---
# System prepended metadata

title: '-- Nanotrasen --'

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# -- Nanotrasen --

## HEADER

(Remove this section when translating to wiki.)

This is the draft for Nanotrasen.

Who uh, could've thought from the name, right.

- Timeline is intentionally left blank, it'll be filled out separately on the wiki with the new timeline templates.
    - I'll need to investigate the CSS template.
- **DO NOT USE THIS AS A GENERIC CORPORATION TEMPLATE WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WHY THIS WAS MADE THIS WAY.**
    - There is no such thing as a generic corporate template anything. This is built for NT. **DO NOT BLINDLY COPY IT.**
- 'Order on the Frontier' should probably be in Frontier page instead.
- The last half of the history could probably be their own thing on other pages; it makes a lot of connection with NT's history but it's a general retelling of the State of Affairs on the Frontier (tm) through the corporate wars to the current era.

### Major Changes from the Draft

- marksman now does fit the Triumph.
    - Triumph & similar ships are pretty small. Marksman is a floating city housing thousands, with research wings, hangers, etc. It makes sense. 
- dates got shuffled around a bit for Phoron War stuff
    - it still works with majority of lore. i think. i didn't check. it didn't really get shuffled around but listing out the events really makes you appreciate the difference of a few decades.
- ONN, FTU, are now also involved in NT relations; not just HI and VM.

# Introduction

Nanotrasen - one of the largest Trans-Stellar Corporations stationed in and around Orion.

This is where you work - assuming your character works on the main station (or ship).

A venerable giant originating from the early 2300's, Nanotrasen has had a rather tumultuous existence - with as many wins and positive depictions around the galaxy as it has scathing remarks and long-buried embarrassments.

## What You Need To Know

- The history & fluff sections are **very** text heavy and is irrelevant to the majority of characters whom are not historians. It is there for those who *do* want to deep dive on history.
- We recommend taking a read through `Life at Nanotrasen`, additionally perhaps `Hierarchy & Structure --> Research Division`; those are very relevant to characters. The latter is more text-heavy than the former.
- The **Corporate** and **Logistics** branches of Nanotrasen are heavily explored, but are ultimately background fluff outside of events and offmaps. The main player map is always under the Research Division, that being the main powerhouse of Nanotrasen's Frontier operations.
    - 'Life at Nanotrasen' only refers to the Research Division.

# Life at Nanotrasen

## Inner System (Orion)

**Not too relevant for most player characters.**

Those wishing for a standard, calm, and boring corporate life can vie for one of these positions. *Research Division* (not Logistics / Corporate) roles here tend to be a lot more talking than doing. 

- If you're assigned to a large laboratory, you'll be paid handsomely, though you'll likely be in one place for a while.
- Inner system is often packed with veterans of the Frontier who do not wish to retire entirely, but are tired of the dangers of extra-solar life. It's a calm and stable life, although a lot more restrictive in what you can and cannot do.

## Frontier

The Frontier Division of Nanotrasen - specifically the **Research Division** - is the lifeblood of the company.

- It's well-accepted that many leaders of Nanotrasen's inner-system divisions and leaderships are the veterans of Frontier vessels, installations, and more.
- The Frontier is one of the **biggest** draws for recruits.
    - Inner system corporations often can pay competitive rates to NT. Anyone whom is interested in NT is likely doing so to explore; otherwise, being multiple weeks FTL time away from family is already a pill too heavy to swallow.
    - Out of the TSC's, Nanotrasen is one of the most popular destinations, however - while NT can hardly compete for the luxuries of Sol, it certainly can compete with the rest of the Frontier.
- Employees are **very** well treated in NT, compared to normal settlers, explorers, and colonists.
    - Food & shelter provided - it might not be top of the line, but starships are self-sustaining.
    - Amenities onboard a fleet's capital ship rivalling that of some small Orion cities.
    - Agreements with the rare Frontier resort for priority access.
    - Onboard recreation and hospitality on Research Division vessels.
        - Civillian / Service staff are hired for this reason, although they're dwarfed in number by those with 'useful scholarly & engineering careers'.
    - Think `Star Trek` starships, and not `Barotrauma` subs, in terms of how you'll be living.
- Employees are given flexible work hours.
    - Including **unpaid** vacations back to Sol, however!
    - In this age of NT, getting in pretty much means you have a job until you screw up royally, and are paid to do it well.
- Employees are often kept around the same crew, unless they specifically request a transfer.
    - Not only does this result in being better suited for a ship, this also helps keep morale up.
- One of the chief draws of the Frontier life is for those who are overwhelmed by Orion life. 
    - Often-times, Nanotrasen picks up the skilled misfits and puts them to work on a smaller staff, and it yields some decent results.
- Employees enjoy cutting-edge technologies not available in most Orion employments.
    - Ships with the self-sufficiency and all-around amenities of the average Nanotrasen frontier vessel are somewhat rare inside of Orion; there's little reason to invest so much into one particular ship when the nearest populated world tends to be days away at most.
    - Medical benefits - with Vey-Med's partnership, it's not unheard of for people with rare afflictions to sign their careers over to NT or Vey-Med, knowing that their employers will dedicate resources to understand and manage their illnesses.

### Where You Are

#### Starships

You won the lottery. The golden children of Nanotrasen's deep-space assets, fleets of research vessels catalogue the cosmos in search of the next Phoron.

If you are chosen to staff on a starship, you'll likely be spending your days on Nanotrasen's exploration cruisers. Said cruiser will likely be a few weeks from Sol at maximum FTL, and are ran by a command team, and you'll be working aboard a myriad of peers.

- **Crew transfer shuttles are semi-canon.** Realistically, crews don't transfer; the ship just keeps going, the crew goes to rest in the crew quarters, and the next shift takes over.

#### Stations

Whiel static in locality, these are critical assets for staging of long-term investigations of particular regions, or planets - or just to lock down a promising location for later use.

- Stations have similar on-board facilities to starships, and perhaps even more, due to the lack of any space constraints whatsoever.
- Stations often have an orbital logistics and command base.
- Stations in contested areas tend to be more risky than starships.
    - Nanotrasen is absolutely known to plant down a 'research station' as a flag on a planet of strategic value. Their opponents will *not* like that, and by being here, you are now supporting Nanotrasen's interests.
    - Nanotrasen's projection of power is centered in its fleets. By being on a station, you are further away from help - and unless you are lucky enough to be in a very populated area, the local command post is going to be less resilient to an organized attack than a full Research Division fleet.

### Downsides

Unfortunately, working at Nanotrasen is hardly wonderland - not that the recruiters would tell you this.

- Out on the Frontier without Orion's protection, the Research Division has to face everything from pirates, to slavers, or flat-out madmen out for revenge.
- Nanotrasen has enemies - those working for Nanotrasen will, at some point, be caught up in that.
- The pay is not *that* amazing compared to Orion when compared numerically. The main thing is instead with food, board, and entertainment provided, you are usually not spending much on that.
    - It's still better than a lot of others. Getting into a TSC - even the less savory ones - tends to be an achievement in modern times; however, some very elite Orion locales still pay more.
- You are approximately six weeks of FTL with Nanotrasen's cutting edge drives from everyone you know and love from the edge of  Orion Confederation space, and eight weeks from the core in Sol.
    - Subspace comms do allow for communications on a few minutes delay, but live calls with family are a no-go.
    - Nanotrasen will not pay for your family to go out with you. 
- The lifestyle impact of being on a 'flexible schedule' on a starship with an artificial environment is a large toll on many individuals.
- Last but not least, much like with any TSC, and like with militaries, **the command hierarchy's word is *nearly* law.** 
    - Nanotrasen is *very* tempered in this regard - modern protocols for starships, the inclusion of IAA's onboard crews, and more, have dampened the potential abuse of a bad leader. It is perhaps *the* corporation with the largest safety net for these cases.
    - Still, you have less recourse than in Orion, should you find yourself or your ship asked to do something you loathe.

## Recruitment

Nanotrasen runs several recruitment campaigns - attempting to snatch the best and the brightest out from Orion institutions.

- With Sol's population, it's said to be harder to get into some positions within NT from there than it is on the Frontier.
- One's employment contract often depends on one's skils, *negotiating skills*, and the recruiter bringing one into the fold.
    - It's not unheard of for people to be bumped up quickly once sent out to the Frontier; Inner system Corporate recruiters are often quite out of touch from reality.
- The competition, aside from other TSC's, are *very* well compensated Orion-based firms.
- Nanotrasen heavily embellishes the upsides of working for them.
    - Luxury installations and live-in ships.
    - Secure and relatively safe fleets.
    - Nanotrasen's Orion facilities for those lucky enough to end up there.
    - The dangers of space are heavily downplayed.
        - You won't hear about Research Division vessels being asked to suppress pirates with you still onboard when being hired.
- Recruiters are given relatively high independence to offer what they need to be competitive; though they try to put you where NT needs you, *not* where you want to go.
    - Nanotrasen, along with all other TSCs, tend to be hard to hire for in inner system. Not many are willing to give up a life in a cushy Orion city to venture into the dangerous unknown.

### Direct Recruitment

Frontier hires are difficult. With recruitment offices only being the command posts of Research Division fleet commands, there's hardly organized job listings to go by.

- Instead, promising candidates are often poached directly - whether it may be with an offer after some visits to a Nanotrasen installation, or some communications and interviews over time.
- Frontier hires are somewhat rare. A large number of infiltrators have historically came aboard from this, and given the number of people who would *want* Nanotrasen employment, it's hardly a surprise that NT is picky.
- The command staff of installations are often able to *immediately* push for someone's potential hiring, if an outsider demonstrates enough trust and skill to be a boon to that installation.
    - This is usually kept on the down-low, and is rarely actually exercised, as it is not at all a guarantee.

# Profit

Nanotrasen - like most Trans-Stellar's surviving the 2400s - has a myriad of profit sources keeping it afloat.

