A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
Circa 15,000 BBY
"The people have agreed to colonize Orlea, then?” Supreme Cardinal Jhanz Windros asked from his place at the end of the long, massive greel-wood table. His strong, deep voice echoed in the grand hall.
"Yes, your Eminence, they are united. The hardships of this world will test us sorely, and through its tests, enlighten us." replied Bishop Cromwell. The Bishop himself had discovered the world out on the Frontier six months before and was well-acquainted with its dangers. A sturdy, fit man in his early forties, Bishop Cromwell’s craggy features showed every line of a life spent in constant questing. Were his wife not as equally married to her work as to him, they would have parted long ago over his extended absences. As it was, they simply cherished the time they had together all the more for its rarity.
The Supreme Cardinal shifted uneasily in his formal regalia, his unusually tall frame ill-suited to the somewhat smaller robes of office, and frowned. "We must be free of this stifling Republic and their Jedi enforcers. I know the Republic means well, as do the Jedi, but their way is not ours. Their attempts to legislate morality go too far." The Supreme Cardinal looked thoughtful for a moment as he gazed out the transparisteel windows of the Holy Citadel then grimaced once more. "Even so, and despite our wish for a harsh environment to forge our souls in and temper our bodies with, this world would require extreme genetic modification to survive upon. Are you sure the Church Geneshapers are up to the challenge?"
"Unquestionably, your Eminence. Observe if you will." Bishop Cromwell activated the holoprojector. An image appeared showing multiple species alongside strands of DNA representing each one. "The Church Geneshapers have put together a genetic package utilizing modified human baseline DNA and a combination of a dozen or so other species which will completely reshape our forms to better deal with the intense gravity and radiation of our new world."
Supreme Cardinal Windros’ dark eyes flashed to Bishop Cromwell as he interjected, "Yes, about the radiation, how have the Geneshapers planned to deal with this problem?"
"I was just coming to that" said Bishop Cromwell as he touched the controls and brought up a new set of holograms. "The plan is to reactivate and reprogram 'dead genes' from our genetic past which, in our very earliest ancestors were responsible for providing resistance to radiation before the Ancient Home's ozone layer developed to full effectiveness. These particular gene clusters haven't been active since we were invertebrates, so bringing them back to 'active duty', so to speak, is proving a challenge for our Geneshapers, but they assure me their work will be successful. Additionally, numerous alien DNA strands are being spliced into the package to bolster and supplement the reactivated gene strands."
"And they are certain there will be no unforeseen side effects from reaching that far back into our genetic history and splicing in alien genetic material?" inquired the Supreme Cardinal.
"Your Eminence, as you are well aware, nothing in this life is absolutely certain. At some point all things must be surrendered to the hands of chance. However, they have assured me that all possible precautions are being taken. No one wants to create monsters, especially from our own children" the Bishop answered. "The first parental couplets to allow their children to undergo the modifications will, in point of fact, actually be Church Geneshapers. They have already volunteered to risk their own for a chance at a new start in a better world. So they are quite obviously very highly motivated to make certain nothing goes wrong."
Supreme Cardinal Windros’ brow furrowed in thought as he lay back in his massive chair. Finally he spoke. "Very well, then. I shall visit the Halls of Change later and personally thank the Geneshapers for their willingness to volunteer themselves. Tell me of the rest of the changes we will be making."
Bishop Cromwell nodded and silently changed the hologram set before once indicating the hologram display. "Yes of course, your Eminence. As you know, Orlea is a high gravity world; therefore we are making changes to our basic biochemistry to adjust for this. Several heavy metals shall both become vital parts of our new diet" The Supreme Cardinal shot him a sharp look and the Bishop quickly continued "We will, of course, account for their toxicity to the baseline human form in our changes. Remember what the Geneshapers have at risk, your Eminence."
The look on Windros’ face softened somewhat as the Bishop continued "Some of the metals will end up in subcutaneous nodules imbedded in the sub dermal fat layer. This will form a barrier to protect the internal body against the worst of the radiation. The outer skin layer will also be partially composed of metal, though not to a level that should significantly impair movement. Additionally, the melanin count in the skin will be increased dramatically for added protection. In the future, your Eminence, we shall be nearly solid black in skin tone."
Windros’ eyes widened slightly as he pondered this. "Fascinating", he whispered "Do go on".
Bishop Cromwell nodded and continued "Still more of the metals will be assimilated into our bone structure and serve to strengthen it structurally and further protect the marrow against radiation. There will be numerous significant changes to the skeletal system itself. For instance, note the restructured ribcage, which has the horizontal bars replaced by a more sturdy system of overlapping bone slats held together by muscles, tendons, and cartilage. Also, a system of sub dermal chitin plates will grow just beneath the fat layer to provide additional protection to vital organs. Most drastically, a second pair of arms will be added along with the necessary muscular and skeletal support structures. One pair will be extremely large and muscular, with two fingers and two opposable thumbs for firm grasping, while the other pair will be smaller and noticeably weaker with three fingers and a single thumb for fine detailed work. Several additional neural clusters arranged throughout the body will take care of the additional multi-tasking necessary to control both sets of arms. Of course, all of this will mean increased mass, but this is being taken into account with a shorter overall height and an extremely drastic muscular system upgrade. This reminds me..." The Bishop touched the controls and a new set of holograms appeared. "Due to the fact that everything tends to fall so much faster under 2.5 gravities, we are dramatically increasing the density of both neurons and glandular neuroreceptor output to increase our reflexes to compensate. The increase will likely be on the order of 200% to 250%, but the Geneshapers have never attempted to modify this particular portion of the genetic code before, so I am afraid we will have to rely on their best guesses in this area. Fortunately, they are certain they are modifying the correct gene clusters."
