The Navigator Houses

All of the The Navigator Houses offer loyalty to no single galactic power, usually deciding to migrate to the power that would pay them the most. A navigator house could be as small as one with a few ships or a single for the smallest, while the biggest could have hundreds of thousands of ships with naval escorts.
Out of all of the powers that the biggest houses serve are The Thoria Empire and The Northern Corporate Hegemony each of these powers being able to pay them obscene amount of privilege and money. A perfect example is House Corina which is considered the most powerful of the navigator houses. House Corina possesses diplomatic immunity thus its ships can roam across most of the galaxy unimpeded, it also has millions of ships housed by space stations that they all but own. House Corina pays loyalty to none, even to the empire. Despite their questionable loyalty they are still highly respected in the Thoria Empire gaining 15% of the empires contracts for such work.
Navigator houses are unique because they are similar to nobility of the pre-interstellar age. Most of their power, after a certain point, does not come from the contracts they get to map the stars, Their true power comes from the immense amount of space stations, trade stations, and other infrastructure of which they own massive amounts of shares. In the Thoria Empire, if it is not a military installation 95% of all space infrastructure, except communication stations, are owed in partly if not wholly by a Navigator House. To keep this great danger in check The Emperor plays them against each other, often supporting feuds and semi-wars between the truly powerful houses. 
The Navigator houses understand their unique position among the powers across the universe thus while they can get away with an incredible amount of criminal activity they still do not try and truly infuriate a galactic power. With the War of a Hundred Bloody Stars being a perfect example of their hubris becoming dangerous.
Category:Unfinished