SSS (Syndicate of Silent Service)

The Thepolian assassin guild. They take contracts. They fulfill contracts. They do not break contracts—or the penalty is death.

Overview

The Syndicate of Silent Service is an ancient Thepolian institution—an assassin guild that has operated for centuries, training some of the deadliest killers in the galaxy. Their reputation is built on absolute reliability: once a contract is accepted, the target dies.

The SSS operates on strict contractual principles. Clients pay for deaths. Assassins deliver. The guild mediates, takes its cut, and maintains the infrastructure that makes assassination a professional endeavor.

Training

SSS operatives are identified young and trained from childhood in the arts of killing:

• Combat - Every weapon, every technique, every way to end a life
• Infiltration - Access, disguise, social engineering
• Surveillance - Finding targets, understanding routines
• Discipline - Emotional control, pain tolerance, patience
• The Code - Contract law, guild hierarchy, professional ethics

By the time training is complete, an SSS operative is a precision instrument of death. Their success rate approaches perfection.

The Contract Code

The SSS operates by strict rules:

Acceptance

Once a contract is accepted, it must be fulfilled. No exceptions. No excuses. The target dies, or the assassin does.

Guild Fee

The SSS takes a percentage of every contract, funding training facilities, intelligence networks, and the infrastructure of professional assassination.

No Betrayal

An SSS operative never turns on a client. Information gathered during a contract is confidential. Trust is the guild’s greatest asset.

Breaking Contract

An operative who abandons a contract faces death. The guild cannot afford unreliable assassins—it would destroy their reputation, and reputation is everything.

Parliament Connection

The Parliament is the SSS’s largest client. Political enemies disappear. Threats are neutralized. The guild asks no questions about why—only how much.

This relationship is purely transactional. The SSS serves whoever pays. If the Parliament’s enemies could afford guild rates, the SSS would kill Parliament members just as readily.

Notable Operatives

• Wido - Former SSS operative, broke contract to join Robert’s crew
• Kethris the Hollow - SSS instructor, Wido’s former mentor

Connections

• Thepolians - Cultural origin
• The Parliament - Primary client
• Wido - Defected operative
• Robert Fannec - Target who became ally

The SSS features in Wido’s backstory and throughout the Fannec Records series.