Power Map

Central Authority

What it is. The Human-led government of the Core. It says it speaks for every species, but it really serves the rich Core worlds. It is strong in the Core, weaker in the Mid, and a joke on the Rim until a warship shows up.

How it is built.

• Council. Members from the richest Core worlds. The founding worlds hold their seats for good. Other seats rotate.

• Offices. They issue ID cards and ship papers and run customs. Most are short-staffed, and many clerks take bribes.

• Police and patrols. Authority police run the Core. Warships patrol the main lanes but are spread thin. They protect insured cargo and company convoys first.

• Bounty offices. The patrols cannot cover the Rim, so the Authority posts bounties and pays freelancers to do the catching.

How it holds power.

• Customs fees and trade rules keep other worlds dependent on Core ports.

• Ship papers decide who is legal on each lane.

• ID cards track debts, jobs and criminal charges.

Weak spots. Corruption is everywhere. Officers sell papers and wipe records. Honest offices lack money and guns. Many Rim worlds ignore the Authority completely.

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Planetary Governments

What it is. Every world runs itself. Some care most about food and water, some about power, some about profit.

How it is built.

• Elected councils. Some worlds vote, but only some people get a vote.

• Company worlds. Some planets are run by one big company with an Authority license.

• Bosses and families. On the Rim, many worlds are run by warlords, syndicate bosses or old families.

How it holds power. Local taxes, rationing and security forces. Local fees stacked on top of Authority fees. Few worlds have a fleet, but most have a militia.

Weak spots. Most worlds resent the Authority but cannot live without Core markets, machine parts and medicine. Many swing between rebellion and giving in.

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Mega-Corporations

What it is. The richest power in the galaxy. They work across every border.

How it is built.

• Boards. Closed groups of shareholders or rich families.

• Private security. Armed like small militaries.

• Company courts. Rulings that turn debt into work.

• Media. News channels and ads that protect the company.

How it holds power. They own lanes, fuel depots and power grids. They lease farms, mines and signal towers. They blacklist troublemakers so they cannot find work or a safe port.

Weak spots. They need the Authority for legal cover. On the Rim, syndicates beat them with threats and sabotage. Workers strike or quit to join Free Companies.

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Syndicates

What it is. Crime groups that run loans, gambling, drugs, protection and smuggling. They work in the open on the Rim and behind fronts in the Core.

How it is built.

• Family outfits. Old crime families with rules, bosses and long memories.

• Gangs. Younger crews with guns and fewer rules.

• Fronts. Bars, noodle joints, pawn shops and fake escort companies used to wash money.

How it holds power. Fast loans that trap people in debt. Smuggling and stolen salvage. Protection money from whole Rim towns. Killing rivals and people who talk. Posting their own bounties on anyone who crosses them.

Weak spots. They fight each other all the time. Big companies push back in the Core, and faith groups protect the towns the syndicates want to squeeze.

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Free Companies

What it is. Hired crews that sell fighting, escort, recovery and bounty work. People hire them when the official forces will not help.

How it is built.

• Licensed companies. Hired crews with an Authority or planet license.

• Freelancers. Small crews who take jobs from whoever pays.

• Bounty hunters. Crews that live off posted bounties, chasing fugitives, pirates and deserters.

How it holds power. They take the jobs nobody else will, such as risky escorts, deep salvage and dangerous bounties. Good crews cost a lot. Cheap crews may run. Their name is their main weapon.

Weak spots. Their loyalty follows the pay. Crews break up often. Most companies are one old ship and a handful of drifters.

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Faith Networks and Mutual Aid

What it is. Temples, clinics, shelters, schools and burial crews that work across borders. They show up where governments fail and nobody makes money.

How it is built.

• Temples. Places for teaching, ceremonies and community leaders.

• Aid crews. They run supply lines, deliver food and keep safe houses.

• Burial crews. They take care of the dead, especially after Rim battles.

How it holds power. People trust them because they feed, heal and shelter those nobody else helps. They move goods and news between worlds. Sometimes they stand between a town and a company or a syndicate.

Weak spots. They get harassed when they get in the way of landlords, companies or bosses. Their leaders face smear campaigns, debts and violence.

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Data Guilds

What it is. Data brokers who buy and sell information. They have no army, but people fear what they can remember or erase.

How it is built.

• Guild halls. Offices full of records, maps and locked archives.

• Field agents. They collect news, maps and safe-route updates.

• Brokers. They sell data to governments, companies and crews.

How it holds power. They decide which records survive, from debts to crimes. They sell the safe-route news that long-haul crews need. They wipe names and pasts for a high price.

Weak spots. They say they are neutral, but money talks. Syndicates steal and fake their data. Big companies lean on them to bury bad news.

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Synthborn Groups

What it is. Synthborn groups fighting to be treated as people instead of property. Their legal standing changes from world to world.

How it is built.

• Free Assemblies. The Synthborn rights movement, based on Koderra. They share, vote together and fight court cases for personhood.

• Contract Nodes. Synthborn companies with charters and shared profits that sell their services.

• Right-to-Patch clinics. Free repair shops where Synthborn fix each other and remove control locks.

How it holds power. They do dangerous machine work and computer work. Many banks hire them to hold payments because they are hard to bribe, and the Assemblies use that as leverage. They keep backup records that every species trusts.

Weak spots. A Synthborn crew member can be a citizen in one port and property in the next. That makes them easy targets for seizure.

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Species Councils

• The Grand Council. The Vellari ruling council at Tidehall on Thalassa-Nine. Its members are the heads of the old ice-hauling houses, and it decides where the haul fleets go each season. It posts some of the biggest bounties in the Drift on ice jackers.

• The Clade Council. The Caraphex labor union. It sets fair pay, calls strikes and settles fights over mines, tunnels and salvage.

• The Collective. The Keth navigators' league on Slipwind. It keeps the beacons lit and sells the Archive of Routes. It can declare a lane unsafe.

• The Forge. The Talarq foundry guild on Tal. Its mark means a part will not blow up on you.

• The Storm Concord. The council of Serean sky clans and ship captains on Varo-Blue. It decides who dives into which storm and splits the harvest.