The Network

**Dev. Status** | Conceptual

*When logic and proportion have fallen softly dead*

*And the White Knight is talking backwards*

*And the Red Queen's off with her head*

*Remember what the dormouse said*

*"Feed your head, feed your head"*

- Jefferson Airplane, *White Rabbit*
The Network is a faction created by the Red Star Rising with surprisingly enthusiastic help from the community to create a faction based on conspiracy theorists. Or more correctly, the lunatic fringe, such as doomsday preppers, and other elements considered amusingly crazy. The Network is essentially the output of giving an arsenal to the nutjobs you always see featured on TV and the Internet, spouting off nonsense about aliens making the pyramids. Only, they're not completely off their rockers here. While universally bad at direct combat for their cost, the benefits they can give with their intelligence gathering ability, debuff capacity, and stealth detection can't be under-estimated.

## At a Glance

 **Motives** | Revealing the truths that will set the world free, exposing the shadow governments and manipulators and their conspiracies, seeking knowledge *they* don't want *you* to know.

## Background

### The Wingbats Take Flight

"*They call us crazy. The lunatics who saw ghosts in every shadow. For years they pushed us to the fringes of social circles, mocked us for seeing truth! But now it's the dawn of a new era, and finally, we truthers of the world can unite! The government UFOs, Satanic robomen, MK-ULTRA, Habsburg puppeteers, Romulan cults in Africa, Soviet bombs in China, crabmen controlling Mexico, we know all! And now, we will reveal all!*"

-  Encrypted message decoded by CBURA from shortwave radio frequency 1605 HZ by unknown sender. Message bears similarity to previous messages sent by shortwave call sign "thirdeye".
Conspiracy theorists have existed in some form or another since there have been things to rampantly speculate about. However, in this age, there are many strange goings-on. Even discounting the extranormal factions which draw so much of the current speculation by these theorists, there is much stranger things to go by. There are groups who operate in the shadows. Seemingly-affable world powers all have something terrifying to hide beneath their facade. Some others, like the League and the Allies, utilize science in strange ways. The Soviets dominate the lanes of space far above the Earth while the Contingent hangs in the upper atmosphere. Japan wields incredible nanotechnology and the power of the mind. And this is just scratching the surface. It's quite an interesting age, isn't it?

It is also an age where communities that once would have been separated by distance are now just a phone call away, or even just a few keystrokes should you have access to the Syndicate's interwebs. While groups of conspiracy theorists have been drawing closer together for quite some time as the twentieth century rolls through its final third, it was the emergence of a mysterious figure known as the Third Eye who helped catalyze their union as the ranks of those willing to believe what they had to say swelled due to the increasing number of people exposed to the strangest elements of the world and beyond.

The Third Eye, named for the their belief that we have three eyes (two that simply see the world at face value, and a metaphorical third one that peers beyond what meets the eye to see the truth), was a highly charismatic figure that took every step to hide their identity, a step many of the groups they were appealing to empathized with. Clad in a baggy jacket, ballistic armor that made determine gender by looking at the chest impossible, pants that helped confound attempts to identify him them by their figure, gloves, a ski-mask, sunglasses, and a helmet and always speaking through a voice modulato, their outfit attest to the their constant paranoia regarding the world at large. This was also probably the reason why the Third Eye preferred to speak in heavily air conditioned rooms.

The Third Eye started drawing these groups together, stating a need for those who had an idea of the truth to come as one so that they could stand strong and united to not just survive, but perhaps take the power back for the people and stop the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (insert convenient scapegoat for the world's woes here) one day. The word was spread, and soon, the groups started to come together, rallying under a new organization called "The Network" as no one could agree on a more fanciful name.

The Network would be something between a confederation and an alliance of various conspiracy theorist groups, loosely bound together, but always ready to come together and support one another. The Third Eye, surprisingly did not assume any great deal of power, preferring to remain an ideological leader rather than a political one and allow for open forums to try and figure out plans. It soon had stations across much of the world, but it would be in the United States where their greatest concentration of strength could be found.

