Mantis Syndicate

"Not particularly subtle, Mantis Syndicate operatives were frequently employed to capture or otherwise eliminate criminal organizations, pirate gangs, and Alliance units operating in Sarin sector, especially those groups whose operations ran counter to Lord Affric's interests."

- Captain Zgorth'sth, Department of Threat Assessment, New Republic

The Mantis Syndicate or Mantis Bounty Hunter Syndicate, officially a corporation of bounty hunters, was one of the houses belonging to the Bounty Hunter's Guild. Officially specializing in hunting big groups of criminals such as swoop gangs or pirate organizations, the Mantis Syndicate gathered a great number of hunters in battalions of military units. Detractors considered the Mantis Syndicate to be a company of mercenaries.

During the Galactic Civil War, the Mantis Syndicate was ruled by Lady Marina Mantis. At that time, the Mantis Syndicate worked mostly as the private army of Imperial Governor High Lord Jaris Affric of the Sarin sector, although the Syndicate also extended its activities to the Revkinn and Socorro systems. At the end of the war, Affric suffered a loss of income and the Mantis Syndicate stopped working for him. Lady Mantis then made deals with other customers, including the New Republic and Provisional Governor Valis Lorn of Andasala.

Organization
The Mantis Bounty Hunter Syndicate, commonly known as the Mantis Syndicate, was a private company working in the business of bounties legally issued by either corporate or government interests. The Mantis Syndicate was one of the ten principal houses forming the Bounty Hunters' Guild. The owner and chief executive officer of the Syndicate was Lady Marina Mantis from at least 0 ABY to 11 ABY and their offices were in the Santarine system.

Professionals joined the Syndicate either by passing a selection process, or by being personally chosen and recruited by Lady Marina. Like the other houses, Mantis offered training and support to bounty hunters belonging to the house. In exchange, every bounty hunter paid Mantis a fee, including a 3% to 5% of any collected bounty, depending on the value of the bounty and the seniority of the hunter, plus an annual fee of 150 credits. Hunters recruited by Lady Marina were exempt from the annual fee.

The Syndicate worked on general-purpose bounties, but they were specialized in high-risk missions and in paramilitary operations requiring literally a battalion of professionals   to track and down capture collective prey such as a gang or a military unit. In fact, one of the main attractions of the Syndicate was its skill to gather specialized soldiers, all of them experienced as bounty hunters, in large numbers and in little time. Detractors considered that this feature blurred the difference between a bounty hunter syndicate and a mercenary company.

Some members of the Mantis Syndicate operated solo, but as a norm they made four- to eight-person units offering a teamwork synergy. The Mantis Syndicate succeeded in seventeen out of every twenty assignments.

History
The Mantis Syndicate was active circa 10 BBY. At that point, Mantis sent a prominent bounty hunter, Fenn Rizaar, to track down the pirate Kaine Paulsen, who was a member of the criminal organization Black Bha'lir. During the chase, Rizaar accidentally shot an Imperial stormtrooper dead and, shortly afterward, was apprehended by his victim's platoon along with Paulsen. Paulsen and Rizaar escaped together and went to the Bha'lir headquarters in Socorro. The Mantis Syndicate then refused to acknowledge Rizaar as one of his members and offered a bounty of 70,000 credits for him. Some Bha'lir wanted to cash Rizaar for the money, but Paulsen convinced them not to. Rizaar eventually joined the Bha'lir, considering himself to be indebted to them, and swore to get revenge on the Mantis Syndicate.

The Mantis Syndicate was still active and a member of the Guild as of 3 BBY. Soon after the Battle of Yavin, the Galactic Empire showed a sudden interest in criminal and fringe organizations, including bounty hunter houses. Scay Danson of the Imperial Security Bureau wrote a report on the possible threat posed by the Bounty Hunters' Guild, including the Mantis Syndicate. At that point, the sociopathic Trandoshan Cradossk, not affiliated with Mantis, was identified as the maximum authority of the Guild.

Circa 1 ABY, the Black Bha'lir had infiltrated one agent in the Mantis Syndicate. Thus, when Mantis decided to sent one bounty hunter after Karl Mathieu Ancher, a smuggler and member of the Bha'lir, the informant reported to The Tribunal, leaders of the Bha'lir. According to the tip, the hunter, known only as Kael, planned to approach Ancher during the funeral service of a notorious Corellian smuggler in Socorro. The Tribunal, unfortunately, knew nothing about Kael but his (or her) name, and as such Kael could easily approach Ancher undetected as a part of the crowd that was expected to attend. Besides, The Tribunal wanted to solve the situation without Ancher knowing, so they asked one small group to find and stop Kael.

