
- Individuals who do not meet Ministry standards will simply not be recruited, period. This is an elite force of the most well-trained and efficient soldiers in history. Those weak in mind or body are of no use to it. Those who enlist and then later on become weak in mind or body are simply discharged, or weeded out by less pleasant means. This is a total state machine. Individuality does not exist.
- You may NOT use a Ministry character for powergaming or unwarranted bullying against other characters - While the Ministry is indeed an oppressive and terrifyingly efficient military junta, just because you play a Minister does not mean you're supposed to go beating up and killing the purebred characters in the game simply because your character has the power to. Not only is it just unecessary and rude, it's also an abuse of IC power. When playing a Minister, you must do it responsibly. Instead of bashing in the faces of other characters, it's better to have your character get his or her enforcement quota filled by either acting it out on NPCs played by yourself or another player, or simply have your Ministry character's enforcement go on "off-screen", so to speak. Now if your Ministry character is deliberately attacked by another character, then you have a right to act in lethal defense. And if another player actually says they want their character to get busted by the Ministry, go right on ahead.
- Ministry characters who, in any way, break protocol or deviate from the organization's Unity ideals are practically guaranteed to be eliminated by their peers or superiors, no matter how cunning or stealthy they may be about it. Even Ministers who merely think non-conformist thoughts have been known to be quietly removed from existence. How exactly their corrupt thoughts are detected, is unknown. It could be something as simple as a single whisper or suspicious glance betraying some mental rebellion being caught on surveillance. Though there are some who say the High Ministry's Architect-derived machinery may have the ability to precisely calculate future events or actions based off of the most subtle patterns in the present, or even read minds.
More commonly, Ministers who display any hint of rebellion are simply eliminated by their LM peers or superiors. And if the Low Ministry somehow does not detect these signs, the High Ministry will. How, it doesn't matter. For all practical purposes, Ministers who commit any act of rebellion are dooming themselves, and players of Ministry characters who do this will have to accept the high likelihood of their character being killed.
In any case, rebellious thoughts or actions are almost unheard of in the Ministry to begin with, due to the ideologically-motivated social norm of its recruits, which has kept the number of these internal purges microscopic in scale.
Examples of behaviour deemed unacceptable for Ministers, and may be cause for, in best-case scenarios, severe demotions or discharge, or in worst-case scenarios, execution. Most of these apply to inactive/ex-Ministers as well, with a couple possible exceptions:
- Drug abuse
- Homosexuality
- Religious belief
- Accepting bribes
- Criminal corruption
- Disobeying / questioning authority
- Sympathizing with outer class causes
- Disclosing Ministry information to outside parties
- Close relations (ie: close friendship, romantic, sexual, etc.) with outer classers (note that exception is made for deep-undercover Ministers where such acts are necessary)
- Criticizing / questioning Unification theory, the Ministry, or UniClass society
- Unprofessional conduct (ie: looting, theft, abusing authority for personal vendettas, unco-operative behavior towards other Ministers, or other strategically unsound or savage "purebred-like" behavior)
Ministers who commit aforementioned crimes may be punished or killed at any time, on the Ministry's terms. Players of Ministry characters guilty of any of these are required to play their character(s) accordingly with these consequences in mind.
Basic Guidelines For Ministry Procedure and Philosophy
In order to accurrately play a Minister, one must understand the organization's general philosophy and how it handles the citizens of Einheit City. Seemingly minor on-duty errors can cost one their career, or in some cases, their lives or the lives of others, hence this section is especially vital.
The Outer Class
Treatment of the purebred outer class must be thought of in a considerably different light than the hybrid UniClass. Generally speaking, the Ministry does not go out of its way to prevent, investigate, or punish crimes committed by one outer classer against another outer classer, no matter how heinous they may be. Only when a percieved threat to authorty or an act of rebellion is detected, when a purebred's Ministry-encouraged right to become a hybrid is infringed upon, or when a member of the UniClass is harmed, will the Ministry act.
Less educated individuals will claim that the Ministry is simply apathetic to the outer class's suffering, or even relishes it. In reality, there is a calculated evolutionary purpose behind it, one which the Ministry does not take sadistic pleasure in, but solemnly carries out because the survival of civilization demands it. Widespread use of fear tactics, torture, and execution are not done out of wanton aggression, but because the utopian dream of Unity is so precious that such extreme measures must be taken to safeguard it. Purebreds who do not submit to Unity by becoming hybrids must be regarded as potential threats to it.
Species division, at the very least, no longer serves an evolutionary purpose, and at the worst, is a breeding-ground for rivalry and violence. Where a difference between one species and another exists, so there will always be a primal, instinctual line of thought which divides one person from another on simple genetic grounds. For some purebreds, it does not always lead to violence, and the Ministry does agnowledge that some purebreds of different species do in fact co-operate with one another in near tolerance. Yet such rare merits found in purebred society are vastly outweighed by the terrible potential for hate and violence. When in doubt, one need only look to the history of the Species Wars, where several species groups ruling over their respective Colonies waged war and genocide for centuries. Purebreds are classified by default as incomplete beings. They are a flawed relic of an evolutionary epoch which has long since passed, and their only hope is to embrace the next step of evolution - hybridization... Or more properly, Unity.
In Unity, there are no divisions. While each hybrid may have physical differences due to their varying combinations of species DNA, they are all still hybrids. They are all United. And in time there will no longer be physical differences. In a demonstration of both diversity and perfect conformity, hybrids genetically embody the very essence of inter-species harmony, leaving no ground for primitive racist concepts to take root in. Likewise, Religion and Individualism, with all their selfishness, paranoia, and fear, have no place in Unity. If civilization is to survive and prosper, it must submit to Unity, and only there will it find true utopia.
The question then remains as to how purebreds should be convinced of the urgent need for their co-operation in building a better tomorrow. Purebred society exists only by division of species, and history has proven time and time again that when combined with executive power, purebreedism ultimately leads to one species oppressing or annihilating another, so as to secure the survival of their own species.
However, few outer classers will allow themselves to understand the facts illustrating the grave dangers of purebreedism, no matter how tactfully and respectfully they are presented. This, in addition with acts of anti-Unity rebellion and terrorism which are rampant among the outer class have given the Ministry no choice but to adopt more drastic measures to force the outer class to face the consequences of its own existence. The outer class is thus cut off from the opportunities which are granted to the UniClass. The outer class is given no protection from its own self-created rampant crime, hunger, and poverty.
Contrary to the claims of outer class rebels, the Ministry feels no joy at all in the outer class's hardship. For the outer class's rejection of Unity, the Ministry must punish it, not because it has a right to, but because it has no right not to. After all, does not a caring, loving father firmly discipline a rebellious son, not out of wrath, but out of genuine concern for the child's own well-being and future? In the same manner, the Ministry's method in dealing with the outer class, and allowing the outer class to fall prey to itself, is an act of the purest altruism. By forcing the outer class to gaze into its own disgusting reflection, they are faced either with the choice of continuing to wallow in their own corruption and hate, or to agnowledge their own horrible imperfection, and submit to Unity.
When operating among the outer class, the Ministry's primary concern is to quickly detect and annihilate political and ideological rebellion against authority and Unity.
Commanding an extremely wide and deep-reaching network of covert surveillance, undercover agents cosmetically altered to appear as purebreds, and informants, the Ministry is never lacking justification to conduct sudden raids, arrests, and eliminations of suspected rebel elements. The only tragedy in the death of a purebred is that, theoretically, with every purebred, there is a potential hybrid. However, very many purebreds choose to make their existence a threat greater than their potential to embrace Unity and become a hybrid, leaving the Ministry no choice but to use lethal force as a very common means of maintaining order and securing a Unified future for those who will submit to it.
Even then, the Ministry does not always require concrete evidence to carry out operations on purebred individuals, homes and establishments. Purebreds who are not already on the path towards Unity are guilty until proven innocent. Interrogations and torture are not necessarily carried out for the purpose of extracting information or a confession to a crime (though it may seem so), but to condition the way an individual thinks in order to instill fearful obedience and compliance. As stated before, for its rejection of Unity, the outer class must be punished until it sees the error of its ways, and random searches, interrogations, and detainments are some of the many viable options at the Ministry's disposal.
Since purebreds are considered by default to be un-evolved primitives who are inherintly prone to corruption and violence, the best way for the Ministry to educate the Ministry is in fact fully capable of eliminating crime in the outer class sectors. Yet such an effort would be regarded as horrendously un-ethical. Because the outer class exists only by rejecting Unity, it would be suicide on a civilization scale to reward the outer class with Ministry protection from its own crimes. One does not reward a social delinquent for his or her rebellion, but instead forces them to face the consequences of their choices. It is not an act of malice or anger, but an act of concern for their well-being, and that of society as a whole.
However there are some crimes that will guarantee punishment if they are caught, since are regarded at worst as threats to the Ministry or UniClass, or at the very least an unforgivable act of rebellion. The most common example of this is possession of illegal weapons, which the Ministry considers too much of a danger to tolerate, regardless of the individual's intent.
One example of how such a weapons-possession crime might be handle is this: in the Midcity, one purebred attempts to kill another with a knife or some other legal but still lethal weapon. The victim pulls an illegal gun on their attacker and uses it clearly in self-defense. If a an on-duty Minister were to witness such an event, the outer classer in possession of the illegal firearm would be the one to be killed on sight, since their gun ownership is seen as a far greater threat than a knife would be. Because the outer class is regarded as being too prone to criminality to be trusted with firearms, any possessing illegal weapons are to be treated as an immediate threat, and will be shot on sight.
