"We must become both sword and shield to those who cannot defend themselves. That is our sworn duty." - Commander Sigma, (Day of Sigma OVA)
Hunter Base at Sunset. From the Day of Sigma OVA.
The Maverick Hunters were formed in response to wholesale defections of Repliforce members in the wake of the maverick virus. Finding itself with a sudden lack of manpower, the WRA recommissioned Robopol and modernized the organization to address the new Maverick threat. The revived group, with its mix of both old and new members, was fittingly dubbed the Maverick Hunters.
Although vested with the same legal rights as an extension of the WRA as Repliforce, the Maverick Hunters are officially an anti-Maverick force and are expected to respond only to out of control mechaniloids, violent reploid attacks, and the like. In practice however, they can be found responding to a variety of situations outside that scope, filling the role of first responders or general law enforcement when local agencies become overwhelmed.
Structurally, the Maverick Hunters are something of a hybrid organization. Blending its large human-commanded robot master force with a small core of elite reploids, it has the distinction of welcoming all comers and generally having a place for members of any species - provided they be law-abiding. This policy, unlike Repliforce's reploid-only structure, helped to rapidly replenish their numbers during the initial crisis of Maverick-lead attacks against humanity. However while the Hunters welcome all shapes, species roles are still clear within the organization. The bulk of its forces remain robot masters, now overseen by a mixture of humans and reploids, and are the most common face of the Hunters to the rest of the world. In a parallel command structure is a small group of top-end reploids, many among the world's best in their field, whose task is to respond to maverick attacks that the larger RM force are unequipped to handle. Above both arms is a largely human command structure that operates through reploid liaisons, allowing the machine-precision robots to handle logistics while ensuring that the broader goals of the organization are adhered to.
Collectively, this structure is intended to make the Hunters "Maverick-proof" by maintaining enough non-reploid commanders and troops to deal with any potential maverick outbreaks within the organization before they can cause harm. To date, while a small number of maverick Hunters have been reported, the claim has held true with all of them either being retired immediately or preemptively detained.
Despite the severity of its treatment of mavericks and the layers of internal security against outbreaks within its own forces, the Maverick Hunters still remain true to their police roots in many aspects of policy and practice. Unlike Repliforce, regulations are looser for both on and off-duty behavior and except for a basic level of decorum, most levels of the Hunter CoC have a personal, friendly feel. Humans generally operate on a first name basis and nicknames are commonly used among all species. The notable exception to this de facto behavior regards the organization's reploid population; due to their potential for maverickism and the relative mystery of the maverick virus, reploids in the Maverick Hunters operate under additional layers of accountability and screening to minimize the chance of outbreaks. Periodic system scans, reviews, and additional scrutiny in their handling of situations that risk human lives are a fact of life. After the first case of a maverick combat model, brief quarantine and scanning after every engagement with a Maverick has also become the norm. But rather than being treated with suspicion, the apparent success of these measures has helped the reploid members of the Maverick Hunters maintain their close and trusting relationships with the rest of the faction and most reploids see the measures as prudent safe-guards rather than added restrictions.
Maverick Hunter Insignia
Goals
The goal of the Maverick Hunters is fairly straight forward: They exist to protect the world from maverick violence, both large and small. The Maverick Hunters are by and large not a proactive force; they respond to threats as they are requested or as they appear. Due to the sheer power and skill that the Hunters can bring to bear, they are often held in reserve until it is certain that they are needed, but their ability to field paramilitary forces at a moment's notice has pulled them into more than one encounter with human and cyborg crime when regular law enforcement has been overwhelmed - something technically beyond the scope of their purpose.
"To be both sword and shield to those who cannot protect themselves" is still a credo followed to this day. Off-duty, Hunters often operate like a large and extended family (as many members are related to begin with); on-duty they carry out missions with the precision of a police SWAT team.
Character Creation Guidelines
Player characters intended to be a part of the Maverick Hunter faction may be of any species but should be in good legal standing. Characters joining the Hunters must carry a high degree of morality, loyalty and willingness to fight; characters who are pacifist will have a difficult time in the Hunters although medical and logistic positions offer some options, and those who show tendencies towards bloodlust, cruelty and vengeance will soon find themselves benched from active missions. Robotic characters will be owned by the organization legally to prevent conflict of interest between Hunter goals and the goals of former owners and employers. In general, humans and cyborgs are kept off of the front lines and left to supervise missions as coordinators or radio operators for reasons of safety, but capable cyborgs may be deployed for lower-risk missions with robot master support.
Links
Here's a list of links that can help a Maverick Hunter player get a feel for what being a Hunter is like.
The Wings Of Will: A comic book created by IRA, a Mega Man fan from South America. While the English translation is a little sketchy, the story is absolutely perfect. Highly recommended.
Megaman X Manga: The Mega Man X mangas licensed by Capcom, telling the X1 story. Scanlated by Dr. Neko. Another great way to get a grasp on the Hunters and indeed, the X era itself.