The Data Angels

For these writeups, I'm going to assume that the Pennisula War was about 30 years ago. I know this is more than the 10 Eric was proposing, but I think it works a bit better this way. A little more time for some of the results of the war to have settled.
Also, I'm going to start not counting the future society factors in the ratings, since none of them are available yet. I'll mention the way the trends are going, however.

Datajack Sinder Roze

Drop the Miliary Rank. She should get Status 5 (leader of a minor faction), and probably a couple of Reputations. A positive Reputation (Fights for intellectual freedom, +2 from most "hackers" on Planet, a large class of people) [5 points]. I suspect she doesn't actually have any Administrative Rank; the Data Angels are probably too independent-minded to have any official leader; Rose is merely the most respected of the Angels.
For Disadvantages, she should pick up a negative Reputation (Dangerous computer criminal, -3 from computer security professionals on Planet, a large class of people) [-7 points]
For biography, I think drop the whole bit about her being born on Earth. She's a Planet native. Asa Wright, or "Sinder Rose" as she prefers to be called, was a computer security techichan in the Spartan faction, born MY 2190. She specialized in informational warfare, both active and counter-. She was extremely skilled, but her lack of physical warfare skills made her a second-class citizen at best in Spartan society. She chaffed under this unfair state of affairs, but she had to wait for nearly 30 years before her opportunity to escape occured.
The Pennisula War offered her the chance she needed. Before the Pennisula War, Spartan conflicts had been primarily physical, mostly small skirmishes with outlaw bands and mind worms. The full-scale warfare of the Penninsula campaign, however, included a great deal of informational warfare that the Spartans were not particularly prepared for. Disruptive viruses, computer espianoge, comunications jamming and misdirection, extensive cryptography; all of these and more were integral to winning the fight. Sinder Rose suddenly found her services in high demand. Her status rose, and she quickly won renown by forming an elite core of information warfare specialists, nicknamed the "Data Angels". At first Rose worked within Sparta's home bases, but by the war's final stages, she and most of her crew were emplaced in the Great Dunes frontline, working from forward observation posts and making daring info-raids into Hive territory itself. The troops manning the bases quickly gained great respect and admiration for the skills of the Data Angels. The Free Drone forces, of course, were accustomed to granting respect for excellence wherever they saw it, and numerous Free Drone info-warfare specialists joined the Data Angels, but even the Spartan troops had to give the Angels credit for bravery and skill under fire.
Then the war ended. Immediately, the Data Angels still in Spartan main bases became second class citizens again. The Spartan leadership refused to grant full citizen priveledges to anyone without physical combat skills. The Data Angels in the Great Dunes theater were incensed, and most of their support troops supported them. But the Angels saw little other prospect but to slink back to their homes and return to their old status. Immigration to the Free Drone bases was little more attractive; most of the Angels were strictly computer experts, and the Rennaisence Man ideal of the Drones would demand that they learn several other skills before becoming fully respected.
But Sinder Rose had a better idea. She gathered together her loyal Angels, and proposed a daring scheme: found a new faction. Instead of abandoning their outposts, they would make them into full-fledged bases. The coastal outposts were capable of supporting farming and fisheries, and the support troops were, in many cases, willing to stay on as civilian support staff. The Angels agreed, seeing the prospect of a better life. Sparta grumbled to lose so many talented individuals, but they were not willing to mount another campaign to reclaim them, particuarly since the Free Drones supported the Angels, and Sparta was unwilling to risk another war so soon after the Penninsula War. Moreover, the Data Angel bases formed a buffer between Sparta and the Hive.
The Data Angels, besides the forces they have in their bases around the Great Dunes, have used the planetary network to recruit more independent-minded hackers to their ideal of informational freedom. They are the newest faction on Planet, and the smallest. Nonetheless, they have made their influence felt, with several of the more notorious hacks of the past 30 years being blamed on them.


