I was typing away at other posts for my blog, and thought it would be worth giving you a bit of a background around why Deadzone's are created.
More after the Jump
The human race is ruled by the Council of Seven some view the Council a benign overlords, others view them as dictators.
Their control of information and planets is absolute, so when things go wrong, when a Colony or planet is invaded by agressors, or when a Plague outbreak occurs they activate a Containment Protocol.
Containment Protocols shut down all travel and communication out of the system or planet they are applied to. All records are updated, removing references to the Planets & Systems making them harder for the public to find out about or to stumble onto.
After that, an Enforcer fleet will blockade the Planet or System, to prevent anyone from leaving. If you were unfortunate to be on ship relying on the navigation information from a an area that has a Containment Protocol, then you risk your ship being lost in space as it loses all of its points of reference.
Inevitably the planets & systems lockdown this way begin to descend into anarchy, and as such the Council will send in the Enforcers who are fanatically loyal to them.
The aim will be to retrieve and secure any assets the planet has and to remove the threat.
The Plague The plague is the most serious reason for a Containment Protocol to be activated.
Alien artifacts are found all over Corporation Space and beyond, and despite the Councils best efforts sometimes these artifacts are breached, and any unprepared people in the immediate area is infected.
The Plague is not really a disease, although scientists have debated its very nature since its discovery, it could be a form of biogical weapon, or some form of defence response, why ever it was created, it is clear that it is not of a natural design.
Stage 1: The initial infection kills only a small number of people infected. At this point the aim of the Plague is to spread, Not all of the lifeforms infected at this Stage will die, around 5% of the infected develop into full Stage 1's. The rest will literally explode as the Plague races through their system.
These creatures turn into cunning commanders, and inevitably rip their way out of the location the artefact was being stored in, killing all in their path.
Such a terrifying sight that the local security forces don't survive their encounters with them, and even if they are lucky enough to kill one, with several Stage 1's around they are invariably overwhelmed.
Not all of the lifeforms infected by Stage 1's will die, around 20% of the infected develop into full Stage 2's, while the remainder die slow painful deaths.
Stage 2:
The Stage 2's are psychotic rampaging beasts, the front line warriors of the Plague infection, and terrifying to behold.
Almost unstoppable in close quarters they wreak further havoc until the Stage 1 establishes its dominance over them, at which point they become even more deadly when obeying their new commander.
As with the Stage 1, not all of the lifeforms infected bythe Stage 2's die, almost half of them mutate into Stage 3's, this can include what are traditionally classed as intelligent lifeforms and animals.
Stage 3:The Stage 3's are the least terrifying physically, but psychologically are almost worse than a Stage 1 or 2.
Stage 3's retain some semblance of their original form, some of their knowledge from their former life.
This makes them essential to the spread of the plague, they can use weapons and operate machinery. They are the most important mutation, as it is only through a Stage 3 that the Plague can ever hope to get off a planet or out of a system to continue to spread.
Stage 3's are the reason for the radical actions of the Enforcer fleets that guard Containment Protocol, no matter how many thousands of civilians might be on a Starship, they will shoot it down if it attempts to leave the system, all to prevent any Stage from escaping to continue the spread.
Stage 3Z:An infected lifeform that does not become a Stage 3, will invariable turn into a Stage 3Z. In essence a mindless zombie, driven only by its need to feed.
The Plague mutagen is running its course through the body, consuming flesh and organs, meaing the 3Z's need to constantly seek out new sources of flesh to survive.
A Stage 3 or 3Z cannot infect or spread the Mutagen any further as at this point it is too badly diluted, but the chaos 3Z's can cause in large numbers is a terrifying prospect.
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