### Arming the Uprising

"*It takes a dedicated kind of blindness for one to see the terrible events of recent history, and not think that they are connected. To think that the scorpion graffiti on the burnt shells of torched buildings is mere coincidence, to believe that Unionist activity in New Jersey is a mere social experiment, and to hope that our governments hold nothing from us, is to prove oneself fully under the control of these shadowy anti-mankind conspiracies.*"

-  Introduction of the a Third Eye's introductory video, titled "If Ignorance was a Drug..."
The Third Eye soon decided to hold an open forum to determine how the Network should proceed from here, and after substantial bickering, they came to the conclusion that if they were to have success, they'd need to become more than just a bunch of clubhouses and cliques that meet together, but an actual armed force capable of seeking the truth and perhaps even fighting the many enemies they perceived. This new organization would need teeth, and so the process of growing them began.

The most important part of the job, of course, was in finding proof of the conspiracies or the super-normal. Here, the UFO watchers, cryptid finders, and ghost chasers would prove to be of immense help in getting the sensor equipment needed for part of the job. Turning their tools for tracking down their selected obsession to the benefit of the rest of the Network and pooling their efforts, they created surprisingly sophisticated technology that allowed them greater ability to chase after the shadowy foes that had to be around the corner.

For the other half of intelligence gathering, many "investigators" largely ridiculed by the community at large and amateur historians who spent much of their lives searching for the patterns that would expose truly ancient conspiracies or the absolutely real and not at all delusional proof that the currently accepted version of history was the product of byzantine revisionism on a truly epic scale, would provide for the more human factor of intelligence.

For weaponry and defenses, survivalists and militias deemed too "out there" for those with more down to earth objections to the powers that be, who prepared for sure to come apocalypses or to defend themselves from the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (insert hostile supranational body of your choosing here) and stockpiled enormous amounts of weapons, armor, kit, and knowledge of how to make fortifications would help provide for the Network as well as some actual training for the largely civilian organization, though they, of course, kept the choicest weapons for themselves.

For research, development, and construction, would be inventors and other assorted intellectuals who believed that the powers that be were silencing a technological revolution that could change the world for the better just to keep on making a profit were deemed to be best for the job. They would either scratch build what the Network needed on these fronts or convert already existing assets to be more suited for battle. While not a serious match for genuine military hardware, it was still seen as a vital step towards taking the power back for the common man.

Finally, an elite core of combatants was made out of former soldiers who had actually had encounters with the super-normal and were discharged for myriad reasons. These were the men and women who had actually fought against the shadowy enemies the Network saw all around them and lived and could offer actual experience in the field of combat and first hand accounts of the enemies that hid from the limelight. These would get the best equipment they could scrape together for them. These would be called the Conduit, for they lay the pathway to the truth.

### Interconnected Inanity

"*A group of paranoid nutjobs joined up with the Continentals. So what? I think they're reliable nutjobs. After all, where else can you go to find skeletons in the Allies' closet?*"

-  Dennis Hoffhassle, responding to Continentals sick of the Network's endless prattling about the "worldwide conspiracies".
While the Network was forming, the Continental Revolutionaries were also picking up steam in the United States, opposed by both the Unionists and the Allies and manipulated by many other factions. Of course, the Network's obvious misgivings about the Unionists and the mistrust many had for the Allies effectively forced the Network to the rebel camp. It was decided that while there were many, many parts of the movement they had major concerns with (foremost, them being an astroturf rather than a grassroots movement), they were the better choice than the Unionists whom they had increasing evidence about the sinister actions of.

As such, when Continental forces moved against an Allied-Unionist base, they were surprised by a Network transmission giving them every weak point they knew about in the base, and then further surprised them by offering their armed forces to assist the minutemen against the outpost, leading to a resounding victory. Afterwards, it seemed that the Continentals couldn't personally stand to be around the Network, finding their constant prattle about whatever comes into their minds to be insufferable.