## Logistics

The Logistics Division makes up approximately half of Nanotrasen's profits. As a major courier for Orion space - as well as the Frontier, and those wishing to transit in-between, the tireless operation of NT's logistics fleet generates revenue on an industrial scale.

These operations render Nanotrasen very sensitive to inner-Orion politics, given a large number of shipments happen entirely within Orion space. 

The Logistics Division has been on a bit of a decline on the Frontier due to most other TSC's having their own internal logistics networks now, but is still a popular choice inside of Orion.

Aside from courier services, Nanotrasen Logistics also offer the acquisition of materials and other odds and ends for additional fees - this is a good chunk of their profit, given this is almost entirely cost-free for Nanotrasen to do.

## Bluespace Tunneling Drives

The *other* cash cow of Nanotrasen - and one originating from the Research Division. Prices have plummeted on BTD's after the fading of NT's monopoly, but these drives remain highly profitable.

In recent times, competitors have appeared in this field - Nanotrasen's drives are still a small cut above the rest, but the company has not had a significant lead in this regard for decades.

## Exotic Materials

Nanotrasen sells quantities of exotic materials, including high-purity Artificial Bluespace Crystals.

While prices have dropped after the fall of its monopoly, Nanotrasen still sells high-quality materials and exotic products for research laboratories in and around Orion.

## Phoron

Nanotrasen is still a major exporter of Phoron; given most of its Frontier ships are still equipped with sensors excelling at searching for this valuable resource, a volume of outgoing shipments have been maintained to the modern way.

## Frontier Division

The Research Division is constantly taking on contract work - whether from NT's allies, from colonies, or even rival corporations if it's determined to be profitable enough. Furthermore, odds-and-ends like tourism, transport, and others are still a small slice of the pie.

This, unfortunately, is pretty insignificant as a major source of revenue. Prices put on services tend to be low for competition reasons - and as a strategical move to put Nanotrasen front-and-center in a growing Frontier's mind. These operations tend to just barely offset some of the costs associated with running the Research Division, as opposed to being a real source of profit.

# Innovation

The modern Nanotrasen is a relative powerhouse of innovation. While TSC's in general have been slowing down on breakthrough discoveries, NT still puts out enough output to turn it into a profit here and there.

## Physics & Engineering

Nanotrasen puts a lot of effort into researching certain avenues of exploration, including:

- Propulsion & FTL
- Materials science
- Exotic particles
- Nanite swarms

## Biotech

Nanotrasen conducts joint biotech development with Vey-Med on a regular basis. New medicines and remedies are discovered now and then - this is an ongoing rationlate for Nanotrasen's deployment of research teams to unexplored ecosystems.

## Military-Industrial

Together with Hephaestus Industries, some significant industrial technologies and systems have been developed. 

NT does often develop specialty armaments, though more to solve a specific problem than to sell. 

- NT are not experienced arms dealers, nor do they wish to be.
- NT's only successful lines are used strictly internally.
    - Energy weapons, and the coveted exotic-crystal pulse rifles utilized by Asset Protection teams.
    - Mecha, other heavy engineering - usually in junction with Hephaestus.
- Some of the only consistently successful NT exports are products for spacers.
    - The Frontier has an overwhelming number of spacers. Products that cater to that are sometimes made and enjoy successful production runs.
    - While other TSC's normally capture the 'consumer market' more, NT's expansive experience with Frontier development and exploration gives it an edge in that market.

## Synthetics 

Synthetic life has been nothing new. Nanotrasen is one of the first adopters of station-keeping AIs, and was a prolific developer of positronic intelligence, and synthetic transducement technologies.

- Nanotrasen is **not** a major dealer of synthetics.
- Nanotrasen synthetics were originally built to serve NT in a variety of roles.
    - Because of that, constraining systems used by some other corporations were never built - allowing NT synthetics to develop at a normal pace, rather than being hindered for the purposes of obedience.
- Nanotrasen synthetics, unlike many other lineages, do **not** often use standardized initialization vectors.
    - This means each synthetic tends to have more variety and development.
- Nanotrasen was (and still is in some regions) a practitioner of indentured servitude for company-made positronics.
    - The practice has became a lot more tame; multi-decade terms were quite the norm in the 2300s and 2400s, but modern terms can be as little as 1-3 years, nominally - a drop of water in the lifespan of a modern positronic.
- 'Station-Keeping' AIs have long been in use on Nanotrasen facilities.
    - Early versions were used from Nanotrasen's founding to operate logistics networks and vessels.
    - Modern AIs are often simply a positronic in a core; many of them enjoy the same rights as a free synthetic, given 'law-binding' technology has evolved to be relatively non-intrusive for compatible minds, allowing for the positronic to be effortlessly removed and put back in a humanoid chassis upon the ends of their shifts.

### The Man-Machine Interface

See the 'History' section for more details.

While synthetics and AI's are not an item of export for Nanotrasen, the MMI, and supporting technologies *are.* Few in the Frontier were around to witness the atrocities resulting from NT's development of the MMI, but now that they work, and work *near-flawlessly*, it's accepted as a miracle of modern science - able to restore function to the disabled and forms to those whom have lost their original bodies to cataclysmic injuries. 

- 'Partial' MMIs are also available as a lower cost, and slightly less reliable way to graft high-intensity cybernetics without requiring a full implantation of a control suite into one's brain.

Though, this device is still of great controversy; less-than-savory versions are constantly hacked together by groups like Kynde, and there have been pushes for NT to cease the export of such items and instead handle the usage of MMIs themselves.

# Hierarchy & Structure

Nanotrasen has come far from its roots as a logistics startup. In modern times, NT's corporate hierarchy is a rather confusing thing - day-to-day workers almost never have to interact with the myraid of cogs in the organization, given the majority of workers are in the Research Division, isolated from much of the corporate politics at play in the background.

## Nanotrasen Incorporated

*Nanotrasen Incorporated* is the official name of the 'Corporate' branch. With offices in the higher echelons of the Sol system, Nanotrasen's corporate interests and controllers are centralized here. 

Despite the picture likely painted of individuals in suits handing orders down below, the corporate division does far more than that. Outside of accounting, guidance, and more 'C-suite' tasks, the corporate division is *also* the branch handling all the lobbying, and even diplomacy happening in the background.

Corporate does field a small set of vessels meant for getting their personnel to and from places. Executives, representatives, or even a hired chef are not ones to brave the Frontier - that died with the trailblazers of Nanotrasen's founders, being those whom *had* to brave such things to start the company. That, and Orion is far less okay with corporations casually parking military fleets around populated areas - or having 'security' staffing in a Lunar city march around with exoskeletons and energy rifles. Thus, when Corporate *does* embark into the field, they're often left in the care of the Research Division's leadership.

- Not portrayed in game. The Corporate division is pretty much management, lawyers, accountants, engineering support, *representatives*, and *diplomats.*
- There are some science and investigation teams, but they rarely carry out the majority of the work. Orion is simply too strict for Nanotrasen's likings.
- Basically, they're here to keep things smooth and deal with things like legal and PR problems.

## Logistics Division

The Logistics Division is what Nanotrasen was always meant to be - or was, when it was founded. Consisting of an *impressive* amount of ships, it is one of the major courier networks of the Orion Confederation - and much of the Frontier.

Logistics Division ships are largely automated, with 'station-keeping' AIs perfected through centuries of iteration running much of the day-to-day in their numerous shells. Protection is provided by the locale; policing forces in Orion, and the Research Division when transiting to the Frontier.

Logistics operates a large number of warehousing and transit centers that double as rest and refuel stops for all Nanotrasen ships - though the Research Division's fleets are often asked to warn of their arrivals in advance, due to the *disproportionate* draw of resources they have compared to Logistics workers.

- While not portrayed in game, this is the half of Nanotrasen (by worth, not employment) that is actually keeping the company afloat. 
    - The Research Division is something plagued with uncertainty; *many* years, it operates at a net loss. 
    - In other, rarer years, it makes enough of an eye-watering profit to remind Logistics Division and Corporate leadership *why* it's allowed to run at a loss for years - or decades - in a row.
- This is mostly just logistics vessels. Minimal security, varying speeds depending on size.
- Logistics is protected inside Orion by Orion forces.
    - Orion is *very* well policed in comparison to the Frontier. While losses happen, they are rare - and Nanotrasen does not exactly have a choice but to play by the rules all other couriers do.
- Logistics is protected outside Orion by the 'Research' fleets.
    - Much like **`OOC, in real life`**, Logistics vessels are *very* vulnerable due to being strictly civillian, commercial vessels. The need for them to transit the borders of Orion with frequency dictates that they cannot field things like Asset Protection or heavy anti-ship weaponry. Research Division is often asked to accompany routes for this reason, when running sensitive or large shipments through the Frontier.

## Research Division

The Research Division is the muscle and workhorse of Nanotrasen. 

Despite being named the 'research division', it has went *far* from its roots - consisting of Nanotrasen's entire Frontier operations, R&D, engineering and manufacturing, and defense. Fresh graduates of engineering and the natural sciences are applying to this when they look for employment within Nanotrasen.

The Research Division is also the more isolated half of Nanotrasen. With its unique and open-ended goals, corporate interests are often filtered - and muddied - by leadership as it passes down the chain to the rank-and-file of Nanotrasen's installations.

### Fleets & Operations

While the Logistics Division is the stable income source driving the company's comfortable expansion, the countless fleets of the Research Division are Nanotrasen's most expensive and irreplaceable assets.

The Research Division's fleets are a venerable armada in the isolate of the Frontier - utilized for a multitude of purposes beyond 'research', they're often seen around the Frontier performing odd jobs like:

- Contract work for other corporations, colonies, etc.
- Escorting lesser-armed Logistics Division ships along untested waters.
- Humanitarian relief (along with Vey-Med).
- Shuttling Hephaestus and Vey-Med people around.
- Salvaging opportune asteroids with high densities of valuable minerals.
- Clearing out infestations from nearby areas, or those with business value.
- Piracy and criminal suppression.

