Hand of Gaia

> “
> “Consumer society will consume itself.”
>
>
> — *Andrew Shepherd, The Final Warning*
>
>
>

Banner of the Hand of Gaia

The **Hand of Gaia** is a radical Unifaith militant organization adhering to an extremist interpretation of The Message. Its stated aim is to bring about the dissolution of the Coalition through an eco-revolution against the CCR's government, its subsidiary republics and megacorporations. The Hand of Gaia primarily targets corporate military, financial and logistical infrastructure, as well as Coalition military and administrative facilities, seeking to destabilize the Coalition and its republics through accelerationism.

Despite widespread condemnation from the broader Unifaith, the Hand of Gaia regards itself as adhering to the most 'pure' interpretation of Dr. Karól Tarnowski's works. Its manifesto is The Final Warning, written by disillusioned Unifaith ascetic Andrew Shepherd. Intended as a spiritual successor to its progenitor text, it was written as a response to the perceived complacency of the Church of the Universal Faith, as well as perceived anti-theist oppression faced by Gaianists in New Rome. Building upon the structure of previous decentralized Gaianist religious self-defense orgs, its founding officials sought to create a vanguard militant organization that would wage a war of resistance enacting the will of The First Messenger. Shepherd declared the mainline Unifaith had failed by establishing itself as a religious institution, as he believed Dr. Tarnowski's aims would require 'material and spiritual warfare' to achieve victory and, in his perspective, bring harmony between man and nature. While many other sects of Gaianism shun the excessive use of technology, Shepherd permitted the use of cyberspace by netrunners among his followers, believing it both a necessary evil and a tool to propagate his message and bring in new members.

The Hand of Gaia initially found appeal among radical communes and groves in Columbia, though the ideas of Shepherd quickly began to proliferate online, particularly thanks to accelerationist hacktivism by adherents of the Cybergaia Movement. Its first prominent action would come in 2592 with the Days of Rage, as the Hand of Gaia waged a campaign of bombings, cyber-attacks and targeted assassinations across the New Rome system in response to a series of anti-theist hate crimes targeting Gaianist communes and groves. The Hand of Gaia would be designated a terrorist organization by both the New Rome and Coalition governments thereafter, after which Andrew Shepherd disappeared from the Security Intelligence Network's radar.

Cells formed in the Unifaith seat of power in Moñái as early as 2590, appealing to eco-activists disillusioned with increased corporate presence on the jungle planet, and illegal deforestation and displacement of indigenous peoples. By 2601, these cells would start waging the Moñái Eco-Insurgency, which has seen multiple targeted bombings, skirmishes with illegal loggers and poachers, as well as acts of industrial sabotage targeting corporate facilities since its inception at the start of the 27th century.

By the 2620s, Shepherd's ideas would lead to the emergence of a number of smaller, derivative organizations with even more extreme beliefs. Most prominent among them would be Voluntary Extinction, a militant organization aiming to bring about forceful anthropocide through violent accelerationism. In 2648, the Hand of Gaia would be implicated in the Columbia Bioterror Attacks, perpetrated by one such derivative organization—the Festering Hand. This incident, as well as the ensuing wave of paramilitary violence that ensued, would lead to open hostilities with the splinter group.

The aftermath of the attacks proved to be a setback to the Hand of Gaia, with a multitude of cells in New Rome either being destroyed or forced underground once more. Though Andrew Shepherd is believed to have died sometime in 2653, the organization continued to operate without his leadership, his death going wholly unreported.

The organization would definitively come under the leadership of Andrew Shepherd's grandson, Arno Shepherd, in 2660, leading to numerous reforms to its command structure. Shepherd would play a role in the prison break of Kaniehtiio Tuttle, a member of the Hand of Gaia who had gained widespread media attention in 2657 for the shooting of Oniricorp executive Gerald William Byrd, in response to the company's use of animal testing in its Hypernet interface products. Shepherd subsequently appointed Tuttle as yogini of the militant organization, effectively serving as a second-in-command tasked with overseeing operations in the Core.

Shepherdite cells are believed to have had a minor role in the insurgency phase of the Belial War, bombing Coalition and corporate fuel facilities in loose cooperation with al-Eamud. The tribulations of the Belial War led to renewed disillusionment with the broader Coalition, as well as an uptick in insurgent activity. Under Arno Shepherd's leadership, the Moñái Eco-Insurgency intensified with renewed vigor, conducting particularly bold attacks targeting corporate facilities and executive estates.

The militant organization's most recent major action was the Moñái Paleozoo Security Incident in 2692, which saw a cyberattack-induced failure of multiple enclosures.