The Data Angels are democratic to the extreme. They have used their experience with network technology to devise a workable form of direct democracy. Dedicated computer systems decide what members of the faction a given decision affects (with a tendency to error on the side of giving more people the vote). After the decision of who needs to vote is made, the relevant members of the faction are paged through their personal computer systems. They are informed of the need for a vote, and given a period of time to review the information about the vote, including backgroud data and arguments already made. The length of time available to vote depends on how much background data must be assimilated and how time-critical the vote is, with times ranging from an hour to several months with extreme cases. This system has no official leaders, although leaders are assigned for particular projects, if a vote determines they are nessecary, and particularly repected individuals (Sinder Rose is the best example) can usually command enough votes to sway an issue the way they want it.
The Angels have no particular preference in economy, leaving it up the individual base what sort of system they want to establish. Many bases are basically free market, but several bases have chosen either planned or green economic systems. Of course, it is quite possible that a base could change economic systems, if a convincing argument for the change could be made.
As a general goal, the Data Angels pursue knowledge, and particularly knowledge of computer systems, before anything else. Most Angels are extremely curious and good lateral thinkers, and they enjoy finding out new information imensely. They also have a strong "information wants to be free" ethic, and are usually willing to share research data with all but their bitter enemies.
As a society, the Data Angels are moving toward a eudiamonic ideal. Many Angels already use genetics and cybernetics with the goal of improving all human life, not just a select few. Likewise, those Angels with telepathic ability prefer to use it to enhance the cooperative nature and quality of life of their fellow faction members.

The Data Angels are about average by the wealth standards of Planet. Their members are often reasonably well off to start with, but being associated with a somewhat suspiciously-regarded faction can reduce their business. However, as the Angels begin to integrate their society to maximise the happiness of all members, the personal wealth level is begining to rise.
The Data Angels function quite efficiently. Most Angels are independent minded, and a great deal of civic duty is undertaken by private but altruistic citizens. This combines to insure that many actions have little beaureaucratic overhead, and things get done quickly. Also, the Angels are inveterate tinkerers, often unwilling to throw anything away unless it absolutely cannot be repaired.
The Data Angels are growing fairly quickly currently, mostly in the form of converts in other factions. Many computer professionals are fascinated by the prospects offered by the Data Angels. Even those who are not particularly computer experts are intrigued by the Angels' determined egalitarianism, and wish to experience their unique form of direct democracy firsthand. While no bases belonging to other factions are particularly in danger of converting to the Data Angels wholescale, the Angels' bases in the Great Dunes are experiencing a fair degree of immigration, and the faction may have enough members to consider founding a base or two elsewhere on Planet in the near future. Moreover, growth rates are still increasing as the faction implements its eudiamonic ideals, both encouraging new converts and inducing the current faction members to have more children.
In industry, the Data Angels are strictly average. Most of their convert members are not particularly skilled at physical manufacturing, and their physical bases are small and not generally capable of supporting major production facilities. The integration of cybernetics and genetic modification, however, promises to increase productivity of even small facilities by a significant amount.
The Data Angels are about average in the quality of their armed forces. Although the core of the faction were trained info-warfare specialists, the vast majority of new converts since then have been civilians. The Angels' ideology does not particularly promote combat excellence. Further, the emerging eudaimonic ideals tend to discourage conflict, which seems likely to further lower the Data Angels troop quality.
With respect to the native ecosystem, the Data Angels are strictly neutral. Few of the central faction members even think much about the native life, being far more interested in the virtual world of Planet's network. The non-computer tech members of the faction are too concerned with surviving in the harsh environment of the Great Dunes to worry overmuch about damage to the ecology. Luckily, the Great Dunes are also mostly free of fungus and mindworms, which means that Planet's "immune system" has not yet become particuarly hostile to the Angels' bases.
The Data Angels have a fairly free society, with laws that tend to benefit the individual and low taxes. However, the Angels' bases are not the free-wheeling anarchy that some other factions like to portray them as. The Angels' tend to recognize that total anarchy would lead to dangerous conflict, and have consistently voted to curtail such priviledges as the right to own and use weapons, demolitions equipment, or serious drugs.
The Data Angels have an average response to probe activities, overall. Their intrusion teams are expert and have access to the best equipment, but their own networks tend to be fairly open, due to their desire for infomational freedom and their research activities. Also, while most members of the faction are happy with its ideology, few are extremely devoted to the faction as a group, and even fewer are fanatic about its ideals.
As researchers, the Data Angels are decent. Although they are not the primary innovaters on Planet, they can generally be relied on to make breakthroughs consistently and reasonably quickly. However, the Data Angels keep up with the technology curve through the actions of their citizens, who are usually eager to swipe protected research data from other factions' networks, the more covert the better.
The Angels have very few full time military staff. The military has not expanded a great deal beyond the old core of the info-warfare specialists who first founded the bases. Data Angel ideology does not focus on military force, and few members of the faction feel strongly enough about it to join the armed forces.