A Hammer Head at a club door does not need to threaten anyone. They stand with shoulders too broad for the frame, watching the queue. The military-grade implants beneath their civilian clothes were built to carry heavy loads, take a blow and deliver one. Most trouble turns around before it reaches them.
Sec-Ops are former soldiers and security personnel who sell their training to anyone who can meet their price. They guard tower entrances, work as bouncers and bodyguards, escort valuable shipments and stand close behind people who expect trouble. For the right fee, they will retrieve property or enter a building quietly. They call it a contract. What it means depends on who paid: a job described as security may turn out to be a robbery, an abduction or a warning delivered to a witness.
Training gave them discipline; civilian life gave them a market. Some plan every move and know exactly when force is necessary. Others have more muscle than judgment and enjoy the moment just before violence begins. All know how to hurt someone quickly, and all understand that a job may turn without warning.
They compete for the latest military implants and spend hours building the bodies that carry them. Some take pleasure in their strength. Some cannot sleep without a job lined up for the morning. A few are beginning to realise that every upgrade they buy makes it harder to imagine doing anything else.
People call them Hammer Heads for the force they bring to a problem. Most draw a line somewhere. The difficulty is finding out where it lies before someone pays them to cross it.