General Yan-Soon

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by Richard Rose (Shadow Shack)

Editor’s Note: This article wasn’t submitted, but I found it on a public forum at www.OmegaRising.com and thought I’d share it with you all.

I have a nifty adversary I use in my campaign from time to time, thrown in to disrupt the players during their roamings in the spacelanes.

One "General" Yan-Soon, a diplomatic yet aggressive Yazirian with vast financial backing, has a goal against the UPF: to overtake an outpost world and secede from the United Planetary Federation.

His title of general is not recognized by any government or colony in the UPF, he has no record of any military or government service. It is believed that any formal training may have come from outside the Frontier, be it the Piracy Ring, Sathar, or any other of the numerous outer-Frontier societies, or he could just as well be self-appointed to his cause.

His first attempt at an outpost world was Histran, which was quickly foiled by local residents and their small militia. Had he garnered more backing and allies it may have worked, but he underestimated the citizens --- he presumed fear would be enough. Of all people he should have known better, a Yazirian population fears no one.

His next major attempt gained some support at Laco, it is believed that he received some major financial backing from a mega-corporation (Streel?) as it would serve their interests as well to have an operation outside of UPF jurisdiction. Unfortunately Laco is too close to several major UPF and Spacefleet operations, and as a result all the traffic generated too much attention so while he briefly succeeded in overtaking Laco, it too was short lived and he was forced out before he could establish any sovereign power, but his brief tenure there disrupted a lot of traffic between Volturnus/Truane's Star and the rest of the Frontier, and thus woke the UPF up to his presence to make him a legitimate threat. Histran was too far away to garner any Frontier-wide recognition, but this most recent attempt hit much closer to home for many.

Speculation has it that his next attempt will either involve the vacated Planoran Pirate base in Clarion, or perhaps even an attempt right under the UPF's nose at Morgaine's World. Needless to say traffic at both ends is being closely monitored, as Yan-Soon is unpredictable. Clarion makes tactical sense as it is a major travel route yet far enough away from most Frontier worlds to offer a greater chance of success, but the local population is too large and the Clarion Royal Marines are among the best local militias in the Frontier. Morgaine's World on the other hand, while being in "the hub of the Frontier", has an outpost status yet too centralized to start any activity without drawing any attention. But he is still just clever and bold enough to try it, and not an adversary to be underestimated. Dramune's Outer Reach is a third possibility, although the idea of organizing a chaotic criminal element tends to make this one the least likely. And finally, a habitable planet in an unclaimed system is highly possible, although such worlds would serve nothing for his mission and would only accomplish little more than a support and supply center.

Legions that have pledged loyalty to his cause can be found frequently in the spacelanes, and can present a challenge to any party at any time. Not to mention dropping some clues about future activity...