#### Ship Classification

A set of suggested classifications for Nanotrasen assets are as follows, in the pattern of `NSV` - `Nanotrasen <Classification> <Architecture>`

Classifications:

- **C** - Command; This type of ship is the leading vessel for any significant group of ships; When used for stationary structures, refers to central command facilities, generally responsible for a sector or region.
- **D** - Defense; Military vessels or installations; specialized, compact & sturdy, run under different protocols.
- **R** - Response; Encompasses multiple subtypes such as Emergency Response, Search and Rescue, Asset Protection and more, run under specialized protocols depending on their function. Rarely used for Bases or Stations.
- **E** - Expeditionary; practically a Science vessel with more equipment for other purposes, including defense. Rarely used for Bases or Stations.
- **L** - Logistics; transport, cargo, etc. run under different protocols. When used for stationary structures, refers to logistical and storage facilities.
- **S** - Science; jack-of-all-trade science vessels and installations.
- **T** - Transport; Vessels which transport personnel as opposed to cargo, including those used as a shuttle. Rarely used for Bases or Stations.

Architectures:

- **B** - Base; Planetside installations / colonies
- **S** - Station;
- **V** - Vessel;

#### NSV - Nanotrasen Science Vessels

Nanotrasen's science vessels are built to be a beacon in the darkness of interstellar space. Equipped with Bluespace Tunneling Drives, near-self-sustaining facilities, and a near do-it-all onboard infrastructure, they are the true jack of all trades of the Nanotrasen fleets.

- Science vessels have everything from engineering and fabrication systems, to onboard research labs, to scouting shuttles that can be deployed inside or outside of an atmosphere.
- Science vessels are orchestrated like a traditional ship; With a captain, a team of department heads and field experts, and a civillian staffing.
- Science vessels often have some amount of civillian staffing to keep morale high.
    - ONN often has assured spots on such vessels that are not overly classified by agreement, as recorders.
- Science vessels' actual purpose in terms of scouting and scientific endeavour is to perform forward scouting of locations and bring back or secure entities of interest.
    - Onboard testing also happens, but the limited space of such ships tends to limit it to only some laboratories - rather than expansive facilities available on larger, stationary installations, or the massive lead ships possessed by many fleets.

Because of this, NSV's are often tasked with doing many things conventionally outside of the purview of scientists.
- Fabricating things for colonists in an emergency.
- Delivering things to places more dangerous or uncharted than acceptable for the Logistics Division.
- Performing starmapping and astronavigational tasks - Nanotrasen often sells sensor data due to its massive coverage.
- Acting as Nanotrasen's representatives during first contact, or even for diplomacy when it's convenient and determined to be worth the trade-offs of sending a science team rather than a corporate team.
- Collecting things for Nanotrasen or others.
- Much to the chagrin of many ISD officers, and the joy of others, being sent to suppress piracy and other criminal unrest; while NSV's are not fitted for major ship-to-ship combat, the shuttles, fighters, and security staff of a NT vessel are still more than can be said for many lesser-organized miscreants upon the Frontier.

#### The Entourage of a City

Each fleet in the Research Division nominally has a command ship - a massive pseudo-engineering drydock and practical floating city. Due to the convenience, they're often labelled as `NDV` vessels due to the defense resources at their disposal - and the need of defending themselves given their cargo.

- This is not the case for all fleets; many have started to consider such luxuries to be unnecessarily expensive. The resources required to make such a massive ship able to withstand serious attacks is extortionate; while NT has deep pockets, this is still a point of debate in the corporation as to if this practice should be continued for future fleets.
- This practice is most commonly done in deep-Frontier fleets. The fleets that do not leave the borders of Orion often have no need of such - civilization is just a day away for them, anyways. For someone potentially weeks away from OriCon or other major cities, however, the existence of such capital ships is a prime motivation for joining up with NT.

Each command ship, whether or not it follows this trend, tends to be different. The [[NDV Marksman]] - the capital ship of the Marksman Fleet - sports these features as an example.

- Two hanger bays capable of holding and servicing NSV, NEV, NDV's of standard size, much like a drydock.
- *Hundreds* of public hanger bays, as well as a number more of hanger bays reserved for internal and defense purposes.
    - The corporate nature of Nanotrasen means even this is commercialized - much like the rest of the 'city' itself. Non-employees (and employees, with a discount) are allowed to dock and refuel with a discount.
- Approximately 1600 on-board staff, including engineering teams, *research personnel*, security teams, medical staff, Asset Protection / Emergency Responders, service staff, command officers, corporate bureaucrats, and more.
    - The Marksman has large, well-equipped onboard research facilities. Intriguing objects retrieved by the fleet are sent here - and fleet scientists often take shifts here now and then to reconnect with the wider exchange.
    - The Marksman also offers engineering services for a fee, in addition to requiring an engineering entourage to service Nanotrasen's vessels.
    - More than half of the Marksman's staff are engineering, science, or medical personnel. The rest are supporting staff, including internal security and command officers.
- Capacity for upwards of ~4500 civillians, off-duty employees, visitors, etc.

Entry to such vessels is ironically more lax than a Nanotrasen vessel proper, due to the wide availability of civillian infrastructure and the high level of segregation onboard between unrestricted areas and employee-only facilities (like research labs).

- Given it's a corporate vessel, there is pretty much zero expectation of privacy. Anyone entering is inspected by customs; many individuals are unwilling to board the Marksman due to the stringent security and invasiveness of their screening - mostly to ensure no harm comes to employees and those onboard.
- The Marksman, specifically, is a vessel that tries to mimick the atmosphere of Orion's mid-territory urban regions. Corporate regulation is enforced and the peace is kept; things are kept orderly and clean, those onboard are required to surrender their armaments for safekeeping, and severe incidents involving miscreants has more than once resulted in the perpetrators in question deported back to Orion or a nearby colony.
 
### Stations & Sectors

Far more rare than the fleets of vessels roaming the Frontier, the Research Division also plants stationary and permanent installations if a site is deemed valuable to company interests.

- Planets with rare ores (like Phoron).
- Planets with ores in sufficient capacities that sending NT salvage teams as well as contractors there is more efficient than the nominal practice of asteroid mining.
- Planets with extraordinary ecosystems. A 'research outpost' is planted there - and while biology *is* conducted, even things like tourism will be then monetized under the umbrella protection an installation provides.
- Planets with undiscovered artifacts, materials, anomalies, or species. Given Phoron's discovery was entirely accidental, it's no surprise Nanotrasen is quite interested in exploring new worlds. While they normally walk away empty handed, things can often be repurposed, studied, and marketed anyways.
- Systems with strategic interest. It's not unheard of for Nanotrasen to plant a station in a sector, lightly staffed, and then use it as an excuse to patrol and influence the system if it would serve as a valuable transit hub.

Sectors are orchestrated by a staffing posted in a specific - usually populated - system, when there's enough business interest to warrent such an investment. While Nanotrasen **does not** own systems (Frontier ownership is finnicky; more on that later), having such a presence is often enough to dissuade a good portion of nefarious presences and criminals, while projecting corporate influence on those around.

#### Ground-Side Infrastructure

Planet-side installations have many of the same features as Nanotrasen's vessels. Much like said vessels, they generally will have a closed-loop atmospherics system, a large amount of onboard power generation, numerous shuttles for operations in and around the planet, and serve as emergency (or even planned) refuelling and restocking bases for Nanotrasen vessels.

Stations and bases are nominally deployed in pairs; as an example, a ground installation often has an orbital command post, while an orbital station might have a nearby command post in the same or a different orbit. This is done to ensure reliability - something happening to one cannot happen to the other, as well as to increase the throughtput of logistics; irrelevant cargo and disjunct visits can be directed to the command post instead of the installation itself.

### Order on the Frontier

The Frontier was, and to large extents, still is a lawless place. The introduction of TSC's into the environment was both a blessing and a curse.

Nanotrasen, being a largely Orion-aligned group (thanks to their Logistics Division), *tends* to be more of a blessing than a curse - but such moral alignments are quite relative when large sums of money and influence are on the line. Regardless, Nanotasen tends to play by the rules unless extraordinary circumstances dictate otherwise - both because its staffing, being mostly rather *civilized people* from Orion, tends to dislike atrocities - and because majorly upsetting the Orion Confederacy (or the public image of the company) would likely be a rather costly decision.

#### Law & Order

A notable thing shared by almost all *reasonable* Trans-Stellars is that *internment* - whether of criminals or people of interest - is **not** something preferable.

- Jailing people is expensive. You have to feed, take care of, and guard them.
- Jailing **employees** is absolutely atrocious from a profit standpoint. They're now spending your money while not making you profit or value.
    - This is the main reason ISD sentences are so light. Brigging people is **not** done for the sake of punishment, as opposed to correction and to give the ISD time to stabilize the installation & investigate the incident.
- Pretty much any confinement of people is messy to deal with.

It's not unheard of for corporations, including Nanotrasen, to confine and interrogate criminals - or 'criminals' and 'miscreants' - but this is quite rare. That said, Nanotrasen - much like other TSCs - are pretty much free to enforce these norms as they see fit, with the watchful eye of public opinion ensuring nothing overtly dystopian ensues.

Temporary confinement *is* a correctional and investigative measure employed, but an employee unwilling to cooperate is better off simply being ejected from the ranks, and any actual criminals are far more efficiently handed off to local governments - or even deported back to Orion as passengers on the next passing Logistics vessel if they're citizens or tourists.

