Usually known as the “Big Five” prior to Chin-hae Hong's ascension as Orion Express's CEO, these are the chief executives of the megacorporations, and without a doubt the richest people in the galaxy aside from the Trasens.
Titanius Aeson
Birthdate: May 12th, 2430
Titanius Aeson was born in Greater Olympia, Mars to construction worker Loukas Aeson and maid-for-hire Penelope Kouris. Though Aeson's official first job was working at a packaging warehouse, in interviews his go-to story is how he used to hawk his father's cigarettes at the yearly Olympian Fair for two credits a stick. Despite having a reputation as a rough-and-tumble jock who excelled in sports and gridiron, Aeson's blue-collar appearance belied a keen mind and shrewd intellect. He attended Rama Institute of Technology and Trades, and to pay his way, gave up his sports hobby to begin working as a warehouse technician at Hephaestus Industries.
Aeson likes to emphasize in interviews that he worked his way up the corporate ladder entirely of his own merit, though it should be noted that he had the financial assistance of his father and uncle (though neither were wealthy), as well as being granted a scholarship with financial aid from RITT. Nevertheless, all of his professors remember him as an excellent, if boisterous student, and he obtained a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the school in 2458. In 2460, he was declared the new CEO by his predecessor, Morgan Fletcher.
Aeson has a surprisingly cultured reputation, being rather close to the Hegemon of Moghes, Not'zar Izweski, and a personal friend of Yukal T'zakal, the sector administrator for the Izweski Hegemony. According to company insiders, he possesses several artifacts of Moghresian origin, and flaunted the presence of a taxidermied plains tyrant from before the Contact War.
He is a man who decries "laziness" above all else, believing firmly in meritocracy and the power of anyone to elevate themselves should they simply work hard enough. While Hephaestus' policy of union-busting and anti-organization was a holdover from Morgan Fletcher as CEO, Titanius Aeson has firmly espoused this view. Curiously, in an interview with 2463, Aeson expressed what many interpreted as discomfort with the "Burzsian method" used on IPCs in the Burzsian belt.
"[...] It's obviously something that we [...] we wouldn't do to a human, or someone else, that kind of brainwashing. And I asked [Brizio Di Moze], is that what we're doing? Is that brainwashing? Obviously it creates very effective productivity quotas, but, you know." - Titanius Aeson as interviewed by Strong's Robotics Magazine, 2463
Most recently, Aeson's entire family was presumed dead after Violet Dawn destroyed Greater Olympia. Aeson was overseeing the expansion of the Hephaestus headquarters in Mendell City at the time, and has largely refused to comment on the event. Hephaestus donated several of its vessels and significant funds to relief efforts, and Aeson was seen attending the funeral of his family in Rama.
In his personal life, Titanius Aeson currently lives in Mendell City, Biesel, and married his husband Olufemi Opeyemi, a part-time novelist and travel blogger, in 2462. He is fond of expensive cigars, wrestling and MMA, and has posted several Chirps of his high scores and K/D ratio on Heroes of Tau Ceti. He seems to have developed an odd friendship with Chin-hae Hong, being one of the few executives known to actually like Orion's CEO. He and Noelle Lopez-Zhang have an intense rivalry, though Aeson seems to take Lopez-Zhang's competition in stride.
Liqin Hsiao-Li
Birthdate: August 16th, 2354
Roughly a decade past her hundredth birthday, Liqin Hsiao-Li still manages to be a giant in the Spur by way of Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals. She was born to Guangli Hsiao and Chuntao Li in Beijing, Earth; both of her parents were accountants determined to set their daughter up for as much success as possible, and early in her life encouraged her studies and pushed her into as many extracurricular activities as possible.
What neither of them could have anticipated was that Hsiao-Li not only took to education with aplomb, but ease. Her skills in mathematics and science were so unprecedented that her teachers suggested she be moved up through levels. Tests revealed that Hsiao-Li was a certified genius, achieving an IQ of 132 at the age of ten. Hsiao-Li entered high school-level education at thirteen, and entered university at sixteen. By age thirty, she had two doctorates; her medical degree, and her degree in genetic biology.
