The Syndicate

From Shiptest Wiki
(Redirected from SUNS)

This is the approved revision of this page, as well as being the most recent.
Jump to navigationJump to search
The Syndicate
Basic Information
Official Name: The Syndicate Coalition
Other Names: The Syndicate, Syndies
Headquarters: N/A
Structure: Coalition
Denonym(s): Syndie
Founded: FSC-483

  • Largely fragmented and clashing
  • Wide-reaching across cultures and class
  • Ever-present disgust for Nanotrasen



“It was one of those rare moments that called individuals across cultures, across fields, across beliefs: all to unite against the Company that had grown so large. Whether its participants were passive or radical, each must ask themselves in the aftermath: what now?”
— Excerpt from the Solarian novel, Nanotrasen's Rise and Fall, published FSC-499

The Syndicate is a coalition formed on one core tenet: Nanotrasen must fall. However, during the Inter-Corporate Wars, both Nanotrasen and the coalition fought to a catastrophic, bloody stalemate. With each side having exhausted themselves, they agreed to an uneasy ceasefire. In light of the Syndicate's major blow against Nanotrasen’s market capabilities, the coalition itself has nearly, but not quite, separated.

Though each member faction of the Syndicate has different ideas about how they should continue to pursue their ideological goals, all of them believe that Nanotrasen cannot be allowed to ever again grow too big or too powerful. With the ceasefire in place, such efforts have mostly halted, if not stagnated entirely. The methods and investment that each faction puts forward largely depends. It is better to think of each member of the Syndicate as its own entity in the current day, rather than consider them unified, for such an alliance is fleeting at best.

Where the coalition will go now remains to be seen, though each member faction has its own plan for moving forward, whether it involves the Syndicate or not.

Playing a member of this faction

  • You are not violently hostile, or antagonists by default unlike on other servers. Not to Inteq, not to the Colonial Minutemen, and, despite latent hostility, not even to Nanotrasen. Due to how costly the Inter-Corporate Wars were for the Syndicate, they want to uphold the ceasefire with Nanotrasen. You are not a pirate faction (the Frontiersmen are). You should avoid dealings with Nanotrasen vessels and can voice your grievances with the Company, but you must uphold the delicate balance of power - and the server rules regarding antagonism. Please read the Relations section below for the nuances!
  • The Syndicate is one of the most diverse factions in terms of specific group association. It is best to roleplay being part of one of the many factions and their respective ideology, showing a dislike towards others with clashing ideologies, while engaging in camaraderie or shoddy alliances with like-minded individuals.
  • Your character's job, mentality and skills will vary wildly depending on the group they form a part of. A GEC engineer would not have the same combat training a Hardliner grunt would, nor would a Cybersun executive have the same ideology as an ACLF protestor.
  • Syndicate ships are very often used exclusively by one specific branch of the Syndicate. Make sure you know who your character is working for, though do not be discouraged with mixing various factions on the same ship. Such differences can lead to unique and fascinating roleplay opportunities!

Structure

The Syndicate is far from a single organized entity - more often than not, the factions that make up the Syndicate will have squabbles of varying scales, with some going as far as to actively sabotage the operations of other members.

Present Members

The Anti-Corporation Liberation Front

What began as a hunger strike on a Nanotrasen station snowballed into their biggest opposition group: the Anti-Corporation Liberation Front. The ACLF is the founding member of the Syndicate and by far the largest, with conservative estimates of ACLF membership within the hundreds of millions.

  • The ACLF is the closest thing the Syndicate have to a political party. With outward membership proclaimed by certain politicians, influencers, and cultural icons, their assets cover a wide range of civilization.
  • Motivations and goals of individual members of the ACLF vary wildly, from passing simple anti-trust legislation to the total and complete dissolution of Nanotrasen. Various sub-factions exist within the ACLF, each often claiming regional supremacy, as distance leads different cells to develop alternative beliefs.
  • Action taken by ACLF members varies wildly as well; most spread information and conduct research, while others participate in protests and demonstrations. However, radical ACLF members will go so far as to commit active sabotage or violence against Nanotrasen assets, officials, or employees.
    • The striking and often horrifying lengths that radical ACLF goes to has rendered party membership illegal in Nanotrasen colonies or settlements where the Company has significant influence.
  • A Syndicate operative is most likely to be picked from the large volunteer pool of the ACLF. Whether it be a simple few lines of code given to an IT worker, a warehouse worker leaving a door open after hours, or a name for someone with nothing to lose, the ACLF's missions and breadth of individuals to choose from renders them effective, unpredictable, and insidious.

