Nils Daerden

As the first and only crime boss in history that managed to unite the entire Gallian criminal underworld under his banner, any law enforcement and intelligence agencies around Europa that is worth their salt have at least an entire shelf worth of files on Nils Daerden.
Born in the most violent and impoverished neighborhoods of Gallian capital city of Randgriz, very little is known about Daerden’s early childhood, with rumors in underworld ranging from ‘The unwanted illegitimate child of a nobleman that was abandoned in the streets’ to ‘Runaway orphan who was forced to kill his own abusive parents’. Making it impossible to know the truth, which was just the way he wanted it.
Throughout his childhood and teenage years, he had learned to survive and prosper through committing various petty crimes, and led a small gang of fellow street urchins. At age 16, he became involved with a number of small-time gangs, slowly rising through the ranks to become a ‘Man of Respect/Local Authority’ on the city’s seedy underbelly.
When EW2 broke out, Daerden enlisted in the militia, and was assigned to Squad 7 of the Gallian Militia's 3rd Regiment. During his time in the military, in a unit that was famously known for being full of colorful and eccentric characters, he kept mostly to himself and avoided any unnecessary social interaction with the rest of the unit (Especially any of the female members or the attached war correspondent, as he considers women to be nothing but distractions that 'gets in the way') at all cost. Regardless, he was known as an effective soldier and demolition expert, earning him a Crimson Heart citation for being wounded in battle, and a Bronze Arms decoration for the impressive kill count that he managed to rack up while defending a basecamp during the Battle for Fouzen.
His true rise to fame, however, came after the war, when he revealed the real reason why he enlisted in the militia: To learn urban warfare techniques first hand, which he could then teach other members of his gang after he returned from service, in preparation for a full-scale takeover of the underworld. In that, he succeeded, with him quietly observing and taking notes on his commanding officer, the now renowned Lieutenant Gunther, and his revolutionary application of small unit tactics during asymmetric engagements throughout the war.
Just as the rest of the country, the EW2 has taken a catastrophic toll on the existing criminal enterprises. Taking full advantage of the post-war chaos and the collapse of local authorities in many areas throughout the country, Daerden’s gang began an 8 months long campaign of hostile takeover known in the underworld as ‘The Great Crushing’: Though a long series of bloody turf wars, his gang systemically dismantle their much larger opponents and absorbed their wealth and power as their own. Doing so by isolating and destroying their organizations piecemeal from the bottom up, seizing control of his rival’s territories and assets by either killing or ‘persuading’ the underbosses to defect to him, then move their way up the chain of command until the once mighty crime bosses themselves were alone, isolated, and soon to be brutally murdered.
Step-by-step Daerden’s gang overwhelmed their rivals with their superior grasp on the use of violence, psychological warfare, and military style organization. Normally, the public would have reacted in both shock and horror at the wave of violent crimes caused by the underworld power grab, and the authorities would have taken action… If it wasn’t for the fact that the country had literally just lost 6% of it’s entire population, and was busy dealing with a year-long civil war almost immediately afterwards (A conflict that he most stayed out of. But focused on aiding the legal government on the condition that it profited him, without clearly casting his lot in with them). By the time that the government finally decided to take action, Daerden had purged virtually every single competitor who stood in his way, ultimately seeing his gang, now a full-scale criminal syndicate, reigning at the peak of Gallia's underworld, controlling every profitable illegal activity in the country such as drugs, illegal gambling, prostitution, smuggling, racketeering, etc.
When the Young Vanguards planned the country’s political and economic revival, even the most idealistic members realized that a tiny country such as Gallia have no hope of standing against the rest of the world unless she is united at all levels, even the criminal underworld. As such, the newly appointed prime minister clandestinely approached the new underworld kingpin, making him a necessary, if distasteful offer: The newly democratized administration will give tact approval of the syndicate’s activities, even paying them to do the dirty work of the government. As long as the criminal underworld under his control can self-regulate and avoid going anything too openly disruptive or corrupt, they can play an important part in, and reap the benefits of Gallia’s national revival.
In contrast to his highly flexible views on legality, Daerden was politically a staunch patriot with strong conservative views. As such, he agreed (When briefing his underbosses on this agreement, he explained it as an opportunity to ‘Own a few parliamentarians’). The deal would remain under the table, and the Archduchess never informed on it in order to maintain ‘plausible deniability’. Both sides would publicly step up their rhetoric against each other… While at the same time working together beneath the surface. Thus, even the criminal element of the country became a part of the national machine.
