[hider=The Golden Sun Syndicate]
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[center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjEyOC5kMWIwMzIuVkdobElFZHZiR1JsYmlCVGRXNGdVM2x1WkdsallYUmwuMA/the-godfather.regular.webp[/img][/center][hr]
[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/790998f7-251d-41d4-808a-3ee10d42ceac.png[/img]
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[center][i]Or, on a pile throughout Sable, a Credit-Chip in Its Splendor Or and Argent.[/i][/center]
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[center][b]Mood music[/b]: [b][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifRGnKWK58U]Wilbert Roget II & Jesse Harlin - Nar Shaddaa, The Playground (SW:TOR OST)[/url][/b][/center]
[b]Names[/b]: [b][color=D1B032]The Golden Sun[/color][/b], [b][color=D1B032]The Consortium[/color][/b], [b][color=D1B032]The Syndicate[/color][/b], [b][color=D1B032]The Gold Cartels[/color][/b], [b][color=D1B032]Reavers[/color][/b], [b][color=D1B032]Junkers[/color][/b], [b][color=D1B032]Trash Kings[/color][/b]

[b]Map Location[/b]: The GS is a mostly mobile people flanking the major powers along Tar Yrra's FTL-highways (the map's [b][color=D1B032]yellow sectors[/color][/b]).

[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/3f991f67-3ace-4a51-8e5a-8edf02a829e6.png[/img][/center]
[b]Government Type[/b]: [b]Mafia State[/b]. The Golden Sun is a Consortium of vagrant fleets ruled by a Syndicate of cartels and oligarchs. Shady deals, bribes, lawfare, and some tactical application of violence every now and again, serve to maintain order. Its five sector bosses, simply known as 'The Five', meet sporadically to settle disputes and coordinate operations. Though infighting between them is common enough, they do keep a united front towards the outside world for their own protection and profit. The Five (listed by their sectors, from left to right on the map) are:
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[*] [b]Pa[/b]: one of the two non-humans of the Five, this 'Slugg' is valued highly for his far-reaching trade connections.
[*] [b]Shade[/b]: the fearsome spymistress of whom nobody knows her true name or history. 
[*] [b]Au Rodan[/b]: a paranoid who attends meetings only by hologram, but is tolerated due to his well-managed salvaging business.
[*] [b]Merav-Yla[/b]: once-princess of a destroyed planet, she has practically appropriated an entire sector for her people.
[*] [b]Duuk Dremal[/b]: also known as 'Ironfist', this cyborg Vrunak warlord is The Five's longest sitting member due to his, well, iron fisted rule.
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[b]Demographics[/b] (approximate):
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[*] [b]Ethnic Composition[/b]:
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[*] 65% [b]Baseline-humans / near-humans[/b] (i.e. evolved to exotic environments)
[*] 30% [b]Xeno-species[/b] (a wide variety of non-humans, but mostly [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5575515]Vrunak(-Nek)[/url] and some Sluggs (see info-box below))
[*] 5% [b]Digital Intelligences[/b] (droids and systems at various degrees of specialization and autonomy)
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[*] [b]Social Composition[/b]:
[list]
[*] 70% [b]Drifters[/b]: Remnants, refugees and outcasts from other civilizations. Drifters usually get by having some private enterprise, through bartering, by vagranting between ships and stations to do odd jobs and labour, or through conscriptions into salvage, smuggling, mercenary, privateering, or blockade- and hazardspace-running crews.
[*] 20% [b]Guilders[/b]: Those who have joined to work for a Guild-Cartel. Their income is more stable, and they tend to stay at one station for longer periods of time, doing shore-work or on remote postings, but at the cost of becoming more involved with the (more or less) underhanded elements of the Syndicate. Most well-known of these are the Mining and Merchant Guilds.
[*] 10% [b]'Borgs / 'Tekkers[/b]: A subculture within the Syndicate of extensive (and [i]expensive[/i]) cyber- and biotech augmentation. These are often highly sought after for various high-tech work, for example when it comes to hazardous environments, mechanics and digital systems, and mercenary work at the most extreme.
[*] 1% [b]The Inner Syndicate[/b]: The 1% elite and ruling class, made up of the wealthiest and most ruthless individuals in the Syndicate and their inner circle. The Five are at the head of these.
