Kingsley
intergalactic bird of mystery
Name: The Merchant Fleet
Intent: To codify the less legitimate aspects of our Navy, as well as provide some insight into how the GA operates.
Membership Requirement: A ship (either as captain or crew), and an aim to misbehave
Size: Very Large (makes up a not insignificant percentage of all Alliance trade and protection)
Equipment: Varied (WIP)
Codex Links:
Grand Captain Cei Kyros - de facto Merchant Fleet head honcho
Outback Irregulars - Merchant Fleet's shock troops
Roster:
Kingsley
[member="Kairon Rees"]
[member="Raze Lyter"]
[member="Keric Dynt"]
[member="Aeshi Tillian"]
Signature Tag: N/A
Description:
The Fleet
One of the largest third party organizations within the Alliance in terms of influence across its space, and quite possibly one of the biggest collections of somewhat independent spacers in the galaxy, if the Galactic Alliance Defense Force represents the military might of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, then the Merchant Fleet represents the awesome power of its trade arm. Once a ragtag coalition and now a galactic superpower, the heavy participation of corporate interests and PMCs created a natural environment in the early days of resistance against the One Sith for the Merchant Marines to find their niche and flourish. When peace time finally came, however, most citizens of even the Alliance expected the outlaws to fade into the footnotes of history and return to their roots.
Only, to everyone's continual amazement, they didn't.
Owing to the vision and passionate efforts made by several both within High Command and the much more nebulous Merchant Fleet upper hierarchy, the mercenary organization instead transformed itself into a highly effective, pseudo-nationalized freight transport empire, as well as providing several other services like renting out trained escorts with reliable crews and even investing into an even more fearsome cabal of pirate hunters who also offer their services for sector defense. Since more or less the liberation of Coruscant, influencers within the Fleet have worked tirelessly to position the ragtag coalition as an essential part of of the arteries that make up the Alliance's spacelanes.
While there are still a few old war dogs around from the days of the founding, and most Merchant Marines can take care of themselves to a greater or lesser degree, the bulk of the modern Merchant Fleet these days is made up simply of honest traders looking to earn a living, find some protection, and maybe give finding a place to belong in civilized space one last chance.
The Smugglers' Alliance
Although the founding members of the Smugglers' Alliance certainly lived up to their name, these days it is seen more as an affectionate nickname for the by and large honest independent haulers and traders that make up the vast majority of the fleet's assets. While the Alliance has relatively few laws concerning transport of goods through its spacelanes (spice and military grade gun smuggling among the few exceptions), it does expect all its citizens and visiting foreign nationals to respect the trade laws of its member planets. The Merchant Fleet publicly prides itself on adhering to these restrictions at least while in friendly space, leading it to be known as the "Ex-Smugglers' Alliance" by some.
However, despite this outward appearance of regained legitimacy, rumors persist that Alliance officials have assured the people have no basis in reality, of a much smaller inner circle of old war vets and young up and comers that show promise and get recognized for it, who are willing to take on almost any cargo and get it to anywhere, even Alliance space, without regard for the local laws and regulations. It is unknown how one would go about even finding such a club within a club, or if it even exists at all.
The Privateers
The other major faction among many smaller factions that make up the Merchant Marines are the Alliance Privateers. Composed of those with prior experience at paramilitary space combat operations, legitimate or otherwise, who have developed an industry not only providing escort work throughout Alliance space, but also one based around the Defense Force's continuing policy of offering Writs or "Letters" of Marque and Reprisal on a discretionary basis to those who have proven themselves capable of hunting down and dealing with both criminals and potential enemy forces within the limits of Federation law. This means that, if properly credentialed and authorized, patrolling sector space is not only a civic duty, it has the potential to be very profitable.
These two subfactions, the Outriders (escorts) and the Corsairs (privateers), enjoy a friendly working relationship as there is much overlap between the two, but there does remain a bit of a rivalry between them as members of either tend to think they provide the more critical role in terms of home defense.
While more profitable than hauling cargo, the work of both groups is much more dangerous, and it is also much more complicated to become properly credentialed. In essence acting as representatives of the Federation every time they encounter a potentially hostile vessel, it is important that the crews be vetted at least enough that the Defense Force can be reasonably sure that they won't use such invested authority to terrorize or otherwise harass innocents. Treated almost similarly to Alliance military personnel, all privateers are required to sign contracts stipulating that they understand that the penalties for gross violations of this code of conduct can be extreme.
The Caravan
Also just known as the Fleet, the Caravan goes by a variety of other nicknames as well (the Convoy and the Armada just to name a few), but it refers specifically to the main flotilla of registered Merchant Marine haulers that float together at a crawl through the Alliance spacelanes when those within it are waiting for another job but don't have the time or don't want to bother heading for the nearest spaceport. Over the years, an entire subindustry has built up around providing entertainment and service for these vessels, and while the majority of the ships in formation belong to haulers and escorts, there is a sizable minority of tender ships, pleasure yachts, and fuel barges dedicated entirely to making credits off the freighters big and small constantly jumping in and out of hyperspace all around them.
Many of these ships have been in formation so long that they are starting to become interconnected, creating almost a sort of piecemeal space station. This strange, gangly looking phenomenon as well as the sheer array of different ship models in the flotilla proper from smaller YT models to the heavy bulk freighters have led the armada to its other major nickname, Spider.
