The CAV Galaxy : Commerce

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In the latter part of the 22nd century, nation-states -- even planet-states -- were on the wane. The rise of the interplanetary government shoved all lesser forms of government into the shadows. But those governments weren't alone.

As the various races scattered throughout the galaxy, spreading like a particularly nasty virus throughout the known universe, they brought not only their governments with them, but also their business. The largest and most successful corporations were able to penetrate just about every market, no matter which government thought it was in charge of a locale. In effect, the corporations became the ties that bound the people together even more forcefully than the imaginary borders of their governments separated them. 

Enter the UCOR's

In 2184, the first UCOR (United Corporate-Organized Republic) was formed by KODA Works with the blessing of the Rach Empire from which it sprang. Morse Wendtz, KODA's then-CEO, made a case to the Emperor that Koda was being hamstrung by its official relationship with the Empire. Only by separating itself into its own privately owned republic did it have a chance of serious growth outside of Rach's borders. The Emperor saw the wisdom in Wendtz's words and proclaimed KODA Works to be a free entity, one capable of charting its own destiny.

Of course, KODA's charter was held by Rach, making the UCOR theoretically responsible to the Empire. The same is true of all UCOR's. On paper, at least, they have political masters -- almost always the government from which they originally came. But the power of the larger UCOR's is such that little if any oversight is ever managed by the governments. To do so would invite political disaster.

Where KODA had blazed the trail, many other megacorporations soon followed. The wisdom of a business separating itself politically from the source from which it sprang, jettisoning all the historical baggage that went with such a relationship, proved too tempting an opportunity for most of the galaxy's largest concerns to refuse. Within thirty years, there were over 300 recognized UCOR's.

Of course, not all UCOR's are created equal. When most people think of UCOR's, they naturally think of the Big Nine: Borsig-Spline, Grundor House, Hughes-Marietta Manufacturing, K-D Manufacturing, KODA Works, Mark IV Industries, Mitso-Ta, RMI, and SyRaM. There are few facets of modern life into which at least one-if not several-of these UCOR's intrude.

That kind of thinking ignores the hundreds of small UCOR's, though. This is understandable when you realize that up to 50% of the registered UCOR's aren't much larger than the average mining collective in the backwater parts of known space. Each of the Big Nine, on the other hand, employs, houses, feeds, entertains, and controls the combined destinies of several million souls.

Royal Manufacturing Industry

In 2121, Johnson Brothers Manufacturing was purchased by Breonne and renamed Royal Manufacturing Industry (RMI). As the years passed, new styles, munitions, and technologies were introduced, and the improved DHA range of weapons was brought to market and met with much financial success and critical acclaim.

During the fall of 2198, RMI was privatized by the Breonne government. The new owners reorganized it as a UCOR under a charter granted by Breonne. Five years later, RMI rechartered itself under the auspices of the newly formed Adon Economic Community (AEC).

Today RMI is considered to be the premier weapons manufacturer and supplier in the galaxy. As the slogan says, "If it says RMI on your guns, your foes are staring down the barrels of the best."

RMI handles all aspects of land-based military ordnance, including new, remanufactured, and used weaponry, up to and including its own line of CAV's. It started up its own freight system to get its goods safely from plant directly to customer. It has since expanded its services to include the transport of extra corporate goods. Its freight ships, shipyards, and service docks are a common sight in all parts of the galaxy.

RMI forces are renowned as being the best-equipped in known space, complete with the finest in cutting-edge weaponry. There aren't many members of this elite unit, but wherever they may be deployed, they are a force to be reckoned with. They form a special unit within the AEC military arm NADO, and they have historically deported themselves well and with extreme honor. The only bad thing that most military commanders have to say about RMI forces is, "I wouldn't want to have to fight against them."

Grundor House

Unlike many of the other Big Nine UCOR's, Grundor House is a relative newcomer to the scene. It was formed in 2227 as a spin-off UCOR when Mark IV completed the purchase of Magnetic Electro-Space Systems. The main focus of this new UCOR was to develop, extract, and transport resources for the Malvernian Empire, and at this mission it has excelled over the nearly 40 years that it's been in business. In fact, it was only 25 years ago that the Big Eight was expanded to the Big Nine to include the amazingly successful new kid on the UCOR block.