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[hider=Sluggs]
[b][url=https://www.deviantart.com/snowsoulls/art/Organic-Ew-colored-100562226]Sluggs[/url][/b] are a relatively rare, self-centered species which saw opportunity in establishing connections with the Syndicate. Their bodies are run through with their equivalent of brain matter, capable of communicating and controlling their technology through psychic connections. Their psychic ability stems from their evolution on their swamp planet, where they used it to detect hidden dangers and communicate with each other. From youth on they develop extensive psychological mechanisms that allow them to hide or cover-up information and intentions, which protects them against similar psychics. They guard the location of their homeworld almost religiously, and though they are looked upon with distrust, their psychic abilities make them a powerful ally within the Syndicate when it comes to inter-species communication (read: lie detection, interrogation, and hypnotic suggestion). Due to this (and a fair share of nepotism), they are often found in the Syndicate's mid-to-higher ranks.

They do not have a 'proper' or preferred inter-species-name, as their psychic name cannot simply be transmitted between species upon first contact, and often defaults to the concept which they most remind the connectee of. In humanity's case this happened to be simply 'Slug'. The name stuck. Alternative names used within the Syndicate are 'Damn Slug', 'Alien Slug', or 'Alien Scum' (though this, confusingly, is also the name the Sluggs tend to use for other species).
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[b]Military[/b] (representative, non-exhaustive):
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[*] [b][url=https://www.deviantart.com/johnsonting/art/Frontier-Buccaneers-505277437]Mercenary Buccaneers[/url][/b]: The Syndicate relies on mercenary networks instead of an organized military, and hit-and-run tactics and ambush boarding operations more so than full-frontal warfare. Crews range from the Dread Corsairs (boarding, shock troops) and Blackstars (heavy armor, pilots) to the Ghosts of Axura (stealth, recon) and the Maco Blue-Masks (psychological warfare).
[*] [b][url=https://www.deviantart.com/warmock/art/Star-Wars-Rebel-Mobile-Spaceport-Front-845022880]Scavenged Vessels / 'Uglies'[/url][/b]: the images of the Syndicate that will come to mind for most people are its fleets of roaming 'Uglies', kitbashed ships made from salvage, tributes and bargain buys. Being the public face of the Syndicate, most are designed and done up with various holographics to attract customers for their pleasurables and bazaars of goods and services, more so than for outright piracy.
[*] [url=https://www.deviantart.com/warmock/art/Star-Wars-V-36-Sabre-NewTextures-847777270][b]Cutlass IRD Ships / 'Cutters'[/b][/url]: sturdy craft originally mass-produced for 'Intercept - Reconnaisance - Defense', but are also often equipped with plasma cutters and tow-harpoons (and unique paintjobs) for mining and salvage.
[*] [b][url=https://www.deviantart.com/warmock/art/Star-Wars-Beldon-Class-front-845282867]Mod-barge[/url][/b]: Most of the Syndicate's ships are made to be modular in some way. The Mod-barges are the pinnacle of that, capable of being configured into carriers, refineries, weapons platforms, or transports depending on their [url=https://travellerrpgblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/d-is-for-dropship.html]containerized attachments[/url]. Because of this, they may not be as specialized as vessels of the great powers, but they are cheap and numerous, and thus easily replaceable.
[*] [b][url=https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/space/spaceship/mobile-shipyard]Ripperships / 'Rippers'[/url][/b]: Salvage and mining ships usually crewed by conscripted drifters, equipped with magnetic grapplers, plasma cutters, and boarding craft. Some of these are commandeered by fully independent A.I. which have willingly aligned themselves with the Syndicate for salvage and trade rights (also affectionately known as 'Mechavores').
[*] [b][url=https://www.deviantart.com/leew96/art/Tapani-class-Assault-Frigate-906330761]Disruptor Cruisers[/url][/b]: Ships armed with massive electron beams, designed to overload and disable enemy ships' electrical systems to make them easy pickings, or to create an opportunity to escape.
