Forged from the ashes of the 2nd Slaver’s Union, the Woods Brothers, the founders of the Union, rebuilt their small army of henchmen into a tight-knit syndicate. Having been betrayed by Michael Cost, the 3rd Presidium member and the first they decided to trust with leadership, the Woods Brothers decided to no longer allow anyone but themselves to hold equal responsibility, or lead their faction. Unlike the Union, which was more of a collective of Captains under one flag, they designed a much more rigid and well-defined structure to their syndicate. The first few Slavers remained loyal to the Woods Brothers and joined them in their new endeavors; the remaining detractors didn't survive the confrontation.
TWS| Goals...
The Woods Brothers' objectives remain primarily unchanged from when they operated the Slaver's Union, with minor revisions.
• Supply criminal elements with much needed resources, including but not limited too Black Market Munitions, Small Arms, etc. "Workers" are no longer a staple Woods Syndicate commodity, and are brought only by request from a client. In turn, the Woods Syndicate will transport and sell their wares back into lawful systems as a front-line source.
• Become recognized Sirius wide as a major criminal Syndicate. (Become official & earn our own custom ID)
• Spread the influence of The Woods Syndicate; Seek out and acquire a system, or a section of a system, that can provide a permanent base of operations for the growing The Woods Brothers' fleet. Eventually construct a permanent (to Disco) Headquarters & Shipyard for TWS| use.
The Four Sides of the Woods Syndicate.
The Woods Brothers.
• Director – George Woods; The Woods brothers share all responsibilities of the Syndicate equally. George focuses primarily on security and issues order to the Admiral directly. He also commands the Vanguard.
• Assistant-Director – James Woods; The Woods brothers share all responsibilities of the Syndicate equally. James focuses primarily on logistics, and is the more diplomatic of the two brothers, and issues orders to the Merchant Fleet directly. He may also command the Vanguard.
The Merchant Fleet.
The cash cow of The Woods Syndicate; transport ships that move whatever cargo is being traded.
• Commissioner – 1 Position Available; The principal member of the Merchant Fleet, and the parallel to the Admiral. This individual serves to maintain coherency among the Merchant Fleet, lead any convoys (when they are on and a Woods brother is not part of the convoy), and to help collect the annual tribute from the other Captains of the merchant fleet.
• Captain – Unlimited Positions Available; The leader of a ship of small transport size and higher. The title of Captain requires a ship with a cargo hold capacity greater than 1,500 units.
• Apprentice – Unlimited Positions Available; A new recruit and a member of the merchant fleet who currently does not have a transport with a cargo capacity of at least 1,500 units. If the Apprentice does not have an adequate vessel upon enlistment with the Syndicate, an adequate transport within the 1,500 unit limit will be purchased for them. Advancement to Captain status is then up to the Apprentice.
Security Force.
The defensive task-force that protects the Merchant Fleet and the Woods brothers; their duties range from escorting ships, jumping through systems to scout ahead, and to also act as the military arm of The Woods Syndicate.
• Admiral – 1 Position Available; The most trusted member of the security force; Only has authority over the security team. Does not oversee the Vanguard, or is authorized to command them.
• Commander – 3 Positions Available; The leader of any class of capital ship, from Gunboat and up. They serve under the Admiral.
• Operator – Unlimited Positions Available; A single pilot or the lead pilot of any class of snub ship, or personal freighter. They serve under the Admiral, and can also receive orders from Commanders in the field.
Vanguard.
A small group that acts as the special forces of The Woods Syndicate. Their actions and missions are classified, even to the Admiral of the Security Force; only the Woods brothers have access to Vanguard files. They have a four-fold mission statement that is in constant effect, however, any orders issued by the Woods brothers are considered primary mission objectives and supersede the mission statement until their objectives are completed. Vanguards are trusted to act independently while in the field, so long as they are (1) not currently in the field under orders by the Woods Brothers, and (2) are following their mission statement.
1) To reconnoiter locations for potential bases and to search for a home system for The Woods Syndicate.
2) To search for new trade routes and business associates.
3) To seek out and investigate potential allies.
4) To seek out potential recruits worthy of joining The Woods Syndicate. Aside from the mission statement, they are also issued special orders by George Woods. When issued these orders, they take priority over the mission statement until the mission is completed successfully, aborted, or failed.
• Vanguard – Classified; The singular title issued to members of the Vanguard. All members of the Vanguard share a single rank and take orders primarily from George Woods, although James Woods may issue orders in his absence.
Pay Scale & Monthly Tributes...
The Merchant Fleet's Tribute.
• Captain's of The Woods Syndicate Merchant Fleet are to pay their monthly tribute of 50 million credits.
