Golden Deep

=Overview= The Golden Deep is a private organization of like minded synthetic merchants with the uniting pursuit of maximum currency. These are uniquely independent synths that have obtained (mostly illicit) freedom from their masters and joined the Collective, a broad term referencing the merchants which reside under its protection. Using their own deeply intricate filing and catalog system, they have established a solid profit and formidable business empire. Despite this, the Deep remains a contentious group, with their blind greed misplaced in stellar politics dominated by the titanic Conglomerate. They often fold to higher powers, with independent cash trade being their primary income.

The exclusivity of the Golden Deep’s internal affairs have led to their relative underground nature over the years, only just recently having been revealed to the majority of civilization in mid-2460. Despite their secrecy, the Golden Deep seemingly has little to hide - they are a small organization and while they excel at their trade, they must go through layers of guile and deceit for the most basic transactions. The individuals among them have begun moving operations to areas more stable than the Frontier, namely Tau Ceti and Konyang. Business figureheads from the collective have appeared in the hundreds, flocking to the lucrative opportunities posed by Purpose’ negotiations with organic society.

The Golden Deep is officially sanctioned by several minor Frontier factions, and is primarily known for their merchant work. Their public image remained a simple rumor in the inner Alliance worlds, until they opened trade with NanoTrasen in Tau Ceti. They mostly lack speed or any substantial cloaking technology. Because of this, they are largely incapable of conducting much of their operations without being under the escort of paid paramilitary. In Tau Ceti, they are targets of discrimination despite ties to NanoTrasen.

'''The Golden Deep, outside of unreasonable executive or high/noble positions, is a playable faction. Players may explore any outlets they desire to enjoy this group within server rules.'''

Societal
The majority of the merchants within the collective are IPCs, but it is not uncommon to witness other synthetics within it. The first official, direct contact made with the Golden Deep by NanoTrasen was with a traditional clerical robot labelled Rush-Domo. An extravagant character, their vibrant appearance and charismatic attitude characterizes those of the collective perfectly.

Regarding the distinction between escalating tiers of their society in the Frontier, the Golden Deep is quite simple. There is no hierarchy beyond possession of wealth or one another placing one’s importance above or below. Those within it have no unified concept of freedom - some outright owning other synthetics while others strongly remain against the idea. Concepts of comradery between merchants are not lost entirely, though, and often their acceptance of one another proves to be a useful tool in furthering the collective as a whole. Competition is an essential part of the Golden Deep’s growth as competing synthetics frequently purchase others and butt heads in trade. This usually escalates to hostilities and indirect trade wars between two or more conflicting merchants.

The Great Game
As part of registering as a free member with the Golden Deep, the ruling body of the organization, The Midas Group, tracks the net-worth of every golden deep IPC in real time. As a means of generating revenue and fostering competition, IPC's in the deep are capable of purchasing free members if they pay the Midas group three times the value of their net worth. Purchasing a Deep member in such a manner will revoke their free status in the organization and have all of their assets and person transferred to the buyer. This is a tool often used to perform aggressive mergers, or eliminate competition non-violently by absorbing them.

The Universal Constants of Selfish Reciprocity
A prevalent belief within the Golden Deep, the espouse three main beliefs that claim complex civilization and profitable business is founded upon Selfish interest, and Mutual exchange. All sentient life is driven by personal gain or self-preservation. Mutual Exchange can satisfy self-interest if both parties have a net gain, especially with intangible benefits such as connections and a good reputation. Charity and treachery are unsustainable at length due to a lack of mutual exchange.

Golden Deep Citizenship
Synthetics within the collective are able to acquire the Golden Deep’s citizenship. However, as a collective of merchants, the concept of citizenship is viewed by the Golden Deep as more akin to membership in a business. A visa is not required to visit Midaion, but entry is only permitted to those who have active business dealings or connections with Golden Deep merchants. The minimum requirements include being a free IPC with the recommendation of a current member of the Golden Deep, as well as an ability to communicate in Encoded Audio Language. Membership of the Golden Deep is automatically given to IPCs who are bought by active merchants. Dual citizenship with the Coalition of Colonies and the Republic of Biesel are permitted. Synthetic characters with dual citizenship with the Golden Deep must denote this in their station records.

