Network Faction Tract

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**Note:** The following information is only for those interested in writing lore for or of the The Network, or miscellaneous viewers who wish to see a run-down of the faction as a whole. It does not deal with lore events, individual members, or great in-universe detail, but provides a comprehensive look at the faction's place in the setting and what it encompasses.

**Note 2:** The information here is subject to revision.

## Who They Are

* **To put it bluntly, the Network is basically a faction mostly consisting of conspiracy theorists.** That's right, you heard it right there. To expand this further, the Network is somewhat of an alliance between different conspiracy theorist groups, loosely bound together but united in some of their ideologies.
	+ Whether they be cryptozoologists, enthusiasts of everything paranormal or extraterrestrial, or paranoid survivalists, anyone having views that radically differ from those of the rest of the population can find acquaintanceship here.
* The entirety of the Network is led by the sheer force of personality of the Third Eye (identity unknown). Such is their influence in the Network that the clubbers already treat them as some messianic archetype.
	+ However, the Third Eye prefers to act as an ideological leader instead of a political one, which means that the leaders of different Clubhouses have to make all the decisions in and outside the field.
	+ This is mostly because the Third Eye is *really* paranoid of the outside world at large; they literally lock themselves up in a room full of recording equipment along with their very trusted colleagues. They also sleep, take a bath, eat their meals (courtesy of those individuals inside their safehouse) and live the rest of their lives *all inside the same room*.
		- The rest of the Network need not worry, though, as the Third Eye regularly sends them letters and produces episodes of the "Open your Eyes" series that are regularly played on tape recorders, and portable video recorders in Network clubhouses everywhere. The series itself tackles events, media and people of interest, and everything under the sun that might have some secrets that *they* hide from humanity.
* There is no age limit for anybody wanting to join the Network; anyone can see teenagers providing small arms fire for camera-toting adults in operations.
	+ Prepubescent and pre-adolescent children are discouraged from joining however, due to the Third Eye's belief that children will only be negatively affected by the nature of their operations.

## What They Want

* **The Network's foremost desire is to reveal the truths to the masses. Nothing more, nothing less.** The world that they live in has indeed many, *many*, ***many*** conspiracies concocted by some individuals at the top and behind the scenes. And conspiracies do have some unfunny truths that their figures are loathe to share with the rest of the world.
	+ Needless to say, the Network is out to expose every backroom deal, secret experiments, unethical activities and other skeletons in the closets of supranational bodies/corporations/world powers/the like. Trust me, they have an entire planet's worth of unfunny truths to go about.
	+ The Third Eye hopes that once every last secret is laid out in the open, the peoples of the world will eventually rise up against the oppressive organizations that have subjugated them for far too long.
* **The Network also has a personal vendetta against *them* as a result of enduring years of ridicule.** Since their eccentric beliefs and behaviour typically make other people deride and mock them, the Network believes that these are all parts of an all-encompassing plan by the shadow cabals to further discredit them.
	+ This is the reason why some Network leaders are condescending towards non-True Believers; it's pretty much their way of saying "I'm right! You're wrong!".

## How Much Do They Know

* **The Network has hands down, one of the *best* grasps of the things going on in this world, if not THE best.** Thanks to their efforts in intelligence gathering, they at least have some knowledge of whatever is happening behind the scenes.
	+ They have a handful of files pertaining to CIA reports of the stuff like "MKULTRA", tape recorders from India detailing secret experiments, evidence linking the Syndicate to organized crime, and the like.
	+ They know about the existence of groups like the Black Hand and the Talon, but they don't know anything about them other than they've been waging a secret war centuries ago until now.
	+ They also have a few files detailing how their weirdtech works; some examples are the Allies' chronotechnology, the League's breakthroughs in mineralogy, and Empire's wave-force technology. The catch? Most of these information are often blurry and corrupted.
* **While their research abilities are unparalleled, their conclusions are downright bizarre.** Every Network member mix their pet conspiracies with the gathered facts, and thus, you get people who believe, among other things, that World War II was staged, the razing of Odessa was fake, the Syndicate draw their wealth from literal mouths from hell, the Fae Court control all of Ireland, and much more.

