Shakspar Factions

Powers both banal and esoteric fight to decide the future of Shakspar. From the Pirates of the Unchained Fleets, to the Mekani of the House of Scales, the spectral voids of Shakspar ring with cannon fire, all to the tune of a violent, unknowable future.

## Factions and You

In Shakspar, people are constantly looking for an edge, and in Lancer, that edge is mighty war machines you pilot. It’s healthy and normal to expect contacts, requests for aid, and declarations of distress to fill your inbox every day. Some will be the minor quibbling of an Aerial noble, demanding your help in arbitration of the boundaries of his estate. Others will be a plea for help from an innocent freighter, being boarded by pirates. What’s important though, is to expect the unexpected.

As time passes and you interact with and aid different factions, your renown and their favor will grow. Perhaps you become aspiring rebels yourselves, uniting the revolutionaries of Othello and the settlers of Romeo to storm the palaces of Aerial, or you may become tools of the nobility and enforcers of the status quo. In the dark between the stars, mysteries lurk, and the quests of HORUS beckon from the shadows, while the depths of Hamlet are the testing grounds for the incredible weaponry of Harrison Armory, and they always need those willing to bring their tools to bear in real world scenarios.

As not all factions are pure and good (in fact, only the Union Navy fits this description, and ***God Help You*** if you piss them off), you shouldn’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and do some unsavory things to get ahead and advance your agenda. You’re fighting for what’s right, after all. So why not have some fun?

### Harrison Armory

Few can boast the uncomfortable lineage that Harrison Armory can. Founded by refugees of the collapsed Anthrochauvinist SecComm, Harrison Armory has made their name on the galactic scene as a powerful Corpro-State and dangerous PMC. A military power with overt imperial ambition, Harrison Armory is often only reigned in by those in the uppermost echelons of its own structures, and sometimes, not even then.

In Shakspar, that uppermost echelon is occupied by Executive William Adams. A former legionnaire and commander for Harrison Armory, Adams marries a unique sense of self-disgust and self-awareness for his and the Armory’s less than savory actions over the years. Understanding he is morally compromised, he quietly searches for true amends with the Galaxy, and the Player Characters can be his method.

Armory Quests tend to focus around protecting convoys and settlements that produce and test weaponry, as well as escort missions to the outer edge of the system. Additionally, more covert and off the books missions could be distributed from Adams, focused on destroying weaponry or research he deems too dangerous to be allowed to exist. Finally, Harrison Armory has taken a different tact for handling the pirates, and has worked to make the Calibani clans loyal to them through shipments of food, supplies, and culture. This way, Adams hopes to starve the pirates of Shakspar for support.

### House of Scales

Power. Wealth. Prosperity. Order. These are the bywords of any successful Baronic House, whose ancient lineages go back in an unbroken chain over seven thousand years. With a society built upon hierarchy though, instability and revolt can be inevitable, and it was the House of Scales who was most responsible for the rise of piracy in Shakspar. Though they settled this system only some 800 years ago, the House of Scales has not been idle in its near millennium of control.

In Shakspar, control of the system’s three Baronic worlds are split between the three children of the dead Baron Leto Archon. To the cruel and demanding Karen Archon was given the world of Othello, and under her generous lashing it became the beating heart of rebellion. To the hedonistic and indolent Charles Archon was given the volcanic moon of Caliban, and while he busied himself with beautiful men and crafty women, the moon became the supply depot of Othellan Pirates. Last, to the quiet but diligent Carla Archon, was given the world of Aerial in its entirety, and under her stewardship, she has kept the corrupted and infected heart of her father’s domain from giving out entirely.

Baronic Quests vary in their intensity and their danger. From discovering some exotic spice or relocating an old flame for Charles, to stamping out the pirates and rebels of Othello for Karen, working for the House of Scales can be ritualistic and strange at times. Carla, as the youngest and most connected to the world she operates, could send the PCs on any number of quests: from settling noble disputes to stomping out criminal elements on her planet. In the end, fighting for the House shouldn’t seem like you’ve made a deal with the devil… but sometimes, there might be some quid pro quo action going on there. ;)

### HORUS

The secretive of the priesthood of HORUS is, perhaps, the core of many mysteries in Shakspar. Certainly, they’ve been part and parcel to the worlds ever since their first settlement, with the earliest records mentioning the Esoteric Order of Ra and their strange meta-genetic experiments. Perhaps it is their interference that lend weight to the rumors and legends of the system?

