Bounty Hunters
A Thankless Job
Fame
A hunter's name means everything to them. It always comes first. The life of a hunter is graced with many faces, but it is one that is spent in lonely isolation. In the galactic community, hunters rub elbows with high society just as often as with the criminal underworld beneath it. They must choose their friends wisely, if they choose to have any at all.
With every encounter, a successful hunter will ask, "How will this affect me?" The answer is rarely obvious and straightforward. They must consider the difficulty of every task and how their skills can be used to offset this difficulty. They must consider the dangers present, both to their health and their image.
Successful hunters have a reputation. They get the job done. Should others doubt their skill, or their convictions, a hunter will soon find themselves scraping the bottom of the barrel just to survive.
Infamy
Ethically speaking, bounty hunters are a shade of gray, one of many in the galaxy. There are laws preventing others from interfering with their hunt, though that means little to those who stand to gain, or lose from their success.
It should also be said that hunters are not allowed to hunt each other. Relatives of a bounty may place a bounty of their own. Any who accept will find their reputation ruined. They will be cast out, ostracized and disowned by their organization.
Of course, those who accept already know this, and likely make their living on hunting the hunters. There is a hunter for every job, and a job for every hunter. Some are less savory than others, but bad publicity is still publicity.
Lodges
Bounty hunters come from all walks of life, even our own. Several humans have made a name for themselves. Every species is welcome, provided they can afford the complex medical procedures to make such interactions safe.
They organize themselves into lodges, a word of our own added to a hundred others. Hunter lodges are varied in specialty, size, and moral ambiguity. The smallest can have less than 5 members. The largest boast numbers in the thousands.
They are loosely organized, a necessity for their profession. When your members are stretched across lightyears, it's best to minimize the paperwork. Lodges are a way to compound the reputations of its members, a way to be seen in a crowd.
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Love this article, love the gritty description and I have always loved this profession. Another amazing article.