Portfolio: Otoni Group

Writer’s Note: Portfolio: Otoni Group was published originally as a Subscriber Exclusive on January 9, 2019.
In over a hundred years of activity, the syndicate known as the Otoni Group has become one of the most enduring criminal organizations in Human space. From what leading researchers have been able to piece together, they have slowly and methodically expanded their operations to amass great wealth and substantial influence. This powerful and elusive multi-system syndicate has been implicated in almost every kind of illegal enterprise, from selling forged reg-tags to low-level outlaws to orchestrating the high-profile assassinations of corrupt politicians and criminal rivals.

Recently, the Journal of Imperial Economics came under fire for placing the Otoni Group on their list of the UEE’s most powerful corporations. Their experts conservatively estimated that the group’s annual revenues put them alongside some of the empire’s most notable and respected companies. While the extent of their political influence is unknown, government watchdog group Responsible Citizens United released a report in 2912 linking several elected officials and lobbyists to suspected Otoni Group members and business entities. With a massive untaxed bankroll that funds wide-ranging criminal activity and the ability to apply political pressure when necessary, it’s of little wonder that the Otoni Group has managed to remain in operation for as long as it has.

Editor’s Note: This portfolio is not intended to glorify or validate the Otoni Group. Instead, it’s meant as a sober assessment of their abilities and influence on the UEE. Only by understanding how such a massively successful criminal organization came to be can we determine how to dismantle it and prevent similar groups from being created in their mold.

Child’s Play
As with many underworld entities, various stories have circulated over the years about the origin of the Otoni Group. However, the Advocacy contends that the following timeline is most likely closest to the truth:

The group’s origins can be traced to Croshaw in the mid-29th century. More specifically, to one of Angeli’s most notorious city-run social houses, where three orphans came together to provide each other protection against the various gangs that operated within the facility. Arthur Mendies, Lauda Viscaso, and Tio Quast bonded out of a necessity to survive and quickly realized that they had complementary skills and dispositions that made life within the facility more manageable.

Arthur Mendies landed in Angeli’s social welfare system following his mother’s arrest and conviction for a litany of digital theft charges that resulted in millions of credits being transferred out of the bank accounts of unsuspecting victims. Mentored by his mother, Mendies proved to be technologically proficient with a knack for discreetly accessing a wide range of systems. Meanwhile, his aptitude for forgery and counterfeiting proved valuable in smuggling contraband past the social house’s security scanners. Mendies honed his skills over the years to aid the Otoni Group in digging up dirt on enemies, smuggling vast amounts of goods between systems, and laundering their growing wealth through legitimate operations.

Lauda Viscaso was abandoned as an infant and left adrift in a Freelancer outside Angeli. When local officials failed to identify her parents or next of kin, she entered the social services system and was adopted by an extremely religious family. At eleven, she ran away from their devout way of life. Though captured shortly thereafter, she refused to stay with them and kicked off an unending cycle of attempted escapes that eventually frustrated the family and landed her in social housing. Charismatic, intelligent, and fearless, Viscaso made friends wherever she went but trusted no one until she met Mendies and Quast. Her quick tongue, sharp mind, and high emotional intelligence made her a born criminal fixer who knew exactly what to say, or not, at the right time. Her ability to build working relationships with various outlaws and organizations was essential to the Otoni Group’s survival and eventual expansion.

Tio Quast had a relatively normal and stable childhood compared to his compatriots. Born to a middle-class family, he landed a coveted scholarship to an elite Angeli private school thanks to his sataball skills. His fortunes took a turn for the worse when his parents and siblings perished after a catastrophic shield malfunction when their ship entered Angeli’s atmosphere. Orphaned and alone, Quast relied on his physical prowess to survive the rough and tumble social homes and soon discovered that he was a born brawler. He became the Otoni Group’s chief enforcer and most feared member of the founding triumvirate.

Released onto Angeli’s streets at sixteen, the trio continued their successful allegiance. Their dealings with the different gangs within the social house taught them the essential skills to make their way through the vast underworld of the city. They began by running small-time criminal schemes to eke out an existence, but after building up a network of contacts, they discussed ways to enhance their position without angering established gangs. They decided to set themselves up as a freelance service agency that catered exclusively to criminals. Whether it was producing counterfeit IDs, procuring black market items, or acting as freelance hitters, the trio proved that they could deliver without questions or established loyalties. They quickly garnered a reputation for being patient, persistent, intelligent, and vicious. No one could have expected just how far those qualities would take them.

