Now I think about it, I wonder if a Bahram cell has ever been liquidated by their appointed Asawira...
According to HSN3 the Hassassins publicly murdered the rector of the University of Quebec for cutting off funding to the departments that didn't offer direct economical benefits. And the Hachib is apparently OK with it. The Haqq government officially gave the Hassassins permisiob to kill whoever they want. But do not worry, they are the good guys. Really?
Not that it typically helps that much on the reactive turn because they're shit in CC. Played a game once where someone deployed a Bao near an Imp-1 marker as a form of defence against it. Moved around the corner, he declared discover. I just kept on going, and was discovered. Then next order, moved into CC, stabbed face. On the active turn they're good, I'll grant you. Discovering at WIP+3 is solid. I'd like to see more Biometric Visors out there, as the Impersonation Marker state is used more and more through Killer Hackers and HD+s these days. Holo-projectors too. In fact it's something I'd like to see in Haqq, they have advanced biotech so you'd have thought they'd have advanced Biometric Visors too.
Just to stay on the Thread Logic that the O.P. wanted. . . Why an essay discussion on the Background Fluff of the Haqqislam Faction has devolved in another "Ruleset Covert-Flamewar" thread ?? I personally does not understand what the Equipement / Gear / Skillset of the various Bahram Force Soldiers could add to the topic germane at the Thread Start. . . . .
"Covert Flamewar" as in COVERT Deniable Black Ops as opposed to OVERT Open War. . . Just a bad joke on My part, I suppose, as English is not My Native language. . . It is not My privilege, but eventually the O.P. to decide if is good or not that a purely "Background Fluff" thread is devolving in another "MSV3 Vs. Stealth 2 Vs. Kinematica 5 Vs. Red-fury Autofire IZ BBRRROOOKENNN !!" kind of Rule-Galore Fisticuff. . . I personally does NOT care anymore for the Rules and just for an entertaining P.O.W. that could be useful for an R.P.G. Campaign that I'm writing, but I have no problem whatsoever if the majority of whose who write in any threads like more discussing the Rulebook rather than the Corebook. . . . .!!!
Spoiler: Off-topic To be fair, rules presented as pieces of wargear or skills soldiers train go a long way in terms of characterizing a faction, purely by the virtue of containing pieces of fluff and granting some insight on how different forces operate. So mentioning Bio-visors was not exactly uncalled for. They do tell quite a story on how YJ security does things, and for those not exactly persuaded there's a relevant official art which most of you probably remember. With that in mind, I wouldn't call a single post "rule-galore", much less an argument or fisticuffs. If I may, though: it's quite natural that people discuss gameplay a lot more here. Reason being simple, for most of random passersby our background material is either hidden in a twilight of low accessibility (compared to rules which are free to download for everyone just remotely curious) to the point that most players don't exactly know what happens in-universe, or looks like your average run-of-the-mill post-cyberpunk setting, something we have no shortage of if you don't focus on wargames medium specifically (it takes some digging in to appreciate its individuality). On the other hand, basic concepts of Infinity gameplay are very unusual for what this game is (you will be hard-pressed to find a lot of examples of shareable activations and reactive actions, especially in such a mix). This means for the most part people are attracted to Infinity not by obscure and seemingly generic background, not by like the most forgettable brand name ever, but by its basic gameplay premises. And that's why we're talking about gameplay for the most part. That's what I see from where I'm standing, anyway.
Okay, so I have a question: Asawiras are connected to the Hassassins? I didn't know that... where was this piece of fluff revealed?
In the Asawira unit entry. Asawira Regiment The Asawira Regiment is a formidable attack force in the service of Haqqislam. A small group chosen from among them comprises the personal guard of the Shah. The remainder act as elite heavy troops and are one of the tools that keep the Hassassin sect under the supervision of the Haqqislamite High Command. They are equipped with the finest light powered armor on the market, provided with aiming and target acquisition devices and with the most efficient automedic systems. But beyond their equipment, the Asawira are a select unit, expert and very well trained. They fulfill all kinds of combat missions, be they aggressive or defensive ones. Their members are recruited from the Alamut region, where the climate and environment are so harsh that, without specialized medical attention, 70% of children would die before reaching adolescence. The Asawira are tough, arrogant, confident and brave men; a real race of warriors. Their military training emphasizes tenacity in attacks and a disdain for self-preservation. As an elite corps, they do not let themselves be killed any old way. They die as their reputation dictates and the expectation is it will not be until they have drawn rivers of enemy blood. Their skill as warriors cannot be compared with that of other elite units because they are, simply, superior to all of them. The word is that an Asawira can face in close combat any three expert fighters of the Human Sphere and he will come out victorious. Fighting and winning against superior numbers is the truest hallmark of the Asawira.
