Molotov

As you knock on the door of a simple looking shack on Sevastopolskaya Station, you enter the building. A simple dwelling, made out of sheet metal on one side and the wall of Sevastopolskaya on the other. Unlike most other dwellings, its not a tent and has not a single cloth within it, it quickly becomes clear why, as Homer is practically swimming in folders and papers and any fire in here would quickly spread if not contained by the metal sheets that make up the walls.

The wrinkled face of Homer, ever thoughtful, shows a brief glimmer of a smile "Take this cup, I have some VDNKh tea. What brings you here?" he says in his usual deep and warm voice. The man is 60 years old, a self-proclaimed chronicler of the Metro System. From the beginning of his life under the surface Homer had been known for collecting all Newspaper's articles which he stashes in a special folder along with gossips and stories circling around the Metro system.

As you take a sip from the canteen, feeling the warm tea slowly spill in your body, you let off why you are here, You want to learn about the factions of the Metro.

"Ask away."

Polis
Rangers
Hanseatic League
Red Line
Reich
Revolutionaries
Ulitsa 1905 Confederation
Baumansky Alliance
Plantations, Factories and Belorusskaya
VDNKh (Exhibition) Commonwealth
Sevastopolskaya Empire
The Syndicate (Kitai-Gorod/Tretyakovsky]
Venice
Blacksmiths' Bridge (Kuznetsky Most)
Paveletskaya
Pervomay Republic
Kalinin Confederation

Within the last refuge of mankind, there is a last refuge of civilization. This place is Polis, deep in the Metro's heartlands. Occupying the stations of Alexandrovsky Sad, southern Arbatskaya, Borovitskaya and Biblioteka Imeni Lenina, Polis was formed by certain "elites" of Russian society fleeing the end - politicians and military leaders, scientists and businessmen, Spetsnaz and FSB agents, the rich, the famous and the educated.

It is the only Metro settlement that could be considered a city, hence the name. With complete electrification - often stunning to outside eyes unaccustomed to light, clean water, ample supplies, healthcare, education, simple "flats" constructed between the station platforms rather than mere tents, and many other necessities of subway survival and prosperity, the life of a Polis citizen is far above that of the normal Muscovite

Some old Metro trains have even been refitted, the only functioning of its kind in the entire known subway. With the rest of the Metro envious of their many fortunes, and many wishing to leave their miserable lives behind, Polis has forced itself into partial isolation, preferring to stay out of worldly politics.

Through two decades of seclusion, a strange society has developed, entirely centred around four castes inspired by Hindu culture. The Shruda, the lower class of servants and menial workers, the Vashiya, Polis' dedicated merchant class and their connection to the outside world, the Kshatriya, a warrior class consisting mainly of veteran soldiers, special forces and government agents, and finally the Brahmins, the strangest of all.

The stational reverence of knowledge, wisdom and especially reading has developed into a religious stage, with the pre-War scientists, teachers and other important keepers of knowledge as a new clergy. The center of their religion is the Great Library, a dangerous place were few dare go. The castes are firmly divided onto the four stations of Polis. Even visitors from the chaotic, insane outside world find this society strange and foreign.

Polis is very well-armed, with a strong and skilled army. The Rangers, once a part of the stational armed forces, are proof of this. It is an absolute necessity for survival. Surrounded by the Red Line, the Hansa, the Fourth Reich, the crime syndicate, stations infested by mutants, and the somewhat insane Polyanka nearby, Polis must keep a constant vigilance. Fortunately for them none dare attack the stations, knowing they would lose horrifically. Not that anyone would want to destroy the one place consistently referred to as humanity's last hope - or so the Polisians hope.

On the surface, in a faraway land known as Америка, there was once upon a time a saying. "One Riot, One Ranger". It's long forgotten, but still applies.

The Rangers are an order, on the edge of being religious, formed by members of the Polis Kshatriya warrior class - former Spetsnaz troops, veterans of the wars in Chechnya, Dagestan, Ossetia and other shady places, even some old Red Army soldiers who fought in Afghanistan. Centred in Polis but never governed by the station-state, they are fully dedicated to exterminating every threat to Mankind. If it's hostile, they kill it, be it man or beast. Nazi, bandit, mutant - it matters little.

