Renegade Rodian
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To open up a new source of revenue, debt buying, and intelligence-gathering for the Helix Syndicate.
- Image: Maz Kanata’s Castle from Episode VII
- Canon: Nope.
- Links: N/A
- Name: Helix Syndicate Fighting Pits
- Classification: Fighting Pit / Gambling Hall / Cantina
- Locations: Aris, Ord Trasi, Anx Minor, Vykos
- Affiliation: Helix Syndicate
- Population:
[x0200] Helix Syndicate Enforcers - [x0065] Helix Syndicate Shock Troopers
- [x0600] Helix Syndicate Support Staff
- [x0050] Helix Syndicate Communications Technicians
[*]Accessibility: Syndicate Fighting Pits are found in remote, but not difficult to access, areas. They are usually far from civilization, but no further attempts at concealment are made. Anyone who can pay the paltry entrance fee can gain access.
SECURITY
Security is ever-present at a Helix Syndicate fighting pit. Enforcers are always present in each room on the ground level to keep the crowd under control and quell any fights that might break out.
A network of security cameras keeps close watch over all residents at all times and auto-turrets keep watch over several restricted hallways. These auto-turrets remain deactivated unless the facility is on lockdown. When activated, they will open fire on any individual without a proper clearance card or who is not logged into their facial recognition system.
Retinal scans are required to access the third floor and basement-level listening post. These scanners are able to detect if the retina they are scanning belongs to a deceased person. Elevators to the second floor VIP areas are guarded by Enforcers, who require a VIP pass be shown before granting access. The administrative wing of the second floor is kept off limits even to VIPs and requires retinal scans to gain access to.
DESCRIPTION
Casinos and traditional gambling are all well and good, but there exist less traditional markets that the Helix Syndicate sees to muscle itself into. For example, gambling on gladiatorial combat. Establishing new fighting pits out of pocket are time consuming and materially costly. So the Helix Syndicate simply assumed control over several of the most prominent fighting pits within the Pentastar Sectors, kicking out the previous proprietors and refurbishing them.
The bulk of each building is dedicated to the fighting pits, each pit having its own separate area and appropriate seating arrangements. Most of these cages host simultaneous, unrelated matches. The more important the match, the bigger the cage they are allocated. A tournament is held every six months.
The vast majority of fights involving gladiators going up against other gladiators are not to the death, but either to knock-out or yield. This does little to avoid the odd “accidental kill.” Gladiators who regularly kill too many of their peers may find themselves evicted and barred from entry, if not worse. The rules in place for each fight vary wildly depending on the crowd’s tastes and the necessity of making sure the fights are kept interesting. Melee weapons are usually the norm.
Betting on matches is strictly regulated and carried out by various protocol droids. The Helix Syndicate takes 5% of any winnings collected over cr1,000. These proceedings are closely monitored by an administrative section on the second floor.
The Helix Syndicate has gone through extensive pains to ensure that these operations are not “busted” by the minute planetary governments on the worlds these pits operate on. Bribery, blackmail, and the occasional removal of planetary officials have seen exactly to that. In some cases, however, the governments are content to simply tax the operation.
As in several other facilities owned by the Helix Syndicate, the basement level of one of the facility has also been converted into a highly sophisticated listening post- outfitted with an assortment of communications monitoring equipment and an array of supercomputers. From this center, incoming and outgoing communications to anywhere on the planet are intercepted, recorded, and decrypted if necessary. These tasks are performed by a team of trained technicians utilizing the Aurelius-Class Decryption Engine.
POINTS OF INTEREST
- Ground Floor: The ground floor is where everything interesting happens. It houses a total of two public cantinas and two lounges where patrons may socialize. Adjacent to these areas are the fighting pits themselves. There are five fighting pits: two small cages, two medium cages, and one large cage. Each fighting pit has an attached locker room of corresponding size.
- Second Floor: Higher profile customers gain elevator access to the second floor. There are an assortment of private rooms that can be rented as well as a much more up-scale cantina and lounge. These rooms typically contain viewscreens displaying the fights taking place on the lower level.
- Third Floor: This level is for employees only. Maintenance personnel frequently access this floor to procure the equipment they need. An administrative section keeps track of bets, coordinates matches, and ensures everyone gets their winnings (including the house). A couple of armories are also found on this floor for the Syndicate’s Enforcers. Security cameras are also monitored from this floor.
- Basement Level: The basement level contains an infirmary to keep critically wounded gladiators alive. It is well stocked and manned by medical droids. However, a restricted access section contains the advanced equipment of a listening post. It is from here that conversations in the bugged rooms on the second floor are monitored. More importantly, the Syndicate also uses this listening post to intercept, decrypt, and record communications throughout the planet.
When the Helix Syndicate was first established, these were the first facilities to be constructed. As a member of the Guavian Death Gang, Pollux was often forced to deal with inconsistent and uncoordinated collection efforts for their protection rackets. Once Pollux started the Helix Syndicate in the Pentastar Region and shifted into debt buying, he took what he learned from the Guavian Death Gang into practice.
Now things run a great deal more smoothly.
The security cams can remain as they are, but I need definite tech types on the guns.
