The Syndicate

Transportation and trade were developed across the galaxy in the second phase of the Great Expansion, mostly by small entrepreneurs who saw the opportunity to carry the goods of the mining companies who would rather contract than do it themselves. Any person with some money to invest could finance a ship and carry workers, goods or minerals, or even set shop in one mining operation. In many ways, trading and transportation companies’ success created piracy in the galaxy. Any ship travelling alone in the vast distances between worlds was an easy prey with substantial reward. Simultaneously, it was the pirate threat that gave the Syndicate its first breath of life, as entrepreneurs joined forces to try to move the government into increasing its investment in protecting trade and commerce. Once it became clear the Terra Government had no means to police more than a small part of the vast expanse, a cooperative was formed, and the Syndicate was founded. Now composed of thousands of members, private and companies of all sizes, the Syndicate administration itself became a huge business that manufactures its ships for its associates and manages its space stations affiliated to them in one form or another. From the outside, the Syndicate now looks like a single company spread throughout the whole galaxy.

Disposition: From its roots the Syndicate has been dedicated to protect its members and spread business. It comes naturally to support all civilian initiatives and the expansion of human endeavours, as the more people colonise the more market there is. Some attribute the opening of the Venghi, after the period that succeeded the war, to the Syndicate’s efforts to incorporate them into the galaxy’s economy, which caused the Children of Terra to put distance between themselves and the Syndicate. At the same time, the Proxima Mining Company is a long term business partner of the Syndicate. Whatever the Syndicate’s real agenda, they keep strong public relations supporting their business and perform the critical role of maintaining almost all commerce in the galaxy viable.

Ship Design: Clean and bright, the Syndicate put significant effort into making their ships appealing to the average of human society. They pick no particular colour or scheme that can cause any reaction, preferring bare white and silver surfaces, with small details in some vivid colour or black. Mostly the ships have delicate curves along long lines, avoiding any visual pollution. They are aerodynamic, even when not intended to travel in the atmosphere. Weapons are hidden, unless the ship’s purpose is combat. The Syndicate employs: transporters (Freighters and Passengers), cruise ships (Pleasure) and escorts (Interceptors, Fighters, Gunships and Destroyers). The Syndicate spaceships’ core is transportation and space cruise, and so is the bulk of their ships. Yet a sizable force of smaller combat ships are always around to protect business. Most impressively, the Syndicate has its class of Destroyers that, although in very small numbers, are exceedingly effective in deterring trouble around priority locations. The larger ships owned by the Syndicate are Cruiser size.

#### Related Perks

* Trader
* White Collar
* Commerce

#### Ships

* Squire A22
* Defender 6-300
* Magellan 10-10
* Beatle 8-42
* Guardian 4-77
* Pelican H44
* Marco F07
* Horizon A03
* Sanctuary

#### Unique Equipment

* Trader Codex 3.0
* Large Ion Reactor
* Thorium Scanner
* Syndicate Scanner
* Impulse Drive Mk.V
* Heavy Impulse Drive Mk.V
* Capital Impulse Drive Mk.V
* Syndicate Expansion Module
* Xentronium Armor