Verdant Shield

Several years ago, when the teenage Shirini Odas (N female damaya Lashunta) heard the latest report of another species of animal being exploited and endangered on Castrovel, she decided to do something about it. She gathered together a small group of her like-minded friends to protect the Castrovelian fauna from these cruelties, naming themselves the Verdant Shield. They began by circulating electronic petitions across several infospheres throughout The Pact Worlds and uploaded holovids of their group’s manifesto, always keeping their identities secret.
Over the years, the Verdant Shield grew in size and scope, often effecting positive change in the field of conservation, but its policy of anonymity soon began to twist the organization’s goals. Now studying at various universities, Shirini and the original founders have lost control of the Verdant Shield as it shifted toward more radical protests at the direction of newer members. The group has transformed from its origins as a handful of politically minded adolescents to a small army of ecoterrorists willing to violently defend the wildlife of Castrovel and other planets against exploitation.
Unknown to both Shirini and the rank-and-file members, the Verdant Shield was recently co-opted by a mysterious hacker calling themself Gr1m_R4nger. Using dummy accounts and false information, Gr1m_R4nger essentially controls all sects of the organization, selecting targets and directing the Verdant Shield’s missions. Gr1m_R4nger blackmails corporations for vast sums of credits, threatening to unleash the Verdant Shield on the corporation’s operations if they don’t pay up. After several incidents of property destruction and a few deaths of hunters and security officers, most companies now accede to the hacker’s demands.
Though some believe the Verdant Shield’s sentiments are noble, most see the group as an anarchic terrorist organization. The Verdant Shield is routinely condemned in the public discourse, and those who support the organization do so in secret. Structure

Though the Verdant Shield originated on Castrovel, it accepts anyone who sympathizes with the organization’s sentiments and is willing to take up arms and fight for the cause, no matter where they’re based. The group has formed into small, independent cells of no more than a dozen volunteers, most of whom are active on Castrovel, though now almost every Pact World is home to at least one cell. Of course, worlds without native fauna (such as the barren surface of Apostae) don’t garner the Verdant Shield’s attention. As the organization’s cells are mostly populated with extremists, they tend to be short lived, but new cells are constantly springing up thanks to the organization’s viral messaging (usually coordinated by Gr1m_R4nger). Some cells organize and execute their own grassroots plans, such as freeing animal test subjects from laboratories, but most are at Gr1m_R4nger’s beck and call. They tend not to question these opportunities, as they often appear to come from trusted fellow members of the organization (thanks to Gr1m_R4nger’s hacking wizardry).

Public Agenda

The stated goal of the Verdant Shield is to end animal exploitation throughout the galaxy by any means necessary. This often includes bloody raids on certain facilities and planting explosives in key locations, with little regard to who gets hurt in the process. Gr1m_R4nger has a much more selfish objective, however, and wishes only to line their pockets with credits.

Assets

The various cells of the Verdant Shield are scattered across the system, and each has its own secret headquarters, often in basements and abandoned warehouses. When local law enforcement closes in on these locations, the members either move to another base or engage in a last stand, ending up incarcerated or dead. The cells fund their operations using their own credits, through anonymous donations from supportive individuals, or by fencing goods and equipment they acquire during their operations. The ecoterrorists tend to keep their money on handy credsticks; only the savviest attempt to launder their credits through legitimate businesses. Gr1m_R4nger’s location is unknown, and they take great pains to keep it that way. They are able to transmit to the corporations of the various Pact Worlds with ease, hinting that perhaps the hacker issues their demands from a starship. The credits Gr1m_R4nger receives from their extortion are transmitted electronically to different bank accounts and are constantly moved around, creating an extensive trail of false businesses and nonexistent account holders.

History

The Verdant Shield has faced off against a variety of enemies, from illegal poaching rings to legal pharmaceutical companies, as well as law enforcement both local and interplanetary. They are high on The Stewards’ watch list of terrorist organizations, but due to their fragmented nature, it is difficult for the Stewards to track and fully eliminate them. Many members of the Xenowardens frown on the Verdant Shield’s violent tactics and, if they were ever given the opportunity, would like to rehabilitate the ecoterrorists. Recently, Shirini has secretly rejoined the group, looking to turn the Verdant Shield back toward the peaceful protesting it was founded upon, but she has yet to discover Gr1m_R4nger’s extensive puppet strings.