corporate states — Faction Blog

History

Founded early in Era-1 on Mars, Ares Systems, Inc. provided a great deal of the practical machinery needed for space colonization. From star-ships to battleoids, Ares Systems made the basic hardware of day-do-day life in the galaxy.

After the founding of the Autonomous Republic of Lindbergh, Ares Systems moved its headquarters there to avoid taxes. Another benefit of the move was an early alliance with Krieg Enterprises, the largest mining operation in the main belt, which allowed Ares to save costs.

Later, Ares set up offices on Gibson, after it was found to have rich deposits of both antimatter crystals, and grivitonium. As time went on, and Ares grew more prosperous, it started several space colonies as manufacturing centers, mostly in mineral-rich systems. This was the first step to forming a moderately-sized corporate state that would encompass several star-systems.

The drive to colonize space led to booming business, and Ares expanded rapidly. Its products were known for sound engineering, reliability, and quality construction.

During Era-2, Ares Systems remained independent, but in an uneasy peace with the Holy Empire of Man. Many of the rebels, insurgents, and freedom fighters of the time used Ares Systems equipment. This state of affairs lasted until shortly after the War of the Empires, when the Empire conquered the Ares corporate state outright, and incorporated it into the Imperial war machine.

Products

Ares Systems made a wide array of durable, reliable products.

The 810-P Power-Utility Robot provided mobile power when the grid isn't available.

The A-550 Thunderhawk was a powerful attack craft used by the Planetary League.

The Aurora class light transport was a mainstay of the Planetary League. Notably, the Colonial Authority and the Tardigrades used it for establishing outposts. It was also popular among civilians.

The John-Henry industrial battleoid was used for heavy-construction, and occasional military missions.

The PK-5 Cargo Robot carried heavy loads over rough terrain.

The Series 80,000 Grabber truck was used extensively in mining and construction.

The Stormrunner was larger and more capable than the Aurora, and a favorite of pirates.

History

Gazillion was founded well before the beginning of Era-1. Originally known by the tagline “The world’s most useful website”, it was a big player in the high-technology sector of the economy, producing a wide variety of goods and services. During Era-1, Gazillion built a network of colonies to promote its economic interests, and built one of the largest of the Corporate States that sprang up alongside the Planetary League. At the end of Era-1, Gazillion merged its interests with the Holy Empire of Man, and ceased to operate as an independent company.

The founders and owners of Gazillion were wealthy and ambitious, and as the technology became available, they started colonizing space. Gazillion built and operated the first successful lunar colony. One technology Gazillion made a big impact with was robotics. The Gazillion Companion robot had general intelligence, and ended up displacing a large number of jobs. The wealth and ambition of Gazillion, combined with the economic disruptions it caused helped to galvanize the people of Earth into unifying behind the U.N. before the founding of the Planetary League. One of Gazillion's research platforms intercepted the program of General Zarlok, as it passed through the Solar system.

As the Planetary League expanded, Gazillion expanded alongside it, establishing either space habitats or planetary colonies in most major systems. These colonies often acted as communication hubs, helping to speed communication between systems. Due to the inherently low bandwidth of Entanglement Devices, and high latency of Spatial Compression Radio, this service was always in high demand. Gazillion’s colonies also served as manufacturing centers for its various goods.

During the Great Reckoning, Gazillion’s colonies served as advance bases for the advancing forces of the Empire of Man, their factories changing over to war production, and their communications facilities acting as conduits for military communication and intelligence.

Products and Services

Gina was a popular AI personal assistant developed by Gazillion.