2nd Battlegroup of the New Gorlex Republic

The 2nd Battlegroup represents the military of the New Gorlex Republic, an authoritative state formed after the ICW's conclusion by a majority of who made up the Gorlex Marauders. The 2nd Battlegroup primarily offers security and mining operations to willing customers - complete with advanced hardware leftover from the conflict and a sizable portion of experienced veterans. Formal and cautious, the NGR operates loosely with previous Syndicate ties, worried about being scapegoated or dragged back into another debilitating conflict.

  • The 2nd Battlegroup is an extension of a colonial power within the Frontier, though not under the jurisdiction of CLIP. It cover its economic interests first, which primarily involve aggressive expansion and construction of industrial infrastructure.
  • Rank and formality are central to NGR culture. Respect and hierarchy are valued by any that are born or were incorporated into the colony. The command of a higher officer is to be ordered without question, in the name of the Republic.
    • The stripping of individuality combined with the elevation of the mission has ultimately led to a socialist meritocracy, concerned with utilitarianism over capitalist or feudal pursuits.
  • The Republic's autocratic leader is President Kiirv-Waha, an elzuose and ex-quartermaster from Gorlex. Their intense diplomatic and logistical skills have paved the way for the state's quick expansion of resource colonies and the formation of a national identity.
    • Who presidency will pass to after their demise is unknown, nor is anyone willing to ask.
  • Several 2nd Battlegroup members have seen the casualties and costs of war firsthand. While experienced, they're reluctant to start any conflict with any existing entity.

The Gorlex Hardliners

The Gorlex Hardliners represent a dissenting group that still continues their fight against the Company. Having loudly and publicly voiced their disapproval for the ceasefire issued during the ICW's conclusion, the Hardliners are made up of scattered individuals, ships, and equipment, all having quietly - or loudly, left what became the New Gorlex Republic. Now, they function as a disorganized navy, commissioned by Cybersun and radical ACLF to continue strikes against Nanotrasen assets.

  • While disorganized, funding from Cybersun ensures the Hardliners' general continuance - though such a relationship isn't massively public. Each cell still performs other duties to fund their costs, such as mercenary work or asteroid mining.
    • Though the 2nd Battlegroup primarily conducts planetary excavation and construction, both of their expertise in resource collection stews even greater conflict between the two groups.
    • Mercenary work in particular puts the Hardliners at intense odds with Inteq. While most Syndicate consider Inteq a group of opportunistic deserters, Hardliners personally tend to believe the PMC represents Nanotrasen's corruptive greed infecting soldiers and equipment that could be theirs.
  • Hardliners, while not outwardly aggressive toward Nanotrasen, are the most predisposed to hostility toward any Company-allied individuals or assets. Still, in the interest of public image, they very rarely take brazen public action.
  • The group is mostly made up of radicals or younger Marauder members, as most older, moderate Gorlex colonists tended toward the formation of the New Gorlex Republic.
    • Those who believe Cybersun's yolk represents an evil too close to Nanotrasen left for the Ramzi Clique. A faint trickle to the pirate's ranks still continues as questions rise among discontented Hardliners.

Cybersun Industries

Most prominently known for Cybersun Virtual Solutions and Cybersun Biodynamics, Cybersun Industries is a corporation that specializes in cybernetics and digital security. It has a deep-rooted grudge against Nanotrasen for their implied involvement in a painful controversy that brought harsh regulation onto Cybersun's R&D division.

