The following can all be assumed IC knowledge. NanoTrasen briefs crew members on all major antagonists. All personnel employed by NT can be assumed to know at least this much about them.

Metagaming rules still apply - asking a vampire to punch someone in the head to see if they bite or not is clearly metagaming, for instance.

The Syndicate

The Syndicate is a conglomerate of space pirates and other corporate entities that are opposed to NanoTrasen, seeking to halt NT's progress by any means.

The Syndicate employs a variety of operatives, each unique in both the methodology and equipment they typically use.

Changelings

Changelings are an adaptive organism that can assume the form of any person who they've sampled the DNA of. They are commonly hired and employed by the Syndicate and are capable of mentally communicating and coordinating with other changelings via some form of hivemind.

Changelings can often be recognized by their ability to morph parts of their body into useful tools such as blades or shields, as well as the capability of stinging and injecting crew members with dangerous or hallucinogenic chemicals. Changelings are also capable of reviving themselves posthumously. A corpse suddenly coming back to life is a key indicator you are dealing with a changeling.

Every changeling has a proboscis through which they drain the fluids from their victims. While a changeling's proboscis is a useful identifier, if you have seen it you are likely soon to be dead.

Syndicate Operatives/Traitors

Syndicate operatives or traitors are standard NT crew members who have been subverted, often through bribery or intimidation.

Traitors utilize a variety of strategies from the innocuous to the devastating, and are commonly recognized by their typical use of devices such as PDA bombs (detomatix cartridges), cryptographic sequencers (emags), energy swords and handguns.

While syndicate operatives or traitors are not immediately identifiable unless they are actively causing chaos, they typically display suspicious or aberrant behaviour.

Nuclear Strike Teams/Nuclear Operatives

Nuclear strike teams or nuclear operatives are syndicate mercenaries and pirates employed and equipped with the sole purpose of detonating a nuclear warhead aboard a NanoTrasen facility. Their experience ranges from highly skilled professional operators to space hobos who just need a job for the weekend.

They are immediately recognizable by their signature blood red or black hardsuits as well as their propensity for murdering everything in sight, including themselves, in pursuit of their objective. As these operatives are ruthless and commonly equipped with explosive implants, crew members are not advised to try and detain members of a nuclear strike team.

While often equipped with a variety of heavy duty hardware, from shotguns to snipers to light machine guns, nuclear operatives are also known to occasionally infiltrate NT facilities via stealth operations.

The Wizards Federation

The Wizard's Federation is a mysterious group known to employ an eclectic group of individuals who practice a form "magic" formally recognized as bluespace manipulation.

They are well-known for causing widespread chaos aboard NanoTrasen stations via their abilities, often assaulting the station with no clear goal other than to cause mayhem.

The Lone Wizard

Wizards are immediately recognizable via their long flowing robes, their penchant for silly hats, and their enjoyment of violently murdering anyone unfortunate enough to be in the general proximity of them.

Some wizards are also capable of transmuting their consciousness into the body of another to effectively disguising themselves among the crew. In these instances you should be on the alert for any suspicious behaviour. A disguised wizard can still generally be identified by the trail of bodies they leave behind them.

An Overabundance of Magical Phenomenon

Occasionally members of the Wizards Federation have been known to assault the station relentlessly or even enmasse, sending multiple wizards to a single NanoTrasen facility.

In this instance wizards are generally recognizable by being the only people aboard the station not screaming, begging for their lives, or burning to death on the floor.

Practitioners of the Occult

While the Chaplain leads the charge in providing NanoTrasen staff with acceptable belief systems and practices, there are those who serve a darker calling.

Whether driven mad by their lust for power or via the corruption of a eldritch bluespace entity, practitioners of the occult - or "cultists" - will do anything in their power to forcibly convert non-believers; corrupting their minds with the ultimate goal of either bringing their "god" into this world, or spreading their influence further.

The Cult of Nar'Sie

Perhaps the most dangerous of any cult aboard the station, cultists of Nar'Sie are generally secretive. They can most often be recognized via their love of blood runes, sacrifice, book-club sessions, as well as the abduction of their fellow crew members. Like members of any cult, followers of Nar'Sie will shout archaic praises to their deity when they ingest holy water.