"They had better be certain" muttered Windros, "It's their children on the line if they're wrong."
"Quite so, your Eminence" the Bishop agreed. "The only other major changes I can think of off-hand are the modification to the cardiovascular system which will replace the single centralized heart with four dual-chambered hearts strategically placed around the body as well as a system of muscular sheaths around all the major arteries and veins to aid in pumping blood. The blood itself will be redesigned to improve the efficiency with which it carries blood to all the various bodily organs. Additionally, the immune system will be tweaked to provide still more resistance against the radiation of Orlea and to provide a limited form of regeneration to speed healing of the minor bruises and abrasions one can expect from such a high gravity environment. The end result should look something like this.” Bishop Cromwell touched the holoprojector controls once more and an image appeared of a rather ugly, squat creature. The various charts and figures alongside the image indicated a height of 1.25 meters. Packed into that frame looked to be enough muscle for any three strong men. The huge upper arms ended in large spade-shaped fingers that seemed more suited to digging and bashing than tool manipulation. The lower pair of arms were almost comically frail by comparison, though still well-muscled by human standards, and ended in almost delicate hands with long, slender fingers.
Supreme Cardinal Windros’ face wrinkled in disgust. “Our descendants certainly won’t be much to look at, will they?”
“Not to our eyes, they won’t. However the Geneshapers have assured me that they are making the necessary changes to ensure that our descendants will look just fine to each other, which is the important thing. As long as they find one another attractive enough to continue the species they don’t need to look attractive to our eyes. As you well know, the goal is the continuation of Life in an environment conducive to enlightened challenges and productive hardships. Orlea is the perfect setting for this goal, and our Geneshapers are endeavoring to prepare our descendants to flourish in our home. We will be as prepared for the ravening radiation and crushing gravity of Orlea as the Church Geneshapers can make us, and they have never failed us yet." the Bishop finished with a note of pride in his voice.
The Supreme Cardinal's face remained thoughtful for another long moment before he finally smiled and said "You've really done a great job on this, Garth. I'm proud of you...all of you. Your team's work has been amazing these past months. The people will sing your praises long after I am forgotten, I believe."
Garth’s face broke into a grin as the Supreme Cardinal dispensed with formalities and responded "Well, you know what a slave driver I can be, Jhanz. I'd never settle for anything less than the best from myself or my team! Mira's been the real genius behind it all, though. Her genetics research made all this possible."
Jhanz’s eyes brightened at the name of his sister and Garth's wife "How is Miranda, by the way? Still mad at me for forgetting her birthday? You know it's not very seemly for a Senior Geneshaper to be angry with the Supreme Cardinal."
The Supreme Cardinal’s mock-serious tone garnered a chuckle from the Bishop "Oh, she's getting over it slowly but surely. She just says she'll have to remember to forget your next birthday to even the score."
"I bet she will", laughed Jhanz. A serious look returned to his face as he said "You know, it might be a good idea to hold off on children until... you know... after the first generation is born. Just to be sure the genetic modifications work right."
An exasperated look came over Garth’s face. "I feel the same way, but Mira is determined to go ahead with our plans and the Geneshaper's pledge. I trust her people... And more than anything I trust her. I just wish..." the bishop's voice trailed off.
"I know what you mean, old friend. But Mira's team is the best, and she's the best of the best. She is a a brilliant light among us. It is through her that our way of life will survive, beyond the boundaries of the Republic and the Jedi." Jhanz shook his head and continued "We can no longer live among those who would decide for us what is right or wrong. We have already made that decision for ourselves. If we had not, we never would have come together in fellowship under the banner of the Church of Universal Life. We force none to bow to our beliefs; we should never be forced to bow to the beliefs of others." The Supreme Cardinal looked to the Bishop and smiled "You've seen to it that we shall never have to. You and my sister. You have saved us all."
Today
Bishop Garth Cromwell and his wife did save the Church of Universal Life. His wife’s genetic modifications worked nearly perfectly. The only significant variation from the intended result was a marked tendency towards mutation. In retrospect, this was to be expected with the splicing together of genetic data from so many different species. In particular, the inclusion of genetic material from the genetically malleable Xi’Dec insectoids caused a fair amount of early genetic instability that took several centuries to completely stabilize. Fortunately, as Bishop Cromwell had promised the Church Geneshapers were indeed up to the task.
What was once the Frontier eventually became known as the Mid Rim over the intervening millennia. The Orlean Theocracy never spread past their chosen star system, which was located approximately eight thousand light years above the galactic plane and rather isolated from the rest of the galaxy as a result. However this did not stop them from eventually colonizing thirty-four of the planets and moons in the system with a total population of well in excess of a trillion beings. While the Frontier eventually passed them by, they never truly rejoined galactic society. By the time the Republic began colonizing worlds in their area of space the Theocracy had long-since jettisoned the encumbering prejudices against genetic and cybernetic modifications the Republic still held firm to. While the Republic would have loved to outlaw these things in the Theocracy, the Orleans were well-prepared for any legal moves to attempt such an action and loudly proclaimed their right to self-governance under the Great Charter. The Jedi, meanwhile, were just as disgusted as the Republic, but had their hands full with little problems such as the Sith Empire and had no time to spare to deal with what they viewed as an aberrant society of religious zealots. Even after the discovery of the Monasteries and their Orlean Outriders, there was little the Jedi could do to suppress or absorb this sect of force adepts due to the Great Sith War.