  • Cybersun operates as coldly as Nanotrasen does, if not worse. While its products are top of the line, its pursuit of quality over quantity comes at the cost of the bottom line. After Nanotrasen was forced to implement stronger employee retention initiatives after the ICW, Cybersun ranks as one of the worst companies to work for among galactic journals.
    • While this would normally put it at odds with the ACLF and the GEC, Cybersun’s advanced equipment and rapid prototype-to-production rollout gives them strong leverage with the ACLF and a strange, uncomfortable relationship with the GEC. Connections made during the ICW mean GEC internships can yield reasonable promises of less-traditional designs being reviewed, accepted, and mass-produced for the market.
  • Not only does Cybersun seek to debilitate Nanotrasen's affordable, mass-production industry, but acquire several of the Company's previous holdings through hostile takeovers or outright sabotage. The latter see it sponsoring Hardliner crews to detonate infrastructure, install malware, or whatever best progresses its ambitions.
  • The extravagance of its products draws in significant levels of wealthy, speculative investors that is turned around into nigh unaffordable research projects, sold at ludicrous prices that are unobtainable for the common urbanite - never mind the usual spacer.
  • While its practical goods are top-of-the-line, rumors circulate of backdoors that are placed in both antiviruses and cybernetic firmware - options for exploitation, should it choose to leverage them. Few informal investigations have covered the topic and found nothing, yet word of such vulnerabilities hovers around its public face.

The Galactic Engineer’s Concordat

Formed initially as a unionization effort for engineers, the Galactic Engineer’s Concordat has evolved into a large political-activist group, advocating for worker-controlled organizations and workplace democracy. The GEC joined the Syndicate to protest against Nanotrasen in a more direct way, though this ultimately turned into them being one of the main designers of what would become the Syndicate's fleet of various ships. Regardless, they still represent cooperation across a wide range of engineering societies and sectors, such as civil, electrical, mechanical, cybernetic, biomedical, aerospace, data, and more.

  • The GEC, while primarily interested in having laborers make decision about labor, have two central cultures amidst their ranks: moderatism and eccentricity.
    • Moderates strongly believe in an established hierarchy of workers that favors said workers. They advocate for a similar hierarchy in the workplace to that of NT stations, with a chief engineer overseeing projects. Their main targets include Nanotrasen stations, Cybersun facilities, and Donk! factories.
    • Eccentrics believe in allowing intellectual laborers the freedom to pursuit their projects. A largely syndicalist movement, they believe that workers should manage their own tools with little regard to hierarchy in order to output products of bizarre and awe. They often find internships working alongside Cybersun to develop various new technologies.
  • Despite the two cultures having conflicting interests, they still work together to ultimately seek better protections for workers and their projects. Specific protests organized by GEC have forced better conditions in both Nanotrasen and Cybersun workplaces.
  • Chief engineers aboard Concordat-controlled vessels are elected by the crew to enforce labor standards and are often required to answer to the workers aboard the vessel.
  • GEC membership, unlike ACLF membership, is widely respected. The group's ultimate focus on the bottom rung renders them popular amongst working classes and large civil populations, and their means tend toward far more legality than that of other Syndicate members.

The Student-Union Association of Naturalistic Sciences

Also known as the "Naturalienwissenschaftlicher Studentenverbindungs-Verband" in Swiss German, SUNS is a loose coalition of several academic unions from prestigious, Solarian universities, all united in the pursuit of knowledge in the natural sciences. After several squabbles regarding Nanotrasen and its aggressive exploitation of intellectual property rights, SUNS has called for a hold on internal conflicts to address the growing threat to scientific progress.

  • The SUNS is dedicated to the pursuit of the natural sciences: biology, chemistry, and physics to name some. However, much like the general Solarian population, its members have an aversion for cybernetics and other biomechanical technology. This yields little cooperation between the union and Cybersun Industries.
  • It is composed of several small academic and student unions. The largest groups are the Terrestrial General Medicine Corps (or Terrestische Generalmedizinischer Corps) and the Aestuum Agricultural Association (or Aestische Agronomium).
    • The Terrestrial General Medicine Corps specialize in researching medical applications of newly discovered organisms as well as the various interactions between different biologies.
    • The Aestuum Agricultural Association focuses on researching the effects of plasma and bluespace on plant life and terraforming, hoping to explore potential colonist applications.
    • These two groups in harbor a deep-rooted rivalry for a number of arbitrary issues, despite their related fields of xenobiology, medicine, and chemistry.
  • Rumors abound of SUNS' involvement in various, deeply disturbing projects during the Inter-Corporate Wars, such as the creation of biological weapons and a hivemind lifeform capable of assimilating and impersonating other sapients.
    • Conspiracy journalists believe these supposed projects were designed to aid ACLF in scorched earth and subterfuge respectively, though no investigation has even been entertained in Solarian political chambers.
  • The SUNS shares a stringent moral ruleset with all other SolGov Student Associations, requiring members to uphold and defend their honor in duels if challenged or slighted. SUNS members are rarely seen without a blade and are well-drilled in the sport of fencing.