While few, never more than a couple dozen at a time, their constant presence on the frontlines of the Metro and the wastelands above have given them an almost mythological reputation, with wild tales frequently holding them up as saviours - or demonic madmen, if you happen to be their wrong side. However, their methods are not always the nicest ones - force is their language and the air that they breathe. All means are acceptable if necessary.

It is said that these heavily armed and armoured men are currently attempting to re-establish a permanent presence on the surface - the truth of this is unknown. That they operate up above is however a well-known fact, making more than a few nervous to hang around unsecured hermetical gates.

A certain chain of recent events are very unclear, but it is thought by many that a squad of Rangers ventured deep enough into the Metro to find something ancient, and then onto the surface to destroy another threat. As with all tales of the Rangers, nothing is certain.

The Commonwealth of the Stations of the Ring Line is a federation of stations, formed around the round line encircling the entire centre of Moscow, with some few stations outside the circle. It emerged shortly after central control of the Metro was disbanded in the early days of chaos, as these stations became vital points of all trade routes and a place where the merchants gathered. Banding together to protect their riches the merchants formed the Commonwealth, commonly known as the Hansa. Someone once compared it to the Medieval alliance between merchant cities in the Baltic Sea - the nickname stuck.

At first only including some stations in the Northern Arc of the Ring Line, the Hansa soon expanded. More and more stations joined, with the Southern Arc emerging as an equal centre of power. The Sokolnicheskaya Line, now known as the Red Line, proved the main obstacle to complete unification - and a dangerous and hostile factor, its radical ideology challenging every principle in the trader's handbook. In unity with several other anti-communist factions, the Hansa soon waged war with the aggressively expansionist demagogues.

It proved a bloody battle, and virtually unwinnable without losses that far exceeding the sacrifices the Hansa was willing to make. Eventually, a mutually beneficial agreement was signed in secret between the leaders of the Hansa, their allies in the Arbat Federation, and the Red Line, at last unifying the circle. The Hansa didn't forget their conflict, but kept it peaceful - the Red Line was far better as a trade partner than an enemy.

Today, Hansa is better off than most places, but not by much. A plutocracy at its finest, extreme mercantilist capitalism is the name of the game. Prime Minister Loginov rules the Ring Line, putting down any dissent with a heart of stone and a fist of gold. Corruption is common, if you got the ammo for it you can buy any official or guardsman. This is true especially on the south-eastern stations, where the nearby bandit warlords and gangs make the most of the situation.

A cult has developed around the concept of trade and wealth, with the sacred texts of Adam Smith and other ancient economists practically worshipped. Despite this admiration, the Commonwealth itself virtually lacks any free exchange or competition - it is basically a gigantic trade monopoly. The people of Hansa, especially those born after the War, are indoctrinated heavily. The workforce, mainly consisting of very poorly paid non-citizens, is put under tremendous pressure. Not granted any rights or freedoms, they are little better than thralls. Overpopulation is a definite problem, with all the wealth attracting legal and illegal immigrants by the thousands. This continues despite harsh border controls.

The actual citizens of the Hansa, being only a small part of the population, are very wealthy. With little reason to care for the hungry masses, their only concern is profit. In this part of the subway, nothing is more sweet than the trickle of bullets, be it into your pockets or the flesh of your enemies.

The Red Line, where vodka and purges never go out of fashion. In the early 20th century, the desperate people of Russia flocked around an ideology, one that promised destruction to their enemies and a shining new world for them. It didn't turn out too well then, and neither has it in the Metro.

Years ago, people began flocking around the ideology once again, in the station of Preobrazhenskaya Ploschad on the Sokolnicheskaya Line, the Red Line. From all over the Metro they came, the intellectuals, the former Komsomol youths, the old Soviet citizens who remembered their past more fondly than others, members of the Communist Party of Russia - and some of the National Bolshevik Party - and the new citizens of the Metro who had never seen Russia, let alone the USSR, yet dreamed of glorious days long gone. Nostalgia and lies goes a long way.

Their enthusiasm spread like a plague to nearby stations. Initially rather chaotic, they soon organised a central committee - the Interstational. This union of stations, now officially known as the Red Line, grew quickly under the firm leadership of General Secretary Moskvin. Radical propagandists and revolutionary preachers were sent out, and in one station after the other insurgencies erupted. Other groups, mainly the Hansa and the Arbat Confederation, feared their spread and banded togeher in an anti-communist alliance.

