The Nature of Nomad Infiltration

[jammi]

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The Nature of Nomad Infiltration

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The Nomads are an alien species native to the Sirius Sector. Originally created eons ago as biomechanical machines and servants of the Daam-K'Vosh, they were placed in stasis over some unknowable transgression. It is speculated that the Nomads were intended to one day awaken and begin a journey of exploration to evolutionary maturity and independence. This slumber was prematurely ended by a Rheinland expedition into the Edge Worlds in the early 790s. The Nomads discovered their birthright had been stolen by an intruder -- humanity.

This began the Nomads’ insidious infiltration of the Colonies, using a creature known as an Incubus. This Nomad form can possess the human body, devouring key organs and wrapping itself around the central nervous system. Such parasitism makes the host dependent on the Incubus, and removal is invariably fatal. A host controlled by one of these Incubus parasites is commonly known as an Infiltrator. Infiltrators are terrifying opponents to face due to their heightened reflexes, and ability to drive the host body beyond its breaking point -- enabling seemingly superhuman strength, the suppression of pain and shrugging off otherwise fatal wounds.

A Nomad Incubus parasite.

These Infiltrators initially spread their influence through Rheinland, eventually jumping from academic and corporate circles to government and military leaders. The Nomads knew they could not fight humanity head on, but quickly realized the human societies of the Houses were rotten and unstable, with natural aggression suppressed only through carefully managed political relationships and delicate trust-based arrangements. They devoted their influence to destroying these relationships, instigating the Colony Wars.

To achieve this, the tiny cadre of Infiltrators amplified their impact through the creation of Thralls. These are regular, uninfected humans who have been unknowingly indoctrinated into serving the Nomads’ cause through a process of long-term psychic conditioning. This requires regular contact with an Infiltrator who then uses psychic manipulation to place the human into a suggestible state that is receptive to blindly following Nomad commands.

This was most notably used during the Colony Wars by infected Rheinland Military admirals, who confined capital ship crews to the sealed environment of their ships for “readiness drills”. This quickly created large cadres of fanatically loyal Thralls who happily followed orders to wage war on their neighbors -- the Nomads having exploited and exacerbated pre-existing resentments and grievances.

This conditioning is not permanent however, and can be broken with time and distance away from the Infiltrator puppet master - or through the Infiltrator’s death.

Thralls who are abandoned by their Infiltrator or who break free of their conditioning often suffer from amnesia-like effects, remembering only foggy and dreamlike fragments of their experience. Following the collapse of the Daam-K'Vosh energy grid after the Battle of Omicron Major, all dominated Thralls were simultaneously released as the Nomad Mindshare shattered. This initially led many to incorrectly believe the Nomads had been destroyed, and infectees returned to good health. The massive number of discharged Rheinland Military personnel suffering from post-Thrall fugue states led to the symptoms being labeled “Colony War Syndrome” by perplexed doctors who believed them to be an unusual form of mass hysteria.

Fragments of these suppressed memories often surface through the victim’s subconscious, resulting in a string of broken psyches and nightmarish dreams of faceless monsters and giant worms. Clusters of such symptoms in a local population can often be a telltale sign of an Infiltrator’s passing, providing vital evidence for investigations by The Order and intelligence agencies.

The Houses and Order are currently scrambling to find ways of identifying Nomad Thralls, however this has so far been stymied by the lack of obvious biological changes. Instead, detection often relies on mundane detective work, such as identifying VIPs who have suddenly and drastically changed their behavior or habits. As a result, counter-infiltration work often relies on cultivating local assets or broad

networks of sympathizers who can report suspicious activity -- a matter complicated by the need to maintain a veil of secrecy over the Nomads’ existence. How to tackle identified Thralls is also a deeply controversial issue within The Order, as these humans are ultimately innocent and can be saved -- however, they can still cause untold damage until their Infiltrator is eliminated.

Order agents have also noted that some populations seem to be more resistant to this indoctrination than others, particularly among the Liberty Rogues, Lane Hackers and Golden Chrysanthemums. This has prompted speculation that the effect may be linked to the heavy abuse of Cardamine by these groups -- this hypothesis is seemingly borne out by an apparent immunity possessed by The Outcasts. Research on this subject remains in a preliminary stage, with groups such as The Order, Core and Technocracy all exploring the narcotic’s possibilities.

Due to the existential threat posed by Nomad Infiltrators, The Order and the Houses have all worked to produce their own countermeasures. This primarily involves developing more sophisticated means of detection, as the Incubus itself can be spotted as a tumor-like abnormality in the victim’s physiology through detailed scans. There are also dark rumors of horrific human experiments conducted by the MND and LSF to find ways to “immunize” the human body from Incubus infestation, although it seems unlikely that these programmes were successful.

Sophisticated scanners have been developed and installed at the entrances or hangars of many critical installations, using a cover story of detecting subdermal weaponry and augments. Order agents have also been equipped with handheld devices capable of producing narrow-band readings -- although using these successfully is an extremely dangerous prospect due to their short range. Despite these advances, the detection of Infiltrators in space remains fraught with difficulties, as scanning a human body to the necessary resolution, at the relevant range would require an energetic beam capable of cooking the target.

Accordingly, many groups maintain central registers of vessels suspected of Nomad contamination, logging hull telemetry and engine output signatures that cannot be easily spoofed. The Order shares this data through the “Sinclair Protocol” with partner groups such as The Bundschuh, Blood Dragons and Lane Hackers. House intelligence agencies have also developed their own particular counter-infiltration approaches. The MND’s first director -- Von Claussen -- instituted a “scorched earth” policy towards any ships or personnel logged as MIA, owing to hard-won experience fighting The Wild during the Purge of Thuringia.

The increasing effectiveness of The Order and some House intelligence agencies has also seen the Nomads dramatically shift their infiltration strategy. Rather than directly infecting high value government and military targets (which are subject to the greatest scrutiny and risk of detection), a more indirect approach has been adopted. Instead, the Nomads will infect individuals associated with their primary target -- perhaps a husband or wife, child, or close friend -- before dominating the intended target as a Thrall. Operating under the Infiltrator’s instruction, the Thrall will then attempt to execute the Nomads’ sinister missions, influencing politics, economies and underworlds alike.

The Nomads have also adapted their ideal target profile, seeking to maximize disruption to human society by manipulating unprotected criminal groups, corporations, or soft targets hidden within the teeming billions living on House planets. While the Order and Nomads fight a direct war in the Omicrons, a furious shadow conflict also rages on these planets, as Order operatives desperately trace Thrall networks back to their source. As a result, the Order has had to take desperate measures on a number of occasions, carrying out bombings or assassinations of suspected Infiltrators to put a stop to a dire threat -- despite the collateral damage. This has significantly contributed to public perception of the organization as a terrorist movement.

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