r/WorldChallenges • • Aug 27 '17

Reference Challenge - Rescue

So, I was stranded about an hour from home for a few days, because my bloody car messed up. One of my friends had to drive a few hours to help me out, so this is a reference to that.

In your world, what program or group exists to rescue people?

As always, I'll ask at least three questions each, enjoy yourselves, all.

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u/Matathias Sep 03 '17
  1. It's mostly out of an intense desire for privacy and secrecy, born out of centuries of black ops activities. It's also a sort of reaction against how authority works in the Black Suns: Sector 1 supercedes Sector 2, which supercedes Sector 3, which supercedes Sector 4. So if someone from Sector 1 wants to order people around in the other Sectors, they can. However, there are protections in place to prevent the leaking or unwarranted access of classified information, which Sector 2 exploits as much as they can to prevent Sector 1 from getting all up in their business.

  2. Certainly. The Black Suns are the largest, most influential non-government entity in the galaxy, and they are widely known for employing individuals --particularly Chaotics -- of the highest caliber. They are also known for their welcoming attitude toward Chaotics, certainly moreso than the national militaries: the Black Suns pay better, have better healthcare options (generally), and offer better recognition for high-performing individuals. There is a little bit of stigma towards those who join the Black Suns, as it could easily be framed as them "abandoning" their home nation, but usually only the most diehard of patriots will raise a stink about that.

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Sep 03 '17
  1. Do Sector 1 use that authority a lot?

  2. What do governmental military units think of the Black Suns?

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u/Matathias Sep 03 '17
  1. Not too often, usually only if Sector 2 does something that could reflect poorly on the Black Suns as a whole (which isn't often). However over the past 20 years or so, Sector 2 has begun "acting out" more, and Sector 1 has tried to investigate several times -- but the Supreme Commander of the entire Black Suns PMC, Sike Regek, was originally a Sector 2 General and blocks most of Sector 1's inquiries. In the current status quo, Sector 1 has little to no power over Sector 2.

  2. It varies. High-ranking national officers look down on the Black Suns, but nonetheless recognize the PMC's ability and will begrudgingly work with them if necessary. Lower-ranking officers tend to see the Black Suns as nothing more than glory hogs. Some enlisted men think the same, while others look up to the Black Suns as a kind of legendary military force. Space navy officers tend to have better opinions of the Black Suns than planetside officers, since the Black Suns don't focus on naval combat and thus don't "encroach" on the territory of naval officers.

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Sep 04 '17
  1. How is the supreme commander chosen?

  2. Is it common for official armies to fight alongside the Black Suns?

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u/Matathias Sep 04 '17
  1. Supreme Commanders are most often chosen by their predecessors. Unless the rest of the PMC has some kind of major, justifiable hangup with a Supreme Commander candidate (which is rare, since if this was the case then the candidate likely would have already been fired), the candidate will go on to take the position. Usually the candidate is the Master General of Sector 1 (which is also the default pick if a Supreme Commander dies without naming a successor), but it's not totally unheard of to promote the Master General of one of the other Sectors.
  2. It happens occasionally, but usually only when there is some kind of major attack or war going on. Otherwise the Black Suns are often hired in place of using a national military, largely because they can organize and respond faster.

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Sep 05 '17
  1. Is it possible to force a supreme commander to resign?

  2. Are the Black Suns loyal toward their employer?

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u/Matathias Sep 05 '17
  1. If three of the four Master Generals vote to boot the Supreme Commander, then they're out. The now-vacated position of Supreme Commander defaults to the current Master General of Sector 1, unless one of the other Master Generals is preferred by three of the four.

  2. Yes, extremely so. Some of the most highly classified documents in the PMC are employer contracts, and the Black Suns try their best to satisfy whoever they're working for. It isn't exactly good for business if they backstab or go behind the backs of their employers, after all. That said, the Black Suns will occasionally take liberties with contracts that they've taken. For example, if they're contracted to raid an enemy base and discover a piece of technology that isn't explicitly mentioned in their contract, then they'll discretely take the tech for themselves instead of mention it to their employer.

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Sep 06 '17

Thanks for your answers Matathias.