ID and ship question.

[MrHeadphones]

There isn't really much difference between mercenaries and freelancers, except that freelancers are more lawful. They usually use the civilian type ships, or occasionally if they're more tied to a faction, they'll use that faction's ships, for example, if a freelancer was in a long term contract with the BAF, they may allow him to use a templar, although that would affect his image of being independent. Both of these factions, however, are generic factions, so it's unlikely that they have guard systems.

Guns and shields are usually civilian types/codenames/faction weapons if they've tied themselves down to a faction. All shields are usable, since they aren't faction specific, but aqquiring them may be difficult seeing as there are no guard systems you can get them from.