The following war was more brutal than any other the the Metro had seen, with the Reds deploying wave after wave of cannon fodder against their enemies. It was a war none could win without losing, and eventually a deal was reached in secret. The Reds would give up any ambition to spread the revolution, and the Ring Line stations crossed by the Red Line would stay in Hanseatic possession, while they in return received the rest of the Line and the stations of Teatralnaya and Ploshchad Revolyutsii. This proved strategically good for both Hansa and the Reds, and a symbolic victory for the Interstational.

While the war with the Hansa is over, tensions still remain at an all-time high. The Hansa willingly trade, but that's it. Dissident after dissident try to make it out to other stations, but are mostly shot by either the Reds or the guards of their would-be sanctuary - everyone fears the arrival of Red spies. The few that live to tell their horrifying tale speak of severe famine and oppression.

The Red Line is a tight police state, where paranoia is the name of the game. Each person reported by their neighbours and friends are hauled off to Lubyanka by the KGB, never to be seen again. Like their Nazis counterparts, the Communists emulate Soviet society the best they can. Let's just say that Иосиф is a common name for the newborn, and that commissar caps are very popular. Also like their Nazi counterparts, with whom they are fighting a costly war of attrition in the darkest tunnels of the Metro, they have little understanding of their ideology - "Communism" resembles itself even less than under the most vicious days of the USSR.

When darkness rules the world, those with darkness in their hearts prosper. In the final days of the Russian Federation, the Neo-Nazi movement was flourishing. When the apocalypse hit, what remained of it took their fanatism to a whole new level, much like their Red counterparts. Establishing a firm hold on the triangle stations of Tverskaya, Chekhovskaya and Pushkinskay in the central Metro, a reign of fear began. While initially loosely grouped together and united only by hatred, the Fourth Reich has now grown into a fully National Socialist state - or so they like to believe - led by the mysterious Führer, said by some to be the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler himself.

Not that they know who this Hitler was, exactly. Most would describe him as an ancient, semi-mythical emperor, or spin even more bizarre tales. Knowledge of the past fades soon when not maintained, and after twenty years in the shadows below Moscow few remember what National Socialism was actually about. Emulating the Third Reich in every way they can, complete with a black leather uniforms and somewhat odd accents, the Nazi certainly do remember that the Reds and Nazis once fought a grand war, but they have forgotten the details. The heavily indoctrinated Nazi society worships the past, but knows little of it.

Worshipping the glorious Slavic race, the purest and most superior of all human breeds, the Nazis aim to overthrow the entire Metro, cleansing it of Communist swine and Caucasian untermenschen. These alien ethnic groups have, in lack of anything better, assumed the traditional role of the Jews, and are exterminated on sight. The Nazis have one large obstacle against this their sacred quest - underpopulation. Woefully few, with a large female deficit, they rely mainly on a relatively small, elite war machine fuelled and reinforced by forced conscriptions, raiding and slavery.

Due to their brutal tactics and goals, few enjoy the company of Nazis. The Hansa and some independent stations do not shy away from trading with them, but tensions are high. They have waged a bloody war against their Communist archenemies for a long time now, but the conflict seems frozen in place, with wave after wave of Reds smashing against their fortifications. This brutal monotony is interrupted only by revolutionary raids deep into Nazi territory.

¡Hasta la victoria siempre, Commandante Che Guevara! Unlike what one might have expected, fighting spirit and idealism still lives in depths of Moscow. While the Red Line communists fell deeper and deeper into authoritarian Stalinism, and forgot their history, there were some who remembered - and denounced comrade Moskvin as a revisionist and traitor to the subway revolution.

These few men and women have banded together in a loose organisation, known simply as the Revolutionaries. Uniting around the red banner of Che Guevara, their ideology is a strange mix of old-fashioned Leninism, Trotskyism, certain libertarian values, and a large dose of inspiration from a certain Argentinian rebel thrown in.

They are organised in small groups, with names such as the First International Red Fighting Brigade of the Moscow Metropolitan in the name of Ernesto Che Guevara, led by political commissars and waging guerrilla warfare against the Fourth Reich, their most hated enemy. Employing hit-and-run tactics, insidious weaponry and revolutionary zeal, the Revolutionaries constantly harass their enemy. Unlike the Reds, they remember exactly why they fight the Nazis.

