Junker Congress

[Rudo]

.. Speaking from personal in-game experience only, .:j:. "supports" the Harvesters in subtle, discreet ways. For example, one of our members commonly surrenders Xeno prisoners to the Harvesters and in exchange their appreciation is gained. In the past, there have been numerous times where Harvesters have stood up and defended .:j:. (and independent Junkers alike) in much the same way that they defend the Corsairs. However, this isn't a mutual relationship, as the Junkers do not aid the Harvesters in their battles.

There is an actual RP reason behind this that I'll get into in a future story. When I have free time, and feel like writing instead of playing, I guess.

If you ask any Harvester, they'll tell you directly that they defend all Junkers and all Corsairs. I imagine they defend Corsairs since the Corsairs supply them with ships n' such, but as for Junkers.. I'm not really sure why they're so eager to help us out all the time, I guess it could be because we share similiar interests in that both factions are scavengers of sorts.

It's heavily because we've allowed the Harvesters access to our bases for resupply and repairs, and get symbiotic benefits out of the exchange -- which include protection when threatened. The deal was struck before my time, you'll have to ask some of the old hands about it.

I think it was Tink that said it was either work with them or work against them, and it's more the Junker way to see where we could profit from the relationship. When faced with hungry and wounded lion, it's better to feed and comfort it than try and fight it off.

.. I'm not sure how many times Tink will have to say it before it's understood, but.. .:j:. isn't attempting to be "the" official Junker faction. The rules above are only meant to be respected by members of the Junker Congress, other Junkers are free to do as they please. If people percieve .:j:. as being "the" official Junker faction, that's fine, but I'm sure they'll never have to worry about this faction trying to enforce rules on them or anything like that. I'm not the leader or the faction creator, but I'm doubting Tink will be interested in doing that.

Before I was .:j:., I'd frequently refer to Tink and other congress members as 'boss' in my dealings. It was more a courtesy than an actual deference of rank. Other Junkers I've dealt with since getting the tag myself usually give the same courtesy, but I've had to instruct a few in that we are in fact not the core faction.

Personally I tend to percieve the Junker Congress as being a party of determined individuals with similiar interests, comparable to something like the Nazi party you saw in Germany prior to World War 2. Some members are political figures, others might just be avid supporters, and others could be fanatical enforcers. In short, I think Tinkerbell's goal with .:j:. is to create a faction with alot of variety in that you'll ideally be able to take any sort of route you want with your Junker character. Everything else is trivial at this point, the faction itself is still in a state of infancy in my opinion and things are subject to change depending upon RP and where Tink wants to go with it.

It's been said before, just find a niche that the Junkers may need, flesh it out and fill it. Just make sure of three things:

1) There's something in it for you
2) It benefits the Junkers
3) It causes interaction with other players. This could either be positive or negative, but not hostile.

.. That may be partially my fault. There's two characters in .:j:. who're flying IMG Gunboats, one of which is the sistership to another. The main reason I chose this ship is because it's about the only capital class ship that a Junker could have access too in RP and also be able to fly it in House systems/lawful zones. As Junkers, we could likely have access to other ships like the Corsair or Rogue GB's, but neither of those ships are going to be tolerated in a place like Liberty or Rheinland. Regardless, to me it makes sense enough to work and I've yet to recieve any complaints about it from anyone in-game. The IMG is a profiteering corporation, it seems more-than-reasonable that they'd be willing to sell a few of their ships for Freelance/Mercenary usage.

I'll take the blame for this one, as I started it for the reasons RParade just laid out better than I could. On the surface it seems rather odd for a non-combative faction such as the Junkers to field warships, but when you've got rogue Bounty Hunters on Yanagi, and Mon'Star and Phantoms popping up on our cargo routes, and Xeno Elite Blitzkrieg Wings raiding Rochester and Beaumont and hitting our convoys with impunity, and independent smugglers actually bypassing our stations to run from their sources directly to our markets... you see, Junkers need to put their foot down. Fielding a couple hard-hitting deterrent ships is the best way.

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