Smith-Shimano Corpro

History

The history of SSC, much like the story of the people they hail from, is one of survival.

SSC, unlike IPS, was founded solely as a weaponized mech-manufacturer. In this, they had a very unique task compared to the general use mechs required of other manufacturers. The Swarm, after all, has a unique resistance to both traditional kinetic weaponry (bullets) and thermal munitions that disables most traditional mech designs. This forced innovation on part of SSC, leading them to create the type of agile, premium designs that they are known for today.

However, SSC quickly found that they had a rather difficult problem: they had no one to pilot their mechs. The war against the Swarm, the building of the Accord, and the destruction of Cygni-A, they all had left the Accord and SSC with a significantly diminished population. That initial issue began the company's primary focus and identity since, that being genetics and cloning.

SSC, while known for their mecha, pioneered cloning on the Accord centuries before the technology spread or was discovered by other worlds. Cloning, as created by SSC, is separated into two types, being embryonic and printer-based cloning. Printer-based cloning was created first, and is by-far the most common throughout the universe now, involving the relatively-simple duplication of a creature's body. On the contrary, embryonic cloning, which SSC is much more focused on, involves the delicate creation of lab-grown human embryo, usually produced with specific genetic modifications. Their work allowed the Accord to recover nearly all of their population, with 90% of the fleet's modern population linked to SSC's past cloning efforts.

Of course, once the Accord's population returned to acceptable levels, SSC, as well a sizable portion of the fleet's populace, petitioned Accord governance to begin colonization efforts. The Accord, though, wanting to keep their jurisdiction confined to the fleet, gave SSC permission to head the colonization and governance of worlds cleansed of the Swarm by the Cygnan fleet, with Accord governance reserving emergency powers should things get out of hand. With their newly granted authority, SSC began organizing colonization efforts and quickly populating a variety of worlds that had been saved by the Accord assault on the Swarm.

However, unlike other corporations, SSC colonizes in a very deliberate, steady way. When they populate a world, they do so with a specific purpose for that world in mind. This means that their work is much slower, but more refined than other corporate exploration and colonization efforts, in turn significantly decreasing the amount of "frontier worlds" under their jurisdiction. The reason for their meticulousness varies, but in almost all cases SSC undertakes this effort in order to closely monitor the social and genetic composition of their colonies in order to produce the best genetic material possible.

However, a great deal of their efforts are spent on the colonization of digital space within the OmniNET rather than the physical. Indeed, the worlds under SSC governance, collectively referred to as the Constellar, share an expansive virtual-reality space within the OmniNET called the Constellar Congress. The Congress is a multi-layered virtual estate managed by a combination of humans and NHPs where many constituents and representatives of SSC spend most of their days. The existence and propagation of this virtual-space among the Constellar allows SSC to colonize and make use of other-wise uninhabitable worlds by creating the facsimile of a more livable world through the use of this virtual space. (In addition, the Congress allows SSC to more easily and directly manage their populations, making their genetic experiments much simpler.)

SSC's freedom from Cygnan interference wouldn't last forever, though, as the Ourean Cleansing, and eventually Reckoning, would bring that to a halt. Ourea was one of SSC's many constellar worlds in proximity to a section of space undergoing assault from the swarm. The system was primarily used as a site for viral and genetic research with moderate Cygnan presence due to swarm attacks on the system. However, disaster began to brew as the local SSC system-administrator and head researcher in the system, Kerria Stal, was revealed to conducting experiments tapping into the Propagation, even going as a far as to capturing Swarm-infected wildlife and capturing them for live experimentation. This news quickly spread across SSC's OMNInet network, which in turn spread to the Accord proper, sparking immense public outrage. The fleet veered its course towards the system, and by the time they arrived, rumors had been amplified to the point that it had been reported that Ourea's entire population had been seeded by a propagation-infused viral strain created by Kerria that would mutate the population into the Accord's worst fear: intelligent, humanoid members of Tazarak's Swarm. Other reports followed similar extremity, and once the Accord arrived, no time was deemed left to deliberate, prompting immediate and decisive military action, which was soon delivered as Accord governance ordered the complete sterilization of the Ourea system.

