Freelancer Corps

"It didn't matter what we had done in the past. Murderers, thieves or beggars who happened to have blasters: we all hated the Empire, and we'd even help the Jedi to get rid of the Sith."

"And it worked?"

"I'm still not sure."

- Hereson and Vidril Vesal, discussing the Corps.

The Freelancer Corps was a detachment of the Stratetic Information Service (SIS), the Republic's main intelligence bureau, which saught to unite the criminal underworld of the galaxy against the Sith Empire during the Great Galactic War. First proposed and formed by the Cathar Jedi Knight Yulic Namex, the Corps became a fighting force of criminals, mercenaries and bounty hunters, all determined to help fight the Empire.

While short-lived and in some cases unsuccessful, the Corps still did major harm to the Empire, with one such case being the assassination of the Emperor's Voice, and proved to both the Empire and the entire galaxy that criminals weren't always neutral in war.

Background
Not long after the start of the Great Galactic War in 28 BTC, the Republic realized that with the Sith alliance with the Mandalorians and the Chiss Ascendancy, their forces could potentially outnumber those of the Republic. While some called for negotiations with the Mandalorians and the Chiss, others demanded conscription, among other things, and the Senate became divided over how to continue, knowing that the odds were slowly tipping into the Empire's favour.

Yulic Namex, a Cathar Jedi Knight with multiple spacer friends and allies, suggested that the Republic try to win the favour of the galaxy's criminals, knowing too well that the galaxy's neutral parties likely outnumbered both the Empire and the Republic. To prove the idea could work, Yulic travelled to the Outer Rim over the course of month, gathering criminals to his cause and then launching a crippling raid against the primary Empire barracks in the Mid Rim, located on Umbara.

The raid was a huge success, causing so much damage to Imperial Intelligence in the Mid Rim that the Empire were forced to pull from the region of the galaxy. Seeing the effectiveness of a combined criminal force, the Senate voted near-unanimously to allow the formation of an organization based within the Strategic Information Service, the Republic's own version of Imperial Intelligence, which would help fight the Empire in ways the Republic normally couldn't. Led by the aspiring Namex, the group was named the Freelancer Corps.

Early successes
Yulic sent his informants across the Outer Rim, telling the underworld of the galaxy about the Corps. Within a week, 2,000 men and women from street gangs, Mandalorian clans and even some street thieves had travelled to Coruscant and signed up. Starships were provided by the criminals making, a pirate-like armada numbering in the hundreds. As more members joined, word spread further, and while the membership kept increasing, worries soon rose from the SIS Director Marcus Trant, who feared that Imperial Intelligence would soon catch wind of the Corps. In response, Namex planned a daring mission alongside one of his new comrades, the young Twi'lek gunslinger Hereson, who would soon become a second-in-command of the Corps.

Travelling to the Imperial-held jungle planet of Felucia, Hereson and Namex left a beacon on the planet which tricked Imperial Intelligence into thinking that the Corps would mass in the planet. When the Imperial military sent troops to defend the planet, they were instead greeted by a Republic invasion fleet. While the invasion was called off, the move decimated two entire Imperial divisions, confusing and humiliating Intelligence and weakening the Imperial military. The Corps were now a force to be reckoned with.

Early Leads
Namex became intrigued by the Emperor's Voice, the figure responsible for relaying the Emperor's thoughts to the Dark Council. Knowing that the Voice was vital to keeping the Empire running, Namex plotted to take down the Voice with the aid of the Corps, though he knew that with the Voice almost always on Dromund Kaas, the seclusive Sith would have to be drawn out of the dark and into the open.

One of the Corps' new members, a Rattataki nicknamed Breeka, revealed that he had managed to capture a Dark Council member's lover, revealing that the Voice often travelled to planets to use the Emperor's mind to enslave the local populace. With this in mind, Namex and Hereson began plotting a revolt on Nar Shaddaa, where they also stationed the Corps, to ambush the Voice once he arrived to restore order.

The Attack
The Voice's arrival gathered crowds, though before the hooded Sith managed to do his work, the Corps attacked his bodyguards. Namex dived towards the Voice from a building, and as the Jedi and Sith duelled, an enormous street fight broke out between the Corps and Imperial soldiers, with many Nar Shaddaa citizens joining the Corps mid-battle. While the Imperials initially gained the advantage, the Corps were saved by Hereson, who led the criminals against the Empire with his superb skills with blaster pistols, even managing to capture an Imperial colonel.

Namex and the Voice continued to duel, eventually arriving on the roofs of the many skyscrapers of Nar Shaddaa. In the thin air, the Voice struggled to breathe, and Yulic managed to cut him down, though the body vanished before Namex could inspect the corpse. Nar Shaddaa now rallied to the Republic and the Voice was dead, and the SIS finally allowed the Republic to create propaganda about the Corps, since their existence was no longer in doubt. High-stake bounties were set on Hereson, Namex and Breeka, while thousands more joined the Freelancers.

Fragmentations and defections
As time wore on, despite the success of the Corps, many missed their past lives, and feared the repurcussions of being members of the Corps should the Empire win the war. Mass defections soon took place, with many either going back to being low-lifes or joining the Empire. Even Namex and Hereson began disagreeing on matters, and Breeka was forced to try and keep the Corps under control.

By 20 BTC, the Corps had half of the members it had at it's peak following the Voice's death. Many former members tried killing Namex and Hereson to win Imperial bounties, and soon the group found that their activities were being intercepted by the Imperials before missions even took place. Someone in the Corps was working for the Empire, and it had to be someone in the high ranks: Breeka.

Breeka's Betrayal and the Corp's End
Hereson and Namex confronted Breeka in Coruscant spaceport alongside a group of SIS agents, preparing to arrest the traitorous Rattataki. However, Breeka had allies, and disguised Imperial agents soon attacked the arrest party. While Namex led the police against Breeka's allies in one of the hangars, Hereson chased down the Rattataki as he tried to flee towards an escape ship.

Hereson shot a burst round into the engine of the ship, destroying it before Breeka could board it. Breeka then began pleading for mercy, though the once-young Hereson had soon had enough of second chances, and executed Breeka just as Namex arrived in he same hangar. The Jedi, who strongly opposed executing possible prisoners, berated Hereson, who then reminded Namex that the Corps had failed. While the friends retained their respect for each other, they knew that the idea had failed, and within days, the SIS terminated the project. The Corps members returned to their lives or were incorporated into SIS service, Hereson became a gun-for-hire, and Namex recieved the rank of Jedi Master and chose the role as the chief guard at the Jedi Temple.

Members and leadership
The Freelancer Corps was mostly independent from military ranks, except for the three leading members:
 * Yulic Namex - a Cathar Jedi Knight who founded the Corps. Namex, despite not being a criminal himself, was the overall commander of the Corps, and technically outranked most members of the SIS as well.
 * Hereson - a young-but-skilled Twi'lek gunslinger and Namex's second-in-command. Hereson, while young, proved himself to be a competent, if at times ruthless leader, as shown during the attack on the Voice on Nar Shaddaa.
 * Breeka - a Rattataki spacer and the third-in-command. Breeka rose to fame after finding out where the Voice would travel to, and soon became the leader of the group during the short moment of turbulence between Namex and Hereson. However, Breeka was eventually ousted as an Imperial spy, and killed by Hereson, an act that signalled the end of the Corps.