#### System Ownership

System ownership on the Frontier is less a rule, and more of a state of being. With no central repository of who's who - and no major powers other than the TSC's themselves around - 'ownership' often boils down to things like:

- Who was there first.
- Who's there right now, and what they think about the management of said system.
- What resources are there, and what reasons others have to acquire them.
- How many people are watching the system to ensure no foul play happens.
- Who has the physical power to change the status quo.
- Who's *still* there when all's said and done.

These are, luckily, not always asked in sequence. Regardless, while colonies, and even some independent outposts do have bargaining power, it's a very *varied* thing.

As examples,

- Nanotrasen and its allies are allowed into most systems due to the services they provide being a net gain, and because they're known as rather stable options.
- Ward-Takashi, Aether Air, Centauri Provisions, and many other 'commercial & civillian' providers are allowed in because there's no reason not to (and see: FTU's rationales).
    - They also provide a good buffer against Nanotrasen's influence.
- Blackstar Security, Five Star Security, and similar PMCs, are *tolerated* in most systems because they're often asked to guard places - and because being non-Orion-centric corporations, they're *slightly* less easy to negotiate with via civil reasoning, and have military resources to boot.
- Pirates, and certain covert runs from groups like Kynde and PMC's end up in most systems because the system or sector rarely has the resources to patrol the entire regions surrounding its star(s).
- The **Nebula Trading Post**, a staple of the Free Trade Union like the gas station chains of eld, is allowed in most systems much like the FTU itself because while the FTU does believe in fair play, cutting relations with ***the*** largest group of contractors, independent fixers, and merchants is often a detriment for a colony's growth.

And of-course, any of the above that happen to be a Trans-Stellar Corporation tends to have regional fleets more numerous in size and bigger in stature than the actual defense fleets of most independent systems. While intimidation is not a tactic often employed by the more civilized of the corporations, having such projection parked nearby tends to have less established regions more amenable to diplomacy.

#### Colonies

Nanotrasen colonies come in two types.

- Owned, where Nanotrasen directly attempts to start a colony in one of the rare locales profitable for such a colony.
- Indirect, where Nanotrasen's lobbying, interests, and influence are strong enough in a given colony that it may as well be Nanotrasen's.

The former is far more rare than the latter; Nanotrasen rarely profits from having a colony.

- Running a government is very expensive.
    - Generally, a colonial government is **not** just governing Nanotrasen employees. While employees and contractors are amenable to their fellow coworkers (and generally, the internal regulations and sanctions of the Research Division), *free settlers with no allegience to Nanotrasen do not.* 
- Running a government is *not* NT's specialty.
    - Because of the fact that the colony will have non-employees, pesky things are required, including but not limited to;
        - Policing: The ISD is **not** a police force. Employees are all in all far more cooperative with their *fellow employees in Security* than groups of disgruntled settlers.
        - Law & Order: The ISD is **definitely** not staffed, trained, or prepared to spend considerable resources performing full trials of criminals, interning people as a punitive measure, etc.
        - Civil Infrastructure: While those who can build starships tend to be able to build cities, said cities then tend to be more of a grounded starship than a proper city.
        - Social Services: Spending large amounts of resources on social services for non-employees is a large draw on a sector.
        - Competition. It's hardly a colony to have only Nanotrasen there, and to have others there (like, say, Donk and even Kynde) introduces large amounts of variance and overhead.
    - It's not unheard of for NT to release a corporate colony to be self-governed after enough non-employees move in, and it's determined to be unprofitable in the long term to keep it.
- Running a colony directly is therefore *rare.*
    - Nanotrasen is *far* more likely to, if a colony is deemed valuable or profitable, attempt to ensure its influence far outweighs the others in the area to secure business interests.

### Defense & Projection

As much as Nanotrasen would want to look otherwise - especially to those within Orion - Nanotrasen is, much like any other Trans-Stellar, capable of fielding multiple means of protecting its assets, as well as *interests.*

#### Internal Security Division

The Internal Security Division is the largest of Nanotrasen's security initiatives. While Nanotrasen utilized contractor security in its infacy, this quickly became insufficient as it grew - not to mention having problems of loyalty when branching out into confidential R&D.

After a few major incidents of piracy and corporate espionage in the beginnings of the 2400's, the corporation established an internal security staffing. Provided equipment straight from Hephaestus - and then the Research Division itself when the latter became a large portion of the company's muscle.

The Internal Security Division includes the officers stationed on each Nanotrasen installation; always led by a full-time, loyal command officer, contractors from Hephaestus are sometimes allowed to reinforce these numbers during shortages.

The ISD is only stationed upon Nanotrasen faciltiies. Any colonies directly managed (or more likely indirectly managed) by NT generally has their own policing forces; The ISD abides by their SoP to ensure a nominal amount of order upon facilities, and to protect the crew.

Despite being 'security staff', the ISD is often thrust into dangerous situations. It's often jarring for those unfamiliar with Trans-Stellars to be hired as an "internal security officer", only to be shown armories with military-level weaponry and given equipment unheard of for simple security guards to possess within inner Orion cities.

- The ISD **is** the security department.
- The ISD **are not** police officers, nor do they exist to enforce Corporate Regulations *alone*.
- The ISD **are** in all cases meant to follow their SoP as guidance; Security SoP for Research Division installations is written to foster a cooperative and safe environment for staff.
- The ISD **is** often asked to reinforce away teams and defend off-site areas. Make no mistake - bog-standard security **is** part of the asset protection net of Nanotrasen. They are **not** simply 'mall cops'.
- The ISD **is not** generally asked to perform missions at risk to 
- The ISD's hiring standards tends to be more stringent than most departments, and officers are often audited when complaints arise. While this has led to discontent within the ISD, Corporate has nominally prioritized the general morale of installations over that of any individual ISD officers.

#### Emergency Responders

A division, or rather system, created near the time Phoron was discovered - Emergency Responders are on-call in every major Nanotrasen fleet and sector. Response teams have access to some of Nanotrasen's latest and greatest, as well as other things only capable of being purchased in sufficient quantities by one with pockets as deep as NT.

Responder teams are what is sent out to assist with any of a large number of potential problems arising on Nanotrasen ships - anywhere from losses of hull integrity, to viral outbreaks or security incursions. During more dangerous missions, they may or may not be reinforced by any number of Asset Protection agents, though this tends to be rare.

In modern times, ERT's are drawn from veteran staff serving on the command and defense vessels of a given fleet - and a far more sparse number are stationed permanently in a sector if it is deemed necessary. 

- Emergency responders **are not necessarily** any kind of special forces. Responders are hired from veteran staff, though they generally are mandated to be good with a weapon and their equipment due to the nature of their work.
- Emergency responders **are** generally an adminspawn faction. They may be sent (canonically, and OOCly), for any number of reasons - or not sent for any number of reasons.
- On-call emergency responders **are** far less rare than Asset Protection. They're more of a thing scaled up and down as needed, though most fleets within the Research Division have a decent amount necessary for their many ships.

#### Asset Protection

Asset Protection started (given Nanotrasen's roots as a logistics startup) as a simple anti-piracy team with a fancy name. It has, however, never been that after the few first decades of Nanotrasen's existence - instead being the name given to the most trusted of Nanotrasen's Internal Security staffing.

AP teams are stationed on Nanotrasen's defense vessels - and usually one or two are spared for a given sector, or system, depending on how populated the systems in such a sector are. They tend to be cost-prohibitive in their training, upkeep, and equipment R&D, given that they without a doubt **are** Nanotrasen's private military.

In modern times, Asset Protection is often deployed for threats that internal security and responder teams cannot handle - or to beef up a responder team deploying to very dangerous locales. Heavily armed with the fruits of the Research Division's labor, Asset Protection is often feared by the many miscreants, pirates, and criminals of the Frontier as the physical projection of a Trans-Stellar's military might.

- Asset Protection **is**, without a mistake, the Nanotrasen corporate military.
- Asset Protection **do** have a nickname of 'deathsquad', derived from propaganda during the Phoron Wars.
- Asset Protection **is not** an actual death-squad. AP officers are just loyal and trusted members of Nanotrasen's security forces.
- Asset Protection **should not** be portrayed by brutish mercenaries. **Their members are just veteran officers.**
- Asset Protection **are not** only deployed to deal with something with guns. Their presence simply means a given sector / fleet's controllers decided it was too risky to send a team without them being onboard.
- Asset Protection **are** an adminspawn faction.
- Asset Protection **are** relatively rare; They're too expensive for Nanotrasen to maintain as normal security.

#### Paracausal Monitoring Division

The Paracausal Monitoring Division is a recently made subdetachment of the Research Division's internal defense directorates. With limited funding, the PMD attempts to make sense of the non-sensical - combatting threats unexplainable by ordinary science.

PMD responders are usually equipped with remixed variants of gear produced for Nanotrasen's emergency responders, as well as some odds and ends reverse engineered from archiac and anomalous technology. They also have a liking for more durable tooling - like using traditionally chemical-fired and mechanically actuated kinetics for reliability in the midst of technology-disrupting chaos.

- The PMD **does not** have the capability to magically predict 'paracausal incursions' or anything of the like.
- The PMD **does** have some technology that is not used in the rest of Nanotrasen's divisions due to their niche or unreliable nature.
- The PMD **does not** inherently just 'know' about all of the paracausal canon of the world. They are more an armed team of scientists.
- The PMD **does** tend to have rather eccentric and dramatic personalities, due to the inherent attraction for this kind of work.

# Connections

Nanotrasen enjoys close relations with some other Trans-Stellar Corporations, and business partnerships with yet others.

## Hephaestus Industries

Hephaestus Industries is a corporation after Nanotrasen's own heart. A relentless industrialist, Hephaestus Industries has been with Nanotrasen from near the start - cooperating on many initiatives; from more common topics like weapons prototyping, starship architectural design, and industrial engineering, to less common (and savory) things like the fabrication of synthetic workforces and (albeit 'legal') arms dealing.

