Hogosha translates literally as "guardian" or "protector," reflecting the organization's rather romantic view held not only by its own members, but by a large portion of the Kusari population -- though by no means the majority.
However, far from being protectors, the Hogosha are actually descendents of the organized crime syndicates that grow within the shadow of any sizable human society although their subtle and often shady political and military connections have, over the years created an oddly symbiotic relationship with both the Kusari government and Samura.
In this sense the Hogosha have ensured that the complex relationships and connections involved between themselves and officialdom would make any serious attempt to dismantle their organisation almost impossible. Who knows secrets and deals with revered public bodies and individuals that until now had been out of the public eye might come to light in any such attempt?
On the other hand, neither do the Hogosha have a free license to operate. Arrests of low-level Hogosha operators who flaunt their activities are frequent and help to keep up appearances with the public -- very important in Kusari. The Hogosha accept these low level losses in order to maintain their core business and ensure that key members of the organisation are never ensnared. "Hard" crime, such as drug smuggling, is not tolerated.
Individual opinions vary, but most police consider the Hogosha a necessary evil required for the smooth functioning of Kusari society. The government simply treats the Hogosha like any other large keiretsu and the Kusari population as a whole has a similar attitude: It is pointless to like or dislike the Hogosha; they are simply a fact of life. The Hogosha handle Artifact and gun smuggling and the fencing of stolen goods. They also do occasional dirty work for Samura and will engage in limited covert activities with the Corsairs for the benefit of Kusari.
The Hogosha view the Blood Dragons as a major threat to their existence and have engaged in turf wars with them, mostly in the asteroid fields of Tokyo.
The Golden Chrysanthemums are also proving to be a problem with their attempts to enforce a matriarchal government in Kusari. Since they have no corruptible leaders, The GC -- like the Blood Dragons -- are dangerous to the Hogosha way of life and must be held in check by all means possible. The GC also has few qualms about dealing in the drug trade or its consequences, a practice abhorrent to Hogosha.
Hogosha view the Junkers as their only real competitors within the Sirius Sector, and their only obstacle to expansion into the other Houses and relationships are extremely tense in this respect.
Diplomatic efforts with the Corsairs have been successful in leading to a Trade Agreement for artifacts directly with them, a move that infuriated the GMG, who formerly served as the middleman between the two crime syndicates. It also raised the ire of the LSF, who applied pressure on Orbital Spa to deny landing privileges to the two factions.
The Black Dragon Society
The Kokuryū-kai (黒龍会), or Black Dragon Society, is by far the largest and oldest of the Hogosha syndicates. It is a secret ultra-nationalist umbrella organization whose membership is composed of government officials and military officers as well as many martial artists and members of the Kusari underworld who engage in political terrorism and assassination.
The Black Dragon Society engages in contraband operations, the Corsair artifact trade, prostitution and gambling. Furthermore, the Black Dragons provide lucrative espionage services for the Kusari colonial government.
The Society is headed by the Kumichō (組長, family head) who gives orders to his subordinates, the kobun. In this respect, the organization is a variation of the traditional Kusari senpai-kōhai (senior-junior) model; members of the Black Dragon Society cut their family ties and transfer their loyalty to the Kumicho. They refer to each other as family members - father and elder and younger brothers.
Unlike many crime groups, women are sometimes involved in its activities. When the Kumicho was assassinated in 539 AS, his wife took over as boss of Society, albeit for a short time.
The Black Dragon Society has a very complex organizational structure. There is an overall boss of the syndicate, the Kumicho, and directly beneath him are the Saiko Komon (senior advisor) and So-Honbucho (headquarters chief). The second in the chain of command is the Wakagashira, who governs activities in a region with the help of a Fuku-Honbucho. The rank and file themselves are governed by their local boss, the Shateigashira.
While we are not 100% unlawful, we are also not police by any means. We operate within the Borders and the border worlds of the Kusari nation and do not venture outside its borders frequently. We pride ourselves on our Kusari heritage and will defend our nation’s space with our lives and all the while we will promote its welfare and prosperity. We can assist the Kusari Naval Forces against our mutual enemies if called upon; we are the main distributor of alien artifacts and the middle men between the Corsairs and Kusari; we do the dirty work for Samura and the Kusari government (i.e. accept the occasional contract against our mutual enemies); we rarely openly pirate in any of the core Kusari systems, but we will pirate in the bordering systems and sometimes with proper escorts slightly deeper in Bretonian space (to halter our enemies lines of supply). We will escort and protect any Kusari or friendly trader within the borders of Kusari for a nominal fee.
