Exculcatores

> *"Shadows in the alley and bumps in the night, when we're around you're in for a fright"*
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## The last light casts its shadow

   After the events of Bloody April public opinion of psionics, that had historically always been a tenuous affair, fell off a cliff-face. Psionics had never been a wholly trusted group; some establishments went as far as to segregate employees or customers, which was not strictly illegal as it was not a species or race specific segregation and psionically gifted individuals were acknowledge as unique citizens.

But after the last light public opinion was damaged irreconcilably and a slew of discriminatory murders, assaults and lynches became a common occurrence; the authorities were caught between protecting the public from angry psionics, protecting psionics from the public, protecting themselves and their image, the issue compounded by individuals who were sympathetic / derogatory to psionics within their own ranks.

It should come as no surprise then that some people took the next step; becoming active hunters of psionics and trained serial killers, however, what was not expected was that these hunters were actually sponsored by a certain criminal syndicate.

The authorities do not have any solid evidence but what they do have gives suspicion of the involvement of The Solarian Syndicate; an underground network of genetic purists, this group was known to the authorities before but had done little to oppose them. The sad truth being that whenever the authorities dismantle one criminal organisation another one would take its place; with this is in mind it is sometimes best to let sleeping dogs lie, the Sol had been a very secretive and covert group. They avoided confrontation with the authorities and did not get involved with activities that threatened the public; they exercised great restraint in their endeavours and made any action taken against them a lengthy and expensive one, what's more the Sol even went as far as to assist authorities on rare occasion... albeit the authorities never asked for their help and did not appreciate the methods the Sol used.

But now the Sol seem to be taking more active strides. A short-lived political party known as the Human Future Movement is suspected to be the work of The Solarian Syndicate, testing the political mettle of the Council and inciting supremacist zeal. Now they seem to be up to ever more dubious activities; recruiting, funding, directing and training cells of psionic hunters... what they hope to achieve is unknown, the Sol are known for being anti-psionic but this is no more than they are anti-genetic modification and actually even had rare psionic members.

However with anti-psionic sentiment at a peak these Exculcatores and their Sol puppet-masters are not exactly causing much concern within the public; contrarily, this seems to be creating positive opinion of them in more morally ambiguous circles, this endeavour may be an indirect method of large scale recruitment and profiteering as many likeminded people may essentially 'put their foot in the door' by secretly donating to a covert Sol contact.

All we can say for sure at this stage is that the Exculcatores are not your common witch hunters; drawing support from sympathetic civilians and anti-psionic authorities, they are especially hard to combat. This isn't to say that the Exculcatores are beloved vigilantes but they certainly find it easier than most criminals to find contacts willing to hide them or rat-out psionics.

## The Exculcatores

> *"Criminal organisations and fanatical cults always have a predictable demographic; take any drug gang and I'll guarantee you all of em are from the same district and most of them will have destitute economic prospects... take a slave guild, all of those fuckers are upper-class these days with more money than sense"*
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> *"But an Exculcatore; they could be anyone... don't matter if you're rich or poor, Human or Alir. An Exculcatores could that one guy everyone hates or MisterMcNiceGuy; these Exculcatores could be any of us, that's why we can't catch them, the moment we get close one of your closest friends turns tail and tips em off and then you're just waiting for a bullet in the back of your skull"*
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> **- Detective Hroki -**
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There is no defining definition of what an Exculcatore is as they all vary in skill, equipment and species, not one Exculcatore is alike though those that do work in groups tend to have a standard set of equipment; the only constant that is observable in every Exculcatore is that they all seem to have been recruited or funded by a criminal organisation - Initially it was thought that these Exculcatore were all funded by different hate groups and criminal gangs but evidence emerged that the majority of Exculcatores are the product of one single organisation - every Exculcatore strives for one purpose, to eliminate psionics.

What makes this group of criminals so dangerous is their complete lack of structure; they have no organisation and every Exculcatore operates alone or amongst a select group, an Exculcatore has no network of contacts and may unknowingly live or work together with another one of their own kind. This means that whenever one is found there are no breadcrumb trails to follow as every Exculcatore has no contact other than the enigmatic shadow organisation that directs them.

This also means there is no way to effectively constrain them as there is no way to truly know how many there are or how they're recruited; effectively reducing the authorities to playing whack-a-mole, these murderers and degenerates popup across the entire galaxy save for the Dyss and Eternal Empire.

How this shadow organisation is able to contact and radicalise individuals across the entire galaxy is a mystery but it is suspected that many of these killers are simply copy-cats; this cannot account for all of them however, for example the Thadrakos are now rife with these Exculcatores, as are the Shalani, the Alir and Udkavongo. Thankfully none of these groups co-ordinate together... for now.

### **Equipment**

Like mentioned above there is no standard equipment. Technology and weaponry can vary between every Exculcatore, from high end black-market guns to simple machetes and knuckle dusters, however there is always one thing they all share... a chip, one capable of receiving but not sending messages.