In the 20 years that followed, Daerden’s syndicate has lived up to their secret agreement with the government, with most of their profits generated from non-violent criminal operations. The most common being simple blackmailing and information brokering: With the organisation’s members infiltrating political parties, labor unions, and corporations in order to dig up scandals, then either blackmailing those involved, or selling the information to the highest bidder. As well as making the syndicate a lot of money, these blackmail operations also have the positive externality of keeping the upper-classes in Gallian society relatively honest and straight-laced in fear of getting publicly exposed or get blackmailed for the rest of their lives.
The syndicate also worked heavily in smuggling. To the east of Gallia, both the Imperial Remnant and the UEESR find themselves under heavy trade embargo from the economic juggernaut that is the Federation, making direct international trade very difficult. So, the syndicate do it for them using front companies, taking advantage of Gallia’s status as a neutral country (As long as what is being traded does not endanger the country’s national security). While also secretly smuggling in western fashion, alternative news sources, luxury food items, and media (especially movies, books, and pornography) from the outside world, to eager buyers in the deeply conservative Empire which looks down upon any 'distractions' from the national duty, and the UEESR which banned such products of ‘capitalist corruption’.
As part of their unofficial alliance with the Gallian government, the Daerden Syndicate also worked to suppress other ‘unauthorized’ criminal activity, under the pretext that it ‘makes honorable criminals look bad’. Thieves, murderers, and rapists are often caught and punished first by the Syndicate’s enforcers before the police can find and arrest them. They also prevent foreign criminal organizations from gaining a foothold in the country, fighting a never-ending battle within the shadow economy to prevent the rise of an outside competitor that can break their monopoly and the carefully created balance of power. So far, this has worked perfectly, since the early 1950s’, crime rates throughout most of the country has been so pathetically low that the police and local town watches have to put up posters and billboards reminding law abiding citizens that there are still petty criminal activity targeting them that happens from time-to-time.
With so much money coming in to the Syndicate’s coffers, Daerden has been smart with his wealth: By spreading it around, making sure all the right people get paid and stay paid. With him donating money to charity and other good causes such as opening orphanages for homeless children, giving out scholarships to gifted individuals from disadvantaged background so they can attend university, and even making himself a board member of the International Crimson Heart Society by buying them a large quantities of lifesaving medical equipment (With the ‘understanding’ that he will only show up when photos are taken for the ribbon cutting ceremonies, and not actually have a say in the operations of the society). With all the money, connections and goodwill making him effectively untouchable.
Another (very profitable) duty of the Syndicate is to augment the country’s Intelligence Community, alongside with the government agencies such as the National Security Service (internal security), Institute for Strategic Information (military intelligence), and the Ministry for Special Operations (overseas intelligence). Not only does the Syndicate’s smuggling networks and overseas crime groups being excellently placed for espionage, the lack of official connection with the Gallian government also allow them to serve as the ‘cleanup crew’ that does all the distasteful and dishonourable dirty work that the country cannot be publicly seen getting associated with, yet needs to be done.
In the Federation, an investment banker perished in a traffic accident while driving in a car with his family; An heir from one of the great families in Septentria with radical anti-darcsen sentiments losses all his fortunes; An arms deal gets canceled due to the lack of funding. One innocent men and his family died, and a major terrorist attack planned by the GRA government-in-exile was averted.
In the city of Yuell in central Gallia, the autistic son of a scientist was kidnaped and held hostage; Shortly afterwards, an ice cream machine salesman died from ‘food poisoning’, and the personal aid to the special military attaché in the UEESR embassy goes missing. A child gets traumatized for life, but an intelligence leak was foiled, and a spy ring broken.
In Randgriz, a phone call is made with instructions given ; Money exchange hands; And that evening, the fishes in the Vasel River gets well-fed. The Prime Minister looked out the window from his office, staring into the night sky while whispering a prayer, hoping that all the sacrifices endured, moral compromises made, and distasteful actions taken in the name of national security are not done in vain: So that the innocent may sleep soundly in their beds. And two decorated EW2 veterans may live a peaceful, happy life with their daughter, going out on hikes together to study flowers and insects. Unaware of the secret war hidden in the shadows, fought by ruthless, brutal, despicable professional dealers of death who keeps an endless vigil over the defence of the fatherland.
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