Grardella Syndicate

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Grardella Syndicate
General information
Founder(s):	Grardella the Hutt
Leader(s):	Grardella the Hutt Borgo the Hutt Yurblag the Hutt Kalarba the Hutt Zooba the Hutt
Headquarters:	Jusadih System
Historical information
Formed from:	Various mid-level Hutt cartels
Founding:	470 BBY
Fragmentation:	26 ABY
Restoration:	27 ABY
Other information
Affiliation:	Hutts Ensaari Free Traders Jusadih Independence Coalition
Era(s):	Dark Jedi Brotherhood Era
[ Source ]

Formed long before the fall of the Old Republic, the Grardella Syndicate is a Hutt cartel that dominates the criminal underworld of the Jusadih System. Founded by the wise and greedy Grardella the Hutt, these gangsters have a hand in nearly every illicit activity and control several front organizations and shell corporations throughout the system. Originally located throughout Hutt Space, the holdings of Grardella were devastated and their members scattered when the Vong devastated many Hutt worlds in retribution for their double-dealings.

After coming together at Grardella's bidding in 27 ABY, only a year after facing disaster, the Hutts moved on to already-existent minor holdings in Jusadih and used their underworld skill, massive wealth, and business prowess to quickly build up a powerful presence in the Jusadih System. With Clan Plagueis occupied with the troubles of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, Grardella and his underlings found a system ripe for the picking, though the formation of the Jusadih Independence Coalition would throw a new challenge their way. Sure enough, the slimy crime boss found a way to press the advantage.

When the War of Ascension hit, the Syndicate's many interests and properties made it easy for both sides to profit from the conflict - munitions, supplies, and other needed assets found their way to the Jusadih Military Regime and their Independent rivals alike, while copious amounts of credits found their way into Hutt coffers. With the defeat of the JIC and their fragmenting, the JMR stepped up their security and law enforcement, though the true masterminds hardly felt anything; while hundreds of minor criminals and lesser groups went down, Grardella went on to bigger and better things.

During the recent instability of Jusadih, before the actions of Primus Pilus to stabilize things, Grardella made even more money from the Regime than usual - many factions needed many things - and now, their influence only continues to grow. Even so, with a system on the brink of huge unrest, the uncertain future casts a vast shadow over the Syndicate's neutrality. Only time will tell if they can maintain their double-dealing ways.

Organization

The Grardella Syndicate's organization is largely different from that of other Hutt cartels, both due to the necessity of moving to Jusadih and the sharp, insightful ways of Grardella himself. Lead by a Ruling Committee, the Syndicate possesses several lower levels, called outfits, dedicated to different forms of criminal activity. Such groups consist of bosses, sub-bosses, captains, lieutenants, members and thugs. It is rare for a non-Hutt to become a captain, though it does happen from time to time, and rarer still to see one as a sub-boss; the bosses themselves are almost exclusively Hutts. The Ruling Committee itself always consists of Hutts, though each has a representative of another species to facilitate communications and run errands for them.

Each outfit has its own sector of crime and its own location in Jusadih; each independent outfit is run by a boss, who coordinates all of the different sub-bosses and crews in the outfit and reports directly to the Ruling Committee. Each boss has between two and four sub-bosses, each of whom is in control of anywhere from three to seven captains. A captain is in control of a crew, one of the essential parts of an outfit; they are the leaders of the lowest level of the organization, handling front organizations, shell corporations, or specific avenues of crime.

Each crew possesses a number of lieutenants; they can range in number from a single lieutenant in smaller crews, to ten or fifteen lieutenants in huge crews. These lieutenants are there to keep the members in line and enforce the captain's orders - skilled lieutenants come under review to become captains of their own crews. Members themselves are part of the organization, having proven their loyalty, but are essentially told what to do by everyone above them. Out of the entire organization, the lowest level isn't even considered to be part of the Syndicate yet; these are thugs.

