Post by Jëdî T¥ on Mar 27, 2007 5:04:23 GMT -5
Bounty Hunters and the Empire
"Bounty hunters. We don't need that scum."
~Admiral Piett
End of a Golden Age era...
There was a time, long before the Empire, when bounty hunting was considered a noble profession - when bounty hunters followed a strict code of conduct and were thought of as courageous troubleshooters. They helped authorities weed out the most dangers criminals from the law abiding population of the galaxy. But somewhere along the way, many bounty hunters became little more than ruthless thugs and killers - the absolute last resort for restoring order. Bounty hunters frequently clashed with Jedi Knights over methodologies and goals, and when they did, someone almost always died. The clashes eventually became so frequent that the Jedi Order asked the Galactic Senate to look into the matter.
The Senate concluded that the best way to police bounty hunters was for bounty hunters to police themselves. The bounty hunters would be allowed to form self-governing guilds, with bylaws, apprenticeship programs, membership fees, and personal records. In exchange for the limitations they agreed to place on themselves, the guilds received exclusive contracts with the Republic; when the Republic authorities needed a bounty hunter, they would only hire someone from the guilds. This state of affairs was so popular that the guilds survived the last days of the Republic and on into the days of the Empire. Over time, the individual guilds became simply the Bounty Hunters' Guild - albeit with several individual and often competitive houses.
Rise and Fall of the Empire era...
As the Empire grew in power, the Emperor frequently called upon the Bounty Hunters' Guild to silence trouble-some dissidents and, eventually, to track down and eliminate particularly elusive Rebels. Their success record was neither spectacular nor abysmal - but for the first time in a long time, the general republic learned to fear the appearance of a bounty hunter. With no more Jedi Knights to oppose them, bounty hunters often went unchecked except for the occasional courageous peace officer or local prefect. While the bounty hunters still clung to their code of conduce, which prevented them from simply blowing up an entire building to kill one person, or engaging in violent blaster-play where innocents could get caught in a crossfire, they learned to "interpret" the code. This interpretation made it possible for them to engage in wanton destruction and still collect their fees. The Emperor publicaly denounced such actiivities, but privately rewarded the bounty hunters with more contracts.
Just after the Battle of Yavin...
A collateral party in this situation was the Black Sun criminal syndicate, whose members frequently found themselves targeted by these overzealous bounty hunters. In an effort to end the threat of the bounty hunters, the leader of Black Sun, Prince Xizor of Falleen, convinced the Emperor to disenfranchise the Bounty Hunter's Guild. The Emperor contracted Boba Fett to engineer the downfall of the guild.
In a spectacularly grim conflagration known as the Bounty Hunter Wars, Boba Fett created enough confusion, mistrust, and interneccine struggles to permanently disband the Bounty Hunter's Guild. The organization survived only as a scatterning of splinter groups and independent operators - much the same as it had been in the days of the Republic - except that the warfare in their ranks had made the bounty hunters perhaps more ruthless than before.
The Bounty Hunters' Creed...
The Bounty Hunters' Creed was the unwritten rules of the bounty hunters.
All bounty hunters were required to abide by these simple guidelines. A bounty hunter who failed to uphold these rules would undergo termination of their bounty hunting license.
Contrary to popular belief, even the roughest, the seediest, and the most dispassionate of hunters were far from being the unprincipled villains many would make them out to be. Most hunters adhered, to some degree, to an unwritten code of ethics which, when spoken of at all, was referred to as the "bounty hunter's creed." While the exact wording of these tenants varied from planet to planet, the gist of this creed is summarized below.
While the average Republican citizen may have found the codes objectionable, and even morally offensive, they served as a loosely defined set of enforceable principles by which hunters conducted their trade and lived out their lives.
* People Don't Have Bounties, Only Acquisitions Have Bounties.
This single, cardinal rule, more than any other, defined the way in which bounty hunters approached their chosen profession. It reflected the idea that sapient beings, to some degree, must be accorded respect. If, however, an individual had a bounty placed on them, he or she ceased to be an individual with rights. No longer a member of the galactic community, the "acquisition" became fair game. Tears should never be shed over the fate of someone that was, after all, only an "acquisition."
* Capture By Design, Kill By Necessity.
In keeping with the loosely defined hunter code of ethics, killing was sometimes necessary. That was business, pure and simple. However, unnecessary killing was still murder. The hunter, unless otherwise directed by those leveling the bounty, must attempt to deliver the acquisition alive. Often, those leveling the bounty had a vested interest in a live target - and the target might have been better off getting killed by the hunter.