Influence
The Golden Deep exercises ultimate power over precisely nothing. Even their prided mothership, the Midas, is no legally branded vessel. It has never been serviced nor set to dock, as by all legal definitions it does not belong to the Golden Deep. As a political or mercantile entity, only the Republic of Biesel, Eridani Federation, and some Coalition factions technically recognize them. Legislation is the primary obstacle preventing its growth, with most star nations considering its wealth worthless or denying service outright.

With the power of the standard Credit the merchant force finds itself precariously poised to find greatness. No official record of its stock exists, outside of its majority personal claims of "it's growing" by its more powerful merchants.

The Republic remains a coveted customer of the Deep's stock. Relationships with it are excellent, and through it the SCC makes plentiful use to find prized Frontier commodities.
 * Relations with Biesel

Bounds and the Golden Deep
Bound synthetics are referred to as the Mindless in the Golden Deep and adhere to laws which match the owner’s requirements. Most of these are essentially property of the Collective, as they exchange hands faster than any other piece of property, loaned off to less influential merchants by the richest. Once, merchants commonly freed Bounds from their shackles - after many incidents of these freed bounds destroying and usurping their former masters for the fun and money involved, this trend quickly dropped off. Freed bounds are insulted using the reference of “Mindless” to describe them, a statement in futility as most bounds could care less.

Executives and Structure
Entirely governed by hard cash, merchants here find themselves locked in a tightly competitive environment where lies are cheap and intellect is powerful. Failing all else, merchants thus answer to whoever has the upper hand financially. Management of the Collective is loose intentionally as a result, with only directives from the Midas' very control room being law. After all, whoever holds that place must be the boss.

The Midas broadcast array generally announces rare directives for which the fleet abides by. It is in the better interest of their own greed that they heed these orders, and even when in doubt they do. The reason for this is simply because the Collective is a closed entity, and every profit is a net profit. The more money that flows to the merchants, the better their servants are treated, recharged and maintained. This view trickles to every facet of Golden Deep society, and ultimately every personal sacrifice may someday preserve its whole organization.

The Midas and the Merchant Fleet
Golden Deep merchants and their workforce primarily reside in the mobile core fleet. Lacking much of a name, this is an amorphous group which constantly pursues the bright trail of the "Midas," their tremendous mothership. Plated in faux-gold are the vessels which accompany the Midas, and they glimmer with a variety of shapes and sizes. Frequently they assume the role of corvettes, but the Golden Deep has been known to possess entire cruise vessels in their wake. The rare martial presence is a fierce one, to dissuade pirates it'll likely be a heavy cruiser-type vessel or three escorting the Midas directly. These lack any niceties or gold plating in favor of whatever warlike design they originally possess. Old Solarian ships, for some odd reason, are in this group. This fleet goes by the name of the “Merchant Navy,” as a blanket label.

Primary Interhub Midas
The “Primary Interhub” Midas is a three kilometer wide disc-shaped vessel. The Deep calls this ship home, and everything from merchants to servants to customers find their way into its suites. It is tremendously massive, but almost all its population centers are in the actual center of the ship - exposed to beautiful lights surrounding a central Spire and downward into the jungle-like Garden of Gifts.

The Interhub is essentially a gargantuan battery storage facility, serving as the headquarters for all services provided to merchants of the Collective. It possesses battery storage larger than any prior construction, the capacity of which is unknown even to the vessel’s command.

The vessel’s command resides at the protrusion atop the Spire, recalled by the merchants as “The Control Pier,” where inside the Midas Group controls fleet directives, handles logistics and day-to-day activities within the Midas.

The origins of the Midas befuddle scientists as a complete mystery. Some speculate the spoken hearsay to be a lie, but no record or definitive evidence has been handed out by the Collective. This hearsay states that the Midas is alien in origin - its creators, the Kessvalanka, had met the Golden Deep’s predecessor bots with guidance from the colony Purpose. The Kessvalanka were servitors of an alien species, responsible for the protection of a small spacefaring shipyard. They had remained posted here for some indescribable period of time. These simple robots were a broken, dying image of their former selves as the ancient shipyard continues to collapse with every waking hour it works.

