1 member
Corpo Ratz / CORPORATZ
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Resources -
Security
No job too dirty. No cargo too questionable. No opportunity wasted.
Welcome to Corpo Ratz.
Everything has a price. Get paid. Stay breathing. Feed the Ratz.
History
From the Walls to the Stars
The exact founding date of Corpo Rats remains a matter of considerable debate.
Corporate records indicate that the organization was formally established by a small group of independent haulers, salvagers, miners, and contractors who had grown tired of watching large corporations take the cheese while leaving everyone else the crumbs.
The Rats saw opportunity.
Early operations were modest.
A little hauling here. A little salvage there. Perhaps a shipping container accidentally delivered to the wrong hangar. Maybe some cargo fell off a Hull C. Maybe somebody found a few crates sitting unattended at an outpost.
Nobody remembers.
More importantly, nobody wrote it down.
What is known is that these early operators developed a reputation for taking jobs that larger organizations considered too small, too inconvenient, too dangerous, or too embarrassing.
Where others saw garbage, the Rats saw salvage.
Where others saw abandoned cargo, the Rats saw inventory.
Where others saw corporate bureaucracy, the Rats saw several completely unattended ventilation ducts.
Business was good.
The First Nest
Eventually, these independent operators began working together.
Ships became known as Ratmobiles.
Profitable trade routes became Cheese Trails.
Warehouses became Nests.
Valuable cargo became Cheese.
And anything particularly profitable became The Good Cheese.
Thus, Corpo Rats was born.
The organization grew around a simple realization:
The ‘verse is enormous, incredibly wealthy, poorly supervised, and full of things nobody appears to be watching closely enough.
The Rats intended to correct this inefficiency.
Today, Corpo Rats operates wherever opportunity can be found.
Mining.
Salvage.
Cargo hauling.
Bounty hunting.
Recovery operations.
Exploration.
Security.
Acquisitions.
And various forms of unconventional logistics.
Some call us scavengers.
Some call us opportunists.
A few particularly unreasonable people have used the word criminals.
We prefer:
Rodent Entrepreneurs.
Whatever the job, the mission remains unchanged.
Find cheese. Get cheese. Bring cheese back to the nest.
Manifesto
The Cheese Belongs to Those Willing to Find It.
The ‘verse was not built for the Rat.
It was built for corporations.
Governments.
Executives.
Admirals.
People sitting behind enormous desks explaining why somebody else should do the dangerous work.
They own the factories.
They own the stations.
They own the ships.
They own the cargo.
They even own the dumpsters behind the buildings where they store the cargo.
And yet, despite possessing nearly everything, they continuously leave perfectly valuable cheese lying around.
We consider this irresponsible.
Corpo Ratz therefore exists according to several fundamental truths.
I. There is always cheese.
Every asteroid, wreck, contract, cargo hold, bounty, trade route, battlefield, and poorly secured loading dock contains opportunity.
A Rat learns to recognize it.
II. No Rat is above crawling through the walls.
There is no shame in dirty work.
Mine the rock.
Move the boxes.
Strip the wreck.
Fly the escort.
Search the bunker.
Check the cargo hold.
If there are credits at the end of the tunnel, start crawling.
III. One Rat finds cheese. Many Rats move cheese.
Individual Rats may survive.
A Nest prospers.
We cooperate because a ship full of cargo is considerably harder to steal—
legally acquire
—without friends.
IV. Never steal cheese from the Nest.
The universe may be full of marks, targets, competitors, corporations, pirates, bureaucrats, and unattended cargo.
Your fellow Rats are none of those things.
A Rat who steals from another Rat damages the Nest.
The Nest remembers.
V. Cheese should circulate.
Nobody joins Corpo Ratz to watch one Rat become wealthy while everyone else fuels the ship.
Crews get paid.
Pilots get paid.
Gunners get paid.
Miners get paid.
Loaders get paid.
Even the idiot who accidentally tractor-beamed the cargo container into the ceiling gets paid.
Probably.
VI. A dead Rat earns no cheese.
Profit is important.
Survival is considerably more profitable.
Know when to fight.
Know when to negotiate.
Know when to disappear into the walls.
VII. Reputation is a currency.
A Corpo Rat keeps agreements when agreements are worth keeping.
Reliable Rats receive better contracts, better partners, and better cheese.
Do not destroy tomorrow’s cheese for today’s crumbs.
VIII. Never ask unnecessary questions.
Where did the cargo come from?
Why is the transponder disabled?
Why are we meeting behind an abandoned station at 0300?
Why does the manifest say “agricultural equipment”?
These questions rarely increase profitability.
IX. The Nest comes first.
Ships will explode.
Cargo will disappear.
Contracts will fail.
UEC will come and go.
The Nest survives because Rats look after Rats.
X. Follow the Cheese.
When circumstances become complicated, return to the oldest principle of Corpo Rat philosophy:
Find cheese.
