Orbital

The Expat
"Leave gravity behind."

This elite member of the orbital colonies exploits his distance from the earth to foment intrigue and create a luxurious life in space.

Extravagant and beautiful, the orbital colony suburbs of earth harbor the nouveau-riche born shortly after the invention of ØTech. The first Orbitals fled the grinding taxes and EGS regulations of earth and vowed never to come back. Some have even gone as far as to forgo gravity entirely and devote the rest of their life to the stars. These radical few consult with the Null Foundation on biomodifications to avoid the health issues of microgravity life such as bone loss & gene degradation. They even go as far as creating Negative-G ulsters to allow travel to the spin colonies without the hard hand of pseudogravity.

Among the Orbitals, nothing is revered more than the ideal of escape. Escape from the dull monotony of EGS life, escape from old earth mores & religions, and most of all escape from the cradle, earth. The most zealous among them believe the maturation of humanity rests on their shoulders. These zealots live by the slogan, "How can you reach for the stars with your soul weighed down by gravity?"  This is not to say that most orbitals are even aware there is an Orbital political movement.  The Orbitals are the fastest growing (percentage-wise) population in the EGS.  Everyone born in space is an Orbital just as everyone who is born on Luna is a Lunar.  These populations have exploded in the last 10 years due not only to immigration, but also due to the first and second generations of colonists setting down roots and starting families.  These young Orbitals can't always relate to their elder's friction with the EGS.

Many of this syndic are matriculated from the Armada fleet after a long history of service and by choice assigned to the upper echelons of the most prestigious waystations. You would be hard pressed to find a colony not flagged and run entirely by Orbitals. They are simply the best at zero gravity operations and maintenance. Others are veterans of defense services or Mavryk Komet runners. This leads to a healthy appetite for their flagship sport, ZG arena fighting. Orbitals consistently place in the yearly ZGXL final rounds, and there are rumors of private Orbital only ZG leagues. One outed ZGXL spinoff league dominated by Orbitals is the ØPrix racing federation, which has a small cult following among the colonies.

With lax rules and a culture of openness and acceptance, Orbitals rarely make enemies. Terrans describe the Orbitals as tepid, prosaic layabouts, and few spacers would disagree.  The truth behind it, known only to the most elite of the colonies, is that the Orbitals plot rebellion against the EGS and expansion beyond the senate's wildest imaginations.


Syndic Champion:
Quattro, The Gold Standard
More of a ballet dancer than a fighter, Quattro's matches are decided early. He relies on his intellect and speed to keep him above the level of his opponents. With precision hit and run strikes most opponents don't have the chance to get out the gate before they receive a boot in the face. Quattro has been clocked as the fastest ZGXL contender in both raw speed and average match length, win or loss. Early in his career, he mysteriously appeared in the ZGXL as if created from whole cloth. He was ridiculed for his foppish gold plated armor, cut down lightened zGear and meager arsenal. His devastating gold plated State-of-the-Art ABSA-90 Recoilless Rifles turned out to be quite the crowd pleaser, and despite never placing in the ZGXL (so far), he is a regular contender in the weekly ZGXL programs and surprisingly, several afternoon holodramas.

Strongpoints:
Side 7 Complex (Earth-Moon L4)
Bernard's Star Institute (Mars Orbit)
Severance Hospital (Earth-Sun L3)
MegaMade Manufacturing (Asteroid Belt)

Headquarters:
Euler Colony (Jupiter-Sun L5)

Sphere of Operations: Few orbitals are found outside the comfort of the colonies that cluster around Earth & Mars, but there will be a few on every colony or waystation in the whole solar system.  A secret asteroid base in an eccentric orbit near Jupiter is Euler Colony's war room.

Relations Analysis
Hostile: Exarch, Mummer, Skrag, Sleeper, Solon, Terran
Rival: Cestus, Lunar, Mavryk
Friendly: Androgyne, Avatar, Exotic, Freaker, Monzon Ezut, Omniclone, Protostar, Thesper, Trancer, Vanguard, Virago
Ally: Armada, Cartel, Consortium, Null Foundation, Paragon, Savant

Syndic Drives: Reason, Wits, Heart
Syndic Flaws: Despair, Reckless, Fear
Syndic Skills: Command, Stealth, Pilot