6. Datos del expediente
6.4. Medios materiales
To say that every one of Lucullus’ss factions sided with the enemy would be untrue. The Technospiders are the most notable exception. Always a thorn in the side of the other factions, they were intentionally cut out of the deal that bought the system a place in the Exeat. When the ULDF showed its true colors, ground forces from several factions moved against the Technospiders in Penates and their other enclaves. While these forces succeeded in breaking the power of the Technospiders, they were unable to conquer the spirit of these freedom-loving technocrats.
In the weeks following the battle at Lucullus, how- ever, the Technospiders moved underground, forming a Grid-based resistance movement that seemed always to stay one step ahead of the enforcers. There are count- less ways in which a Gamemaster can make use of the Lucullan resistance movement in his campaign.
The fact that the average citizen of Lucullus also had no love of the External overlords who now held sway over their lives made matters somewhat easier for the Technospider underground. People who might have con- sidered them dangerous or subversive before the occu- pation now opened their doors to them. A Technospider operative being pursued by the Occupation Police could vanish in a thousand different ways.
If the heroes are in the Lucullus system when the battle breaks out, they can become founding members of the underground. This is especially well suited for cam- paigns that focus on Grid running and make the most of the 26th century’s computer networks. Heroic shadows can find all sorts of work disrupting enemy lines of com- munication, stealing important data files, and otherwise causing problems for the Externals.
Indeed, it is important to note that the Technospider underground has undertaken a broadband approach to tormenting the enemy. To be sure, their most talented members attempt to crack the highest levels of External computer security, but only a small fraction of the Tech- nospiders have the skills necessary to accomplish (or even attempt) such missions. These raids are even more difficult when considering the great difficulty in under- standing the Externals’ linguistic base. Most attacks, therefore, are directed against the human turncoats. What was once merely an avocation for up-and-coming Technospiders has become a deadly game of computer cat-and-mouse. Even less-experienced Technospiders tear through the computers of the turncoat factions, wreaking havoc. These infiltrations might result in any- thing from misdirected orders for office supplies to phantom messages that tie up system resources with page after page of gibberish.
Those heroes who do not reside in the Lucullus sys- tem may find contact with the Technospiders an exciting and lucrative proposition. They might be called upon to act as couriers, running the External blockade which now holds the system secure.
Verge Alliance admiralty. Although many expected the aliens to move against Aegis in the wake of their victory, they chose to give this fortified world a wide berth. They were unable to determine the exact reason for this cau- tion, but they assumed the Externals knew of the mas- sive fortifications awaiting them at Bluefall.
The alien move against Mantebron was totally unex- pected by the leaders of the Verge Alliance. They saw that remote system as next to useless strategically. Its re- sources were limited and it was too remote to serve as much of a staging point. Alliance intelligence assumed, quite rightly, that the Externals knew something about the system we didn’t, likely associated with the Glassmaker ruins there.
Exactly what the aliens hoped to dredge up was im- possible to guess. Perhaps they were simply fishing for something unknown even to them and hoping to get lucky. This theory was comforting, because it suggested that the occupation of Mantebron might serve to tie up important forces that might otherwise assail important Alliance positions.
This assumption also cast the quality of the alien intel- ligence in doubt. To date, the Externals had shown them- selves keenly aware of human positions, technologies, and strategies. It was impossible for Undersecretary
Thayne and the other leaders of the Alliance to deny. If Kadar’s Exeat had gone to the trouble of storming Mante- bron, they almost certainly had an excellent reason for doing so.
Of course, the attack on Ignatius was not unexpected. Unaware that Lethe lay in wait just beyond the Verge, humanity assumed that the Externals would drive head- long toward Tendril and its vital drivesat connection with Old Space. Because of this, they have since assumed that the attack on Ignatius was a feint, intended to convince the human commanders that they had indeed deduced the alien strategy.
When the External fortress ship Acheron popped out of drive space at Ignatius, she found herself confronted by only a ragtag assortment of defending craft and fortifi- cations. There was obviously no chance for the human defenders of the system. The inhabitants of Ignatius would have to take their chances with the untested mer- cy of their alien attackers. As such, the government of Ignatius signaled its unconditional surrender without fir- ing a single shot.