Real Name: Tomas Doctor
Known Aliases: Cynical Thomas, Dr. Doubt, Tomas Doubt, Toma Doud
Known Affiliations: Argonauts
Server: UNKNOWN
Role: Crow, Scanner
Specialty: Astrosociology, History, Theology
Age in AF 10: 48
Primary Location: Earth Orbits
Tomas Doctor was a professor and Catholic scholar working in the Chicago Metroplex on Earth before the Fall. Like many others, he was egocast out at the last minute - and his ego was eventually recovered and reinstated by the Argonauts in an effort to preserve academic knowledge. From this point he discovered that the Catholic church had fortified around Jupiter and decided to declare anyone who had resleeved "dead" and taken on a particularly conservative and regressive bent - he decided to stay on Mitre to continue academic works. As his focus was in the social sciences, Tomas was respected for his knowledge and abilities, but not often looked at or consulted for harder scientific research.
This made him an ideal recruit for Firewall, who found him a couple of years later. He worked only a few operations in a Sentinel capacity before his local server decided to move him to a position of Crow to tackle research budding social X-risks, and once acquainted with Firewall's terminology and ethos he has bounced back and forth between several servers as a Crow or Scanner depending on if there are specific projects he is needed for. The open society of the Argonauts lends itself to his freedom of movement around the orbital region of Earth ostensibly to work on "projects". It is probable that higher ups in the Argonaut apparatus know he works with Firewall.
Working with Firewall he made his name as "Cynical Thomas", a multi-layered reference which is primarily applied because of his own attitude. Thomas is an avowed skeptic, who instinctively doubts unsubstantiated rumors and stories, and goes to great length to examine them for what about them is actually true. He makes a great scanner this way, analysing patterns of internal mythology and language to find out what is exaggerated, fictional and what may actually be an active risk. His theological studies make him ideal for investigating religious affiliated groups, from cults to terrorists to televangelists - and his broader study of groups means he has done some research on specific organizations on Firewall's "watch list".
In person, Tomas is abrasive, cynical and "curmudgeonly". He speaks in plain but curt terms, tries to avoid hyperbole and metaphors and prefers concrete analogies. He's used to teaching, but he has a very direct and focused manner some field operatives find they dislike. He does have a behavioral disorder, and tends to hate wasting time, preferring to focus on an important task in single bursts before moving on to something else which "interests" him - to counteract he is known to self-medicate with tobacco.
His wide range of knowledge means he is often contacted on the Eye for information about subcultures, behavioral patterns, history and other more esoteric interests. Proxies often task him to form reports on new groups and interests, even if they are not in his immediate area.
COG 30 COO 15 INT 30 REF 20 SAV 10 SOM 10 WIL 20
DUR 35 WT 7 LUC 40 TT 8 INIT 14 MOX 3 SPD 1
Observer morph
Skills: Academics: Astrosociology 80, Academics: Theology 60, Academics: Pre-Fall History 80, Academics: Linguistics 70, Animal Handling 30, Fray 35, Free Fall 60, Hardware: Electronics 55, Interest: Esoteric Catholic Tradition 60, Investigation 80, Kinesics 40, Language: Native English 100, Language: Spanish 60, Medicine: Psychiatry 60, Networking: Scientists 50, Networking: Firewall 50, Perception 70, Protocol 35, Profession: Instruction 60, Profession: Lab Tech 70, Profession: Administration 70, Programming 80, Research 80
Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack
Traits: Mental Disorder (ADHD), Mild Addiction (Nicotine)
80 r-rep, 20 i-rep
Using Cynical Thomas:
Cynical Thomas is a great flavor option for the GM, just throw him in on a report or a newsblast or a scientific paper when they skim for data from Firewall, or introduce him as an option when they call on favors from Firewall. Social science is sometimes ignored or underutilized in favor of harder science options, but subcultures, trends and memes can be a big deal in many campaigns - having an NPC with a high skill rating in some areas can help exposit to the players, in a hopefully memorable and understandable way. His idiosyncrasies make him more memorable than just a generic proxy. It's also possible to physically meet Tomas, though unlikely given the conspiracy but he might be able to arrange something physical if they need and offer guidance that way. He could even be a major NPC in his capacity as a Scanner or Crow - providing initial intel on an operation or campaign plot. Tomas is also technically built along the lines of a PC - though in this case his skills are "unbalanced" and without GM permission need to be rounded as per Transhuman, the higher numbers in this case indicate the experience of a proxy with some years under his belt.
