Kestrel

With a length of just over 9 inches long, this stealthy weapon is perfectly suited for concealed carry by skilled operatives. Kestrel sabers were created to be highly adaptable and versatile. Alone or in pairs, these are highly effective instruments. Alone, a Kestrel can be wielded with either one hand or two. The weight distribution of the hilt facilitates both styles of use. As a pair, they make incredible dual wield weapons or combine them to make an agile staff. Kestrels are compatible with any of our staff couplers.

The blade emitter is vented and features an angled emitter shroud. The angled shroud not only looks striking, but it offers protection without sealing the heat vents. This underpinning philosophy of "form follows function" can be seen throughout the Kestrel's design.

As is customary on Raptor-class sabers, this saber features a step-down underneath the emitter with grooves for grip. Proper hand placement is key in the use of any melee weapon and this choke point provides positive feedback for your leading hand.

The lower grip of the Kestrel has a superb gripping surface composed of 12 individual grooves running along the vertical axis of the saber. These grooves are placed in a hexagonal pattern and create an excellent gripping surface. The orientation of the grooves allows the saber to have an overall slender profile without compromising control.

-Sobrias Lain, Information Broker, Clan Ronistra

There are several ways a Clan can build renown for themselves: victory in battle, accumulated wealth, political power, military might, great deeds by prominent members - and many more. However, some Clans would prefer not to be known at all, for their practiced trade is something best left unspoken.

The Ronistra Clan was one such family, and indeed, before the Battle of the Nibian Moon, most in the galaxy, upon hearing the name, would ask 'Roni-who?'

Ronistrans would describe themselves as "Information Brokers". If you need to know anything about anybody, Clan Ronistra can deliver ... for a price. This is all well and good and if the information you seek does not actually exist, this clan could manufacture it for you ... if you so desire ... again, for a price.

Work of this nature involves a great deal of deception, infiltration, illusion, and manipulation. Of course, the very best operatives for this type of work are those who can command the living force. Work like this requires subtlety, which is why these operatives created the Kestrel as their sidearm and while it is a most effective weapon, it is one of last resort. These operatives use the force to apply their trade almost exclusively. The force has a powerful influence on the minds of others. After all, it is much easier to spy on a CEO if you can make her think you are her pet targ.

For over a millennia, the Ronistra Clan operated out of the Nibian star system on Nibia Prime. To outsiders, this was just an agrarian planet whose main export was hyberian wheat and keeba root. With no strategic significance to speak of, the Ronistrans lived in relative peace and prosperity while their operatives plied their trade throughout the galaxy.

Periphery worlds, planets located in the outer rim of the galaxy such as Nibia Prime, enjoy a great deal of autonomy and freedom from the ruling powers of the Inner Sphere. This also means territorial disputes are left for these worlds to settle on their own. While peace reigns in the galaxy between the major factions, in the countless worlds of the outer rim, there is always war somewhere. Eventually, war came to Nibia when the Surylians tried to colonize what they saw as an undefended world rich in food and labor.

Surylian forces landed on the Nibian Moon and set up a staging base for an invasion of the homeworld. The Ronistra operatives quickly went to work to defend their home planet, but not in the conventional sense.

"Information Brokers" aren't exactly known for having interstellar navies capable of fending off invasions from determined aggressors. And while the force wielding Ronistrans could easily hold their own in combat, they could not defeat an entire army by themselves.

The Surylian foothold on the Nibian Moon went completely unopposed for weeks, then quickly fell into chaos and civil war when it was discovered that the second in command of the Surylian forces was planning to relieve the Grand Admiral of his command and assume the role of Supreme Commander. Meanwhile, the Grand Admiral was planning on having his 2nd in command imprisoned for conspiracy. Furthermore, the General of the ground forces was planning a mutiny because she learned the Surylian Senate issued orders to the Fleet to make sure she died in the ground invasion and was replaced with one of their own.

Of course, none of this was true, the Information Brokers were just applying their trade. The General of the ground invasion was victorious in her quest, as was predestined. She took the fleet back to her home planet to confront the Senate ... however, the Senate had gotten intel that the General was coming to seize supreme power over their world. The resulting civil war rages to this day.

News of what happened on the Moon of Nibia quickly spread through the Holonet and caught the attention of the major intelligence agencies of the Imperium and Sovereignty. The agents of these organizations are not fools and could clearly see the fingerprints of a covert operation all over that moon. As impressed as they were by the skill of the Ronistrans, the Circle and the Enclave decided that operatives of that caliber could not continue without oversight. Members of the clan were given the choice of joining a major faction or discontinuing their trade. Many joined, many did not. Those who did not join said they would stop all their covert activities ... and they would never lie.