Applications will be accepted for all open positions. For positions above Shateigashira, evidence will be required of your RP experience (we do not need to know all of your characters).
Rank Descriptions - Leadership
Kumicho - The boss of the Society, referred to in RP as "Father".
Saiko Komon - The Senior Adviser of the Kumicho, responsible for all external affairs of the Society, referred to in RP as "Elder".
So-Honbucho - The Headquarters Chief, responsible for all internal affairs of the Society. Referred to in RP as "Elder"
The above ranks are the leadership and have total authority over all members under them.
Rank Descriptions – Tiered structure
Wakagashira - The Kumicho's Captain has the authority to recruit new members and has diplomatic authority as well. The Wakagashira has responsibility for the personal security of the Kumicho.
Fuku-Honbucho - The Kumicho's Lieutenants and assistants to the Wakagashira. These ranks have the authority to start the recruiting process and make limited diplomatic decisions, ensuring leaders of are fully informed in this respect and all major decisions must be approved by leadership.
Shateigashira - Officers of the Black Dragons, they have command authority over the Kobun.
Kobun - Smugglers, muscle, enforcers, bookies, and others fall into this category.
Diplomacy Status
Listed in gold are the player factions, outside of those refer to the NPC faction status in gray.
Allied:
These are our most trusted of friends and with nothing more than a word we will come to their aid.
AFA, NLH
Hogosha
Farmer's Alliance
Gaians
Friendly:
Trusted and valued friends of the Hogosha.
TBH, OPG, The Benitez Family (Mutual assistance treaty, including sharing arms and information.)
BS|, KNF, KSP, CR
Corsairs
Kusari Naval Forces
Kusari Police
The Order
Samura Industries
Neutral:
While not completely trusted, we will not fire on these factions’ ships unless first fired upon or threatened.
Unfriendly:
We will not openly seek out and attack these factions, but we do not trust or assist them either. If we are attacked or feel threatened, our ships have permission to open fire.
IND, RepEx, ROS, DW, BLS, LH, RHA, 101st, KOF, HF, LR, LN, LSF, RM, GMG, Gateway, SCRA
Ageira Technologies
BMM Bretonia Mining & Minerals
BOWEX Border World Exports
Bounty Hunters Guild
Bundschuh
Cryer Pharmaceuticals
Daumann
DSE Deep Space Engineering
Gateway Shipping
GMG Gas Mining Guild
Interspace Commerce
Kruger Minerals
Lane Hackers
Liberty Navy
Liberty Police Inc.
Liberty Rogues
Liberty Security Force
Mollys
Planetform
Red Hessians
Republican Shipping
Rheinland Military
Rheinland Police
Synth Foods
Unioners
Universal Shipping
Hostile:
If you get in our way we will destroy you. If you enter our territory we will destroy you. If we feel like a fight we will hunt you and destroy you.
NovaPG, GC, BPA, BAF, UOG, Mandalore, Keepers, Junkers, SOB, XA
Blood Dragons
Bretonian Armed Forces
Bretonia Police
Golden Chrysanthemums
Junkers
Nomads
Outcasts
Phantoms
The Wild
Xenos
Allowed Ships
Civilian fighters and bombers are our primary fighting vessels. The KNF previously allowed us the use of several Samura built Military vessels to assist them in the defense of Kusari space, negotiations will be redone with them about whether or not we will still use them and how many they will give us.
Kusari built freighters and transports will also be used, including the CSV (as it is flown by the NPC Hogosha).
Our flagship was originally the Golden Dragon Casino, a Luxury Liner. However since liners are not going to be allowed we will have to figure out another way to represent our ownership of a Casino ship. Until this can be hammered out we will hold off on making a flagship.
Hogosha weapons will be our primary armament but we will use Corsair built weapons to a limited extent to represent the Hogosha dependency on Corsair military strength.
Black Dragon Tag
All of our ships will be tagged with [|] followed by either the name of the pilot or the name of the ship.
![[Image: guardian.gif]](http://www.kanji-tat2.com/bilder/kanji/guardian.gif)
![[Image: 2349.jpg]](http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m117/mhisteal/2349.jpg)