XiC: Caldera

 

 Caldera is the informal name for the guild of criminal enterprises with a vast tradition of laundering and trafficking of illicit materials, a network that once spanned the entirety of the planet Earth underneath its Lots, and has been operating widespread for centuries throughout Xi. Also known as the Caledonian Clan, Ceaser’s crimefit, and ‘The subterranean legion’, Caldera has an exclusive deal with some of the richest planets in the galaxy to provide a safe haven from the most powerful and dangerous outlaws. Their own territory stretches from the northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea to the north of the Sahara Desert to the borders of the great Kalimantan Jungle to the south of the equator. The primary port of supply for Caldera is the island of Ibiza, from here it exports to the entire globe, with routes extending to other major colonies across the globe. However, its true stronghold lies in the Kalimantan Jungle of South East Asia where the infamous ‘Casa Magna’ and its secondary ‘Casa Lovah’ are built as Caldera meeting houses. Caldera is organized by the ‘tief nova’ crime family and their many allies, they have numerous unsanctioned ties with Merchant’s Guild, oft with a swinging open door policy between members and offering numerous discretion programs for those seeking asylum or evading the law.

The organization received its name in the early first century of Xi when aerial photonic bombardment would leave massive craters, sinkholes and decimated tunnels within the earth’s surface. These scorched, carved in marks would be further dug in and integrated into vast tunnel networks for smuggling and crime projects, from which Caldera got its start. Other organizations such as the Larcenist Guild originate from similar ties, oft sharing the same ‘Tiefdom’ language and underground slang among the disorderly and illegitimate.

With less splinter-shell organization structure, the Larcenist Guild exists in a similar role and manner to that of the Caledonian clan. This being a loosely organized criminal group of individuals who have sworn under the auspices of The Holy Order of the Black Shield of the Larcenist Guild, a brotherhood with close ties to the Black Wraiths of the Merchant’s guild. The majority of these people are highly trained in martial arts, engineering, survivalism and espionage. They are highly protective of their underground empire, and fiercely loyal to allies in the Venus ‘Supremus’ crime family and its partners in the surrounding underground community. They are often considered among the first line of defense when protecting the Caledonian underground fortress. Some, though not all, are also experts in various forms of technology, including biotechnology. The Larcenist’s Guild has numerous proxy crimefits in Jupiter, Neptune and the Llavalite Smuggler’s Network aswell.

Standing above all of these is The Chief Council of the Black Wraith- A governing body of the ‘super crime’ families who have pledged their loyalty to the Merchant Guild’s Templar code. Currently ruled by a family bloodline of those who call themselves The Disciples of the Great Sky, known as The Wraith’s eyes, who reign from a city state located in Mar’s subterranean fenestrated vastly planted canopy jungles. The Black Wraiths of the Merchant Guild act as the Nucleus for centuries of honor and tradition among thieves, they hold the lineage of The Supreme Tiefdom, a bloodline created by the original founders of Caldera. Members blessed cut scratches in their wrists and ritualize their initiation by pouring Martian sand into the wounds.

The Merchant’s Code is a long-standing law and ethic that serves as the foundation of all Merchant organizations and underground societies in Xi. The Merchants’ Guild provides for those outside of society who are in need, whether it be on the level of food, water, education, shelter or healthcare, and especially protection in the underground. With their motto of “Rob Thy Neighbor, Shield thy brethren”, the Merchants’ Guild protects and provides for those unlawfuls in need by utilizing the goods of their trading partners throughout the galaxy.

Upon their dissolution and breakup in XU, the main commercial operations of the Merchant Guild and Caldera were incorporated into Lilyhand of the Great Sky, a covert scientific-espionage directory within XU that possessed numerous blacklisted thinkers, technicians and scientific figures shut out of conventional research. A secret super society created to serve XU’s ends with the use of superweapons and science beyond comprehension. It is not so much a society of crime as a collective of free-thinking and free-spirited individuals who believe in unity in thought, empiricism and scientific deed. With their mantra of “Truthfulness, Freedom and the Service of the Atom”, they operate under the premises of sacred scientific research for a new tomorrow. The bloodline core of Caldera and many members of the Wraith’s eyes remain at large. After Lilyhand’s dissolution with XU’s transition, most assets of theirs were absorbed into Caldera’s operations.

