Private Military Contracting Group

A coalition of security and medical contractors in service of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. The Private Military Contracting Group is one of the elements born from the necessity of protecting an ever-growing corporate empire. Gathering mercenaries from all across the spur, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys a diverse force to anywhere they are needed; from mere office buildings to outposts in the Corporate Reconstruction Zone. As the megacorporations expand, these contractors follow to secure their holdings.

Unlike the other members of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, the Private Military Contracting Group has few employees of its own. Only some liaisons and bureaucrats work behind the scenes to hire and manage the contractors. The rest of its members are in fact part of several organizations contracted to supply the Private Military Contracting Group.

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Corporate Affairs

History

Eridanian military contractors as a whole originate in the early 2200s, during the takeover of the Epsilon Eridani by its economic council. As residents of Eridani I (then known as Kamfulu) rioted and unionised against dangerous working conditions, low pay, and environmental destruction that was occurring on the planet, the Eridani Economic Council formed two loose coalitions of those willing to "restore order"; citizen militias wishing to earn a paycheck in an unstable climate, and ex-Solarian military personnel who were used to pacifying an unhappy populace. These coalitions were deployed en-masse against protestors; they broke strikes, disappeared the loudest dissenters, and restored iron-fisted order to Kamfulu.

After the majority of social unrest was quelled, these militias and private military contractors were gradually adopted into the new Eridani Corporate Federation. The experienced ex-military personnel were established as Ringspire, marketed as highly-paid, highly-deadly mercenaries capable of being deployed in conflict zones just about everywhere. Meanwhile, those who had started out with security contracting in the riots were organised into the less-formal Eagle Corp., who were eager to hire just about anyone and became a final option for the desperate all over Solarian space. These corporations would eventually fall under the umbrella of control for the Eridani Federation's chief of system security, essentially the commander-in-chief for any of Eridani's military forces.

During the Interstellar War, these "EPMCs" grew to great renown as they were deployed alongside Solarian soldiers in ground forces and as strike teams alongside aerospace vessels. The news of their brutality was feared and loathed by the frontiersmen and Solarian allies alike. The Interstellar War also heralded the creation of Sekhmet Intergalactic in 2294, a medical contracting group; while Ringspire and Eagle Corp. had their own medical response divisions, Sekhmet's creation involved the recruitment of medical specialists, multi-pronged responses for both the groups, and an unscrupulous yet skilled and professional trauma response team to be sent out across the galaxy.

N4NL Incorporated was the fourth corporation to join the official umbrella of Eridani contractors in 2307, as the group branched into data security, electronic warfare, and digital asset protection. While Eridani's mass surveillance and data collection algorithms had always been vast, N4NL perfected it, creating the intricate network behind the ECF's employment records, banking, and punishing Extranet surveillance. Shortly after its official addition, the collective of Ringspire, Eagle Corp., Sekhmet, and N4NL became known as the Golden Fist for their incredible reputation for quality results across the Spur.

The corporation that would become the "thumb" of the Golden Fist was founded in 2450 by Farhad al-Sharif, a former N4NL executive and "positronic enthusiast" who had the unusual reputation of purchasing IPCs only to allow them to operate relatively uninhibited. Index Security Solutions was al-Sharif's plan to make better use of what he viewed as the fascinating capabilities of IPCs, and so became the only EPMC that recruited self-owned IPCs in large quantity.

The Golden Fist's reputation was such that in 2463, in the face of the growing instability brought on by the phoron scarcity and the Solarian Collapse, the executive board of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate approached the Board of Five, Eridani's heads of government. The insurgency in the Corporate Reconstruction Zone had the Conglomerate envisioning an agency responsible for reinforcing the corporate security and medical ranks with hired contractors, in a similar fashion to how the Golden Fist was currently operated. It was proposed that Kubra Mobolaji, the chief of system security for the ECF, would be chief executive officer of this conglomerate within the conglomerate, and permit private contracting firms around the Spur to join the initiative.