Not long after colonizing Orlea, the Orleans set up a shipyard and began constructing exploration craft with which to explore the space around them and further into what was then the Unknown Regions. After a thousand years and hundreds of designs, one particularly brilliant engineer developed what would one day become the oldest vessel still in service in the modern age: the Orlean Star Explorer. The design proved wildly successful, even being purchased by the Republic several thousand years later when the two governments met once again. Though the Orleans continued to sell the basic Star Cab for thousands of years, finally ceasing production approximately 4500 BBY, they continued to improve and update the designs used by their own people.
The Orlean Theocracy never actually joined the Galactic Republic and remained neutral throughout the horrible wars that tore the galaxy apart over the millennia. Fighting only to preserve their neutrality, the Orleans would be forced to battle Mandalorian Raiding Clans, Sith Incursions, and Hutt ‘Protection Fleets’. During this time the Orleans developed a reputation for honor in battle and steadfastness in defense of their home system and way of life. The Orlean Outriders never became as famous as the Jedi Order, but they did manage to carve out a solid reputation as intrepid explorers and formidable warriors.
The Orlean Outriders were members of a Monastic Order, of which there were many temples within the Orlean system. Disciples of the Force similar to the Jedi, the Orlean Outrider’s moral foundations were based on that of the Church of Universal Life. They believed that Life is the ultimate power in the universe. To them, Life defies the Chaos of the Void. Life denies the primacy of the laws of probability by its very existence, and in so doing denies the supremacy of Order. Life strikes a balance between the two extremes and endures, making it more powerful than either. The ultimate expression of this power is what the Jedi call the Force and the Outriders call the Pulse. In their view the Pulse of Life is not an external ‘energy field’ surrounding us but an internal wellspring controlled and directed by the will. There is no ‘light side’ or ‘dark side’ of the Pulse. The Pulse comes from within, and is a tool just as one’s thoughts come from within and are a tool. It is the use to which one puts those tools that defines whether the wielder is good or evil. This belief has caused the Jedi Order much uneasiness over the millennia.
To unlock the secrets of the Pulse one must unlock the secrets of oneself. One must know one’s limits and capabilities intimately. As such, Outrider training involves strenuous, even torturous physical, mental, intellectual, and emotional training. A trained Outrider will have near-perfect neuromuscular control and absolute awareness of his surroundings to the very limits of his sensory ability. He will be trained in dozens of fields and capable of astonishing feats of mental prowess. His mastery of the Pulse will allow truly stunning feats of control over himself and his environment. Outrider training emphasizes control of oneself over all else, making it somewhat less flexible in certain areas than Jedi training. A trained Outrider will also be in his early to middle 30’s and have been in training at the Temple since the age of five before being sent out into the galaxy for what is called his Questing Years.
An Outrider’s Questing Years is the final test of his decades of preparation and training. Sent into the galaxy with a ship, a few personal possessions, and little else, the Outrider is expected to stay among the stars until he finds his place in the universe. Many eventually return home to take their place as guardians and teachers among the Orlean people. Some meet tragic fates among the stars. A few find that their place is not with their people at all and remain among the stars.
Above all, the Outriders believe in Life. They are not pacifists, but they believe that Life is always worth defending, always worth fighting for, always worth preserving. Life is Power and the more Life exists, the more Power exists in the universe, a direct refutation of Entropy. While the trained physicist in every Outrider acknowledges that Entropy is mathematically inevitable, they still hold firmly to their Faith that Life will find a way.
Inevitably, where there is human emotions and human greed, there will be those who seek power. As such, the Orlean Theocracy is not a utopian civilization. There are many within the Theocracy who seeks to gain power by controlling the lives of others in accordance with their belief that Life is Power. This is, of course, quite illegal and dealt with in the legal codes of the Theocracy. While it is rare, Outriders occasionally fall into a hunger and lust for power. Even these fallen Outriders are almost never blatantly malevolent in the manner that Dark Jedi and Sith are. Fallen Outriders usually have the best of intentions, believing they see a better way that no one else does. This always leads to conflicts with their fellow Outriders that usually end messily for one or more involved parties.
Orlean technology is generally bleeding-edge. They have not been nearly as complacent as the galaxy at large when it comes to innovation and advancement in technology. Their belief in Life demands they use all the gifts of Life to the fullest, including their minds. They actively pursue new discoveries for the sheer joy of doing so. While this aggressive stance towards knowledge acquisition and technological advances has not yielded any dramatically powerful advances, it has placed them on average a century or so ahead of the rest of the galaxy in many areas of technology. Several significant areas of technology do lag behind Galactic Standard. The harsh gravity of Orlea and a number of their colony worlds has discouraged research into advanced repulsor technology. Additionally, Orlea’s radiation-steeped environment made the development of numerous energy field technologies impractical. To this day Orlean ships rely primarily on a thick hull and sturdy engineering rather than energy shielding. Additionally, the Orlean philosophical mandate to meet life’s challenges head-on discouraged the development of advanced droid models. While the Orleans have not completely abandoned droid research, their state of the art in this area lags a century or two behind the rest of the galaxy. The same cannot be said for their cybernetic technology. As with their lack of taboos surrounding genetic engineering, the Orleans have no particular problems with cybernetic technology, regarding it as just another tool. At first glance this might seem at odds with their cherished belief in the Power of Life; however it is perfectly in line with their beliefs. Life, as defined by the Orlean Theocracy, has nothing to do with how much of your body is actually made of flesh and blood, but rather how strong your connection is to your inner wellspring of the Power of Life. They strongly believe that the distance cyborgs in the galaxy at large come to feel from the rest of their species has far more to do with the prejudice directed at them than any internal defects. A sufficiently loving and affirming environment, they contend, is all one needs to maintain one’s hold on one’s inner Life. Amazingly, they seem to be right. In any event, few Orleans ever require cybernetics, nor choose to have themselves cybernetically enhanced since their genetically augmented bodies are quite capable already.
