the Zoners

[pchwang]

The Zoners maintain a tenuous control over part of Sirius, drawing their power by playing the middleman in nearly every situation.

It is a role that will make others hate you, it is a role that will lead others to plot against you, and it is a highly unstable role, that unless well maintained, can quickly collapse within hours.

In summary, Zoners offer people a few that they rarely can have: An economic market with no strings attached and neutral territory to conduct negotiations.

From this, the Zoners do make quite a profit, much of which no doubt goes to Libertonian lobbyist groups, Rheinland Officials, Bretonian Nobles, and Kusarian Corporate Heads. Zoners offer pirates and unlawfuls something else. They provide a front for them to sell their goods, launder their stolen cash, and provide shelter for them as well.

The fact that the Zoners bridge the gap between lawful and unlawful gives them an advantage over groups such as the Junkers, who cater to the unlawfuls. This means that the Zoners can really meddle in House politics, and by playing various houses and unlawful groups at each other, such as refusing to give up harbored criminals due to the neutrality laws on the Freeports, and

This is how the Zoners achieve their influence and power, which they use to keep the governments around them from interfering and tampering with their freedoms and desires to live apart from the rest of society. Aside from that, the Zoners also like their current situation, and would like to maintain it as such.

Why LAWFULS Like/Tolerate Zoners

- Their Bases represent bastions of humanity in some of the most desolate areas of space. Remember that the scale of the FL universe is way off. Systems should feel like going through two Newcastles in reality. Having a lone Zoner base in that system can be a heartwarming sight.

- Their Bases represent the only neutral territory in the FL universe. There is no such thing as the "neutral" house in Discovery. Nations and leaders always want to keep a few neutral areas available. These neutral areas can serve for negotiations, escape havens, or places to hide something.

- Their bases represent a buffer between nations. It is hard enough to move a fleet from your nation, across another system, to another nation undetected. Moving this flotilla across neutral territory is going to be harder.

- Zoners serve as a front for goods. So, Republican hears that Gateway recently lost a shipment of goods to Hessians, eh? Why not check Freeport 1 and see if they can buy it off the Zoners and not have to go all the way to Bretonia. This is a small-scale effort, of course. Otherwise, trade houses would start to balk.

Why UNLAWFULS Like/Tolerate Zoners

- Zoners serve as a buyer. They don't ask questions, because they don't give a damn. Unlawfuls can dock on Zoner bases with tons of Gate/Lane parts, and the Zoners would happily sell the parts back to Ageira again for a profit.

- They offer shelter. Its hard to find a base that will offer protection to someone who just took out five trains and are being chased across the galaxy by the "Po-Po."

Zoners would never jeopardize their current station of relative power by militarizing and threatening the status quo. Acting as the middlemen between unlawfuls and lawfuls, any form of excessive buildup of military power is going to lead to unwanted attention and poor consequences. The Zoners gain their power not from threatening people, but by appeasing people.

As a final note, however, I would like to add this: Power Corrupts.

The Zoners came with an original plan to build a society throughout Sirius that would be a "city" upon a singular, unique hill in the vast plains of human society. Soon, however, the Zoners found themselves catering to a diverse group of individuals. From laundering money for criminals, acting as a front for pirates, and building bases as temporary shelters for criminals, lawfuls, and ragtag alike, the Zoners carved a slice of Sirius out for themselves.

I have no doubt that the Zoners have since strayed from their original goal. While their humble roots still remain the central pillar of their organization, the Zoners are most definitely not freedom-loving hippies, but power-brokers who buy the houses' and other political groups' acceptances in order to survive and function.

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[7:42:05 PM][6:51:36 PM] Igor (Smokey): btw terry
[6:51:48 PM] Terrance Cooper: Ye?
[6:52:00 PM] Igor (Smokey): nothin
[6:52:03 PM] Igor (Smokey): just sayin btw
[6:52:05 PM] Terrance Cooper: <_<

Johnny_Haas: you shot anti criuse speed rockets!!!
Johnny_Haas: but why????
Johnny_Haas: ??
Johnny_Haas: why you shoot criuse speed rockets?