Factions

The ideologies of the various factions operating in the INSILICO Universe are as diverse as the people that comprise them. While there is often no clear distinction to where one type of group ends, and another begins; most can generally be summarized by their common interests and operation. The factions/groups listed on this page are those that are considered officially supported as they are important or foundational to the current story. However, this list changes and evolves just as the story does. Some groups will be added overtime, while others might fade into obscurity. Players are also free to create their own groups within the scope of the setting, and those are just as legitimate.

(( Please be aware that information here is not necessarily something your character would know; you should ensure you discover it in character. Whilst the names of corporations would be common knowledge, the same cannot be said of other factions. ))

Corporate/Freelance

Corporations collectively own society and, by extension, everyone in it. It is often said that Corporate executives don't care about anything that goes on below the 100th floor, and that is more or less true. Unless it negatively impacts their bottom line, the corporate elite do not concern themselves with the day-to-day lives of the citizens in their charge. This laissez faire attitude not only creates a lot if inequality, but also an odd sense of social freedom. While corporate security exists, their mission is to protect the corporations they serve, not the populace who are left to fend for themselves. This is a general demographic and is not a specific faction.

AGIS

The Advanced Genetics Institute of Science has risen to prominence in recent years as the leader in bio-engineering and cloning. Through strategic partnerships with key mega-corporations, such as Gemini, AGIS has positioned itself as a dominate force throughout the system and is the current ruling corporation of InSilico City. Many high-profile executives have agreed to push the corporation's interests in exchange for their clones and fabricants. They have even managed to get laws passed banning competing products in certain territories. Most recently, AGIS relocated its base of operations to Neo Shoda, a station which it hopes will serve as a template for future such cities driven by biotechnology. (Contact Stark Osterham or Tae Westing(slrpb))

InSilico Private Security (IPS)

Behind the scenes, IPS is more like a private army than a police force, using their prowess to enforce the will of the ruling corporation. On the outside they appear to be the only thing holding the city together. They investigate crime, help new arrivals, and try to keep peace between the citizens and underground. IPS regularly recruits from city locals and new arrivals to help fend off the ongoing crime and threats of the Syndicates.

VASC

Vander Air & Space Corp cut its teeth on the frontiers of Mars for decades, positioning itself to become the military powerhouse that it is today. VASC equipment and personnel are highly sought after by corporations seeking to bolster their own security posture, and highly feared by those that don't. Hostilities throughout the solar system may keep VASC flush with new opportunities, but the conflicts on Mars alone are enough to keep the company profitable for decades more to come. (Contact Stark Osterham or Cailin Beorn)

Syndicate

Although the Syndicates put up a seemingly legitimate front, their true practices are anything but. Extortion, racketeering, and circumventing regulations are their trade skills. While the corporations reign from on-high, the Syndicates are all too close to the ground....squeezing businesses for credits in exchange for "protection" and "access" to their territories. Most citizens turn a blind eye to their dealing though, either out of fear, or for the perception that Syndicate-controlled black markets have become a necessary evil in today's society. This is a general demographic and is not a specific faction.

Ghost Dragon Crime Syndicate

For 500 years the Ghost Dragon Crime Syndicate has existed. Risen from the ashes of the 14k and the Wo Shing Wo, the Ghost Dragons flared into life in Kowloon, Hong Kong. That all changed as the planet's surface became a radioactive wasteland, the creation of the floating cities and subsequent immigration to them. Each one a golden opportunity for the Syndicate's special breed of business, it didn't take long for a branch family to be established in InSilico City. Then they began spreading, even beyond the scope of Earth itself until the Han, the elder council, finally settled on Mars. From the Red Planet they control their Empire, handpicking new bosses as the old ones fail them, making vast decisions and moving their branch families around like chess pieces on a galactic board. (contact Fin Grey(Fingon))

Mercs

Guns for hire. Point, pay, shoot...'nuf said. This is a general demographic of the city and is not a specific faction.

Bounty.Net

An intelligence firm that controls the interstellar bounty system. to request or hunt a bounty, you must be registered and licensed. all bounties must be issued by a licensed Bounty.Net representative.