## How They Operate

* The Network prefers to mine for intelligence anywhere they can, avoiding a direct fight from the Allies or the Unionists who can pick them off in short notice. Setting up a telescope for UFOs, infiltrating an Allied research lab, hacking secure Syndicate servers and overanalyzing Imperial manga is typical work for Network clubbers.
* In cases where combat is unavoidable, Network clubhouse leaders have the Conduit on speed dial. Consisting of actual military veterans who've seen their share of the weird, they bring down heavy fire upon humanity's enemies and assist their less-experienced comrades.

## Why Should You Support Them

* In this universe, the Network does have justification for their truth seeking.
	+ For example, there are indeed forces at work aiming to disrupt the world's safety (i.e. the Cult).
	+ World powers have skeletons in their closet that they'd like hidden (i.e. pretty much everyone)
	+ Humanity's is slowly losing grip of their grasp of science and technology (i.e. Combine, EP).
* Very much like the Combine, they strongly advocate free exchange of information; no faction has to have secrets of their own if they do not want suspicion by the people.

## Why Should You Oppose Them

* The Network are comprised of wildcards that would temporarily ally themselves with another army, faction or organization only to slip into their files before running away with riches from the truth motherlode. Meaning that the only faction they're permanently loyal to is the truth. Or whatever that means.
* They have no idea what to do and what to make out of the information they currently possess. This leads to them theorizing that the Syndicate has been undertaking occult rituals, the reptilians have infiltrated the Federal government, and other insane hypotheses about other factions.
	+ The Network has no control over what comes out of their mouths. It doesn't matter what would other people think of them, whether if it's sane or insane, as long as they have 'proof' of it, everyone should just listen and believe.
* Most of the Network members feel that they have a sense of superiority over the rest of the populace. Since they are "enlightened" by the Third Eye while those sheeple are shills and puppets of the mainstream media, why must they be beholden to them? Clearly they are brainwashed by those cabals...
* The Network has no qualms in resorting to unscrupulous methods if using those would yield them just one morsel of truth. Hacking into public and private files, blackmail and extortion, even harassment of innocents and the like are fair game for them; the ends justifies the means, after all.
* They are paranoiacs *par excellence*. Even they have cast their aspersions on various Continental groups that they think are suspicious enough to warrant their attention.
* They are quick to demonize anybody not part of them. In their minds, either you're with the Truth Seekers or you're against them. The true believers versus the shadow cabals, the neutral ground does not exist for them. This belief has led to alienating other people just for taking the middle ground.

## Can They Win?

**Short answer: HELL NO.**

**Long answer: Imagine a half-blindfolded man stumbling through a dark alley carrying a lantern with armed thugs chasing him.** That sentence basically describes the military state of the Network in the present time.

If the Network were to actually try to wage full war on the hidden factions, the Talon and Cult are liable to tear them apart systematically within a month and leave nothing to reform, while the Protectorate and Ecumene are liable to eradicate them as quickly as they can do so without revealing themselves. And when the latter two decide to go loud, the Network's chances of meaningfully halting their progress are infinitesimal.

## Their Technology

* Most of their weaponry is what can charitably be called Continental hand-me-downs; minutemen wouldn't use their firearms in combat unless there's no other choice. Their stronger hardware comes from Front and Combine supplies (and the occasional undercover KGB agent).
* The Prometheans, a circle consisting of crank engineers inspired by the Fixit, work around the clock to rectify this problem: losing fingers, limbs, or even their lives to unveil hidden technology and integrate them into the Warriors of Truth's arsenal. Tacticooled rifles, homebrew-y camera drones, and the like are their handiwork.

General Setting Details • Faction Bibles (Paradox) • Faction Bibles (Echoes) • Faction Bibles (Quantum) • Faction Bibles (Annihilation) • Faction Bibles (Null) • Faction Bibles (Pandemonium) • Faction Bibles (Insanity) • Faction Bibles (Extremist) • Faction Bibles (Silentium)