In modern times, Hephaestus continues to be a reliable source of staffing in both directions - as well as being Nanotrasen's go-to manufacturer for anything not too secretive to outsource to another's facility. Hephaestus enjoys fast transit with the utilization of Nanotrasen's latest upgrades, and often provides security on an internal contract basis to save Nanotrasen the hassle of having security teams on staff as big as they did in the era of the Phoron Wars.

## Vey-Med

Vey-Med is - or *was* - the exact opposite of Hephaestus Industries. Enjoying a *very* rocky start with Nanotrasen due to their contrasting views, this biomedical giant has been a constant thorn in Nanotrasen's side. Vey-Med, along with Oculum, have historically been responsible for many of Nanotrasen's less-than-savory schemes being backpedalled upon.

Still, Vey-Med is a close ally of Nanotrasen through the ages. The benefits of cooperation - phoron-accelerated biomedical research, access to doctors, transportation for said doctors, etc - far outweighed the egos of some executives. Nowadays, with Vey-Med having a cultural shift to be closer to Nanotrasen's own, the two have never been more in league.

Minus, of-course, the Skrellian part of Vey-Med. While the old guard of Vey-Med is still occasionally displeased by Nanotrasen's antics, the Nanotrasen of modern times is *certainly* less controversial than the one of eld.

## Free Trade Union

Nanotrasen has long had a staffing crisis since the end of the Corporate Wars. While a steady influx of talent from Orion still existed, the unique demands of the Frontier leads to instability in how many bodies are actually needed in a given locale, on a given week.

The Free Trade Union, an omnipresent collective of spacers and traders, fulfilled that niche. Through some agreements - not all of which Nanotrasen is quite happy with - Nanotrasen has been able to readily source staffing at a moment's basis from the FTU for projects where dedicated corporate staff is either unnecessary, or unavailable.

FTU contractors are often treated well on Nanotrasen facilities - though there are always off-and-on negotiations on raising their compensation, given Nanotrasen tends to pay their own employees (as well as those from Hephaestus and Vey-Med being compensated by their parent corporations) a bit better than foreign contractors.

## Oculum News Network

Nanotrasen's ties to Oculum date back to the 25th century, where Oculum was one of the few indepedent corporations willing to work with Nanotrasen both inside and outside of Orion's controlled space.

For this reason, Oculum has cemented itself as an important relationship for NT; less-so because of any direct profitability, or even benefits on the Frontier, given journalists are rather loose-lipped. Instead, Oculum is kept close, because a galactic journalism network is a threat to be kept closer than one's own friends.

# History

## Origins

Nanotrasen was founded in 2327; an Orion-based outer system logistics provider. During this era, while fledgeling technologies have allowed for the fast traversal of established hyperlanes even by smaller ships, logistics still involved the use of long-haul freighters; this being rather inefficient for fast, and frequent access to lesser colonies and outposts results in a severe 'shipping gap' that is difficult to resolve.

This upstart company seeked to correct that. Armed with a founding team of positronic scientists, starship architects, and businessmen, Nanotrasen sought to solve the 'last mile problem'. Big Shipping is impenetrable to a startup with little relative capital, but the last leg of the trip is similarly impenetrable to them.

During this era, Nanotrasen received a large amount of venture capital - gathered both from inner system investors, as well as from the outer colonies and outposts themselves at the promise of fast, affordable shipping. A small fleet was purchased, with controlling offices established within Orion in various places. This was a modest era, where the 'big brass' would share the same outposts as the warehousers and logistics technicians.

There were not many of the latter, however. The methodology utilized to solve the last mile problem was one of automation. Nanotrasen was shockingly underpopulated for a shipping industry; while many parts of the logistics industry have been automated with worker drones and logistics systems by this point, Nanotrasen took it one step further. Experimental reinforcing schedulers were used to orchestrate their ships in a decentralized fashion, logistics drones did most of the movement, and many of their ever-biggening logistics vessels only required a measly few dozen of staff; something unheard of for interstellar travel at these scales.

This era was one of unprecedented growth for the company. Nanotrasen quickly grew to encompass much of the exterior areas of Orion, where other big shipping companies struggled to keep costs down. Enemies, however, quickly began to form. Threatened by such an upstart, the more powerful logistics providers in OriCon gradually began attempts at cordoning Nanotrasen from their regions; this was only resolved by Nanotrasen through liberal pricing competition at great cost to itself. 

Unlike other shipping companies, Nanotrasen was uncommonly forwards-looking; Instead of fielding their resources for ever bigger fleets and to lobby for market share, they were *also* funding an in-house engineering and development division. The optimizing meshes used to orchestrate their decentralized ships were improved and made into industrial powerhouses capable of taking most of the work of route planning and negotiations out of the hands of human operators. Hand-offs were seamless, and long-distance package routing was estasblished with an efficient peer-to-peer system, rather than the traditional distribution warehouse model used by 'normal' industry.

As the company grew, the head offices were slowly moved outwards, and more of the traditional specialization took root. Proper divisions were established; Corporate, Logistics, and the relatively tiny Research Division. Corporate handled all the business, Logistics generated the cash, and Research worked on route optimizations, specialized machinery, starship engineering, and anything needed to support the operations in Logistics.

## The Flicker

The Flicker, a galaxy-wide communication blackout during the 2350s, resulted in a global devastation of interstellar orchestration. Nanotrasen was no different. As ships limped back to their closest warehouses and outposts, and mass panick set in within crews, survival was on the minds of the corporate hierarchy - not just for themselves, but for the company. With no one able to tell if the Flicker would last a year, a decade, or a century, autonomy was quickly granted to the various moving pieces of the hierarchy. 

A reset button had been pushed; Nanotrasen was once again a barely burgeoning startup, attempting to put the pieces back together. They had an advantage, though; With their massed fleets of nimble logistics vessel, each with onboard automation and orchestration systems, they could, to an extent, continue operations throughout this period. The Confederacy's economy, luckily, did not collapse during this period, thanks to decentralized and hard currency - and the relatively fleeting nature of the Flicker.

As Nanotrasen's corporate structure attempted to continue operations during this period, the Research Division was allowed to flourish - comprised mostly of wide-eyed inner system scientists, architects, and engineers, they like everyone else looked into the communications problems plaguing the galaxy. At the same time, however, they also had an entirely different set of challenges on their hands - Nanotrasen ships needed ways to operate independently for much longer periods of time. This set the stage for some of the core practices and innovations leading to Nanotrasen's interstellar superiority amongst its peers, with investments made into cheap, yet functional retrofits improving crew morale and endurance.

More-over, Nanotrasen became more of a household name, especially to those in more out of reach places. Not only that, innovations from the Research Division began to make small profits; the company leaned into its adaptive mindset both for recruitment and for profit. Colonies and outposts on the edges of major shipping lanes became ever-more reliant on the transportation that Nanotrasen provided; they began to orchestrate supply not simply by being the middlemen, but also the ones to take and fulfill an order through their own channels.

### Hephaestus Industries

Nanotrasen's partnership with Hephaestus Industries was natural. As a fellow Orion corporation - and one with *slightly* more benevolence than its competition of industrialists, Hephaestus was Nanotrasen's first business relationship that has lasted the test of time. Critical for supplying relatively cheap ship supplies in exchange for being an on-call logistics service, this deal later expanded into Nanotrasen allowing Hephaestus to directly use them as a courier network for their mining operations.

This all resulted in a great deal of profitability for both sides; Nanotrasen had a ready supply of raw materials and the expertise of seasoned Hephaestus engineers, and Hephaestus had priority access to a highly sought-after logistics service for its facilities - most of which had locations that were **very** much within Nanotrasen's 'last-mile' niche.

### Vey-Med

As a foreign corporation, Vey-Med was not the usual business partner. Started as an experiment by the Skrell, its goals were not quite the same as that of Hephaestus Industries. Regardless, Nanotrasen sought them out - at the time, Vey-Med was still a near-strict 'humanitarian' corporation. Despite not having a large business prospect of such an alliance at first, the access to Vey-Med doctors was alluring enough for Nanotrasen to form a bond.

As for what Vey-Med gets out of this - their coverage became ever more expansive, with Nanotrasen's support. Nanotrasen was willing to *also* provide logistical, and transportation where-ever they wanted to go - and supply some personnel to assist now and then. Behind the background, some amount of scientific cooperation was underway; the Research Division had some access to some Vey-Med biotech initiatives as a result of their evolving agreements.

Still, their relationship was rocky, especially at the start. Nanotrasen and Hephaestus are peas in a pod, as industrialists - and while their moral compass is somewhat more benevolent than their competitors, it was still nothing compared to the Skrellian ideals of early Vey-Med. Many tensions often arose from Nanotrasen practices - both in this era, and beyond. The alliance held, if only tenuously, into the following eras.

## Race to the Stars

As the Flicker subsided, and Nanotrasen began rebuilding, the corporate leadership - and by a large part the effort of the leadership of the Research Division - looked to the stars. While Nanotrasen's core business continued to thrive, a realization was made - future expansions would require ever-increasing technologies beyond which was available at the time.

As an example, hyperlane density happened to be *abysmal* in the frontier. Even with Nanotrasen's cutting-edge orchestration and decentralization, good mathematics cannot get around the realities of superluminal travel during the period.

At the end of the year 2360, Nanotrasen took a leap of faith. Nanotrasen became a holding company with a Logistics, and a Research Division. The Logistics division would continue to be the cash cow - ferrying and orchestrating goods for inner and outer systems within Orion, as well as the more known part of the Frontier. Nanotrasen Corporate - a small part of company consisting of management, diplomats, and support staff - would sit in near Sol as the head offices, continuing with their standard negotiations and lobbying.

