Renegades

Overview

Brotherhood is our bond, our code & our purpose.

Year Founded: 2022

Status: Disbanded

The Renegades are a group of individuals from all varying beliefs and backgrounds who have come together under one simple ideal, protecting and harboring those who are unable to escape a bad past with a chance at a new life. They through their principles aim to build themselves and other survivors up into a force that protects the Brotherhood as well as others who share their goals. They are known to be a very diverse group of individuals with varying approaches to how each may live their life.

Alignment

The Renegades labelled themselves a Chaotic Neutral group who will go to any lengths to maintain their identity and brotherhood, They are prone to violence if pushed, but always prefer to take a reactive stance. While Renegades promote the ideal of freedom, they do this purely for themselves; shirking both rules and traditions. Along with this, the concepts of good and evil come second to their need to be free.

Appearance

The Renegades can always be seen donning their light blue armbands, which are carefully hand-crafted and dyed. Each individual has their own unique look and do not abide by rules regarding their appearance.

Origins

The Renegades were founded by Charlie Hughes and Waxxer, who previously had been members of Torchwood; with Charlie named High Acolyte  and colloquially known as The Executioner, while Waxxer was an Acolyte. They had been long-standing friends since the early days of their time in Torchwood, and had considered each other family long before The Renegades were founded. Starting to see the decline of Torchwood with dwindling numbers and a faltering presence in Chernarus, they decided that it was time to abandon The Light - and Torchwood - before it claimed their lives.

Several weeks after they had abandoned The Light, Waxxer and Charlie found themselves making new acquaintances and patching old grievances. They noticed how badly they were being treated due to their past as Torchwood members, and due to the deeds that Charlie Hughes himself had perpetrated including the mutilation of Ekho The Burned. Instead of lying down and accepting their fate, they decided to form a brotherhood with two simple goals in mind; to not let other people experience what they had, and to give people a second chance at life. This also allowed them to create a strong brotherhood of formidable survivors on which they could rely, without ever having to lean on the shoulders of strangers or people who had disdain for them. Settling in the West away from the prying eyes of Torchwood and others who wanted to see their demise, they posted up at a remote radio tower which was promptly named The Nexus. After several weeks of hunting alone and preserving what it meant to be a Renegade, several survivors started to flock to the group: estranged individuals such as Ekho, August Black, Tom, Locke, Luna and Alex had joined the fold.

Territory

South West Car line / Radio tower

The Renegades' territory was chosen purely for its long distance from Torchwood and larger groups to the east of that were known for being hostile. It was used as a buffer zone to ensure that they wouldn’t be followed out so far west and could stake a claim far away from prying eyes to be left alone. With the radio tower being on a hill, any structure built there would allow a natural defence on high ground making it harder for enemies to attack. Along with the safety and seclusion this location offered the radio tower was a great way to monitor and divert radio traffic to be used for their own gain.   

Goals

The Renegades’ goals were extremely simple, yet the execution of those goals was far more difficult. They aimed to create and preserve the idea of freedom, and create a home for those who have had to abandon a rough past or just those simply looking for a home. This tied directly into the ideals of freedom, with each member being completely free to make their own choices and choose a path that benefits them and the brotherhood.

Values

Brotherhood - This is the glue which binds all of the members together. Each member is valuable and no-one is cannon fodder. Each death of a brother is felt deeply and vengeance will be enacted on who/or whatever is responsible.

Honour - Your word is your bond and they believe honouring your word within the Brotherhood is just as important as honouring their word with those who choose to call Chernarus home.

Prowess - A Renegade does not need help from anyone. From survivability in nature to reliability in navigation, it is a requirement for a Renegade to easily be able to survive and thrive in the otherwise hostile land of South Zagoria.

History

I. The Trial Of Leadership

When the Renegades were originally founded, all members decided that the best path forward was to have no leader and allow equal say in all situations. However, during this time most members would generally gravitate toward Charlie Hughes for direction and orders. When asked who their leader was, they continuously stated that no one Renegade was the leader but all were equal. This created an uneasy setting in The West, as no one had complete trust for the Renegades due to their enigmatic nature and past association with Torchwood. Understandably, the group recognized this and decided that their previous idea of no leader has proven them more trouble than not; the trial of leadership started, each member who thought themselves worthy of the role threw their hat in the ring and argued for reasoning behind being the leader of the brotherhood.