Grundor House takes its name from the facility where the focus group that conceived the UCOR met in the center of downtown Grundor. Originally patterned after the Rach Empire's KODA Works, Grundor House has since evolved into a unique UCOR with facilities and operations spread across the galaxy. It specializes in light and heavy manufacturing, mining, refining, logistics, transport, and developing equipment.

Grundor House and Mark IV formed Master Unified Distribution UCOR in 2263 as a joint venture company to handle and develop mutual company interests in the Out-Zone. In essence, Master Unified Distribution also represents the largest missionary force of Khardullians anywhere in the galaxy. They are fervent in their desire to carry both Malvernian business and religious beliefs straight to the edge of known space and beyond.

While Grundor House and Mark IV are separate companies on paper, the fact that they are both virtually controlled by the Grand Inquisitor is the worst-kept secret in the galaxy. In the Capella system, home of the Malvernian Empire, Grundor House shares Capella IV with Mark IV as the location of its main headquarters. In fact, the main offices of the two UCOR's are literally across town from each other in Grundor.

Unlike many UCOR's, Grundor House can apparently and will readily hold a grudge. To this day, Grundor House employees refuse to have any business dealings with the Terrans or the Templars, both of whom stood against Malvernis in the Galaxy War. This has given other UCOR's—like RMI and KODA Works—the chance to make great gains against Grundor House in these wealthy markets, but the Grundor House board of directors doesn't seem to mind. As current CEO Wenton Trevasse likes to say, "We prefer to do business with people we have found to be trustworthy. The Templars and the Terrans don't qualify."

Kruger & Dalton Manufacturing

In 2011, KDM was originally incorporated in the state of Dornheim, Ritterlich, on the planet of Avalorr, as the Kruger & Dalton Manufacturing Company. Johann Kruger and Dalton Krieg had a vision of a company that would someday become the largest supplier of the finest starships in the galaxy. Today, few would dispute that this dream has come true.

The core of Kruger and Krieg's business philosophy was that the success of the client translated into the success of the company. Years later, this credo manifested itself in the popular adage, "Executives are promoted for buying from KDM."

Franklin Gerstner—the former RJRAM UCOR chairman and SyRaM exec—arrived as KDM's chairman and CEO in 2191. Despite internal pressure to split KDM into separate, independent companies, Gerstner opted instead to forge KDM into a massive UCOR. He recognized that one of KDM's enduring strengths was its ability to provide integrated solutions for customers—someone to represent more than piece parts or components. Splitting the corp would have destroyed a unique KDM advantage. Transforming it into a UCOR solidified that edge and launched KDM into an era of great prosperity.

That prosperity brought conflict, however. In 2210, KDM became embroiled in a conflict with Mitso-Ta that escalated into a full-scale war, the first such conflict between UCOR's. Open battles were fought across Cyrus and Rylaa, two planets in the Cygnus (60) system, as the two UCOR's struggled for supremacy. In 2212, KDM introduced the first CAV's, giving them a huge advantage in the struggle. In 2213, Mitso-Ta was forced to sue for peace rather than lose everything. Military manufacturers everywhere quickly copied the CAV concept, and soon they were fulfilling support roles in armies across the galaxy.

In 2221 Terran forces assaulted the KDM systems Setanta (9) and TU-190 (20) plus the Ritterlich system L-45-F (27) and the Rach system Aeneas (46). As per its UCOR charter, KDM voluntarily turned over control of its military forces in the area to Ritterlich. Unfortunately Rach refused to join this alliance, and in the end Ritterlich and KDM were forced to abandon their claims to the disputed systems.

In 2242, KDM's taste for warfare was satisfied even further when a three-way conflict broke out in the Pictor system among KDM, Koda Works, and Mark IV. This time, the confrontations spread like wildfire. Anywhere the three UCOR's rubbed shoulders, there was sure to be violence. The galaxy shook during the five-year war.

