The Landcaste

As was the rule in the Starguild, the Landcaste managed the daily affairs on the planet. Managing Rhand, however, was an unusually pleasant task, and Rhand's Landcaste were quite good at it.

Rhand was set up for tourists, and was dotted with resorts. Gambling areas, ski lodges, and spacious beach clubs covered the planet's most beautiful areas. Using Bondsmen to do the work, the Landcaste kept these facilities in an ideal state, unblemished by signs of poverty or industry. The Bondsmen and the industrial areas they lived in were separated from the resorts by hundreds of miles, and every morning the Landcaste herded them to work using the ORCA. Landcaste personnel also oversaw the agencies responsible for power, water, trade, and security. They ran the businesses, kept the Bondsmen in line, and kept their masters, the various Starcaste corporations on Rhand, fairly happy.

The Landcaste lived in their own communities, separated from both the Bondsmen and the Starcaste. These communities were completely residential, with no industry or manufacturing areas. Bondsmen support facilities filled the service roles within these areas, but the Bondsmen who ran them lived outside.

As was customary in the Starguild, their society was devoted almost entirely to Law Enforcement and the Military. All members of the Landcaste served a mandatory 16 year enlistment, either on active duty or as support personnel. While serving their enlistments, members of the Landcaste were kept on constant tour. Frequently relocated, forever reassigned to new units, they were not allowed family or close relations. Those were viewed as luxuries, and were reserved for retirement. Consequently, Landcaste units are loosely bound groups, made up of people unfamiliar with close friendships, relations, or teamwork. Their enforced life style made most of them shallow, greedy, and self centered.

Law Enforcement or Military service was followed by semi-retirement in management directorships, with the best personnel being given the most prestigious posts. Their military and law enforcement experience uniquely qualified them for these jobs, for often Landcaste Management was more the job of a prison warden than a manager.

On Rhand, this highly military attitude was largely unnecessary; the Bondsmen of Rhand were quiet, disciplined, and easy to deal with, and Trident's production demands were reasonable.

During the invasion, Landcaste communities were spared bombardment, but were hit by the viral attack. Today these communities are largely abandoned, as they have no industry and little food supply. Landcaste survivors have joined the ranks of refugees and marauders. Most are attacking the Bondsmen communities they formerly managed. These Bondsmen communities had industry, food stores, and food processing plants, and are now extremely valuable.

Landcaste military and law enforcement personnel were widely dispersed before the invasion, and took few casualties. In the last two months, with the bulk of the bureaucracy lost to the VISR virus, most have clung together for mutual protection. Having no families or relations, they have survived as units and are moving to establish shelter and security. Since they are armed and have military training, they can easily defeat the refugees and Bondsmen they encounter. However, they completely lack the cohesion and team spirit necessary to take on a disciplined and motivated opponent.

Civilians
These were the Landcaste's support personnel and managers, and dressed to present an image of competence and capability. Since the invasion, they have generally adopted fatigues and similar functional clothing. The comments above regarding their essentially shallow and self-centered views apply.

Law Enforcement
Members of Landcaste Law Enforcement were the first line of defense against the Bondsmen, and habitually used violence and fear to maintain order. They rarely encoun-tered serious opposition. When they did, they called on the Military for support. As a result, they are having significant difficulty dealing with the Apocalypse; no one cares about their threats, and there is no worldwide hierarchy to guarantee them support.

Military
Those who were in the Landcaste Military were rarely in combat with other regular troops. Their primary opponents were disorganized, poorly armed Bondsmen rebels, hordes sufficiently large that the Law Enforcement units were unable to deal with them. Standard equipment for a member of the Military included a Combat Suit with at least Level 1 Armor and an Assault Rifle (AR8L), and they did not undertake even the mildest assignments without that gear. With this harsh, heavy-handed view of life as a back-ground, they are fitting into the Apocalypse rather well.

Tourists on Rhand
See Tourists on Rhand.