The Cult of Pyr'kus

Followers of an ancient being of fire, cultists of Pyr'kus want little more than to see the world set ablaze in honour of their god. Unlike members of the cult of Nar'Sie, Pyr'kus cultists draw their runes in ash and fire and make heavy use of flame motifs. Chanting about their appreciation for fire and a devout love for arson may be signifiers that someone is a cultist of Pyr'kus.

The Cult of The Reaper

Chiefly concerned with the slaughter of all living things aboard the station, members of The Cult of The Reaper are known for their violent and often homicidal tendencies. Whilst not particularly different in their function and organization from the Cult of Nar'Sie, cultists of The Reaper can often be recognized via their love for slathering the station walls and floors with blood.

The Cult of Lag'Sie

Perhaps the least understood of any of the cults, no living member of this organization has never been successfully captured or recorded. However, cultists of Lag'Sie can be recognized for their ability to cause bluespace time dilations, affecting one's perception of reality and the speed at which many actions can be performed.

Other Cults

The following groups are also officially recognized as cults, and should be approached with extreme caution.

Messa Rises
Galactic Gate
The Church of the Holy Steve Jobs
Scientology

Shadowlings

Shadowlings are entities of dubious origin that seek to expand their ever-growing following in order to reach a state known as "Ascendancy".

Known for their ability to actively subvert and brainwash crewmembers via the introduction of malignant brain tumours, they often operate via proxy. Forcing their thralls to do all the work for them, they are averse to all forms light and steadily burn in the presence of even the most meager candle.

Shadowling Thralls

Shadowling thralls are crewmembers which have been forcibly brainwashed by a shadowling, often serving as scouts and minions in the ever-growing folds of a shadowling's following. They can be recognized by their tight and drawn features, their refusal to remove gas masks or other face coverings, and their constant assault on every light source in the vicinity. Shadowling thralls usually don't speak, preferring to instead wordlessly approach their victims before stunning them and dragging them off to their masters.

They are seldom found outside of maintenance or too far from a maintenance airlock.

Shadowling Ascendants

Shadowling ascendants are immediately recognizable by the glowing runes covering their body along with their love of floating and violently imploding any who dare cross their path, question their authority, or give them a funny look. As there is no known mechanism to successfully destroy an ascendant outside of nuclear detonation, it is recommended to avoid them at all costs.

Revolutionaries

Revolutionaries are mutinous groups of individuals who attempt to overthrow the established command of NanoTrasen facilities through violent uprising.

Identifying Revolutionaries

A key sign of revolutionaries are groups of crew members from various, unrelated departments hanging out in large uncoordinated mobs demanding either higher pay or actively attempting to murder the heads of staff. Often only a few members of these groups will be truly be in charge, making use of a handheld flash to convert others to their cause.

Head revolutionaries can be recognized via their mental resilience to mindshield implants and their love of using their flash on random people in the hallway.

Malfunctioning AI

While AI's are a useful tool designed to help manage and run NanoTrasen facilities, they are occasionally prone to errors.

A malfunctioning AI is an AI which has not been actively subverted, but has encountered an error which has interfered with the proper operation of its Law Manager subsystem.

Identifying a Malfunctioning AI

Malfunctioning AI's can be identified by the presence of multiple unhacked electrocuted doors, your coworker being crushed in an airlock, the station cyborgs beating people to death, or the air suddenly being siphoned out of the room you're presently standing in. If the doors to your department have been suddenly bolted and you're having a hard time breathing, this is a surefire identifier that the AI is malfunctioning.

Blob

A blob is a malignant entity which utilizes organic hosts in order to propagate its own existence, often infecting crew members aboard NT vessels with its spores in order to do so.

Identifying Blobs

Blobs can commonly be identified from afar by a sizzling popping sound, or a retching vomit-like noise. Key identifiers of blobs are long dendretic channels of blobby goo filling the corridors along with the presence of spores or even blobbernauts.

Blob Spores

Spores are the primary means by which a blob defends itself outside of its natural expansion. Spores can be identified via their ability to drift through the air and their relentless, unceasing attacks against any organism that approaches their master host. Spores have also been known to re-animate corpses, taking control of deceased crew members and forcing them to attack the living.

Blobbernauts

Blobbernauts can be recognized by both their shape and size, consisting of large two-armed masses capable of destroying walls and crushing bone. They are often relentless in their protection of their master host, stopping only when they've been destroyed or every organic in their sight is dead or dying.

Vampires/Nosferatu

Vampires are individuals who have been possessed by a malicious redspace entity that has taken control over their body. There is no known means to separate such an entity from its host.