Showing posts with label Firewall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Firewall. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Sunday, January 22, 2017
EXODUS GREEN
The Fall, while a tragedy, has many stories of heroism, defiance of the odds and perseverance against adversity.
This is not one of those stories.
To tell the story of "EXODUS GREEN", first we must tell of Colony Ships. Similar to the Scum Barge (p. 349 EP) these massive constructs were built to house and move large numbers of people, but were intended to support them for the months or even short years it would take for a mass migration to other planets. Colony Ships in fact served as blueprints for the "lifeboat" barge designs. These massive ships were build in orbital "drydocks" and never intended to land on a surface - or if they did to ever return to space. Several of them were sent to Mars, Venus and many outer system worlds like the Saturnian or Jovian pools. However, as transport technology advanced and the egocasting field opened up, colony ships fell out of vogue, and prior to the Fall several of their designs lay canceled or unfinished as the nations building them had more pressing concerns. However, during the Fall several of these models were dusted off, or hastily completed to serve as transport for refugees off Earth, in the hopes that the long delay of the trip would provide sufficient time for new housing to be built. EXODUS GREEN is one of these ships.
It's original name is unknown. It is known that it was grouped with at least two other sister ships, "EXODUS BLUE" and "EXODUS RED" which did launch from the orbital dock facility in LEO, all ships using quick code names to avoid confusion which may have been caused by complex serial numbers or prior names. Why EXODUS GREEN did not launch is unknown. Local computer systems were fried by some TITAN attack (or preventative measures against), or by later scavengers as a precaution. The Fall conflict may have bled into orbit before EXODUS GREEN could take off, or a stray weapon may have hit something vital. TITAN bio- or nanowarfare may have infected and taken out the populace in such a small space. Or the ship, already outdated may have suffered a critical hardware failure which was beyond the skill of her crew to fix. What is known that all persons aboard EXODUS GREEN, estimated between 10,000-20,000, died.
This would have been a simple footnote in the history of the Fall, except for an interesting turn of events. First, EXODUS GREEN was discovered and began to be explored by a Scavenger team based out of Fresh Kills, who began identifying themselves as the "Re-Green" team. Starting small they expanded after their discovery, and in addition to recovering Earth artifacts to sell also attempted to document the people they found. They recovered Cortical Stacks from the very small number who had them, and looked for other forms of identification. If they could, they would find relatives and inform them, possibly even attempt to dispose of the remains as they would, with unidentifieds being cast respectfully back to Earth in a process known as "sky cremation". This was a minor note in local news circles, which quickly vanished when a pirate gang drove "Re-Green" out. This group identified themselves as the Gadhka-Samada "Tribe", and began to process the ship much quicker for profit, and turned it into a pirate base. They flushed unknown numbers of the dead directly into vacuum with little regard, but only after stripping them of their valuables. From there the "tribe" began to be a bit of a nuisance for flightpaths through the area.
Their nuisance stopped a few years later when some Reclaimers quietly paid mercenaries to flush the pirates out. Faced with real military response, the pirates were outmatched, and many of them suffered the same ignominious fate they had confined the dead to. The reclaimers then got in contact with some remaining members of Re-Green, and very methodically cleared the majority of the dead from the open spaces of the ship, as well as stabilizing some portions damaged in the assault. But, Re-Green now had little interest in the ship itself, having merged with the outfit PastFinders. This is where Firewall steps in.