Being few and spread wide, they depend much on sympathetic civilians and factions for aid. Despite their strong disapproval of Stalinism, the Reds provide fuel and other supplies, going around their old promise to keep away from spreading Communism through a proxy. The Ulitsa 1905 Confederation give shelter, and the engineers of the Baumansky Alliance provide transport and repairs. The Revolutionaries control little territory themselves, their strongholds said to be the distant and seldom visited stations of Avtozavodskaya and the fittingly named Partizanskaya.

While they have more friends than many, it's not exactly like they don't have enemies. The Reds, despite their material support, would have preferred to have purged them straight away like the Trotskyists they are, if not for the strategical issues. Being both fervent Communists and holding many persecuted non-Russians in their ranks, the Nazis would have been at their throats even with the guerrilla combat. The Hansa, always weary of Red anti-capitalism and revolution, are likewise far from their friends.

Like many other groups in the Metro, the 1905 Confederates are brought together only by a desire for common safety. Based out of the Ulitsa 1905 Goda station, the Confederacy also contains Begovaya and Barrikadnaya, the later exposing it to both the Hansa and the Fourth Reich. While neither particulary rich or poor, the 1905 Confederates have gone through a great deal of ordeals.

One story populary told through the Metro is that of Polezhaevskaya, once part of the Confederacy. It was a small, sparesly populated station. One day, scouts passing through forward tunnels previously thought safe began disappearing. Several search patrols also vanished without a trace. A heavy defence line was set up, the entire station put on alert and a messenger sent to Begovaya to request aid from the other Confederates. Before the administration of Begovaya had finished debating the question, a lone survivor appeared. His tale was horrifying, speaking of an untold enemy leaving the entire station dead, their throats cut in their sleep.

A large detachment of veteran soldiers, numbering a full hundred, was prepared and sent off to the Polezhaevskaya. Upon arrival they found nothing but blood, the entire station empty. Upon return the 1905 Confederates used explosives to collapse the only tunnel back, ensuring that the other stations in their alliance would be safe. Still, fear of whatever was behind the devastating attack remains.

The event, together with the constant worry of a Nazi attack, has created an uncomfortable atmosphere in the Ulitsa 1905 Confederation. Not among the strongest of factions, they huddle in their stations, building up defenses, continuing trade with a Hansa bent on mercantile domination, and supplying the Revolutionaries with shelter from their Fascist enemies.

When the missiles fell, the eastern end of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line found itself luckier than most. With the Bauman Moscow State Technical University and the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering almost right above Baumanskaya station, and several electric factories near Elektrozavodskaya, many engineers, technicians and other skilled workers were caught on the line.

Uniting their skills, the engineers formed the Baumansky Alliance, a small but well-off union. Utilising their technological knowledge and available tools they have created some of the most developed stations in the known Metro, with an energy system completely independent from the outside and high tech in general.

Consisting mainly of educated workers, the Alliance has developed a somewhat strong leftist leaning, leading to them providing supplies, shelter and repairs to the Revolutionaries passing through to their Partizanskaya stronghold. Trade goes on with the Hansa, trading Baumansky tech for other supplies. Establishing friendly relations with nearby non-hostiles is of great importance, with many surrounding stations plagued, abandoned or under control of bandit warlords.

Wealth always fades away in the end, eventually prosperity will inevitably die. The Arbat Confederates know this simple truth better than anyone. Once a major power in the Metro, spanning many stations, Arbat is down on its luck.

Located in the south-western corner of the Metro, on both sides of the Ring Line, Arbat was a major trading power, emerging at roughly the same time as the Hansa. Partaking side by side with their fellow merchant in the anti-communist war, Arbat became the conflict's true loser, losing its most distant station - Ploshchad Revolyutsii - to the Reds. More misfortunes followed, as both the northern Smolenskaya and their original center Arbatskaya were lost to a mutant invasion.

Now, only two of the joint Kievskaya stations and southern Smolenskaya remain under Arbat control, the primarily Caucasian and otherwise non-Russian merchants having lost most of their influence. The Reds no longer as much of a danger, and the tunnels to the lost stations under heavy watch, one main fear remained - Park Pobedy.