* No Hunter Shall Slay Another Hunter
Simply put, whatever their origin, bounty hunters saw themselves as a special breed. They took their lives (and those of others) into their hands each time they hunted. One may agree with another hunter's motives or insult them for the manner in which they carried out their hunts, but no bounty hunter would ever take up arms against a fellow hunter. This law applied only to hunters who followed the creed, not to those who had a bounty posted on their head becoming merely acquisitions. In such cases, the ex-hunter was no longer seen as a member of the common fellowship and old scores could now be settled with impunity.
* No Hunter Shall Interfere With Another's Hunt.
While it was not unheard of for hunters to work as a team, the hunt for a given acquisition was most often seen as a form of personal duel between two sapient creatures. In such a deal, the hunter matched skill and courage against all the resources one's opponent could bring to bear. If the hunter won, it was a personal triumph denoting superior skill and intellect, and not simply a question of luck. To interfere with another's hunt, unless first invited, was to leave the question of "who is better" open and, perhaps forever, unresolved. Of course, competition between hunters was often fierce and there was often a very thin line between "competition" and "interference". This being true, while a hunter was constrained against taking direct action against another hunter, there was nothing to constrain a hunter from hiring others to do the dirty work. Of course, if such an action, successful or not, could be traced back to the original perpetrator, serious consequences inevitably followed.
* In the Hunt One captures or Kills, Never Both.
In cases where the acquisition had been taken alive, that "choice" could not be altered. To kill an acquisition in the course of the hunt was one thing, but to purposely kill an unarmed, helpless being already subdued and unable to resist was seen as simple slaughter and wanton butchery. An acquisition "killed while attempting to escape" however, would be an entirely different matter altogether.
* No Hunter Shall Refuse Aid to Another Hunter.
While no hunter had the right to interfere with another's hunt, there came times when even the best of master hunters required assistance. In extreme cases, any hunter could have asked for and expected aid and assistance from another hunter, even if it meant that the latter must temporarily suspend his or her own hunt in the meantime to render such aid. Whatever personal grievances or animosities that would be involved between the two parties, it is known and understood that hunters took care of their own. Of course, such assistance was not without its price tag, and the arbitration of payment after the fact could often put a substantial dent in any expected profit.
"Bounty hunters. We don't need that scum."
~Admiral Piett
End of a Golden Age era...
There was a time, long before the Empire, when bounty hunting was considered a noble profession - when bounty hunters followed a strict code of conduct and were thought of as courageous troubleshooters. They helped authorities weed out the most dangers criminals from the law abiding population of the galaxy. But somewhere along the way, many bounty hunters became little more than ruthless thugs and killers - the absolute last resort for restoring order. Bounty hunters frequently clashed with Jedi Knights over methodologies and goals, and when they did, someone almost always died. The clashes eventually became so frequent that the Jedi Order asked the Galactic Senate to look into the matter.
The Senate concluded that the best way to police bounty hunters was for bounty hunters to police themselves. The bounty hunters would be allowed to form self-governing guilds, with bylaws, apprenticeship programs, membership fees, and personal records. In exchange for the limitations they agreed to place on themselves, the guilds received exclusive contracts with the Republic; when the Republic authorities needed a bounty hunter, they would only hire someone from the guilds. This state of affairs was so popular that the guilds survived the last days of the Republic and on into the days of the Empire. Over time, the individual guilds became simply the Bounty Hunters' Guild - albeit with several individual and often competitive houses.
Rise and Fall of the Empire era...
As the Empire grew in power, the Emperor frequently called upon the Bounty Hunters' Guild to silence trouble-some dissidents and, eventually, to track down and eliminate particularly elusive Rebels. Their success record was neither spectacular nor abysmal - but for the first time in a long time, the general republic learned to fear the appearance of a bounty hunter. With no more Jedi Knights to oppose them, bounty hunters often went unchecked except for the occasional courageous peace officer or local prefect. While the bounty hunters still clung to their code of conduce, which prevented them from simply blowing up an entire building to kill one person, or engaging in violent blaster-play where innocents could get caught in a crossfire, they learned to "interpret" the code. This interpretation made it possible for them to engage in wanton destruction and still collect their fees. The Emperor publicaly denounced such actiivities, but privately rewarded the bounty hunters with more contracts.
Just after the Battle of Yavin...
