Syndicate

Summary

The Syndicate is a pseudo name for various terrorist cells as defined under Space Law. They have branches in most forms of operations, and consist mainly of either one-time workers or those in debt to the Syndicate. There is no current official 'head', but speculators have suggested that the group is run by a select group of 'boardroom executives' who are not publicly affiliated with any of the cells in The Syndicate. It is theorized, mainly by NT officials, that these executives belong to corporations in competition with NanoTrasen and are often in charge of funding contracts, missions, and overall management of the larger cells all in secrecy.

Backstory

The Syndicate was first comprised after the wide use and mass industrialization of plasma. Specifically after Nanotrasen became the main leader in the orange rush in comparison to all other companies in the plasma industry. The Syndicate was formed in secrecy by opposing conglomerates and corrupt politicians who had monetary interest. Of course the public face of the The Syndicate became the space pirates, privateers, and other offshoots taking contracts for money and/or out debt they owed to the crime organization. NanoTrasen quickly identified The Syndicate as their de facto enemy of the corporation, rather than an other legal corporation, and promptly started adjusting company values to deal with such an occurrence. It was also quickly theorized, within NT, that The Syndicate was no rag-tag pirate gang but rather a large scale orchestration of companies plotting against them.

At first, the Syndicate raids on NT vessels containing valuable cargo was not seen as anything out of the ordinary but rather just troublesome piracy. However, after multiple raids were done in nearby system, NT stepped up their security efforts and employed more tactics to ensure their cargo was not stolen or hijacked. It was not until a well place raid of the armory ship NTV Rubicon was breached and boarded by a well armed and trained assault team all donning matching combat gear of the same blood-red color did they realize there was a coordinated effort. It was also noted the armory ship was taking a secret route and it's location could've only been exposed by an intelligence leak. The importance of the raid was not only for the fact that NT realized there was a coordinated effort against them but also the supplies and money on the ship was the main push for the Syndicate to fuel their group and grossly expand their power and influence to combat NanoTrasen in the following years.

Over time, the Syndicate continued their raids on other Nanotrasen vessels which involved stealing equipment, money, and blueprints to company patented products that other competing companies started producing under different names. Eventually, NT rebounded back with their own force but the damage was done and the Syndicate was now a formidable force. This debacle has lead to a perpetual conflict in deep space between the two sides, mainly in areas of plasma mining and researching. The conflict, however, rarely being full out war but rather sabotaging, assassinations, theft, and other secretive espionage

Originally, NanoTrasen felt the Syndicate would be disposed of quite quickly once they uprooted and captured some of the pirate lords operating within the Syndicate but were dumbfounded to find that most of them had no knowledge of any higher hierarchy than themselves, and that some detonated themselves upon being captured. This meticulous process that was employed within the Syndicate, of keeping Syndicate chain of command and leaders in secrecy, kept NT in the dark of who was really behind the Syndicate at large.

NanoTrasen filed an official report to SolGov authorities about the Syndicate but has SolGov has given little response in dealing with the Syndicate. Mainly due to the fact that Syndicate operations against NT mostly took place within deep space, out of direct control of SolGov. SolGov simply took the report and labeled the Syndicate pirating NanoTrasen as the 'Deep Space Plasma Syndicate'.

In the latest course of events, the Syndicate have moved some operations away from just focusing on NanoTrasen and on to terrorizing colonies for new subjects, supplies, and other useful resources as well as taking out, or forcefully recruiting, nearby outlaw gangs for their use, and researching new technologies for their own benefit. All the while, they retain their position in deep space, normally referred as Null Space, to keep their pirating ways undisturbed by government forces in other systems.

Traitor Operatives

The Syndicate employs mostly low-level and dispensable agents to do their traitor objectives. Those who work for the syndicate this way are either doing it as a one-time thing due to desperately needing a sum of money, wanting to move up in the ladder, or are being blackmailed or threatened by the Syndicate into doing their work for them.

Undercover agents often have objectives to steal, kill, intimidate, or protect something the Syndicate shows interest in. While some thefts are for the Syndicate's own advancement, some thefts are purely to spite Nanotrasen. Those who find themselves in the scope of a syndicate agent have often had a hit ordered on them by someone, or show a threat to the Syndicate itself. Those who must be intimidated are most likely in debt to the Syndicate and must be reminded who owns them. Finally, those who must be protected are often people the Syndicate sees useful and must ensure they are kept alive.

Those who work as a traitor operative are often seen as disposable to some degree. While the equipment that can be provided can be dangerous if in the wrong hands, if an agent dies in the process of their objective and is not revived, few often care. That being said, those who return alive but have failed their objectives often face grave punishment.

Nuclear Operatives

When the Syndicate needs to send a message in the most explosive way possible, a team of nuclear operatives are deployed. Besides sending a message, outside parties may pay the Syndicate a great amount to ensure a station or ship is never heard from again.

Those who staff nuke teams are often experienced space pirates who have merged separate raid gangs into the Syndicate. Operatives are offered large amount of money split between surviving members should they succeed.

Unlike traitor agents, Nuclear Operatives have much time and money invested into them and therefore are expected to succeed, and those who fail are often hunted down and killed, should they not be already dead.

The bombs used by nuclear operatives are heisted from Nanotrasen ships, but unfortunately cannot come with the authentication disc, which is why the team must find the station's.

Strike Teams

The final tier of field attack units are the syndicate strike teams. Equipped with equipment rivaling a Nanotrasen Death Squad, they are sent in on only the highest profile missions, such as when a Death Squad is sent in but the Syndicate wish to recover the station for themselves. Only those who are some of the best trained and best disciplined are allowed into strike teams, the knowledge of which is unknown to even the higher people in the syndicate ladder.

Outsourcing contracts

When their amenities wont do or they wish to have someone else do their work, the Syndicate often outsources to other groups hostile to Nanotrasen to do various tasks. The Syndicate has been known to outsource to independent vampires, changelings, and sometimes even wizards who have exiled themselves from the federation. All payments and information are untracable, making it very difficult, if not impossible, for a standard investigation team to trace these beings back to the Syndicate. It's mostly assumed by NanoTrasen officials that these super natural beings of redspace are only terrorizing their high security stations rather than a small and non-secure back world colony because they are contracted by the Syndicate.

Dealings with Nanotrasen

While Nanotrasen officially classes the Syndicate as a terrorist group, confirmed members of which receiving the most extreme of punishments, some conspiracy theorists claim that the Syndicate and Nanotrasen regularly do backdoor deals, with varying objectives. It is claimed that Nanotrasen hires the Syndicate to preform acts such as murder or theft on their own crew, for their own advancement. However, there is no evidence of this at all besides conspiracy theorist rumors, and NanoTrasen vehemently deny this as they claimed, "The Syndicate are merciless thugs and we are doing everything within our power to deal with such a threat to the corporation and our employees." The Syndicate was unable to give an official response as no there is no official head of the Syndicate. However, a major Syndicate cell claimed they would never take the credits from that of 'greedy corporate devils'.