Using a front organization set up by a pro-reclamation server, Firewall has covertly taken over EXODUS GREN under the guise of small corp dedicated to long-term recovery of Earth but more importantly the clearing and organizing of her orbits. Known as "Kessler Cure", officially this group is using the large ship designed for long-term habitation as a test case for salvaging, and a research base to plot and document other such wrecks and relics in Orbit. Underneath that, Kessler Cure has a long established legend as an organization which assists Reclaimers in reaching the surface of Earth or helping them find orbital bases to scavenge - particularly mapping the Cordon around the Earth. But the real truth is that Kessler and EXODUS GREEN are operated by Firewall. The organization serves as cover for several operatives who monitor Reclaimer operations under a kind of "catch and release" policy - tracking them and their possible cargos so Firewall can intercept anything too dangerous, and even arranging operations to recover assets Firewall is after. EXODUS GREEN itself does something more, however.
Both the ship itself, and many virtual recreations of it have been arranged to be a covert course to teach Firewall Sentinels the basics of clearing derelict habitats. While refurbished to handle a decent population in the hundreds, rarely do more than a few dozen transhumans reside here at any time. This "boot camp" is used to impart basic skills Sentinels operating in the Earth area may need to know, and many of its cleared, interior chambers have been modified to mimic certain environments and scenarios with practical elements. Where practical effects cannot substitute, AR overlays or simulspace replicas can provide. Possible obstacles here cover all manner of traps, TITAN artifacts, servants and weapons, to basic combat tactics vs transhuman opponents; from pirates to professional military. Many Sentinels in the area trying to be operational must pass one or more tests on EXODUS GREEN at some form or another, or are sent there for remedial training after one too many fouled up ops. Other parts of EXODUS GREEN are part of the infrastructure of Kessler Cure (Closely associated with operation CENOTAPH), or even part of their cover. It's not all work over at the ship either, groups of trainees have been known to take simulator weapons and engage in "friendly" matches inside the ships areas, both in free-for-all and classic "team deathmatch" formats. Officially, this is frowned upon by trainers and proxies as it reduces the psychological impact and seriousness they try and cultivate on EXODUS GREEN, but as they say, "all work and no play".
This is not one of those stories.
To tell the story of "EXODUS GREEN", first we must tell of Colony Ships. Similar to the Scum Barge (p. 349 EP) these massive constructs were built to house and move large numbers of people, but were intended to support them for the months or even short years it would take for a mass migration to other planets. Colony Ships in fact served as blueprints for the "lifeboat" barge designs. These massive ships were build in orbital "drydocks" and never intended to land on a surface - or if they did to ever return to space. Several of them were sent to Mars, Venus and many outer system worlds like the Saturnian or Jovian pools. However, as transport technology advanced and the egocasting field opened up, colony ships fell out of vogue, and prior to the Fall several of their designs lay canceled or unfinished as the nations building them had more pressing concerns. However, during the Fall several of these models were dusted off, or hastily completed to serve as transport for refugees off Earth, in the hopes that the long delay of the trip would provide sufficient time for new housing to be built. EXODUS GREEN is one of these ships.
It's original name is unknown. It is known that it was grouped with at least two other sister ships, "EXODUS BLUE" and "EXODUS RED" which did launch from the orbital dock facility in LEO, all ships using quick code names to avoid confusion which may have been caused by complex serial numbers or prior names. Why EXODUS GREEN did not launch is unknown. Local computer systems were fried by some TITAN attack (or preventative measures against), or by later scavengers as a precaution. The Fall conflict may have bled into orbit before EXODUS GREEN could take off, or a stray weapon may have hit something vital. TITAN bio- or nanowarfare may have infected and taken out the populace in such a small space. Or the ship, already outdated may have suffered a critical hardware failure which was beyond the skill of her crew to fix. What is known that all persons aboard EXODUS GREEN, estimated between 10,000-20,000, died.