According to Arbat legend, the tunnel to the distant station was collapsed by greedy Kievskaya traders reluctant to allow competition. The long-lost Park Pobedy now serves as a source of terror, with a multitude of myths surrounding it - it is sometimes called the City of the Dead. A few years back, children began disappearing from Kievskaya with an increasing rate, leading the Arbat Confederation to believe there was something out there in the tunnels to Park Pobedy. They were right.

Sufficient to say, with the constant fear and the loss of territory, fortune is not a common thing on these stations, with especially the Kievskayans being not much better off than paupers and beggars.

Recently, things have been looking better for Arbat, as the kidnappings have essentially stopped. It is unknown why, but rumour has it the Rangers are involved somehow, as always. Perhaps the Confederation can pull itself out of its plight, even if their citizens yet dread the Reds, City of the Dead.

The Plantations and Factories are a loose federation of primarily rural farming communities in the far north-western end of the Metro, on the stations of Sokol, Aeroport and Dinamo. Depending mainly on agriculture, it was from the Plantations (the "and Factories" part is often thought somewhat deceiving) that the Metro's pig population spread.

Having little involvement in the outside world, connected by the Metro only by travelling merchants, they mainly communicate through the independent Belorusskaya, to which it sells its produce, which mainly passes on to the Hansa - and the Nazis. Despite their isolation, they are reasonably well-off. Perhaps mainly due to the fact that they are heavily in use of Slaves, traded with the Nazis through Belorusskaya.

Not fucking around with people is the key to survival, a little known fact Belorusskaya learned a long time ago. Today it is one of few independent stations, not joined in any alliance or coalition, and one of even fewer ones that have retained their prosperity.

The two joint stations of Belorusskaya are only partially independent, the Ring Line one being under Hanseatic control. Despite this close connection, the Hansa holds little sway over the station administration, led by merchant known as the Managers, merely providing some protection.

Sitting on an important strategic point between the Fourth Reich, the Plantations and Factories, and the Hansa, and not too far away from the Ulitsa 1905 Confederation, Belorusskaya is the home of many a wealthy trader, facilitating much of the somewhat morally ambiguous trade between the Nazis and the rest of the world. It is also an important neutral point, where conflicting parties know they are on safe ground. For example, the peace negotiations and signing of a treaty between the anti-communist alliance, led by the Hansa and the Arbat Confederation, and their enemies on the Red Line took place here several years ago.

Recently, not all has been well in Belorusskaya however, with a suspicious amount of drunkards disappearing without a trace from the station out into the dark tunnels.

One stick can be broken easily, a bundle less so. When danger came not long ago, three small independent stations at the very outskirts of the Metro, on the far north-eastern part of the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya Line, realised this. Within short an alliance of common interest was founded.

The VDNKh Commonwealth is, as the name might indicate, led by the richest and largest station, close to the former All-Russia Exhibition Centre. The other two stations are Alekseyevskaya and Rizhskaya, all brought together by fear. The VDNKh dominates the alliance, being not only more populous but also richer, thanks to their vibrant mushroom industry. Their special tea is prized throughout the Metro. Alekseyevskaya and Rizhskaya are mainly poor subsistence farmer communities. They all depend on the vital trade with the Hansa for survival.

As said before, the troika maintained their independence until not long ago, when untold horrors arrived from Botanichesky Sad, a station lost to fire and mutants early in Metro history, and never resettled as the hermetic gates were dismantled. Even more unfortunately, the tunnel leading there couldn't be destroyed, due to a severe danger of flooding from the river above, keeping VDNKh on constant alert.

Recently, these horrors have disappeared, in a blast that shook the entire surrounding area. The people of the VDNKh Commonwealth have no idea what events transpired, but sure are happy they did. Only one person knows better, and he won't talk.

On the edge of the Metro, the hallowed halls of Sevastopolskaya sits, its heroic and elite citizens fighting a grand war on wave after wave of mutants. At least, that's how the rest of Moscow perceives the situation on the distant station, which is shrouded in myth and legend.

It is true that the people of Sevastopolskaya fight a constant war on mutants - but it is a desperate one. While almost all inhabitants are armed and trained well in combat, they are literally dying for resources, with only the occasional Hansa delivery coming in. It only arrives because the station control the water power generators supplying a whole third of the Metro with vital electricity, not out of generosity. Ammunition, food and medical supplies are always at a short.