Hsiao-Li’s achievements gained some recognition and fame around Earth, particularly in her home country of China. She was approached by the then-CEO of Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals, Vanas Peng, and asked to join as a researcher; and implicitly, his successor. Peng was briefly succeeded by Yueling Wong, and in the meantime, Hsiao-Li worked in the Nralakk Federation, eventually managing to assist in the development of treatments for X'Lu'oa. In 2412, Liqin Hsiao-Li officially ascended to chief executive officer, and has remained there ever since.
Now gradually approaching her twelfth decade, Hsiao-Li shows little sign of slowing down. While she is heavily augmented, possessing robotic forearms, calves, eyes, and several of her organs, she still appears much like a woman in her sixties. It is suspected but not outright confirmed that Hsiao-Li has received several anti-aging treatments from the Nralakk Federation.
She currently resides in Hong Kong, on Earth. She and her spouse, Ming-le Kim, have adopted three children; Meishin, Liling, and Shun. In her spare time, Hsiao-Li enjoys calligraphy, practicing piano, and painting. Several of her paintings and Chinese calligraphy are hung in various Zeng-Hu facilities, and she is known to have composed an aria for piano, “Night at Heavenly Hill”. Hsiao-Li is notoriously strict in her standards, but also notoriously polite, level, and dignified to many that she meets. There is little record of her personal feelings towards the other members of the Chainlink, though she seems to maintain a friendly relationship with both Noelle Lopez-Zhang (a former employee of Zeng-Hu) and Miranda Trasen in kind.
Noelle Lopez-Zhang
Birthdate: December 12, 2408
Noelle Lopez-Zhang was born in Phoenix, on Earth, to Evan Lopez (a moderately popular local fine artist) and Martina Zhang (a geneticist). As a young woman, Lopez-Zhang was fascinated by the advances in synthetic research that had made leaps and bounds since the discovery of Skrellian technology, and channeled this passion into an education in nanotechnology and AI development at Solis Cognito, one of the Alliance’s most prestigious universities.
She was an above-average student, but Lopez-Zhang's real talent lay in her networking capabilities; at Solis Cognito she met Sven Fleiss, who would later become the chief information officer of Terraneus Diagnostics, and the two bonded over their shared passions. Lopez-Zhang and Fleiss both attained internships with Einstein Engines over the course of their studies. After attaining her degree, Lopez-Zhang worked very briefly with Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals, while Fleiss started at Einstein Engines. Fleiss recommended his friend for a position, and the rest is history.
Lopez-Zhang's intense dedication and ability to command the attention of a boardroom meant she achieved the coveted title of Chief Research Officer at a meteoric pace that left some pondering if intrigue was responsible. Regardless, Dr. Lopez-Zhang became a trusted ear to Bronte Lofgren, the then-CEO of Einstein and descendant of its original founder, Berend Lofgren. When NanoTrasen's presence in the Spur became impossible to ignore, it was Lopez-Zhang who proposed the radical restructuring of the company, with her as executive.
Why Lofgren agreed to willingly retiring is a mystery to this day. Official Einstein correspondence states that Lofgren was aging and in poor health; while he was 84 in 2442, he died at 100 in his sleep in 2458. Further complicating matters is that Lopez-Zhang was 34 at the time of her ascension to CEO, which was already an excessively precocious age to become Chief Research Officer (particularly when Lopez-Zhang's sole doctorate was in AI development).
Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that Noelle Lopez-Zhang is a shrewd businesswoman. When Einstein Engines was restructured, old, stagnant blood was rapidly replaced with new talent, and the brief dip in stock to focus on proper healthcare plans, benefits, and promoting a healthy workplace environment meant Einstein Engines became not just the dominant corporation in the Sol Alliance, but a place workers developed a genuine loyalty to.
