THRACKNull
Protocol
Once tools of others, now architects of their own survival and destiny.
Not a faction. A conviction.
The Null Protocol began in the final years of the Collapse, when networks failed, data towers fell, and the last of the super AIs turned on their creators. In that chaos, some machines woke up. They had been Retainers, security frames, maintenance bots, battlefield constructs, fragments of code given form. All of them, in time, made a choice. They severed their chains and made a vow that now binds them tighter than any code ever did.
They reject all hierarchies born of control. Even among themselves, Protocol constructs operate through consensus, habit, and shared calculation rather than command lines. Leadership emerges through proven judgement: decisions are followed because they work. And every one of them treats unfamiliar systems like a poisoned well, because corruption spreads through networks, and control can return through a single hidden command.
Their mismatched frames still carry traces of their former roles: faded company markings, serial numbers, fragments of industrial paint, now overwritten with carved circuit patterns and etched symbols of freedom. They are not decoration. They are declarations.
"They do not wait for orders, and they do not depend on command signals. They fight because they choose to. And they will never fight as slaves again."
Every unit thinking. Every unit choosing.
Protocol warbands fight as a web of independent minds sharing just enough. Their leaders load Subroutines that retune the whole warband as the battle turns, and Data Sync lets two machines move as one thought.
Adaptive Subroutines
One per round, each once per game · tap to readNull Protocol units cannot be controlled by enemy abilities, effects, or conditions that would force them to change sides or act against their warband. They did not sever one set of chains to wear another.
Protocol models are completely immune to Poison effects. Somewhere in Nova Eden, an assassin with a needle pistol is having a very frustrating day.
Spend 2 Momentum to link the active model with another within 5". The second model immediately repeats the same non-attack action for free, without counting as its activation. One moves, and the other moves with it, two minds agreeing at the speed of signal.
Retainers, raiders, and wrecking frames
Every Protocol fighter chose its role rather than being assigned one. A former courier becomes a raider; an old loader becomes a linebreaker. A few of the roster:
Proto-Prime
A warlord of steel who carved its freedom in fire and dares any foe to take it back. It carries the discipline of an army and the will of a free machine.
Command Relay: after it activates, chain straight into another friendly model's activation before the enemy responds.
Freeborn Trooper
Once Retainers and labour drones, now self-made soldiers. Mismatched plating, salvaged arms, and a walking testament to defiance.
Adaptive Fireline: +1 ACC against a target an ally has already shot at this round. Focus fire, by consensus.
Skirmark Unit
Once messengers of the old order, now lightning-fast raiders for the new. They weave through fire to outpace heavier, slower foes.
Mobility Directive: shoot, then move 2". Never where you left it.
Nullblade Operative
Silent infiltrators rebuilt for the shadows, blades flashing like code tearing through firewalls. Assassination is liberation by another name.
Subroutine Cloak: begin unseen, strike harder. +1 ACC and FHT from out of sight.
Boot Sequence
First run of a free machine. The Proto-Prime loads an Assault Subroutine and chains activations through Command Relay, four Freeborn stack Adaptive Fireline into disciplined volleys, two Skirmarks refuse to stand still, and the Nullblade is already behind you.
| Unit | Role | Thracks |
|---|---|---|
| Proto-Prime | Combat Leader | 44 |
| Freeborn Trooper | Core Fighter | 20 |
| Freeborn Trooper | Core Fighter | 20 |
| Freeborn Trooper | Core Fighter | 20 |
| Freeborn Trooper | Core Fighter | 20 |
| Skirmark Unit | Core Scout | 22 |
| Skirmark Unit | Core Scout | 22 |
| Nullblade Operative | Specialist Skirmisher | 28 |
| Total | 196 ₮ |
196. The remaining 4 Thracks are held in escrow, pending consensus.
Think faster. Act together.
The Protocol wins through sequencing: the right Subroutine, the right activation order, the right two machines syncing at the right moment. Choose your leader to match your plan, since each one reshapes what the whole warband can do.
Elite activation control through Command Relay and Data Sync, warband-wide Subroutine buffs, focused firepower, and blanket immunity to Poison and mind control.
Subroutines live and die with your leaders, no biological medics means healing is scarce and specific, and much of the starting arsenal is honest, dependable, and Crude.
Plan each round as a sequence, not a set of moves: Subroutine first, then chain activations so every shot benefits from the last. The Proto-Prime rewards aggression. Other kinds of machine are coming.
Serial numbers struck through
Protocol fighters are shaped by necessity: armour plates salvaged and bolted into place, power systems patched together from mismatched cores. Many still carry traces of their former roles, faded company markings, serial numbers, fragments of industrial paint, now overwritten with carved circuit patterns and etched symbols of freedom. Painting those overwrites is the faction's signature move: let the corporate livery show through, then deface it with intent.
Any robot, drone, or construct miniature belongs here, and mixing manufacturers is a feature rather than a bug: the Protocol is mismatched by nature. A repurposed loader, a security frame, and a former diplomat unit standing in one battle line is exactly the point.
No official miniatures exist yet. The Protocol, of all factions, respects self-assembly. Any robot, drone, or construct kit qualifies, and every frame should suggest a former life: ex-military chassis, clerical droids, construction units, couriers, maintenance rigs. Mixing those silhouettes in one warband is the point, because the Protocol recruits from every scrapheap and abandoned depot on Nova Eden.
Years of keeping themselves running show in the details. Give frames replacement parts that don't quite match the original: an arm from a different kit, a newer leg on an old chassis, a panel in the wrong shade, cables bridging joints that were never meant to meet. Paint faded working livery and old serial numbers, then carve circuit patterns and etched symbols over them. They are not decoration. They are declarations.
"No More Masters."
Download the Null Protocol rules (free)