What's in a name?
09 Aug 2019Ratkatcher
I was born on a Federation controlled planet, grew up there and started my working life, same as everyone before me, doing stuff for the Feds - but listening on GalNet to the (probably censored) news about the Empire, the Alliance and those who called themselves independent. Of course the Federation doesn't tolerate slavery, but from what I learned when I was a little older, those slaves had better lives than a lot of us poorer folk.Once I'd finished the mandatory training by the Pilot's Federation (I've got a couple of stories from those days, I'll tell you all later...) and jumped into the rattling heap of a Sidewinder that I'd been 'gifted' (man! I must have upset someone big-time, somewhere!) I cast my net for work, work meant credits - more than the measly 10K the Bank of Zaonce was 'holding' for me.
Didn't we all do about the same thing, shuttle data and 'diplomatic' cargo between stations, being paid with a sneer and a pittance? I don't remember much about those days, so much work - all the same - and the odd times when a Station Overseer would send me off to 'do a little something' for the Navy. I stuck around long enough to retire the Sidey and buy a Viper III, it was cheap, tatty and in desperate need of some care, but it was mine, I'd earned her by being a slave to the Federation grind...
She got some love and we left Federation space to go do the same again, but this time in Imperial Space. Those Imps, they sneered at this Fed kid when I arrived, but were keen to have me do their work, aren't they all the same?
So you get the picture, Feds and Imps pull all the strings, hand out permits to locked space and rank, do they love their rank! But I played their games, did their jobs, even the ones that got me a bounty, and laughed all the way to the bank, and some amazing ships!
Ok, let's get to the main story, what's in a name, then?
My birth system is a High Security one, there are plenty like it around, big SysSec presence, bragging how quick they get to crime scenes - yeah, you've met them too then
We've got plenty of Medium Security systems alongside us, SysSec are a little less keen to show their faces, maybe they need a pay rise or something... Low Security systems, I think they can't get out of their chairs unless the ship is on fire, a waste of space, and whatever power pays them's money.So think about it - just how much crime do you meet in a lot of the Hi-Sec systems? A stupid amount, it seems that the pirates and murderers think that everyone but them are lawful so everyone is 'fair game', SysSec will turn out pretty quick if you are in trouble, often will even fire a few shots off... Same game in Mid-Sec and Lo-Sec, pleanty of criminals, poor SysSec response, sometimes I wonder if the criminals pay them a better salary...
What am I trying to say here? Have you done much business in Anarchy Systems? No? Why not?
They have a reputation, that's why! "Full of pirates and murderers!" I hear you say, and I agree - but... Those same criminals look at you and think the same, lowlife, scum, killer... because you, like them, are listed as Lawless when they scan you, (unless you are unfortunate to have a bounty from their system on your head, oops!) so you could be 'one of them'
Anarchies are 'safer' than the main system types, not that you wouldn't ever take a trip home in an escape pod, but you don't ply your trade in an Anarchy system feeling safe and snug, that same feeling that the 'main' systems try to instil as it's 'good for trade' - you have guns, shields and an eye on your radar, and are probably 4 times safer then than in a Hi-Sec system... Odd, isn't it?