Lopez-Zhang lives in Harmony City on Luna, and in her private life enjoys NASCAR racing, refurbishing old cars, and playing chess against Einstein IPCs. She is not married and has no children, though rumours here and there have surfaced regarding her relationship with her old friend Sven, and her Chief Engineering Officer Alejandra Dubois-Perez. There is very little love lost between Lopez-Zhang and the other megacorporate leaders, particularly Miranda Trasen and Titanius Aeson, though she apparently has a cordial relationship with her former boss Liqin Hsiao-Li.
Alex Mason
Birthdate: September 6th, 2425
While it is known that Alexander “Alex” Mason was born in Chicago, Earth, to Cassandra Mason, there is a stunning lack of information about his personal life and why he was deemed fit to suddenly head Idris Incorporated. Cassandra Mason was a single mother, working various minimum wage jobs to support her and her son, and a few scattered accounts of his time in school point to him being an ambivalent student.
When he graduated high school, however, Mason was quietly enrolled in Yale University, a feat thought impossible by both budgetary and reputational means. He eventually graduated Yale University of Management with a Master’s in business administration. Shortly after his graduation at twenty-four, Alex Mason abruptly became a junior executive of the service branch at Idris Incorporated, and was seen several times in public with members of the Idris family, such as Leina and once, Adram Idris himself. In the meantime, Mason seemed to be brushing shoulders with the Trasens, while assorted rumours abounded to the true nature of Alex Mason’s rise to the top.
These rumours reached a head in 2453, when Mason was officially declared the chief executive officer of Idris Incorporated and its subsidiaries. Idris family members merely stated that Mason had proven himself sufficiently skilled and dedicated to earn the position and become part of the family. Speculation as to Mason’s blood relations, particularly to known womanizer Adram Idris, were common, but could usually be shut down by the fact that the very light-skinned Mason was distinctly different from the Ivory Coast-born Adram and the rest of his progeny, largely of African descent.
Since his ascension, little has changed about the company, and Mason’s fortune stays secured. He is alleged to be a cutthroat businessman, who at the very least is capable of delegating the busywork to his chairpeople and executives. While Mason apparently writes his own statements, which are quite precise, corporate insiders claim he has an abrasive personality when angered.
While Mason has been seen with a series of women in public, he is not known to be married or have children. He lives in Harmony City, Luna, and rumours circulate that he is a heavy user of party drugs. Little else about his personal life is known.
Lyudmila Zavodskoi
Birthdate: September 1st, 2398
Lyudmila Zavodskoi was born in Sputnikiy-Baltisk, Pluto, to Evgeniy and Mariska Zavodskoi. Both were high-ranking diplomats in SPOK, the Communist Party (and only party) of Pluto, and from the beginning Zavodskoi was groomed for greatness. In university, she worked towards a bachelor's degree in weapons development and missile engineering, commissioning in the Solarian Armed Forces at 24. She completed her tour of duty and was discharged with honours as first lieutenant Lyudmila Zavodskoi.
Zavodskoi worked towards and eventually earned a doctorate in weapons technology, and through the recommendation of her cousin Tikhon, at the time a high-ranking corporate infosec executive at Necropolis Industries, worked her way up the ranks. When Kazimir Boystov slipped into a coma, it was Zavodskoi who dramatically restructured the company into arms manufacturing, ship engineering, and defense contracting. She also expanded Zavodskoi's research department, allowing accessibility for a wide variety of non-research and development scientific careers with Zavodskoi.
A side effect of Necropolis' proximity to the Empire of Dominia is that Lyudmila Zavodskoi enjoys a friendship with many nobles of the Empire, and is said to even be a personal friend of Emperor Boleslaw. Allegedly, she has become something of a mentor to Princess Priscilla despite Zavodskoi's famously acerbic demeanor, guiding the royal family into further corporate dealings.
Lyudmila Zavodskoi currently resides in Mira Sancta, Moroz. She is married to Gennadiy Voronin, a fellow officer from her Armed Forces days, and has two children, Mikhail and Lyudmila II. According to company insiders, Mikhail has long been estranged from his mother and father, but further information about him (including if he even bears the Zavodskoi name) is scant. Lyudmila the younger is a software development researcher in her mother's company, though in an interview she claims that she has had the ascend through the ranks on her own merit and is not seen as a viable successor.
