Outcasts

The Outcasts are a fictional criminal organization from the Digital Anvil/Microsoft game "Freelancer".

Based on the planet Malta, the Outcasts are the descendants of colonists from the sleeper ship "Hispania". As a result of an unspecified internal malfunction (rumored to be sabotage), the "Hispania" arrived in the Sirius sector considerably behind the other four sleeper ships. During the extended flight, about half of the colonists on board elected to jump ship and search for a habitable planet using the escape rafts, while the other half elected to remain with their vessel. (Seeing as the "Hispania" was a sleeper ship, with the entirety, or at least the bulk of the crew stored in cryogenic suspended animation, exactly how this vote was taken is unclear.)

The Outcasts are the descendants of the faction who remained with the vessel, which eventually entered orbit around a planet on the eastern fringe of Sirius, near the Edge Nebula. This being the only habitable planet for light years around, the colonists landed and settled.

Malta, unfortunately, proved to be somewhat inhospitable. The dominant species of flora on the planet was a type of orange grass with razor-sharp leaves, rendering much of the planet's lowlands uninhabitable. The first colonists therefore elected to build their colonies in the barren mountains(Like their "brother's" The Corsairs) The other property of the planet, however, was more insidious, but stemmed from the same source.

The pollen of the orange grass contained a chemical that provided a strong narcotic effect, but also caused significant mutation of human DNA, meaning that, within only a few weeks of landing on the planet, all of the colonists were no longer, technically, human.

The mutation caused no significant physical changes, but caused greatly increased longevity, improving the average lifespan to approximately one hundred and twenty years. This was a mixed blessing, however. The active chemical, dubbed "Cardamine" did not cause any mental dependency, but the physiological changes caused by the chemical meant that withdrawal was invariably fatal.

Effectively trapped on an inhospitable pit of a planet, the Outcasts were bitter and jealous of the colonists of the successful colony ships, and their nice, safe, hospitable systems and rich resources. They developed a plan to elevate their status to that of a genuine superpower in the colonies, by conspiring to spread their addiction to every corner of Sirius. Cardamine was refined into a powerful drug and distributed throughout the houses by Outcast agents, operating through local criminal groups.

The success of this venture has been remarkable. Criminal factions in all four major Houses now traffic the drug on behalf of Malta, and some (most notably the Golden Crysanthemums) make extensive use of it in their own right. The drug is especially popular in Liberty, and is in particularly high demand on the planet Manhattan. It is highly illegal in all four colonies, but substantial quantities are successfully smuggled to House planets on a daily basis. Cardamine has swiftly become the most popular narcotic in the colonies.

The Outcasts, meanwhile, have reaped the rewards. Because of the extortionate prices they can afford to charge (addicts can choose to pay or die) and the demand for the drug, they have turned a colossal profit. Even the poorest Outcast lives in comparative luxury, and their leaders are among the richest people in the colonies.

This wealth, coupled with the longevity of the average Outcast is the source of their unexpectedly advanced technology. Outcast-made "border world" fighters are popular throughout the colonies, especially the "Dagger" class light fighter. Their "Sabre" class super-heavy fighters rank amongst the most powerful vessels in Sirius, each one being more than capable of bringing down a naval battleship in a straight fight.

Their longevity means that the Outcasts have plenty of time to come to master their chosen fields - Outcast pilots, in particular, benefit from a great many years experience, and are among the finest in the colonies, second only to the Blood Dragons.

The Outcasts are understandably proud of their achievements, and claim to have turned their prison into a paradise.