Umeni-Zulu

Umeni-Zulu
Faction
Location(s)	Chicago San Francisco
Type	Private military company
Affiliation(s)	Blume Corporation
Businesses	Private security Cyber-security Intelligence-gathering Covert operations
Appears in	Watch Dogs (mentioned) Watch Dogs 2

Umeni-Zulu, better known as Umeni Security Corps or Umeni Corporation, is a private security company and faction mentioned in Watch Dogs, but plays a major role in Watch Dogs 2.

History

Umeni-Zulu began by providing the U.S. government with cryptographic technology products before expanding their service into collecting intelligence both domestically and internationally. They contract for the CIA and have been involved in paramilitary actions across the world as well as utilizing cyber-security in a variety of clandestine actions. They are a highly private group that keeps itself hidden well from public scrutiny, but they have been accused of being a MOSSAD front and even a CIA front. This is leading to speculation that some private military corporations (PMCs) may be intelligence-gathering fronts for domestic and foreign interests.

Summary

Watch Dogs

Umeni is a corporation that made money while letting its engineers carry the legal liability over an incident, which lead to them being jailed, some of who are now members of DedSec. This is mentioned at the beginning of the exclusive mission "CTRL" (part of the White Hat Pack DLC). They have their own building, as seen in Watch Dogs: Bad Blood. Other than this, not much else is known about them.

Watch Dogs 2

Umeni has a much larger role in Watch Dogs 2. It is revealed that they are a private military company and will serve any corporation that needs their aid. This is seen in Watch Dogs 2, where if certain factions (like security guards and robots, New Dawn, and more) are in need of assistance, they will call for backup, and Umeni will show up at the area almost instantly in their customized security Sonarus LX patrol vehicles.

Because it is a legal faction, they will never engage in gunfight with the police (aside from the rare event that after forging an arrest warrant for a Umeni Security officer, they will sometimes resist and open fire on SFPD or OPD officers), instead they will assist them to catch Marcus or any other illegal faction members. However, the police will still arrest or open fire at Umeni only for serious violations (such as shooting at Marcus for unspecified reasons). Umeni members can also be framed.

Known Employers

• Blume Corporation (in Watch Dogs 2)
• Nudle
• Galilei
• Hook Motion Pictures
• Tidis Corporation
• Haum Electronics
• ProviBlue Bank
• WKZ TV
• Church of the New Dawn
• Mary Catskill (Invite Corporation)
• Mark Thruss (United States Congress)
• RenSense (In Human Conditions)

Gallery

A profile of a Umeni security officer.

Gunman.

Another.

Armored Gunman.

Another.

Elite.

Marksman.

Enforcer.

Umeni posing in camera.

Umeni bodyguard in Power to the Sheeple.

Jammer.

Grenadier.

Another Jammer.

Umeni Faction Types in Watch Dogs 2.

Another Umeni Jammer

Another Grenadier.

Another Jammer

Sonarus Umeni variant

Umeni Elite and drone

Trivia

• As apart of its provisions as a commercial security contractor, Umeni evidently provides non-uniformed private security services for clients, such as Congressman Mark Thruss and !nvite's hired personnel who don formal plainclothes for their work, and the guards in service of the Church of the New Dawn, who wear more traditional security uniforms and and wear police-spec utility belts.
• Umeni is possibly based on Academi, formerly known as Blackwater, a private military company who were infamous for their war crimes during the Iraq War.
• They can be quite dangerous, having all seven enemy archetypes, plus guard dogs and being occasional allies with the Police. They also sometimes employ the Security Robot, and can temporarily shut down CtOS 2.0. However, they aren’t as hard to escape from as the Police are, and don’t have the Talos, Coast Guard or Helicopter. Still, they can be hard to shake off if they manage to enter their Sonarus LX cars and chase the players, as those cars are quite fast and have well-balanced stats.
• They are also the most recurring faction in the game, appearing in almost all main operations and some side operations.
• While not overtly stated in the game, the "Zulu" part of their name may imply that the corporation has some ties to former South Africa military and police personnel, many of whom became mercenaries after the fall of the Apartheid regime. Zulu may also allude to the NATO Alphabet, where "Zulu" stands for the letter Z, thus making Umeni Zulu the ultimate and last Umeni Formation.
• Umeni-Zulu have the second-most character and uniform models for their faction than any other, like the New Dawn guards and Thruss bodyguards, outdone only by the combined character models of the San Francisco and Oakland Police.
• Umeni-Zulu affiliate NPCs can be found in vehicles in the open world with a UZ symbol on their Profiler identity. They can also be choked out with the Thunder Ball like all members and affiliates. They are the only known faction to have randomly roaming members.
• On Yerba Buena Island, a UZ-guarded area has white MRAPs parked there, implying the faction may have been planned to use MRAPs for pursuit. They might have changed this because this would make escaping UZ somewhat harder.
• Umeni-Zulu have access to tasers, similar to the police; however, they very rarely use them against the player. Umeni will tase any NPCs who refuse to exit their area. If tased, they will be knocked into a comatose state, just like Marcus's stun gun.