Red Harpoons
| Motto | "Contemplate and Consume, Be Consumed and Contemplated" |
|---|---|
| Industry | Piracy |
| Services | Extortion, Kidnapping |
| Founded | 956 ABA |
| Predecessor | Starlit Court Tahora Whai |
| Status | Active |
| Ownership | Self owned |
| Place of Origin | Dachia |
A pirate and mercenary unit operating in the space between Telas and Kikorangi o te Tahora Whai, The Red Harpoons are made up of former Starlit Court military assets and Tahora Whai outlaws. The group primarily disrupts shipments of high tech assets, and commercial shuttle services, and are known for ransoming and press ganging victims. The Red Harpoons are led by an enigmatic artificial intelligence known as Rasa.
The Red Harpoon (ship)
SCS The Red Harpoon was originally intended as a warship for the Beast Warden Order, and was designed to be a self-sufficient command ship that could lead from the front. To fulfill this role the ship was equipped with an advanced communications and electronic warfare suite, designed to coordinate forces in the field, protect and spy on communications. The Red Harpoon also came with a full engineering deck, with a machine shop and components forge capable, as the Beast wardens relied heavily on adjunct drones, and needed facilities capable of building replacements in the field. Finally, the Red Harpoon was built with an internal garden, making the ship a more pleasant place to live due to beast warden doctrine requiring its knights to bond with and employ animals in battle.
Since its theft from the Starlit Court, modification by the Tahora Whai, and time as a pirate flag ship, the Red Harpoon has undergone extensive modifications. The Machine shop has been expanded into a small scale factory, building and repairing strike craft, mechs, and cybernetics. The Electronic warfare suite has likewise been expanded, having dozens of stolen devices added to form for Rasa, while expanding its processing power and mind.
Rasa
Taking its name from a concept in ancient Hindu concept, Rasa describes itself as the essence of the Red Harpoons, the flavor, the distilled being. Rasa describes its creation as the distillation of the minds of the crew, their thoughts, collective will, and the spirits of their fallen brethren, collected by the Vāk and fermented in the dormant corners of their minds, their sheaths, and the data systems of the vessel itself. The entity has compared itself to Mosi concept of a living praxis entity and the Lady of the starlit court; ultimately describing itself as a thought or pattern meant to give guidance and meaning to its crew, while also being their living avatar.
Rasa has proven to be a dangerous and illegal artificial intelligence. Rasa has grown far beyond the legal bounds of standard Ai, having been augmented by an increasing tech base, and having co-opted the minds of its crew. Rasa has demonstrated an aptitude for electronic warfare, as several raids carried out by the Red Harpoons have begun and ended with Rasa frying the defensive systems of an unsuspecting victim. Networked intelligences like a Tahora Gam or Starlit court Fey-knight bond have proven more adept at fighting off Rasa’s attacks, while systems including organic or analog materials like those employed by the Children of the Vein and the Larkspur Combine.
History
Sihian Origins
In 950ABA a secular group of Starlit Court members found themselves disillusioned and dissatisfied by the state of their faction and the hunt for Grail. This group hailing from several orders included five lances of knights, and a total of 600 men at arms and engineers. This group had formed around an underground philosophy called Secular Historical Recidivism, pushed by Brother Xhotzark, a controversial Zelvan Sage who. Secular Historical Recidivism pushed the idea that much of the court’s history has been shaped by religious dogmatic belief, and advocated for a grounded-secular transformation that divested Sihi from religious philosophical control, for a hybrid direct democracy and military oligarchy.
According to a Crow report, the group was founded shortly after the arrest of Brother Xhotzark on charges of smuggling Mosite Devil horns. The group believed that Brother Xhotzark was framed, and made a political prisoner, radicalizing the group and causing them to organize, and further reject more and more of the religious aspects of Sihian Culture. Early in 951ABA the group undertook their first act of piracy; stealing the Beast Warden light Cruiser ‘The Red Harpoon’ after its completion aboard the Crucible. The Red Harpoon was chosen as ships designed for the Beast Wardens are more self sufficient than their peers.