Divide and Conquer
The 2840s proved to be a particularly tumultuous time for Angeli’s underworld and Mendies, Viscaso, and Quast soon found themselves in the thick of it. The destruction of the Curved Blade syndicate splintered the established criminal dynasty into thousands of gangs vying for control. This sprawling criminal landscape provided the three friends with a constantly shifting and endless supply of clients.

With growing power and influence (and no longer afraid to upset a single, powerful criminal entity) Mendies, Viscaso, and Quast rebranded themselves as the Otoni Group – the name taken from the social house where they all met. Their powerplay for Angeli’s underworld was cautious and carefully orchestrated. The group masterfully played warring gangs against each other to elevate themselves out of the slums and ensure that they never went back. To avoid attention from law enforcement officials, they carefully screened their clients and skillfully hid their illegal activities behind a myriad of shell companies. Soon the scope of their operations included drug production, smuggling, and even Human trafficking.

Local law enforcement was so distracted by the underworld’s seemingly unending bloodshed that they deprioritized any ongoing investigation into the Otoni Group. By the time they realized that the Otoni’s were becoming the planet’s next major power player, it was too late. The group had expertly covered their tracks. Old leads led to dead ends and informants could no longer be found. The Otoni Group took control of Angeli and set their sights on the wider Croshaw system.

The Otoni Group slowly and methodically extended their control of Croshaw’s underworld over the 2850s. By the late 2800s, the first reports of them appeared in a new system — Ferron. It is believed that this was the location of their first interstellar expansion, but it would be far from their last. The Otoni Group developed and refined a process for acquiring new territory. After first sending in scouts to assess the local criminal players, they would then quietly insert themselves into the black market, trading off their established reputation and eventually establishing a new ‘franchise’ of the Otoni Group permanently in-system.

This specific leadership hierarchy allowed each branch of the Otoni Group to coordinate collectively, but operate independently. A methodology that proved extremely effective for eluding law enforcement. Anytime that the Advocacy attempted to crack down on the local leadership in one system, the trail would die at the jump points and the rest of the organization continued to survive. And in some instances, re-establishing a local chapter after only a short downtime.

Controlled Chaos
Structured more like a corporation than a gang, crime is a professional occupation for the Otoni Group. They can be every bit as deadly as their local counterparts, but they just factor in risk assessment and financial impact when making decisions about Human lives. They are generally reticent to wreak violence as it always attracts the most attention, but if havoc and death provide them with a win, they will not hesitate to pull the trigger.

Their operatives are renowned for being overwhelmingly cold and calculating. They are almost completely indifferent when talking about their business, even in matters of life and death. A lack of standardized uniforms or colors makes them difficult to identify. They tend to favor more formal attire that not only signifies their status, but also their professionalism.

Of the original founding members, only Arthur Mendies is still alive. Viscaso passed away from natural causes, and Quast died from complications during routine surgery. Even though their names and “alleged” actions became widely-known in law enforcement circles, none of them were ever successfully indicted on criminal charges or spent any time in prison. Some considered this fact more proof of just how much political influence the Otoni Group wields.

Today, the Otoni Group remains a major criminal player in numerous systems across the UEE. Attempts by the Advocacy and local law enforcement to eradicate or limit their influence, particularly in Croshaw and Stanton, have failed. Even with two of their three founding members dead, and Mendies rumored to be retired, many experts consider the Otoni Group to be more powerful than ever.

From their calculated rise to power and careful expansion to the installation of a hierarchy that rewarded ambition but ensured that local issues wouldn’t derail the entire institution, the Otoni Group is a modern business success story. Unfortunately, they operate on the wrong side of the law, and the UEE would be a safer place if they ceased to exist.

In über hundert Jahren Tätigkeit hat sich das Syndikat Otoni Group zu einer der dauerhaftesten kriminellen Organisationen im Menschenraum entwickelt. Von dem, was führende Forscher zusammensetzen konnten, haben sie langsam und methodisch ihre Operationen erweitert, um großen Reichtum und erheblichen Einfluss zu sammeln. Dieses mächtige und schwer fassbare Multisystem-Konsortium wurde in fast jede Art von illegalem Unternehmen verwickelt, vom Verkauf gefälschter Reg-Tags über niedere Gesetzlose bis hin zur Inszenierung der hochkarätigen Morde an korrupten Politikern und kriminellen Rivalen.