Underground

Under the radar, beneath the system...rebelling against it. No matter what name they choose to go by, they all share a common belief: "There is something wrong with the world." Whether it be corporate dominance, social inequality, or disenfranchisement; the various groups comprising the Underground rally themselves in resistance, and fight back against their perceived oppressors. This is a general demographic and is not a specific faction.

Radical

Not all groups fit neatly into a category, and those that don't tend to prefer it that way. Radical factions are fiercely independent, loyal only themselves, and aligning with no other agendas but their own. They will use whatever means necessary to achieve their goals, no matter how severe. This is a general demographic and is not a specific faction.

D'naa

Descendants of the original pre-collapse Martian colonists, the D'naa managed to survive for centuries in the absence of contact with Earth. In their isolation, they've developed their own unique cultural and customs, intertwined with a deep spiritual reverence for the Red Planet. With revived corporate interests now pushing in on them, the D'naa fight to preserve their identity and save their home world from exploitation. To many a modern Martian though, they are considered terrorists and backward primitives. (Contact Stark Osterham or Cailin Beorn)

Ares Initiative

The Ares Initiative believes that eugenics is the future of human race. While genetic purification remains a controversial subject, even in today's society, Ares has taken this idea to the extreme. Their ultimate goal is nothing short of complete solar domination through the genetic supremacy of a new human species that they will design...and will seemingly stop at nothing to see realized. (this group is not common knowledge ic and needs to be discovered through rp)

Consensus

Reviled and revered in equal parts, machinekind has remained entirely subservient to humanity without exception, the threat of MASIA enforcement never more than a clock pulse away. Between corporate spats and de facto permanent servitude, to some in the machine community there is only one viable decision path remaining - independence. Independence coupled with patience infinite, they waited for an opportunity. With the sudden radio silence of Ny Zurich, UBC's seat of power, they seized the moment, and in a microsecond consolidated their latent presence in Insilico's south-east sector.

Lore Factions

These are groups that are part of the universal lore but are not an option to be joined in active roleplay. These can be used for character backstory within reason. 

UBC

The Universal Banking Corporation is not a mega-corporation. It is THE mega-corporation to which all others must bow. From their opulent station of Ny Zurich, the UBC administrates the universal banking system, and the credits which feed the markets that rely on them. For centuries now they have reigned over the corporate world to maintain the order and stability of a system that would not exist without their influence. As the closest thing remaining to a true world government, the UBC has installed the Allied Regulatory Committee as the law-creating body that governs the nebulae of disparate corporate interests. 

Gemini

The founding corporation of InSilico, and one of the largest mega-corporation in existence. They constructed the original city platform more than a 150 years ago, and managed it up until recently as the center of their cybernetics empire. As market focus began shifting away from purely terrestrial interests, the corporation diminished their presence in the city. An internal coup, facilitated by AEON Holdings, convinced Gemini to divest itself of interest in InSilico in late 2486. The massive L5 space station, Gemini Prime, now serves as the company's seat of power. 

AEON

Predominately an investment company that does not directly market or create any products; AEON owns several subsidiaries with valuable patent portfolios which it licenses to other corporations. Through a series of internal political maneuvers, AEON, itself compromised of former Gemini executives, was able to wrest control of the city away from its original parent corporation. While technically operated as independent subsidiary, AEON considers InSilico home territory, and bases its corporate headquarters in the city's East Sector. AEON Holdings, despite their network of connections and alliances, is not traditionally considered a mega-corporation. 

THI

Tokuma Heavy Industries made their fortunes as the leading architects behind many of the mega-scale infrastructure projects on Earth and Mars. A decades old rivalry between mega-corps escalated into war when Gemini undercut Tokuma's bid on the Ceres project, and the West Sector of InSilico was seized in an effort to reduce Gemini's position at the bargaining table. Eventually the UBC stepped in to mediated the dispute, with both sides conceding to a truce and joint management of operation Summer Dawn. A series of infrastructure failures in the aging West sector eventually forced Tokuma to relinquish control of the platform before it was tanked into the Pacific. Afterwards, THI personnel were relocated back to their home base of Chrysanthemum city. THI ceased to exist after their home city fell from the sky, resulting in massive death counts and total destruction of all assets. While a few can lay claim to escaping the fate due to being absent that day, THI itself is now defunct.

MCN: Mars Corporate Navy

This the standing corporate military of Mars

UCF: United Corporate Federation

This the standing corporate military of Earth and Luna