Of course it's entirely possible and likely that the original attacker who used only a knife might be punished just as lethally, the Ministry would not put nearly as much effort into tracking and arresting them as it would the gun owner, who in the eye of the Ministry can be considered more of a threat.
Whether just the gun owner or both parties are punished, the Ministry's core reasoning for the punishiment is that it sets a public example of Ministry authority, rather than it being out of any intent to cleanse purebred society. It just so happens that illegal weapons are a greater affront to Ministry authority, and an affront to Ministry authority is to challenge Unity itself, which can only end in the utter destruction of the challenging party.
Further explanation must then be given then as to why the Ministry allows the Underlord-run crime syndicates of the Undercity to exist. Many outer classers hold the incorrect impression that the Ministry is actually unable to remove the Syndicates from power, when in fact it is wholly capable of eliminating them when needed. The reason the Syndicates are usually allowed to run rampant outside UniClass territory is similar to why the Ministry generally permits outer classers to destroy one another individually, though on a much larger scale here. So long as the crime lords aren't foolish enough to so much as think about challenging the UniClass, the Ministry usually will not bother to eliminate them. Since the Syndicates themselves are purebreds who prey upon other purebreds, the inbred cycle of violence serves to remind the outer class of what society without Unity is truly like.
When it comes to the matter of outer classers committing crimes against UniClassers, or simply getting in the way of the UniClass, the Ministry will always act with extreme force. While the crime of one purebred murdering another might go uninvestigated and ignored, an outer classer who is merely accused of slighting a UniClasser can encounter painful consequences. Such legally brutal measures have kept the rate of actual outer class offenses carried out directly against the UniClass rather small.
Although they are quite rare, there is a very tiny yet still noteworthy number of outer classers who are in fact hybrids. Normally when hybrids are born as a result of cross-species mating between purebreds, the hybrid children are noticed and quickly collected by the Ministry, and are taken into the Toride to be raised as proper UniClassers, regardless as to whether or not their purebred parents consent to this. But in a city so large and populated, sadly, some hybrid children do not make it onto Ministry radar and continue on to be raised in outer class society. As they mature, most of these hybrids are quick to flee the filth and crime of the outer class and run to the nearest Ministry patrol to request entry to UniClass society.
Yet there are still some who, for whatever reason, choose not to conform to Unity. These individuals, aged are classified as traitors, and when they are detected, are treated far less forgivingly than regular purebreds. Purebreds, despite their primitive, violence-prone DNA and profound social, are still regarded as holding some potential of submitting to Unity and becoming wholly new people through the artificial hybridization process. Volunatarily outer class hybrids on the other hand are regarded as hopelessly corrupt and dangerous, and are often simply killed as soon as they are identified. Hence, the outer class hybrid population has always been kept very small and scattered.Yet even when outer class hybrids manage to evade the Ministry, there's no shortage of purebreds eager to spill hybrid blood without consequence.
Lastly, some note must be given of the scant few purebreds who co-operate with the Ministry. In many cases these individuals are simply desperate opportunists out to save their own necks, but are nonetheless useful to the Ministry, even if their motives are self-serving. By informing the Ministry of, say, a gathering of political dissidents next door, they hope that the Ministry will spare them in the ensuing raid. The Ministry still regards such individuals with great suspicion and disapproval for not yet choosing to submit to Unity, but for their compliance with authority, they are given some small measure of gentler treatment. This can be in the form of the informant and his/her family being permitted to leave the area when their apartment complex comes under Ministry lockdown, being given a small guarantee of Ministry protection from other outer classers, or simply a reward of creds, cigarettes, or food rations. This is, of course, assuming that the informant's information stays reliable and that the informant stays useful. Providing incorrect or misleading information to the Ministry are grounds for arrest and/or execution.
Still other informants are simply blackmailed. One such example would be a mafioso who has been secretly sleeping with his boss's girlfriend. The Ministry might use this to get insider information from him about some illegal weapon deals, or else threaten to somehow notify the boss of the "informant's" scandal. But such measures are becoming increasingly archaic, due to the Ministry simply having technological surveillance and undercover agents at its disposal which can yield the same results. Though there are times in which undercover Ministers, machine surveillance, or voluntary informants are not the best options, which is where the blackmailed informant card is played.
The UniClass
Because the UniClass are those who have embraced Unity, their preservation takes priority over all others. Since the outer class's continuing rejection of Unity requires that the Ministry not interfere to protect it from the consequences of its own rebellion, UniClassers committing crimes against outer classers are, in most cases, punished only mildly, if at all. The Ministry discourages UniClassers against bullying, terrorizing, and other "purebred-like behaviour" against outer classers, though it is more out of concern for their own safety rather than to protect the hopelessly corrupt outer class. For example, were a Minister to observe a UniClasser fighting with a purebred in the Midcity, the purebred will be arrested, and the UniClasser given a stern warning to avoid this in the future, for their own safety.
