The MERC faction, a rag-tag, barely functional group that roamed Nevada, constantly on the cusp of being completely obliterated. The incident at the Nexus core, however, allowed their opportunistic leaders to seize the weapons and means to train their units, as well as expand their ranks to such a degree that they present a substantial threat. They possess the ability to traverse the city's Great Walls with greater ease than even the A.A.H.W., and their swollen numbers lend to a brutal, versatile force that is to be reckoned with. Intel find that while their units fall into archetypical roles, the results they produce are nothing to dismiss.
- Krinkels: MERCs? MERCs.
The Matter Energy Reclamation Corporation (MERC) is a faction featured in MADNESS: Project Nexus. They are an industrial work force founded by a man known as Colonel Finneas, and that currently work under The Sheriff within Nexus City's ruined Industrial Sector as a group of survivors of the events of Madness: Project Nexus (Classic)'s Episode 1.5). With availability to an abundance of raw materials, they manufacture their own weapons and armor to equip their work force, which come in a variety of roles.
History[]
Story Mode[]
The MERCs occupy the Industrial Sector in the southern-most part of Nexus City; its outer perimeter is sealed with heavy metal doors, and defended by snipers stationed on the outer wall. They are first encountered in the stage Road to Nexus City as the sheriff's escort, who denies entry to Hank and company. When a Mag Bandit shows up and fights with Hank, it eventually barges through the front door, convincing the Sheriff to flee to his fortress. Prior to this encounter, the snipers will attempt to pick off Hank from a distance before Hank cuts off the power of their spotlights.
When inside the Industrial Sector, Sanford and Deimos are tasked by Hank to capture the Sheriff and interrogate him for access to the city's transit hub. To do this, they have to fight through the majority of MERC's forces to gain access to the fortress itself, including a Warehouse Raid to shut down the fortress security system, and then infiltrating The Boom Factory to acquire ordinance for blowing down the fortified gate at the entrance. After fighting their way through heavy MERC opposition, defeating the Gunner Twins Church and Jorge, and a duel with the Sheriff himself, Sanford and Deimos gain access to the transit hub. After letting the Sheriff go, the Sheriff warns them that the MERCS will still be after them.
After the industrial sector, the Mercs are sporadically encountered throughout the rest of the campaign, showing up as backup for Church and Jorge in their reoccurring boss fights.
Pre-Story Mode[]
Long time before the events of Madness: Project Nexus (Classic) episode 1.5, MERC was employed by Director Phobos to make Dissonance radiation protection gear and weapons for the Nexus Core in the Industrial Sector of Nexus City. It is shown through some old emails that MERC Foremen would get into heated discussions with Phobos over their lack of subordination towards the director. This, coupled with a series of back-and-forth emails forwarded to the Mining Sector's MERC workforce by Dr. Christoff and Dr. Crackpot regarding installation of S-3LF extractors in the mines, would severely test the company's loyalty to their contractor.
Some time after, Phobos sent an email to one of MERC's foremen, stating that the Nexus Core no longer required MERC to provide radiation gear, as
"Protection against the maddening effects of Dissonant Reality are no longer of a concern to us. -Phobos" - Snoopable found in one of the Industrial Sector stages
Later, The Sheriff, A discount mattress salesman at the time receives a note from Dr. Jebediah Christoff, saying
"You don't know me yet, but you're going to want to hear what I have to say. I've heard about you over the comm-comms. The nice-guy schtick seems like more than just a way to sell discount mattresses. If you really care about your people, then know this: you, they, everyone is in danger. Don't try to contact me directly; Director Phobos is having me watched. Send missives through Dr. Hofnarr. He can be trusted. I wish I had more time to explain. I'll reach out to you again soon. -Dr. Jebediah Christoff"
and soon after he would receive another note from Dr. Christoff.