Orlean goods tend to be designed for Orleans, and as such are not always of use to those who are not accustomed to 2.5 gravities and living in the radiation equivalent of an unshielded fission reactor core. Their products are usually massively over-engineered, highly radiation resistant, and extremely heavy. Even a strong Wookiee would have difficulty walking around in Orlean battle armor were he able to get a suit customized to his two-armed, two and a half-meter frame. The massive ion drives that give the Star Explorer its incredible sublight speed are a requirement in the crushing gravity well of Orlea and were never actually intended to provide extreme speed, merely lift-off capability.
One Orlean device of particular note is the Orlean Blackblade. These rare and valuable weapons are extremely difficult to make and are only made on Orlea. They are individually and perfectly balanced for each wielder. At its most basic, an Orlean Blackblade is nothing more than an ultra-high frequency vibroblade. The extremely high frequency of the blade vibrations dramatically improves its ability to shear through anything struck by the weapon, and is at least a century ahead of vibroblade technology elsewhere in the galaxy, but what makes the weapon truly special is the blade. Formed using the same technological concepts behind World Devastator molecular furnaces, the blade is a deep blue-black color and is composed of molecularly bonded carbon. In effect, the blade is a single elongated black diamond. The edge is gravitically shaped to a mono-molecular edge. The molecular bonds within the diamond have been remolded so that the blade is a single coherent molecule with no individual bonds to break. This results in a nearly-indestructible blade of incredible sharpness. Boron is added to the carbon during the creation process to give the blade its bluish tinge and make it a semiconductor of electricity. A powerful electrical charge can be sent through the blade to enhance the already astonishing damage.
Orlean Blackblades are most closely identified with the Outriders, but they are not restricted to them. Anyone can learn to wield a Blackblade with no more difficulty than any other vibroblade. Furthermore, they can be made in a number of sizes and styles. Some even have low-power lasers built into the grip and running parallel to the blade. By ionizing a trail through a standard atmosphere and then firing an electrical charge down it, the sword becomes a long-distance energy weapon. The Outriders, as with the Jedi with their lightsabres, have become the acknowledged masters of blackblade swordsmanship and have a number of forms and styles developed over the millennia for use with the weapons.
The true symbol of the Outriders is their light, segmented environmental armor. These suits are made of the same material as the Orlean as Orlean Blackblades but is only made by the Outriders for the Outriders. The armor is light and relatively flexible, being designed for extreme maneuverability over heavy protection. The molecularly bonded nature of the plates makes it unnecessary to have heavy plating anyway. The plates are sewn into a tough, polymer weave fabric which is itself attached to a light vacuum suit with a twelve hour air supply and numerous onboard devices intended primarily to aid an Outrider in exploring the universe during his Questing Years.
When the Clone Wars swept the galaxy, the Orlean Theocracy held to its longstanding neutrality, preferring not to get involved. A few itinerant Outriders took part in the war, but to no significant effect. Indeed, the Jedi pointedly encouraged the Outriders to stay out of their way, having never grown to trust them or their strange view of the Force. For the most part, the Orlean Theocracy had no affect on the Clone Wars.
The rise of the Empire saw one of the darkest episodes in the fifteen thousand year history of the Orlean Theocracy. Having willingly joined the Empire, they never expected to have the infamous Order 66 extended to cover their Outriders. The Emperor wanted no challengers to his authority, however, and in his eyes the Outriders were as dangerous as the Jedi. Hundred of itinerant Outriders were slain before news reached Orlea. By then Imperial warships, High Inquisitors, and a dark nightmare named Vader had arrived in the Orlean system. Seeing the writing on the wall and preferring to rebuild a shattered order instead of mourn an annihilated one, the Outriders quickly decided on a course of action. They silently began killing one another.
By the time Lord Vader and his lackeys arrived it was over. Ninety percent of the Orlean Outriders lay dead within their Monastery walls, with the remaining ten percent having spread to the four winds. Archives of wisdom stretching back fifteen millennia burned quietly while outdated droids scurried about destroying the personal effects of the Outriders. A quick search of the first compound resulted in an even quicker evacuation as the fusion piles that powered every single Outrider Monastery went critical vaporizing any traces of the Orlean Outriders and forever denying the Emperor any spoils for his treasure houses.
Those who remained hid in the shadows, both on Orlea and out in the galaxy. They watched and waited until the Empire fell, as they knew it would. Ever-neutral, they chose not to stand with the Alliance against the Empire, nor join the Republic when it was reformed. They have weathered the seemingly endless warfare since then maintaining their neutrality with the exception of the precious few itinerant Outriders still active in the galaxy that still pursue their goal of Questing for their place in the universe.
