Bootlegger

The American Prohibition

During the early 1920s, the country of the United States of America had a period known as the Prohibition Era. During this time alcohol was made illegal, but Americans were determined to continue a lifestyle that had been continued since the country's creation. The American "bootlegger" was born; a smuggler of alcohol from backwoods distillers to the cities. The bootleggers were often highly proficient, and were afforded high wages and protections thanks to the rise in organized crime, who only profitted from the now illegal substance. The prohibition ended in 1933.

A Resurgence

In the year 2214, Earth once again experimented with outlawing traditionally legal substances. By the year 2217, laws were passed outlawing alcohol for consumption. By this time, humans were taking their leaps and strides into the unknown reaches of the galaxy and had already established footholds in other star systems. As Earth attempted to enforce their new substance laws on the then colonies, the home planet met substantial push-back. Although most systems would eventually come to adopt the laws, the eventual chase of Jerry Riggs and the establishment of the Bootleggathon would result in some compromises with the public.

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MOONSHINE SAVES LIVES

"Without the bootleggers, the Syndicate wouldn't exist. So have a drink in their honor." -the Rogue

New Boots

Bootleggers of the American Prohibition Era drove trucks which they often customized to be faster and be able to haul more. During the early ages of space expansion, all but a few vessels were owned by some government; the cost of manufacturing ships hadn't lowered enough for commercial sales. After the New Prohibition, many were surprised to see short-range vessels available to the public market within a year. More suspicious was the release of pelican-class cargo ships for sale to companies and pidgeon-class vessels available for individual contractors. As was later discovered, the Gangsters were investing heavily to develop vessels which could smuggle alcohol from city to city on Earth easily with hopes of expanding to other systems.

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Sourcing

Bootlegging begins with the distilling of alcohol. Different systems are famous for different types of liquor but generally the alcohol isn't as refined as before the new prohibition laws. Journey-2, for instance, is the well known supplier of Journic Moonshine, while Earth supplies the majority of wines. The Syndicate pays stillers for the alcohol they make and then pay bootleggers to smuggle it to another area, whether on the same planet or to another system.

Shipping

All shippers will have to undergo inspections of their cargo when they dock at a port or hangar. This gives bootleggers two options; either find creative ways to hide the booze to avoid the inspectors equipment or drop the liquor to someone outside city limits, attempting to avoid planetary radar installations and law enforcement patrols. There is no shortage of experimenters of both methods.

Tactics Defined

Dropping

Dropping is when a bootlegger attempts to either hide from law enforcement patrols and radar or race past them and escape from before they can respond, all while air dropping crates of alcohol to prepped teams on the ground. Ships with this capability are usually extremely fast and are custom built with stealth (and occasionally combat) in mind.

Smuggling

Stashing is the act of sneaking illegal products on a ship into a city, usually by hiding it with legitimate goods. All cargo vessels have to be inspected both when they leave and arrive at most ports and hangars. These inspections range from formality to scrutiny, depending on the system or even city, and as such bootleggers prepare differently depending on where they are smuggling.