Charlie Hughes;

Charlie had staked his claim, reminding everybody who had the guts to first abandon the light and pave a clear path for a safe escape. He reminded them of his prowess and loyalty and stated that this was what kind of leader was needed. Several Renegades understood his points, but even more believed that his hot-headed personality and willingness to murder anyone who breathed in his direction, may prove more destructive than constructive. Charlie did not take this well but sat in silence and allowed the other claimants to make their case.

August Black:

To a lot of Renegades’ surprise, August had thrown in his hat and stated that his compassion and intelligence may be exactly what the group needs in a time of turmoil and forging lasting bonds with those who currently do not trust the group.

Tom;

Tom had decided to weigh in and put forth his claim for leadership, believing that his previous knowledge & experience with running The Overlook had given him the correct tools and mindset when being a leader, so as the rest did Tom laid down his reasoning; although his reasoning seemed more for convenience than an actual drive and vision for the group.

Waxxer:

Though he had previously been very quiet in Torchwood and never really shown any real leadership capabilities unlike the other claimants, Waxxer made the strongest claim. He laid out plans about how he was going to bring vision and purpose to the group with the opportunity for all to work toward a common goal. He promised to make everyone’s lives as best as they could be in these dark times, and create an environment of camaraderie and trust that would lay the foundation of their principles. Through this he would foster an environment where every survivor within the creed will feel a sense of belonging and give a chance to those who deserve it the most.

With Waxxer’s speech, the Renegades had already made their mind that he was to be the leader. With the new leadership being appointed, Waxxer started to formulate his plans for the brotherhood.

II. The Colours That Bind

During the very early days of The Renegades their identity was a difficult find. Constant back and forth over ideals and decisions caused fractures within the group that ultimately made it a difficult time to be around. One decision that wasn’t so difficult however was the colours they had sworn to don. Several iterations of blue had crossed Waxxers and Luna’s minds but they decided they wanted to find the most unique one possible.

Luna was known for being an extremely talented artisan, previously creating clothes and accessories from just tanned leather. So with this in mind she got to work with Waxxer; with a general idea on what they wanted in the armband they had started to gather all sorts of ingredients from the surrounding woodlands and got to work. Over the span of several hours they had created hundreds of different armband colour combinations and none were fitting exactly what they had in mind.

They would continue to mix and fidget with the colours to try and get it just right but seemingly fell short at every turn. Hours continued to pass by, combination after combination and it just wasn’t getting to where they wanted it. After several more hours of gruelling dying they had finally happened upon their desired colour a very light blue armband that represented exactly what the Renegades were, with this they had noted down the recipe and started filtering armbands out to all the group.

III. The Commitment

The commitment or more commonly known among the Renegades ‘The day of the proving’. Charlie had disappeared from the brotherhood to somewhere unknown without leaving a note or any indication for his departure. On his return many months later he entered The Nexus compound and greeted everyone like nothing had happened. Standing in front of Charlie was Waxxer. Something had clearly set his rage off and he threw a round through Charlie’s shin bone. He had bellowed at Charlie asking his whereabouts to which Charlie had stated he needed to get away to find himself again.

Waxxer stood before the Renegades and made a speech;

“When we all created this brotherhood, a commitment was made it was upheld. A commitment to stay by each others side through thick and thin, good and bad, even loss and triumph, now I thought I could trust the same from my family. But, how it has been I’m starting to think maybe I can't. Playing buddies with people that have wronged us, and leaving us when times get hard; these are just two examples. But, I have plenty more for each of you so I propose a test of commitment”.

Waxxer pulled his knife from his sheathe and in one fell motion he took his left hands ring finger clean off. Again he spoke;

“I give to you all my left ring finger I give to you as my vow that I will die for every one of you and this sacrifice will remind me every day that this is my home. This is where I should be. Now, I will not force any of you to follow suit but if this isn't something you can do you know where to find the door…”

Clearly stating his intentions everyone was in dismay about the request from the leader of our group. Several members walked up and took their fingers as an offering of their commitment to the brotherhood. Charlie was the last and most hesitant but realised the passion and reasoning behind what may seem barbaric however, with each member being vastly different the idea of each having 9 fingers proved they have something in common that binds them to the Principles & continuity of The Renegades and creates an everlasting bond between them all that makes them Renegades. On this day, the Renegades entire brotherhood became more than just a group of wayward survivors it truly founded the start of the Creed and the Principles for which the foundation of the group now thrived upon.