Circa 15,000 BBY
"The people have agreed to colonize Orlea, then?” Supreme Cardinal Jhanz Windros asked from his place at the end of the long, massive greel-wood table. His strong, deep voice echoed in the grand hall.
"Yes, your Eminence, they are united. The hardships of this world will test us sorely, and through its tests, enlighten us." replied Bishop Cromwell. The Bishop himself had discovered the world out on the Frontier six months before and was well-acquainted with its dangers. A sturdy, fit man in his early forties, Bishop Cromwell’s craggy features showed every line of a life spent in constant questing. Were his wife not as equally married to her work as to him, they would have parted long ago over his extended absences. As it was, they simply cherished the time they had together all the more for its rarity.
The Supreme Cardinal shifted uneasily in his formal regalia, his unusually tall frame ill-suited to the somewhat smaller robes of office, and frowned. "We must be free of this stifling Republic and their Jedi enforcers. I know the Republic means well, as do the Jedi, but their way is not ours. Their attempts to legislate morality go too far." The Supreme Cardinal looked thoughtful for a moment as he gazed out the transparisteel windows of the Holy Citadel then grimaced once more. "Even so, and despite our wish for a harsh environment to forge our souls in and temper our bodies with, this world would require extreme genetic modification to survive upon. Are you sure the Church Geneshapers are up to the challenge?"
"Unquestionably, your Eminence. Observe if you will." Bishop Cromwell activated the holoprojector. An image appeared showing multiple species alongside strands of DNA representing each one. "The Church Geneshapers have put together a genetic package utilizing modified human baseline DNA and a combination of a dozen or so other species which will completely reshape our forms to better deal with the intense gravity and radiation of our new world."
Supreme Cardinal Windros’ dark eyes flashed to Bishop Cromwell as he interjected, "Yes, about the radiation, how have the Geneshapers planned to deal with this problem?"
"I was just coming to that" said Bishop Cromwell as he touched the controls and brought up a new set of holograms. "The plan is to reactivate and reprogram 'dead genes' from our genetic past which, in our very earliest ancestors were responsible for providing resistance to radiation before the Ancient Home's ozone layer developed to full effectiveness. These particular gene clusters haven't been active since we were invertebrates, so bringing them back to 'active duty', so to speak, is proving a challenge for our Geneshapers, but they assure me their work will be successful. Additionally, numerous alien DNA strands are being spliced into the package to bolster and supplement the reactivated gene strands."
"And they are certain there will be no unforeseen side effects from reaching that far back into our genetic history and splicing in alien genetic material?" inquired the Supreme Cardinal.
"Your Eminence, as you are well aware, nothing in this life is absolutely certain. At some point all things must be surrendered to the hands of chance. However, they have assured me that all possible precautions are being taken. No one wants to create monsters, especially from our own children" the Bishop answered. "The first parental couplets to allow their children to undergo the modifications will, in point of fact, actually be Church Geneshapers. They have already volunteered to risk their own for a chance at a new start in a better world. So they are quite obviously very highly motivated to make certain nothing goes wrong."
Supreme Cardinal Windros’ brow furrowed in thought as he lay back in his massive chair. Finally he spoke. "Very well, then. I shall visit the Halls of Change later and personally thank the Geneshapers for their willingness to volunteer themselves. Tell me of the rest of the changes we will be making."
Bishop Cromwell nodded and silently changed the hologram set before once indicating the hologram display. "Yes of course, your Eminence. As you know, Orlea is a high gravity world; therefore we are making changes to our basic biochemistry to adjust for this. Several heavy metals shall both become vital parts of our new diet" The Supreme Cardinal shot him a sharp look and the Bishop quickly continued "We will, of course, account for their toxicity to the baseline human form in our changes. Remember what the Geneshapers have at risk, your Eminence."
The look on Windros’ face softened somewhat as the Bishop continued "Some of the metals will end up in subcutaneous nodules imbedded in the sub dermal fat layer. This will form a barrier to protect the internal body against the worst of the radiation. The outer skin layer will also be partially composed of metal, though not to a level that should significantly impair movement. Additionally, the melanin count in the skin will be increased dramatically for added protection. In the future, your Eminence, we shall be nearly solid black in skin tone."
Windros’ eyes widened slightly as he pondered this. "Fascinating", he whispered "Do go on".
Bishop Cromwell nodded and continued "Still more of the metals will be assimilated into our bone structure and serve to strengthen it structurally and further protect the marrow against radiation. There will be numerous significant changes to the skeletal system itself. For instance, note the restructured ribcage, which has the horizontal bars replaced by a more sturdy system of overlapping bone slats held together by muscles, tendons, and cartilage. Also, a system of sub dermal chitin plates will grow just beneath the fat layer to provide additional protection to vital organs. Most drastically, a second pair of arms will be added along with the necessary muscular and skeletal support structures. One pair will be extremely large and muscular, with two fingers and two opposable thumbs for firm grasping, while the other pair will be smaller and noticeably weaker with three fingers and a single thumb for fine detailed work. Several additional neural clusters arranged throughout the body will take care of the additional multi-tasking necessary to control both sets of arms. Of course, all of this will mean increased mass, but this is being taken into account with a shorter overall height and an extremely drastic muscular system upgrade. This reminds me..." The Bishop touched the controls and a new set of holograms appeared. "Due to the fact that everything tends to fall so much faster under 2.5 gravities, we are dramatically increasing the density of both neurons and glandular neuroreceptor output to increase our reflexes to compensate. The increase will likely be on the order of 200% to 250%, but the Geneshapers have never attempted to modify this particular portion of the genetic code before, so I am afraid we will have to rely on their best guesses in this area. Fortunately, they are certain they are modifying the correct gene clusters."
