Re: Merc Guild

> >Having an entire planet set aside
> >seems a bit excessive.  I'd think an
> >area the size of, oh, say France,
> >would be plenty.
>
> OK I do agree that continents etc are probably way big enough if
productive,
> but to play devils advocate... with a whole arm of the galaxy to
play with,
> why be stingy?

a) do we have the whole arm of the galaxy?  Here we are only 15
parsecs or so away from Terra and we have Phalons, Kra'Vak and Savasku
to deal with.
b) how many planets already have Earth-compatible atmospheres, ecology
etc, and how many are fixer-uppers?  If you have to spend 50 years and
a mint to terraform a planet, you're not going to lightly turn it over
to someone else.
c) why not be stingy?	You can always spend the rest of the planet to
pay off someone else.  A megacorp, another merc group, etc.  Several
someones, in fact.  This is what happened with Cibola (which is owned
by the AE--or at least that's what they say--occupied by New
Hindustan, several megacorps, IF and PAU colonies, and some irritated
KV).
d) the mercs may not want land--they may want cash to send home (eg
the Gurkhas).