Past Members

The Gorlex Marauders

Famous for their professionalism, skill, and efficiency, the Gorlex Marauders were a militant group of former colonists who resorted to targeted piracy when the Nanotrasen-established colony of Gorlex was left without supplies for months, managing to seize or raze several Nanotrasen assets. Catching the eye of Cybersun, they were inducted into the Syndicate not soon before the breakout of the ICW, where their expertise and improvisational skills combined splendidly with Cybersun hardware and funding. Acting as the elite body of the Syndicate's forces during the conflict, they suffered heavy losses, though inflicting great casualties of their own through specialist ground deployments, spatial boarding-and-scuttle missions, and other underhanded tactics or operations. The Marauder's linkage to devastating attacks on Nanotrasen offices in civilian areas of the Pan-Gezenan Federation has led to the group being labeled as a terrorist organization by one major galactic power, their infamy having fallen onto the shoulders of the faction's successors. The Children of Gorlex colloquially refers to the three factions that spawned from this one in the wake of the ICW; the New Gorlex Republic, the Gorlex Hardliners, and the Ramzi Clique.

The Ramzi Clique

While never technically a member of the Syndicate, the Ramzi Clique is a small group of Gorlex Hardliners deserters who now practice piracy - much like the Marauders did before they were commissioned by Cybersun. Believing the Hardliners fully under the yolk of Cybersun and concerned about being sold out to cover the company's interests, the Clique, under the leadership of Ramzi-41, deserted at the same time that the Hardliners split off from New Gorlex Republic settlements, failing to rendezvous at pre-determined locations. Instead, they set out in ships once well-maintained, now scarcely pulling along. The Clique's possession of significant military hardware and battle-tried veterans makes them one of the most dangerous enemies one could face in the Frontier.

  • Ultimately places strength and independence on a pedestal; Ramzi pirates are violent, cunning anarchists, uncaring for those too weak to defend their supplies and remorseless for those defending corporate or national interests.
  • While highly lethal, Ramzi pirates are very low in quantity, massively disorganized, and suffer from an inability to fully maintain their high-grade gear. Because of this, the Frontiersmen are considered a much bigger threat to overall Frontier peace.
  • There tends to be very little empathy extended between members of a Ramzi cell. With a very loose hierarchy of "warlords" that often earn their command through feats of battle (or killing anyone else who would challenge their command), camaraderie is stiff at best.
    • That being said, Ramzi pirates understand strength in numbers, and while they would prefer not to be tied down by trust in a weak link, they do not unnecessarily cull their own.
  • Trust is scarce between Ramzi cells. Due to the near-absence of communication between them, neither side knows if the other has turncoated, or plots to pilfer the other's supplies.
    • Their paranoia is so high that some members of a cell even undergo surgery to install post-mortem explosives, rendering their corpse unrevivable as to prevent interrogation and betrayal in the case of capture.
  • Ramzi herself is said to be one of the oldest Gorlex citizens, having sacrificed her organic body for an untiring metal frame in order to gain her ticket to the planet. When the colony was left to starve, she was supposedly one of the first to organize the Marauders, leading raid after raid with precise intent. She claims to be responsible for the failure of Nanotrasen's "Gateway Project", though this is largely denied amongst both Republic and Hardliners members.

Noteworthy Allies

Donk! Corporation

Initially started as a logistics company, Donk! Co. is a rapidly expanding megacorporation. While not part of the Syndicate, their relationship to the coalition is considered tangential and mostly of the same interest in working with Cybersun. Donk! primarily operates as a parent company of a nigh-uncountable amount of subsidiary companies and shells - a common person may not purchase from Donk! directly, but they would be hard pressed to not end up giving them money through the sheer amount of shelf space they command. Despite this, most of their hedged interests in Cybersun's ventures have ended in failure or stalled out due to the ceasefire, and it now is heavily reconsidering its logistical backing of Cybersun and the Syndicate as a whole.

