The Criminal Element
During the latter days of the Terran Alliance, the criminal underworld was ruled mostly by branches of the Russian Mafia. Drugs, slaves, the sex trade, and even - on occasion - smuggled technology from the Empire were all sold on the black market.
However, after the conquest and annexation of the Alliance, the Assassins Guild performed its usual cleanup operation, purging or absorbing all the criminal elements ruthlessly and without a hint of hesitation. None of the crimelords, for all the power of their syndicates, survived the arrival of the Guild.
However, the skilled personnel under their control - an assortment of hitmen, former spies, and confidence men - were absorbed for the most part into the the Guild, retrained if possible, purged if not. In the Empire, many of the trades that were carried out in secret during the Alliance days - such as the drug trade and professional killing - are legal. Narcotics are regulated by the Merchants Guild as a whole - primarily to make sure the products are kept to a reasonable price. Murder and espionage - outside of Imperial interests - are managed by the Assassins Guild, which tolerates no rivals or rogues.
Because of this, it is possible for an assassin to live openly as what he or she is, so in many ways, the shadows of the old human underworld have vanished. However, what remains is the slave trade, which is indeed illegal in the Empire. Generally speaking, the Assassins Guild or the military have as part of their mandate, the duty and authority to exterminate all slave-trading operations.
Crime in the Empire mostly include people evading Imperial Audits, pirates, slave traders, and petty crimes like theft.
As a side note, since the Assassins Guild functions as a sort of secondary justice system, rape victims, attempted murder survivors, and families of murder victims frequently hire Apprentices and Journeymen to eliminate the source of their suffering. Contracts of that type are the bread and butter jobs of lower Guild members.
During the latter days of the Terran Alliance, the criminal underworld was ruled mostly by branches of the Russian Mafia. Drugs, slaves, the sex trade, and even - on occasion - smuggled technology from the Empire were all sold on the black market.
However, after the conquest and annexation of the Alliance, the Assassins Guild performed its usual cleanup operation, purging or absorbing all the criminal elements ruthlessly and without a hint of hesitation. None of the crimelords, for all the power of their syndicates, survived the arrival of the Guild.
However, the skilled personnel under their control - an assortment of hitmen, former spies, and confidence men - were absorbed for the most part into the the Guild, retrained if possible, purged if not. In the Empire, many of the trades that were carried out in secret during the Alliance days - such as the drug trade and professional killing - are legal. Narcotics are regulated by the Merchants Guild as a whole - primarily to make sure the products are kept to a reasonable price. Murder and espionage - outside of Imperial interests - are managed by the Assassins Guild, which tolerates no rivals or rogues.
Because of this, it is possible for an assassin to live openly as what he or she is, so in many ways, the shadows of the old human underworld have vanished. However, what remains is the slave trade, which is indeed illegal in the Empire. Generally speaking, the Assassins Guild or the military have as part of their mandate, the duty and authority to exterminate all slave-trading operations.
Crime in the Empire mostly include people evading Imperial Audits, pirates, slave traders, and petty crimes like theft.
As a side note, since the Assassins Guild functions as a sort of secondary justice system, rape victims, attempted murder survivors, and families of murder victims frequently hire Apprentices and Journeymen to eliminate the source of their suffering. Contracts of that type are the bread and butter jobs of lower Guild members.