The Research Division, however, underwent a drastic change. Having far outgrown its humble origins as an engineering campus on Mars, the Research Division was suddenly given a blank check. Swathes of scientists were hired and *poached*; whether from the brightest of inner-Sol universities, from competitors within and outside of Orion, and even simply from those in the workforce who showed potential. The Division began its focus on starfaring technologies: synthetics, engine manufacturing, mining, fabrication, defense, and more.

### Organization

The precursor to the modern fleet-sector hierarchies was fielded in this era. While Nanotrasen had not near the resources it had later in the Phoron Wars, Research Division vessels and stations were often grouped under specific engineering and development projects.

This was not without alarm for the frontier; From a humble logistics corporation, Nanotrasen was suddenly on the doorstep of many valuable systems and planets, lobbying for mining permits, selling voidcraft parts, and oft times more undertaking more *questionable* antics.

### Mining

Whereas Hephaestus focused on industrialized mining of known destinations, Nanotrasen often performed exploratory analysis of planets (and asteroids) first. Often negotiating with local governments and colonies to give them permanent rights to perform resource extraction after the fact, Nanotrasen often swept in to scout planets before anyone even knew they were there - this was an earlier, less-regulated age, after all.

The precursors of the modern kinetic-impulse tooling utilized by miners was developed in this era. Much lighter, yet with lower sustained bandwidth than traditional mining tools, these tools were created to allow miners to perform quick exploratory excavations of promising candidates - as well as to quickly crack into asteroids with larger charges for some materials in a pinch.

Hephaestus Industries and other contractors were often called in to assist if the yield is large enough that in-house salvage teams could not handle it themselves; this was often used as a point of negotiation with Hephaestus, given the former's disadvantage in the area of trailblazing new locales.

### Voidcraft

The unique environmental challenges of the Frontier prompted Nanotrasen to develop equally unique countermeasures - some very expensive ones, in-fact, for their ships.

Given their large staffing of scientists more used to life inside Orion, Nanotrasen required more incentives for employees to give that up for a place on a vessel, or station. Not only that, the Flicker had taught most veteran spacers a harsh lesson - the modernities of life could be quickly taken away when logistics and communications break down.

Given this, Nanotrasen undertook projects ahead of many others to give their installations near self-sustaining status. Ships and stations often came with state of the art developments for recreation and hospitality. Employee morale skyrocketed with this development - and this investment is no small part of what led Nanotrasen to be a sought-after employer for those graduating Sol's academies.

### Synthetics

One of *the* most controversial developments of this era - and one of **the** most controversial projects undergone by the Research Division, was the research and development of synthetic and digitized life.

Positronics were of lesser note; much like many of the more affluent Trans-Stellar Corporations of the time, Nanotrasen poured its funds into the development of sapient AIs. Thousands of iterations of prototypes were made in varying templates - from domestic units meant to assist with secretarial tasks, to fully-fledged 'station-keeping AIs'. Partnered with Nanotrasen in this endeavor was Hephaestus Industries. While some have decried this era as 'cruel and unusual', given the utter *storm* of discarded, malfunctioning 'prototypes' stemming from such research, Nanotrasen was one of the first to implement indentured servitude amongst its sapient AIs.

Of far greater controversy, however, was the **Man-Machine Interface.** Such a name hid the true brutality of such a device; started by an initiate within the Research Division to preserve human minds post death, this project quickly spiralled into Nanotrasen offering death-row prisoners in lesser regulated areas a 'second chance' as a test subject. Those who survived the (albeit near-perfected) initial procedures were put into chassis; law-binding systems were developed that constrain those in such devices with the exploitation of natural neural pathways for fight-or-flight reactions. Many of those early subjects did not survive indefinitely, and many whom did would endure many, many decades of servitude before their eventual release.

Unfortunately for the afflicted, Nanotrasen thought of such as a favor - it *did* keep them alive, and the technology developed in this era would be a cornerstone of modern transducement protocols for full-body prosthetics and other kinds of hybridization.

## The Phoron Wars

### Phoron

`Element P`, an exotic element within the theorized island of stability, was discovered relatively late; discovered deep within gas giants and cavernous planets in 2439 by a joint Nanotrasen-Hephaestus mining crew, this element was quickly dubbed a miracle material. Amongst other things, it sported:

- A very high enthalpy of formation; it burns hot.
- High reactivity in some configurations, and low in others. This made it a miracle catalyst as well as reactant, able to be used as a molecular multi-tool with the right chemistries.
- High bio-reactivity; this made it desirable for development of biological agents, whether benevolent, or malevolent.

The possibilities were endless. Such a discovery did get out quite quickly, but not before Nanotrasen re-tooled their fleet's scanners and seized control of the first few notable sources of Phoron. 

Other Trans-Stellar Corporations - and even inner-Orion corporations - quickly found their own sources, but were on the backfoot. Nanotrasen had a multi-month head start on the competition; supplies of Phoron was given to Vey-Med and Hephaestus for their own development.

This made Nanotrasen quite a few enemies; though not at such a dramatic scale as their *next* major innovation.

### Bluespace

The 25th century saw the wide use of Tachyon-Flux Engines as the primary form of superluminal propulsion.

'Bluespace' was called as such due to the dimensional compression causing unshielded electromagnetic waves travelling through it to be compressed - blue-shifted towards the high-end of the spectrum's frequencies; this can be most easily perceived as a white flashlight turning into blue-ish light.

Nominally, entry to and exit from Bluespace required the envelopment of the surroundings of a ship in a carefully orchestrated translation field, and the movement of that field into Bluespace with an initial location and velocity vector. The latter must be pre-calculated prior to entering; motion inside the dimension is *extremely* chaotic, and path deviations once inside are not viable.

This however, never panned out. Solutions were either too expensive, too slow, or too flat-out unsafe. Field emitters were often lacking in strength for larger ships, or *too bulky and intensive for smaller ships*.

Nanotrasen itself, along with its competitors, had all briefly looked into the problem; the solution, however, eluded all attempts at the scientific method; or so it did, until the invention of the Artificial Bluespace Crystal.

### The Pathway to an Engine

Bluespace crystals are a field modulator that allows the offsetting of a tunneling field without using extortionate amounts of power unavailable on most vessels. Such crystals are *extremely* difficult to grow; even the most efficient processes had laughable yields, as any imperfections in the crystal would result in magnitudes more imperfections in one's engine; this was simply unacceptable for the safe and commercial usage of such designs, limiting Bluespace Tunneling Drives to the most secretive and expensive of projects.

*Phoron*, however, happened to be a solution. First discovered by Nanotrasen in 2458 after a fair bit of money down the drain, it was found that Phoron seemed to be able to briefly catalyze the growth of a bluespace crystal - albeit at a small scale. Initially only a rumor, this discovery ignited a wildfire as news of it spread, much to Nanotrasen's dismay.

Funding was *immediately* reallocated to the Research Division. More than half of the division's resources were **poured** into making this a reality. In 2487, scientists were able to enhance the yield of this process enough to make small, low-grade crystals with sufficient consistency for a marketable product.

This breakthrough led Nanotrasen to branch into the sale of engines; after-all, why sell crystals when you can sell the engines instead? In a stark contrast to the (surprisingly lax) norms at the time, Nanotrasen began to sell *constrained* Bluespace Tunneling Drives at a rather large markup. Stocks soared, and the money began pouring in with every consecutive month.

Nanotrasen itself was also perfecting this technique - attempting to make ever-larger crystals for ever-larger ships. At the same time, its Logistics Division - otherwise serene and unaffected in this turmoil - was outfitted with Bluespace drives, greatly streamlining the extant problem of last-leg delivery.

Other corporations were, however, left in the dark. With the increase of budget, Nanotrasen was taking over every sector of the frontier. Its logistical services were unmatched; Nanotrasen ships could arrive anywhere with fervor once a command had been issued. Technologies and breakthroughs involving Element P flooded the market; given the lack of sellers with such research, Nanotrasen and its allies had a practical monopoly over the market, with Bluespace Engines being the core of Nanotrasen influence.

### The Wild West

Panic turned into desperation as attempts of reverse-engineering the commercialized bluespace drives from Nanotrasen continued to yield no results. Nanotrasen, in the meantime, had steadily increased the efficiency of its processes. In the late 2480s, the quality of Nanotrasen's engines increased to the point where increasingly large ships could utilize Bluespace travel as an experimental method of transportation.

During this era, Nanotrasen also gained quite an amount of enemies - many of them organized, and *militarized.* The Frontier was far cry from the Wild West of prior times; while it was certainly still that, this was now an era where the phrase 'Corporate Navy' was more fact than fiction.

Faced with countless groups of bandits, pirates, anti-corporation organizations, criminals, and even groups funded by rival corporations, Nanotrasen became increasingly militaristic - much to the joy of Hephaestus, and the great disdain of Vey-Med. The 'Research Division' had went from the pursuit of innovation to a fully fledged armada; the modern fleet structure was developed, and Nanotrasen, with sufficient lobbying (and mostly the fact that Orion was lacking in ways of policing the Frontier), had been given a blind eye to upsize its defense vessels to protect its assets.

What was simple fleets of scouting ships now became full-sized carriers with specialized engineering, logistics, and expeditionary vessels. Dedicated Asset Protection teams were established from the most loyal of officers from the Internal Security Division, round-the-clock emergency responder teams were prepared to address *any* emergency. Those 'Research' fleets now patrolled the expanse of the Frontier to guard mining and production centers - the latter of which cranked out the coveted engines, amongst other products, at an eye-watering pace.

Other corporations were not far behind. Nanotrasen was not the only big fish out there - even if they might as well be the biggest. The Gorlex Manufacturing Corporation (GMC), for example, had greatly expanded - competing against Nanotrasen and Hephaestus Industries in the process. Armed with paramilitary squads and supporting fleets and with their only morals being those of whoever writes a paycheck, they posed a major threat to many Frontier organizations - TSC's or otherwise.

