Mercenaries

[Arrun Dihsar]

Curious as to what people knew of mercenaries in Federation employ or the laws it might have on mercenary work. How often have people seen them in the show, that sort of thing.

[Malik Grippen]

Mercs are definitely a thing in the ST universe.

I don't think the Federation would employ them as it'd likely go against their ideals, but perhaps they would employ "contractors". Like how they use private companies to build the computer cores and warp drives.

If the "contractors" got up to no good, I'd imagine the Feds would be on the case pronto.

[Kirok]

I could see Section 31 secretly using mercenaries.

The Maquis was a paramilitary organization/terrorist group.

Would they fit into the category of mercenaries in some way?

[James H. Hawk]

Section 31 using mercenaries makes a lot of sense to me. I don't think the normal Federation would ever overtly use them though. Federation law probably would frown on them, but I imagine they'd be widespread in more remote and crime ridden areas (like places with heavy Orion presance).

The Marquis probably wouldn't use mercenaries because they'd be too expensive and inaccessible for a group like that. They wouldn't be classed as mercenaries either because mercenaries are just people paid to serve as a solider, the Marquis is a volunteer group of people fighting for their beliefs. Quite different from mercenaries.

[Solluk]

Hello,

I do not believe the character of the Federation would allow them to publicly hire mercenaries in any capacity.

I do believe S31 and even Starfleet Intelligence might make use of them in a clandestine way, but such use could never become public.

I find it highly likely that many of the neutral powers and 'enemy' powers have used mercenaries at some point or another.   There was an episode where Quark mentioned that he could spend X latinum to get a couple Nausicaans and a fast ship.  Who would he be hiring, but Mercenaries?

In fact, I'd think you could reasonably run a sim about a team of mercenaries who do odd jobs for small nations, outposts, and colonies who need help.

" If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team..."

[Solluk]

"The Marquis probably wouldn't use mercenaries because they'd be too expensive and inaccessible for a group like that."

Don't forget that there were many people sympathetic to the Maquis, and who may have funneled them funds and supplies, not unlike American support for the Irish Republican Army back in the day.

There may also be sympathetic powers who want to support any rebellious action, and may provide mercenaries to aid the rebels.  I would be surprised to hear that the Cardassians did not have enemies.  Enemies who would like to see them fall, and might hire mercs to help destabilize the Cardassian regime by providing plausibly deniable mercenary support to the Maquis.

I think we currently see mercenaries appearing on various sides of current middle-eastern conflicts.  I think that sometimes they fight for major powers, but sometimes also for minor powers struggling against major powers.

War is a complicated business.

EDITED TO ADD:  Sorry about the double post.  An additional thought occurred to me and I created the second post without much introspection on the matter.

[Kirok]

"The Marquis probably wouldn't use mercenaries because they'd be too expensive and inaccessible for a group like that."

Don't forget that there were many people sympathetic to the Maquis, and who may have funneled them funds and supplies, not unlike American support for the Irish Republican Army back in the day.

There may also be sympathetic powers who want to support any rebellious action, and may provide mercenaries to aid the rebels.  I would be surprised to hear that the Cardassians did not have enemies.  Enemies who would like to see them fall, and might hire mercs to help destabilize the Cardassian regime by providing plausibly deniable mercenary support to the Maquis.

I think we currently see mercenaries appearing on various sides of current middle-eastern conflicts.  I think that sometimes they fight for major powers, but sometimes also for minor powers struggling against major powers.

War is a complicated business.

EDITED TO ADD:  Sorry about the double post.  An additional thought occurred to me and I created the second post without much introspection on the matter.

That makes sense