Vor kurzem wurde das Journal of Imperial Economics in die Kritik gezogen, weil es die Otoni Group auf die Liste der mächtigsten Unternehmen der UEE gesetzt hat. Ihre Experten schätzten konservativ, dass die Jahreseinnahmen der Gruppe sie neben einigen der bemerkenswertesten und angesehensten Unternehmen des Imperiums stellen. Während das Ausmaß ihres politischen Einflusses unbekannt ist, veröffentlichte die Regierungsaufsicht Responsible Citizens United im Jahr 2912 einen Bericht, der mehrere Mandatsträger und Lobbyisten mit verdächtigen Mitgliedern der Otoni-Gruppe und Wirtschaftseinheiten verbindet. Mit einer massiven unbesteuerten Banknotenrolle, die weitreichende kriminelle Aktivitäten finanziert, und der Fähigkeit, bei Bedarf politischen Druck auszuüben, ist es kein Wunder, dass es der Otoni-Gruppe gelungen ist, so lange in Betrieb zu bleiben wie bisher.

Anmerkung des Herausgebers: Dieses Portfolio ist nicht dazu bestimmt, die Otoni-Gruppe zu verherrlichen oder zu validieren. Stattdessen ist es als eine nüchterne Bewertung ihrer Fähigkeiten und ihres Einflusses auf die UEE gedacht. Nur wenn wir verstehen, wie eine so massiv erfolgreiche kriminelle Organisation entstanden ist, können wir bestimmen, wie wir sie demontieren und verhindern können, dass ähnliche Gruppen in ihrer Form entstehen.

Kinderleichtes Spiel
Wie bei vielen Unterwelt-Einheiten haben sich im Laufe der Jahre verschiedene Geschichten über die Herkunft der Otoni-Gruppe verbreitet. Die Advocacy ist jedoch der Ansicht, dass die folgende Zeitachse der Wahrheit am ehesten entspricht:

Die Ursprünge der Gruppe lassen sich auf Croshaw in der Mitte des 29. Jahrhunderts zurückführen. Genauer gesagt, in einem der berüchtigsten Sozialhäuser Angelis, in dem sich drei Waisenkinder trafen, um sich gegenseitig vor den verschiedenen Banden zu schützen, die in der Einrichtung operierten. Arthur Mendies, Lauda Viscaso und Tio Quast schlossen sich aus Überlebensgründen zusammen und erkannten schnell, dass sie über ergänzende Fähigkeiten und Dispositionen verfügten, die das Leben in der Einrichtung überschaubarer machten.

Arthur Mendies landete in Angelis Sozialsystem, nachdem seine Mutter verhaftet und wegen einer Litanei von digitalen Diebstahlanklagen verurteilt worden war, die dazu führten, dass Millionen von Credits von den Bankkonten ahnungsloser Opfer überwiesen wurden. Unter der Leitung seiner Mutter erwies sich Mendies als technologisch kompetent mit einem Gespür für den diskreten Zugriff auf eine Vielzahl von Systemen. Unterdessen erwies sich seine Fähigkeit zu Fälschung und Fälschung als wertvoll, um Schmuggelware an den Sicherheitsscannern des Sozialhauses vorbeizuschmuggeln. Mendies verfeinerte seine Fähigkeiten im Laufe der Jahre, um die Otoni Group bei der Suche nach Schmutz über Feinde, beim Schmuggeln riesiger Mengen von Waren zwischen Systemen und bei der Wäsche ihres wachsenden Reichtums durch legitime Operationen zu unterstützen.

