Free Earth Armed Resistance

F.E.A.R. Itself



The Earth is alive, and She is suffering. Every day, She withers more, poisoned by the deluge of pollution we unleash upon Her. We are killing Her. Her death throes shake the world, as ice caps melt to form Her tears; fire boils up from the ground to show Her rage, tidal waves and earthquakes accompany Her pain-wracked convulsions. If we don’t do something soon, Mother Earth will die and take us all with Her. This is what the people of Free Earth Armed Resistance believe. Culled from the world’s most extreme eco-terrorists, animal rights activists and conservationists, their members chant these words like a mantra: “She is dying, and it’s our fault.” The people of F.E.A.R. will not let Earth die without a fight. Many of them revere a personification of Earth they call “Gaia,” and they are fanatical in their devotion to the cause. They speak of spirits who guide them and realms of beauty unspoiled by humanity. These spirits guide them on their holy missions to strike back against the enemies of Gaia. Ironically, F.E.A.R.’s methods remove any of their potential credibility among a populace predisposed to dismissing their beliefs as nonsense. Most ironic of all is how correct the group is in its beliefs, but this is no accident. They have indeed seen spirits, and they have felt the pain of Gaia. They have experienced these things because of the cult’s founder and leader, a mad genius Black Spiral Dancer named Simon Green-Tooth, whose diseased grin is somehow as infectious as a charismatic movie star’s. Green-Tooth gathered disparate extremist elements from among various conservationist causes under his banner, promising to show them the truth for which they had fought so hard. He delivered on these promises, calling forth Banes disguised as nature-spirits and modern day totems. The spirits showed the impressionable activists that which they wanted to believe, kindling an unquenchable religious zeal. Allowing them to feel Gaia’s pain, fueled by the Banes themselves, fanned the flames of fanaticism into a roaring inferno. Green-Tooth then began to lead his growing cult against the bastards responsible for Mother Earth’s agony. He targeted Pentex and its subsidiaries, and even unrelated logging, mining and slaughterhouse operations. They took down facility after facility with explosives and gunfire, transported by vehicles every bit the polluters as those of the people F.E.A.R. hypocritically decried. To their credit, the damage they inflicted often crushed smaller operations entirely and left the corporations unable to continue the rape of Mother Earth. Even Pentex facilities fell before their terrorist attacks. Yet Green-Tooth was no traitor against the Wyrm. The beautiful genius of his plan allowed him to turn the very truth behind the impending Apocalypse against the forces of Gaia. When F.E.A.R. bombs out those logging company facilities and slaughterhouses, their victims are workers on the bottom rung or unimportant managers. Many of these workers are innocent of malice, seeking only to perform what they feel is a necessary function, or at least feed their families. They have no idea their actions help weaken Gaia in Her time of greatest need. They remain blissfully unaware of the spiritual war for reality taking place under their very noses. Many would cease their course of action or even join the fight if they knew the stakes. Instead, their destruction impoverishes families, removes potential Gaian supporters, brings down the wrath of authorities, and spreads suffering and misery among their friends and families. The result benefits only the Wyrm. F.E.A.R perverts the Garou’s cause into a tool of terror and destruction. Innocent people suffer. Humanity reflexively shuns the truth, spoken as it is on the lips of terrorists. Simon Green-Tooth sits back, smiles his sickly grin, and watches as a cycle of corruption maintains itself without any more need for a push. He is legendary among his fellows as the Black Spiral Dancer who turned Gaia’s suffering into a weapon to further that suffering. Others try to follow his lead, but few meet with the level of success as old Green-Tooth. F.E.A.R. is brutally effective in its methods and in its indoctrination. Members approach the disenfranchised and homeless, animal workers and “treehuggers,” filling their heads with visions of a suffering world. Oil spills, deforestation, clouds of smog covering cities, all while CEOs get rich and keep a boot on the neck of the poor, prey on those who cannot defend themselves, like plants and animals. It doesn’t take much to convince those looking for a cause, even to convince them that the Earth is alive but dying and needs their help. When enough kindred spirits gather, Green-Tooth and his ilk find it easy enough to win them over. A little spirit magic, perhaps a vision from a Bane totem, and it’s a simple matter to prey upon their desire to belong. Convinced they’re fighting for the greatest of causes, that only they can prevent the dissolution of the entire world, and that a great power watches over them, the fanatics lash out with ruthless devotion. They gladly martyr themselves for the cause and few feel any regret at killing any civilians who get caught in their crossfire. “We are all to blame,” they say, and they are willing to sacrifice a few “innocents” in order to save the entire world. By its nature, F.E.A.R. is a volatile cult and its attrition rate is very high, but it has no shortage of new recruits. Unlike other activist groups, even extreme ones, F.E.A.R. does not stage rallies and protests, though they do hunt for recruits among them. They feel as a group that the time for peaceful protests has long since passed, and now that Mother Earth is dying, it is time for action. While they prefer to create explosives and bomb key locations, they will gladly resort to armed raids on troublesome facilities. Sometimes, they are accompanied by Banes (usually without their knowledge), or otherwise blessed by their spirit guides for key missions. Some F.E.A.R. operatives, the ones who survive mission after mission by luck or rabid ferocity, become fomori. Their powers allow them to inflict even more damage in their raids, but most are subtle in their mutations. The taint they carry poisons others around them and leaves them vulnerable in turn to Bane possession. Their desperation and depredation is every bit as bad as the corrupting influences they oppose. Their actions only strengthen the Wyrm. It is true what a great man once said, then — there is nothing to fear but F.E.A.R. itself.