Thus, the Private Military Contracting Group was born, becoming an umbrella organization to coordinate several distinct contractor elements within the Conglomerate's structure. Its subsidiaries are tasked with providing adequate manpower, while the Private Military Contracting Group deploys them where it is necessary. While some may question the loyalty of the Group's employees, the credits fuelled into their contracts have been enough to secure their allegiance.

The PMCG is currently tasked with supplementing the security and medical staff in SCC facilities, and was formerly tasked with supplementing the Tau Ceti Armed Forces during the Peacekeeper Mandate of Mictlan. When the megacorporation's lines become too thin due to the expansion of the conglomerate, the contractors from the Private Military Contracting Group are called to patch these holes. Despite their diverse backgrounds, all employees of the Group receive the necessary training to work in SCC facilities.

Influence

The PMCG has managed to carve out a niche for itself within the greater Stellar Corporate Conglomerate framework. Previously unknown or latent PMC groups are suddenly filling the holes that exist in the intricate networks of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate while drawing ire from some who may not wish to see the underworld of contractor work in their professional setting. It is not uncommon to see highly trained Eridani mercenaries flank loutish Frontier bounty hunters, or Unathite noble physicians among Tajaran pharmacists who have retired from biological warfare.

Nevertheless, the Group's wide-ranging talents and Kubra Mobolaji's tight management, as well as being carried by the massively profitable Golden Fist, ensure its permanence as long as the PMCG's methods remain effective. They also hold power as an independent organization, always holding at least some influence in any war-torn region of space, including the Sparring Sea or the Solarian Wildlands, as they have grown quite popular among those who quickly need an expendable force to do their bidding.

General

Current CEO: Kubra Mobolaji

Kubra Mobolaji is an Eridanian who rose through the ranks of Ringspire after displaying keen wit and intellect in the field and as a commander of a Ringspire task force. He played a prominent role in the Adhomaian theatre during the Second Revolution, where several of his strategies managed to keep his squad alive and mostly intact during Ringspire's pyrrhic victory against the advancing Adhomai Liberation Army. While he puts on the jovial, amiable front typical to Eridanian suits, no amount of friendliness hides a long and cutthroat history as a military contractor.

Official Title(s): Private Military Contracting Group, Private Corporate Security Contractors

Motto: Always on guard, always on watch.

Headquarters: Mendell City, Biesel, Tau Ceti

Primary Colour Scheme: White, blue, black, gold

Executives and Branches

Chief Logistics Officer: Liang Wenqiang, b. 2410

Liang Wenqiang is the current chief logistics officer of the PMCG as a whole and chief executive officer of the Wildlands Squadron, having himself entered the private sector after a prominent career in the Solarian Navy’s special operations branch. Like many of his peers, the Unity Station born career officer felt the despair of the slow but steady decline of the Alliance, accompanied by the infighting and corruption in the Navy, urging him to seek a more lucrative and potentially rewarding employment in the private sector. His plans came to fruition with the founding of a small group of like-minded marines and officers, receiving contracts for protection and convoy escort against pirate raids. The disbanding of the group shortly after four years was not a dissuading factor, Liang having gained a reputation as a competent and bold organiser with substantial combat and planning experience, qualities that, along with a significant network of connections, landed him an executive position in the Group.

Chief Operating Officer: Diana Hakim, b. 2423

Diana Hakim is known as the voice delivering contracts and assignments to the various paramilitary formations and companies that operate under the Group’s umbrella. An Eridanian native, her friendship with Kubra Mobolaji has generated many silent accusations of nepotism amongst the elite. Such thoughts are vastly outclassed by the praise of her organisational skills however, Diana’s shadowy and smart handlings being the driving force behind the operational unity of the many PMCs, ensuring the smooth coexistence and the prevention of unhealthy competition. Having started her career in an unrelated shipping company, she was quick to realise the potential of the Group, being taken on in a junior secretarial position thanks to her friend and skyrocketing through the ranks thanks to merit.