Lauda Viscaso wurde als Kind verlassen und in einem Freelancer außerhalb von Angeli ausgesetzt. Als es den lokalen Beamten nicht gelang, ihre Eltern oder Angehörigen zu identifizieren, trat sie in das System der Sozialdienste ein und wurde von einer extrem religiösen Familie adoptiert. Mit elf Jahren lief sie von ihrer frommen Lebensweise weg. Obwohl sie kurz darauf gefangen genommen wurde, weigerte sie sich, bei ihnen zu bleiben und startete einen endlosen Zyklus von Fluchtversuchen, die die Familie schließlich frustrierten und sie in Sozialwohnungen landeten. Charismatisch, intelligent und furchtlos schloss Viscaso Freunde, wohin sie auch ging, vertraute aber niemandem, bis sie Mendies und Quast traf. Ihre schnelle Zunge, ihr scharfer Verstand und ihre hohe emotionale Intelligenz machten sie zu einer geborenen kriminellen Fixerin, die genau wusste, was sie zur richtigen Zeit sagen sollte oder nicht. Ihre Fähigkeit, Arbeitsbeziehungen zu verschiedenen Gesetzlosen und Organisationen aufzubauen, war für das Überleben und die spätere Expansion der Otoni-Gruppe von entscheidender Bedeutung.

Tio Quast hatte eine relativ normale und stabile Kindheit im Vergleich zu seinen Landsleuten. Geboren in einer bürgerlichen Familie, erhielt er dank seiner Sataballfähigkeiten ein begehrtes Stipendium für eine elitäre Privatschule in Angeli. Sein Schicksal verschlechterte sich, als seine Eltern und Geschwister nach einer katastrophalen Schildfehlfunktion starben, als ihr Schiff in die Atmosphäre von Angeli eindrang. Quast verwaiste und allein, verließ sich auf seine körperliche Leistungsfähigkeit, um die rauen und stürzenden Sozialheime zu überleben, und entdeckte bald, dass er ein geborener Schläger war. Er wurde zum Chefvollstrecker der Otoni Group und gefürchtetes Mitglied des Gründungsdreigestirns.

Mit sechzehn Jahren auf Angelis Straßen veröffentlicht, setzte das Trio seine erfolgreiche Loyalität fort. Ihr Umgang mit den verschiedenen Banden innerhalb des Sozialhauses lehrte sie die notwendigen Fähigkeiten, um sich durch die weite Unterwelt der Stadt zu kämpfen. Sie begannen damit, kleine kriminelle Machenschaften zu betreiben, um eine Existenz aufzubauen, aber nachdem sie ein Netzwerk von Kontakten aufgebaut hatten, diskutierten sie Wege, ihre Position zu verbessern, ohne etablierte Banden zu verärgern. Sie beschlossen, sich als freiberufliche Serviceagentur zu etablieren, die sich ausschließlich an Kriminelle richtet. Ob es sich nun um die Herstellung gefälschter Ausweise, die Beschaffung von Schwarzmarktartikeln oder die Tätigkeit als freiberuflicher Hitter handelte, das Trio bewies, dass es ohne Fragen oder etablierte Loyalitäten liefern konnte. Sie erwarben sich schnell den Ruf, geduldig, hartnäckig, intelligent und bösartig zu sein. Niemand hätte erwarten können, wie weit diese Qualitäten sie bringen würden.

Teilen und Erobern
Die 2840er Jahre erwiesen sich als eine besonders turbulente Zeit für Angelis Unterwelt und Mendies, Viscaso und Quast, die sich bald im Zentrum befanden. Die Zerstörung des Syndikats Curved Blade spaltete die etablierte kriminelle Dynastie in Tausende von Banden, die um die Kontrolle kämpften. Diese ausgedehnte kriminelle Landschaft bot den drei Freunden ein ständig wechselndes und endloses Angebot an Kunden.

Mit wachsender Macht und Einfluss (und keiner Angst mehr, eine einzige, mächtige kriminelle Einheit zu verärgern) haben sich Mendies, Viscaso und Quast in die Otoni-Gruppe umbenannt - der Name stammt aus dem Sozialhaus, in dem sie sich alle trafen. Ihr Machtspiel für Angelis Unterwelt war vorsichtig und sorgfältig orchestriert. Die Gruppe spielte meisterhaft gegeneinander kämpfende Banden, um sich aus den Slums zu erheben und sicherzustellen, dass sie nie wieder zurückkehrten. Um die Aufmerksamkeit der Strafverfolgungsbehörden zu vermeiden, haben sie ihre Kunden sorgfältig geprüft und ihre illegalen Aktivitäten geschickt hinter einer Vielzahl von Scheinfirmen versteckt. Bald umfasste der Umfang ihrer Aktivitäten die Drogenproduktion, den Schmuggel und sogar den Menschenhandel.

