The Iron Sights are a gang operating in Night City.
History[]
Early history - 2020s[]
In the 2010s, the Iron Sights were one of the many boostergangs in Night City, and one of the few that were financed by Arasaka. Its members were mixed, allowing anyone to join. The more cyberware someone had, the higher their ranking was. As such, its leaders were fully chipped with chrome. Arasaka was aware of this, and they knew the gang could be easily controlled by providing money for their new cybernetics. The Sights liked to look for fights, and usually went to clubs and bars for this reason, as well as to shake someone for money and to hassle anyone they liked.
In April 2013, members of the Iron Sights were in Arasaka Tower helping the corp against the intruders, but they fell against them. That same year, the Sights fought against the Inquisitors while in the Rainbow Nights club; a battle that ended with seven Inquisitors and ten Iron Sights dead. Media Bes Isis interviewed the Inquisitors' leader, who told her that the Iron Sights had been targeted because they were heretics, and as long as they had cyberware in their bodies, they would be sinners who needed to be judged and punished.
In late 2013, the Iron Sights were approached by Rachel Tyroll, an Arasaka employee who was tasked to give them a job. After gang members had ensured she didn't carry any weapons, the Sights leader appeared. She was known as Brandywine, and shared the same sentiment as the rest of the gang; they didn't relish the idea of being paws of Arasaka, but had resigned themselves due to the money they had been financed with. Tyroll explained to Brandywine what the job was about letting her accompany them for a week in order to write a report about their activities. This didn't feel right with the Sights, who threated Rachel with their Rippers cyberware, but stopped when she told them that if anything happened to her, or if she didn't accompany them, the funds would cease. Feeling they had no other choice, Brandywine and the Iron Sights accepted. During that week, Tyroll learned that the gang had little humanity left, as they liked hurting, mutilating and killing others just for the pleasure of it. She concluded that all members were suffering from cyberpsychosis, and terminating their contract would be the best outcome for everyone involved. Despite this, the Iron Sights continued to work for Arasaka.[1][3]
When Maelstrom was formed, it drafted members of the Iron Sights that had a personal grudge against the Inquisitors.[4]
At the end of the Fourth Corporate War, when Arasaka was expelled from North America, the Iron Sights lost their funding.[5] With this, they became a target for other gangs, and were soon attacked by the Red Chrome Legion. Though the Sights managed to survive, a feud between both boostergangs would begin to grow over the years.[6]
2040s[]
By the 2040s, the Iron Sights were a relatively small, but tough combat gang made up mostly of borderline cyberspychos. Around this time, the Red Chrome Legion renewed their conflict with the Iron Sights due to the Red Chromers' habit of poaching young recruits from their rivals. This was notorious because ever since the war, the Sights had fallen on really hard times. However, there were also rumors they had found a new benefactor, and were once again flexing their Rippers.[5] This benefactor turned out to be a fixer known as Hornet.[2]
Using his connections, Hornet was able to provide the gang with a shipment of military-grade equipment. Mere days later of this exchange, the Red Chrome Legion attacked a convoy of Hornet's workers, stealing all the hardware they could grab. Inside the cargo was an additional crate with neurotoxins designed by Hornet made to gain the upper hand against their rivals. When the Sights found out about the robbery, the tensions between both groups blew into a full-scale war within the Combat Zone. Things turned so bad that MAX-TAC had to intervene as the NCPD didn't dare to go against some of the gang's borg members.
The Red Chrome Legion tried to escape with the crates, but were eventually stopped by a group of mercenaries hired by Hornet. By the end of the week, the Iron Sights were able to crush and expel the Red Chrome Legion forces from the northern areas of the Combat Zone, pushing them out of Old Japantown and into the south side of Little China.[6][7] Many Sights began to use the Ionic Semiconductor Building in the Old Combat Zone to stash family members for safety.[2]
2045[]
By 2045, the Iron Sights and the Red Chrome Legion had been at war for over a year, and things had only worsen ever since the Sights got their new benefactor. During the destruction of the old Forlorn Hope, the Legionnaires suffered an embarrassing defeat, with its leadership soon replaced by a new one after a bloody coup. The new leaders reinforced the Legion and over the following weeks successfully led them against the Iron Sights who, despite starting to become a powerful force in the Zone, were defeated in a series of battles. However, the Red Chromers didn't push forward to get their territory back, instead fortifying what they already held.[7]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 PONDSMITH, M. Cyberpunk 2013: Welcome to Night City. Berkeley, CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1988. (pp.35–36)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 GRAY, J. Night City 2045 Atlas. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2025. (pp.8–9,15)
- ↑ PONDSMITH, M. Cyberpunk 2020 Core Rulebook. 2nd ed., Berkeley, CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1990. (pp.201,220,229–230)
- ↑ PONDSMITH, M. Night City Sourcebook. Berkeley, CA, R. Talsorian Games, 1991. (p.47)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 PONDSMITH, M. Cyberpunk RED Core Rulebook. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2020. (p.308)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 PONDSMITH, M. et al., Interface RED Vol. 1. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2021. (pp.6–7)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 SPIVEY C. et al., Tales of the RED: Hope Reborn. Kenmore, WA, R. Talsorian Games, 2024. (pp.21,43,115)