  • Donk! takes unconventional approaches to many aspects of their business models - through almost total obfuscation of their namesake in most consumer products, even their most ardent opposition ends up purchasing from them one way or another.
  • Donk! Corporation’s expansion was spurred on indirectly by the aftermath of the Inter-Corporate Wars, making a fortune through being one of the primary companies that operates trade routes and courier services in the Frontier.
    • Its public relations have fallen under scrutiny after the ICW fell into a ceasefire, but it has avoided economic consequences for their past association with the Gorlex Marauders. Several of its employees and subsidiaries have drastically different opinions, as they've benefited little from the megacorporation's expansion.
  • Donk! Corporation, unlike Scarborough Armaments, works extensively with Nanotrasen in business endeavors. This cooperation is seen as a conflict of interests with many Syndicate members, making most uncomfortable with Donk!'s informal alliance. Despite this, its control of several warehouses and caravans are utilized extensively by organizations such as the New Gorlex Republic and the ACLF.

Scarborough Armaments

Most of the weapons the Syndicate use are made by Scarborough Armaments. A ballistics company that values quality over quantity, most of Scarborough's customers before the Inter-Corporate Wars were security contractors and mercenary crews. With Nanotrasen's incursions into the armaments market through acquisition of Sharplite and Eoehoma patents, Scarborough began significantly advertising to Syndicate operatives and crews, hoping to weaken the competition. The infamy garnered by Scarborough weaponry in Gorlex Marauders hands has shrunk the company back to its burgeoning roots, though it still remains popular among those able to afford their high-class weaponry.

  • Scarborough emphasizes high firepower in mobile packages. The 10mm Stechkin pistol and 12g Bulldog combat shotgun are two of its most iconic automatics, the former having been utilized extensively by Syndicate operatives while the latter saw widespread deployment in the "hot" years of the ICW.
    • The L6 SAW, while its production is now capped quarterly, is one of its most sought-out products due to its lightweight frame, ease of reload, and ability to lay down considerable heavy fire.
  • While its products are mostly entertained by civilian-class individuals, certain militaries still supplement armaments shortages with Scarborough weaponry.
  • Controversy with supposed "denied service" to Nanotrasen-aligned customers has resulted in civil case stipends that undid any growth the company achieved during the Inter-Corporate Wars.
    • Scarborough has also suffered with extensive auditing ever since the conclusion of the ICW, especially in Solarian and Gezenan states.
  • Scarborough's structure is relatively straightforward. With a CEO, board of directors, and managers spread across all galactic civilizations, its employees enjoy modest benefits and salaries.
    • Minor GEC interest has resulted in more efficient workplaces and a heightened proportion of GEC employees within Scarborough's ranks, though the company tends to hire outside of the Syndicate.

Culture

The culture of the Syndicate varies vastly depending on which faction one may be a member of.

The Anti-Corporation Liberation Front

As the largest faction under the Syndicate, the ACLF has the greatest differences of ideologies within members, with notable contrast between the least and most radical members. An ACLF member could be someone who simply goes to protests outside of their retail job, someone who prepares audits or inquests into Nanotrasen's operations, someone who actively promotes violence or disruption on web forums, or someone that actually follows through on that violence.

  • Regardless, each has a disdain for Nanotrasen and believes that the Inter-Corporate Wars was not enough - whether they desire the Company to be broken up, to be weakened further: that all depends on the person.
  • Entrance into an ACLF cell often requires moderate reading comprehension and consumption of anti-corporate theory. Labor laws sometimes must also be memorized in order to gain membership.
  • Species-friendly infrastructure and equipment, proper ration allotments, necessary safety, and apt break time are four examples of issues key to ACLF theory. Most current labor laws galaxy-wide have been influenced by them in some manner.
  • Both the size and distance between ACLF cells means they're the most divided and prone to in-fighting of all the factions with Syndicate membership. Organization between those with major philosophical differences is nigh impossible. Trying can alienate even further.
2nd Battlegroup of the New Gorlex Republic

New Gorlex Republic citizens strongly believe in the capabilities of their nation and its people. While most come from the past ranks of the Gorlex Marauders, there's still a small influx of immigration into the state's colonies. Among natural citizens and adopted ones, the past exploits of the Marauders are viewed with odd, varying lens:

  • Some believe their piracy and devastation was a necessary act of survival, and that such hard times bred strong, capable people who now turn to building something greater. The state's name is a reminder to others of what its citizens are capable of, should any think of crossing them.
  • Others think such razing was a great mistake, and that the establishment of the NGR is a fresh washcloth for their sins. For them, the state's name will always be a reminder of their past, but also a promise of redemption - to cleanse the blood-stained name of the Marauders and offer stability for those who would join their ranks.
  • The 2nd Battlegroup, as the state's primary military group, holds a complicated relationship with Republic citizens. Some believe they should de-militarize further, while others believe officers have grown complacent, especially with the blatant desertion of the Hardliners.
  • Veterans in the Republic look to new blood from immigrants as an opportunity or a threat to Gorlex identity, depending on the person's psychology. Both the NGR and the 2nd Battlegroup do not permit discrimination based on one's nativity.
  • Where each citizen wants the Republic to go differs, but most hold optimism in its future, even if some are dismayed with the agreement reached during the end of the Inter-Corporate Wars.
The Gorlex Hardliners

Hardliners vaguely unite on one idea - the fight is not finished. While they're forced back into the subtlety that defined most of the Inter-Corporate Wars, they still all left the New Gorlex Republic because of some yearning to keep fighting. This could be a desire for greater retribution against Nanotrasen, a hunger to continue combat, or a simple love of the type of life that was lived during the ICW.

  • Most Hardliners feel mixed at best about the tie and reliance on Cybersun's support to obtain and maintain high-level gear. The lengths to which they'll use such equipment varies, as some disagree with overreliance on another corporate body, whereas others are spoiled by the advanced hardware. Generally, it's considered a necessary evil.
  • Similar to the ACLF, Hardliner cells are relatively split, though their range of operations is far tighter due to their "free navy"-esqe status. Most fly no designated banner on their vessels and stow external weaponry mid-flight to retain some secrecy. In addition, there's little coordination between vessels unless it's communicated by a Cybersun or ACLF operative.
  • Internal organization is similar to the strict hierarchy of the Marauders, though more relaxed. Dress code is effectively non-existent, with an emphasis on tactical or blue collar clothing. Some seek to emulate Marauder ruggedness, while others just look to blend into civilian populations.
  • The fear of surveillance and being flagged as a Marauder group often means Hardliner vessels very rarely have dedicated telecommunication or web connections. Commanding soldiers will utilize ciphers and codewords to further confuse those who might listen in on them.
  • Hardliners culture breeds an excessive competitiveness among individuals. Sergeants and chiefs actively encourage troopers and salvagers to set quotas and outdo one another. These metrics can range from playful to outright toxic, such as kilograms of scrap or body count.
Cybersun Industries

As a corporate body, Cybersun Industries is relatively bland in much of the employee culture it has. Regardless, there are stark differences between Virtual Solutions and Biodynamics as its two biggest divisions.

  • While Virtual Solutions employees are rarely deployed to the Frontier (save for intelligence work), their professional, calculating attitudes match their common field positions as agents and operatives.
  • Biodynamics employees understand their position as extensions of the company's original foundings. Often eccentric or passionate about their work, the extent to which a Biodynamic surgeon or cutter will go in order to explore their field wildly depends on said individual.
  • The bottom line of Cybersun employees (often interns or junior agents) see extensive, harsh testing in both standardized and non-traditional forms. Though most of these internships are paid, attendants often burn out from taking responsibilities far beyond their scope off-shift.
  • The rivalry between Virtual Solutions and Biodynamics is one based purely in internal funding. Virtual Solutions draws in far more income to Cybersun Industries overall, and the investments made in Biodynamics far outweight their returns.
    • As a result, Virtual Solutions agents are often bitter toward Biodynamics employees, considering them naive and ignorant of their special treatment. Those less professional and more malicious can even go so far as to tap into Biodynamic feeds and leak certain weaknesses externally.
    • Hilariously, most Biodynamics employees give little regard to this hostility. They understand their mission as honoring the company's roots, and care more about the development and extension of cybernetics, eager to see how far they can push the field.
  • Very few Cybersun employees actually make contact with any Hardliners. Those that make projects for them are never told the customer, and intelligence shared with their employed navy only comes down from a few, select agents.
    • Generally speaking, they don't really care about the Hardliners. Those higher up in corporate may have their own opinions on them as an asset to use, and potentially discard if needed.
The Galactic Engineer’s Concordat

Union members of the GEC often find their way to the group from dissatisfaction with workplace conditions, be it colleague culture, corporate commands, lackluster equipment, unreasonable hours, or something else of note. Regardless, their unique interest often comes from a place of camaraderie - or the belief their own potential is snuffed.