IV. The Nexus

Even though the group had increased in size and strength there was still dangers that posed a significant threat to the existence of the group, knowing of these dangers outside of The Brotherhood, August and Frank had devised a plan to safely ensure that any threats that appeared they would be privy to them before they happened. So with the help of an old Russian engineering book & August’s expertise in translation he & Frank repurposed the radio tower at the Nexus and established a method of communication through morse code on a untapped radio channel that allowed encrypted messages and intel to be passed to friends and allies without the risk of it being heard.

This allowed information to be easily dispatched to friends that would not be intercepted by those who would wish ill upon the group. It has proven an unbelievably effective tool thus far and will continue to prove useful long after they cease to exist.

V. A King Reigns

During a time of loneliness, Chernarus almost stood silent. A storm came & destroyed everything and took a lot of the resources with it. Many groups during this time had abandoned Chernarus for a better chance at life. The Renegades were not a group among these however, during this time the main pillar of The West had abandoned it’s post and their people. Those left behind were forced to fend for themselves. Waxxer and the Renegades took it upon themselves to create a stable and prosperous time for those who inhabited Western South Zagoria. Waxxer had helped groups with bandits, patched those up who were devastated by the storm & even put himself in harms way to prevent people from dying or succumbing to worst fates. He had become such a pillar of the west that he declared himself the King of the West and many people echoed this sentiment & even respected the self proclaimed title. Notes had started to spread about the King of the West & many came to see for themselves. Not everyone had an open mind when it came to Waxxer’s declaration of a new King & many even took action upon this statement. More noticeably the previous Pillars of the West had returned and took a hard stance against The Renegades, violence wasn’t the issue at hand though. It was the threat of violence that created fractures between the groups of the West.

VI. The Ekho of a Brother

During some of the hardest months the group had endured, there was no moment that could of created the hate and passion that thrives within the group to this day; the murder of Ekho was a wound inflicted that forever set the precedent for what The Renegades stood for, family. Ekho was known for being eccentric but also deeply wounded and haunted by something only he could understand. He had made it clear to the group that he had a meeting with The Forsaken Loyalists and needed to do it alone. So Ekho left and nothing was heard from him for days, until a radio call was put through where the Forsaken Loyalists had gloated and mocked Ekho; claiming to have killed and buried him with Cult Of Papa robes for his crimes against them. They had believed he was either colluding with the Cult or a part of them, both of which were ultimately untrue. However, the Club's misguided actions had taken a brother from the Renegades and retaliation needed to be had, with Charlie Hughes pledging to mutilate and erase them from Chernarus. One request was asked of the Forsaken Loyalists; the location of Ekho’s body, so that he could be properly buried and given the send off deserved by his brothers and sister. With Ekho’s body recovered and buried somewhere secret and safe where very few know the location a small funeral was held for him to remember his life and to wish him farewell in his passing.

VII. The Crippled Brotherhood

As time went on, Waxxer's hold over the West had began to dwindle rapidly. Many of the groups had decided to side with the larger groups who were directly opposing Waxxer's title. This created a very fragile situation within the group, that ultimately led to serious tension. The Renegades had been known for staying out of massive conflicts involving the East and West, and most didn’t really pay much attention to the petty squabbling of their respective talismans.Howeverm behind the lines a game of chess was being played by Waxxer; one that had unfortunately thrown the group into checkmate. Behind everyone's’ back, including some of the Renegades, Waxxer had been colluding with Dark as Midnight - leaking information about the inhabitants of The West in exchange for a cease fire from DAMN. Due to the tensions rising with the West. a decision was made to parlay with the self proclaimed pillars of the West, the 506th. With a note left at the motherbase, a meeting was set at Green Mountain with the Outrider Caravan Company as the neutral party on site to make sure that everything went smoothly.

The meeting had unfortunately ended before it even started, with a surprise raid by Dark as Midnight suddenly beginning. Known for their strict isolationist policy, the Renegades had a liason confront Harvey and negotiate safe passage. Slipping out of the back of the compound, the Renegades left safely and stayed out of the warring factions' way. The day after the botched meeting, they headed up to Green mountain to drop off some supplies to help rebuild from the attack the night before. To their surprise, they were instantly rejected by the Outriders and refused access.