"They had better be certain" muttered Windros, "It's their children on the line if they're wrong."
"Quite so, your Eminence" the Bishop agreed. "The only other major changes I can think of off-hand are the modification to the cardiovascular system which will replace the single centralized heart with four dual-chambered hearts strategically placed around the body as well as a system of muscular sheaths around all the major arteries and veins to aid in pumping blood. The blood itself will be redesigned to improve the efficiency with which it carries blood to all the various bodily organs. Additionally, the immune system will be tweaked to provide still more resistance against the radiation of Orlea and to provide a limited form of regeneration to speed healing of the minor bruises and abrasions one can expect from such a high gravity environment. The end result should look something like this.” Bishop Cromwell touched the holoprojector controls once more and an image appeared of a rather ugly, squat creature. The various charts and figures alongside the image indicated a height of 1.25 meters. Packed into that frame looked to be enough muscle for any three strong men. The huge upper arms ended in large spade-shaped fingers that seemed more suited to digging and bashing than tool manipulation. The lower pair of arms were almost comically frail by comparison, though still well-muscled by human standards, and ended in almost delicate hands with long, slender fingers.
Supreme Cardinal Windros’ face wrinkled in disgust. “Our descendants certainly won’t be much to look at, will they?”
“Not to our eyes, they won’t. However the Geneshapers have assured me that they are making the necessary changes to ensure that our descendants will look just fine to each other, which is the important thing. As long as they find one another attractive enough to continue the species they don’t need to look attractive to our eyes. As you well know, the goal is the continuation of Life in an environment conducive to enlightened challenges and productive hardships. Orlea is the perfect setting for this goal, and our Geneshapers are endeavoring to prepare our descendants to flourish in our home. We will be as prepared for the ravening radiation and crushing gravity of Orlea as the Church Geneshapers can make us, and they have never failed us yet." the Bishop finished with a note of pride in his voice.
The Supreme Cardinal's face remained thoughtful for another long moment before he finally smiled and said "You've really done a great job on this, Garth. I'm proud of you...all of you. Your team's work has been amazing these past months. The people will sing your praises long after I am forgotten, I believe."
Garth’s face broke into a grin as the Supreme Cardinal dispensed with formalities and responded "Well, you know what a slave driver I can be, Jhanz. I'd never settle for anything less than the best from myself or my team! Mira's been the real genius behind it all, though. Her genetics research made all this possible."
Jhanz’s eyes brightened at the name of his sister and Garth's wife "How is Miranda, by the way? Still mad at me for forgetting her birthday? You know it's not very seemly for a Senior Geneshaper to be angry with the Supreme Cardinal."
The Supreme Cardinal’s mock-serious tone garnered a chuckle from the Bishop "Oh, she's getting over it slowly but surely. She just says she'll have to remember to forget your next birthday to even the score."
"I bet she will", laughed Jhanz. A serious look returned to his face as he said "You know, it might be a good idea to hold off on children until... you know... after the first generation is born. Just to be sure the genetic modifications work right."
An exasperated look came over Garth’s face. "I feel the same way, but Mira is determined to go ahead with our plans and the Geneshaper's pledge. I trust her people... And more than anything I trust her. I just wish..." the bishop's voice trailed off.
"I know what you mean, old friend. But Mira's team is the best, and she's the best of the best. She is a a brilliant light among us. It is through her that our way of life will survive, beyond the boundaries of the Republic and the Jedi." Jhanz shook his head and continued "We can no longer live among those who would decide for us what is right or wrong. We have already made that decision for ourselves. If we had not, we never would have come together in fellowship under the banner of the Church of Universal Life. We force none to bow to our beliefs; we should never be forced to bow to the beliefs of others." The Supreme Cardinal looked to the Bishop and smiled "You've seen to it that we shall never have to. You and my sister. You have saved us all."
Today
Bishop Garth Cromwell and his wife did save the Church of Universal Life. His wife’s genetic modifications worked nearly perfectly. The only significant variation from the intended result was a marked tendency towards mutation. In retrospect, this was to be expected with the splicing together of genetic data from so many different species. In particular, the inclusion of genetic material from the genetically malleable Xi’Dec insectoids caused a fair amount of early genetic instability that took several centuries to completely stabilize. Fortunately, as Bishop Cromwell had promised the Church Geneshapers were indeed up to the task.
What was once the Frontier eventually became known as the Mid Rim over the intervening millennia. The Orlean Theocracy never spread past their chosen star system, which was located approximately eight thousand light years above the galactic plane and rather isolated from the rest of the galaxy as a result. However this did not stop them from eventually colonizing thirty-four of the planets and moons in the system with a total population of well in excess of a trillion beings. While the Frontier eventually passed them by, they never truly rejoined galactic society. By the time the Republic began colonizing worlds in their area of space the Theocracy had long-since jettisoned the encumbering prejudices against genetic and cybernetic modifications the Republic still held firm to. While the Republic would have loved to outlaw these things in the Theocracy, the Orleans were well-prepared for any legal moves to attempt such an action and loudly proclaimed their right to self-governance under the Great Charter. The Jedi, meanwhile, were just as disgusted as the Republic, but had their hands full with little problems such as the Sith Empire and had no time to spare to deal with what they viewed as an aberrant society of religious zealots. Even after the discovery of the Monasteries and their Orlean Outriders, there was little the Jedi could do to suppress or absorb this sect of force adepts due to the Great Sith War.