With most of the generators outside of the station's hermetic gates, which therefore must remain open, and all surrounding stations abandoned and in the hands of the hostile creatures, wave after wave of mutant beings smash against the fortifications of Sevastopolskaya. It is war they are slowly losing, a prospect which should scare the Metro, as it would lead to utter chaos in the parts the station supplies with energy. Other than mere mutants, there's something else out in the tunnels, somehow managing to make Sevastopolskaya even less safe. None the less, its inhabitants fight on, determined to never let go.

In the Metro, there's several different well-organised entities of varying order and peace. This is not that kind of place. In the south-eastern part of the Ring Line's cold embrace, the unwanted parts of the subway's society has gathered. People from all walks of life, be it hucksters, musicians, vagabonds, women of ill repute, addicts, exiled criminals, pickpockets, beggars, shady businessmen, political dissidents from the Red Line, refugees from Nazi persecution, unfortunates who've lost their passports, or of course thugs, bandits, brigands and cutthroats of all types.

The stations of Tretyakovskaya and the mighty Kitay-Gorod together form this subway Babylon, this post-apocalyptic Sodom and Gomorrah, a very loose syndicate ruled by criminal gangs, centered mainly in Kitay-Gorod. From there, many factions once fighting various wars over spoils and drugs, continue to try and spread their criminal activities and increase their wealth. Some of the various gangs include the supremacist Slavic Brotherhood and a collective of Muslim immigrants going to any measures to defend their people, the exiles of the red line, who have formed a loose organization led by Andrey "The Blacksmith", smuggling people out of the Red Line, and various smaller drug dealers, agents and whatever else a person can think of. Not long ago they were nominally united under a crime boss, but the conflict is still there, with competition driving them.

Having the largest number of non-Russian ethnicities in the Metro, primarily Chechens, Azerbaijanis and others from the Caucasus, and with the Slavic Brotherhood around, ethnic conflict is ripe to break out at any moment. The criminals in control rely mainly on extortion, hired assassinations, prostitution, drug trade, arms trafficking and smuggling of other contrabands through Hansa's borders for their income. With all these factors combined the syndicate's chaotic state is, to say the least understandable. This, combined with the border tensions with the Venetians, who, despite being more peaceful, have been drawing a lot of the criminal activity away from the Syndicate, serves to provide a constant source of tensions.

The only question is, is the new leader going be able to balance the situation, or is he - or someone from the outside - going to break the status quo? If so, it's going to break hard.

Unlike the chaotic Kitay-Gorod, in Venice, there is a station authority, or at least that is what Venice's leaders, especially the Station-Master would like to think. In reality of course, the truth is very different. The flooded halls of Venice connect it to a variety of underground rivers and of course, for those brave enough, to the surface in some locations, this has made it a heaven for smugglers, pimps and drug-dealers and the bandits who would attack and loot anyone who proves to be of interest to them. This has allowed the gangs who are based on Venice, and in competition with Kitai-Gorod, to exert their influence over the affairs of the station, various pimps and gang leaders constantly push and pull, calling the shots on the station, killing or threatening anyone who opposes them and dumping their bodies in the flooded station's canals.

Venice may have problems with controlling the rampant thievery within it's walls but a more physical problem is that its streets are flooded and irradiated. This is has been caused by the nuclear spring on the surface as the snow and ice begin to melt. As the surface world thaws from nuclear winter, the water flows downward, causing the underground rivers that the metros are built upon to flood beyond the metro system's water pumps to handle. While the flooding may create many problems, it has proven to form a strong economic property as well. Fishing here is great, however, and a large economic advantage of being able to fish and sell means they no longer have to depend so greatly on farms from other stations.

The station master however is not a pushover either, while on one hand he has agreed with the demands of some of the gangs, in the meanwhile he has played his own game in the shadows, using the Venetian militia to silently take off leaders of gangs and others who go too far in challenging his rule, allowing him both a steady hand in negotiations and a longer life then his predecessors. Unlike the boss of the Syndicate in the north however, he has no control over the criminal activities, just gathering taxes/fines from the criminals and using his power to try and balance them before they can overpower him.