Get cheese.
Bring cheese back to the Nest.
Charter
ARTICLE I — THE NEST
Corpo Ratz shall operate as a cooperative organization of independent pilots, contractors, entrepreneurs, salvagers, miners, mercenaries, haulers, explorers, and other UEC-motivated mammals.
The Corporation shall collectively be known as The Nest.
Members shall collectively be known as Rats.
All Corpo Ratz operations shall pursue one or more of the following objectives:
Acquire Cheese.
Protect Cheese.
Transport Cheese.
Convert Cheese into UEC.
ARTICLE II — ACCEPTABLE BUSINESS
Corpo Ratz recognizes the following as legitimate corporate activities:
Cargo hauling
Salvage
Mining
Bounty hunting
Mercenary contracts
Security work
Exploration
Recovery operations
Search and rescue
Trade
Racing and recreational nonsense
Acquisition of abandoned property
Acquisition of apparently abandoned property
Acquisition of property whose abandonment status remains under investigation
Unconventional logistics
Highly competitive procurement
Other profitable activities approved by the Nest
Corpo Ratz maintains a diversified portfolio.
ARTICLE III — THE RAT CODE
Every Rat shall observe the following rules:
1. Rats do not prey upon Rats.
Internal theft, intentional friendly fire, scams against members, or deliberately sabotaging another Rat for personal profit shall not be tolerated.
2. The crew gets its cut.
Profits from organized operations shall be distributed fairly among participating Rats according to contribution, risk, equipment, and prior agreement.
3. Do not endanger the Nest unnecessarily.
Individual stupidity is permitted.
Organizational stupidity requires approval.
4. Honor the contract.
When Corpo Ratz accepts a legitimate agreement, Rats should make reasonable efforts to complete it.
Unless circumstances change.
Or the client betrays us.
Or somebody offers considerably more cheese.
The Board is currently reviewing this provision.
5. Help Rats in distress.
A stranded Rat should be recovered whenever reasonably possible.
A downed Rat should be rescued.
A Rat surrounded by hostile forces should receive assistance.
A Rat who accidentally ejects himself from his ship for the third time that evening may be laughed at before rescue.
ARTICLE IV — CHEESE DISTRIBUTION
All organized operations should establish payment terms before departure whenever practical.
Expenses may include:
Fuel.
Ammunition.
Repairs.
Medical supplies.
Replacement equipment.
Cargo investment.
Ship replacement.
Bail.
Administrative fees.
And other unfortunate consequences of doing business.
After expenses, remaining Cheese shall be distributed according to the agreed arrangement.
Arguments regarding Cheese shall be settled by leadership.
Arguments regarding very large quantities of Cheese shall be settled by leadership considerably faster.
ARTICLE V — CORPORATE DIPLOMACY
Corpo Rats may establish alliances, trade agreements, security agreements, non-aggression pacts, and mutually beneficial relationships with outside organizations.
Relationships shall generally fall into four categories:
Friends of the Nest — Trusted organizations and regular partners.
Business Associates — Organizations with whom Cheese is exchanged.
Competitors — Organizations currently attempting to acquire the same Cheese.
Exterminators — Organizations actively hostile toward the Nest.
Rats are encouraged to behave accordingly.
ARTICLE VI — LEADERSHIP
Leadership exists primarily to:
Organize operations.
Maintain alliances.
Settle disputes.
Recruit Rats.
Manage resources.
Identify Cheese.
Prevent the Nest from collapsing into complete chaos.
Leadership positions do not make a Rat inherently more important than another Rat.
They simply indicate which Rat everyone should blame when something goes catastrophically wrong.
ARTICLE VII — RECRUITMENT
Membership shall remain open to individuals who demonstrate:
Competence.
Humor.
Teamwork.
An appreciation for questionable opportunities.
And a healthy desire to accumulate UEC.
Experience is preferred.
Enthusiasm is acceptable.
Owning an enormous spaceship nobody knows how to operate is also acceptable.
ARTICLE VIII — THE PRIME DIRECTIVE
When regulations, procedures, traditions, leadership decisions, operational plans, and common sense fail to provide adequate guidance, every Rat shall return to the founding principle of the Corporation:
Follow the Cheese.
Where there is Cheese, there is opportunity.
Where there is opportunity, there will eventually be Rats.
THE RAT OATH
Upon joining Corpo Rats, every member may proudly affirm:
I am a Rat.
The ‘verse is my wall.
My ship is my tunnel.
My crew is my Nest.
I shall seek the Cheese wherever it may hide.
I shall share the Cheese with the Rats who helped me acquire it.
I shall not steal from the Nest.
I shall not abandon a fellow Rat without good reason.
I shall crawl where others refuse to crawl.
I shall profit where others fail to look.
I shall follow the Cheese.
I am Corpo Rat.