Not long after colonizing Orlea, the Orleans set up a shipyard and began constructing exploration craft with which to explore the space around them and further into what was then the Unknown Regions. After a thousand years and hundreds of designs, one particularly brilliant engineer developed what would one day become the oldest vessel still in service in the modern age: the Orlean Star Explorer. The design proved wildly successful, even being purchased by the Republic several thousand years later when the two governments met once again. Though the Orleans continued to sell the basic Star Cab for thousands of years, finally ceasing production approximately 4500 BBY, they continued to improve and update the designs used by their own people.
The Orlean Theocracy never actually joined the Galactic Republic and remained neutral throughout the horrible wars that tore the galaxy apart over the millennia. Fighting only to preserve their neutrality, the Orleans would be forced to battle Mandalorian Raiding Clans, Sith Incursions, and Hutt ‘Protection Fleets’. During this time the Orleans developed a reputation for honor in battle and steadfastness in defense of their home system and way of life. The Orlean Outriders never became as famous as the Jedi Order, but they did manage to carve out a solid reputation as intrepid explorers and formidable warriors.
The Orlean Outriders were members of a Monastic Order, of which there were many temples within the Orlean system. Disciples of the Force similar to the Jedi, the Orlean Outrider’s moral foundations were based on that of the Church of Universal Life. They believed that Life is the ultimate power in the universe. To them, Life defies the Chaos of the Void. Life denies the primacy of the laws of probability by its very existence, and in so doing denies the supremacy of Order. Life strikes a balance between the two extremes and endures, making it more powerful than either. The ultimate expression of this power is what the Jedi call the Force and the Outriders call the Pulse. In their view the Pulse of Life is not an external ‘energy field’ surrounding us but an internal wellspring controlled and directed by the will. There is no ‘light side’ or ‘dark side’ of the Pulse. The Pulse comes from within, and is a tool just as one’s thoughts come from within and are a tool. It is the use to which one puts those tools that defines whether the wielder is good or evil. This belief has caused the Jedi Order much uneasiness over the millennia.
To unlock the secrets of the Pulse one must unlock the secrets of oneself. One must know one’s limits and capabilities intimately. As such, Outrider training involves strenuous, even torturous physical, mental, intellectual, and emotional training. A trained Outrider will have near-perfect neuromuscular control and absolute awareness of his surroundings to the very limits of his sensory ability. He will be trained in dozens of fields and capable of astonishing feats of mental prowess. His mastery of the Pulse will allow truly stunning feats of control over himself and his environment. Outrider training emphasizes control of oneself over all else, making it somewhat less flexible in certain areas than Jedi training. A trained Outrider will also be in his early to middle 30’s and have been in training at the Temple since the age of five before being sent out into the galaxy for what is called his Questing Years.
An Outrider’s Questing Years is the final test of his decades of preparation and training. Sent into the galaxy with a ship, a few personal possessions, and little else, the Outrider is expected to stay among the stars until he finds his place in the universe. Many eventually return home to take their place as guardians and teachers among the Orlean people. Some meet tragic fates among the stars. A few find that their place is not with their people at all and remain among the stars.
Above all, the Outriders believe in Life. They are not pacifists, but they believe that Life is always worth defending, always worth fighting for, always worth preserving. Life is Power and the more Life exists, the more Power exists in the universe, a direct refutation of Entropy. While the trained physicist in every Outrider acknowledges that Entropy is mathematically inevitable, they still hold firmly to their Faith that Life will find a way.
Inevitably, where there is human emotions and human greed, there will be those who seek power. As such, the Orlean Theocracy is not a utopian civilization. There are many within the Theocracy who seeks to gain power by controlling the lives of others in accordance with their belief that Life is Power. This is, of course, quite illegal and dealt with in the legal codes of the Theocracy. While it is rare, Outriders occasionally fall into a hunger and lust for power. Even these fallen Outriders are almost never blatantly malevolent in the manner that Dark Jedi and Sith are. Fallen Outriders usually have the best of intentions, believing they see a better way that no one else does. This always leads to conflicts with their fellow Outriders that usually end messily for one or more involved parties.
Orlean technology is generally bleeding-edge. They have not been nearly as complacent as the galaxy at large when it comes to innovation and advancement in technology. Their belief in Life demands they use all the gifts of Life to the fullest, including their minds. They actively pursue new discoveries for the sheer joy of doing so. While this aggressive stance towards knowledge acquisition and technological advances has not yielded any dramatically powerful advances, it has placed them on average a century or so ahead of the rest of the galaxy in many areas of technology. Several significant areas of technology do lag behind Galactic Standard. The harsh gravity of Orlea and a number of their colony worlds has discouraged research into advanced repulsor technology. Additionally, Orlea’s radiation-steeped environment made the development of numerous energy field technologies impractical. To this day Orlean ships rely primarily on a thick hull and sturdy engineering rather than energy shielding. Additionally, the Orlean philosophical mandate to meet life’s challenges head-on discouraged the development of advanced droid models. While the Orleans have not completely abandoned droid research, their state of the art in this area lags a century or two behind the rest of the galaxy. The same cannot be said for their cybernetic technology. As with their lack of taboos surrounding genetic engineering, the Orleans have no particular problems with cybernetic technology, regarding it as just another tool. At first glance this might seem at odds with their cherished belief in the Power of Life; however it is perfectly in line with their beliefs. Life, as defined by the Orlean Theocracy, has nothing to do with how much of your body is actually made of flesh and blood, but rather how strong your connection is to your inner wellspring of the Power of Life. They strongly believe that the distance cyborgs in the galaxy at large come to feel from the rest of their species has far more to do with the prejudice directed at them than any internal defects. A sufficiently loving and affirming environment, they contend, is all one needs to maintain one’s hold on one’s inner Life. Amazingly, they seem to be right. In any event, few Orleans ever require cybernetics, nor choose to have themselves cybernetically enhanced since their genetically augmented bodies are quite capable already.