And once the dust settled, swift action, it was widely decided, was not the best course of action. Evidence was found of malicious content within the experimentation done on Ourea: Swarm infectants were indeed experimented on, however, Kerria's work was blown vastly out of proportion as to what was actually happening. More than likely, the experiments were in pursuit of a genetic strain infused with Propogation that could serve as a stimulus to populate frontier worlds. It was also noted that Kerria was a vastly unpopular SSC executive that had blocked corporate overexpansion and ambition during her service, potentially alluding to the information leak about her work being a false-flag psy-op.

In the fallout of the disaster though, the Ourean Reckoning, blame was veered towards both the Cygnan government as well as SSC, with corporate taking the majority of the blame. (Likely due to the fact that, whether one believed the experiments were real or not, SSC had done wrong.) This, of course, led to the Accord grasping tighter onto the corporation, granting themselves a much larger amount of oversight over Constellar worlds. Now, SSC had to rule these worlds in tandem with appointed Accord representatives once they reached a certain threshold in population, varying depending on the location and type of colony in question. In addition, a number of SSC executives were either forced out of the company, or "willingly" resigned, leading to new blood flooding the ranks of upper management. All of this combined to cripple to company for the new few centuries, a fact that would be detrimental as SSC fell into the crosshairs of IPS during the Brontestar Trade War.

However, the Trade War while important to the relationship of SSC with other corporations as well as the Accord with the rest of the universe, was a much more significant conflict for IPS than it was for the Accord and SSC. The main take-away for the Cygnan side was the loss of the Bronte and Astrape, two of SSC's most populated worlds with vast digital campuses in the Constellar which of course were to be completely wiped once they were taken over by IPS. Other than that, the war left a deep would between SSC and IPS that would carry on for centuries, to the point of making the Accord and SSC infuriatingly hesitant to get involved with the Synthesis War, even when the Inorganic side aligned themselves with the Bounty's sworn enemy.

SSC's flourishing relations with the Apperata for most of the conflict may have also had something to do with it though. Once Saladin had founded Harrison Armory the two companies immediately began establishing diplomatic relations, with military attaches being exchanged so that Cygnan's could observe and learn from the conflict from afar. The idea of Synthesis, even, though still revolting to many, garnered a certain fascination among SSC and Cygnan citizenry over time. This only grew once HA, SSC, and the Soterian Baronies founded the Organic Synthesis Project, an organization devoted to creating deriving alternative forms of the Synthesis Equation that could create an alternative Bio-Apperatum organism with either the organic mind in control, or both inorganic and organic minds working in tandem. This was founded during the height of Inorganic success in the conflict, and saw support from the Accord as a way to create new types of soldiers that could bear the same tenacity as the Swarm.

SSC's part of the project flourished for a number of years, resulting in the creation of new mech chassis and revitalizing their non-cloning based lancer program. However, Cygnan and SSC authorities apparently randomly shut down the project, citing internal disaster and feud, with nearly every HA official involved being labelled as enemies of the Accord. Following the shutdown of the project, SSC would intervene in the Synthesis War on behalf of the Organic front, having made a deal with IPS exchanging their intervention for the worlds IPS took from SSC during the Brontestar Trade War.

That deal would come to fruition, but hostility between the two corporations would also resume in the post-war era, primarily due to soft SSC support for the Alectan revolution following the Swarm's incursion into the Tisiphone system.

SSC Today

SSC is in the best position they've had in centuries, however, a number of conflicts within and surrounding the company have made some weary as to its future.

Flashpoint: Cloning & NHPs

Cloning in all of its faults and benefits, is undoubtably what sets SSC apart in a universe full of powers making their own munitions. The technology has allowed SSC to conduct most of their operations with little public involvements thanks to the ability to create their own population.

However, Cloning was initially embraced as only a temporary solution, a necessary evil for a time, that would deal with the Accord's population woes. However, it has since persisted, drawing increasing scrutiny over the years as the genetic cloning that SSC is known for becomes more and more prevalent.

Bloodstopper (known as Cyrhocill in Cygnan), the current chief executive of SSC, along with most of upper management, has championed genetic cloning as a way to spare the core Cygnan population from the horrors of war that plagued the civilization for most of their history. That argument isn't new, though its been championed much stronger in recent years as the advent of NHPs and Apperata in the post-war era has dismissed the necessity of creating super-soldiers. However, SSC "resolutes", as they're referred to by the Cygnan populace, are still highly advanced, allowing SSC forces to accomplish nearly as much as entire armies with their more specialized, advanced corps of genetically-engineered clones.

