The Black Monks (a nod to oolite)
23 Aug 2022MdN
The Fleet Carrier sat in orbit around the planet looking entirely benign. It wasn't.Entirely black and unlit, an unwary commander may mistake it for a huge salvage prize. That would be a fatal mistake.
Monk Griff was an inhabitant of this particular ship. He joined the Holy Order of Saint Herod over two decades earlier, after business dealings went south and he ended up in huge debt. Taking out a loan with the Holy Order to pay off other creditors, he chose joining the sect as his way of repaying their terms.
Like all of his fellow monks, Monk Griff was blessedly insolvent and had chosen the righteous path of debt.
This Carrier served a dual role as the Holy Order's Monastery for this sector and bank. Any commander was welcome to dock and take out a loan with the Black Monks, but the terms were onerous. Strict repayment periods and a standard fixed rate of 125% weren't exactly attractive. Nevertheless, many desperate individuals had chosen to do exactly that and most repayed in full and timely.
For the small number who don't repay on time, it was Monk Griff's job to disperse holy justice. An activity in which he took perverse pleasure. Scouting the space lanes for the damned and defaulting debtors on his list, Monk Griff used his Gunship to efficient effect.
His Gunship was the standard issue Black Monk Gunship. It is said around the monastaries, that the Federation modelled their own Gunship on those operated by the Black Monks. For cost reasons however, the Federation version was smaller and carried far less punch.
Whether true or not, one thing is sure, there are few sights in the galaxy which fill CMDRs with more dread than that of a Black Monk Gunship.
It is widely considered that there are three super powers. The Federation with their mighty industrial complex; the Empire with their, frankly weird customs; The Alliance, traitors to independence and believers in the old ways of democracy. But Monk Griff knew there was a fourth, bigger and more powerful than any. Operating in the shadows, wealthier than the others and with its hands digging in to all of their affairs.
For hundreds of years the Black Monks had been investing everywhere. Failure to repay loans either meant death or your soul - if you had an attractive soul. Death was the advertised solution, the acquiring of souls was discreetly performed. Griff knew about death. Death was his role.
Griff received his weekly list without fail. A protected religion through most of the galaxy, he was free to exercise death warrants wherever debtors were found. The Federation wouldn't stop him - too many owned souls at the top of their ranks. Likewise the Empire, where the shame of debt was worse than death. Those little independent systems were powerless to stand in his way too.
Only the Alliance was different. A relatively new political structure based on quaint old ideals and rituals. The brotherhood had so far failed to infiltrate its ranks. It turns out the people of the Alliance actually believe in democracy and worship at the church of the voting booth, instead of abdicating responsibility for it to those claiming to provide it - like the Federation.
"Odd society," thought Monk Griff. "It'll never work."
The people of the Alliance don't tolerate corruption either. The people won't allow it, and the leadership is owned by the people. In the Federation, the leadership is owned by their debts to the Black Monks, and the people are clueless. He enjoyed working within systems of the Federation. Oh how he enjoyed those times.
Alas, he wasn't in Federation space this week, his list had sent him elsewhere. It was very difficult to operate in Alliance territory, and that's where his Fleet Carrier was now stationed.