PILLAR I — SECURITY
Private Security Firms
Consortium Licensed Private Space-Security Companies
Private Space Security in General
Private space-security companies occupy the gap between ordinary civilian security and direct government intervention by ICIA or KAVOE. With one exception, these companies provide intrasystem services only.
Their clients include:
- Ferry Queen trains
- passenger shuttles
- mining operations
- scientific expeditions
- private excursions
- cargo vessels
- asteroid operations
- chartered civilian spacecraft
Most armed personnel are former KAVOE enlisted members or former ICIA personnel. Former KAVOE officers exist within the industry but are less common.
The Five Companies
Each occupies a distinct niche — select a firm for full details.
Licensing and Personnel Standards
A private security license does not authorize unrestricted use of military technology. Consortium law establishes the Commercial Armed Space Security License (CASSEL). Companies operating armed escort vessels require corporate certification, while individual security personnel require occupational certification.
Applicants undergo:
- Background investigation: Consortium criminal records, piracy associations, financial irregularities, extremist affiliations, employment history and identity/DNA verification.
- Psychological evaluation: aggression control, judgment under stress, obedience to rules of engagement, impulse control, interspecies attitudes and willingness to disengage when the client is safe.
- Weapons qualification: personnel qualify separately on every weapons family they operate.
Certification categories:
Qualifications expire and require periodic recertification. A former KAVOE qualification does not automatically constitute a civilian license.
Suggested Pricing
Prices are given in uhtzas (Utz.), the established medium of exchange.
| Service | Starting Price |
|---|---|
| Background/security screening | 15 Utz. per passenger |
| Unarmed onboard officer | 180 Utz./hour |
| Armed onboard officer | 350 Utz./hour |
| Plainclothes ICIA-trained specialist | 500 Utz./hour |
| 4-person onboard team | 1,200 Utz./hour |
| Sprite / small shuttle escort | 4,000–12,000 Utz. |
| Standard Ferry escort | 15,000–45,000 Utz. |
| Crown / high-risk Ferry escort | 40,000–100,000 Utz. |
| Mining-operation security | 8,000–30,000 Utz./day |
| Private excursion escort | 6,000–25,000 Utz./day |
| High-risk asteroid operation | 25,000–80,000 Utz./day |
| Aegis Crown interstellar escort | 250,000+ Utz. |
A Senty aboard a Ferry commands a substantial premium — suggested at 1,500–4,000 Utz. per operating hour — because its presence provides continuous analysis rather than simply another armed guard.
Service Levels
Level I — Watch
Screening, threat monitoring and onboard security.
Level II — Shield
Onboard personnel plus one escort craft.
Level III — Spear
Multiple armed escorts, enhanced passenger screening, continuous threat analysis and an onboard response team.
Level IV — Crown
Extreme-risk protection. Multiple escorts, intelligence preparation, route reconnaissance, onboard security and emergency extraction capability. Interstellar service at this level is currently available only through Aegis Crown.
Their Records Are Not Perfect
These companies have casualties and failures. Otherwise private security becomes implausibly effective — and those failures make their successful records more meaningful. Iron Spear fights, Heimdell's Shield protects, Argus investigates, Aegis Crown handles exceptional and interstellar threats, and Sentinel understands the frontier and pirates.
Three unidentified ships changed course toward us outside the mining zone. Iron Spear put two ships between us and them before our captain even sounded the alert. We never found out who they were. That's exactly how I wanted it.
— Malia Enver, asteroid survey supervisor
Heimdell's Shield changed our route twice. We complained about arriving late. Then ICIA informed us why. I stopped complaining.
— Torren Ishikawa, Ferry Queen passenger
Sentinel knew where the pirates were going to appear because apparently their boss used to do the appearing.
— Jessa Olivarez, independent mining operator
Testimonials are suggested flavor text rather than previously established canon.