HORUS has always been many things, for it is a confederacy of individuals. Small, powerful and disorganized cells of the collective linger in many places across civilized space, hiding in plain sight, shining in places of power and of squalor. To describe a single individuals as “leading” the sects of HORUS found in Shakspar is to trend dangerously to describing correlation as causation… but for that matter, the being known as Heirophant Tex California is claimed by many to be their speaker.

Mysterious, eternally masked, and pushing for eclectic and divergent and sometimes contradictory measures, Tex California is not a man (and he declares himself to be a man) to be trifled with. It is not for nothing that he is often found at the side of Baron Charles Archon, and not for nothing that he has also been seen to openly tread the halls and bridges of pirate starships. Occupying a unique neutral ground between the two warring factions, Tax California has crawled his way into the Rim War the way a worm would spoil an apple.

The requests of Tex California was not coherent or sensible to individuals used to collating information in a causal manner. Perhaps he shall plea for mercy against a pirate vessel, or declare destruction against a Harrison Armory relief ship, or simply ask for a cup of tea made from herbs found on Juliet. For whatever he does… he does it with momentousness.

### The Unchained Fleets

It was when the abuses of Baroness Karen Archon became too much to stomach, that Othello rose up in rebellion. Relying upon a cache of old SecComm weaponry discovered underneath the ice, and their own cobbled together warships, and ever since have prosecuted total war against the House of Scales. Some recall the cause they fight for… some do not.

To describe the fleets as a coherent whole is to reduce countless individual desires, differences, causes, atrocities, grievances, and goals into a flavorless slop that fails to grasp the internal complexities of the pirates. Many remained committed to the original cause of Othellan liberation, while many more merely use the suffering of Othello as an excuse to reave, raid, and plunder to their heart’s content. Most, in the end, fall into the middle ground: neither saints nor demons entire, fighting for good reasons and performing evil acts in the service of their myriad goals.

Piratical missions tend to be determined upon the Captain issuing them. One Captain may request aid against ruthless mercenaries fighting for the House of Scales, while another would demand the destruction of ore shipments departing Othello for Aerial. Still another may forego the pleasantries and directly attack the party, seeing them as a threat. When taking a Pirate Mission, the Players should know that they aren’t necessarily fighting the good fight, but are working for those who once may have. It should be a morally grey, uncomfortable, and strange relationship, and one that never detracts from the fact that pirates are gonna be the main bad guys of Shakspar.

### Union Carrier, *Rio Grande*

AKA, the Good Guys.

It really is that simple. The *Rio Grande*, an understaffed and under-equipped Union Super-Capitol carrier, dove through the Shakspar Blink gate when it came under fire from pirates, emerging in the system and unceremoniously stranding itself when the gate came down. On the far side of the Gate, lacking their traditional resources and supplies, the Rio has responded to this plight by deputizing a handful of volunteers and local heroes, our particular band of misfits among them.

The Rio Grande is commanded underneath Captain Brigid Farris, a personable woman whose capabilities and concern for her crew has encouraged and grown their respect for her. For her part, Farris has striven to understand and best resolve the complex dynastic and interpersonal conflicts plaguing the Shakspar System, and though her actions to bring her Starship back through the Blink Gate is *technically* direct disobedience of her orders, she has been empowered to act as liaison to Shakspar in light of the events at the Gate.

Alongside her 1st Lieutenant Alex Kim, and the Rio Grande’s shipboard NHP Rio, Farris can supply the player characters with missions that strike to the heart of the system. Protect the innocent from pirate raids, rogue mercenaries, runaway megafauna, and dangerous natural phenomena. Investigate the corrupt and bring them to Justice. Safeguard the powerless from the abusive and the manipulative. Stand up, and fight for the little guy.

Brigid Farris firmly believes in an action first approach to enforcing the Utopian Pillars, and expects the same from those who work underneath her. So don’t disappoint her: she has an entire god damned Capitol ship behind her, and she isn’t afraid to use it..