This would have been a simple footnote in the history of the Fall, except for an interesting turn of events. First, EXODUS GREEN was discovered and began to be explored by a Scavenger team based out of Fresh Kills, who began identifying themselves as the "Re-Green" team. Starting small they expanded after their discovery, and in addition to recovering Earth artifacts to sell also attempted to document the people they found. They recovered Cortical Stacks from the very small number who had them, and looked for other forms of identification. If they could, they would find relatives and inform them, possibly even attempt to dispose of the remains as they would, with unidentifieds being cast respectfully back to Earth in a process known as "sky cremation". This was a minor note in local news circles, which quickly vanished when a pirate gang drove "Re-Green" out. This group identified themselves as the Gadhka-Samada "Tribe", and began to process the ship much quicker for profit, and turned it into a pirate base. They flushed unknown numbers of the dead directly into vacuum with little regard, but only after stripping them of their valuables. From there the "tribe" began to be a bit of a nuisance for flightpaths through the area.
Their nuisance stopped a few years later when some Reclaimers quietly paid mercenaries to flush the pirates out. Faced with real military response, the pirates were outmatched, and many of them suffered the same ignominious fate they had confined the dead to. The reclaimers then got in contact with some remaining members of Re-Green, and very methodically cleared the majority of the dead from the open spaces of the ship, as well as stabilizing some portions damaged in the assault. But, Re-Green now had little interest in the ship itself, having merged with the outfit PastFinders. This is where Firewall steps in.
Using a front organization set up by a pro-reclamation server, Firewall has covertly taken over EXODUS GREN under the guise of small corp dedicated to long-term recovery of Earth but more importantly the clearing and organizing of her orbits. Known as "Kessler Cure", officially this group is using the large ship designed for long-term habitation as a test case for salvaging, and a research base to plot and document other such wrecks and relics in Orbit. Underneath that, Kessler Cure has a long established legend as an organization which assists Reclaimers in reaching the surface of Earth or helping them find orbital bases to scavenge - particularly mapping the Cordon around the Earth. But the real truth is that Kessler and EXODUS GREEN are operated by Firewall. The organization serves as cover for several operatives who monitor Reclaimer operations under a kind of "catch and release" policy - tracking them and their possible cargos so Firewall can intercept anything too dangerous, and even arranging operations to recover assets Firewall is after. EXODUS GREEN itself does something more, however.
Both the ship itself, and many virtual recreations of it have been arranged to be a covert course to teach Firewall Sentinels the basics of clearing derelict habitats. While refurbished to handle a decent population in the hundreds, rarely do more than a few dozen transhumans reside here at any time. This "boot camp" is used to impart basic skills Sentinels operating in the Earth area may need to know, and many of its cleared, interior chambers have been modified to mimic certain environments and scenarios with practical elements. Where practical effects cannot substitute, AR overlays or simulspace replicas can provide. Possible obstacles here cover all manner of traps, TITAN artifacts, servants and weapons, to basic combat tactics vs transhuman opponents; from pirates to professional military. Many Sentinels in the area trying to be operational must pass one or more tests on EXODUS GREEN at some form or another, or are sent there for remedial training after one too many fouled up ops. Other parts of EXODUS GREEN are part of the infrastructure of Kessler Cure (Closely associated with operation CENOTAPH), or even part of their cover. It's not all work over at the ship either, groups of trainees have been known to take simulator weapons and engage in "friendly" matches inside the ships areas, both in free-for-all and classic "team deathmatch" formats. Officially, this is frowned upon by trainers and proxies as it reduces the psychological impact and seriousness they try and cultivate on EXODUS GREEN, but as they say, "all work and no play".
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Fool's Gold Server
Fool's Gold Server
Mission: Deep Cover
Target: Hyperelite
Target-focused
Territory: 300,000-1,500,000
10 Proxies
Well-Equipped (HR)
Well-Equipped (MR)
Moderate
Backup Neutral
Uses Blackmail to Instill Loyalty
Suspects it has a mole
Fool's Gold is an interesting, small server whose primary purpose is to keep Proxies and Sentinels closely tied and undercover on the Hyperelites. The Oligarchy is often seen as a considerable risk to the transhuman future, as per Operation GLASS LICH. Fool's Gold operates in these extreme upper circles and maintains units under cover to monitor them. This means they tend to be overall moderate, and decently equipped. But, working in scrutinized social circles with powerful individuals, Fool's Gold has a reputation for its proxies holding the integrity of cover and any past misdeeds over the heads of Sentinels and other operatives, which could land them in immense trouble if revealed, thus keeping them in line. The extreme wealth involved also means Fool's Gold is slightly paranoid about infiltration by outside sources, and has reported to several other servers to monitor their activities in case an active mole from some other group has been placed inside the Server.