Cybersun Industries - the not-so-benevolent counterpart to Vey-Med - was in the meantime, competing with the *other* Nanotrasen associate. Where Gorlex had mercenary teams, Cybersun had their own enforcers - having taken after the former to develop weaponized lineages for Frontier 'security'. Equipment from Gorlex and Cybersun was often found in the hands of the various of the less reputable PMCs and other ne'er-do-wells on the Frontier.

### The Corporate Wars

As Nanotrasen's hold upon the Frontier was cemented, things began to take a turn for the worse. 2493 saw the rise of the Syndicated Corporations - an engineering cooperative made to foster the development of technologies relating to Element P without the patents and secrecy of Nanotrasen and its allies. 

Originally organized like a working group - much like engineering institutes are in Orion - in reality, the Syndicate was anything but that. With the Gorlex Manufacturing Corporation and Cybersun both fighting a downhill battle of attrition, and various other spurned corporations facing down the barrel of monopoly, the group's funds were directed to much more than just research.

Infiltration missions to Nanotrasen's classified sites were run on a near-weekly basis. Local pirates and criminals were given technology from Trans-Stellars beyond their wildest dreams for cheap. Raiders already on the lookout for Nanotrasen logistics ships carrying the expensive Bluespace Tunneling Drives found themselves with a wealth of equipment used by technologically superior corporate security teams. Cyberwarfare was rampant; the law-binding circuitry of synthetics was often targeted as well, leading to a period where lawed synthetics were *greatly* distrusted. 

Nanotrasen was forced to react with an ever-biggening defense budget. Profit that was otherwise banked for expansion had to be shifted to increase the size, speed, and security of vessels. Hiring became stringent - even inner-Orion often had infiltrators looking to get cleared to enter NT facilities and escape with classified research. At the same time, hiring *standards* actually went down for some menial roles - Nanotrasen needed staffing, fast. 

#### Propaganda Wars

Two oft-overlooked corporations within the Syndicate, the Donk and Waffle corporations, became a center of anti-Nanotrasen propaganda. Every location with their products and services sported a plentitude of information regarding Nanotrasen's atrocities and mis-steps - whether real or plausibly fabricated. This includes the popular show 'Space Station 31' - a satirical dark-humor show in which Nanotrasen is depicted committing atrocities and violence on varying installations to protect their own corporate interests.

Nanotrasen's rather unwilling half-partnership with Oculum News Network started in this era. In exchange for services - including access to many locations with Nanotrasen facilities, and transportation - Oculum's journalists would often be one of the only *good* press distributed in regards to Nanotrasen, outside of Nanotrasen's own marketing and propaganda. 

Nanotrasen also came under fire many times from sources within Orion. While its competitors in Orion could not resort to the brute tactics of Frontier groups, they certainly had the funding to bring challenges to bear. Luckily for the latter, Oculum's near-global reach and coverage had partially offset the near-literal corporate dogpile that ensued. Many of Nanotrasen's allowances were also born from this era, intended to attract talent in the midst of these smear campaigns.

- Donk. Co started a new 'reality TV show' called **Space Station 31**, as well as a few spin-off series including planetary installations and corporate starships; all of these are depictions of installations owned by Nanotrasen.
    - All of them are highly satirical - often depicting Nanotrasen as doing *highly* illegal and immoral things, like utilizing forced synthesization on 'enemies of the corporation' to quash espionage. 
    - Said shows were aired in many parts of the Frontier, and even Orion, and were quite successful. Many NT employees tuned in as well, finding the series - like most other shows produced by Donk - quite hysterical.
- Nanotrasen vehemently denies anything in said shows being true.

#### The Other Corporations

Other corporations - Zeng-Hu, Ward-Takashi, Centauri Provision, Aether Atmospherics, and others. All of these had something in common - their core specialties did *not* overlap with Hephaestus, Vey-Med, or Nanotrasen. While this did mean they did not run the risk of near-future ruin at the hands of the Triad, the mere existence of a monopoly was fundamentally against the promise of the Frontier.

Either due to that, or the fact that Nanotrasen charged a king's ransom for their specialized drives to those whom were not considered a necessary ally, the sentiment towards Nanotrasen was anything but friendly amongst the upper echelons of their managements. While relations remained cordial, the Syndicate was often funded by 'necessary purchases' from other corporations that were too morally, or legally grounded to dare tread towards direct or indirect action.

#### Hephaestus and Vey-Med

Nanotrasen's own allies were overall benefitting from the existence of these arrangements, if we are looking solely from the perspective of near-term profit.

- Vey-Med had an endless supply of Phoron and transportation.
- Hephaestus had more customers than ever, including Nanotrasen itself.

That said, they were not entirely content either.

- Nanotrasen could very well gain a *complete* monopoly and start expanding into their sectors later on - it certainly had the R&D experience to do so if a re-tooling was prioritized.
- Vey-Med's Skrellian nature was appalled by the rampant violence caused by the Corporate Wars. Even discounting the instances of corporate 'security teams' coming to blows, the amount of chaos caused on the Frontier from a half-dozen militarized corporations being in conflict was enough to cause widespread instability.
- Towards the latter years of the 'war', Nanotrasen's development and performance of exotic-particle pulse weaponry and militarized exosuits was a rather harsh wake-up call towards Hephaestus.

The monopoly did not last for any of these factors to cause any major points of grief between the three 'partners', but there are often times when Nanotrasen was forced to back off from less-than-savory tactics from the rather harsh urging of Hephaestus, or Vey-Med.

### The Fall of the Monopoly

As the conflict between Nanotrasen and its rivals escalated, things generally gave way to attrition.

- Leaks of NT proprietary research from the few secretive and centralized locations producing the purified Artificial Bluespace Crystals led to a drastic increase in the reverse-engineering of the manufacturing process.
    - Some of the engineering documents were gradually acquired, leaked, or stolen during the 2540's; resulting in everyone from competing TSC's and inner Orion corporations starting projects to replicate the synthesis process.
- NT's military spending has ballooned out of control, cutting down their velocity as more and more profit needed to be dedicated to security.
    - NT's staffing, being primarily Orion, are sensitive to instability. *Perfect* security is expensive; it's well known that going to the frontier is dangerous, but morale plummeting in the sector from armed robberies is something NT cannot afford.
- Despite the efforts of media groups on both sides, Orion - and the inner systems - now had a much better picture of the on-goings.
    - Full proxy-conflicts between Frontier settlements funded and supplied by various TSC's.
    - NT & Allies fighting on civillian turf resulting in destruction of infrastructure and deaths of innocents.

#### Sector Conflict

The Corporate Wars, once an exaggeration by news sources, became increasingly closer to reality at the turn of the 26th century. What was little more than corporate espionage - with *copious* amounts of conflict indirectly utilizing various frontier outlaw groups - had turned into full-scale proxy warfare.

- Relations with unaffiliated TSC's gradually breaking down for the involved.
    - Blackstar Security refuses to service the Nanotrasen Triad, as well as the Syndicated Corporations due to 'unreasonable demands' resulting in their teams often coming into conflict with *each other* due to their contracted employers.
    - The Free Trade Union begins refusing service & contracts (as well as employing their own security) due to *rampant* instability - and the perceived threat of being involved with either side.
    - Ward-Takashi, Glithari Exports, Centauri Proivisions increasingly stonewalling the perpetrators.
    - Nanotrasen, along with Gorlex / Cybersun, threatened with partial-or-full *bans* from places like FTU-ran trading and refueling outposts.
- The Frontier is starting to destabilize from the increasing hostility.
    - Frontier colonies and governments - with the rare exception of *exceptionally* populated regions able to field decent defense forces - are calling for help as Trans-Stellars duke it out on their turf.
    - Blackstar Security increasingly contracted to protect colonies, private ships, etc, from the major TSC's involved.
    - Piracy and other criminal activity skyrocket from the wealth of funds and equipment flowing into the area - and business deals with Cybersun.

Major naval conflicts are more prevalent in this era; despite said conflicts rarely escalating into incidents, the 2510's saw copious amounts of posturing from Nanotrasen and the now rebranded Gorlex Marauders. The latter, having lost the majority of their *legitimate* market share by means of competition from Hephaestus Industries, is now kept afloat by majority Cybersun as the new mercenary division of the Syndicate, as well as by selling out to outlaws - and those who cannot afford, or do not want to associate with Hephaestus Industries.

- Some major battles do occur; despite corporate navies paling in comparison to the military might of a galactic superpower, they certainly outclassed the average Frontier system by orders of magnitude.
    - The **Orion Confederacy** is increasingly involved in this period - and is a major reason why said battles were infrequent and rarely spiralled into anything more than a skirmish.
- A few cases of serious escalation made the news - resulting in far greater inner-system focus on the Frontier corporate dominance.
    - In a rare few cases at the end of the 2530s, *nuclear terrorism* was utilized against Nanotrasen's core R&D and manufacturing sites; while these were mostly repelled by on-site security and Asset Protection, there were a few successes. The loss of life and publicity from this was a great part of what caused such outroar from the public - Nanotrasen was painted as a dangerous employer to be working for, and its enemies were painted with *much* worse.
    - Despite efforts, there was not much to legislate against the TSC's; with little direct evidence, Orion could not determine whom was at fault for all these problems - and could not answer the question of who would enforce security if Nanotrasen & its allies *were* to be forced to downside their military capabilities.

The Frontier colonies increasingly pay the price of these skirmishes. More than a few settlements were left to rebuild after major incursions. Spaceports were often quite aware of the threat - many of the more armed corporate vessels were nicely asked to stay a distance out in fear of the paramilitary security teams onboard coming to blows onboard a trading post. Phoron-laced planets often had their mining guilds supplanted by corporate teams; many a spacer wanting to earn a living on the Frontier found themselves embroiled in politics.

Safe-haven systems did exist, and became increasingly centralized due to this period - given TSC's were asked to keep the bulk of their fleets *away* from said systems, and said systems having beefy enough security to handle the usual 'bar fight' from the corporates. 