Die lokale Strafverfolgung wurde durch das scheinbar unendliche Blutvergießen der Unterwelt so abgelenkt, dass sie jede laufende Untersuchung der Otoni-Gruppe entzog. Als sie erkannten, dass die Otoni's zum nächsten großen Machtakteur des Planeten wurden, war es zu spät. Die Gruppe hatte ihre Spuren fachmännisch verwischt. Alte Spuren führten zu Sackgassen und Informanten konnten nicht mehr gefunden werden. Die Otoni-Gruppe übernahm die Kontrolle über Angeli und setzte auf das breitere Croshaw-System.

Die Otoni-Gruppe erweiterte langsam und methodisch ihre Kontrolle über die Unterwelt von Croshaw über die 2850er Jahre. Ende des 28. Jahrhunderts erschienen die ersten Berichte über sie in einem neuen System - Ferron. Es wird angenommen, dass dies der Ort ihrer ersten interstellaren Expansion war, aber es wäre weit von ihrer letzten entfernt. Die Otoni-Gruppe hat ein Verfahren zur Akquisition von Neuland entwickelt und verfeinert. Nachdem sie zuerst Späher geschickt hatten, um die lokalen kriminellen Akteure zu beurteilen, schickten sie sich dann leise in den Schwarzmarkt, tauschten ihren etablierten Ruf aus und bauten schließlich ein neues "Franchise" der Otoni-Gruppe dauerhaft im System auf.

Diese spezifische Führungshierarchie ermöglichte es jedem Zweig der Otoni-Gruppe, sich gemeinsam zu koordinieren, aber unabhängig zu agieren. Eine Methodik, die sich als äußerst effektiv erwiesen hat, um der Strafverfolgung zu entgehen. Jedes Mal, wenn die Advocacy versuchte, gegen die lokale Führung in einem System vorzugehen, würde die Spur an den Sprungbrettpunkten sterben und der Rest der Organisation würde weiter überleben. Und in manchen Fällen auch die Wiederherstellung eines lokalen Kapitels nach nur kurzer Ausfallzeit.

Kontrolliertes Chaos
Strukturiert eher wie ein Unternehmen als wie eine Bande, ist Kriminalität eine professionelle Beschäftigung für die Otoni-Gruppe. Sie können genauso tödlich sein wie ihre lokalen Kollegen, aber sie berücksichtigen nur die Risikobewertung und die finanziellen Auswirkungen, wenn sie Entscheidungen über Menschenleben treffen. Sie sind im Allgemeinen zurückhaltend, Gewalt anzurichten, da sie immer die größte Aufmerksamkeit erregt, aber wenn Verwüstung und Tod ihnen einen Sieg bescheren, werden sie nicht zögern, den Abzug zu drücken.

Ihre Mitarbeiter sind dafür bekannt, dass sie überwältigend kalt und berechnend sind. Sie sind fast völlig gleichgültig, wenn es um ihr Geschäft geht, auch in Fragen von Leben und Tod. Fehlende standardisierte Uniformen oder Farben machen es schwierig, sie zu identifizieren. Sie neigen dazu, formellere Kleidung zu bevorzugen, die nicht nur ihren Status, sondern auch ihre Professionalität zum Ausdruck bringt.

Von den ursprünglichen Gründungsmitgliedern ist nur noch Arthur Mendies am Leben. Viscaso starb an natürlichen Ursachen, und Quast starb an Komplikationen während der Routineoperation. Obwohl ihre Namen und "angeblichen" Handlungen in Strafverfolgungskreisen weit verbreitet wurden, wurde keiner von ihnen jemals erfolgreich wegen strafrechtlicher Verfolgung angeklagt oder verbrachte eine Zeit im Gefängnis. Einige hielten diese Tatsache für einen weiteren Beweis dafür, wie viel politischen Einfluss die Otoni-Gruppe ausübt.

Heute ist die Otoni Group nach wie vor ein wichtiger krimineller Akteur in zahlreichen Systemen in der gesamten UEE. Versuche der Advocacy und der lokalen Strafverfolgungsbehörden, ihren Einfluss zu beseitigen oder einzuschränken, insbesondere in Croshaw und Stanton, sind gescheitert. Selbst wenn zwei ihrer drei Gründungsmitglieder tot sind und Mendies gerüchteweise in den Ruhestand gehen, halten viele Experten die Otoni-Gruppe für mächtiger denn je.

