Marauders - History

Background Briefing for Trusted Clients
Addendum 1: Historical information
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Security Level: 3
Last Updated: 07.12.2421
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In an attempt to overcome the problems associated with full consciousness transference, in 2254 Everliving began to focus its research on the partial implantation of human minds. Their hope was that by grafting parts of a consciousness into the host in stages, they would eventually be able to successfully achieve a stable transfer into an adult body. While this ultimately proved futile, the method instead offered an effective means to implant certain behaviors into a host’s mind. While the procedure often resulted in madness, personalities could nevertheless be altered as desired, and to some degree controlled. The researchers called the new process “imprinting.”

Over the following decades different imprints were utilized to create several classes of loyal servants and agents (sometimes called “serfs”) to serve the Children of Mars. In 2290, to sate the need for loyal, expendable soldiers, Everliving developed the first generation of “mercenary” imprints. These resulted in a new breed of aggressive, mentally unstable serfs who were soon pressed into active service.

Mercenary serfs first appeared on the Frontier in 2301. Since their origin was a mystery at the time, they were dubbed “Marauders” by colonists due to their destitute state and the wild abandon with which they fought. Armed with their own imprinting devices, Marauder facilities spread quickly, bolstering their ranks by transforming captured men and women into new Marauders.

To more established commanders, the Marauders are typically regarded as a mere nuisance, but to the vulnerable and destitute the Marauders are a very real threat, continually gnawing away at the edges of colonized space. In retrospect, it is easy to trace the path of these initial attacks as disproportionately targeting Atlas and Combine controlled colonies, along with independent settlements who almost all ended up turning to the MPL for long term security assistance. However, at the time they were believed to operate as purely independent actors, and the Marauder's tendency to speak only in nonsense and fight to the death made it difficult to capture or interrogate them.

Before long, some groups, XAOC in particular, began to see the Marauders as a kind of business rival - a new entity with which to compete in the procurement of slaves. Heavy fighting continued between XAOC forces and the Marauders until 2309, when XAOC instead turned its attention towards an assault on the Binderburg Corporation. Even today, XAOC fleets tend to be the only forces the Marauders are grudgingly cautious towards.

In 2354, frontline commanders first reported the presence of recent MPL technology inside reclaimed Marauder stations. These reports were corroborated by the efforts of Atlas agents, who sought to use the issue as a cudgel in their unending rivalry with the MPL. However, it was not until 2384 when the ties between the Marauders and leading members of Martian society became explicitly and widely known. As Everliving’s role was revealed, the Lunar Directorate demanded justice, calling for the extradition of several Children of Mars to be tried in Lunar courts. This request was flatly refused by the Commonwealth, and the ensuing political crisis would eventually spark the second Lunar-Martian war.

During the conflict, Mars made use of the Marauders as military assets. As the fighting intensified, most of the command and control nodes between the leashed Marauders and their Martian masters were destroyed. The majority of Marauders are now wild and self-serving, satisfying their imprinted lust for conquest and bloodshed along the galactic frontier.

As Everliving continues to publicly deny control of the Marauders, it is difficult to ascertain how many leashed Marauders may remain and what plans they may be enacting for their Child masters. The prevalence of the wild variety clouds the waters, as they act independently and follow no plan but destruction and their own perpetuation. However, organizations dedicated to tracking patterns in Marauder movement have recently noticed an abnormal surge in activity near the Gamish Waypoint at the edge of the Spiral Expanse. Whether this is indicative of an Everliving plot or merely the natural result of the target rich environment caused by new colonists bridging into the waypoint, remains to be seen.