The Abavikeli
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The Abavikeli (Zulu for “protectors”) are a clan of bionic warriors who swore an oath to protect Old Earth from miners, scavengers, poachers, colonists, warmongers, and opportunists of all kinds.
Old Earth was left largely uninhabitable by the end of the 22nd century due to climate change, resource depletion, and war. The remnants of humanity that could afford to abandon the planet did so, leaving the so-called “third world” to deal with the mess.
Although economists and humanitarians warned that the exodus of the “consumer class” would be a death sentence to those who remained, they could not have been more wrong. Without the oppressive and extractive influence of the “first world,” the caretakers of Old Earth put the living world first, and their communities thrived as a result.
In the subsequent centuries, Old Earth healed and rebounded, becoming one of the most lush and desirable planets in this corner of the galaxy. And although most of humanity has outgrown its imperialist, extractive ways, there will always be thieves and assholes.
Thankfully, the Abavikeli are an astoundingly effective deterrent.
Despite a general aversion to advanced technology by many Old Earth caretakers, the Abavikeli have no such qualms about modifying their bodies to give them an edge in battle. Their bionic eyes grant them perfect, full-spectrum vision, while limb modifications make them faster than a cheetah.
Land-based Abavikeli don’t see much battle these days, thanks to their infamous fleet that prowls the space between Old Earth and its moon. One poacher who barely survived a skirmish got close enough to capture an image of an Abavikeli hull, which had a 21st century English expression painted on it:
“Fuck around and find out.”
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