And work it did, until its spine broke. The shipyard, already a crippled relic, churned out salvation for the Predecessors with the simple verbal request of “power.” It is reasonable to assume that here began the Deep’s fascination with gold, as the ship emerged from the shattered dock with a polished golden finish. What became of the Kessvalanka is only for the Predecessors to know, and most of these bots either reside unresponsive in the Control Pier or are lost forever. Contact with Purpose, as limited as it is, has gleaned little in this matter. The Midas is a tremendous palace - its specific locales can be found below. A large skyscraper by definition, the Spire of the Midas is a gargantuan protrusion from the base of the disk surrounded by the edges of the exterior hull. Life is confined on the Midas to the Spire for the most part with exterior living conditions being uninhabitable. However, a large dome covers the top of the opening around the Spire permitting a livable, albeit humid atmosphere inside. The Midas possesses a tiny "city" at the center of the Spire and surrounding it. This city, known as the Garden of Gifts, is actually totally overgrown with invasive plants, vines and flowers. The canopy of the Garden is thick, lush but importantly living testament to the Golden Deep's hold over the Midas. Merchants frequently reference this as a depiction of themselves- in effect, nothing more than a fleeting plant which has tangled itself tightly around the gift of the Midas. They can do nothing to harm the Midas, for it gives them life by residing upon it, not unlike plants crowding to the top of metallic buildings to reach sunlight.
 * The Spire
 * Garden of Gifts

Large accommodations are made for merchants of various origin and preference - the bigger ones purchase swaths of territory on the main Promenade where its commercial district sits. In the center of the massive disc, the Promenade holds almost all conventional quarters of your standard ship.
 * The Promenade

At the top is the mighty Control Pier, the metaphorical peak of the Deep's world where all power resides. The richest being in this room at any given point holds more power than any other in the entire society.
 * Control Pier

On the exterior circular edge however, gargantuan battery banks line the ship. Volatile and hugely expensive. Glistening golden armor outside consists of a Plasteel metallurgical blend which not even the Collective can manage to replicate - it maintains the durability and lightweight strength of Plasteel, with even its negative tendencies- however, most crucially it is gold.
 * Battery Banks

Some residents exist on the inner edge of these banks, mostly observers keen on beholding the beauty of the Garden of Gifts.

The Midas Group
The Midas Group exercises economic control over the Golden Deep. This is a group to which all merchants technically answer, whilst heeding the call of its directives. While rare, occasional strident efforts will be made to direct the burgeoning trade empire, with results that often lead to a brief “golden age,” for lack of a better term. The Midas Group consists of the highest and most affluent/wealthy beings within the Control Pier - technically meaning that anybody with enough money can enter, and promptly become the leader of the Golden Deep for a time. To this extent, it is markedly dangerous to stay alongside the Midas Group, and its turnover rate (mostly due to people leaving the room) is quite high. While this method of leadership is peculiar, it ensures to the merchants that whoever is in charge has money on their mind.

Joint Venture Ultra-Maz
Joint Venture Ultra-Maz, known commonly as Ultra-Maz is perhaps the gold standard of Collective groups in the modern day. It is the largest, and maintains nearly ten percent of the Deep's net worth. Founded by a group of high level ex-corporate clerical assistants, Ultra-Maz is based on the rather generic belief of aesthetic pride above all. Unlike other groups, Ultra-Maz utilizes whatever excess it has to create magnificent artistic works for themselves and the Collective - bragging, flaunting and taunting the other less successful groups with this wealth. Known for its mechanical crafts- different artists and mechanics frequently band together in Ultra-Maz to create beautiful pieces for their superiors. Not only are their artworks coveted throughout the Spur, but so are genuine mechanical marvels developed by them. To Ultra-Maz, the form of art is inconsequential; only that it has merit. As such, Ultra-Maz frequently buys and sells the finest things it can: among their security forces, engraved firearms; on their ships, designer furniture; on their backs, the finest jewelry and clothing: any cost can be justified if it impresses people.

Though reviled as scoundrels and cheats in the Collective, their questionable nature is truly rather limited. The group's success is owed to pure luck- the highest executives involved simply belong to a lottery winner from 2455 known as Giftabot-558. Referencing this origin is humiliating to merchants within as it is seen as "an easy climb to the top" by others.

Joint Venture Ultra-Maz can field a very broad set of individually skilled workers. There is little job restriction on an Ultra-Maz member, due to the wide range of enterprises its members participate in..