This lead to the Unionists proclaiming the Network to be a criminal organization and placing an order for a manhunt against the Third Eye, only for even the FBI to be unable to tell the Unionists anything more than that they are probably from North America or Europe. So, a rather uneasy alliance between the two was formed, leading to the Continentals growing to be rather used to relying on intelligence reports from the Network since while it's nearly always given a heavy flavoring of nonsense and fruitcake, it tends to be highly accurate once filtered enough.

Militarily, the Network was never the match of the Continentals. The latter had already taken up most of the heavy equipment and they, while certainly wealthy enough due to it generally being manned by affluent but eccentric folk with too much time on their hands, had to inspect any hardware they purchased for any "bugs" or tampering by the "man". Not to mention that the organization was mostly made of civilians while the Confederacy could rely on a substantial number of trained soldiers. Indeed, just about any faction with any real significance that could take arms was bound to beat the Network in a fight with equivalent numbers.

As word got out about the Network's extensive knowledge and ability to acquire it, informants were swiftly planted into the organization. The KGB, CBURA, SPIDER and more all have some people to try and sift through the layer upon layer of mind-numbing, convoluted conspiracy theories to find actionable intelligence, and their services could often be hired out if one was willing to accept the risk of them using this chance to get even more dirt on their benefactor.

Due to its goal of not only finding out the dark sides of the factions that are out there in the open, but bringing to light the powers that hide in the shadows, the Network operates around the world in fact-finding, espionage, sensor sweep, and infiltration missions with perhaps a dash of sabotage and covert ops if the clique feels brave enough. After all, the truth can't be found solely in America, and if the war to free the human race from its veiled overlords was to be won, they had to go and confront it directly.

They can be found roaming through the wastes of China trying to figure out the weaknesses in the Chinese war machine. Some try trekking through Russia to get dirt on Davidova's regime. Others operate in Switzerland in the heart of the Allied Nations, while still more go into the Amazon to find what lies in the jungle. A bold group of PI's venture into Palestine and Yugoslavia to find more about their secret rulers, and a daring few delve into the remote locales where the most reports of killer robots come from. Those truly hardened try Japan to find out more about the psychic phenomenon or proof that they are plotting to take over the world again. The more privileged ones some chase UFOs all around the world. Still others can be found in Oceania and SEA, to get the scoop on the many, many factions there, and much, much more.

Those factions curious about the super-normal factions of the world also tried to get more information from the Network. Whether it's more knowledge on the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (insert mysterious, vague organization here), they tend to be a good if annoying source. The Network's equipment comes mostly from its allies in the Phoenix Front (which has made quite a killing off of a bunch of cash-loaded suburbanites just learning how to go to war), the Confederacy (which would be happy to discard if it weren't for their intel), and International Inc. (no comment given; no comment possible).

## Warriors of Truth

"*You think you can keep the truth down huh you field grey wearing sons of bitches? You can't keep the truth confined with your endless red tape or green belts. You won't force us, and you're gonna stop degrading us! You and every other puppeteering shadow cabalist is going to learn that you can't hide anymore.*"

- Unknown contributor to the "True Truth" AURA thread.

## Deathmatch Reinforcements

"*When all is said and done, it is a fact that peaceful negotiation with you will be fruitless as you have no intentions of doing the same thing with us. This time there will be change, no matter what means will be used for that end...*"

-  "Sprawlestia's" message to virtually every Syndicate-aligned e-mail addresses after the "Great Shutdown of Urbe Arcadia", 1968. Sprawlestia is rumored to be one of the new leaders of the famed hacktivist group, Nemo.
**The Conduit**

These forces can be called on during minor faction deathmatch. The Conduit is the elite of the Network, those soldiers who have actually had encounters with the stranger elements of the world and were either discharged from, or left the military for various reasons. As such, they are given the best weapons and equipment that the Network can get it's hands on. These are some samples of what a lodger can call on.

### Deathmatch Protocols

  **Vehicles**
  **Aircraft**
  **Conduit**
  **Buildings**
  **Detailed Information**