  • The belief that workers should effectively govern themselves in the workplace leans some GEC members toward anarchist, or syndicalist tendencies. This can lead to curious interactions with the New Gorlex Republic's system of autocratic organization - sometimes perceived as a form of meritocracy.
  • Some pursue the union more to ensure that their own voice is heard in the workplace, rather than everyone's. The cooperation amongst members varies, even within the two major factions of Moderates and Eccentrics.
  • Moderates tend to be highly effective or passionate about management and logistics. This can seep into their personal lives, where planners are essential and they attempt to balance each pressing need and social obligation within their own limited timeframe.
  • Eccentrics, on the other hand, are often impulsive yet spirited. If something catches their attention, they're more likely to invest more energy into that than whatever they were doing. That being said, their potential for grand visions often drives long-term, or short-term work.
  • Ultimately, GEC internal culture is woeful to the nature of macro-scale corporate practice in workplaces. This aligns them most closely with ACLF members who despise large-scale genericism and control, yet their background in building the blocks of civilization offer them a proud banner that most wear.
The Student-Union Association of Naturalistic Sciences

SUNS, as a coalition of academic unions within Solarian space, vaguely inherit scientific values found among its cultures. While sharing a skepticism toward unneeded, overcomplicated machinery that could be compromised, groups within SUNS tend not only toward the naturalistic sciences (as their title suggests), but experimenting further with just how said sciences can be pushed.

  • While Solarian scientists tend toward an affixation of the social sciences, especially in the realms of history and politics, groups that join SUNS tend to be deeply curious about the densest secrets of the galaxy. Most yearn to exploit such innovations in biology, physics, or chemistry to some larger goal.
  • Ethos and logos carry high regard among SUNS members. This tends toward a great respect for those acclaimed in their fields while also demanding proof of those less-experienced or less-renowned. Arguments, whether casual or relating to one's thesis, are intense between individuals.
    • The variety of ways in which these debates resolve are dramatic and extreme. Social rebuke, a duel to the death, or professional sabotage are some examples of how differences in opinion or proposition might be resolved.
      • While exceptionally rare, there are certain SUNS members who have little academic prowess but significant swordplay abilities. These highly-precise killers are often given honorary positions as bodyguards, hired by Solarian, corporate, or Syndicate officials, with most of the hiring fee going toward SUNS itself.
  • Elitism is pristine to the association's organizations. Membership to related unions is highly restrictive, with SUNS' membership itself even more so. Official regalia often calls upon classic portrayals of aristocracy in purple coloring schema.
  • Some go so far as to wear delightful, hand-crafted masks during internal gatherings or Syndicate postings as to cultivate their rich, noble image. Some object to this pompous flagrancy of material wealth, though most are eager to subscribe to the societies which they consider the grandest intellectual groups.
    • These masks are critical to their identity, and to wear or possess one without prior authorization calls for a duel with either its owner or a judicator assigned to retrieve it. Masks of the deceased are kept carefully in an undisclosed location to be honored.
    • Only senior members are permitted to wear such face coverings, and the crafting of one's mask often happens in conjunction with their promotion ceremony. Each tends to be highly personalized on a basic design, with simple paints, scratches, or runes added to mark one's unique identity.

Relations

The relations held with other factions differs greatly depending on which member faction one considers - especially regarding other member factions.