Orlean goods tend to be designed for Orleans, and as such are not always of use to those who are not accustomed to 2.5 gravities and living in the radiation equivalent of an unshielded fission reactor core. Their products are usually massively over-engineered, highly radiation resistant, and extremely heavy. Even a strong Wookiee would have difficulty walking around in Orlean battle armor were he able to get a suit customized to his two-armed, two and a half-meter frame. The massive ion drives that give the Star Explorer its incredible sublight speed are a requirement in the crushing gravity well of Orlea and were never actually intended to provide extreme speed, merely lift-off capability.
One Orlean device of particular note is the Orlean Blackblade. These rare and valuable weapons are extremely difficult to make and are only made on Orlea. They are individually and perfectly balanced for each wielder. At its most basic, an Orlean Blackblade is nothing more than an ultra-high frequency vibroblade. The extremely high frequency of the blade vibrations dramatically improves its ability to shear through anything struck by the weapon, and is at least a century ahead of vibroblade technology elsewhere in the galaxy, but what makes the weapon truly special is the blade. Formed using the same technological concepts behind World Devastator molecular furnaces, the blade is a deep blue-black color and is composed of molecularly bonded carbon. In effect, the blade is a single elongated black diamond. The edge is gravitically shaped to a mono-molecular edge. The molecular bonds within the diamond have been remolded so that the blade is a single coherent molecule with no individual bonds to break. This results in a nearly-indestructible blade of incredible sharpness. Boron is added to the carbon during the creation process to give the blade its bluish tinge and make it a semiconductor of electricity. A powerful electrical charge can be sent through the blade to enhance the already astonishing damage.
Orlean Blackblades are most closely identified with the Outriders, but they are not restricted to them. Anyone can learn to wield a Blackblade with no more difficulty than any other vibroblade. Furthermore, they can be made in a number of sizes and styles. Some even have low-power lasers built into the grip and running parallel to the blade. By ionizing a trail through a standard atmosphere and then firing an electrical charge down it, the sword becomes a long-distance energy weapon. The Outriders, as with the Jedi with their lightsabres, have become the acknowledged masters of blackblade swordsmanship and have a number of forms and styles developed over the millennia for use with the weapons.
The true symbol of the Outriders is their light, segmented environmental armor. These suits are made of the same material as the Orlean as Orlean Blackblades but is only made by the Outriders for the Outriders. The armor is light and relatively flexible, being designed for extreme maneuverability over heavy protection. The molecularly bonded nature of the plates makes it unnecessary to have heavy plating anyway. The plates are sewn into a tough, polymer weave fabric which is itself attached to a light vacuum suit with a twelve hour air supply and numerous onboard devices intended primarily to aid an Outrider in exploring the universe during his Questing Years.
When the Clone Wars swept the galaxy, the Orlean Theocracy held to its longstanding neutrality, preferring not to get involved. A few itinerant Outriders took part in the war, but to no significant effect. Indeed, the Jedi pointedly encouraged the Outriders to stay out of their way, having never grown to trust them or their strange view of the Force. For the most part, the Orlean Theocracy had no affect on the Clone Wars.
The rise of the Empire saw one of the darkest episodes in the fifteen thousand year history of the Orlean Theocracy. Having willingly joined the Empire, they never expected to have the infamous Order 66 extended to cover their Outriders. The Emperor wanted no challengers to his authority, however, and in his eyes the Outriders were as dangerous as the Jedi. Hundred of itinerant Outriders were slain before news reached Orlea. By then Imperial warships, High Inquisitors, and a dark nightmare named Vader had arrived in the Orlean system. Seeing the writing on the wall and preferring to rebuild a shattered order instead of mourn an annihilated one, the Outriders quickly decided on a course of action. They silently began killing one another.
By the time Lord Vader and his lackeys arrived it was over. Ninety percent of the Orlean Outriders lay dead within their Monastery walls, with the remaining ten percent having spread to the four winds. Archives of wisdom stretching back fifteen millennia burned quietly while outdated droids scurried about destroying the personal effects of the Outriders. A quick search of the first compound resulted in an even quicker evacuation as the fusion piles that powered every single Outrider Monastery went critical vaporizing any traces of the Orlean Outriders and forever denying the Emperor any spoils for his treasure houses.
Those who remained hid in the shadows, both on Orlea and out in the galaxy. They watched and waited until the Empire fell, as they knew it would. Ever-neutral, they chose not to stand with the Alliance against the Empire, nor join the Republic when it was reformed. They have weathered the seemingly endless warfare since then maintaining their neutrality with the exception of the precious few itinerant Outriders still active in the galaxy that still pursue their goal of Questing for their place in the universe.