The given description of the Merchants is voided by my choice that it is a government service.
The service is a picky as the Scouts to get in voluntarily and oddly has the same two characteristics as DMs. However STR is the minor and average or higher INT is the higher bonus. So there is a fair amount of grunt work but a quick mind is even more helpful.
Survival is equivalent to the Navy and Army leading me to believe piracy and hijacking attemps are more common than most GMs play it. The DM is an average INT so most of these situations can be avoided by keeping your eyes open and your wits about you.
Commission seem to be handed out to anyone who can write their own name in block letters with a crayon given the extremely low roll and a DM for slightly below average INT. So just about everyone in the Merchants is a 4th officer and having rank in the Merchant service won't impress anyone.
Promotion on the other hand is ridiculously hard more so than even the Marines and only exceptionally bright (high INT) PCs get a DM. No one respects a 4th officer but most people know 3rd officer and higher are people you should not discount.
Only the Scouts are a more secure career than the Merchants which is probably why it is so fiendishly hard to get ahead in the service. It is just a fact of life than you need more people doing stuff they have been told to do than people to tell others what to do.
Material benefits are Low;INT;EDU;Gun;Blade;Low and Free Trader. Hmmm, to be unkind the service gives out leftover promotional passage tickets. Both characteristic mods are +1's the first service that doesn't have a +2 so personal improvement isn't stressed to much. The gun and blade means they service does have it's pride and participates in the separation duels. Free Trader I have mentioned I am not wildly thrilled with how mustering out starships work but am still unsure how I will change it.
The Cash table is a little on the low side but not remarkably so.
The Personal Development table provides STR;DEX;END;STR;Blade and Bribery. Interesting that you can't develop the one characteristic that gives you a DM after enlistment. Also no EDU or SOC however they like them husky in the Merchants. Blade combat fits in with my as yet not completely defined reasons people on a starship fight with swords. Bribery goes along with my view that the average person have a lopsided divided loyalty between their world and the Imperium. Seeing as the Imperium reserves the authority to regulate space law and there is rivalry between worlds customs regulations get little respect.
Service Skills are Vehicle;Vacc Suit; JOT;Steward;Electronics;Gun. The first three are useful to anyone in space. Steward is a necessary Merchant skill and useful when dealing with other intelligent beings. Electronics without Mechanical on the same table indicates the Merchants have to fix more higher tech devices than lower tech or more massive equipment. Finally Gun Combat indicates are fair amount of their on world interactions have the potential to go dramatically bad.
The first Advanced Education table has Streetwise;Mechanical;Electronics;Navigation;Gunnery and Medical. Streetwise is portrayed as the ability to deal with insular strangers which makes sense seeing as it is unlikely Merchants will be on the homeworld in most cases. Mechanical and Electronics are to be expected although it appears mechanical training is not provided as a general training and electronic problems are seen as more likely. Navigation being a general availability skill I find an oddity. Gunnery goes along with my view that unfriendlies are fairly common. Medical makes sense as I am sure any service dealing with the general public wants as many first responders as possible.
The 8+ Advance Education table has Medical;Navigation;Engineering;Computer;Pilot and Admin. Medical is valued highly enough to be on 2 tables as is Navigation. The Navigation showing up twice leads me to think a certain paranoia about misjumps and barristry (ship's officers stealing their own ship). The next three would indicate the Merchant's are picky about who learns skills that can control the movement of the ship. Navigation can plot a course but you need Pilot to get you there and Engineering to make the drives work. Admin shows that paperwork is universal.
And finally 1st Officers are all trained to steer the ship which is pretty handy.
So in MTU the Merchant service is picky about it's volunteers but once you get in you can have a pretty stable career. Providing you don't screw up you will become at least a low ranking officer bit advancement is hard. Life in the service is a little rough and tumble and a certain tendency to solving problems with cash is common place. As a cost cutting measure it would seem the service buys low bid electronics but mechanical systems are top notch. Merchants are fitness buffs with more social or intellectual pursuits not being encouraged. With the lack of advancement it is uncommon to get training in the officer skills.
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