I see Free Companies making a comeback in 2000 or so, especially in particularly hard-hit areas like Poland. They work for the highest bidder (warlord, military commander, Free City gov., etc.), switch sides when it suits them, and generally make a great nuisance of themselves wherever they go. They're multinational in nature. They attract disaffected soldiers from all combatants. They usually don't pick a fight that they can't comfortably win and they're quick to retreat when faced with a tough fight. They fight to make a living and because they don't really know any other way. A lot of them just really enjoy the thrill of combat. They take their pay in gold, or local scrip, or medical supplies, or drugs, or the first spoils. They run large scale protection rackets and set up toll stations in their AOs. They're considered marauders by most armies but some of these Free Companies have become so powerful, that some regular military units would rather buy them off somehow than fight them. They don't consider themselves marauders. They consider themselves freelance soldiers for hire- a natural byproduct of the chaos and destruction visited upon most of the world in the late 20th century. They are fairly well organized and reasonably disciplined (not to mention heavily armed). Chasing off some of the more powerful Free Companies is a large-scale military enterprise. Free Companies are the scourge of the Twilight World.
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