Commonly acting as fall guys, petty errand boys, expendable criminals, or simply as muscle, thugs are those that work for the Syndicate's members and crews but aren't on the roster themselves. They know only enough to do what they're told, and if they cross a member, they are often killed outright. Unlike a member, who can only be assassinated with the permission of that member's respective boss, a thug can be killed for no reason and with little provocation; only when killing a thug will draw attention to the organization is a member given any discipline for it. That said, work for the Syndicate is lucrative, and their protection for their members is near-absolute.

Only under specific circumstances can the death of a member of the Syndicate be arranged. For the Ruling Committee, their members are essentially untouchable; only with an order from the Committee's chairhutt and a consensus from the rest of the Committee can their murder be ordered. By contrast, the Ruling Committee can order the deaths of anyone below them; their power is limitless in the Syndicate. As such, the only way to see a boss dead is to gain greater Committee permission. A sub-boss can only be killed if his boss signs off on it, while a captain requires a sub-boss or higher. All members have their captain's protection; if a captain wishes to order a death, he must clear it with the sub-boss. While lieutenants are permitted to rough up members to keep them in line, members are expected to come forward with reports of abuses of power and lieutenants cannot kill a member without the captain clearing it with his sub-boss. Only thugs lack protection; while members will often get disciplined for foolish and indiscriminate actions, they rarely die for them.

In rare instances, the Syndicate's Ruling Committee can approve the death of an entire outfit; this has only happened seven times in the many centuries of the Grardella Syndicate's history, two of which took place in the Jusadih System. If the Committee does not approve it, any such espionage between outfits often sees the death of the boss and all sub-bosses in retribution. The captains, lieutenants, and members of the group are usually then picked up by other outfits, or else risk losing the protection of an outfit altogether. All thugs involved are usually either scared off or beaten when this event takes place.

Ruling Committee

• Chairman: Grardella the Hutt

"Some people feel the need to show their power off. Others know that they don't need to."

―Borgo the Hutt, commenting on Grardella.

A wily old slug, Grardella the Hutt has been alive for over eight hundred years. After decisively sabotaging several opponents in Hutt Space and founding the syndicate in 470 BBY out of the remains of their cartels and operations, the Hutt has shown guile and wisdom since his middle years and has gone on to create a very respectable group. The brown-skinned gastropod is huge, ten feet in length and well over a ton in weight. While he is the mastermind of the Syndicate and has the controlling say in all of its affairs, he can usually be seen in public, dining at fine restaurants or gambling at expensive hotels and casinos on Kapsina and surrounded by associates and legitimate bodyguards. He has a taste in the arts, and is known for being very well-mannered by Hutt standards. That said, when threatened or insulted, he is absolutely ruthless. All in the Jusadih System's underworld know to fear the name Grardella, and know better than to speak it.

Chairman's Representative: CLR-K, silver 3PO protocol droid.

• Vice-Chairman: Borgo the Hutt

"Greedy, but not gluttonous. Ambitious, but not insubordinate. Capable, but not too ambitious. These things I like in Borgo."

―Grardella the Hutt, on his choice of vice-chairman.

One of those who assisted Grardella in taking out enemy smuggling interests on Sleheyron, Borgo has always been a fanatical supporter of his Chairman. Originally two-hundred fifty years in age when he helped to found the Syndicate, the green-skinned Hutt lost an eye when the frigate he was aboard at the time took a nasty hit from an Imperial Star Destroyer during a spice run. Since then, the flesh where his eye was has healed, but has been left scarred and devoid of an eye socket; the one-eyed Hutt now keeps the rest of the Committee in line, and is the chief disciplinarian of the Syndicate. Wherever Grardella points, Borgo's fist has been known to come down; he can most often be seen at his Chairman's side, though he rarely enjoys any of the extravagant shows or expensive events that Grardella attends.

Vice-Chairman's Representative: Queebo Hans, male Rodian.

• Chair of Stars: Yurblag the Hutt

"If there's anything valuable in that sky that I don't know about, it probably has soldiers in it."

