Vistas

Overview

• Leader: Unknown(?)
• Home base: Unknown(?)
• Allies: Lightbearers, CHOTA
• Enemies: Travelers, Enforcers
• Arch-enemy: Techs

Origin and Makeup

Beyond the settlements of the Enforcers and Techs, the shrines of Lightbearers, the roads walked by the Travelers, and the wastes claimed by the CHOTA are vast stretches of empty wilderness. These places are the domain of the Vistas. Before the Fall, the Vistas were an environmentalist movement that had come to the Grand Canyon Province to oppose GlobalTech's methodical environmental exploitation, but now they have become the last defenders of what remains of the ecosystems of the old world. While always willing to commit acts of violence in defense of the environment, since the Fall they have become feared wilderness warriors who protect their charges with rifle and blade. Many a Tech expedition has been lost in Vista territory, never to be seen again, seemingly swallowed up by the wilderness.

The Vistas are not merely guerrilla warriors, but farmers, ranchers, and craftsmen. They produce most of the food consumed in the Province, knowing more of agriculture than any other faction. They know what plants can be used to heal and what animals produce the most virulent poisons. The Vistas also train a wide variety of animals to help them, from dogs to horses to more exotic creatures. Instead of relying on technology, they rely on nature, something that causes many of their enemies to regularly underestimate their capabilities.

Vistas are not opposed to technology in general, but they are opposed to the single-minded pursuit of technology at the expense of the natural world. This, they believe, was the impetus for the fall of the old world. They're perfectly willing to embrace technology that they feel fits in with their world view; the technology must be as clean as possible and the potential harm that it may pose to the natural world must be outweighed by the good that it produces. Technology that makes survival easier in the harsh world is generally accepted, but technology for its own sake is frowned upon, and technology that causes great harm to the natural world is actively and violently opposed. The Vistas would support and protect an aluminum recycling facility, but would oppose something like an oil refinery that produced something good for people, like gasoline, but compromised that good with the evil of pollution and destruction of the environment. This puts them directly at odds with the Techs, and on bad terms with the Enforcers and Travelers.

Vistas take pride in their ability to live out in the wilderness and thrive there without causing undue harm to the environment. Many Vistas try to repair the harm that previous generations did to the environment, and others try to halt the exploitation of the environment for profit or for technological advancement. Others are farmers or hunters who work to provide for their fellows without damaging the earth. More than anything, Vistas preach self-reliance and independence. This probably explains their affinity for the CHOTA when most other groups look upon them as mindless savages. The Vistas instead see them as kindred spirits. The two have a long history of working together which continues to this day.

Relationships

Many Vistas are skilled hunters and marksmen, making them a serious threat to Techs or Travelers who wander too far from their safe havens. However, the Vista organization is too loose and their association is too free-form to remove their enemies from the Province. Unlike the Enforcers or the Lightbearers who have a more tight-knit and orderly association with each other, the Vistas are primarily a loosely-associated group with a common philosophy. Vistas prize individuality and independence, but they can quickly come together to oppose any sort of threat to the environment. However, once the immediate threat is turned away, the Vistas are likely to return to their farms and forests and wait for the next threat to emerge.

Slang

Earth Talkers - CHOTA vulgar for Vistas.
Earth Haters - Vista vulgar for Techs.
Fertilizer - People that the Vistas don't like. Or sometimes referring to dead enemies of the Vistas. Not worth compost. Useless.
Armored Bullies - Vista vulgar for Enforcers.
Brutes - Vista vulgar for Enforcers.
Greenies - Derogatory term for Vistas.
Heap - Vista communal home. “I'm going back to the heap to rest a while.”
Techno Flunkies - Vista vulgar for Enforcers.
Techno-monsters - Vista vulgar for Techs.
Tree-huggers - Derogatory term for Vistas.
Treekillers - Vista vulgar for Techs.

Timeline

2052

• Environmentalists and eco-terrorists called the Vista Society covertly infiltrate the Grand Canyon Province, setting up communes in the more remote areas of the Province far from the corporate settlements. They go unnoticed for several months until they start sabotaging lumbering operations in Kaibab Forest.

2150

• After years of conflict, the CHOTA storm the Hoover Dam Garrison with assistance from the Travelers and Vistas. Tired of years of abuse, the people of the Garrison rise up against Alec Masters as well. The Garrison is destroyed in the ensuing battle and the dam abandoned. Alec Masters is killed by the CHOTA.

Skills

Vista proficiencies are:

• Good: Athletics, Cooking, Rifle, Nature, Stealth, several mutations
• Average: Pistol, Melee, Group Tactics, Geology, First Aid, few mutations
• Poor: Science, Ballistics, Genetics, several mutations

References

• Fallen Earth official site