[*] [b][url=https://heartoftempest.artstation.com/projects/9N9PWR]AT-UM's[/url][/b]: rugged All-Terrain 'Ugly' vehicles that have been repurposed in various ways, from mobile base units, to temporary starports and refueling stations, mining rigs or troop transports. UM thus [i]definitely[/i] stands for 'Utility Mech', and not for 'Ugly M**********r')
[*] [b][url=https://www.deviantart.com/agent-traitor/art/Merchant-Station-888740238]FTL-Towable Base Stations[/url][/b]: Though there are permanent Syndicate bases and settlements, their arguably most important hubs of action are pack-up-and-go asteroid bases and orbital platforms which are FTL-towable and often strategically positioned near war-torn zones or along the more dangerous trade routes for easy access and interception. 
[*] [b][url=https://www.deviantart.com/nomadafirefox/art/Star-Wars-Hutts-Cruiser-I-Interdictor-Ship-Brea-976585268]Interdictors[/url][/b]: Rare, specialized ships that are basically massive antennae with only one function: to try and force oncoming ships out of FTL by creating noisy turbulences in FTL-spacetime that trick navi-computers into emergency-braking. Due to their high energy demands, they can only fire short bursts before recharging. Usually deployed for fleet protection, shakedowns and ambushes.
[*] [b][url=https://www.deviantart.com/adamkop/art/Star-Wars-Hutt-Frigate-915854075]Staryachts[/url][/b]: The most luxurious fabrications belonging to the Syndicate are these Staryachts, often used by VIP and their organizing members, and equipped to the teeth with the most high-grade defenses.
[*] [b][url=https://www.artstation.com/artwork/R39A8A]Cybeasts[/url][/b]: predators genetically un-lifted from a (previously) intelligent (possibly [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5568370]Daxini[/url]) species. They are often found in animal fighting arenas, but are sometimes also cybernetically augmented and used as remotely mind-controlled guard- and war-dogs.
[*] [b][url=https://www.deviantart.com/xizerthegrey/art/TIE-Raptor-in-orbit-948308267]Info-drones[/url][/b]: These probe-drones are often disguised as asteroids and scattered whenever a fleet goes through an area to scan planetary systems, and intercept or jam communications. With these, the Syndicate has developed an intelligence, communications, and subterfuge network that might well rival those of more major players.
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[b]History[/b]: The Golden Sun, or as they are also known: the Consortium, has a patchwork history, having amalgamated over the centuries from peoples hit by disastrous developments along their star systems, ranging from battles between great civilizations, entire star empires falling, and even hyper-trade lanes collapsing. Like many, the Consortium had humble origins with the Great Fall of Tar Yrra, but every Reclamation War since has added more to their ranks, growing into a civilization of its own. Pirate gangs and organized crime families quickly rose to the top to shape its governing Syndicate, and though most of the Consortium's population (and clientele) gets by well enough without much trouble, things gets shadier the more one rises in rank and profits, and loyalty and betrayal become a matter of life and death. The Syndicate is ruthless in its survival ethos, and never quite stops roaming (for to stay still is to become vulnerable and invite further disaster), and skirts the edges of conflict zones to profiteer off of all sides, engaging in trade and services that may otherwise be frowned upon in their client civilizations, as well as protection racketeering, mining and salvaging in post-battle and hazardous environments (using shell companies that make up most of their 'legal' services), info brokering, bounty-hunting, and -sometimes, with a special price tag to match- special ops. To the Syndicate, Tar Yrra represents a payday of mythic proportions - an actual Treasure Planet - and they are [i]very[/i] eager to get in on the action.

[center][sup][b]Flag image made with[/b]: [b][url=https://flag-creator.com/]Flag-Creator[/url][/b] | [b]Header font[/b]: [b][url=https://www.1001fonts.com/the-godfather-font.html]The Godfather Font, by randombell, on 1001Fonts[/url][/b][/sup][/center][hr]
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[hider=Roleplay Summary]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5591202][b][1][/b][/url]: The Five sector bosses of the Golden Sun Syndicate discuss business, including rumours of the Supremites gearing up for war, and how they might use this to gain influence and profits in the affected star systems. Some weeks later, in one of the Pauper Fleets, Rasan Do Csina is drafted into an expedition which, unbeknownst to him, will be sent out to scout along the Supremite warpath under pretense of exploring and envoying for settlement locations.
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