UniClassers committing crimes against their fellow UniClassers, or carrying out any other acts of rebellion, however, are to be severely punished. Generally when such offending acts are detected, a formal warrant is not necessarily required for an arrest. When a UniClass individual or group commits an act of rebellion, the crime itself is the warrant, and that is all that is required for the Ministry to legally act. Trials are occasionally carried out, though such hearings are done more as a public demonstration of the accussed's guilt, and the Ministry's judgement of such traitors.
There are however some other ways in which the Ministry may handle the rare cases of UniClass corruption. UniClassers who have forsaken their true calling are seen as being even more dangerous than the most cunning or well-armed outer class terrorist, since they pose the risk of infecting other UniClassers with dangerous thoughts which could jeapordize Unity itself. For example, a UniClasser who has become critical of the Ministry and Unity, and spends a lot of time among the outer class might be eliminated by more secretive methods when a special outcome is desired to defend Unity. The death or disappearance will then be clandestinely arranged so as to appear as thought it was committed by purebred terrorists or criminals. On one side it serves to remove an undesireable element, and also serves as a vital tool to guide public opinion in a positive direction towards Unity.
Some may initially think that this is horrendously corrupt and dishonest of the Ministry. From an outside perspective, it certainly would appear so. Yet from the standpoint of the officers ordering it and the agents carrying it out, it is not only ethical, but required if civilization is to survive. In an ideal world, the Ministry would not have to resort to such measures. But the enemies of the UniClass and Ministry are many. They know no honour or mercy, and will use any means possible, no matter how terrible or cruel, to prevent the peace and enlightenment that will come with Unity. The Ministry does not relish using clandestine operations or manipulation of information, yet when one truly takes into account the sheer peril facing Unity, and what could happen if these terrorist elements were to prevail, it is a very, very, small price to pay for the greater good.
Can The Ministry Be Defeated?
One common mistake made by new players, or players still getting familiar to City Of Unity's setting, is the notion that the Ministry must be somehow "defeated" for the game to be "won" or to be considered successful. Occasionally they will make characters whom they intend to be instrumental in striking a major blow or even bringing down the Ministry, and hold the assumption that the Ministry is actually meant to be defeated. Still others make the even greater error of assuming that the Ministry are inept, poorly-aimed dime-a-dozen henchmen who can be outwitted by any cunning rebel. These are all well-intentioned ideas, yet are also the product of great misunderstanding of the Ministry's role in City Of Unity.
Unlike many stories where the objective is to save the world from the oppressor, City Of Unity is the story of what happens when the oppressor has already won. The fight for freedom was lost long ago. All that remains now are dominators, the dominated, and the deluded. Epic tragedy, defeat, and loss are all part of the role-playing experience here. For lack of better terms, the Ministry is City Of Unity every bit as the blackened Sun is City Of Unity.
The Ministry is a core element of the game's setting which characters, one way or another, must cope with, whether they are hybrids or purebreds. The question asked to those playing a part in City Of Unity is not specifically about how they will fight the Ministry, but simply, how they will live under its influence and dominion, and what they will say or do to be remembered when this story comes to an end.
Of course this does not mean that characters can't try to resist or rebel against the Ministry. By all means, they are welcome to attempt that just as much as they are free to side with it, or to avoid involvement with it altogether. Yet the Ministry simply are not fools. It is by far the most deadly and powerful military/government entity in history, and even a glancing blow against it will not come without paying a terrible price unless a very good reason is given otherwise. All one needs to do to understand this is to look at the fate of the Colonies, who, despite their superior numbers, were singlehandedly annihilated by the Ministry's almost godlike cunning. The closest thing to victory which most reformists and revolutionaries can hope for is to perhaps cause a momentary setback to the Ministry or to bring a few minutes of fear to the UniClass. If they are exceptionally lucky or cunning, they might live long enough to take satisfaction in the brief annoyance they've posed to the regime before they and everyone close to them are exterminated like all of the Ministry's previous enemies. Exceptions are possible, but they are rare and are not made without good reason.
Victory for those opposing the Ministry will not come in the form of triumphant liberators storming the streets and extinguishing the Flame Of Unity, and if it does, it will not be for a long time. Victory comes in small acts of heroism.. Hiding or helping someone who is hunted in spite of the risks, offering medical treatment in the absense of supplies or payment, and simply helping to make life better for those around you while living in such grim times. Freedom will not come in the form of political revolution, but personal revolution in daring to dream in a totalitarist, thought-policing society, and surviving long enough to whisper those dreams to others.
If the Ministry does end, it will be when City Of Unity comes to its grand finale. But we hope that this won't need to happen anytime soon, and that we can enjoy the game for as long as reasonably possible until then.