They are dressed in no uniform attire and are not identifiable from sight

### **Demographics**

There is none for any species and any sex could be one; hatred of psionics is somewhat universal at this point and no species besides psionic ones are exempt from being a possible Exculcatore

### **Methods**

There is no standard method. Some will track and stalk their prey and ensure clean and efficient kill, some will drag them into back alleys and sadistically cut them apart, others will openly shoot them in public or perhaps simply run them through with a sword... Perhaps they will taunt them on them extranet with death threats or masquerade as a lonely individual looking for love on a dating website; they could be your dentist or your teacher, your mailman or local orator...

### **Structure ?**

Like mentioned above, there is none, every Exculcatore is an independent agent with no structure or hierarchy. The only way they are co-ordinated is through simple messages sent from the shadow organisation, these messages are blunt and to the point...

> *"Hail Exculcatore. We have discovered that a James Frandal is psionic, at your discretion* you have the choice to kill him at any time in any way, he can be found at this address ----"
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## The Puppeteers

> *"Without a doubt; these renegades are being recruited, funded and some even trained, by a nationwide organisation. Whoever they are, they aren't doing it for money or a share of the underground market, whatever they want is much greater"*
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Just one month after the last light these Exculcatores suddenly began to appear across the Commonwealth; they did not begin as a small group that gained traction rather they began to emerge across the entire Commonwealth and wider galaxy within days, no criminal organisation could possibly undertake such a large scale recruitment or operation without being discovered, the only explanation was that an already established group that had slowly worked its way into the fabric of society. And it is,

It was initially just a suspicion that The Solarian Syndicate was involved; though the authorities claim that the Sol have very little actual influence and exists more-or-less because of their apparent harmlessness, they cannot deny to the more curious citizens that this Sol Syndicate does appear to have a tight grip on their position. As the only criminal organisation known to have a galactic foothold they were bound to become suspect. Later evidence would confirm their suspicions; when marshal's successfully tailed an Exculcatore, they were surprised to find that he had led them to a meeting ground, a rare occasion amongst Exculcatores.

Under the guise as fellow Exculcatores, the Marshals snuck into the meeting and observed a speech.

> *"Under the pretence of humanity and rights the council fosters and nurtures a tumour, growing and festering within our nation, like a tumour of a body though we have all ignored it and prayed it was benign. We waited. Waited for the council to set our minds at ease; waited for proof that these psionics were not dangerous, after all the council serves the people right? and we trust them... instead they fed us lies. We didn't see it until that day..."*
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The speech went on to slander the council and the speaker would instil the crowd with a fervour of anger; he called to for greater efforts in hunting down the 'tumours' but before he had finished, before the undercover marshals managed to slip out, a blank screen attached to a wall behind the leader was activated...

> *"Greeting Exculcatore. We would like to congratulate your successes; finding so many others like yourself is a difficult task, it has not gone unnoticed by us. To commemorate your success properly we have arranged something for you and your compatriots, but first, among your ranks are two. Two who do not belong, your meeting has not gone unnoticed and more will soon follow, it should not be hard... they show the marks of genetic enhancement. When the matter is done carry on as normal, don't concern yourself with us, we'll come to you"*
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Though these videos and images do not give any solid connection to the Sol - as they never use any symbol or recognisable phrase in there meetings with the Exculcatores *-* it is always the same room and the same three figures who sit at the table, meaning that whoever is communicating with the Exculcatores is the same group, and like mentioned earlier, the Sol are the only criminal organisation able to operate on a galactic scale. How they are funding Exculcatore activity outside of the Commonwealth is unknown but it is possible that sister organisations that agree with the syndicate's ideals have taken root in other nations.

### Marshal Crackdowns

The authorities are not taking this issue lying down though; to counter the unpredictable nature of the Exculcatores, more drones have been stationed across cities to expand the coverage of rapid response forces, the drones themselves are harmless and are only equip with tasers. The response is limited due to liberty laws but until the Exculcatores are stamped out the authorities are only set to become more focused on these criminals.

## The war against terror

In 2328 the puppet master organisation, The Solarian Syndicate, was dissolved. The law had finally caught up to them and within three days over 93% of its members had been incarcerated, within a week remaining members could only be counted in single digits; the empowering force behind the Exculcatores was swept out from under them.

Without the shadow masters the Exculcatores' communication network quickly disintegrated as marshals pounced on the unprotected links, by 2328 public sentiment towards psionics had drifted back into the calmer regions and even edging towards positive opinions in many circles; as marshals began weeding out the Exculcatores many sympathizers of the psionics would leave anonymous tips, even former Exculcatores began giving themselves up for various reasons.

### Taking flight

As widespread arrests made the news the Exculcatores knew the game was up, the winner pressing home the advantage, those that were able tried to flee the Commonwealth; the border stations were prepared for this, for the duration of the national crackdown, the border stations were reinforced with extra marshals and void vessels. The Commonwealth became a cage.

Though this spelled the end of the Exculcatores, the Solarians and organised crime overall; the ideals of these organisations had already taken root, the people may have been caught but thoughts are freely spread. The leader of The Solarian Syndicate was never caught ether and many prominent and cunning Exculcatores slipped the net and reformed their identities. So while the war against terror was brief and one sided, it never ended for those who got away, the Commonwealth keeps a vigilance out for any signs of trouble these days... but there is no absolute preventative method and sometimes all it takes is one person to turn the tides.