Von ihrem kalkulierten Aufstieg zur Macht und ihrer behutsamen Expansion bis hin zur Einrichtung einer Hierarchie, die den Ehrgeiz belohnte, aber sicherstellte, dass lokale Themen nicht die gesamte Institution in Mitleidenschaft ziehen würden, ist die Otoni Group eine moderne Erfolgsgeschichte. Leider operieren sie auf der falschen Seite des Gesetzes, und die UEE wäre ein sicherer Ort, wenn sie nicht mehr existieren würden.

Writer’s Note: Portfolio: Otoni Group was published originally as a Subscriber Exclusive on January 9, 2019.
In over a hundred years of activity, the syndicate known as the Otoni Group has become one of the most enduring criminal organizations in Human space. From what leading researchers have been able to piece together, they have slowly and methodically expanded their operations to amass great wealth and substantial influence. This powerful and elusive multi-system syndicate has been implicated in almost every kind of illegal enterprise, from selling forged reg-tags to low-level outlaws to orchestrating the high-profile assassinations of corrupt politicians and criminal rivals.

Recently, the Journal of Imperial Economics came under fire for placing the Otoni Group on their list of the UEE’s most powerful corporations. Their experts conservatively estimated that the group’s annual revenues put them alongside some of the empire’s most notable and respected companies. While the extent of their political influence is unknown, government watchdog group Responsible Citizens United released a report in 2912 linking several elected officials and lobbyists to suspected Otoni Group members and business entities. With a massive untaxed bankroll that funds wide-ranging criminal activity and the ability to apply political pressure when necessary, it’s of little wonder that the Otoni Group has managed to remain in operation for as long as it has.

Editor’s Note: This portfolio is not intended to glorify or validate the Otoni Group. Instead, it’s meant as a sober assessment of their abilities and influence on the UEE. Only by understanding how such a massively successful criminal organization came to be can we determine how to dismantle it and prevent similar groups from being created in their mold.

Child’s Play
As with many underworld entities, various stories have circulated over the years about the origin of the Otoni Group. However, the Advocacy contends that the following timeline is most likely closest to the truth:

The group’s origins can be traced to Croshaw in the mid-29th century. More specifically, to one of Angeli’s most notorious city-run social houses, where three orphans came together to provide each other protection against the various gangs that operated within the facility. Arthur Mendies, Lauda Viscaso, and Tio Quast bonded out of a necessity to survive and quickly realized that they had complementary skills and dispositions that made life within the facility more manageable.

Arthur Mendies landed in Angeli’s social welfare system following his mother’s arrest and conviction for a litany of digital theft charges that resulted in millions of credits being transferred out of the bank accounts of unsuspecting victims. Mentored by his mother, Mendies proved to be technologically proficient with a knack for discreetly accessing a wide range of systems. Meanwhile, his aptitude for forgery and counterfeiting proved valuable in smuggling contraband past the social house’s security scanners. Mendies honed his skills over the years to aid the Otoni Group in digging up dirt on enemies, smuggling vast amounts of goods between systems, and laundering their growing wealth through legitimate operations.

Lauda Viscaso was abandoned as an infant and left adrift in a Freelancer outside Angeli. When local officials failed to identify her parents or next of kin, she entered the social services system and was adopted by an extremely religious family. At eleven, she ran away from their devout way of life. Though captured shortly thereafter, she refused to stay with them and kicked off an unending cycle of attempted escapes that eventually frustrated the family and landed her in social housing. Charismatic, intelligent, and fearless, Viscaso made friends wherever she went but trusted no one until she met Mendies and Quast. Her quick tongue, sharp mind, and high emotional intelligence made her a born criminal fixer who knew exactly what to say, or not, at the right time. Her ability to build working relationships with various outlaws and organizations was essential to the Otoni Group’s survival and eventual expansion.

Tio Quast had a relatively normal and stable childhood compared to his compatriots. Born to a middle-class family, he landed a coveted scholarship to an elite Angeli private school thanks to his sataball skills. His fortunes took a turn for the worse when his parents and siblings perished after a catastrophic shield malfunction when their ship entered Angeli’s atmosphere. Orphaned and alone, Quast relied on his physical prowess to survive the rough and tumble social homes and soon discovered that he was a born brawler. He became the Otoni Group’s chief enforcer and most feared member of the founding triumvirate.