Certain parts of SSC management as well as Resolute advocacy groups argue that genetic cloning has far outlived its usefulness, though, and that it could easily be replaced. Apperata could easily be purpose-made by the Accord for enlistment the army, and the same goes for NHPs, which could remotely operate mechs and other military vehicles instead of resolutes. However, both of those alternatives come with their own baggage. The Accord has deeply wounded relations with Apperata and the Appeatic Empire following the fallout of the Organic Synthesis Project, meaning that Apperata mass production and enlistment would turn away many Cygnans. In addition, NHPs are banned from production in any Cygnan or Constellar space, because, due to being formed form Ichor, Cygnan beliefs deem NHPs as part of the divine, barring them from exploitation by mortals.

Flashpoint: Digitization

SSC, unlike their contemporaries, spends as much of their time "colonizing" digital OMNInet space as they do colonizing physical space. Their digital colonies, the Constellar Congress, are where a majority of citizens living in SSC jurisdiction reside, however, the question on whether SSC should continue pursing digital colonization is causing internal strife in the company's management.

Bloodstopper and most of the genetics department argue that digital colonization is the only way to keep SSC from falling into the capitalistic trap that the other corporations are falling into, and that doomed pre-Deluge humanity. Digital colonization allows SSC to create their own property, they argue, rather than robbing it from nature, and allows what little physical space they use to be restrained for corporate use only, giving them a private space to conduct research and perform genetic-cloning-based operations.

Digital space, though, doesn't allow SSC access to any more resources than whatever they can get out of experimentation within their simulated reality. Ichor in particular, is needed in vast quantities to maintain the Congress, nearing on more than the Cygnan bloodletting process grants them. That fact has drawn many to label SSC's digital efforts as unsustainable, with some claiming that SSC only creates those spaces to hide the darker side of their genetics work from the public.

Those details have made some within SSC management harbor the belief that physical colonization is the way forward for the company. Some higher-ups fear a future where IPS and HA physically surround Cygnan-controlled space, slowly choking them out as they're blocked from further expansion.

However, SSC's adherence to Cygnan belief systems prevents them from extracting Ichor except in the most specific or dire of circumstances, meaning they benefit much less than the other companies do from digital colonization. Were they to embrace the physical method of expansion, they would likely have to part with their Cygnan identity, something that most of upper management is unwilling to do.

Organization

Not unlike IPS, SSC is divided into five departments, called Cliques headed by a central executive.

However, unlike with IPS, the central executive of SSC is actually elected/chosen by the Cygnan government, and thus indirectly chosen by the Cygnan public. SSC's central executive wields less power compared to other companies though, maintain more soft as opposed to hard power in the management and direction of the company. That fact has been made incredibly apparent to Bloodstopper, the current head of the company, as they have tried to keep the Cliques working together in the face of ongoing crises. Each Clique is lead by a council of five-to-ten officers, making that even more of a challenge for the central executive.

The Steady Hand: Bloodstopper, CEO of Smith-Shimano-Corpro

A long-serving veteran of the Synthesis War, Bloodstopper is devoted to shielding Cygnan and Constellar lives from the horrors of war--no matter the cost.

That modus operandi isn't anything new for SSC, though, as Bloodstopper shares that mindset with nearly every post-Brontestar CEO of the company. Its under that philosophy that the genetic-cloning operations of the company have been pursued and developed. A Resolute life, as corporate policy indirectly states, should always been placed before the life of a Cygnan or Constellar citizen.

However, that philosophy is seeing much greater challenge in the post-Synthesis generation than it had ever seen previously. More and more non-corporate entities are speaking out against the treatment of Resolutes and practice of genetic-cloning. And, while the company defends its actions still, many within the company are attempting to find alternatives to the practice of genetic-cloning, much to the ire of the CEO.