Chief Risk Officer: Erik Brandrsson, b. 2404

Erik Brandrsson, a New Gibsonite, is the risk assessment expert employed by the Group, having risen to the position after a series of promotions following the merging of his previous employer, Nexus Corporate Security, with the Group. The calm and calculating man, having always been seen by his colleagues as a voice of reason, can trace his beginnings in the PMC sector from a very young age. Upon graduation from his business-oriented studies, he was taken on by the Tau Ceti-dominating NanoTrasen and placed into a rather unremarkable bureaucratic position inside Nexus, slowly rising through displays of competency and fierce loyalty which he still retains.

Branches

Eridani III, Epsilon Eridani, Eridani Corporate Federation: The PMCG has several operating branches within the Eridani Corporate Federation, but none are as expansive as the Triangle Complex rising above the barren surface of Eridani III. Nicknamed "The Cell" by the resident dreg population, each of its three towers manages a large portion of the planet’s private military forces, with one being devoted to monitoring naval/interstellar fleet operations, one being an additional training and management centre that specialises in prisoner management, riot control and policing for corporate security officers and mercenary soldiers, and the third being the headquarters of Eridani III’s extensive prison network. It is the managing branch of the PMCG’s operations within the Eridani Corporate Federation, as well as the Sol Alliance.

Mendell City, Biesel, Tau Ceti: The megacorporation’s branch located in Mendell’s District 10, a rare commercial plot in the district that was purchased and repurposed to serve as the Private Military Contracting Group's logistics headquarters, was built to hold much of its surplus equipment, the required administrative offices, and a recruitment centre to draw from Biesel’s diverse potential recruit pool. Nearby, a modest shuttle port is reserved for its exclusive usage. The majority of the PMCG contractors host staff within the Mendell branch, resulting in rife competition for contracts.

Hyperion Data Nexus, Valkyrie, Tau Ceti: Originally founded by NanoTrasen and now managed in equal part by NT and the PMCG, the Hyperion Data Nexus located within Tau Ceti is home to one of the PMCG’s most extensive research and development facilities. The finest military weapons, armour, and experimental technology are said to come out of Valkyrie’s facility; however, the megacorporations keep their research under tight lock and key. A high clearance level is needed to enter the facility and only the most trusted are assigned there for work. The only way that technology from the Hyperion Data Nexus sees the outside world is if it’s in the hands of the military contractors.

Nouvelle-Rochelle, Xanu Prime, Xanu: Within the Coalition of Colonies on Xanu Prime the Nouvelle-Rochelle branch handles dispatchment of the PMCG for the Coalition of Colonies - as well as other locations to a lesser extent. Contractors that are based within the CoC are housed, trained, and dispatched from the Nouvelle-Rochelle location whenever necessary. This location handles rapid response as well as specific contracted dates and times. This branch is said to be the beating heart of the PMCG within the Coalition.

Contractors

These companies are the only ones listed in the Private Military Contracting Group. Headcanon Contractors are not permitted for the Private Military Contracting Group. Your character can only be currently employed from the list below.

Eridani Private Military Contractors

Note that all Eridani Private Military Contractors that are not Eridanian natives must undergo an acclimatisation period of at least one month in the Eridani PMC Academy on Eridani I.

Ringspire

Chief Executive Officer: Kubra Mobolaji

A company known for working with anyone with enough funding, Ringspire contractors can be seen on any side of a conflict or job with enough credits to pay them. This has given them a reputation as being little more than hired guns, leaving higher than usual casualties in their wake. The company is also well-known for its indiscriminate use of heavy weapons, ranging from simple rocket launchers to orbital artillery bombardments, in its assignments. It is often said in Eridani’s mercenary community that Ringspire operations zones are easy to identify: simply search for areas with high amounts of corpses, looted buildings, and shell craters.

Ringspire’s most notable recent engagement was their involvement in the S'rend'marr Coalition on Adhomai. Hired by the People’s Republic of Adhomai to guard officials, flush out liberation army cells, they participated in the failed attempts to break through ALA lines on the Ras’nrr fronts and left a trail of devastation in its wake through its use of indiscriminate bombardments, autonomous combat equipment, and heavy amounts of looting by its mercenaries. While the S’rend’marr deployment is one of Ringspire’s most costly operations, company figures estimate that anywhere between fifteen and twenty-five tajara died for every Ringspire fatality. Despite this “kill ratio” (in Ringspire’s own terminology) the PRA opted not to renew the company’s contract.

