Areas of Operation

Edison Way

Background

At the turn of the 22nd century, a pair of highly popular and wealthy college twins by the names Destiny and Serenity Brooks (daughters of famed actress Cecelia Brooks) were taking San Cielo University by storm. Their status as ‘the epitome of the in-crowd’ had such a flock, they were coyly nicknamed “The Starborn.” As their time at school endured, their popularity grew to cult status bringing in other influential and wealthy brats of stars.

At the same time, Haelan Nano-Technologies had breached the cusp of psi-ware making mental powers available for people capable of affording the implants and surgery needed to install them. Driven with a desire to define ‘in-vogue’ the Starborn twins enhanced themselves with the most sophisticated neural brain augmentation becoming a nearly unstoppable telekinetic and telepathic duo. Coined as Ladies of The Starborn, they decided to ascend such trivial things as school and took to living lives of excess and privilege in the penthouses above San Cielo.

Finding disdain for their persistent, unacceptable behavior, Cecelia Brooks formally cut off her daughters’ money sending their popularity as Ladies of The Starborn into a tailspin. It was at this moment that Jake Lanham, son of the Mayor, approached them. Infatuated since high school with the twins he bought his way into their approval providing an infrastructure, revenue stream and ticket into the stock market to fund their wayward antics.

Back on top, the Ladies drew college friends into their coalition of Starborn formally starting the gang on the streets of San Cielo in 2102. Becoming bedfellows with Haelan Nano-Technologies and flaunting new and experimental augments these Lords and Ladies started wreaking havoc all over town becoming petty criminals in an ever-escalating show of force to exert influence over territories formerly untouched by other gangs.

Wanting to be more than just a benefactor of the Starborn, Jake went overboard with excessive implants to impress the Lords and Ladies. Naively altering his mind, he became more powerful than he could handle and in the process incurred irreparable damage. Socially, his friends were blown away by his new abilities, and there was a clamor from his peers to follow suit. Seeing his approval rivaling their own, Destiny and Serenity instigated lies and created false rumors that ultimately turned Jake into a fad and style leper. Unable to recover, his credibility he was rapidly forgotten and the twins were once again on top.

Presently, the Starborn’s presence isn't as widespread as greater gangs such as Los Rojos and The 8th Mob, but their numbers grow more rapidly than ever as the gangs psionics fad spreads among the community of youths. Their threat to San Cielo is beginning to become apparent.

Basic Structure

Figures of authority within Starborn are usually the most popular or influential; it is a surprisingly democratic process. Often battles for authority will come down to which influential party has more supporters behind them; literally a popularity contest. Those with the most money available to them have a massive edge in these contests, since promises and deals are sometimes made with potential supporters. Starborn with closer connections, or private contracts with Haelan, are often regarded more highly as well (since they likely have more experimental or advanced accessories plugged into them.)

Starborn are also constantly feuding for territory and influence, only loosely held together by their shared desire for Haelan accessories and power. Their map of influence is constantly morphing as supporters go from one Earl or Countess to another. Groups can easily become squashed and integrated into the victor, and squabbles are settled by mental street fights or even dance-offs.

Emperor and Empress are the highest stations of The Starborn. Currently Destiny and Serenity are the senior Empresses in charge of the Starborn. Other Barons and Baronesses are the higher ranked bosses that maintain assets, territories and keep the ‘empire’ running. Viscounts and Viscountesses are the next senior stations being responsible for execution of duties within the gang. Earls and Countesses have the most trouble as mid-level leaders keeping order and loyalty in their ranks due to this being the most common pay grade among youth in the gang. Dukes and Duchesses are in the lower management area. It is this area that has the highest mortality and friction rate as they constantly vie for promotion, recognition and wealth.

Dukes and Duchesses are easily susceptible to influence from their own territorial supporters as well as other Lords and Ladies. Following ‘in vogue’ and being up on the latest fads, their loyalty can sway and wane at the drop of a hat. Similarly, influence can be bought and sold with more Haelen tech, or money, making some ‘royalty’ nothing more than a bank account battle that is settled at an ATM. For this reason the infrastructure of each area is an unstable element on any given day, and loyalty is sometimes worth more than material items and wealth.

Appearance

Starborn, painted in hornet yellow, black, and magenta, don't have a strict uniform, however, they do get their psionic upgrades from the same place; Haelan Nano-Technologies. The common theme between all members though is riding fashion trends, and keeping in vogue. This makes them appear more organized than they actually are. While diverse and unique to a person, most all Starborn attempt to dress in something tougher, rarer, or more experimental than others around them.

Most males dress with a mix of formal wear, dress pants, shirts, vests and jackets mixed with asymmetric accents, sashes, boots and LED lit gloves. Other accoutrements include, glasses or goggles, headgear such as hoods, hats or headphones, and jewelry to flaunt their wealth. Females will wear designer dresses, skirt or pant suits or the occasional gothic styled corset. Blouses of every fabric and style with chic belts, bangles, bracelets augment high heeled shoes, boots or platform sneakers. Beyond jewelry, hair styles are also dynamic and varied for both Lords and Ladies.

Finally, it is worth noting that Haelan intentionally smudges the public connections between themselves and the Starborn, so designs of their gear, while similar to each other, appear quite different than anything available to the public and anything experimental is likely to be devoid of any traceable markings or serial numbers.

The Starborn, when villains just gotta be fabulous.

Absolutely right... With a huge range of technology, there is just a ridiculous amount of wealth that has amassed in San Cielo. Point in case it was that very high wealth level and technology mixed that allowed the city to be rebuilt so quickly following San Diego's untimely destruction.

Looking forward to seeing dance-offs

They are painfully gaudy, at times, but they do present a fairly sizable threat. Plus, in their upper echelons, some members do sport some truly terrifying psionic abilities. They serve their purpose well enough.