The current main actors of Caldera are listed as:

Lady Essentra: A busty merchant with a black catsuit and orange swirls, pearls and glassy plastic gloves. Her ability enslaves those within an area of effect when within in the same volume.

Klein-Borg: A clunky tube-shaped droid armed with refracting disintegration beams.

Pale Letta: Previously an infamous painter in the nova riche of Neo Xi, a social media scandal ruined her reputation and turned her to criminal elements. Her usage of Kaleidomancy allows her to paint reality remotely, erase facial features, repaint people into monsters.

Haemina: A male supermodel and fashion. His palm vectors allow him to force your body a certain trajectory simply by pointing, regardless how heavy or indestructible the target is. Known to be quite flamboyant, his species sprouts numerous arms.

R.U.B.Y. Apparatus (Rapid Ultra-Beam Yield): Laser entity security bot computer. Sends vorpal lasers through anyone onboard not approved like electric veins and destroys them.

Beezle Boom: Previous chemical geneticists, his engineered poisons can kill and explode anyone internally with touch or mist based on neural readings, rapidly spreading virus explodes anyone who even thinks of betraying him. Recorded psyche evaluations suggest a lack of mental instability.

Guru Ultrula: A cult leader who escaped from Glitterkiss’s high security prison. His astral meditation allows him to reconstruct matter by maintaining the balance of space, be it members of Caldera or entire stations.

Guru Ultrina: Ultrula’s sister sister. While conscious, she can send endless projections of spammed animals manifesting, even copies of other people.

Chance Chalice: Known thief and chronic gambler with luck-based techniques that can rig and alter reality. Has been known to use dice, jacks, jump rope, darts and playing cards on his crime sprees.

Raptorious: An experimental Terimrexite with both Jurassic and insectoid (cockroach) generics, known for fast adaptation and tendency to grow over prolonged conflicts. However after reaching peak strength, it’s shell cracks reducing it to a larval state restarting its cycle.

Sleam: Celebrity impersonator, this mysterious criminal whose goal to take down the entire galaxy from within has never once been caught or harmed. Slickness of wardrobe is often described.

Xotox: Xotox can summon a group of tiny aliens who can fly using magnetic fields, their whittling noises produce a dull ache that wears down the psychic stability of those unprepared, inducing depression and catatonic states. These bugs explode with sonic vibrations after affecting others.

Marra Fay: Known for her temporal-displacive tentacle appendages that can reach forward and back thru time. In command of much of Caldera guerilla operations.

Rextile: A notorious hacker that uses nano-weaving to infect clothing and textiles. Can create gears from fabrics that are as sturdy proportional to your strength. Brittney is scrawny and weak, psychic power easily tears them part. She psychic thonks him with a flick of crates.

 Mantifray: Other dimensional crustacean whom can create endless copies of himself that can attack from another dimension unseen. Oft used by group to hide.

Caldera’s hideout has been confined to Warp Stations located out in deep space. Their criminal activities are widespread and they have connections that operate on the fringes of the galaxy. Its members are all super-powered individuals who have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of power and chaos. They believe that the universe is a playground for the strong, and that the weak should be crushed underfoot. Numerous high-power scientists, their equipment and advanced Cascade research from Lilyhand also fell under their possession upon merger. Caldera's ultimate goal is to revivify their vision of the Supreme Tiefdom and their outlawed bygone Merchant Guild and impose their own twisted vision of order and honor upon it. They are known for their ruthless tactics and their willingness to use any means necessary to achieve their goals to satisfy their greed, historical destiny and vaunted ambitions. From manipulating governments to engineering deadly weapons of mass destruction, Caldera is a force to be reckoned with.  The leader of Caldera is a mysterious figure known only as "The Maestro." No one knows his true identity, but it is said that he possesses incredible psychic abilities that allow him to control the minds of his enemies. The maestro is a true megalomaniac, driven by a desire for absolute power and to see a reemergence of Caldera’s thief nobility bloodline.