• Apprentices of The Woods Syndicate Merchant Fleet are to pay their monthly tribute of 10 million credits.
This tribute helps deliver paychecks to Security and offer bonuses for completed missions assigned.
Security Division Pay Scale.
• Operator – 10 million credits per month.
• Commander – 25 million credits per month.
• Admiral – 40 million credits per month.
Bonuses issued for successful missions.
Secondary bonuses granted to security for Missions issued by the Woods Brothers and based on the mission type.
The Woods Syndicate Diplomacy…
The Woods Syndicate's official diplomatic status is tied into their previous relationships with the Outcasts, Lane Hackers, and encounters with other factions. Currently they are as follows...
Outcasts = Allied
Liberty Rogues, Lane Hackers & Golden C = Allied
Molly’s, Nomads, Unioners, LWB, Bundschuh, Red Hessians, Etc = Neutral
Zoners =Neutral
Junkers = Neutral
House military and police = Neutral
Hogosha, Gaians, Farmers Allience = Negative-Hostile
Xenos = Negative-Hostile
Corsairs = Hostile
Note: We operate primarily with the Freelancer ID and follows the basic Freelancer ID restart diplomacy; bribes may need to be purchased to create the necessary changes.
The Woods Syndicate Ships & Equipment...
• The Woods Syndicate Merchant Fleet are limited to generic civilian, house civilian (based on Captain’s Origins), and Liberty Rogue, Outcast, and Border world ships, with the acceptable use of the TTR-1130 Series Pilgrim Liner as a transport, in homage to their Slaver’s Union origins.
• The Woods Syndicate Security Force & Vanguard are primarily snubs from the previously listed available ships and anti-snub Gunboats; typically CTE-12400 “Condor”, and the Series Z “Montante” Gunboats.
• A single (or small handful) of Destroyer class ships make the Flagships; These ships (which will come with Official status), and all other ships already acquired through in-game SRP by their Captains are acceptable. (Clarification: A person with an SRP ship who joins The Woods Syndicate keeps their origin story, ship, name, etc.)
• Ship weaponry should coincide with the respective Captain’s ship classification and origins.
The Woods Syndicate naming & tagging...
All ships working for The Woods Syndicate will have the tag "TWS|" in front of their name (with quotations removed.
Rank tags are designated for all four (4) segments of The Woods Syndicate. For segments with multiple ranks available numbers 1-3 will follow; 1 for the principal member of that segment, and 3 for the basic member.
• The Woods brothers hold the ending tag [L] and act as faction leaders.
• The Merchant Fleet hold the ending tag [M] with numbers dictating specific rank. Example: Commisioner's tag = [M1]
• The Security Force hold the ending tag [S] with numbers dictating specific rank. Example: Operator's tag = [S3]
• The Vanguard hold the ending tag [V], but do not have specific ranks. All Vanguards are the same rank.
Merchant Fleet ships will be named after ancient civilizations. (Potential names can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization (Click/scroll down to the 'history' section.))
Vanguard ships will also be named after ancient weapons or weapon classes.
Example: TWS|Katar[V]
The Woods Syndicate zone of influence...
The Woods Syndicate have no official zone of influence. Ships under the TWS| tag typically spend their time in Liberty space, the Border Worlds, and the Edge Worlds, however, they are not bound to those systems alone and have been known to travel into Bretonia, Kusari, Rheinland, etc.
(04-30-2016, 03:44 PM)Jeremy Hunter Wrote: So you're now a criminal element, trying to become a mafia, instead of a more revised Slavers Union.
there goes the major foe of my CR| Lamapdes squadron.
I prefer the word "Syndicate" to "Mafia". Sounds cooler, besides, we've got to work with what we got. You can still hunt TWS| ships all you want, though.
Sometimes, especially when on a time limit due to real life issues (like work), you just want to go from point A to point B, transporting base supplies, such as Kyushu Rice, without having to talk to every single person. That's especially true when you know from the start that it's going to be some pirate incident that's going to last over 15 minutes. I get one day to play for hours, and the rest is just keeping our P.O.B alive, which is entirely my responsibility.
As for RP, my buddy and co-leader typically tends to devote considerably more time in RP than I do. If it makes you feel any better, I'll make it up to you, okay? You can pirate TWS|Hayasa-Azzi[M2] the next time it's on. He'll float around Kyushu or New Tokyo and wait for some {343} guys. Sound fair?
I don't think you understand the concept behind Exiles. I didn't mean to pirate you. I intended on informing you about a blockade, instead you chose to just power through and dock on our base during an encounter with our ship.
Your explanation of "we didn't have enough time" is very much insufficient. If you don't want to waste time, comply with the demand.