A collateral party in this situation was the Black Sun criminal syndicate, whose members frequently found themselves targeted by these overzealous bounty hunters. In an effort to end the threat of the bounty hunters, the leader of Black Sun, Prince Xizor of Falleen, convinced the Emperor to disenfranchise the Bounty Hunter's Guild. The Emperor contracted Boba Fett to engineer the downfall of the guild.
In a spectacularly grim conflagration known as the Bounty Hunter Wars, Boba Fett created enough confusion, mistrust, and interneccine struggles to permanently disband the Bounty Hunter's Guild. The organization survived only as a scatterning of splinter groups and independent operators - much the same as it had been in the days of the Republic - except that the warfare in their ranks had made the bounty hunters perhaps more ruthless than before.
The Bounty Hunters' Creed...
The Bounty Hunters' Creed was the unwritten rules of the bounty hunters.
All bounty hunters were required to abide by these simple guidelines. A bounty hunter who failed to uphold these rules would undergo termination of their bounty hunting license.
Contrary to popular belief, even the roughest, the seediest, and the most dispassionate of hunters were far from being the unprincipled villains many would make them out to be. Most hunters adhered, to some degree, to an unwritten code of ethics which, when spoken of at all, was referred to as the "bounty hunter's creed." While the exact wording of these tenants varied from planet to planet, the gist of this creed is summarized below.
While the average Republican citizen may have found the codes objectionable, and even morally offensive, they served as a loosely defined set of enforceable principles by which hunters conducted their trade and lived out their lives.
* People Don't Have Bounties, Only Acquisitions Have Bounties.
This single, cardinal rule, more than any other, defined the way in which bounty hunters approached their chosen profession. It reflected the idea that sapient beings, to some degree, must be accorded respect. If, however, an individual had a bounty placed on them, he or she ceased to be an individual with rights. No longer a member of the galactic community, the "acquisition" became fair game. Tears should never be shed over the fate of someone that was, after all, only an "acquisition."
* Capture By Design, Kill By Necessity.
In keeping with the loosely defined hunter code of ethics, killing was sometimes necessary. That was business, pure and simple. However, unnecessary killing was still murder. The hunter, unless otherwise directed by those leveling the bounty, must attempt to deliver the acquisition alive. Often, those leveling the bounty had a vested interest in a live target - and the target might have been better off getting killed by the hunter.
* No Hunter Shall Slay Another Hunter
Simply put, whatever their origin, bounty hunters saw themselves as a special breed. They took their lives (and those of others) into their hands each time they hunted. One may agree with another hunter's motives or insult them for the manner in which they carried out their hunts, but no bounty hunter would ever take up arms against a fellow hunter. This law applied only to hunters who followed the creed, not to those who had a bounty posted on their head becoming merely acquisitions. In such cases, the ex-hunter was no longer seen as a member of the common fellowship and old scores could now be settled with impunity.
* No Hunter Shall Interfere With Another's Hunt.
While it was not unheard of for hunters to work as a team, the hunt for a given acquisition was most often seen as a form of personal duel between two sapient creatures. In such a deal, the hunter matched skill and courage against all the resources one's opponent could bring to bear. If the hunter won, it was a personal triumph denoting superior skill and intellect, and not simply a question of luck. To interfere with another's hunt, unless first invited, was to leave the question of "who is better" open and, perhaps forever, unresolved. Of course, competition between hunters was often fierce and there was often a very thin line between "competition" and "interference". This being true, while a hunter was constrained against taking direct action against another hunter, there was nothing to constrain a hunter from hiring others to do the dirty work. Of course, if such an action, successful or not, could be traced back to the original perpetrator, serious consequences inevitably followed.
* In the Hunt One captures or Kills, Never Both.
In cases where the acquisition had been taken alive, that "choice" could not be altered. To kill an acquisition in the course of the hunt was one thing, but to purposely kill an unarmed, helpless being already subdued and unable to resist was seen as simple slaughter and wanton butchery. An acquisition "killed while attempting to escape" however, would be an entirely different matter altogether.
* No Hunter Shall Refuse Aid to Another Hunter.
While no hunter had the right to interfere with another's hunt, there came times when even the best of master hunters required assistance. In extreme cases, any hunter could have asked for and expected aid and assistance from another hunter, even if it meant that the latter must temporarily suspend his or her own hunt in the meantime to render such aid. Whatever personal grievances or animosities that would be involved between the two parties, it is known and understood that hunters took care of their own. Of course, such assistance was not without its price tag, and the arbitration of payment after the fact could often put a substantial dent in any expected profit.