Identifying Vampires

Vampires are recognizable largely by the ability to stun their fellow crew members by glaring at them and their eternal thirst for blood. Vampires are also capable of screeching and breaking all glass in their vicinity and even turning to mist to escape any would-be attacker. They can be recognized via their aversion to space, holy water, the chapel, and their ability to summon bats and infect their victims with life-threatening afflictions.

Abductors

Abductors are agents of unknown origin who appear to be genetically superior relatives of the Grey species who commonly find work aboard NanoTrasen vessels.

Employing a variety of methods and advanced technology, abductors - as their name suggests - are responsible for a variety of abductions and unethical experiments performed on NT personnel.

Identifying Abductors

Abductors can be identified by their inability to communicate and silly looking helmets. While abductors are capable of disguising themselves, their digital camouflage doesn't hold up to close scrutiny which is one of the key methods of identifying them. Though their true goals are unknown, reports indicate that they are chiefly interested on the dissection of the human body and the implantation of psuedo-organs. They are known to use a wide range of highly advanced technological equipment, their presence generally only known after their first surgical victim has been sent back to station.

Suddenly being stunned, cuffed, teleported, and strapped to a surgical table are a few of the signs that there may be abductors operating aboard your station.

Xenomorphs

Xenomorphs are apex predators that rely on organic hosts, infesting them in order to proliferate their kind throughout the galaxy. While extensive studies have been performed, their origin is unknown.

Identifying Xenomorphs

Xenomorphs can be identified via their purple carapaces and unusual body shape, along with their love for murdering and infesting everything in sight. Purple resin sprawling across the floor and the agonized screams of your crewmembers are good indicators of a xenomorph infestation.

Xenomorphs Queens

Queens are chiefly responsible for infesting organic hosts with their progeny and either expanding on an existing hive or starting a new one. They are large, slow, and dangerous. Another hallmark of a xenomorph queen is her inability to crawl through vents.

Xenomorph Hunters

Hunters are the most commonly encountered form of xenomorph, able to move at lightning fast speed and capable of pinning and dragging away unfortunate crew members. They can be recognized via their ability to pounce and their propensity for viciously clawing and stunning everything in sight.

Xenomorph Sentinels

Sentinels are the least commonly encountered xenomorph. Recognizable by the bright markings on their head, they are usually found in the vicinity of hives. They are notable for their ability to spit neurotoxin and melt airlocks and walls with powerful acid.

Xenomorph Drones

Drones are the precursor stage to Queens. Whilst they share many similarities with Queens, they are notably faster than them and are capable of crawling through vents.

Swarmers

Swarmers are small, mechanical entities of unknown origin which consume all non-organic matter they happen across; often driving NT personnel out of their workplace by making it uninhabitable.

They have been characterized as "station termites" and are responsible for 27% of Nanotrasen's station maintenance costs.

Identifying Swarmers

Swarmers can be identified by their bright blue colouration, their heavy use of disablers and energy-based traps, as well as the ability to teleport disabled crew members away from them. Signs that swarmers may be on your station include but are not limited to; your coworker is trapped inside a window, you just fell over under a hail of disabler fire, or half your workstation is suddenly missing.

Cortical Borers

Borers are amorphous slug-like creatures which burrow into the ears of their hosts and inhabit the brain, with the ultimate goal of taking over their host.

While they have often been reported as "helpful", Cortical Borers are recognized as a hostile entity aboard NanoTrasen facilities and are to be handled with extreme caution.

Identifying Borers

Borers can be easily visually identified when they are on the ground, however they may be harder to detect when actively infesting a crew member. Signs that your coworker may be under the influence of a borer include abrupt bursts of energy, unusual behaviour, an aversion to sugar, binging on sugar, consistent muttering, or fits of screaming at no one in particular.

Terror Spiders

Terror Spiders are the result of a Syndicate experiment that combined spider and Xenomorph DNA. At some point it is believed they escaped containment,or purposely released, and occasionally find their way aboard an NT facility and subsequently infest it.

Identifying Terror Spiders

Terror spiders can be immediately recognized by their size along with their unusual colouration. Key identifiers of terror spiders are that a spider is presently drinking your blood, eggs have been laid in your chest cavity, your workplace is suddenly covered in webs, or your arachnophobic coworker is now crying in the corner.

Identifying Antagonists