Approximately at the same time, High Lord Jaris Affric, Imperial Governor of the Sarin sector and owner of several inherited, corporate and criminal assets in that area, hired and kept on retainer most of the Syndicate. Although the Syndicate would still track criminals wanted by either the Empire or private corporations, most of its business would come from bounties posted by Affric either directly or indirectly through any company under his control. Affric used the Syndicate as his private army of special operatives, sending them to track criminal organizations, units of the Alliance to Restore the Republic active in his area, pirate groups, swoop gangs, outlaw mercenary units and any other collective hampering Affric's activities. As Affric controlled most of the sector, there were many such groups in his sights.



This situation centered the range of the Syndicate in the Sarin sector, allowing them to offer only a company of troops, similar to a special operations unit, for operations outside the sector. They were successful serving Affric: In two years, the Syndicate defeated four mercenary units, three swoop gangs and one group of unauthorized slavers operating in the Suhuurmin system.

While under Affric's control, the Syndicate was contacted by Imperial prefect Dengless Rinn of the planet Kallistas. Rinn wanted to hire a company of mercenaries, including specialists in demolitions, to stage a coup against his boss, Governor Linrec, in a scheme also involving weaponry and fission bombs. Mantis arranged a meeting between Rinn and the Twi'lek smuggler Tarquin Zian, who could provide him with the weapons. Rinn and Mantis then started a three-week negotiation to reach a deal. Once they had made an agreement, Mantis sent troops to Kallistas while Rinn prepared a secret camp for them in the desert. Rinn's revolution was botched and the prefect became a fugitive of the Empire.

Serving Affric, the Mantis Syndicate obtained wealth, power and political influence within the Empire, to the point of not having to worry about the legality of its own activities, following Affric's own disregard. This prestige did not apply to other bounty hunters, who considered the Mantis Syndicate only Affric's thugs-for-hire. Other bounty hunter guilds admitted that the Mantis Syndicate was specialized in "acquiring" big groups, but still considered the Syndicate to be more a mercenary unit than a bounty hunter syndicate. This was a widespread opinion even outside the Guild.

In the following years, Lord Affric began to use the Mantis Syndicate in regular fights against troops of the Alliance, and also against the mercenary group Churhee's Riflemen in one attempt to capture Maydla Churhee. Circa 4 ABY, Affric was short of money and got into debts with the Syndicate. When Lady Marina noticed that Affric could not pay her, she withdrew her men against his wishes. Lady Marina managed the Syndicate to continue operating in Sarin, although they were more prone to work for anyone paying her fees instead of working for Affric. She also reduced the fees to make ends.

One of the new customers was Valis Lorn, crime lord and Provisional Governor of the planet Andasala. Lorn wanted to establish Andasala as a neutral ground welcoming both agents of the Empire and of its enemy, the New Republic, as long as they did not use Andasala to fight. Needing more strenght than his usual minions, Lorn hired Mantis mercenaries as his own law enforcement corps. Although the Mantis Syndicate was not enough to cement Lorn's position, the Governor had already planned several other measures that reached that goal.

During the following years, the New Republic took control of the Sarin sector and occasionally hired the Mantis Syndicate to track wanted Imperial agents. The New Republic was satisfied with the talent, professionality and political apathy of the Syndicate, although they were still wary about them. In 11 ABY, Captain Zgorth'sth of the New Republic's Department of Threat Assessment filed a detailed report on the Mantis Syndicate. Zgorth'sth recommended high-ranking officers to keep contact with the Syndicate as a way to obtain trained bounty hunters. He also believed that the Syndicate would observe the law at least if they were monitored.

Notable members
The owner and manager of the Syndicate was the amoral Lady Marina Mantis, who offered the services of her troops to anyone paying. Individual bounty hunters in the Syndicate included Fenn Rizaar and the mysterious Kael.

During the height of the Galactic Civil War, the Syndicate had no less than 985 professional hunters, 845 people as support personnel and 220 more as administrative personnel, as well as assets for 54 billion credits, including 7 billion credits in cash. The Syndicate was bigger than many of its peers, such as the Ragnar Syndicate, but then again it also centered in bigger-scale activities.

Behind the scenes
The Mantis Syndicate was first mentioned in the role-playing guide Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments from the Rim (1993), written for West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. Information on it was expanded in Galaxy Guide 10: Bounty Hunters (1994), another role-playing guide; Galaxy Guide 10 included a role-playing adventure, Two for the Price of One, in which the Mantis Syndicate plays a part. The Mantis Syndicate was then mentioned in other roleplaying supplements for The Roleplaying Game, including the guides Galaxy Guide 11: Criminal Organizations (1994) and The Black Sands of Socorro (1997), and the article Special Military Unit Intelligence Update in Star Wars Adventure Journal #15 (1997), each of them giving new information on the Syndicate's activities. Later, the Mantis Syndicate was mentioned in passing in Hero's Guide (2003), a role-playing supplement for Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars Roleplaying Game; in the article Underworld: A Galaxy of Scum and Villainy, published in Star Wars Insider #89 (2006)&mdash;their only mention in a non-role-playing-game source to the date; and more recently in The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide (2008), written for Wizards' Saga Edition Roleplaying Game''.