Lore:Spider Clan
 Spider Clan |
Other Names: Shadows, Ninja, The Dojo |
The Spider Clan - Whats in a name?
The Spider Clan, internally known as the First Clan, is not a truly homogeneous political entity. While the most prominent Clan is the Spider Clan, several smaller clans operate in a state of vassaldom to the Spider Clan. The Spider Clan is the face, the power, and the guiding force. As such, when any information comes to light, most of the smaller clans are more than willing to blame their “Mysterious Leaders, the Spider Clan!” which has given the public the impression that the Spider Clan is one massive entity. This name caught on properly, and now even as more information comes to light, the Spider Clan has been immortalized. The only downside to this deflection of blame from the lesser clans, is that now their discoveries can be more easily stolen by the Spider Clan and they hold little ability to stop this. No one recalls which Clan truly created Spyder.OS, but its creation has been attributed directly to the Spider Clan now.
Spyder.OS - The methods of the masters
Spyder.OS, the bread and butter of the Spider Clan, and more importantly the backbone of the Spider Clan. This program, originally designed as merely a digital listening post on small military stations, has now become a fully fledged operating system that every member of the Spider Clan knows the ins and outs of. While who made it is a mystery, who mastered it is not. The Spider Clan used this operating system to create easily hidden microcomputers that would allow their agents, and even their elite Ninjas, to have a powerful system to hack any device they may come across as needed. It has slowly started to also encompass all of their other devices, communicators, security systems, medical equipment, bitrunning equipment, and most recently Cyborgs. With Spyder.OS, they have created a system unhackable by their enemies, untraceable by their targets, and unstoppable by most. Spyder.OS also has smaller offshoots, often called Spyderling Programs, that operate in devices for hacking on the fly and encrypting data as needed, so every piece of Spider Clan technology has some variant of Spyder.OS in it. This system was the cornerstone of the Spider Clan’s Digital Defense. In recent years, Spyder.OS has seen a decline as the need for a single centralized operating system was eventually lost, Spyder.OS is still an operating system in name, but now acts closer to a rootkit than an actual OS. Recent advancements in Bluespace computing and digital research in general has resulted into superior operating system operations, but the Spyder.OS still holds a firm place in the hearts of the Eldest within the Spider Clan.
Relations - What a wicked web they weave
The Spider Clan is a solitary faction, more content to sit in the shadows and gather information for their own nefarious means. But being alone never pays, and typically, if someone has information worth stealing, it is worth selling. The first major deal of the Spider Clan was something unexpected, a small corporation acting with a budget much greater than they expected. The job was dangerous, a data heist in a Sovereign Corporations space, the target was Interdyne Pharmaceuticals. Whatever the data was isn’t important, but the hefty bonus for ‘Good Faith in future dealings’ they received from this Cybersun Industries is what made them realize they were not dealing with a lone actor. It took very little digging, but after some infiltration it was discovered. The Syndicate was arising, and they had a chance to ingratiate themselves with this new political entity that would likely dominate the sector in the future. This is what cemented them as an enemy of Nanotrasen, and as an associate but not a part of the Syndicate. With the Syndicate relying on clandestine operations to interfere with Nanotrasen, and the Syndicate also unwilling to pay for each and every single operation to be carried out a deal was made. Working with Datasmiths from the Spider Clan a new Operating System was made for the Syndicate, with most of its internal workings coming from the Spyder.OS itself allowing the Spider Clan unfettered access to syndicate networks, and giving the syndicate a system that was nearly impossible to hack and was defended by the Spider Clan. In this deal, Cybersun was the ones to grow the closest to the Spider Clan, their Bitrunners often engaging in Counter-Bitrunning operations together, all the other corporations respect but don’t exactly like the Spider Clan. And the feeling is mutual, the Spider Clan respects Cybersun Industries, they see a fellow opportunist in the company, and know that their superior numbers bolster the Spider Clan’s presence in the digital domains. The biggest thing that the Spider Clan gets from the Syndicate, for its continued assistance on matters cyber, is using their expansive numbers and powerful market force to sell their own devices. With their Spyderling Gadgets they have now a considerable bulk of black market sales.
Origins- From what hive of scum and villainy did they come?
The Spider Clan has many origin stories, some say they can be traced back to Japan’s Shogunate, survivors in a time of change. Some say they come from the formation of the Syndicate, as a detached group of blackhat hackers that formalized. Some even theorize that they are simply bitrunners who committed too hard to a bit. The truth of the matter is no one knows where they came from, no one knows why they do what they do, and no one can really stop them at their source. This disorganization extends to even the Clans under the Spider Clan’s control, many of whom only know the history of their own clan. They exist, they are a fact of life, and their agents are everywhere.
Resonance - Death is no escape
Resonance, the poorly understood and often contradictory lifeforce of all thinking things. Sometimes called the soul, Resonance is what someone leaves behind when they die and supposedly is called back when someone is revived. But sometimes, high ranking members of Nanotrasen and companies don’t come back, no matter what means are applied. Most people assume the resonance has passed on, to whatever is next or maybe to a different body somewhere else, but allegedly this is not the case for the victims of the Spider Clan. These were really just rumors at first, the program that could "steal souls" was something that people laughed at, that people mocked tirelessly, called it all just some insane fear mongering for the sake of the Spider Clan’s honor. Until one day it wasn’t. No one can recall how it happened, but a Ninja was found and killed on Luna, on his body was a device that could speak. The voice within claimed to be a Chairman for Nanotrasen, and after being ‘shot’ into his repaired body, something medical staff stated was impossible, he returned. The discovery shocked the world, the fact that the ability to steal someone’s resonance was REAL? And whats worse, Nanotrasen got the FIRST Patent on the technology due to it being used on them? The Corporate world was in a tizzy that they couldn’t exploit this technology, and most normal people were suddenly more terrified at the idea of being ‘killed’ by the Spider Clan.
Ninjas - The Fangs of the Spider
While the Spider Clan is the dominant clan, Ninjas can come from every clan, sometimes ancient and honorable clans such as the Spirit Clan or the Earth Clan, sometimes dishonorable upstart clans like the Carp Clan or the Bit Clan, but regardless of origin they are all loyal to the Spider Clan. Some of these Ninjas, mostly from the traditional clan, will value honor and integrity over victory, and some will barely speak a word and strike down all who oppose them for the simple joys of being told you won. Each Ninja is trained specially by their clan, taking in their traditions and arts and skills, before being sent to train with the Spider Clan, the ones who survive the Spider Clan’s initiations and tests are full fledged Ninjas, unable to return to their Clans and serving the all seeing Spider Clan until their deaths. The Spider Clan cares little about the personality of the Ninjas, cares little about their traditions or honor, they do prefer a victory and a contract finished, but they’ll just soon accept that Honor is upheld. None of the Clans know why they have such a leniency, some say some contracts are doomed from the start, so they send brash assassins off to die, some say that the honorable Ninjas bring a better public opinion in their enemies, but none truly know the mysterious ways of the spider clan, or why they choose to send certain ninjas to certain missions.
Deep Infiltration - Right Behind You
Scarce rumors float through the noosphere, some Ninjas lead a double life. The life of a silent assassin is both lonely and dangerous, so why wouldn't they spend some of their days in the light? As long as their tracks are covered, the loneliest of ninjas can easily lead a double life.
If you suspect that you or a loved one is a double agent, an honest Nanotrasen employee by day and a cutthroat killer by night, please report them to Central Command for processing. Anyone could be a double agent.
History Archived - Fucked up way of saying tl;dr huh?
All of this said, how do you, a valued Nanotrasen Employee, digest all this information? You start small, and the complexities of the alleged spider clan can be condensed and thankfully for you our Chief Expert on the topic of the Spider Clan(Which we dedicate this information document to, god bless their soul, and the souls of all their investigators, crazy how they all died at the same time) has turned all these notes from several paragraphs, into several less paragraphs.
The most important thing to know about the Spider Clan is that they are not some monolithic organization; several smaller clans and entities exist within it. Some ninjas are sent from cultures that venerate an honorable lifestyle and are used as beacons of the honor possible within the spider clan. Some clans have earned their status by sheer power or political maneuvering and lack honor behind it. Whatever forces the Honorable Earth and Spirit Clans to openly talk and respect the Dishonorable Carp and playful Fang clans is something that we can only guess at, but it must be one hell of a web pulling them together.
The Spider Clan is responsible for the creation of memory encoding, allegedly, and the original Evoker RSD comes from reverse-engineered Spider devices. The Spider Clan's devices intentionally withheld the ability for captured Resonance to escape; in fact, it was used to prevent high priority threats from coming back by almost any means. This was their crowning achievement that brought them to notoriety, as while anyone can lead a gang of murderers, only the Spider Clan could keep someone dead. This discovery made them a bigger threat in the Corporation’s minds.
While the Spider Clan operates with the Syndicate, they are not an ally of the Syndicate. They take contracts with the different corporations of the Syndicate and even the odd contract with Interdyne Pharmaceuticals. Some theorize they take some contracts for Nanotrasen, but no evidence was provided by Nanotrasen to corroborate this.
All in all, the Spider Clan is not a threat to take lightly, but the fact that they operate as hundreds of smaller clans, some not partaking in certain types of contracts, gives them a degree of ambiguity, with only certain Ninjas being active enemies of the state. Of course, if you spot a Ninja on YOUR station, its likely they are there to do something illegal and they should probably be reported.
And how CAN you spot a ninja? All of our security footage that hasn’t been scrubbed shows the almost exact same getup for all Ninjas, a custom MODSuit, a katana, and rarely a Cyborg Assistant. They are very distinctive, meaning if you DO see one, it has likely chosen to be seen. Ninjas are masters of the shadows and causing diversions to achieve their real goals. Expect the unexpected when you encounter a Ninja, anything from every floor bot being Emagged to being challenged to an honorable duel in maintenance tunnels.
Work in Progress: Footer subject to change at a moment's notice. Do not take a red link's presence, struck-through or otherwise, as confirmation (or denial) of their canonicity.
| Nova Sector Lore
| |
| Common Species | Humans, Tiziran, Unathi, Moths, Ethereals, Azulae, Slime Hybrids, Teshari, Synthetic Humanoids (and assorted robots), Pod Persons |
| Other Species | Genemodders (Felinids, Ice Walkers, Dwarf), Ashwalkers, Hemophages, Snailpersons, Ordoht (Formerly Skrell), Plasmamen, Flypeople, Vox (Primalis et al), Tajaran, Vulpkanin, Xenomorphic Hybrid, Rouges (Abductorkin), Miscellaneous Species |
| Nanotrasen | Nanotrasen, Central Command, Emergency Response Corps |
| External Groups | The Syndicate, Interdyne Pharmaceutics, DS-2, Cargo, The Spider Clan |
| Nova | The Nova Sector, Indecipheres, Freyja |
| Concepts | Bluespace, Plasma, Faster Than Light Travel, Resonance ("Souls"), Death |
| SolFed | SolFed, Earth in 2565, |
