Bounty Hunters, Smugglers, and Mercenaries

With the mighty struggle between the Empire and Republic, as well as the Jedi and the Sith, occupying the galaxy, there are those who do not wish to align themselves with either side… unless the price is right. They'd much rather rely on themselves than bureaucrats or military leaders. These usually shady characters work alone or in pairs and frequent the backstreets, dark alleys, seedy cantinas and smuggler dens that exist throughout the galaxy. Commonly called "scum" by outsiders, this neutral category is proud to identify themselves as mercenaries, bounty hunters, smugglers, assassins, gamblers, pirates and any number of other questionable professions.

Often the rejects of society, these mercenaries find themselves in vast, but not always widely accepted company. Some are the dropouts of Imperial military academies or even Jedi trainees gone astray, others have been born and bred for their occupation, raised by mercenary parents or adopted as foundlings and trained for such a life. Though they find refuge anywhere, they can commonly be found on the Outter Rim worlds and in the expanses of empty and dangerous space in between.

Though their life style is rough and risky they often gain prestige and surmount large sums of wealth at their occupations. The most successful among them even settle down and establish large cartels dealing in weapons, classified information, and drugs, like spice. Though their pursuits are technically illegal, they enjoy a certain amount of immunity to the law that comes from their influential power and the fact that the New Republic has bigger things to worry about in its fight against the Empire.

Mercenaries can work for any faction, but only serve themselves. Though their personal feelings may agree with one side over another, their loyalty goes to the highest bidder and can change at the sound of jingling credits. Even the Republic and the Empire are not above using their specialized talents and it is not uncommon for bounty hunters to be enlisted to bring in certain political enemies of one side or the other or for information dealers to be recruited to discover the opposing side's most secret battle plans.

Often possessing multiple aliases, a Mercenary's tracks are hard to trace. Their skills include agility, deception, a quick mind, fast trigger finger and a general disregard for morals and loyalty. Most of them are adept in the arts of hacking into computer databases or extracting information from human subjects. A fondness for high-stakes gambling, drinking, and carousing is also a plus. And they cannot be squeamish about blood, for the job is dangerous and a mercenary often finds themselves in as much danger as their prey. It is not uncommon for a mercenary to have multiple bounties on their head and must constantly be evading other hunters as they carry out their own pursuits. A mercenary is never without a pocketful of credits, a good blaster, and a quick escape route to their ship.