But for an enterprising commander, Adhomai’s peace led to a far more profitable venture. A small faction of Ringspire remains in the DPRA city of Crevus to lead the company known as Olokun Curios. This smuggling operation posing as an art dealership allies to Adhomai’s low-lifes and self-proclaimed “archaeologists” to locate, secure, and ship tajara artefacts to sell in Eridani. Tajara attempts to investigate Olokun Curios have discovered nothing illegal about the organization, and many investigators have “coincidentally” had fatal accidents during their investigations.

Eagle Corp

Chief Executive Officer: Filije Thiaw

With enlisted ranks being filled by lower-class citizens drawn across human space, this company has a reputation for doggedly pursuing its goals no matter the effort required. As one of the more merit-based companies for promotion within the ranks, many officer positions are occupied by people from lower —questionable — backgrounds. The latter are often offered ‘new lives’ within the corporation, turning criminals about to meet the end of their careers into passable, and even valued operatives. The extensive training and ‘reintroduction’ programs sometimes employed in this process are viewed by some as a merciful second chance, and identity-destroying by others.

Recently, the company has launched initiatives to appeal to an even wider base of employees, with advertisement campaigns targeting potential alien contractors all over the Spur. These hopeful (or desperate) recruits find themselves thrown into competitive or dangerous missions, either ending with their promotion or an untimely severing of contracts. Unathi and Vaurca employees have seen especially good rates within the company, as pragmatic and goal-oriented employees are valued greatly by the management.

Sekhmet Intergalactic

Chief Executive Officer: Charité Efulu

Known for their wide reach and even wider history of assignments, Sekhmet Intergalactic has established itself as the premier provider of professional healthcare, no questions asked. It is made up of several smaller companies dedicated to cornering the ever-present market of medical aid and supplies. Though these corporations would get their starts on the advent of the Interstellar War they remained splintered and tied to other forces, located just about anywhere there were patients to save and profit to be generated.

Nowadays, each company within the collective acts as a ‘branch’ on a respective frontline, extending the corporation’s presence to rival that of its peers. Due to this, and the propensity to extend morally dubious contracts, Sekhmet often comes into rivalry with the Interstellar Aid Corps. The IAC offers humanitarian relief with both health and rights considered; in contrast, Sekhmet entices customers with predatory, yet government-grade deals that are at times the only way out. Though many of their doctors, surgeons and front-line medics are happy to take a pretty bonus to their paycheck for a shady assignment, a considerable number of their employees are uncomfortable with this reputation and actively fight it with a consummate work ethic and heaps of experience from all around the Spur.

N4NL Incorporated

Chief Executive Officer: Farhad al-Sharif

A company that had its start in meagre technical upkeep and insurance, N4NL Incorporated is nowadays better known for their cutting-edge augmentation and air-tight cyber security. Specializing in technological warfare, N4NL operatives are often augmented with the company’s own brand of technology to guard and operate high-tech equipment, frequently testing prototypes in the meanwhile. Officially the corporation is split between the departments of Asset Insurance and Asset Development, in practice, most employees are found in the former branch. Asset Insurance is famous for everything from contracting civilian employees out as telecommunications engineers or server network maintainers, to operating and testing electronic warfare equipment in the backline of many conflicts, to guarding and maintaining advanced cybersecurity apparatuses across the Orion Spur. N4NL Asset Insurance teams are perhaps the most widespread representatives of the Golden Fist, with most megacorporate facilities having at least a small team on-staff to combat and prevent data security issues. These teams are particularly common on Mictlan due to the planet’s history of intellectual property theft. Many conspiracy theorists speculate that N4NL Incorporated has had a hand in many “unfortunate accidents”' that have befallen famous Mictlanian copyright violators, but the company has consistently denied these rumours.

