Mercenary Companies

[Poach]

The Free Companies exist in Merchant Lord Space and form the easiest and cheapest way for the Merchant Lords to wage war. Ready-packaged taskforces of varying sizes and abilities, they are a product of the unrestricted capitalist culture that exists in those regions of space: someone might want to buy an army, so Free Companies sell them. These Free Companies exist on the open market as providers of security at all levels: from the bored-looking security guard in the shopping centres to the battle-ready soldiers streaming out of transport ships making landfall on hostile planets. Massive corporations with a monopoly on the security market from the bottom up.
Free Companies will contract themselves to an owner for up to five years, at which point they enter a one year stand down where the soldiers (that survived the contract) enjoy their bounty before re-applying to the Company for the next five-year contract.

A Free Company will muster in your home system 3 days after the contract is signed if you are a Merchant Lord. They will muster in 7 days if you are not, and prices are 10% higher.

List of Companies

Planetfall Solutions - 7 Infantry Legions - 2 Armoured Legions - 2 Transport Squadrons - Cost: 75,000 Crowns/year - CONTRACTED TO: - UNTIL: Land Management Corporation - 2 Infantry Legions - 1 Armoured Legion - 1 Transport Squadron - Cost: 25,000 Crowns - CONTRACTED TO: - UNTIL: Fortress Corp - 8 Infantry Legions - 2 Transport Squadrons - Cost: 62,000 Crowns - CONTRACTED TO: - UNTIL: Shield Security Services - 3 Heavy Cruisers - 2 Light Cruiser Squadrons - 2 Destroyer Squadrons - Cost: 38,000 Crowns/year - CONTRACTED TO: - UNTIL: Escort Services - 6 Destroyer Squadrons - 6 Light Cruiser Squadrons - Cost: 30,000 Crowns/year - CONTRACTED TO: - UNTIL: Spacelane Management - 2 Heavy Cruisers - 4 Light Cruiser Squadrons - 2 Destroyer Squadrons - Cost: 35,000 Crowns - CONTRACTED TO: - UNTIL: Stellar Security Corporation - 1 Battlecruiser - 3 Heavy Cruisers - 4 Light Cruiser Squadrons - Cost: 50,000 Crowns/year - CONTRACTED TO: - UNTIL: Solar Security Division - 1 Minelayer Squadron - 1 Minesweeper Squadron - 2 Destroyer Squadrons - Cost: 12,000 Crowns - CONTRACTED TO: - UNTIL: