The Shroud

The Shroud is the pre-eminent criminal corporation of the Galactic Alliance. It maintains official recognition by the Galactic Council, but it performs most of its nefarious acts — including genocide, extortion, black market weapons trade, and android slave manufacturing — outside of the Alliance Worlds. It is allied closely with syndicate space and is rumored to potentially even be in control of that entire section of the Galactic Alliance.

History

The Shroud has always pursued profit at any cost, and without regard for the law. While much of its wealth comes from pursuing and selling distant artifacts and resources, its expeditions also provide plausible cover for more egregious acts, such as piracy, gunrunning, and slavery. One notable example was the Shroud's involvement in the early conflicts between the Veskarium and the Galactic Alliance, where the Shroud sold weapons to the Alliance Worlds early on, then to both sides as they grew more even in power.
Despite this (or because of it), the Shroud brokered the alliance between the Galactic Council and the Veskarium in response to invasions by the Hive, and also "donated" arms, resources, and aid to the cause. In return, the Galactic Alliance government recognized it as a non-voting but autonomous, self-governing entity and granted diplomatic immunity to its agents, making the organization even more difficult to investigate.

Structure

The Shroud is overseen by 10 majority shareholders known as the Patrons, whose identities have long been closely guarded. Due to the difficulty of hiding such wealth in one's portfolio in modern times, any profit from the Shroud's activities get funneled through numerous shell corporations and dummy funds; tracing such a trail to a Patron is a monumental task for forensic accountants. The Patrons discuss criminal ventures through digital holo-conferences, where they speak in coded phrases and couched language; no such transmission has been cracked. Every few years, Patrons retire with their profits or get removed through hostile takeovers; only the most ruthless and cutthroat businessmen could rise to the rank of Patron.

Relationships

The Shroud has long been a thorn in the side of law enforcement due to its use of fronts and technicalities to avoid prosecution and expert skill in manipulating the difference between what one knows and what one can prove. The Shroud cuts ties with members implicated in major offences, claiming that they support no illegal actions and dutifully revoked membership after they became aware of any wrongdoing. This lie is obvious to investigators, who nonetheless usually only find enough evidence to give the company a slap on the wrist; pushing the issue too far usually results in the Shroud winning settlements of slander and corporate harassment cases in protracted court battles.

Type

Corporation, Conglomerate