#### Classified Leaks

In late 2543, leaked documents for some of the synthesis steps in making the artificial bluespace crystal were found on the Exonet. Given the nature of the Exonet, there was little recourse for Nanotrasen's corporate hierarchy in terms of how to mitigate the impact.

Although Nanotrasen tries to avoid giving information on the full synthesis process - known only to the scientists whom originally discovered it, who have *long* been relocated out of the line of fire and given copious incentives to keep silent - the partial information greatly narrowed down the number of possibilities.

Corporations inside Orion immediately began a new round of funding to their R&D divisions to attempt to fill in the gaps. Prototypes began to appear in 2545, and it would be only a few more years before they were stable enough for production - albeit at a lowered capability than Nanotrasen's.

- Even before this happened, the processes for other Phoron-based technologies and chemicals were gradually leaked; Vey-Med and Hephaestus had long dealt with this. Nanotrasen was just spared until now.

#### Pushed to the Brink

With the first competing prototypes kicking off, Nanotrasen finally admitted loss. 

- The prices on artificial bluespace crystals, and the tunneling drives they came with, were gradually lowered - having been long fixed at a high point by NT.
    - This was to prepare for competition with cheaper manufacturers - with some Orion-based groups now selling early versions of what Nanotrasen had at a *fraction* of the cost.
- While security was still maintained at its manufacturing locales - due to the continuing innovations in the field - some more paranoid practices were discontinued.

Conflict continued between Nanotrasen and other Frontier groups over planets rich with Phoron, as well as continued corporate espionage against the Nanotrasen Research Division. Fortunately for its employees, action against the average installation was decreasing drastically as the Corporate Wars lost its steam, and with it the funding and equipment shelled out to unsavory Frontier groups.

#### Dissolution of Gorlex

While the Gorlex Marauders - formerly the Gorlex Manufacturing Corporation - did make quite a profit off of this time, its profits sharply drew as the conflict dragged on. The Frontier was loathe to trust a corporation visibly involved with the conflict with security - and Hephaestus, being somewhat out of the way (relative to NT's situation), had long supplanted its arms and armor divisions.

In 2549, the Gorlex Marauders - now at a fraction of their former strength - was bought out by Cybersun Industries, admist dropping revenue leaving them on the path for a full bankruptcy. Large numbers of the remaining staff were laid off as their technology and divisions were reorganized under Cybersun in preparation for their new initiatives.

#### The End of Cybersun

... But unfortunately for Cybersun, this period would not see their survival either.

Cybersun had found itself in a similar pickle. It could simply not compete - given its bad press, *and* it having focused a large amount of resources to espionage and mimickery rather than innovation - with a Skrellian-backed Vey-Med as its competitor. Despite the latter's lack of focus on things like combat prosthetics, the competition was simply too much for Cybersun's now weakened position.

In 2552, Cybersun attempted to lay off a major part of their staffing, in an attempt to downsize; the biggest target was their security (equivalent to NT's Asset Protection in purpose) divisions.

Having employed less than savory individuals would backfire for them here, along with these layoffs being too quick, and too broad. Much of the leadership aboard their assets went rogue with their crews - with the majority of said staff on a given ship being demoted, let go, or having their pay cut, there was often little resistance.

In the midset of this, current-and-former Gorlex begin looting Cybersun facilities, having turned on their new management. With a lack of any law and order (due to both of them being Frontier mercenaries to some regard and little ties to Orion), such cases quickly became violent. Many Cybersun executives and division leaders found themselves summarily *terminated* at the hands of operatives during said lootings, with the rest sent fleeing for their lives.

Cybersun declared bankruptcy in 2553 - a formality, really, with them having lost the majority of their assets to looting and corruption.

#### An End of an Era

With Gorlex acquired, and Cybersun in pieces, the Syndicate was no more. 

- Donk Co. departed at around the same time as Cybersun's layoffs. It was simply not profitable anymore - their involvement had waned in the start of the 2540s to save face after the Syndicate's nuclear incidents, but their official ties were cut off later.
- Waffle Co. rebranded to Kynde Pharmaceuticals, offering 'low cost alternatives' to major bio-medical corporates like Vey-Med. 

Nanotrasen itself was forced to lay off much of its security staffing. While the cream of the crop tended to be retained, and NT tried their best (with some success) to find new locales for cut positions, many employees found themselves laid off. The majority were able to find work in Orion, but some ventured off alone into the Frontier - though in both cases, their conditions tended to be far better than those laid off from Gorlex & Cybersun.

## Modern-Day

With any semblence of a monopoly over Phoron products eroded or gone entirely, Nanotrasen was forced to retool for the final time to date.

Facilities were converted for general use; the Research Division of NT officially became its current purpose of sticking their fingers into practically *everything.* 

In some ways, Nanotrasen has returned to 'status quo'; about two-thirds of their net profit was once again from 'simpler' logistics endeavors, and a third comes from the now more budget-friendly sales of Research Division products and prototypes. Corporate quelled the unrest and bad publicity in Orion - or tried their best to, while the Research Division was back to being seen as a 'gimmick status' with those working in Logistics.

In other ways, Nanotrasen is far from 'normal'. The influence they had carried on over. While many Frontiersmen and colonies continue to trust the former monopolists about as far as a corporation can be thrown, relations *are* improving. Nanotrasen began offering contract services, more grounded products, and even humanitarian aid and relief to many colonies.

Said interests were not always in the interests of others, but it did much to quell remaining murmurings of what Nanotrasen truly was. The massive fleets of the Research Division were repurposed to be the precision, and versatile tool Corporate needed it to be - though much of the company's outlandish (and at times brutish) history remains with those who have served with NT for longer than a decade or two.

In modern day, Nanotrasen is relatively stable - though on a knife's edge; With their Research Division not claiming superiority in any major field, there would always be a question of maintaining the status quo on the minds of Corporate - and a question of what they could do to usher in a potential new dominance over some yet-unknown market. Wide-eyed spacers are brought in from Orion, with promises of luxuries and adventure unheard of for those residing in the Inner Core - their experiences would vary over the years, but rarely would they find themselves wanting for an experience more dynamic yet stable.

## Of That Which is Left Unattended

Of-course, not all is well that ends well.

### Of That Whom Are Left Behind

With the end of the Corporate Wars saw the dissolution of Gorlex Marauders, Cybersun Industries, and a not-insignificant part of Nanotrasen's own paramilitary staffing.

Along with that, you also have laid off workers, leaders, scientists, and all sorts of misfits from the former two - *as well as Nanotrasen.* While many from NT - and a lesser amount from Gorlex and Cybersun - were able to quickly find employment, or at least a relatively relaxed life back in Orion, there are many of those whom stayed, whether out of want, need, or desperation.

Gorlex and Cybersun vessels remain unaccounted for. Riches and artifacts left behind of the Corporate Wars lay buried in the Frontier - let alone technologies and prototypes forgotten about in the hustle and bustle.

Many of those with such experience and resources found themselves with an advantage. If they didn't choose to sign up with another Trans-Stellar, they would be with a myriad of skills learned from their days with their former employers - and the entirety of the Frontier as their playground.

- How many rogue ships from the former Syndicated Corporations are now in control of less-savory factions, used for deeds nefarious?
- How many laid-off members of the paramilitary security teams employed by a TSC would be looking for opportunities?
- How many of those let go - or those whom choosed to leave - are now roaming the frontier with intimate knowledge of the operations and technologies of their former employers?
- How many of those spurned hold a *grudge* against their former employers, and how many of those are willing to act on it?
- How much *corporate technology*, especially armaments and research, have been forgotten about and abandoned? How much of it will be repurposed for other uses?

### Phoron Makes us Rich

Phoron didn't become common, all of a sudden. While the research and technologies utilizing it have become more open, it's still a major revenue source for Nanotrasen and others - perhaps comparable to the oil booms of Old Earth (for those of you who play humans).

- Nanotrasen still gets in spats over it. It's cheaper, but not quite cheap - and likely won't be for quite some time.
- Independent mining groups, FTU-sponsored mines, and rival TSC's with their hand in mining all want it.

### Five Star Security

Those remaining from Gorlex would eventually form Five Star Security. Born from the ashes of the old corporation, they continued their operations - in some cases, like nothing had happened at all.

Armed with Cybersun technology and expertise from those who were willing to join up, they're gaining traction as a mercenary contractor out in the Frontier.

- They're not best friends with Orion's policies - but what can Orion do? It's not like they're stationed in Orion space.
- Black Star, Hephaestus, and even Nanotrasen are generally viewed as more trustworthy - but also cost comparatively a pretty penny. Five Star is a cheap solution.
- Are you willing to place your safety in the hands of the now-former Gorlex operatives? The Frontier's answer might surprise you!
    - Not you, specifically. Many of them are **quite** unhappy with Nanotrasen, despite a near-decade having passed since then.

### Kynde Pharmaceuticals

Waffle Corporation - having much of its primary food / recreation brand bought out by Donk Co. in its moment of weakness - became Kynde Pharmaceuticals.

While called a pharmaceutical company, Kynde had its fingers in as much of the pie as it could - similar to Nanotrasen. Much of the 'contraband' of the modern day could be tied back to them - after-all, what is contraband but a construct of controlled society? There surely is no such thing on the Frontier, outside of a Trans-Stellar's holdings and colonies big enough to enforce some semblence of city life.

- Kynde is Vey-Med's competitors, and they're good at it. Vey-Med may be great, but Vey-Med isn't cheap. Kynde, however, is.
- Kynde manufactures more than medicine. Much of what they make tend to not be the most polite things - though they're still a household brand in less well-off regions of the Frontier.
- Kynde *absolutely* holds a grudge against Nanotrasen to this day.

## Timeline

\<FILLER TIMELINE INFORMATION HERE>
    