The theft of the Red Harpoon was swift and bloodless, as the skeleton crew snuck aboard before the permanent crew could be assigned. The rest of the conspirators had snuck away from Sihi ahead of time, taking temporary leaves of action or vacations to Telas, or stealing smaller shuttles and personale transports. The thieves picked up the rest of the conspirators over the course of several months, before fleeing into Tahora Whai territory. The thieves took on the name of their Vessel, Dubbing themselves The Red Harpoons, and electing Captain Iago Graham, a former man at arms, as their leader.
Joining the Tahora Whai
Once inside of Kikorangi of the Tahora Whai, the Red Harpoon made its way to Dynae, and sought to receive the Vāk and undergo the Link. Captain Graham and his closest advisors believed that this process would secure the protection of the Tahora Whai, and buy the Red Harpoon and its crew a new way of life far away from the dogmatic nature of the court where they could re-adopt their ancient warrior customs. Their request was accepted, but on the condition that no one currently bonded with a Fey undergo the process, for fears of what an Ai engram would have on the Erinaa. Hesitantly, Captain Graham accepted, and convinced the knights of Red Harpoon and all doubters that this was the only way forward.
In the end, the entire crew of the Red Harpoon underwent the link, and connected to the Erinaa. It is of note, that an unusually high percentage of the crew successfully completed the link with only a handful of crewmen succumbing to the mental strain. It is theorized that the presence of the sheath, and their military training prior to undergoing the process eased their transition.
For a short while, all was good, and the Red Harpoon could be found among the Whai, embracing their connection to their new host culture. The Red Harpoon performed excellently in raids and escorting actions while working within the Tahora Whai, and the crew adopted many of their host culture’s customs, most prevalently their tattoos and cybernetic augmentations.
However, there were doubts and issues among the crew and their hosts that could not be reconciled. The Starlit Court had never given up on their renegades and their stolen military secrets, causing the Red Harpoon and any fleet they were involved with to be frequently stalked by the Starlit court’s intelligence agency, the Crows of Maeve. Additionally, the nearly fifty knights that were refused the link were responsible for much of the crew’s success, creating guilt and resentment among much of the crew for the most respected among them being left out in the cold by their hosts who shared in the profits from their actions.
Origonal Sin
In 956ABA the crew of the Red Harpoons sought to resolve these tensions. While away from the Relays, without the influence of the Erinaa convincing them otherwise the crew took action. Using Vāk manufactured on board the ship’s internal factories, the knights of the Red Harpoon underwent the link, and joined the Gam. Initially, it seemed to be a complete success, with all of the knights successfully undergoing the link, joining their minds and their Fae with the Gam. Erring on the side of caution Captain Graham decided to operate outside of the relays for a time so their knights could acclimate to the Gam and gain mana before joining the Erinaa.
The Red Harpoon and their crew remained separated from the Erinaa for nearly a year, taking actions against shipping and engaging in occasional skirmishes with the Starlit court. In encounters with other Tahora Whai crews, the song of the Red Harpoon was reported to be strange and had a growing discordance about it. This was a symptom of a metamorphosis among the crew. The Fey introduced to the collective consciousness of their local Gam had been expanding and melding into each other. The engrams bled memories and thoughts together, as the network of minds acted like Avalon in miniature. Combined with the living minds of the crew, and the extensive computer networks required for the electronic warfare suite, the Fae began to expand as they merged. By the time the Red Harpoon returned to Dynae the fey and subconscious mind of the crew had merged together into a singular being calling itself Rasa.
Banishment form the Tahora Whai
When Rasa and the Red Harpoons encountered the Tahora Whai and attempted to join with Erinaa, the Tahora Whai were revolted by Rasa and the Red Harpoons actions. Reflexively the minds of Dynqae linked with Erinaa rejected Rasa, the millions of minds swatting Rasa away like a hand burned on a hot stove. To avoid being destroyed by the backlash Rasa directed the Red Harpoon to drop into FTL. Once away from the relays and true Erinaa, Rasa went about altering the programing of their Vāk, severing itself from the Tahora Whai, and becoming an independent entity.
Since this transformative event, Rasa has continued to grow, and mature within the crew of the Red Harpoons. The Red Harpoons have gone through several captains, their current captain being a former press ganged Ikarosi named Dimas Yros. The Red Harpoons have continued to act primarily out of self preservation, and in the act of expanding Rasa. Their current whereabouts are rumored to be in the Cacho system.