Galnet News

MAR 3310

FEB 3310

JAN 3310

DEC 3309

NOV 3309

OCT 3309

SEP 3309

AUG 3309

JUL 3309

JUN 3309

MAY 3309

APR 3309

MAR 3309

FEB 3309

JAN 3309

DEC 3308

NOV 3308

OCT 3308

SEP 3308

AUG 3308

JUL 3308

JUN 3308

MAY 3308

APR 3308

MAR 3308

FEB 3308

JAN 3308

DEC 3307

NOV 3307

OCT 3307

SEP 3307

AUG 3307

JUL 3307

JUN 3307

MAY 3307

APR 3307

MAR 3307

FEB 3307

JAN 3307

DEC 3306

NOV 3306

OCT 3306

SEP 3306

JUN 3306

JAN 3306

DEC 3305

NOV 3305

OCT 3305

SEP 3305

AUG 3305

JUL 3305

JUN 3305

MAY 3305

APR 3305

MAR 3305

FEB 3305

JAN 3305

DEC 3304

NOV 3304

OCT 3304

SEP 3304

AUG 3304

JUL 3304

JUN 3304

MAY 3304

APR 3304

MAR 3304

FEB 3304

JAN 3304

DEC 3303

NOV 3303

OCT 3303

SEP 3303

AUG 3303

JUL 3303

JUN 3303

MAY 3303

APR 3303

MAR 3303

FEB 3303

JAN 3303

DEC 3302

NOV 3302

OCT 3302

SEP 3302

AUG 3302

JUL 3302

JUN 3302

MAY 3302

APR 3302

MAR 3302

FEB 3302

JAN 3302

DEC 3301

NOV 3301

OCT 3301

SEP 3301

AUG 3301

JUL 3301

JUN 3301

MAY 3301

APR 3301

MAR 3301

FEB 3301

JAN 3301

JUN 3301

Galactic News: The Origin of the Pilots Federation

29 JUL 3302

Continuing our popular series on significant episodes from human history, noted historian Sima Kalhana discusses the foundation of the Pilots Federation.

"The Pilots Federation was established in 2805 in response to a surge in private-starship ownership. It was created principally to allow pilots to share reliable trade-route information, and to provide them with a system of mutual protection against the rising scourge of interstellar piracy."

"At the time, independent pilots were generally mistrusted, the itinerant nature of their profession giving rise to perceptions of irresponsibility. The Pilots Federation's strict code of conduct put an end to this, and over time a galaxy-wide respect for its members emerged."

"As piracy became more prevalent, the Pilots Federation started issuing bounties on known pirate vessels. Some of those outside the organisation condemned the initiative as bloodthirsty, but few were able to argue with the impact it had on piracy. Shortly thereafter, the Pilots Federation introduced an official ranking system to reflect the number of combat victories achieved by each of its members. Pilots who accumulated the largest number of kills were awarded the title of Elite – a citation that became highly coveted among independent pilots."

"The Pilots Federation derives the bulk of its wealth from the GalNet data network. Originally a system of ship, bounty and star-chart data, it evolved into an interstellar aggregator of market information and galactic news. By 3300, the Pilots Federation was not only the dominant provider of this information, it was also the main manufacturer of the hardware and software serving this data. Today, Pilots Federation systems are fitted as standard on virtually all independent starships."

"In 3290 the Pilots Federation expanded its ranking system to encompass the fields of trade and exploration. In 3301 it expanded it again to include pilots who had distinguished themselves in the Close Quarters Combat championships."

"The Pilots Federation has always remained politically neutral, avowing that it exists to support pilots rather than nationalities or political factions. The organisation is based in the Shinrarta Dezhra system, which can be accessed only by invitation. Receiving an invitation is typically dependent on achieving a high rank in the Pilots Federation. This stipulation has contributed to perceptions of the organisation as secretive – a perception compounded by the fact that the Pilots Federation has very little direct interaction with the public."