From the desk of Dr. Cindi Bolieu
Tir, 18 April -- 29476

What do the Clans stand for?

I watched helplessly last night as violent renegades assaulted the innocent Clan members rejoicing in their freedom outside of Tir. I left early that night, because I could not stand to hear their rhetoric any longer. I went home and watched the grid feeds come in, covering attacks on Omni facilities by organized mobs, and hearing Omni-Tek broadcasts only confirming the earlier Omni warnings. And, not for the first time, I felt myself prepared to
take up arms against Clan members.

Primarily, the problem lays in disunity. These aggressive, angry, mindless zealots of terror spread their pitiful fighting everywhere. I can not blame Omni-Tek employees for their comments towards the Clans. These fools do nothing but fulfill the image Omni-Tek has built of the Clans. They confirm that we are all terrorist scum. They give justification for repression. They are nothing but tools of Omni-Tek, fighting against what the Clans strive for.

Of course, these are a minority. This United Freedom, the Dust Brigade, and their supporters. Many Clan members simply want to live their lives in freedom. Others supoprt the moderate and
logical Council of Truth - and have no dellusions, the Council of Truth has nothing to do with the actions of rogue Clans. Still others see Omni-Tek's role on Rubi-Ka as one of importance
and stability, but one which must be policed.

Others are in the Clans to fight against repression and terror, from any source. This includes rogue clans. This includes the few problematic neutrals. This includes Omni-Tek. This includes Sol Banking Corporation, should they act up again. This includes factions and individuals from anywhere.

My primary fear for Rubi-Ka is no longer Omni-Tek. Omni-Tek is far away from me, a known enemy. I am much more afraid of the Dust Brigade, of United Freedom, of the rogue clans that feel
they have the right to direct anyone but themselves. I fear that their government would be worse than Omni-Tek. I fear that they will cross lines until Omni-Tek is justified in crushing the Clans entirely. I fear they will attack people, as the Dust Brigade has, who simply are not extremists.

The political scene on Rubi-Ka is far from black and white. Omni factions such as TBA violate direct orders. Clan guilds strike wildly out, threatening even peacefully organized Clan members. Do not get me wrong - I will and have faced down Omni forces without flinching. I fight, however, where it is called for, not blindly. I fight with reason. More and more, that reason is against my "fellow" Clan members, engaging in acts of violence and terror I would
expect only from Omni, before now.

The roots of the Clans have been lost and too, I am afraid, has our very freedom. Should Omni-Tek decide, for some unknown reason, to pull off of Rubi-Ka, I would likely leave as well. The war and terror that would follow such a move is infintely more frightening than Omni-Pol. Between Clan factions and corporations fighting for land and power, the quiet repressiveness of Omni-Tek would be a vacation.

So here I sit in my barren apartment, watching the grid feeds with fear and anger. Our innocent celebration, at which the vast majority of people, Clan and Neutral, celebrated and remembered the sacrifice of the miners, is now sullied by the memory of pointless attacks based on blind hatred. At the very least, Omni-Tek has a motive behind their repression. The Clans and Neutrals are left on our own, but there is some unseen controlling hand. The recent attacks, from factions of both sides, are something much more terrifying, and much darker. They are genocide. They are undirected anger and hatred, that can and will serve only to cause chaos and anarchy.

--
Dr. Cindi "Razishlyat" Bolieu