Please let me point out three important things. 1. "Good guys" is relative. One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist, this is a line that has been repeated time and time again. And still holds true. 2. I have not known a case where someone considered himself to be a bad guy (though I admit my knowledge is certainly limited). People have been committing the worst atrocities - and still considered themselves to be the good guys, doing what was necessary. Some have later reconsidered. Many have not. Especially when it was the matters of state at hand. 3. In the shadows, where espionage and black operations are conducted, such actions are not unknown. You may call it state-sponsored terrorism - and sometimes it is. But the Powers That Be will order it, if it is the most reasonable course of action according to them. When the benefits are good enough, and consequences are considered acceptable. Sometimes the politics seem to dictate such a way. I guess I could suggest a few real-life examples, where real-life countries mounted operations that very much resemble Hassassin actions. And those countries still remain seen as (generally speaking) "good guys", or at least acceptable partners in international politics. The general public can, sometimes, learn about such an operation from the news, but the information is cursory, and quickly sunk under the newest celebrity scandal. The folks who do follow such topics have much better knowledge - still from the non-confidential sources. But it is the folks who are members of the given organization have true idea of what was going on... where their bosses consider it necessary: on the need to know principle. One of the basic rules of dealing with classified information is the need to know rule. What you don't know, you can't reveal, regardless of circumstances (and assets used to get that information from you). Therefore, you shall know only the information you need to know due to your duties / assigned task, and no sooner than you'd need it. And this is in addition to you having been vetted and screened fr the right security clearance level. Even the fact you have Top Secret-level clearance doesn't mean you can access merely Confidential data at will, unless you need to know. I guess only the Old Man knows all the Hassassin secrets... and maybe not even him.
The gray area on Haqqislam is that they stay squeaky clean by ruthless means. The hassassins are cultural police that use any tool available to protect a culture that protects the human right to quest for knowledge. They explicitly use liquidation and terrorism without compunction. A good way to look at it would be to see how they would likely deal with a modern day issue. The supposed "wage gap" is throughly debunked to the point of being obvious 2 + 2 = 5 material to any remotely truthful person. The Freakonomics episode "The True Story of the Gender Pay Gap" is a cliff notes version of the debunking. In current western society we allow people to have free speech to the point that we allow people to be intellectually dishonest with their speech. Even so far as allowing them to be intellectually dishonest about other people being intellectually dishonest. In the Infinity setting, hassassins will review the evidence, review the arguments, and then start throwing activists using intellectually dishonest arguments like the wage gap off rooftops in broad daylight until the intellectual dishonesty stops. They can talk about the issue honestly all they like, as that is the quest for knowledge. Such alternate behavior would produce a different society. Intellectually nihilistic schools of thought like postmodernism are likely thrown out of the university systems, since the vast majority of hassassins are intellectuals. Zealot activists playing intellectually bankrupt games of social media "zap" or "gotcha" where they attempt to twist words to try and stoke hate mobs would instead often result in hassassins live streaming their decapitation on the zealot's media feed. Journalists that present dishonest activism as factual reporting become gruesome headlines. They are hardcore fundamentalists that use murder and terror to suppress anyone that doesn't subscribe to their position. Their position is that humanity should be free to quest for knowledge, as defined by enlightenment constructs of science and reasoning. Anyone who stands in the way of that will be eliminated. Since the search for knowledge is a rather big and cooperative tent it is a pretty easy/safe pill to swallow for most people. The hassassin ideology is theoretically self-policing since abuse of power is by definition intellectual dishonesty. So with Haqqislam a segment of their society does grim things that should keep people up at night, but the plot twist is that deep down they don't want to object because they know that a faction of ice cold killers means that nobody ever has to say: this is why we can't have nice things. I think it is an interesting science fiction concept, as it presents an interesting "what if" as a tool to spotlight an issue. The issue is also becoming more and more relevant to current day western society. Especially in the context of the rise of social media, cable news, and huge expansion of the education system. Not so much in the fictional actions taken but in looking at the non-fictional problems those actions are fictionally addressing.
