Solar Guardians

Origins and Solar Doctrine

The Solar Guardians began as a scattered group of survivalist engineers and technicians who refused to let the lights go out. In the first months of the Collapse, most grids failed. Transformers blew. Fuel shipments stopped. Entire districts went dark. Small teams of maintenance crews, off-grid preppers, and independent solar contractors fell back to the only systems they could still keep alive: rooftop panels, half-finished solar farms, and backup batteries.

These people had experience with harsh conditions even before the end. Many had worked in remote installations, off-grid projects, or low-budget community power schemes. When everything else fell apart, they did what they already knew how to do. They salvaged panels from abandoned towers. They stripped wiring from dead malls. They hauled batteries out of flooded basements. They wired everything together into rough micro-grids, then defended those grids with whatever weapons they could find.

The first “Guardian” crews did not see themselves as a faction. They were small cells holding tight to a single idea: if power dies, everything dies. Water cannot be pumped. Clinics cannot run. Comms cannot function. When raiders burned their panels or shamblers overran their arrays, people under their care died. The lesson hardened into belief.

From that point, the group’s thinking shifted from practical to doctrinal. They began to treat solar energy not just as a tool, but as a kind of sacred trust. Sunlight was the last stable source in a ruined world. Panels turned that light into life. Maintaining that flow became more than work. It became duty.

Over years of fighting and consolidation, these scattered crews merged into the Solar Guardians. They adopted a simple doctrine that still guides them:

• The grid must never fail.

• Energy must go first to those who protect and respect it.

• Destruction of solar infrastructure is a crime above almost all others.

To the Solar Guardians, electricity is not only survival. It is a proof that order can still exist. They speak of “the Light” in almost religious terms. They run initiation rites around panels and inverters. They teach recruits that every watt has a cost, every circuit carries responsibility, and every array is a shrine that must be defended.

Captain Anya Brights rose from these early crews. She was a systems engineer who organized one of the first large, stable grids in the ruins that would become the Solar Sprawl. She coordinated defenses, standardized maintenance routines, and pushed other crews to adopt shared rules. Under her direction, the Guardians turned from scattered cells into a structured, militant technocracy with clear command and clear purpose.

Organization, Ranks, and Equipment

The Solar Guardians operate with rigid internal structure. At the top sits Captain Anya Brights. She is both military commander and chief engineer. Her authority rests on three pillars: her record in defending arrays, her deep technical knowledge, and her strict enforcement of doctrine.

Below her, the Guardians divide into several branches:

• Grid Commanders oversee specific sectors of panels, batteries, and substations. They are responsible for uptime, repair schedules, and overall stability.

• Field Captains lead combat units that patrol the Solar Sprawl, protect convoys, and push into hostile zones to secure or reclaim energy assets.

• Sunward Priests (a semi-formal title) handle indoctrination, training, and internal discipline. They drill recruits in both belief and procedure.

At the basic level, Guardians are split into two main roles. Lines are the engineering crews. They climb towers, replace panels, swap inverters, and run cable through collapsed buildings. Lances are the combat squads. They escort Lines, hold defensive positions, and conduct raids against threats to the grid.

Standard equipment reflects this blending of tech and force. Guardians wear exosuits with integrated plating, harnessed power assistance, and thermal control. The suits have high-visibility markings and sunburst insignias. Many carry light-reactive surfaces or built-in auxiliary panels that feed small internal systems.

Weapons focus on precision and sustained fire. Guardians favor scoped rifles, directed-energy prototypes where available, and modular carbines with standardized parts. Heavy units mount solar-charged railguns, coil-shot launchers, or concentrated thermal projectors. Drones supplement ground units, carrying cameras, small arms, or sensor packages.

Every suit and weapon is logged against a Guardian’s identity and unit. Maintenance records are strict. Losing gear, failing to report damage, or allowing kit to fall into enemy hands is treated as both a tactical failure and a doctrinal offense.

Orders move down clear chains. Data from sensors, patrols, and civilian reports flows back into central hubs, where analytic teams and Grid Commanders assign priorities. A damaged array, a suspected shambler cluster near a substation, or a raider camp spotted near a cable run all go into the same decision process. The response is planned, logged, and executed.