Inter-Syndicate Relations

  • The ACLF has a significant disgust for Cybersun Industries, believing them one of their sworn enemies.
    • This hatred becomes complicated when it falls to the Gorlex Hardliners - some believe them to be corporate sympathizers, while others recognize them as individuals on the right path but under the wrong yolk, hoping they'll one day free themselves.
    • The New Gorlex Republic represents a fiercely independent state that so far aligns with ACLF beliefs. As a result, the two are relatively compatible and trusting.
  • Military members of the New Gorlex Republic still strongly despise the Gorlex Hardliners for their betrayal.
    • Republic officials often find the values and knowledge of SUNS and GEC members beneficial to the state's growth.
    • The distrust of corporate bodies is shared between ACLF and the NGR, though NGR citizens are less aggressively subscribed anti-corporate doctrine.
  • Each cell of the Gorlex Hardliners holds a complicated relationship with Cybersun Industries - relying on the tech giant to fund them, while still being required to heed their beck and call.
    • Despite the hostility from members of the 2nd Battlegroup, the Hardliners reflect this contempt at a fraction of the strength. Some believe that the Marauders never should have settled, while others begrudgingly think that it's best the weak resigned when they became weak.
    • Many Hardliners worked closely with ACLF grunts during the Inter-Corporate Wars, and consider a sense of camaraderie at the very least with them, if not like-mindedness in their methods of squashing Nanotrasen (as inaccurate as this belief might be).
  • Corporate higher-ups in Cybersun Industries find the GEC to be a pest that has forced costly changes in their workforce - despite the lucrative nature of several of their designs.
    • The ACLF, while technically a larger pest, is one Cybersun barely considers, believing most of their strength to have been lost with the conclusion of the Inter-Corporate Wars.
    • Most other Syndicate factions are simply considered assets to Cybersun - means to an end, though the Hardliners especially fall into this psychology.
  • The GEC's bizarre connection with Cybersun Industries is one neither side expected. Members appreciate the opportunities offered by Cybersun, but feel oddly about the workplace conditions that they fundamentally disagree with.
    • As groups both comprised of educated, naturalistic people, it's no surprise that the members of the GEC and of the SUNS get along incredibly well, often collaborating to exchange individuals from education to workplace when practical.
    • The great number of projects that the New Gorlex Republic provides GEC members offers a new working partner other than Cybersun, with the strict discipline of NGR workplaces agreeable to some Moderates.
  • Members of the SUNS, much like the Solarian government, are aggressively neutral toward most other Syndicate factions
    • One of the two exceptions is their discomfort with Cybersun's biomechanical and cybernetic services, matching Solarian values.
    • The only other discrepancy is that of their friendliness toward GEC, as the two organizations share many fundamental, intellectual interests.

Relations with Other Factions

  • Nanotrasen, as expected, is generally unfriendly with every faction in the Syndicate.
    • Most aggravating to them are Cybersun Industries and the ACLF, who both continuously push to either take over or limit the corporation's capabilities.
    • Those less offended by the corporation now are the GEC and the New Gorlex Republic - the former because of reparations mostly having been made, and the latter due to their little care to continue their campaign.
  • Inteq Risk Management is vaguely unpopular among Syndicate members, though opinions vary sharply.
    • The New Gorlex Republic and ACLF consider most deserters among Inteq ranks to be greedy, selfish murderers who fight for no greater purpose.
    • Even more spiteful are the Gorlex Hardliners, who often directly compete with Inteq for contracts (commonly to little success).
  • Thoughts of the Colonial League of Independent Planets vary from supportive to troubled, often due to their seeming independence mixed with anxiety of creeping Nanotrasen influence in CLIP's government.
    • The ACLF and Cybersun Industries both approve of CLIP legislation barring Nanotrasen smuggling of xenofauna, though the former worries about relaxed trade with the corporation leading to potential corruption of the colonial power.
    • The New Gorlex Republic, as a significantly independent power, refuses to join CLIP, though worries that the League will one day attempt to incorporate them by force.
  • In Solarian fashion, the Solarian Confederation leads a neutral stance with most members of the Syndicate.
    • While they have been hard-pressed to issue opinions on the New Gorlex Republic and the Gorlex Hardliners, especially for their past relations with the Gorlex Marauders, none have been issued.
  • Opinions of the Pan-Gezenan Federation are mostly neutral save for a few key members.
    • The ACLF despises PGF for its blatant establishment of capitalist, corporate schema that's integral to its culture.
    • Both the New Gorlex Republic and Gorlex Hardliners have a very uneasy relationship with PGF due to the Marauders' actions in PGF during the Inter-Corporate Wars, and the campaign taken by PGF against them as a result.
  • The United Teceti Federation is generally guarded toward each member of the Syndicate due to the devastation caused by both them and Nanotrasen during the Inter-Corporate Wars.
    • Cybersun and Donk! maintain a lighter reputation in South Teceti, with business being maintained despite the UTF's position of disavowing both corporations.
    • The New Gorlex Republic is tentatively kept on watch by Teceian humanitarian efforts and the terraforming companies, keeping a wary eye on the developing nation as they eke out on the Frontier. While interest in supporting them has been raised in the past, they are unwilling to risk upsetting both Gezena and the NGR with any official statements on the matter.
All Lore Pages