The Galactic Guilds

Not only did the Second Unification War shatter the superpowers' political might, but it also broke the megacorps' corporate stranglehold in many areas as well. Into the business vacuum, thousands of associations of people of the same trade or pursuits have arisen, covering almost every conceivable occupation and formed to protect their members' mutual interests and maintain standards of morality or conduct. The largest of these, having interstellar scope and influence, are called the Galactic Guilds, which are divided into the Arti Minori (the Lesser Guilds) and the Arti Maggiori (the Great Guilds). In areas where government and standard commercial systems are weak or non-existent, such as Wild Space, their influence tends to be much more significant. However, they far from exert any kind of monopoly, especially as one approaches the frontier.

The guilds all have rules governing admission to the guild and policing their membership, though they vary greatly their actual ability to control their members. In terms of the latter, some guilds, especially in fields affecting the public interest, take on quasi-governmental powers. Every guild also provides training and/or continuing education for its members. And, unsurprisingly, a guild member is required to pay her guild's dues to remain in good standing.

However, there are great differences between each guild's operations and traditions. Joining some guilds can be quite prestigious, and certain guilds provide a safety net. Sometimes guilds further divide their own members, such as the Healer Guild, made up of practitioners (physicians) and tradesmen (pharmacists). Some guilds are highly fraternal, while others are merely loose associations.

The Arti Minori

Although they may not approach the overall power of a Great Guild, the Lesser Guilds still have millions of members and possess significant political and economic influence in certain regions, sometimes wielding far greater clout than a Great Guild in specific star systems. The most notable of the Arti Minori include:

• The Space Miner Guild (miners and other resource extraction workers)
• The Archimedes Guild (chip jockeys, engineers, scientists, and scholars)
• The Healer Guild (physicians and pharmacists)
• The Bard Guild (musicians and performance artists)
• The Juris Guild (attorneys, judges, and notaries)

The Arti Maggiori

The wealthiest and most powerful and influential guilds in Wild Space, collectively known as "the Arti Maggiori" or "the Great Guilds", are the Space Pirate Guild, the Mercenary Guild, and the Bounty Hunter Guild. These Guilds differ from the Lesser Guilds in the scope, sophistication, and centralization of their organizations and that they are strong enough to have forced local planetary governments to give them political recognition equivalent to a nation. The Arti Maggiori have established embassies on all the most important planets in Wild Space.

Space Pirate Guild

Perhaps the most counterintuitive of cooperative arrangements, the Space Pirate Guild is the oldest of the Great Guilds, formed in the aftermath of the Alliance-Pirate War, in which the Terran Military Order and the Akashan Republic joined forces to smash the common threat that space pirates had become during the late 21st century. The Terran Federal Navy and the Fleet of Akasha combined to take down the largest and most powerful space pirates.

The surviving pirates glumly realized that, individually, even the strongest space pirate could be defeated while standing alone. As a result, these pirates reluctantly banded together. As a result, their combined strength is powerful enough to force many governments to give the Pirate Guild formal diplomatic recognition.

The Guild accounts for approximately 60 percent of pirate activity in Wild Space. If an independent pirate enters Guild space, she is given the option of joining the Guild. If she refuses, the Guild attempts to destroy her.

This Guild is a despotism ruled by the Pirate King, under the veneer of democracy. Every 5 years or after a certain percentage of the members back a Vote of No Confidence, the Pirate King must call a general election. As it is quite easy for the Pirate King to find out which member voted for which candidate, pirates with a gram of desire for self-preservation vote for the person that they think is the strongest pirate.

If the Pirate King fails a Vote of No Confidence, in order to ensure the stability of the Guild, he has 7 days to "disappear" for the next 5 years. If the Pirate King fails to leave after a week, the rest of the Guild attacks and hunts him until he is dead.

The Mercenary Guild

During the Second Unification War, hundreds of military units from the Core Systems were shattered. While many of the survivors deserted and returned home, millions more headed for Wild Space to seek their fortunes. The ranks of the Guild swelled with every year of the War, with millions of soldiers displaced by 2149. However, many found new service in Wild Space.

