"Every contract is a kill order with the trigger pulled by someone else's mouth."
Every actor on the field carries a faction patch. The ladder runs from Allies at the top of the galaxy down through Friendly, Neutral, Unfriendly, and bottoms out at Hostile. Combat looks at one rung: anything Unfriendly or lower is fair game for flank and crossfire. Friendly and Allies shrug off positional bonuses; you don't bracket your own. The same ladder runs the discount curve at quartermaster counters: Allies pay less, and see used-gear stock that doesn't make the public rack.
| Rung | Combat semantics | Trade semantics |
|---|---|---|
| Hostile | Valid flank / crossfire target. Default for enemies. | Will not trade (or hostile pricing). |
| Unfriendly | Valid target, no diplomatic cover. | Limited trade, surcharge on purchases. |
| Neutral | Not a target by default; not an ally either. | Standard market rates. |
| Friendly | Cannot be flank/crossfire target; counts as ally for positional bonuses against shared hostiles. | Small purchase discount, better used-gear rates. |
| Allies | Strongest tier of Friendly. Same combat behaviour, stronger trade benefits. | Larger discount; access to faction-only stock. |
See Cover & Positioning for the flank and crossfire rules that key off this.
Faction drives trade pricing: Friendly gets a small discount and better used-gear rates; Allies gets more of both, plus faction-locked stock that doesn't appear on the public rack.
Not yet implemented; the faction system is tracked as GH #11. Until it lands, the engine bootstraps two factions: every Character actor joins Squad (Allies amongst themselves, Hostile to Creatures); every Creature actor joins Creatures (Allies amongst themselves, Hostile to Squad). Today's behaviour matches the long-term rule, just with a thinner data layer.