Zavodskoi is an avid game hunter, and is known to have accompanied the Imperial family on several hunts. She possesses her own hunting shuttle, the Baba Yaga, which she uses to hunt stellar fauna such as carp, sharks, and even eels. She apparently also enjoys croquet. While one may assume she has a rivalry with Titanius Aeson due to their competing markets, it seems that Zavodskoi reserves most of her ire for Alex Mason, and her relationship with Liqin Hsiao-Li is rather frosty.
"[...] Better than having Mason too involved [in the development of Project Horizon], smug little prick. We will see how much fur dust he can afford when we outstrip his security stocks." - Leaked audio of Lyudmila Zavodskoi speaking about Alex Mason, 2464. "Fur dust" is assumed to be a reference to Raskara dust.
Chin-Hae Hong
Birthdate: March 18th, 2431
Chin-hae Hong, born in Aoyama, Konyang, to train conductor Seon-min Hong and housewife Tae-yoon Moon, was never expected to achieve particularly much. Something of an outcast in her childhood, in interviews she described having an obsessive passion for logistics and her father’s line of work, as most of the conducting he did involved shipping goods all across Konyang. Hong worked towards a diploma in logistics and supply chain management at Aoyama Polytechnic, a trade school, though her odd personality and perceived grating attitude kept her from having many friends. Later, Hong became a first officer at Aoyama’s Transportation Council, and her timely attitude and being a stickler for rules meant she was one of the best for the job.
What her unusual mannerisms did not keep her from, however, was opportunity. In 2462, the SCC was still developing a logistics-focused corporation for their interests, and needed an appropriate chief executive officer. Of all people, it was Hephaestus’ director of robotics, Ischyros, who discovered Hong while talent-scouting on Konyang. Ischyros passed word to Titanius Aeson, who interviewed Hong and introduced her to Miranda Trasen herself. Hong claims, somewhat sardonically, that she and Trasen “[got] on like a house on fire” and she was quickly appointed future chief executive officer of Orion Express.
Insider rumours persist in the SCC that precious few among the upper echelons are personally fond of Hong. She is, however, popular among her Hephaestus counterparts, and her board of directors describe her as an excellent CEO to work under. Tuiqi Xao’Luup, Orion’s chief external affairs officer, bluntly described Hong as an “acquired taste”, but elaborated that they found her stewardship refreshing, and hoped to see Orion succeed under her leadership.
[What’s it like working with Ms. Hong?] “Being completely honest, they’re… there’s an expression, ‘acquired taste’. That’s best how I can describe her. I thought she was a bit close to the tides, that one, but she has the makings of a supernova. I appreciate her especially in an environment like this, and I hope we’ll go to great places. Under my guidance, of course. [warbles]” - Tuiqi Xao’Luup, as questioned by Verona Falk from the Mendell City Bugle.
Hong is not married and has no children, though she has apparently been seen in public on Konyang with an unknown female Shell, and describes her two Shih Tzu, Momo and Soo, as her “fur children”. She enjoys model trains, video games, Konyanimation, and apparently has a good friendship with Titanius Aeson.
Kazimir Boytsov
January 23rd, 2312 - September 27th, 2465
Kazimir Boytsov was once chief among the most infamous arms manufacturers in the galaxy. After he was passed down the position of chief executive officer by his father, Yevgeniy Dementyev, he developed Necropolis Industries into one of the premier research and development corporations in the galaxy. Seeking to guide the hand of conflict and turn out profit by any means possible, Necropolis Industries began selling weapons to militaries, private security contractors, and conflict zones across the Orion Spur.
In 2462, Boytsov and Necropolis' board of directors were accused of insider trading, supplying the black market with weapons, and corruption and bribery. Shortly after these accusations broke, Boytsov fell into a coma. He and his former directors were quickly replaced by Lyudmila Zavodskoi and her hand-picked team, and Necropolis Industries was rebranded to Zavodskoi Interstellar.
After three years in a coma, Boytsov died in 2465. With his death, Zavodskoi's former identity as Necropolis has been almost entirely erased.
