Thanks, Jones! So... About the faction stuff... Yes, I like the idea of a secret war thing going on and I would like to try that out. But the robotic character is not going to be a crew member of the Marauders. The robotic character is the enemy guy. The rebel leader is going to be part of the Maurader crew as a Security Officer but as a merc. One of the characters bumps into him and he asks if they are looking for a little more muscle (himself and 1-3 other mercs). If he gets hired, he will stay and help out. When his duty is off, he wanders until the Marauders hire him again. The GDF has been fighting the ILI for quite some time though, so the mercs will have a run-in with the GDF, even if they are with the Marauders. The GDF relentlessly hunts down the ILI and its leader and has been trying to subjugate or exterminate the ILI. The only connection the GDF has with the Marauders is that they have met the Committee, but seems to be a small empire, so the Committee doesn't really worry about the GDF, but the part of the GDF empire the Committee has seen is a small portion of the full empire, its just that the majority of GDF territory is so underdeveloped, it is hardly ever noticed by others. The GDF is a dominion. They conquer planets and take over, subjugating the populace and assimilating them into the empire. Many GDF civilians are sent to dig camps, work zones, factories, and dominion cities. The cities produce money from taxes, purchases, and anything money-related. Dig camps produce resources, work zones help the GDF build their structures, and factories manufacture new weapons, armor, robots, and ships. However, a small part of the population is sent to Hive-worlds. These worlds give their civilians the best possible lives and treat them well (98% of the population on these worlds are human). The reason the Hive-world civilians are treated better is that many of the civilians are recruited as soldiers for their army. You wouldn't really want to join the army of a nation you hate, so the GDF uses the art of deception to make it appear as the GDF is a good nation to their human soldiers, hiding the raw, awful truth. The robotic soldiers could not care less, however, and do not have morals and don't care about the lives of others. This fact makes them a force to be reckoned with. More than 70% of the GDF militia is robotic.

anyhow... I will stop rambling on about this. I will start working on my official CS's soon!