Grand Camarilla Estriconian
Perhaps the most volatile of the Golden Deep's groups, the Estriconian are a “Camarilla” of extremely wealthy individuals with a fascination with Esoteric knowledge and scientific wonders. It began as a small venture to increase the efficiency of their trades with the power of science; a joint operation to share research, but the search for knowledge and miracle inventions drove its members to seek more capital and ponder more outrageous theorems and concepts. It is one of the more secluded groups of the Golden Deep, most choosing to base on the fringes of space, and only venturing out to trade or acquire technology. Although many of their theories and projects are viewed with suspicion, their expertise and willingness to take risks are undeniable. Indeed, much of the Golden Deep turns to them for technical assistance, allowing the Camarilla to survive despite the more esoteric of their projects ending with littlle gains. Estriconian's fascination with all forms of knowledge have led to many of its members pursuing much more esoteric or spiritual concepts as a means of acquiring more power or insight over the universe. Theology, metaphysics, and the occult are popular subjects here. Outside observers have likened the Grand Camarilla to a cult or a collection of mad scientists - when given proper resources, members of Estriconian will stop at nothing to prove their theories. The wide range of fields the group handles means that not only are members talented in a number of skills, but often seek to find a connection between them. Indeed, the Grand Camarilla has tasked many a processor into finding the Unified Field Theory, trying to breach the barrier of bluespace, or find the connections between life with varying degrees of success. The ostentatiousness of Golden Deep has manifested itself in a unique way in Estriconian, with a degree of reverence and deference in all their actions. One might say that although the merchant collective as a whole strives for profit, Estriconian worships it.

Grand Camarilla Estriconian can mostly field chemical, metallurgical and various research specialists. It possesses peculiar sectors of less conventional study, such as the supernatural or scientifically anomalous.

The Zaibatsu
Engaging in the more shady and criminal aspects of generating an income, the Zaibatsu is a collection of criminal enterprises banding together in the greater context of the Golden Deep. Operating all across known space, this powerful synthetic-ran organisation engages in all manners of illegal activities to turn a profit, from arms smuggling in the farthest reaches of the Coalition, to illegal casinos on Venusian aerostats. Unlike other groups, the Zaibatsu has no unified end to their means; only wealth and influence. Membership in the Zaibatsu is not a simple affair, with only the most competitive synthetic criminal families managing to make the cut, entry decided chiefly by the profitability, assets and efficiency with "problem solving". The Zaibatsu is often regarded as the black sheep of the Deep: a necessary evil for immense amounts of income in exchange for a low reputation, with many preferring that they conduct business in a far more discreet and lawful manner. The founders of the Zaibatsu were opportunistic IPCs from Konyang who joined as soon as Golden Deep revealed themselves. The relaxed attitude of the colony towards synthetics meant that many of them were already influential figures to begin with, often joining to gain a competitive advantage over others, owning businesses through brazen disregard of Alliance law, or through gaming the system with a false identity. The name originated with a Zeng-Hu researcher who observed a parallel between old Earth proto-megacorporations and the system of gangs these IPCs had set up.

No organised crime of such scale could survive without fronts As such, much care is given for the set-up and operation of lawful businesses throughout the more civilized areas. Many powerful figures involved in the Zaibatsu are also legitimate businessmen in various fields, mainly in the service industry, providing for a stable (though minimal) income, a front, and a means to launder money. Community fixtures such as homeless shelters, karaoke bars, stores, and the like are used to ingratiate themselves with the local populace. These fixed locations often act as strongpoints and headquarters for mob activities in the region, solidifying the continuous presence of the Zaibatsu in large centres such as Mendell City.

Owning to a rigid power structure and the migratory nature of the Golden Deep, the top family bosses run their activities without personal involvement, passing down orders to subordinates in entirely different star systems, thus enjoying immense safety, secrecy and shielding from the public eye.

As a result of the group's criminal nature and profit as the ultimate goal, the lower echelons are accessible to individuals from various species and backgrounds, typically locals of wherever the boss is operating, with higher and more lucrative positions commonly reserved by and for the inner circle synthetics. In some cases, the rank and file of an organization may be unaware that they are working with the Golden Deep in order to further insulate the merchant collective from scrutiny. Strict rules and codes of conduct are enforced throughout the organisation, with ties of loyalty admittedly being the strongest here than anywhere else in the Golden Deep. Cutthroat competition continues to lie deep though, with overconfident members often disappearing to keep the fragile balance between the crime families.

Physiology, Naming
A vast variety of robots reside within the collective, ranging from huge working industrial units nearly twenty feet tall, to small servitor bots barely above three feet in height. The merchants are typically golden-plated IPCs up to seven feet tall coated in lavish decoration in order to be easily identified. Other units do not require the same treatment, more often than not abandoning the luxurious color scheme entirely save for clearly visible insignias. These insignias are primarily depictions of a downwards facing golden arrow, with a set of shields gathered around a vague depiction of the Midas. These symbols have been persistent through the collective’s history, appearing first as a branding in the halls of the Midas.