"When it happens, you'll know. By the time alarms sound, Phobos will be already dead. It will be up to you to block off the Industrial Sector from what comes next. It won't be pretty, and I wish there was another way, but what must be done will come to pass. I'll see to that. Nexus City needs a leader in the days to come. I'm sorry that you have to be the one to atone for the sins I must now commit, but I go now knowing the capable hands in which everything will be left. -Dr. Jebediah Christoff"
In both of these emails, Dr. Christoff warns the Sheriff about killing Phobos, and that the Sheriff will need to take care of the Nexus City after the Director dies and ally himself to the Industrial Sector's MERC residents and act as their leader.
As shown in a flashback, The Sheriff and Christoff met in person at some point and the doctor explained how the MERC would listen to Sheriff given his good reputation and that the Industrial Sector would be a great place to hold once the city fell into chaos. Incidentally, just outside the Industrial Sector's gate, a MERC Foreman can be seen scolding a trucker for not organizing the delivery properly and being late.
In another flashback, as the city falls into peril after the release of infectious zeds into the streets of Nexus City, Christoff orders a group of MERC Laborers to barricade themselves into the Industrial Sector as the city is lost before the doctor reunites with Dr. Hofnarr in order to issue him with orders of keeping watch of the city.
In the teaser trailer "On the Wall.mp4", MERC Laborers are shown sealing the doors to the industrial sector, cutting off the escape for the Nexus Agents fighting in the commercial sector. A pair of MERC Snipers are seen accompanying Sheriff and Dr. Christoff atop the wall.
Arena Mode[]
The MERCs also appear in Arena Mode as an early arena enemy. They occupy the battle stage The Foundry located on the outskirts of Nevada Central, where many random items are melted down for matter resources. They engage the arena character, who fights them in exchange for payment from an unknown benefactor.
While MERC is not directly fought in The Heist, the matter bank the arena character breaks into is owned by the company and was founded by MERC's own founder, Colonel Finneas. A portrait of him can be seen hung above the bank's matter vault.
Some of the MERC's gear such as armor and weaponry can be bough from Q-Bert in HQ.
Units[]
Recruit[]
MERC Recruits are simple workers for MERC with little to no combat experience. They wear the standard MERC uniform, and sometimes wear helmets when assigned to security. They come with light armaments, and are overconfident in their fighting abilities.
Laborer[]
MERC Laborers are MERC recruits equipped with hard hats and welding masks to protect them from workplace accidents. Their hardhats can be knocked off if the protagonists aim for the head, but this protects them from the fatal blow, requiring a second headshot to dispatch. They often come equipped with power tools, and are most commonly seen in The Boom Factory.
There is a unique variant of MERC Laborer that appears during the chase sequence of The Station Fortress that come equipped with C-4 and must be killed in order to obtain the explosives and blow up The Sheriff's sandbags.
Merczerker[]
Merczerkers are crazed melee combatants with boggle eyed masks, darker uniforms, body armor and blaze orange mohawks. They have hair trigger tempers, which often provoke them into attacking their own colleagues. In combat, they can psyche themselves up and charge at the player, throwing themselves with a tackle in an attempt to knock them down. They always use dual melee weapons, and are the most dangerous MERC with them thanks to their aggressive close quarters combat style.
Sniper[]
MERC Snipers are marksmen wearing orange and gray caps. True to their name, they are long-ranged fighters, preferring to set up camp and engage from far away. They can be difficult to approach as they have a long engagement distance, have weak tac bars, and frantically dodge the player up close. Snipers will occasionally zero in on their target with a visible sniper reticle on the UI, and fire a shot that ignores tac-bar and has to be physically dodged.
Gunner[]
MERC Gunners are large imposing MERCs adorned in heavy armor and equipped with dual sub machine guns. Heavy gunners are physically strong, immune to being stunned from light attacks thanks to their size. Heavy Gunners will spray their target with weapon fire (albeit inaccurately), and will kick away enemies that get up close. When damaged heavily, Gunners fall to one knee in a stagger and are stunned temporarily, allowing for a free execution. Should the gunner be left alone, they will recover and rejoin the fight.