In regards to foreign policy, Bloodstopper had repeatedly stated the corporate policy: SSC will only seek war in the event that Cygnan or Constellar are in danger. Another great inter-astral conflict, Bloodstopper believes, would surely plunge the universe into apocalypse a la the Deluge of the past, and is thus to be avoided at all costs. SSC has reflected the disdain for both IPS and HA shared among their denizens, but, importantly, will not seek to make war on the grounds of that hatred. The company is also seeking greater partnership with the IPS-A systems, particularly Tisiphone in its ongoing defense against the Swarm.

Overall, Bloodstopper is a very safe, steady hand for the company. SSC will see no drastic change in direction under their leadership. However, they're old-nearly two hundred years old-and soon enough they'll have to make way for new blood at the helm of the company, and, with the post-Synthesis generation harboring different beliefs than the old guard, the new elected head of the company may seek a drastic shift in direction.

The Five Cliques

Below the executive are the five Cliques: Genetics, Shipping, Omnidigital, Constellar, and Mech & Munitions.

Genetics is the largest and by far the most famous of the company's branches. Officers working in this branch manage the development and use of both printing and genetics-based cloning technologies. They are responsible for the mass DNA-collection initiatives present in the Constellar and Cygnan Accord, providing them with the material they need to create batches of Resolutes. They also operate the ever-controversial Scrying-Owl Corp that scouts out populations on worlds outside of SSC control for favorable or unique genetics. SSC claims that the Genetics Clique only performs operations on SSC populations, however, numerous incidents on out-world populations, usually involving the previously-mentioned Scrying-Owl Corp, have led many believe that to be false.

The Interastral Shipping Clique is the smallest of the branches, managing whatever goes on in the space above and between SSC worlds. SSC has relatively small operations in that area of space, making the Clique by far the least influential of the branches. This Clique is also responsible for making contact with the Arbiters of any newly colonized SSC worlds through the use of a Cygnan harbinger, whom will perform the Rites of Transferal or Rites of Bloodletting should the Arbiters consent.

The Omnidigital Clique is responsible for the creation and management of SSC's digital campuses in the form of the Constellar Congress. They use this space to house SSC citizens when physical space in SSC colonies doesn't suffice (which is often the case) and to coordinate corporate action and policy across SSC's vast area of control. Currently the Clique is trying to figure out how to incorporate NHPs into their digital spaces in a humane way without purposefully creating them, as Cygnan law prohibits the explicit creation/breeding of NHPs.

The Constellar Clique is responsible for the colonization and management of SSC systems. They monitor and control the resources and physical infrastructure on Constellar worlds, with most of their officers being elected by the public on the worlds they're assigned. This Clique works closely with, and was originally a part of, the Genetics Clique, as a large portion of the physical space on Constellar worlds is reserved for Resolute experiments.

Mech & Munitions is responsible for all of the overtly militant operations of the company. Given that the company was originally founded as solely a weapons manufacturer and has since branched out, M&M is regarded as being the most "old-fashioned" of the Cliques, usually containing the eldest officers of the company. Centuries later, this Clique is still reeling from the its, and the company at large's, partnership with HA and the Soterian Baronies in the Organic Synthesis Project, the fallout of which set SSC mech development back by centuries, due to the resulting brain drain in the Clique following the firing and reshuffling of company officers in the project's fallout.

SSC in Practice

SSC, compared to IPS and HA, is a very present thing in the lives of their citizens.

Constellar worlds are managed in tandem by a team of unelected SSC officers, elected civilian governance, and an advisor from the Cygnan Accord. Those three forces work first and foremost to ensure that the needs of all the citizenry are met, followed by the designated purpose of the colony itself (industry, research, etc.). Nearly every Constellar world has a massive OMNInet data complex where most of the citizenry connect into and live out digital lives in the Constellar Congress. These data centers are heavily guarded by SSC mech-pilots and soldiers, given the massive amount of Ichor flowing into the city to maintain the databanks.

SSC, as per Cygnan law, is disallowed to forcibly extract Ichor from the planets under their control, and, as such relies on Cygnan help to provide a harbinger to make verbal contact with the Arbiters of new planets. Once contact is made with the help of a harbinger, they ask the Arbiters collectively for consent in the performance of the rites of transferal, which transfers the Arbiters in the planet to the Accord's central aquarium, or the rites of bloodletting, which allows the Arbiters to willingly give up some of their blood while staying alive.