Guide[]
Examining the domains of man in the 24th century, it is impossible for even the most die hard Terran patriot to deny the shift of power favors the government less and less with each passing year, and this state of affairs has persisted for many decades, at the very least.
As the Dominion’s “glorious expansion into the stars” (to quote a Dominion President of the time) falters in the epic void and loneliness of the Outer Rim Territories, colonists find themselves dominated ever more by new masters; those of fine lunar business suits and false smiles. They are the executives. The age of the hyper-corporation has begun. The vast majority of citizens find themselves unable to utter the word ‘corporation’ without summoning the mental image of a green letter ‘V’, interlaced by a number of jet black horizontal lines. Indeed, Vortex Incorporated’s primary area of business, the Vortex Gates that provide the human race with instant teleportation from one point to another across any distance, is regarded as the factor that holds the sprawling Dominion together. A rise in sabotage attempts targeting Vortex Gates shows that not every citizen shares the joint Dominion-VI dream of a logistically unified species. In addition, Vortex Inc. manufactured star ship drives are fitted in virtually every vessel in the Dominion Navy, just as the corporation’s firearm designs, most notably the Orbit XB Infineon, are mass produced by a multitude of organizations across colonized space.
Vortex Incorporated was originally founded in 2151, the year of the Vortex-Drive’s first official test, following the beginning of its development in 2135. The site for this historic occasion would be the Tokyo University for Mathematics and Physics. Tokyo would forever remain the throbbing heart of Vortex Inc.’s enterprise, and the leading scientists behind the momentous discovery would go on to found the company, with Kaemon Tinjuro as its first Senior Executive. The Vortex-Drive would eventually be propelled through another scientific frontier, with the development of the Vortex 4. The heavily modified drive was mounted on the GDS Calypso in 2212; although the ship’s destination, Gliese 229, was over nineteen light-years away, with the Vortex 4’s maximum velocity of 20c (twenty times the speed of light), the voyage was to take less than a year. A new age of exploration had begun. Even with the coming of public funding, Vortex Inc. remains as shadowed in intention as it always has been; undoubtedly its focus is on research, but the precise nature of study remains unknown. The company maintains a strong, well-equipped private security force. Although it is traditionally pro-Dominion due to the benefits of government manpower, it is unclear how the corporation’s political stance will shape up over the coming days.
The immense power the Corporate Board has over Vortex Inc. as a whole could be used to a number of ends, and time will tell how the situation develops. These factors combine to make Vortex Incorporated an unknown quantity, and one that must be monitored extremely closely should its unfathomable influence be twisted into a form harmful to mankind. One can only pray the human race will never have to bear the unending damnation Vortex Inc. alone has the power to grant.
Specialities[]