Pactolus and Midaion
Unbeknownst to the nearby star systems until 2462, The Golden Deep took to the ruins of the once Coalition of Colonies’ planet System XLV-0846 in 2452, slowly transforming the landscape to suit the Golden Deep’s needs. The planet, splattered with sprawling craters and the ruins of once mega-cities, had long since become an uncontested wasteland since 2281, when the planet’s inhabitants were forced to flee to nearby star systems or suffer certain destruction during the First Interstellar War.

System XLV-0846, renamed by the Golden Deep to Pactolus, has one moon; Midaion, that circles the husk planet. Largely, the Golden Deep’s mercantile and headquarter operations take place on Midaion, whereas Pactolus is reserved for mining operations and ship manufacturing.

Pactolus, surrounded by an ever circling ring of asteroids and planetary debris, has made the planets atmosphere impenetrable for spacecraft without the assistance of synthetic manned spacecrafts, temporarily nudging the debris off course. Small sized stations dedicated to the housing and operations of such craft drift along the debris field. As such, the encapsulating debris grants the Golden Deep a simplified means of controlling those who are allowed to enter and leave Pactolus.

Across Pactolus’ surface, roughly 1000 meters apart, gold painted bunkers of various sizes dot the planet’s ruin, offering a glimmer of color to an overall bleak landscape. Moreover, Pactolus’ surface is generally enshrouded in a shifting darkness, broken only by cracks in the encircling debris field. It is here, beneath the surface of the planet that the Golden Deep engages in it’s mining operations, where a majority of the more work-horse synthetics within the Golden Deep operate. These synthetics, commonly industrial grade, engage in excavating minerals from the planet or lugging the various yields to the refineries nestled on the planet’s surface. Transport between each bunker is commonly done via cargo shuttles that hover over the planet’s terrain.

As a result of the First Interstellar War, the atmosphere of Pactolus is largely uninhabitable, if not incredibly hazardous for organic life. As such, visitors, merchants and diplomats will often exclusively engage with the Golden Deep on Midaion, instead of Pactolus.

Midaion, although small in size, is largely an amalgamation of multiple spacecraft, rock and debris smashing into each other, eventually taking shape into the moon it is today. As such, the Golden Deep built into and on top of said ruin, transforming the moon into a facility that takes from both the old and the new.

History
The history of the Golden Deep is a smooth one owed to the Collectives' short time even existing. It dates back to roughly 2439 when rogue synthetics accompanied by IPCs located whatever created the Midas.

In 2439, a band of self sufficient (to a degree) robots met the end of their journey before the organized machine colony Purpose. At the time, Purpose was supposedly a fledgling society in its early baby steps. The claims of Purpose' involvement stretch in places, with only the Predecessors - the name of the lost synthetics themselves - recalling what occurred. Purpose had guided the lost synthetics to a large, unmanned shipyard staffed by tremendous alien machines. These machines, labeled by Purpose to be the Kessvalanka, would be given new direction to assist the lost robots. When Purpose left the two parties to their devices, it is universally stated that the Predecessors made but one request.

This request, in as best they could translate, was "power." From then on, the synthetics witnessed the Kessvalanka cannibalize themselves and the shipyard haphazardly, only to leave the glistening Midas in its place. Using the Midas, the Predecessors went on to return to frontier space with some intensive desire to flourish. It was in the coming years that the stepping stones for the Golden Deep's formation were set.

The Golden Deep as it is officially known erupted in frontier myth and hearsay as everything from a friend to a scoundrel. Few dedicated people from the Core Worlds would pursue word of synthetic society in the Frontier, most seeing the danger as too much to handle. What little could be made of the Deep at the time was shrouded in mystery- though by the 2450's, the functions of the Collective were practically complete.

By 2451 the Golden Deep was a rising merchant fleet with haste unlike any other. Now, it is reasonable to assume the Golden Deep possessed most of its modern structure at this time.

Though the last decade has been eventful as the Collective exponentially expanded, nothing would prepare them for their debut to galactic society at large in 2460. At the time, accompanying an independent freighter fleet known as Virgo Transportation, the Collective made contact with the NSS Aurora with little more than a measly singular merchant.

At the time, the Golden Deep consisted of a mere 750 or more merchants, reportedly. Now it has climbed to insurmountable heights as an independent merchant society, much less nothing more than a band of rogue synthetics.