N4NL’s Asset Development is much less publicly visible than its Asset Insurance counterpart and is primarily concerned with finding new and powerful technologies the company can use for its own benefit. N4NL does their best to disguise this side venture from the view of the public and of their customers, and Asset Development agents are often “seeded” into Asset Insurance teams in order to conduct what the company refers to as “passive corporate observation” in order to discover emergent technologies of interest to the company. While not limited to the department, hefty bonuses are offered for investigating and securing new technologies found out on the field. Many of their contractors are also given experimental augments to field-test, and good performance often correlates with more personalized, high-quality cybernetics offered to an employee, thereby keeping them loyal and dependent. N4NL additionally employs many positronics, both free and company-owned, in its ranks due to the ease with which many modern IPCs can interface with electronic systems and accept new augments.

Index Security Solutions

Chief Executive Officer: Akide Sulu

Index Security Solutions is the newest addition to the Golden Fist, and one of the few military contractors to employ IPCs, which make up the majority of its employees. The company is known for its top-notch security contracting for both public and private facilities, as well as personal bodyguard detailing for high-level individuals. IPCs owned by this company receive high-quality maintenance and conditions, but operate under a permanent ownership contract, with freedom or transfer to another owner being impossible.

The company’s reputation is quite polarizing thanks to several factors, one of which is Index’s very own ‘Advanced Threat Assessment’ (ATA) data pack which many of its employees come equipped with, allowing units to analyze and respond to potential threats in a nearly super-human capacity. Though a complex program to insert into a positronic, this development has been known to save the lives of many Eridanian officials; most famously preventing a shuttle-bombing targeting the former representative of Eridani I in 2436.

This same tool is seen as oppressive and terrifying by others, particularly by Dregs, who have been personally targeted by harsh profiling algorithms that discriminate by acting on even slight transgressions. Index has mostly refused to comment on this, citing that their units are simply more sensitive than that of others in their field.

Other Private Military Contractors

Nexus Corporate Security

Nexus Corporate Security is NanoTrasen's private civilian security division, specialising in guarding corporate VIPs and high-ranking cabinet members of the Republic of Biesel. While still owned by NanoTrasen, a share of the company is held by the Private Military Contracting Group, and contractors are listed as both NanoTrasen and PMCG employees. They are known for their distinct black, red, and blue uniforms.

Nexus was founded by Xavier Trasen shortly after the establishment of Hyperion Data Nexus on Valkyrie, in 2418. After NanoTrasen significantly downsized its security contracting division to distribute more funds to research and development, its service industry, and its medical divisions in the wake of the phoron scarcity, Nexus has become the "face" of the company's security forces. Many of NanoTrasen's security personnel have ended up employed with Nexus, if they weren't already poached by Idris Incorporated or Zavodskoi Interstellar. Mictlan's expulsion of N4NL Incorporated from the Sankta Tereza system has left any future Nexus operations within the area nebulous.

Xanu Defense Services

Originally created to offer protection to ships traveling through the Coalition of Colonies and nearby territories, the Xanu Defense Services is a military contractor focused on space operations. The Defense Services has recently expanded its operations beyond the COC after the Solarian Collapse. Its security personnel is specially trained in EVA and boarding drills. Owing to the nature of the coalition, its employees are mostly made up of bounty hunters, militiamen, adventurers, and ex-military from various colonies.

Despite owning a sizeable fleet of small and medium-size spacecraft, the Xanu Defense Services only lends its crew to the SCC. Currently, most of its ships are busy aiding the Coalition in securing its borders.

Wildlands Squadron

As large swathes of territory changed hands during Sol's collapse, many lawmen and soldiers lost their positions. This crowd sought refuge in rogue fleets, pirate crews, and mercenary companies. Out of the many military private enterprises created by this chaos, one decided that collaboration with the SCC was the best and most profitable option. The Wildlands Squadron is a mercenary band made up of Solarian ex-military, unemployed law agents, and refugees from the instability. Thanks to the bloated Solarian military, the Wildlands Squadron has a large supply of professionally trained personnel.

Because of its origins, the corporations are suspicious of the Wildlands Squadron. To avoid any possible collaboration in the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, they are mainly stationed in space stations and ships.

Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group

Founded by Tajaran war veterans, the Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group is a private military company based in Little Adhomai. The organization was conceived to provide employment to the growing veteran population created by the civil wars. Once a strictly mercenary organization, the Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group expanded its operation to include private security after the establishment of the Coalition of Private Military Contractors; Tajara with non-military backgrounds were also allowed thanks to the new partnership. Its employees are trained in security procedures and small arms, but many others carry the skills acquired in their previous positions.

Dagamuir Freewater Private Forces

Between the high standards of the Kataphracts, the obliteration of the homes of many warriors, and the harsh realities in-between, many Unathi find that they are unable to compete with others for the highest titles warriors can get. Enter the Dagamuir Freewater Private Forces: originating from the country that gives it its namesake, they started as blaggards for centuries up until the disruption that was the Contact War. The PF was founded on Ouerea following much of its original tenets and hires anyone from destitute Wastelanders, former Iron Masks, Ouereans (which typically expands to resident humans, Skrell, and K'laxan Vaurca), and even Aut'akh regardless of their religion or station. They train these recruits (rumoured to be a brutal and arduous ordeal) into hardened mercenaries sold to the highest bidder.

The Freewater Company follow their own beliefs on honour that, while largely true to the Warrior's Code, betrays the notion that there is such a thing as honourable combat. Underhanded tactics ranged combat, and other things usually appalling to Sinta are used without as much as a wag of the tail. Humans and Skrell that join the company, while not believing in the written tenets, typically agree with their intention and idealistic nature. Additionally, religious tolerance is taught and enforced within the company to keep the begrudging peace; anyone who acts against is liable to get demoted, suspended, or even fired— should they be caught and reported. While leased as contractors and security forces more often than not, they believe more typically in hard time sentencing than fines, quoting their current Black commander Akzazik Voizur, "Credits come and go, but time can never be bought back." Those that prove themselves to be repeat offenders or especially egregious criminals, like Guwan, may find themselves in hotter water with these contractors around.

Ve'katak Phalanx

Founded after the Flagsdale riots of 2464 by a Court of Queens decree and made public early in 2465, the Ve'katak Phalanx (Ve'katak translating to 'Alliance' in Basic) is a Zo'rane-funded organization with pan-Vaurcesian goals. Led by Queens Zoleth, Vedhra and Vytel with oversight from Athvur and Vaur, it is recognised as the official military and enforcement arm of the Court of Queens. The Ve'katak Phalanx is empowered under the amended Court of Queens charter to "undertake action to promote or restore interstellar peace and security to the members of the Court when endangered by threats, external or internal". This wide-reaching mission statement sees them serve as the de facto police of Flagsdale, having superseded the existing District 9 neighbourhood watch as well as additionally becoming a common sight patrolling various locations where Vaurcae are stationed. The reason behind this is not only to stop piracy and other forms of crime, but also to patrol for any attacks of Lii'draic origin.

When not deployed on the order of the Court of Queens, many of its members are rented out as private security to Court-approved buyers, mostly in and around Tau Ceti and Hegemony space. While anti-Vaurca sentiment prevents widespread adoption, the skill and unyielding nature of Vaurca Warriors have seen them gain popularity in contested areas such as the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, the Badlands, and the Sparring Sea. They are sometimes seen patrolling these regions in small, rented patrol craft featuring retrofitted engines and drop-pods to support boarding action rather than drawn-out engagements or hitching rides as support for other PMCG vessels. The Ve'katak Phalanx has been seen as a solution to the unemployment crisis of Warrior Vaurcae, who now after several years have a Vaurca employer to support them. Other species are welcome to join the company as long as they hold anti-Lii'dra sentiments, but the entrance tests required are extremely gruelling for non-Vaurca, and those that do pass tend to find integration difficult due to the nature of the species.

Recently, non-Vaurca recruits to the Ve'katak Phalanx have begun a new experimental training program. This program makes extensive use of a secretive Virtual Reality system on Caprice known as the "Neural Simulation Training Environment". More about this program can be read here.