Voladores

The Wanderers, The Ghosts

The Voladores are an ethereal, nomadic people. Universally tall, thin, and garbed in distinctive full-body environmental suits, they are a society out-of-time from even the most distant Cosmopolitans. Rumours abound that they are post-humans of some sort or a secret exception to the First Contact Accord’s prohibitions. These rumours are spurred on by the Voladores’ extreme insularity and secrecy.
As a society, the Voladores are pacifist, largely nomadic, and primarily organized around matria – coalitions of family groups who live and work aboard the same trade ship or scattered across a group of ships, oriented around a matriarchal council of elders responsible for decision-making and temporal record-keeping. They appear to outsiders as a conservative, rigid people, though with such little knowledge about their cultural functions and traditions beyond basic organizational structures, what appears “conservative” and “rigid” to an outsider is just as likely the product of ignorance as anything. Joining their culture is presumed to be impossible, and they are rarely encountered outside of their trade missions.
Each trade ship is a self-contained habitat, workshop, and marketplace, where various families practice their craft during transit and host trade delegations while parked in orbit. Trade ships are the heart of Volador culture in every way – as much small cities and mobile bazaars as they are vessels. These ships are usually of Volador make, although some smaller matrias have been known to fly freighters of Union design.

Structure

There is no single leader of the Voladores, and the composition of their matriarchal council changes according to mysterious criteria. The only thing known for sure is that their society is matrilineal, and their names include personal identifiers, family names, and location names.

Assets

Voladores trade in technology from all over the galaxy, some of which is extremely advanced, experimental, or old and long forgotten. Curiously, the places they most often appear are worlds and systems rich in pre-Fall relics. The Voladores’ own technology is highly advanced and poorly understood by Union scientists. They are extremely reluctant to share or sell any of their own technology and have been known to actively hunt down those who steal from them – these being the only times they are willing to put aside their pacifistic ways. They often contract Sparri mercenaries to help them track down thieves.

History

The Voladores were first encountered in Union space during the First Expansion Period. Following reports of peaceful encounters with unregistered interstellar ships, investigators from the Union Administrative Department were ordered to track and make contact with the unknown ships. After significant work by Dr. Oberon Sterling and Far Field Team 1683 (MIA), effective communication methods were identified and diplomatic channels between Cradle and the Voladores’ capital, High Ground, were established. Negotiations proceeded quickly and calmly, and the Voladores were officially recognized as a stateless pre-Fall society – a designation that, as understanding of their culture deepened, proved inaccurate.
Until the creation of the aggressive Union Colonial Mission by the Second Committee, the Voladores enjoyed relative independence from Union’s laws. They were classified as a liminal nomadic culture and afforded the same rights as other Cosmopolitans and Diasporans in Union space. For millennia, the Voladores freely traversed Union space, appearing often above Cradle with trade-tribute, survey data, and all manner of galactic wealth. At the height of SecComm’s unification campaign, the Voladores were frequent targets of the UCM, which sought to integrate the nomadic culture fully into Union’s hegemony – this hostile relationship culminated in an attempted colonial incursion onto a Volador ship by a deniable-asset group, Vanguard Security. The attempt failed, and the Voladores disappeared from Union space. However, since the rise of ThirdComm, reports of a resumption of Voladores action in realspace have increased.

Territories

The location of the Voladores central hub-world, High Ground, is unknown. Knowledgeable Cosmopolitans and Diasporans often debate what exactly this hubworld is. Is High Ground a great nomadic home-ship? A free-standing megastructure? A captured metavault? A world suspended just over the event horizon of a black hole? All have been put forward as theories that might explain the mysterious nature and uncanny appearance of the Voladores.
The Voladores do not appear to have a presence on the omninet. To trade with them, one must encounter them in realspace, on their own terms. Their arrival is often a surprise, though they may linger for months or years if the trade is bountiful.
The Voladores do keep a diplomatic office on Cradle, though it is usually not populated by any of the mysterious nomads. It is staffed by a comp/con unit of Union design and is the most reliable way to contact High Ground when diplomatic contact is necessary. Despite being the only office of its kind, it is not heavily trafficked: just because it’s the best way to contact the Voladores, that doesn’t mean it’s an especially fast way to communicate, or that High Ground responds to every query.

Foreign Relations

It is in large part due to the Voladores’ planetary survey data that Union was able to identify and settle so many habitable worlds, many of which are now fully developed Core worlds. The Voladores helped establish contact between Union and the Karrakin Trade Baronies and played a pivotal role in various peace talks prompted by SecComm’s centralization campaigns. Their diplomats, far rarer than their merchants, are legendary for their patience and wise counsel.
The galactic community at large knows little about Volador culture. This, of course, leads both Cosmopolitans and Diasporans to invent myths and prejudices, if indeed they have even heard of the Voladores at all. The majority of Diasporans will never encounter a Volador trade ship, but should they be visited, their society will almost certainly develop myths about their arrival and departure. Cosmopolitans have a marginally higher chance of encountering Voladores at galactic transit points – blink stations and at distal shipping lanes in particular.

Type

Geopolitical, Nomadic tribe