During the Galaxy War, KDM sided with Ritterlich, although quietly. It played mostly a supporting role in that conflict, avoiding direct conflict with the Templars while supplying Ritterlich with a steady supply of ordnance and even soldiers.

With the war seven years gone, KDM has resumed its place as the galactic leader in CAV's, armaments, starships, breeders, and logistics planning. While its loyalty to Ritterlich is unquestioned, KDM salesmen deal with anyone these days. After all, although some ill will still remains, the war is long over, and business is business.

KODA Works

KODA Works traces its history back to 1987 and a small machine shop in the town of Katch just outside of the Rach capital Shominh, a place known as the Gunwerks. There, the legendary engineer Shar Taupin began designing firearms that some considered the ultimate expression of the art. Taupin's weapons quickly gained a reputation as durable, heavy-duty and reliable, the very reputation all KODA Works products enjoy today.

After the death of Taupin in 2003, Sumata Khan annexed the small company for the Rach Empire, and it was renamed Taupin Works in honor of its founder. The small machine shop's production output was vastly expanded, and a new focus on the design and production of all types of weapons systems was undertaken. Several years of dramatic growth saw the expansion of Taupin Works into the Rach Empire's largest defense contractor.

In 2178, the Grand Council of the Empire sold Taupin Works to the partnership of Kang-Okanza-Diensh Associates in an attempt to raise hard currency during the Vela Wars (2176 - 2183). Taupin Works was renamed KODA Works, and during the remaining war years KODA Works supplied and developed armaments of all types to the Rach Empire.

KODA Works organized itself as a UCOR in 2184, but the company revoked its own charter in 2229 during an investor-led coup. After the attempted takeover was put down, the board of directors adopted sweeping changes to the UCOR's bylaws and rechartered KODA Works as a new UCOR. KODA Works embraced its new codes of operation and became a role model to all UCOR's chartered in the Rach Empire.

Today KODA Works is a galaxy leader in providing transportation, mining, armaments, and starships. It is the reputation of KODA Works' products for design simplicity and ease of maintenance that makes them the devices of choice in the vast majority of the galaxy.

KODA Works has rarely become directly involved in a conflict, although its forces see more than the usual UCOR's share of battles. As part of a UCOR chartered by the Rach Empire, the KODA Works military is often called up to play a large role in the empire's aggressive operations throughout the galaxy. In fact, KODA Works soldiers played a large part in the Vela Wars, which pitted the Rach Empire against the newfound Terrans.

In the Pictor War, KODA Works forces fought alone, without the support of the larger Rach military. They distinguished themselves by their tempered savagery on the field of battle. They were slow to engage in a skirmish, but once the battle was met, they refused to leave the field until only one side was left standing. Due to the solid, durable nature of the KODA Works ordnance, the KODA warriors were the victors far more often than not.

Borsig-Spline

In 2124, Dr. Adriene Borsig founded Borsig, Inc., a Breonne, Avalorr company that concentrated on manufacturing optics for precision medical equipment. Over the years, Dr. Borsig continued developing new products, including industrial and military optical applications. His most significant advancement was the one he patented in 2036: the Gargoyle 600-W Optic Cylinder, a high-quality optical cable capable of withstanding the extreme heat, cold, and pressures of space travel. This optical cable, which is still in high demand today, permitted starship manufacturers to build bigger, faster ships capable of many low-maintenance years of life.

Spline Flow Optics provided optical equipment and supplies to the galaxy. By the time the 2170's drew to a close it had also become a major developer of computer systems and networks.

In 2179, Borsig purchased a three-quarter interest in Spline Flow Optics and merged the two corporations into Borsig-Spline Optics. The company was reorganized into a UCOR in 2187 to develop a complex organization encompassing all aspects of its target industries, from raw material to finished product. The organization spread throughout the galaxy.

In 2203, Borsig-Spline became one of the first UCOR's of the Adon Economic Community (AEC). When the new governing organization was formed, the company immediately rechartered itself with the freshly born AEC, lending the fledgling group a much-needed legitimacy. After all, if the UCOR's of AEC's original member states had decided to jump ship and declare themselves entirely independent, the new pan-national group would have quickly folded from lack of economic support.

