Tricorn Anti-Shipping & Privateering [TRICORN] - Organizations

History

“There are few rumors of when and where Tricorn originated, fewer still are the living folk that could confirm or deny them.”

While no agreement on a specific date of when the syndicate was christened has been reached, many detectives and investigators believe ‘Tricorn Anti-Shipping & Privateering’ (or simply ‘Tricorn’) began to coalesce in 2930, transforming itself from a small gang into a much larger faction. It didn’t take long for the UEE authorities to take notice, by the end of the year attacks on shipping lanes in medium security space and border systems had soared by 10%. Coordinated pirate attacks decimated dozens of routes resulting the loss of 146 crewmen and nearly 400 million credits across 6 major logistics firms. The shipping industry begged for tighter security and even military intervention to stem the piracy that was plaguing trade. Miraculously, the attacks died down in the third quarter of 2931, without rhyme nor reason the deadly attacks halted and piracy rates returned to normal. This turn of events left the UEE baffled, yet relieved — the storm had come and gone and life in the trade industry was calm once again. However, the sudden spike in piratical activity quipped the interest of of one man.

A freelance investigative reporter named Darien Vance had noted that the attacks began around the same time new trade agreements, that allowed once banned items to be traded in small amounts, had been made between the UEE and Banu Protectorate. Further more, he’d noticed a drastic discrepancy the companies effected the attacks. Outworld Trans-Stellar, a large shipping company had suffered a mere .8% of the attacks resulting in no more than a 10 million credit loss with zero casualties, despite them being one of the then leaders of long haul logistics. The air was ripe with the odor of conspiracy. Following his gut, Vance set out on a four month journey across UEE space. He conducted interview upon interview with as many people in the shipping industry as he could: record keepers, accountants, small time CEOs, even some of the Outworld crews who were attacked. His journey brought him no closer to unveiling any sort of foul play than he had been four months earlier. Undeterred, Vance took another journey – this time to border systems, to the shady bars of half-forgotten stations. There he looked for pilots, specifically ones that didn’t meander on the right side of law and while pirates weren’t very hard to find in places like these, they were very hard to interview in that they priced their time and information well above what Darien Vance could afford. Luckily for the reporter, alcohol was much cheaper than an interview with a pirate. Luckier still was its innate ability to loosen their lips.

The endurance of drunken ramblings, truly tragic life stories and ironic yet ridiculous conspiracy theories paid off in the form off lD codes. These ID codes were a key to one of the most dangerous places in the UEE, Spider. It was not a trip Vance made immediately. In his memoir, Vance dedicates a passage to the time he took to actually talk himself into even considering entering the Cathcart system:

“The most twisting nausea I’ve ever experienced was when a smuggler, who called himself Johann Cartta, slapped a napkin with an ID code scribbled on it into my hand and slurred “That will get you into Spider!” I can remember feeling like my stomach was going to drop out of my body as this stupid, proud grin plastered itself on his red face. I had to fight back gagging as I clenched it and stuffed it away in my jacket pocket. I went back home the next day and just existed in this tug-of-war between my sense of self-preservation and the burning urge to get to the bottom of this story. A week later, I was sitting at the jump point to Cathcart, literally screaming at myself to start the sequence — I couldn’t have imagined what I’d see and find on the other side.”

Darien Vance disappeared for two weeks. A search began, but when authorities uncovered that he had gone to Cathcart he was unofficially assumed dead and the investigation slowed to a crawl. It made local news in Goss when Vance finally reemerged unharmed, it made UEE wide news when he shared what he had brought back. Audio clips of unnamed pirates Vance interviewed stating Outworld Tans-Stellar employees visited Spider in early 2930 and “talked business” with a gang that controlled a now sealed off section of Spider known as ‘Rat Alley’ made their way from social net to news waves. With them were pictures of ship materials, cargo crates with Banu markings on them and even ship hulls with the logos of companies hardest hit, shoddily woven into the mass of Spider. In one of the most widely spread images was the picture of an old Tricorn hat, like one pirates might have worn in whats known in history as the ‘Golden Age of Piracy’, sitting atop a small pyramid of ordinance crates, the words “OUTWORLD TRANS-STELLAR” emblazoned across them. The media was alive with the conspiracy Vance had suspected nearly a year before. Outworld fell into disarray and bankruptcy under the tidal wave of both corporate and private lawsuits. The scandal shook the shipping industry to its foundation…and rebuilt it with knowledge of sinister new tool.

Today ‘Tricorn’ is a name intrinsically woven into the definition of corporate greed. Due to political lobbying, they are simultaneously protected from the law and kept active by their clientele, which is assumed consists of nearly every major trade corporation in UEE space. While many trade officials disagree, Tricorns operations have been blamed for fluctuation of long range shipping costs and accusations of using Tricorn to form or maintain monopolies are rampant between logistics companies. Recently, investigators have announced that the syndicate is expanding its MO. Tricorn has been linked to multiple cases ranging from espionage to kidnapping and even contract killings. Despite the frustration voiced by authorities, the UEE Judicial sector has not given any approval to take affirmative action against the syndicate. For now, they remain the wild and dangerous elephant in the room that nobody can afford to address.

Manifesto

“To the everyday pilot, piracy happens by chance. Valuables and lives are lost and the wheel of life rolls on. To the top of the corporate ladder and to the members of Tricorn, a service is requested, money exchanges hands and a job is done.”

To most people, law abiding or otherwise, Tricorn is thought of as a group of thugs with the only thing separating them from the gangs residing in the vast labyrinth of the UEE underworld being their name. However, at its core, the syndicate is a new take on a centuries-old practice – a proud throwback to the golden age of piracy and to those who found fortune as the hidden dagger behind the backs of the powerful.

The corporations of today, as then, compete for many of the things entire kingdoms of the past waged war over. Territory, monopolies over trade and resources, power, each as delicate and precious as the rarest of flowers. One false move, one deciding factor, and everything changes. Chairmen, CEOs, and presidents are constantly searching for a way to take the lead in this race for power, knowing that any lapse in vigilance could result in the loss of an opportunity to get ahead.

Tricorn is there to extend that opportunity to those willing to grasp it.

Charter

“Were it not for their craft, one could mistake them for a legitimate organization.”

To assure a complete delivery of their clients needs, Tricorn has developed a simple creed:

Maintain a code of honor. We are wolves, not mad dogs.

Professionalism is a language that transcends race, ethnicity and moral standing. We work with everyone and where words will fail, professionalism will prevail. Run your ship, not your mouth.

Only offer what can be done. We are privateers, not genies – we fulfill tasks, not wishes. Only accept contracts you know you can complete. There is no shame or dishonor in saying “No.”