This structure makes the Guardians effective in the field. It also makes them inflexible. Once a directive is set to “protect the grid at any cost,” very little can persuade them to change course.

The Solar Sprawl and Controlled Zones

The Solar Sprawl is the core territory of the Solar Guardians in New Vance. It was once a zone of buckled overpasses, broken apartment blocks, and half-finished development projects on the edge of the city. After the Collapse, it became a graveyard of concrete and glass.

The Guardians saw a different picture. The buildings had exposed roofs. The ground had open lots. There were already unfinished solar arrays and electrical corridors. Under Captain Brights, they cleared sections building by building, pushing out raiders and infected and wiring everything into a single growing network.

Today, the Sprawl is a patchwork of fortified grids. Solar arrays cover tower tops, plazas, and reclaimed parking decks. Cables run along reinforced gantries or inside armored conduits. Battery banks sit behind fences and guard posts. Control nodes, in the form of hardened substations, command the flow of power through the district.

Housing in the Sprawl clusters around these nodes. People who swear loyalty to the Guardians and accept grid rules live in close-packed apartments, container stacks, or rebuilt housing blocks directly served by stable hookups. Street-level life remains harsh, but lights work, pumps run, and basic devices can be charged on a schedule.

Outside the core Sprawl, the Guardians control or influence several solar farms and relay stations in the wasteland. These sites feed power back toward the city or support isolated enclaves that pledge loyalty. Convoys carry equipment and personnel between them, guarded by Lances and monitored by drone overheads.

Entry into the Sprawl is conditional. Refugees and wanderers can request residency, but approval depends on resources, skills, and behavior records. The Guardians favor technicians, medics, reliable labor, and those willing to serve in the Lines or Lances. They turn away people they see as unstable, resistant to rules, or likely to drain resources without giving back.

Within the Lore.txt, the Solar Sprawl is described as a place where “energy is salvation, but only for the worthy” and where life means trading freedom for light. This remains accurate. The Guardians do not pretend otherwise. The Sprawl is safe by comparison only because they maintain strict control over who lives there and how they live.

Quotas, Discipline, and Life Under the Light

Captain Anya Brights enforces solar quotas and grid loyalty across all Guardian territory. Every block, building, and household in the Sprawl receives a set allocation of power. This quota depends on role, contribution, and compliance.

Basic rations cover lights, water pumps, some cooling or heating, and minimal personal use. Additional usage must be earned. Work shifts in line crews, service in combat units, or critical skills can increase a group’s quota. Wasting power, tampering with meters, or running unauthorized devices can lead to cuts.

Grid loyalty is tracked through a mix of audits, sensor data, and citizen reporting. The Guardians monitor load patterns. Sudden spikes or irregular draws from certain addresses trigger inspections. Inspectors may arrive in full armor, with the authority to search premises, remove illegal devices, and fine or relocate offenders.

Public order in the Sprawl is shaped around this system. Streets have posted schedules for high-draw activities. Industrial users and workshop areas run on assigned slots. The Guardians publish clear rules on acceptable use. They also publish public punishments for grid crimes, including power cuts, relocation to harsher zones, or, in extreme cases, expulsion from Guardian protection.

Despite the strictness, many Sprawl residents view the Guardians as saviors. Under Guardian oversight, shamblers rarely penetrate deep into the district. Raiders are met with coordinated fire and pursuit. Water flows due to stable power to pumps and filters, usually in cooperation with the Hydro Hegemony. Clinics have steady current for equipment. Children grow up with street lights and working comm units.

At the same time, others see them as tyrants. Privacy is limited. Independent projects that draw energy without approval are shut down. Political dissent that questions grid doctrine can be framed as “sabotage” if it encourages people to ignore quotas.

Daily life reflects this tension. People line up calmly at charging stations and ration kiosks because alternative options are worse. Families track their consumption carefully to avoid penalties. Some quietly run hidden lines or hacked panels, often with Shadow Syndicate help, but they know detection can destroy their place in the Sprawl.