Black Market

The influence of the Black Market in the year 2500 is far reaching and their network of operatives is present throughout the UTF. There is not a city or outpost in the area of Local Space (see below) and even somewhat beyond that does not have a Black Market representative. The development of their organization over the past few decades has been remarkable and is entirely the result of the efforts of one man. He is the director of the Black Market, Rygor Visconti. Visconti is a very gifted individual who grew up in a wealthy family and had every advantage a young man could want or need. Rygor exercised every advantage to its fullest extent for personal gain, beginning with his graduation with honors from the UTF’s prestigious Interplanetary University. Armed with intelligence and charm he gradually built a network of loyal followers and eventually became, without question, the wealthiest and most powerful individual in the UTF. Unfortunately for the UTF, Visconti is a criminal in every sense of the word.

In the past decade he has slowly increased his power within the Black Market and subsequently transformed it from a disorganized group of outlaws into a powerful financial juggernaut. If the Black Market in its current incarnation was completely legitimate it would be the largest corporation in the UTF, with Rygor Visconti as its President and CEO. He is now in complete control of every facet of the group’s operations with any challengers for the position removed swiftly from the equation. Visconti is very methodical and orderly and has therefore built the Black Market into a very militaristic regime with a formal hierarchical structure, including different ranks for its members. Another of the reasons for the Black Market’s success has been its ability to elude legal pitfalls and move in and out of legitimate operations with ease. Illicit funds are continually passed through legal corporations so quickly that by the time the UTF can react within the boundaries of the law, the corporations dissolve and the trail goes cold. For this reason Visconti is nicknamed the octopus because his influence is diverse and far reaching and his headquarters and bases of operations are cloaked in mystery.