The Nestor Syndicate:
The Nestor crime syndicate is one of the more subtle criminal organizations in the galaxy, and one of the most successful. Based in the Conheav sector in the inner rim, the Nestors are so good at staying behind the scenes that only a handful of people outside their ranks even realise that they exist. The Nestor syndicate has two headquarters, the financial headquarters is on board the Lucky Despot Casino, while their operational headquarters is on the sector capital, Conheav Prime.
The Nestor syndicate has a hand in almost everything in the sector, from such overtly criminal activities as the spice trade, gunrunning, prostitution and slavery rings, to embezelling money from powerful corporations. The Nestors are extremely careful to make sure that 95% of the people that do jobs for them, especially the ones involved in the more brazenly illegal areas of operation, don't even know that they are working for them. A few organisations are completely run by the Nestors, such as the Ristaur bounty hunter guild, whose CEO is a member of the Nestor inner council, while other groups are merely used by the syndicate from time to time as the need arises.
The Nestor syndicate is very heavily involved with Moff Lesbeat, the Moff of Conheav sector, and the Moff and the syndicate are each constantly using the influence of the other in areas where they have little direct control. Lesbeat knows more about the syndicate than anyone else outside the upper echelons of the organisation, and could use this information to blackmail the Nestors, but for the fact that the Nestor syndicate has an extraordinary amount of information on the corrupt activities of the power-hungry Moff. In fact, one of Moff Lesbeat's aides is a spy who reports to a political rival of the Moff, who is in fact a trusted member of the syndicate. Complex webs such as this are the bread and butter of the Nestor syndicate, and a good gamemaster should be able to find dozens of ways to involve player characters in them.
In an additional twist, the identity of the head of the syndicate is a mystery even to the 15 members of the inner council who report to him/her. This leader is known simply as The Nestor, and at meetings of the inner council appears swathed in voluminous grey robes which hide all of his/her physical attributes. The Nestor always wears a helmet with a smooth black faceplate, and speaks through a voice modulator which disguises his/her voice.
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