[color=#CC9933]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.
However, far from being protectors, the Hogosha are actually descendants 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 corporations.
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 organization almost impossible. Who knows what 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 organization 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, the fencing of stolen goods, and operate the black market. They also do occasional dirty work for Samura and will engage in limited covert activities with the Corsairs for the benefit of Kusari.
There have always been many individual “families” within the Hogosha, with varying levels of wealth, power, and influence. The oldest of the families tend to cling to long held beliefs and traditions, the newer ones bringing in fresh ideas that help to invigorate what would otherwise be a stagnating society. These trends within the Hogosha themselves always seem to correlate with Kusari society in general. Two of these groups were launched to the forefront, although for different reasons and at different times, they both altered the face of the Hogosha in their own respective ways.
The Kokuryū-kai (黒龍会), or Black Dragon Society, has always been one of 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.
It's important to remember however, that Kusari has always had a traditional way of thinking, no one could ever deny that. Many were isolationists and acted rather xenophobic in their treatment towards outsiders. The Hogosha have always been viewed as the protectors of Kusari to many people, those that would ensure that Kusari would keep its customs for future generations. Very often the actions of the Hogosha reflected this mentality. However, not all Hogosha agree with this thinking and certainly don’t acknowledge the fact that it is their duty to be Kusari’s guardians. The Yakuza are the philosophical leaders of this newer way of thinking. The Yakuza themselves were a relatively new syndicate, one that has quickly risen to the forefront of the Hogosha due to their very aggressive and slightly less traditional style. But their fall was as fast. The Yakuza fell apart and there are almost remnants of their previous power in Hogosha council as well as the Hogosha itself.
With the war however, things became very difficult for all Hogosha. No matter their viewpoints, one Hogosha after another found himself recruited into the Navy. The Syndicates, large and small, increasingly found themselves shorthanded. As the war dragged on the “connected” soldiers began to die, just like all other soldiers. It really doesn’t matter who is on your pay roll when the guns start firing. Many of the newer and smaller Syndicates were all but wiped out, others found themselves with a collapsing economy as they had no one to generate income.
The Black Dragon Society was heavily affected by the war. As times changed Society realized that something is needed to be done if they were going to hang on to their power and influence. The Black Dragons were putting up a good front, the reality however was that less people were bothering with the normal vices. Gambling, prostitution, recreational drugs, all of these things start to lose their pizzazz as the realities of a attritional war start to set in. With money getting tight, less members to generate new sources of income, and officials that were formally on the pay roll being killed, the Black Dragons were getting desperate. Some of the Hogosha syndicates who generally considered themselves above the more crude methods of income, found themselves turning to piracy and extortion to try and balance the books. An increasingly difficult task when faced with the same manpower shortage all the Syndicates were seeing.
With changing times, came changing attitudes among both groups. Though they had different methods and ideology, the need to survive became a priority. After long discussions, debates, and outright fights, compromises were reached. The joining together of the Black Dragons and the Yakuza created a Syndicate that no other would be able to challenge. They became powerful enough that they decided on taking the name “Hogosha” for themselves. Claiming to represent the Hogosha in it’s entirety will either prove to be the most daring, or the most foolish move in Kusari history.
Next year however showed that Yakuza wasn't able to stand the pressure from Kusari high places and the process of break-up was finished with power struggle inside the Yakuza's high command. Many Dragons who weren't satisfied with the quick rise of power from Yakuza combined with loss of their status inside Hogosha syndicate, felt a chance to get their previous power back. With disappearance of Yakuza leader Hideki Inagawa, most of its inner core defected and rest joined the Black Dragon Society.
[font=Palatino Linotype]<span style="font-size:24pt;line-height:100%][color=#000000]Current history
Today, Society holds its primary place between all Hogosha families once again, keeping the joint Hogosha council while having a majority inside it. Most of the officials are pretending that cooperation with Yakuza never existed and claim that the reason of creation so-called Hogosha syndicate was to fulfill needs and requests of all Hogosha families. Truth is that Black Dragon Society does not allow other families to interfere in any major decisions and none of them gained such a strong status like the Yakuza.
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#000000]Goals
[color=#CCCCCC]"To expand the Hogosha syndicate and provide a continuous effort to make it prosper."
[font=Palatino Linotype]Concrete methods include greater area of influence, additional stations, eliminate competition, more alliances with business corporations and gain a stronger control of Kusari.
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#CCCCCC]• Greater area of influence and additional stations
[font=Palatino Linotype]Greater area of influence presents the Hogosha syndicate with a larger zone to operate in and thus hands the opportunity for more encounters to intercept merchants. Additional stations provides the Hogosha syndicate with more flexibility in their daily operations and grant them safe havens for resupplying and repairing. Finally it also grants the Hogosha more power which is something they strive for.
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#CCCCCC]• Removal of all competition
[font=Palatino Linotype]Hindering piracy conducted by external parties and sabotaging for other Hogosha organizations as well as their linked allies gives the Hogosha syndicate monopoly on cashing in stolen loot and handing out various fake-taxes.
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#CCCCCC]• More alliances with business corporations
[font=Palatino Linotype]More alliances with business corporations means more opportunities to strike deals and ultimately provide the Hogosha syndicate with more money as well as power.
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#CCCCCC]• Gain a stronger control of Kusari
[font=Palatino Linotype]Pretty self-evident. If the Hogosha manages to gain a stronger control of Kusari they can influence the powers that be for their own benefits.
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#000000]Ranking
[color=#CCCCCC]The Hogosha leadership
[font=Palatino Linotype]The Hogosha leadership consists of two figures, the most important character being the head of the syndicate - The Kumichō. The second person acts as the personal advisor of the Kumichō. With his infinite wisdom does he constantly aid the leader to make the most effective decisions.
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#999999]Kumichō
[font=Palatino Linotype]Kumichō is considered to be the head of the Hogosha syndicate and has the final say on every matter.
[font=Palatino Linotype]Effectively being the second-in-command, does the Saiko Komon do everything in his power to ensure that the decisions made by the Kumichō are the most beneficial ones for the Hogosha syndicate.
[font=Palatino Linotype]The So-Honbucho's primary job is to organize the tasks each of the young Dragons is destined to do. He also acts as the main link between the Fukus and the Hogosha leadership.
[font=Palatino Linotype] The Wakagashira are a group who each govern the activities of the Society in a certain region. This generally means several systems. He is aided in this task by his lietenant, Fuku-honbucho.
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#CCCCCC]The main body
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#999999]Fuku
[font=Palatino Linotype]Basically the muscle-men. These are the people who are out there collecting taxes, stealing cargo and holding a gun to your head asking you to keep your mouth shut or else.
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#999999]Shatei
[font=Palatino Linotype]The newly recruited people who have recently been accepted into the Hogosha syndicate, in order to become a fully-fledged member they must perform various tasks to prove their worth.
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#000000]Diplomacy
[color=#FFCC66]Allies
[font=Palatino Linotype]Farmer's Alliance, Gaians, Corsairs, Union Corse
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#33CC00]Friendly
[font=Palatino Linotype]KNF, KSP, Samura, Kishiro
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#FFFFFF]Neutral
[font=Palatino Linotype]Anyone who hasn't been listed elsewhere.
[font=Palatino Linotype][color=#FF6600]Unfriendly
[font=Palatino Linotype]Bretonia authorities and corporations, Liberty authorities.