The Free Brigands of Gallia, commonly referred to as Brigands, are a criminal network operating within Gallia and its Border Worlds.
Due to the Gallic Brigands rather unorganized way of operating, their leadership and chain of command, if such even exists, is rather unclear. However, three of their bases seem to hold a lot more influence than the rest.
These stations are each governed by their own elder, or "warlord", and have almost complete independence from the others. It's not uncommon for Brigands to fight amongst themselves in attempts to vie for power and control over the region or any source of income.
Allies:
• The Ratpack
• The National Council
Enemies:
• The Maxime Family
• The People of Crayter
Additional Notes
Marne is the home of the largest
Brigand population in Gallia
and thus Rousseau often speaks
for the Brigands on the whole,
even if his words do not reflect
the opinions of the other Brigands.
Mathieu Rousseau, like his close friend Nathen Roux, was born in 711A.G.S in one of the main Brigand population centres. His young life was hard and filled with many trials, as many Brigands face growing up, but that shaped every fibre of being that makes him who he is today.
When he was only young, he met his best friend to be, Nathen Roux. The pair made an iconic duo during early adult years, managing to succeed in some high-risk raids on GRN convoys among other daring escapades. It always came down to Nathen being more competent at pummeling down other thugs and blasting other ships out of the sky, and Rousseau was okay with this. Rousseau was more of the brains and had a knack for seeing patterns that others would miss. That made them quite the stereotype: Brains and Brawn.
Stereotypical as it was, it helped them gain some notoriety among the Brigands. Through this, they got to work for the guy who was, at the time, the current warlord of Marne - bigger jobs, bigger rewards. While they worked, they schemed, planned. Rousseau was overly ambitious and Nathen, like a typical pirate, would do pretty much anything for a high paycheck. Over time a plan was hatched for Rousseau to claim a bit more power to advance the Brigands forwards, but for that to come to fruition their current employer had to be dethroned and removed.
It took years of planning to accomplish, but in 735 A.G.S. their goal was realised when they successfully executed the former elder along with all those close to him in one swift and explosive action. With him out of the way, there was a gap that needed to be filled with new leadership, one that both Rousseau and Nathen were happy to oblige in filling. Rousseau was to become the new Warlord and Zero his right-hand man. Rousseau saw potential within the Brigands for a thriving community of Brigands over petty pirates. The potential for a force to be reckoned with.
Rousseau preached this newly found ideology like it was his religion.
Born in 711 A.G.S. on Planet Marne, Nathen Roux was never well off yet nor was he ever forced to live in squalor. From a young age he was mischievous, devious and sly - a certain amount of cunning that, sadly, wasn't backed by intelligence. That being said, Nathen was ruthless and a thug down to the bone. He saw no issue will killing anyone who dared to stand in his way and he saw any civilian that would wander too close to the pirates during a raid as "Acceptable casualties".
Nathen developed this reputation for being both a sweet talker and a charmer, yet somehow also being a brutish ruffian at the same time. So friends and business partners, the lighter and more charming side of him emerged, a side which was trustworthy and good-natured. This was countered by his other more sinister side which was a pirate in every sense of the word. His reputation was developed thanks to his friend, Rousseau, who put in most of the effort of acquiring work and contracts for them to complete - contracts where Nathen did the vast majority of the work.
Epernay Station lies in the Champagne system, like Planet Marne. This station was seized by Rousseau as one of his first acts once he had taken control. Rousseau brought new meaning to the rivalries between each band of Brigands as he was the first to openly attack in decades.
Epernay now operates outside of the normal system, it is ruled over by Rousseau with an iron fist, as if its some trophy he can use to demonstrate his power. There was some intention behind taking it, other than a power grab. Epernay holds a very special purpose of being a key drop off location for illegal items that pass through Gallia. Rather than sending them down to the Planet where the chance of them being intercepted by Royals or other greedy Brigands, they take a detour around the system using the natural asteroid fields and nebulae to move undetected to Epernay for a secure drop-off.
Maxime Moreau is the current "Warlord" of the Boulogne Smugglers and second of his family to hold the title.
Born to a family of brigands in Marne in the year 692 A.G.S, Maxime has only known the life of crime since he was young. Although he spent most of his childhood in Planet Marne with his parents, he was taken in by his uncle, the former Elder of Boulogne, when he was sixteen to help with his uncle's business.
At Boulogne Base, Maxime wasn't taught how to fly a ship or kill a man for his money, like many brigands and criminals there were. Instead, they taught him what was profitable to sell and what was not; how to ger rumours running to distract the police; what were the most efficient ways to blackmail a person and who he shouldn't make angry in Gallia's black market.
Around the age of forty, Moreau was already one of the most influential brigands in Picardy thanks to plenty of contacts he made through his uncle.
Two years ago, Maxime's uncle was apprehended by the local police when he was heading for a summit with the other warlords. However, Maxime hasn't tried to get his uncle out of jail because he saw this as an opportunity to take his place.
Under his command, the Boulogne Smugglers have changed their usual methods of operation. They have since shifted their focus to the trade of human organs and drugs and diminished their interest in the arms' market. They have also been known in the past two years to avoid fights, preferring to bribe police officers and civilians rather than killing them.
Noah Durand Allegiances:
Allies:
• The Ratpack
• The National Council
Enemies:
• Gallic Information Traders
Additional Notes
Frejus Base thrives on:
The Nox Trade
The Information Trade
Noah Durand is the Elder of Frejus Raiders, some of the most cunning and ruthless Brigands in Gallia. It is unclear how Durand managed to claim his place as the top dog at Frejus, as the population there is very reserved in what they share with outsiders - even other Brigands. What is known is there was a sudden change in the behaviour of those at Frejus around the time that that the previous warlord disappeared.
It all happened in 736 A.G.S. and Durand swiftly took over. Shortly after this occurred, those at Frejus promptly became much more organised and shifted their focus from small-time unorganised banditry to a more structured and methodical approach.
Durand is rather reclusive, but the Frejus Raiders speak highly of his abilities, and the mere fact that he managed to turn this group of pathetic ruffians into one of the most organised Brigand groups speaks volumes of his leadership capabilities. They now spend their time on three main aspects of the Gallic criminal network:
Nox
Raiding
Information
While Nox is merely just a way to make money on the side, information has, since Durand has taken over, become their stock and trade. Many Brigands use the services of Frejus to get valuable information on potential targets or contracts, or even dirt on other Brigands. Information is a highly sought after commodity and history has shown that being informed can lead to wars being won.
The Frejus Raiders frequently use the information for their own good to swiftly strike Royal Navy convoys and be gone before anyone even knows something was up. They fight with a doctrine similar to guerrilla warfare, but in a way that is much more refined and calculated.