The Free Companies of Kowloon

The personal military forces of Nobles and Knights alike, the Free Companies act to secure their local regions as well as bolster the nation's military during times of need.

At the end of 3017 GSC, and at the birth of the Solarity of Kowloon, Duchess Bhelith Blackspear was given a large number of ships and equipment from several sources in order to form their first astral armada and provide for their defense as a self-governing nation. However, one of the initial difficulties of this gift was one uncommon to most astral armies at that time. With vessels and equipment gifted or seized from numerous sources, the fledgling country had a difficult problem; manning and training.

In response, the Free Companies of Asteria were formed on the order of Bhelith, to serve as militia for the new suzerainty to supplement and assist the Shield of Kowloon. In exchange for staffing these vessels, the locals and natives of the capitol world of Piyapon - who in large part already had para-military organizations, militant corporations, and some manner of organization on a structural level - were brought into national, federal service and legitimized as regents.

The government of Kowloon defines a free company as, “A Company of at least 100 soldiers, or five crews of sailors, or similar number of war fighters, organized and uniformed, with one captain, battalion commander, or equivalent of recognized peerage”. In practice, many Free Companies are much larger, though some barely meet the minimum.

Commanding a Free Company grants peerage in Kowloon's House of Peers, the federal governing body, and reflexively an appointment to peerage requires that the noble peer either command, or host a free company. In theory, this system is meant to force a sense of responsibility, ownership, and noblesse oblige in the leaders of the suzerainty, and in practice it means that the government operates by a feudal system that is not required to pay its troops beyond the rewards and privileges it grants to its class of nobility which allows the Bakufu to undertake projects on behalf of the entire nation without concerning itself with undue military spending.

The formation of the Free Companies also allows for many cultures, some of which seem incomparable, to participate on equal footing in Kowloon's House of Peers, and appointing the captains and commanders of the free companies to take on similar, civilian roles encourages them to manage their provinces appropriately, as oftentimes their success or failure directly reflects their standing in the peerage. The more prosperous and wealthy the peer, the more likely they are to field an effective and well maintained company, which in turn grants them wider opportunities for advancement through military, corporate, and exploratory actions among the stars.

The Free Companies are regulated by the order_of_the_knight_marshal.

• Azalea Free Company
• Uial Lug Free Company

1. A Grand Company is a number of Free Companies working in concert, the equivalent of a political party.
2. A Free Company is, in short, essentially a militia in service to the Solarity of Kowloon, the combined military forces of the nation.
3. A Peer is a member of Kowloon's House of Peers, and is always the commander, or benefactor, of a Free Company.