As someone who teaches in the humanities at a university, this strikes me as the strongest possible argument in favor of our good guy status. :)
And in the various Academic Bodies / Universities of Bourak, who know HOW MANY of the Teachers (or Adjutant-Teachers) are in reality Spies, Confidantes, Moles or even Full-Fledged Undercover Members of the Hashashins. . .(for an example, to reach the Level of "Ragiks" You have to be NOT ONLY a proficient Orbital Paratrooper, but ALSO a very good debater of Haqqislamite Theology !!!). . .?? Even the mere "Faculty L.A.I." and the "Multi-User Orientation Geists" could not be discounted to be "Outside Alamut's Sphere Of Influence" as the mysterious "Old Man Of The Mountain" is rumored to be, secretly, an Illegal Fully Functional Human-made Artificial Intelligence (with a sonorous raspsberry to the "Sole A.I. Bill" of Big Brother A.L.E.P.H.) and You could anyway count wily and insidious Hackers between the various Hashashins Handlers and Operation-Leaders. . . To guard the "Absolute Knowledge" needed to provide for the "True Path Of Enlightement" one will need "Absolute Guardians" !! . . . . . In fact cross-referencing the "Ideal Project" of the Combined Army Evolved Intelligence a similar hypothethical "Loremaster Hidden A.I." would be far more palatable as an "Subservient Human Race Overseer" rather than "Big A" that is often (in the most sarcastic Background Fluff !!) just little more than a "Glorified Pan-Oceanian Domotical Majordomo, with its own Cyborg Mall-Cops" !! Anyway I think that truly the Hashashins could hide some very dastardly Remorseless Killers, but far differently than other factions "Wetworks Black Ops" I believe that they do not immediatly resort to "Shoot First. . . . .Ask Questions Later !!" but maybe try to see if a "Anti-Truth Sinner" could not be somehow sawayed back to the Path of Righteousness. . . Only against truly unrepentant "Moustache Twirling Evilness" (such as Radical Not-Haqq Islamic Fanatics like those who bombed Khadivar !!) or a hideous stupidity (such as a Pan-O Media "Media P.R. Lobbyist" trying to twist the Book's Teachings for "Commercial Reasons" !!) they will go IMMEDIATLY for the blatant, public execution. . . And remember that (probably similar to the more able between the "Unexistant" Yujing Oniwaban Ninjas) they will go for a Personal Touch of knifing You in honourable Melee (or, at worst, Viral-Sniping You from afar if there are toom much Bodyguards) instead of going for what was considered the typical Hexahedron manner of "Car-Bombing You. . .and Your Wife. . .and Your Driver. . . .and Your Pre-Teen Daughters going to School. . . . .along with ANY Bystanders in a 50m. Radius". . . . .!!!
I don't think that the Hassassins actually take any action against the vast majority of people at all, and wouldn't. Even if you shouted from the rooftops that Haqqislam was bullshit and the Hassassins are dicks and fuck you all, they wouldn't do anything. Just like how the CIA wouldn't do shit to you if you shouted about how much you hate them and the US government either. That doesn't mean they do dodgy shit, just that they don't care. That's not their business and they don't have the numbers anyway, as well people being able to say things like that openly in Haqq habitats, it's their right. But yes they probably have a comprehensive network of agents and informations, and yes they probably are in deep with institutions of learning as that is where I imagine they recruit from and it's just useful for a variety of reasons anyway. I agree with you on the topic of the methodology of the Bahram, though. I think they probably send people warnings to avert from their evil path, and then kill them if they do not, with precision. I can totally see a Bahram planner saying "we have sent him three warnings. We warn no more. But we can't kill anyone else, we must remain pure and only remove the target from this world. Your mission is to eliminate them, and no other." That feels totally right for them. And I think that it being somewhat open knowledge that this was probably the Hassassins is part of their deal too. Not always (doing things openly on occasion does make it a bit easier to deny it was you when you do it under full cover), but sometimes. Kind of a "heed our warnings" deal.
Personally I believe using evil tools to achieve good goals is better than doing nothing and allowing the situation to decay, and as a last resort assassinating an evil person is better than permitting him to continue. Careful measures need to be in place that such dangerous tools aren't misused though. Personally I would rather live in Haqqislam society (unless you have to convert) than any other in Infinity. Heck, rather than our current society. It would be hard to stomach the state having dealings with pirates and criminals, but the general outlook seems good. Ultimately it's all about tradeoffs, and sticking to your ethics is a luxury afforded by security and freedom. I wouldn't kill anyone. It's obviously wrong! Yet for many, many problems the highest success chance solution is at the least removing all power and influence from some people, in practice for far less powerful people the only achievable means of which is assassination. Actually, on that note, in it's own jurisdiction using murder is clearly wrong of the Haqqislam state, since it has the power to act in any way it chooses to in regards to people actively doing harm.
Your applying modern western moralism to a futuristic non western society. You need to view it through thier lens.