After the superpowers pulled back during the Second Unification War, hundreds of colonies were left virtually defenseless against the predations of space pirates, warlords, and other dangerous elements. The mercenaries filled a sorely needed role in the vacuum. The toughest, most famous, and most feared mercenary units are all members of the Mercenary Guild.

The Mercenary Guild offers the services of every type of soldier in the Known Sphere, from mobile armor and aerospace pilots to sappers to psych warfare officers.

The Guild also provides many important combat support and personal living services, such as a military academy for officers of Guild units and mobile shipyards for Guild warships, and health care and banking services.

From the beginning, to distinguish itself from the millions of outlaws and armed thugs in Wild Space, the Guild leadership has emphasized discipline and honest service. It actually costs more to hire mercenaries to protect against pirates than it does to pay the Pirate Guild's "protection" fee. However, mercenaries are far less likely to shoot you in the back. Guild members hold themselves above ordinary mercenaries, and consider themselves men and women of honor. The Mercenary Code is strictly enforced and the Guild aggressively self-polices its ranks.

As a result, the Guild has done quite well. Upon reaching retirement age, the typical Guild member can expect to own two homes and to live on a comfortable pension.

The Bounty Hunter Guild

With the collapse of central authority in Wild Space, all federal police forces have pulled back to the Core Worlds. As a result, while individual colonies still have local police, the Bounty Hunter Guild has largely taken over interstellar law enforcement outside the Core. If someone commits a crime, the aggrieved party may file a claim with the Guild.

If the Guild's preliminary investigation establishes probable cause, and the aggrieved party's check clears (the entire bounty must be deposited in advance into an escrow account so that the Bounty Hunter is guaranteed full payment upon completion), then the Bounty is added to the list maintained by the Guild.

Licensing requirements for Bounty Hunters are relatively low. Any upstanding citizen (i.e., no ex-felons or individuals of questionable moral turpitude) able to pay the $100 M-Cred registration fee may apply to become a Guild Bounty Hunter. Bounties generally must be turned in alive: unlicensed Hunters may not kill under any circumstances, while licensed Hunters who are not Regulators (see below) may only kill in self-defense or defense of others. If the bounty is killed, the burden of proof is on the Hunter to justify his actions. Even if his actions are justified, he forfeits the bounty for non-violent crimes.

While bounty hunters are technically bound by the laws of the planets that they work on and are technically liable for any personal or property damage that they cause during a case, the Bounty Hunter Guild is less concerned about its image than the Mercenary Guild, and most unscrupulous bounty hunters can simply flee the jurisdiction. Of course, if the situation is serious enough, the injured party can place a bounty on the offending bounty hunter. However, getting Guild members to hunt their own is problematic.

Wild Space's highest elite bounty hunters are known as the Regulators. While standard Hunters are adequate to deal with most bounties, they often powerless against the most violent, powerful, and dangerous outlaws. In order to combat these arch-criminals, each superpower has licensed 12 Regulators, who are authorized to take any and all means necessary against the criminals on each country's Most Wanted list, such as blowing up an entire apartment block in order to kill one criminal. As licensed law enforcement officials, Regulators cannot be held criminally or civilly liable for any actions taken to bring in a Most Wanted criminal. These bounties tend to fall in the $20 million to $100 million M-Cred range.

Since a Regulator license has an extremely high potential for producing death and havoc, they are tightly regulated. Only a handful are ever issued, and the only way someone can become a Regulator is through Dead Man's Boots (i.e., a license only becomes available upon the death, incapacitation, or retirement of a Regulator, or upon revocation of an existing license). Each Regulator must submit herself to semi-annual suitability evaluations. Those that fail have their licenses revoked. A Regulator can only use her license against the Most Wanted criminals; against other criminals, all ordinary restrictions apply.

A Regulator's jurisdiction is limited to the issuing country's jurisdiction. Thus, a criminal on the Corvian Federation's Most Wanted list could, in theory, escape the Federation's Regulators by fleeing to territory of the Terran Military Order. However, since they are the best of the best, Regulators tend to be licensed by more than one superpower. The top six Regulators have licenses from all three superpowers.