Ashern
"The so-called Vratix freedom fighter, apart from the obvious xeno-aesthetic, is hard to tell apart from the honest Vratix worker. And we have those, by the million. The claws the Black Vratix use for tearing out the throats of Xucphra supervisors, the worker uses to climb into resin pits of noxious fumes and resculpt chimneys. The tools the Black Vratix use to sabotage life-saving bacta processors and down transport craft, the worker uses to fix the same.
"We can't root out the Black Vratix, not because we can't tell the difference between one bug and another. No, the problem is that the honest Vratix can't tell the difference between himself and the Black Vratix. That's our problem." --Moff Kyl Renson
Structure
The Ashern operate in loosely connected broods that help insulate each other in the event of arrest by the authorities. These broods number five to fifty and they have little knowledge of the other broods in the Ashern network. Every once in a while, a charismatic brood master will make himself publicly known enough that the other broods follow his speeches' prodding and his example, but when there is no public brood master the broods of the Ashern are fundamentally independent, parallel rebellions.
This dispersed structure, while confounding Imperial and local security efforts to clean up, also means that without an Ashern brood master to lead them, the effectiveness of the Ashern hive is greatly diminished.
Public Agenda
The Ashern's most immediate--and practically impossible--demand is for control over the bacta trade that sees Thyferra and the Vratix caught up as thralls to galactic bureaucracy. Due to the Empire's collective dependence on bacta and the infeasability of synthetic bacta, this point is deemed completely unacceptable.
The hardline Ashern leaders have also traditionally been violently anti-alien, and they add that Thyferra's unique nature as a bacta producer is either a cultural or religious phenomena that should not be violated by aliens on Thyferra. They maintain that the vast majority of the non-Vratix threaten the sanctity of their world and their people, and they espouse violence as the best way to evict off-worlders.
Assets
Ashern operate in broods of closed information to hide their numbers and limit the potential loss of betrayal or being informed upon. These broods can be as few as five or as many as fifty Vratix strong, and Imperial estimates are that there may be one thousand broods spread throughout the Polith system.
Even these numbers could be dealt with by Xucphra security, however, if not for the fact the most of Vratix society--and especially the three million Vratix bacta workers employed by Xucphra and Zaltin--passively if not actively protect the Ashern in their midst.
History
Although the Vratix term "Black Claw" had been used as a general term for popular movements throughout their history, the Ashern as a formal movement began as a protest to alien influence in the declining decades of the Republic. Most of the Ashern's early movements on the planet were non-violent sabotage of bacta production facilities, but after the Stark Hyperspace War laid bare how Stark, Xucphra, and the Trade Federation were manipulating the bacta trade--the lifeblood of Thyferra in the galactic community--the Ashern became more militant and decidedly violent.
From 14 BRS, the Ashern added a distinctly anti-alien bent to their dogma and the choice of their targets. They no longer settled for bacta plants and industrialization sites, adding security zones, Xucphra offices, and high-profile individuals to their list of targets of opportunity.
As of 30 GSC, the Ashern have been fighting against alien influence and manipulation of the bacta of their world for close to one hundred years. The current Imperial governor has decided to view them as an operational expense, deeming most of their actions not worth the morale and material cost of reprisal. In turn, the Ashern have been more or less dormant, downplaying sabotage and broad terrorist actions in favor of regular theft and manipulation of the bacta trade, serving as a black market supplier of bacta in the Polith system.
Vratix kavam for the Vratix people.
Founding Date
51:5:21 BRS
Type
Illicit, Terrorist group
Alternative Names
The Black Claw, Free Thyferra
Demonym
Black Vratix
Location
While the Alliance bears the Ashern no direct ill-will, to the Ashern the Rebellion is just another off-world interest.
Open Hostility
Ashern and CCR forces often find themselves as enemies of convenience. Though their goals have never aligned, both sides have had occasion to tolerate each other's presence.
While the Ashern still attack Zaltin facilities, both sides have had testy negotiations in the past.
Insurgent War
The Ashern are targets of opportunity for Imperial forces, but the Empire has put little concerted effort into rooting them out.
The Ashern hate Xucphra and its employees more than any single group, and Xucphra has experienced more loss of life and materiel from them than any single source.
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