Bounties

Attention pilot! Keeping the space lanes free of pirates and other scum is the duty of every pilot, not just those belonging to a faction's Military wing. The bounty enforcement system is operated for the factions by TRI. Should you choose to participate, you will be well paid for your services.

In the early stages of Reconstruction, criminal activity rose drastically. Marauding pirate bands quickly gained control of the space lanes, and became a threat worse than the conflux. Initially, TRI attempted to fund a police force, but this approach was doomed from the start. Due to the obscurity of political borders and the vast size of space, this police force became a political nightmare, and quickly collapsed. Shortly thereafter the TRI bounty system went into effect. This new method of crime prevention worked reasonably well, and has survived to this day.

Due to interstellar treaties, bounties are only assigned for acts within factional space. This means that unregulated space can be very dangerous to pilots who are not ready to defend themselves against pirates, factionalists, and other riff-raff.

Bounties are assigned due to pilot actions and calculations are based upon political rating. Several types of bounties may be placed on offending pilots. A bounty will not be assigned for defending yourself. (The pilot who fires the first shot to hit home is considered the fight initiator.)

Temporary bounties are assigned for unprovoked, non-deadly attacks on TRI pilots. These bounties are often small, as they may be the result of friendly fire or other extenuating circumstances. Usually these bounties can be cleared simply by docking at the nearest station.

Permanent bounties are assigned for unprovoked attacks resulting in the downing of a pilot in violation of factional rules of engagement. Once a pilot has illegally downed another pilot, especially a civilian, the killer's political status with the victim's faction will immediately drop. A bounty will then be assigned until this rating is returned to neutral status.

Political bounties can also be assigned based purely on political rating changes that move a pilot to an unfavorable status, such as for failing missions. Political bounties can be removed by increasing your political rating with the faction which you have offended.

You will not be punished for shooting down pilots with bounties, nor will you incur a bounty from doing so regardless of the bountied pilot's registry setting. To determine a pilot's bounty, target him and look at his name. At the end of a pilot's name line you will see a number - this is his current TRI bounty. This number is your reward in credits for ripping this criminal. Additionally, tiny icons to the left of the pilot's target hologram will indicate which faction has instructed TRI to assign a criminal status to that pilot. That faction will award you a small political status increase with them for ripping the target. If a pilot does not have a bounty, either "Ally", "Neutral", or "Enemy" will be displayed, alerting you to your factions' mutual political stance.

The beacon system has been adapted to aid bounty hunters in the pursuit of their lawful prey, and similarly to assist noncombatants in evading potentially dangerous criminals. Pilots with sufficient bounty to hold a negative political rating for a faction will be tracked by the beacon system. Notices as to their last-known wherabouts will be broadcast on the TRI-BOUNTY communications channel. Only beacons tuned to the faction with whom the criminal has a bounty will transmit the tracking messages, and messages will likewise only be received by members of the faction with whom the bounty is held.