Happy Aether Tuesday, Voyagers! This week we're going to talk about the devious defectors from the Fulgori Military. the Fulgori Rebels!
The Rebels, as their name might imply, oppose King Fulgor's regime. It takes a lot to get a Fulgori to leave the comfort of their old life; Being fed, clothed and housed for simply doing your job is a wonderful deal after all. So what happened to these Fulgori that caused them to leave the safety and security of their old regime?
It's different for each fulgori. Some of them found their lot in life unfair - dredging hours away in the mines only to be given the same as those who shuffle papers in the comfort of an office is unappealing to many. Some are criminals and leeches who would rather flee the regime than answer for their crimes and do an honest day's work, but far and away the most numerous and sinister cause for rebellion is The King's own suspicions and the consequences they bring forth.
Sometimes hard working citizens simply... Disappear with no explanation, no one knows where they go. Their disappearances are often blamed on the Rebels, claims that they were killed in a terror attack, or kidnapped to be tortured for their amusement. More disturbing, however, is when they say nothing at all; Superiors, workmates and sometimes even family members claiming that they never even existed. The fear of something like that happening to them or their family is enough to run some Fulgori out of their homes, to join the rebellion before some shadowy hand can whisk them off to an unknown fate.
Despite their relative freedom from the regime, life in Rebel settlements and bases is far from pleasant. They have to scrape together a life from dirt and scrap metal. Because fulgori work one job for life, many don't have skills like construction and farming so they learn through painful trial and error. Made worse is the fact that all defectors are permanently marked enemies of the state with kill on sight orders should any of them be seen, so they have to hide their meager scrapings or see them all razed by the much better equipped military.
The only gear they have available to them is what they brought with them when they defected and what they manage to steal from dangerous raids on military facilities. The rare rebel base has a gunsmith or blacksmith, but most of the time they have to repair and maintain what they have through trial and error.
Despite the rebels' position at odds with Fulgor's empire, they are suspicious of Humans, and vice versa. Rarely, friendly mikwa will lend their knowledge to help rebel fulgori fend for themselves. Despite their suspicion, a number of rebel fulgori have joined with the Voyagers. Although they are slow to trust eachother the fulgori's natural urge to form small group bonds can lead to very tightly knit teams.
That's all for now, Voyagers! See you next Aether Tuesday!