Mission: Deep Cover
Target: Hyperelite
Target-focused
Territory: 300,000-1,500,000
10 Proxies
Well-Equipped (HR)
Well-Equipped (MR)
Moderate
Backup Neutral
Uses Blackmail to Instill Loyalty
Suspects it has a mole
Fool's Gold is an interesting, small server whose primary purpose is to keep Proxies and Sentinels closely tied and undercover on the Hyperelites. The Oligarchy is often seen as a considerable risk to the transhuman future, as per Operation GLASS LICH. Fool's Gold operates in these extreme upper circles and maintains units under cover to monitor them. This means they tend to be overall moderate, and decently equipped. But, working in scrutinized social circles with powerful individuals, Fool's Gold has a reputation for its proxies holding the integrity of cover and any past misdeeds over the heads of Sentinels and other operatives, which could land them in immense trouble if revealed, thus keeping them in line. The extreme wealth involved also means Fool's Gold is slightly paranoid about infiltration by outside sources, and has reported to several other servers to monitor their activities in case an active mole from some other group has been placed inside the Server.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Agora server
Agora Server
Mission: Monitor/Analysis
Target: Society/Economics
Mission-focused
Territory: 300,000-1,500,000
12 Proxies
Well-Equipped (HR)
Rich (MR)
Pragmatic
Very Structuralist
Backup Neutral
Hands-off Proxies
Close Ties to another Agency
“Agora” is a small, economics focused Server operated on Progress in Mars Orbit, focuses on long term monitoring of the Planetary Consortium and their economics. While many in Firewall may not approve of the PC, it is generally accepted that it’s sudden collapse could be very harmful to stability in the Solar System. So Agora tracks economic climate at the Consortium HQ, and runs many long-term projections on economic stability - occasionally recommending operations Firewall might undergo or back to keep things static. Agora proxies are fairly evenly split between Firewall’s roles (except Erasers), many of whom are also also are embedded in several other agencies or groups inside the Consortium. To emphasize their neutrality as an economic analysis and tallying group, the various proxies of Agora tend to be hands-off, and feature pragmatic, structuralist leanings due to their association with classical business and government. While not excessively funded, it’s members have access to significant physical resources through personal efforts, and can keep their limited number of Sentinels well equipped.
(This server and all other Firewall servers I may post generated via this random generator)
Mission: Monitor/Analysis
Target: Society/Economics
Mission-focused
Territory: 300,000-1,500,000
12 Proxies
Well-Equipped (HR)
Rich (MR)
Pragmatic
Very Structuralist
Backup Neutral
Hands-off Proxies
Close Ties to another Agency
“Agora” is a small, economics focused Server operated on Progress in Mars Orbit, focuses on long term monitoring of the Planetary Consortium and their economics. While many in Firewall may not approve of the PC, it is generally accepted that it’s sudden collapse could be very harmful to stability in the Solar System. So Agora tracks economic climate at the Consortium HQ, and runs many long-term projections on economic stability - occasionally recommending operations Firewall might undergo or back to keep things static. Agora proxies are fairly evenly split between Firewall’s roles (except Erasers), many of whom are also also are embedded in several other agencies or groups inside the Consortium. To emphasize their neutrality as an economic analysis and tallying group, the various proxies of Agora tend to be hands-off, and feature pragmatic, structuralist leanings due to their association with classical business and government. While not excessively funded, it’s members have access to significant physical resources through personal efforts, and can keep their limited number of Sentinels well equipped.
(This server and all other Firewall servers I may post generated via this random generator)
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