Norts

Nort insignia

Nort redirects here; for "zero, nothing" see nought.

Norts are a fictional fascist enemy with Slavic and Germanic overtones from Rogue Trooper, a science fiction strip in the British comic 2000 AD, who are fighting the Southers. They were mainly responsible for the Quartz Massacre. The Traitor General was briefly allied with them.

History

Please note that this paragraph's information is based upon speculation and information found throughout the stories.

In a war which broke out on Earth, it is presumed that Germany and Russia formed a large empire stretching from Asia to Central Europe and ended the war by entering into an unstable alliance with the Southers. The ruling political party of the Norts, the Nordland Party, urged their armies to colonise the various planets deep in Souther space, including Nu-Earth. The early Nort colonists lived in the desert and tamed its wild animals. Years later, when it was discovered that the black hole near the planet led to other parts of the Galaxy, the Norts declared war and launched a preemptive attack on Fort Neuropa, starting the "Nu-Earth Future war". By the time of Rogue Trooper, the atmosphere of Nu-Earth is heavily poisoned by war gases and cannot be breathed except by the Rogue Trooper; all others in the open must wear chemsuits.

In the separate 'Friday' continuity, the Norts started of as a trading company and rival to its sister company, the Southers (both owned by the Clavel Corporation, a megacorporation). When their parent company started a war between Humanity in an effort to avoid stagnation, they pitted the two corporations against one another. After several years (during which time, they started the Eugenics Project), they recalled all high ranking officers back to their corporate HQ. When the sole surviving member of their eugenics program, Friday, sneaked on board a rocket bound for their corporate HQ and successfully assassinated Mr. Clavel, the founder and CEO of Clavel Corporation and destroying the company AI, Highside, in the process, he re-ignited the war between the two trading companies.

Realpolitik storyline

In the "Realpolitik" storyline, War Marshal Zell travels to Nu-Earth after hearing of his son's death. He releases Kapitan Arkhan from prison with the intention of capturing and killing his son's killer, the Rogue Trooper. When Arkhan fails the mission, Zell orders Nu-Earth to be captured and sends all available troops there. Eventually, Zell's Inner Circle begin to plot against him, believing he has gone mad due to his son's death. They capture Rogue Trooper and order him to assassinate Zell. Arkhan discovers the plot and executes the chief plotters. Meanwhile, Rogue's contact in the base (who is a Double agent) betrays him, resulting in her death. Arkhan then contacts Rogue and orders him to continue the mission. After Rogue successfully finishes the mission, he is captured, but is soon released by Arkhan after Arkhan is promoted to War Marshal. Before the newly promoted marshal leaves Nu-Earth, he orders the remnants of the plotters to be executed.

Military

Their armed forces include:

Armed forces

Nort troopers of the Kashan Legion, from a Rogue Trooper comic book

The Nort military have formed many units and war machines at their disposal including:

• Base Commanders
• Chem-sisters
• Dust Devils
• EMP troops
• Infantry
• Kashan Legions (Nordland's Elite)
• Kashar Legions (Nort warriors)
• Lazooka troops
• Mortar troops
• Nagan Legions (Penal troops)
• Navy Sergeant
• Undercover Poison-Pollution Agents, known to the Southers as Filth Columnists
• Sailors
• Scum Legions (Formed by Admiral Torpitz and disbanded after the Fort Neuropa Campaign)
• Scum Marines (Named after the Scum Sea)
• Sergeants
• Shotgun troops
• Snipers
• Space pirates
• Sun Legions (Hang glider troops)
• Stammel Riders
• Vroogmen (Divers)
• Snow troopers
• Various Genetic Experiments

War machines

• Amoks (large robots)
• Bio-wire
• Blackmares (Giant tanks)
• Decapitators
• Dream Weavers (Horrific illusions)
• Drill Probes
• Foils (carrying missiles)
• Hell Cannon
• Hellstreaks
• Attack Hoppas
• Deploy Hoppas
• Hov-Peds
• Lamprey Assault Ship
• Missile Bomber
• Naval Atmocrafts
• Nort Heavy Support Armour
• Nort Tactical Armour
• Patrol Boats
• Pillboxes
• Porcupines (Particle-Accelerated Armour-Piercing Sabot Micro-Rounds)
• Ro-Rats (On Horst Only)
• Scoutships
• Seed Ships (carrying Decapitators)
• Submarines
• Tailgunner Joes (fire and forget munitions)

Allies

Numerous allies have included:

• Drom
• Winged bats
• Amphibious crabs
• Rhino Subspecies

Other

• The Bioware Units
• Body looters (Auction what battlefield salvage they find)
• Ghouls (Deserters from both sides who live on what salvage they find)
• Marauders (Bandits from both sides. Briefly led by the Traitor General)
• medics
• Military Intelligence
• Military police
• The pay-corps
• scientists
• Stammels, descendants of Earth Camels which can breathe the chemically contaminated air of Nu-Earth, used by Nort Desert raiders.)

Equipment

Their usual chemsuit has a soft hood, often with a low blunt-pointed top, hiding the wearer's face completely except small round eye-holes, and two large backpack air or oxygen cylinders. Two wide breathing tubes run, one from the top of each cylinder over the shoulders and run into the hood beside his mouth and nose. The design was likely inspired by the old-type open-circuit aqualung, but with the very common comic-book error described here. In some episodes this set has an extra smaller cylinder on the back of the two main cylinders, likely imitated from U.S.Army flamethrowers.

In at least one comic issue^[1], one page (page 7) shows Nort chemsuit breathing sets drawn with the breathing tubes coming correctly from an (undersized) demand valve midway between the tops of the cylinders; but many other Nort breathing sets in that issue show the usual design, and in a few frames a version with one cylinder.

Well-known Norts

Well-known Norts include:

• General Doenz - The Supreme Commander
• War Marshal Zell (Killed and replaced by Arkhan)
• The Grand Marshal (on Horst)
• Admiral Torpitz - Naval Commander
• General Vagner - Army Commander
• The Traitor General - The Souther responsible for the destruction of the G.I.s
• Morgen - Ex-Nort sniper for the "Marauders"
• Commandant Marvin - Sun Legion Commander
• Marshal Mooler - Scum Marine Commander
• War Marshal Arkhan - High ranking Nort Commander
• Mr. Bland and Mr. Brass - Famous body looters
• Sister Sledge - Filth Columnist who worked in Nu-Atlanta and nearly captured Rogue during the Norts' DIX-I offensive.

Miscellaneous

• The Norts were inspired by the Northerner Unionists from the American Civil War and the Nazis from World War II.
• The Norts' protective suits (showing only the eyes) reinforce the "Bad Guy" delineation.
• They often say "Stak!" when either surprised or dismayed.
• They often say "Nain", as a substitute for the word "No", this sounds and looks similar to the German spelling of the word "Nein".
• The Nort lightning-bolt insignia bears some similarity to the insignia of the British Union of Fascists under Oswald Mosley.

References

1. ^ Rogue Trooper comic, issue 49, publ by Fleetway, ISSN 1044-5609

See also

• Rogue Trooper
• Southers