Today Borsig-Spline Equipment ranks among the ten largest UCOR's in the galaxy. Borsig-Spline Equipment, its affiliates, and its joint ventures now have more than 400 manufacturing and laboratory facilities in the galaxy.

Although not directly involved in any of the major conflicts of the modern era, Borsig-Spline still maintains one of the sharpest defense forces in known space. These soldiers and equipment are often seconded out to AEC, so Borsig-Spline forces have seen action in each of the recent galactic flare-ups, including the Galaxy War.

Hughes-Marietta

In 2189, a young Terran electromachinist named Walter Scott Hughes founded a company dedicated to the daring proposition that a German firm could create the finest computers in the galaxy. He relentlessly applied his insatiable zeal for perfection to the pursuit of his stated goal, and in 2194 the Hughes Star II became the first Terran computer ever exhibited in Sevres, Racheau at the Galactic Museum of Technology.

In 2196, Hughes embraced and soon became the leader in the development and construction of breeders. Two years later, Hughes purchased a majority interest in Marietta Optics and absorbed it. The new firm, Hughes-Marietta, organized as a UCOR under a charter granted in Heimdall.

In 2203, Hughes-Marietta received the singular honor of being the company to create the official IT network for the AEC. The AEC has exclusively used Hughes-Marietta computers ever since, and has rarely if ever had any complaints. The only ones who seem to have a problem with the arrangement are the competing UCOR's, any of which would like to have a shot at the lucrative AEC contract.

Along with Borsig-Spline, Hughes-Marietta is one of the two largest manufacturers of jump stations. This is one product in which only perfection is acceptable, and the engineers of Hughes-Marietta have risen to the challenge. There has literally never been a case of a Hughes-Marietta jump station malfunctioning.

Hughes-Marietta takes pride in offering products of uncompromisingly high standards of quality, crafted with care and dedication by skilled artisans. Its goal in every case is to meet the most stringent expectations of design and fine workmanship: its own. If a customer is ever less than completely satisfied with a Hughes-Marietta product, the company either replaces the item or refunds the full purchase price, no questions asked.

Today, Hughes-Marietta products are still handcrafted to the same high standard of perfection set by the company's founder nearly 100 years ago. Hughes-Marietta also conducts an ongoing search for great designers and has extended its patronage to gifted engineers on many different planets, eventually taking the most promising minds under its corporate wing.

Mark IV

The now-legendary businessman Forsten Scenna founded Mark IV Industries in 2025 on Capella IV, the fourth planet of the system that houses the Malvernian Empire. Whereas most Malvernians spend their days in the worship of Khardullis and his teachings, Scenna stood out by maintaining business as his god.

In the beginning, Scenna butted heads with the Grand Inquisitors of his day. There was more than a little concern that one who prized business success so highly might lead others away from the concern of Khardullis. That very success, however, made Mark IV such an integral part of the Malvernian economic structure that the Grand Inquisitors hesitated to tinker with its workings.

For this reason, when Mark IV formed into a UCOR in 2204, it did so with the blessing of the office of the Grand Inquisitor. In fact, many observers detected more than a little relief coming from that powerful quarter. By separating Mark IV politically from the rest of the empire, Malvernis strengthened both its spiritual unity and its economic strength.

Although Mark IV has long specialized in the production of CAV's, armaments, computers, breeders, and power units -- all essential ordnance in war -- for most of its history it has managed to remove itself from direct conflict with its competitors. "At Mark IV," Scenna was known to say, "War is not our passion. It is our business."

Throughout the years, Mark IV has been well known for being willing to sell weaponry and power-related infrastructures to just about anyone, as long as the customer wasn't officially involved in a conflict with Malvernis. Since few organizations were willing to take on the Empire directly, Mark IV's client list covered most large organizations in the known galaxy—up until the Galaxy War, that is.