Released onto Angeli’s streets at sixteen, the trio continued their successful allegiance. Their dealings with the different gangs within the social house taught them the essential skills to make their way through the vast underworld of the city. They began by running small-time criminal schemes to eke out an existence, but after building up a network of contacts, they discussed ways to enhance their position without angering established gangs. They decided to set themselves up as a freelance service agency that catered exclusively to criminals. Whether it was producing counterfeit IDs, procuring black market items, or acting as freelance hitters, the trio proved that they could deliver without questions or established loyalties. They quickly garnered a reputation for being patient, persistent, intelligent, and vicious. No one could have expected just how far those qualities would take them.

Divide and Conquer
The 2840s proved to be a particularly tumultuous time for Angeli’s underworld and Mendies, Viscaso, and Quast soon found themselves in the thick of it. The destruction of the Curved Blade syndicate splintered the established criminal dynasty into thousands of gangs vying for control. This sprawling criminal landscape provided the three friends with a constantly shifting and endless supply of clients.

With growing power and influence (and no longer afraid to upset a single, powerful criminal entity) Mendies, Viscaso, and Quast rebranded themselves as the Otoni Group – the name taken from the social house where they all met. Their powerplay for Angeli’s underworld was cautious and carefully orchestrated. The group masterfully played warring gangs against each other to elevate themselves out of the slums and ensure that they never went back. To avoid attention from law enforcement officials, they carefully screened their clients and skillfully hid their illegal activities behind a myriad of shell companies. Soon the scope of their operations included drug production, smuggling, and even Human trafficking.

Local law enforcement was so distracted by the underworld’s seemingly unending bloodshed that they deprioritized any ongoing investigation into the Otoni Group. By the time they realized that the Otoni’s were becoming the planet’s next major power player, it was too late. The group had expertly covered their tracks. Old leads led to dead ends and informants could no longer be found. The Otoni Group took control of Angeli and set their sights on the wider Croshaw system.

The Otoni Group slowly and methodically extended their control of Croshaw’s underworld over the 2850s. By the late 2800s, the first reports of them appeared in a new system — Ferron. It is believed that this was the location of their first interstellar expansion, but it would be far from their last. The Otoni Group developed and refined a process for acquiring new territory. After first sending in scouts to assess the local criminal players, they would then quietly insert themselves into the black market, trading off their established reputation and eventually establishing a new ‘franchise’ of the Otoni Group permanently in-system.

This specific leadership hierarchy allowed each branch of the Otoni Group to coordinate collectively, but operate independently. A methodology that proved extremely effective for eluding law enforcement. Anytime that the Advocacy attempted to crack down on the local leadership in one system, the trail would die at the jump points and the rest of the organization continued to survive. And in some instances, re-establishing a local chapter after only a short downtime.

Controlled Chaos
Structured more like a corporation than a gang, crime is a professional occupation for the Otoni Group. They can be every bit as deadly as their local counterparts, but they just factor in risk assessment and financial impact when making decisions about Human lives. They are generally reticent to wreak violence as it always attracts the most attention, but if havoc and death provide them with a win, they will not hesitate to pull the trigger.

Their operatives are renowned for being overwhelmingly cold and calculating. They are almost completely indifferent when talking about their business, even in matters of life and death. A lack of standardized uniforms or colors makes them difficult to identify. They tend to favor more formal attire that not only signifies their status, but also their professionalism.

Of the original founding members, only Arthur Mendies is still alive. Viscaso passed away from natural causes, and Quast died from complications during routine surgery. Even though their names and “alleged” actions became widely-known in law enforcement circles, none of them were ever successfully indicted on criminal charges or spent any time in prison. Some considered this fact more proof of just how much political influence the Otoni Group wields.

Today, the Otoni Group remains a major criminal player in numerous systems across the UEE. Attempts by the Advocacy and local law enforcement to eradicate or limit their influence, particularly in Croshaw and Stanton, have failed. Even with two of their three founding members dead, and Mendies rumored to be retired, many experts consider the Otoni Group to be more powerful than ever.

From their calculated rise to power and careful expansion to the installation of a hierarchy that rewarded ambition but ensured that local issues wouldn’t derail the entire institution, the Otoni Group is a modern business success story. Unfortunately, they operate on the wrong side of the law, and the UEE would be a safer place if they ceased to exist.