SECRET OPS REPORT: Whitevale

Lore

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KEY FINDINGS:

-Rumors of a strange, mutated form of augmentation have proven true. The form of augmentation infecting the so-called “Ascendancy” does not rob the infected of conscious thought in any way, but instead offers many of the benefits of augmentation – increased strength, endurance, and overall health – while allowing the individual to maintain a modicum of control.

-The leader of the
Ascendancy appears to be Calidor Antevian, brother of the Dominion hero Toric Antevian. Now simply calling himself Brother Calidor, the former Vigilant cleric appears to be the primary infection vector for the rest of the cult.

– Augment Facility X426 is the source of this “ascendant” variety of augmentation. It also appears to be where the bipedal cyborg dubbed “Metal Maw” was created, which may help explain the unusual characteristics of the nanobiotic infection.

CONCLUSIONS:

The Ascendancy
appears quite interested in spreading their “gospel” of augmentation to the rest of the world as soon as possible, which may indicate their condition encourages this sense of urgency. An experiment like the creation of Metal Maw, if interrupted at the wrong time, could have left the augmentation nanites in a this kind of agitated state. That said, evidence from stolen Dominion records shows that Calidor Antevian was constantly overshadowed by his brother Toric, the “Vigilant Star,” who leads the
Radiant Legion. It is certainly possible his own feelings of inadequacy imprinted on the infection, leaving other victims vulnerable to his influence. The desire to spread the ascendant augmentation to others began immediately when Calidor’s group attacked the local Pell, attempting to turn them to the Ascendancy’s cause.

The XAS considers it extremely unlikely that ascendant augmentation had anything to do with the disappearance of the Eldan – there is no evidence it even existed in its current
form before Brother Calidor discovered it. Augmentation itself, however, has again proven a resilient suspect in the Eldan mystery, as the events at Augment Facility X426 show.

The only problem with this hypothesis is that there are currently no augmented Eldan wandering the planet, attacking newcomers. From everything we have seen of augmentation, this would be an inevitable result of such an outbreak. The possibility cannot be completely ruled out, but after meeting the Ascendancy many XAS
members have concluded augmented Eldan would probably have left Nexus to take over half the galaxy by now.

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ADDITIONAL

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There is, in fact, no “Metal Pa” or “Metal Paw.” Metal Maw is all on her own. Or his own. Frankly, we have so far had no volunteers to determine the correct pronoun to use.