Still, there is no doubting the loyalty of Mark IV's people, either collectively or individually. Over 30% of Mark IV's business is directly with Malvernis, making the Grand Inquisitor the UCOR's largest customer. When the Grand Inquisitor calls, you can be sure that Mark IV will answer.

SyRaM

System Robotics and Manufacturing (SyRaM) was founded in 2076 by Tom Duscott, in Paris, France, Earth, under the original name of Engineered Robotics and Manufacturing (EnRaM). The company’s initial mission was to produce fully automated systems to bring a product all the way from concept to mass production to completion of a sales and distribution network. At this it succeeded, and engineers throughout the galaxy swear by the SyRaM name.

In 2203 EnRaM changed its name to SyRaM as the company garnered its UCOR charter from the planet Earth -- one of the first such ever granted by the Terran government. Today, the SyRaM Group (SG) is among the largest and most respected manufacturing and communications firms. Clients -- many of whom are based outside of Terran territories -- include organizations operating on local, regional, national, international, and interplanetary levels. They each rely on SG for assistance in manufacturing, distributing, and servicing finished goods throughout the galaxy.

Innovative, forward-thinking solutions characterize the SyRaM Group’s client programs. Traditional services are expanded through research, teamwork, and creative implementation of high-impact plans through SyRaM's proprietary I3 Process (intelligence, integration, and impact). SyRaM is also recognized for its best-selling book, The Manufacturer's Manual, which is widely regarded as setting the galactic mark for most manufacturing standards and practices. Now in its third edition, the manual’s specifications have been implemented by some 1,000 other manufacturers and UCOR’s throughout known space.

Galaxywide coverage is also a part of the SyRaM Group’s service. The SyRaM Group belongs to IPREX, a galactic partnership of major independent agencies in more than sixty major markets scattered across explored space.

While entirely loyal to Earth, SyRaM does its best to remain above governmental politics. Also, even thought it’s not always possible, SyRaM does what it can to keep itself out of conflicts with any governments or other UCOR's. "These are our clients," SyRaM President Gilles Garnier states flatly. "Why would we want to fight with them?"

Mitso-Ta

In 2176, the Terrans had their first encounter with an extraterrestrial race. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the Rach, and what should have been a propitious welcoming of a new society into the burgeoning intergalactic culture almost immediately turned into a full-out war.

Where other Terrans saw disaster, though, Ichizaemon Morimura of Sapporo, Japan saw opportunity. When it became apparent that the Rach weren't the only species out there in the reaches of space, Morimura reasoned that not all intelligent beings could be so warlike as the Rach. Some of them were bound to be friendly, and, if that were so, there was an amazing new market out there, a virtually limitless expanse of civilizations that would be hungry for trade with the Terrans.

In 2177, Mitso-Ta (which was named for Morimura's twin daughters) was formed, making it the first Terran venture aimed specifically at building an import-export business between Earth and the rest of the galaxy.

Morimura was sure that the Terrans would be eager for the amazing new technologies the "aliens" had to offer, but he wasn't as confident of his ability to find things that would be worthwhile in trade. To ensure that his exports were of the highest quality, Morimura decided to control production by building his own factory, specializing in the kinds of consumer electronics and power sources for which the rest of the galaxy was apparently starving.

Since then, Mitso-Ta has steadily built its reputation as the galaxy's premier manufacturer of electronic, computer, and power products. In 2203, Mitso-Ta became the first Terran UCOR, launching itself aggressively into this new form of self-governing business.

Today, Mitso-Ta continues to pursue new markets and new industries through exhaustive research and development. Indeed, the pioneering spirit of Ichizaemon Morimura lives on in the creative ideas and dedicated commitment to excellence that Mitso-Ta has so successfully exported to touch the lives and careers of millions throughout the galaxy.

Always aggressive in its business tactics, Mitso-Ta has never been one to shy away from a confrontation. It was Mitso-Ta's discovery of KDM's claim-jumping in the Cygnus system that led to the war that broke out in that system in 2210. Since that disastrous conflict, Mitso-Ta has taken pains to maintain close ties with the Terran government and the other Terran UCOR's. It does not plan to be caught unprepared for such a situation again.

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