Shortly afterward, the Renegades left a note at the 506th motherbase to apologise and offer a new meeting, they had also heard over their encrypted radio station that several Renegades had managed to capture a long-time wanted member of DAMN and offered to pass him over to the 506th. Without delay, Guy was handed over to 506th, who they promptly executed him in the middle of Zelenogorsk. They had presumed this would put the Renegades in a positive light following the previous incident but the 506th do not forgive easily; a fact made clear later in the day when Charlie and Waxxer were greeted by eight fully armed men with assault rifles pointed at their heads. The meeting previous was a neutral location but following the raid they had allowed the 506th to have the advantage and they took this opportunity to corner the Renegades and demanded a price, a price that was not easily given. They had urged Waxxer to hand over Alex on pain of death. Alex came to the meeting location, accepted his fate and decided to return to the 506th under duress.

The loss of Alex was a crippling blow to the brotherhood. having already lost several members of their group, they had slowly started to become weaker and finally decided enough was enough. The West had proven to take more than it gave, and recognising this, the Renegades had a decision to make; Stay and die, or leave. With only one real option, the Renegades packed their bags and headed North east in the hope of reaching out to an old acquaintance.

Notable Members

Waxxer

The co-founder of the group and has an especially close relationship with Charlie Hughes. The current and only standing leader of the Renegades. Known for his inflated ego and willingness to go above and beyond for his fellow brothers he is an excellent survivalist and brutally unnerved when it comes to making the tough decisions.

Charlie Hughes

The other co-founder of the group, Charlie is known for his undying loyalty and inhibits a brooding personality with the possibility of imploding on others in artistically violent passion at the drop of a pin. Known by his one eye and aggressive approach to almost any conversation Charlie is hell bent on protecting those he calls family, although age hasn’t exactly treated him fairly.

Locke

Locke is a mysterious character, known for his combat prowess, demeaning comments and a booming laugh, Locke has been the defacto enforcer for the Renegades ever since he joined. Having nearly starting wars with the SZPA and the 506th, he is not one to shy away from fights, often he conflicts with other renegades, but despite this he’s always remained loyal to the decisions of the group.

August Black

August is a once successful author who fell from grace. Though he was initially not cut out for survival in Chernarus; his friends, allies, and family have molded him into a true Renegade. August worked closely with Frank to repurpose the radio tower at the Nexus and established an encrypted method of communication for Renegades and their allies.

Ekho The Burned

A friend of Charlie Hughes, one of the first to join the Renegades, Ekho was a troubled soul who sought to find peace and redemption within the ranks of his brothers. He was not shy about his thoughts and was prone to bursts of violence, silence, and obsessive episodes about his illness. Ultimately his obsession was the thing that killed him at the hands of others.

Frank

A relentlessly loyal individual who never shy’d from combat or defending The Renegades honour. Frank is known as one of the nicest among the group and can be found actively engaging with his various friendships through Chernarus. Frank also helped August in the repurposing of The Nexus.

Luna

Known for her friendly nature and connections all throughout Chernarus, Luna established herself as a well known trader and artisan before settling in the ranks of the Renegades finding a home among brothers. She is strongly driven by the values of friendships and honesty. Her biggest goal is to keep her family and friends safe from harm, including her brothers from her time in the Renegades. She is also the curator behind the current armbands used for identification.

Alex

Riddled with guilt and anxiety over his perceived failures and missteps, Alex found himself hiding once again with the Renegades in a vain attempt to create space. This tenure was short lived as he was forcefully pulled back into the ranks of the 506th. He remains there today, unable to awake and surrounded with uncertainty if he ever will again.

Relationships

Torchwood

A cult who worships a religion know as the Light was the first real home and brotherhood that Charlie, Waxxer and August shared. Their relationship with Torchwood since leaving has been a difficult one to explain however, Charlie is still a firm believer in the foundation of The Light but keeps this to himself as to not end up dead.

The 506th & Outrider Caravan Company

Both these groups, have at one stage been both allies and enemies through the troubled history of The Renegades. Although no one currently knows where these groups stand with one another it’s clear that there’s a rough history that leaves an uncertainty in the air.

The Forsaken Loyalists

The Renegades and the Club have ranged from rivals, to business associates and to sworn enemies. Despite their distaste for each other, they consistently cross paths either to add weight to their pockets or for something else entirely.

Golden Peppers

Old friends from the very origin of The Renegades they have always remained close and intensely loyal to one another.