Cartel

The Wiseguy
"You owe me one."

Even in the 22nd century, there are some businesses the law just can't contain. Don't cross the family - they know who you are.

What is now the Cartel claims its roots in the organized crime of the past, from the Tongs to the Cosa Nostra to the Yakuza. Z-G allowed not only the best and brightest, but the cunning and ruthless to migrate to space. Crime thrives in new frontiers, especially if organized around a code of silence and "honor among thieves." The Cartel has found it can exist comfortably among the planets and asteroids beyond the reach of the EGS.
Every member of the Cartel is expected to earn credits by whatever means necessary, then pay a percentage of this to a superior up the chain. Individuals are expected to obey their immediate superior in all things, and never to speak to any outsider about their rank, activities, or reveal another as a member of the Cartel.
At the highest level, the Cartel is run by godfathers and godmothers who are among the richest criminals in the Solar System, and who fight each other for lucrative territory and for types of illegal activity like gambling, loansharking, prostitution, drugs, biomodification, pirated software, stolen goods, weapons, space piracy, etc. At the lowest level, street punks and soldiers act as a distribution network and as local muscle doing the dirty work of intimidation, theft, smuggling, manufacturing, and the like. In between, wiseguys and captains run gangs that range from a few individuals to small armies, depending on the opportunity for illegal activity that exists in the local area. Fighting between rival godfathers and godmothers can lead to bloody clashes on planets, in orbitals and stations, and between ships in space. However, open war is usually avoided because it draws the attention of the Armada, Vanguard, and Cestus.
Membership in the Cartel is like being a part of a big family, each member of which holds a chaingun under the table at everyone else. There are rules, but rules are meant to be broken, especially if it means you get to eat the other guy's lunch.

Syndic Champion:
 Jiro "Chibi" Gon
Jiro Gon grew up in Darkside Station, and he knew he wanted to be a gangster the day his father, Hiro "Big Head" Gon, brought home a fancy moonrover. When Chibi asked where it had come from, Hiro took his son for a ride and showed him the remains of the rival gang that he'd exterminated. They'd double-crossed Big Head on a deal, and to save face the gangster don had been forced to retaliate. In the faces of the dead gangsters, twisted by the fear his father had put into them, Jiro saw his future.
Jiro got the nickname "Chibi" because he got out early after going to the penal facility for his first stint. In both the prison yard and the mines, he personally trounced anybody who showed the slightest disrespect to him. Seeing his talent and the potential profits therefrom, the Cestus zMarshal made Chibi an offer to join the official ZGXL federation. Now Chibi Gon fights in the Arena when he's not scheming to advance from Cartel soldier to a full-fledged captain with his own krewe.

Cartel Strongpoints: 

Darkside Station (moon),
Nemesis Station (Sun orbit),
Cove-392 (Asteroid Belt),
Xua Xua Station (Astroid Belt),
Cosa Nostra Station (Oort Cloud).




Base of Operations: Nemesis Station


Sphere of Operations:
 The Cartel runs its illegal rackets wherever it can, which means anywhere there are cracks in EGS military presence and law enforcement. They have a vast smuggling network that operates openly in the Grange, but more secretively the closer it gets to Armada centers of power. Every large settlement of non-military people (and some of the more remote or corrupt military bases) is sure to have Cartel gangsters and wiseguys engaging in whatever scams they can think up to make credits and thus gain prestige.


Relations Analysis:

Hostile: Armada, Cestus, Monzon Ezut, Paragon, Solon, Thesper 

Rival: Avatar, Mummer, Savant, Terran, Vanguard

Friendly: Androgyne, Consortium, Exarch, Exotic, Freaker, Lunar, Null Foundation, Omniclone, Protostar, Sleeper, Trancer, Virago
Ally: Mavryk, Orbital, Skrag

Power Levels (1-10) 

EGS Influence: 1

Firepower: 7

Respect: 8

Renown: 6

Syndic Drives: Cool, Force, Pride

Syndic Flaws: Reckless, Stubborn, Vengeance