Sergeant[]
MERC Sergeant act as squad leaders for the MERCs, and in the campaign have the responsibilities of a foreman. They are distinguishable by their orange berets and single pauldrons. Defensively, they possess two corpus blocks and full tac bars.
Captain[]
MERC Captains are high-ranking MERC commanders and experienced fighters. Captains sport TAC-bars and are very aggressive. They wear officer caps, aviator sunglasses, and sport a double pair of pauldrons. They are a direct upgrade to MERC Sergeant with 3 corpus blocks, an upgraded tac bar, and the ability to execute dizzied opponents. Captains are only encountered 3 times in Story Mode, guarding the Sheriff's Station Fortress.
Mercenary[]
In the games files can be found an obsolete MERC unit named "Mercenary", wearing a gray balaclava, Sanford's outfit, and random military armor. The Mercenary is leftover from an old concept where the MERC were going to be more militarized. Despite not being used anywhere in the game, it can still be spawned in interactive mode where it will attack the player. Although no different stat-wise from a MERC recruit, it behaves like a Nexus agent, moving tactically and using cover.
These units were then revealed and used in Madness Project Nexus' trailer, shown as some of Hank's opponents, with one of them being shown in a live-action sequence limping in an attempt to shoot Hank. Aside from this they make no canon in-game appearances yet.
Church[]
Church is a G03LM working for MERC. Church and Jorge are recurring bosses and supporting antagonists. Church is a MERC G03LM who has hair styled into a mohawk, sporting a grey MERC uniform under a bullet vest wrapped in caution tape, black boots, fingerless gloves, an electrified backpack to power their weapons, and a single filter gas mask attached to their face through a series of 4 belts. The lenses look like angrily glaring eyes.
Unlike their G03LM brethren, who speak with formal, yet cold and authoritative language, Church and Jorge are a pair of foul-mannered brutes full of machismo, often calling their opponents losers and bragging about their pain tolerance, constant comebacks, and their "fighting ethic" -- something they often violate by calling for reinforcements, showing that the pair aren't as honorable as they make themselves out to be.
Church is the more aggressive of the duo, specializing in melee weapons and acting as a point man while Jorge offers covering fire. The duo are seemingly not bothered by their losses to Sanford and Deimos, claiming that they can come back with different tactics every time.
Their combat prowess and durability are far above most G03LM's as they and Jorge are capable of fighting on the same level as their rivals Sanford and Deimos. Church also has surprising agility for a G03LM, as they are capable of both running at high speeds and jumping great heights and distances. They love to rush their target down, close the distance, and stun them, often leaving their prey open for a takedown. As shown in Deimos and Sanford's second encounter with Church and Jorge, Church has shown to be capable of firing lightning ball projectiles with limited homing capability. They can also seemingly channel electricity into their attacks. Their fighting style is focused on melee combat
Trivia[]
- According to some documents in the Station Fortress, many fatal workplace accidents have happened to the same workers over the course of many years. This is an early indication that MERC is a client for Nexus Life Insurance Pro. Further evidence of this in Chasms can be found in the form of old emails from Dr. Crackpot attempting to sell them on the idea.
- Originally, in older versions of the game, MERCs were entirely gray scale with the exception of dull red pauldrons for the Sergeants and Captains.
- In the concept art, the Sergeant and Captain were planned to be the opposites of one another, with the Sergeant being stronger than the captain. They have since swapped roles.
- When asked if MERCs were going to become canon in the animated series, Krinkels replied with "everything from mpn is canon".
- The Mercs seem to have an alliance with Dr. Christoff, who looked after them while they performed dangerous work in the mining sector. Christoff also has close ties with The Sheriff, being one of Christoff's trusted associates.
- The MERC Battle Rifle is based off the M1 Garand(even making the famous ping noise when its ammo is drained), while the MERC Sniper is loosely based off the CheyTac Intervention.
Gallery[]
Kickstarter/Concept art[]
Weapons[]