―Yurblag's own assessment of his activities in Jusadih.

In charge of the space-bound interests of the Syndicate - namely smuggling, piracy, and arms trafficking - Yurblag is the Hutt in charge. He is five hundred years old. His blue skin and thick brown beard are traits rare among Hutts, and are the primary attributes remembered by most of his underlings. In public, he has been known to frequent many shady gambling dens and vehicular sporting events, from podraces before their outlawing to demolition events and swoop races. All of the Syndicate's assets and allies in space find their reports coming to him; the fees imposed on smugglers and other space-faring criminals are managed by him, and he holds information on all space- and air-based activities in Jusadih. Only the movements of the Jusadih Military Regime are beyond his control, aside from when their flight traffic controllers receive "special bonuses" to allow certain crews to slip under the radar.

Chair's Representative: Poto Penn, male Human.

• Chair of Vice: Kalarba the Hutt

"Last warning, pal. This is Kalarba's spice you're messing with."

―Spice trafficker warning off an opposing criminal.

Known for particularly vicious ways of dealing with those against him, at three hundred years old, Kalarba is the youngest Hutt on the Ruling Committee. The orange gastropod controls the trafficking of spice, weaponry, illicit goods, stolen medical supplies, and just about every other shady commodity in the system. Everyone from dealers to junkies has been known to report to him, and he is known for having wrung a hefty sum of credits for Bacta and blasters from the Jusadih Independence Coalition during its Feudalist uprising. In addition, he is the one to control loans to others from the Syndicate; no one can borrow money without his nod, and no one gets away with not paying him back.

Chair's Representative: Ayani Weela, female Twi'lek.

• Chair of Flesh: Zooba the Hutt

Pink-skinned and with an obsession over jewelery and fashion, Zooba the Hutt is the only Ruling Committee Chair to identify herself as female, in spite of her voice and size - she has the deepest voice on the Committee and weights three hundred pounds more than Grardella himself, despite being two and a half feet shorter. Between slavery, prostitution, and even mercenary activity, she is the go-to Hutt for all matters involving the purchase or rental of a living being. She personally owns hundreds of legitimate exotic dance clubs, bordellos, nightclubs, and pleasure palaces, all known to be full of luxury, decadence, and lust. Usually, she can be found in the VIP sections or offices of such locales, preferring areas with low levels of visible light and low-powered lights of different varieties - she enjoys the visual effect on her Hutt eyes. While she is known for being a queen of lust and luxury, those that abuse or mistreat her interests often meet a cruel fate; few are ever seen again, those found on the slave market.

Chair's Representative: Cruncher, male Houk cyborg.

Affiliation

Though affiliated with almost all major crimes in Jusadih, the Syndicate largely keeps its loyalty to itself; only when powerful groups come into play will they show any deference, and then only to their gain. The longevity of the Syndicate's many Hutts has given them literal centuries of experience in the criminal underworld, putting them far above the rest of Jusadih's darker side and giving them strong insight into the activities of others in their trade. They work for few; they employ thousands.

An interesting note is the Syndicate's involvement with the Jusadih Military Regime; like all successful organized crime, they prefer an ordered environment and swift obedience without chaos or disorder to ruin profits. Thus, their influence often makes JMR dominance easy, while a bribe, arrangement, or contribution to the Regime is often possible in the face of any wrongdoing. However, like any criminals, they are not open allies of the JMR; at best, they can be called neutral.

At worst, it's the fall guy who goes down while the Grardella Syndicate gets rich.

Trivia

• The Grardella Syndicate was created by Sarak Shai, Aedile of Plagueis, with minor adjustments made by his assistants, as part of the House's new storyline.
• While the command system of the Syndicate has clearly taken a few hints from movies about organized crime, the system itself was designed by the Plagueis Summit.
• On rare occasion, Plagueis members can work to seek fictional positions in the Syndicate, depending on their activity. This will be an entirely fictional placement, with no real impact except on the in-House storyline and events.