Sirius Corporation

Template:Corporationinfobox The Sirius Corporation, commonly known as Sirius Corp. or simply Sirius, is the oldest and most powerful of the mega corporations. While even larger mega corporations exist, such as Faulcon DeLacy, none of them compare to the wealth and influence of Sirius. Its headquarters is in the Sirius system, which requires obtaining a Permit granted to Sirius Corporation's allies.

Li Yong-Rui is the CEO of the Sirius Corporation. All systems controlled by Li Yong-Rui have a 15% discount on outfitting including modules, weapons and all ships; this discount is available to all pilots.

Sirius Corporation has numerous subsidiaries primarily centered around fusion reactors, Power Generators, hydrogen fuel, and hyperdrive production. It is also one of the galaxy's two main personal computer suppliers, alongside Achilles Corporation. Li Yong-Rui controls 594 star systems with hundreds of billions of people as of 25 November 3304. Sirius provides governmental services. It operates product-oriented divisions such as Sirius Catering, Sirius Mining, Sirius Power, Sirius Luxury Transports, Sirius Industrial, Sirius Atmospherics, and Sirius Gov. Another one of Sirius's interests is the exploration and colonisation of the galaxy.

History

Founding

By 2200 corporations had a stranglehold on a great many aspects of life, and this didn't stop during colonisation, though there was quite a delay before the first wholly corporate system was settled. The colonisation of Sirius by a solely corporate mission in 2339 and its rapid rise to become the premier supplier of drive fuel to first the Federation and then the Empire led to much corporate profiteering between the two powers. Throughout this period, conflicts of interest were raised by congressmen backed by corporate interests. However, eventually Sirius Corporation delegates were also responsible for initiating negotiations between the two powers.

The Sirius Corporation was founded in 2350. It utilized vast amounts of cheap energy available on Lucifer in the Sirius system and was able to synthesize custom elements, including military grade fuel. Sirius quickly increased its financial status as a result of supplying the war fleets of both the Federation and Empire during the first interstellar war. They engineered shortages whenever one side was winning. This prolonged the war and resulting casualties which gained Sirius a legend of notoriety. It is denied by Sirius and blamed on a few unscrupulous and deceased individuals.

New Drive Technology

In 3278, the Corporation saw a turnaround in its decline with the introduction of a new, faster drive system. Any similarities to the system in the Antares incident were denied at the time, though acknowledgements decades later revealed it was based on the results of the same research program. In the following years further improvements were made available both by Sirius and by its rivals, each dramatically reducing jump times, eventually resulted in very rapid hyperspace travel; journeys that previously took days could now be made in seconds. The new Frame Shift Drive (FSD) was released to the public in 3297, and by 3300 all registered ships had been upgraded with the new technology.

Unknown to the general public, during the 3270s the Alliance reverse-engineered Thargoid technology to produce the Frame Shift Drive. To prevent any one power or faction from leveraging it, The Club ensured that this technology fell into the hands of Sirius Corporation, which monopolized it and distributed it to all powers and factions to provide a level playing field.

Not only did the success of the FSD trigger a new period of galactic expansion, but it also resulted in the expansion of Sirius Corporation into various other fields, with offices throughout human space.

Lore

The Sirius Corporation – The First of the Mega-corporations

In GalNet’s series relating key points in human history, popular historian Sima Kalhana addresses the rise of the first mega-corporation.

Apart from a few isolated backwater systems, the presence of mega-corporations is ubiquitous throughout civilised space. Massive as many of these organisations are, none of them compare to the wealth and influence of the Sirius Corporation.

The rise of the largest corporation in history started in 2339 when the Sirius Corporation launched the first completely corporate colonial mission arrived in the Sirius star system. The continual state of conflict between the Federation and the Empire catapulted the Sirius Corporation into an economic powerhouse as they became the lead supplier of fuel, then later drives and other technologies.

Within a century, its products were integrated into military and civilian production. It also developed an envied trusted status with both superpowers and indeed supplied both sides during their conflicts. This in part was due to strict information restriction protocols and an open promise that it would favour neither side during any conflict.

The Sirius Corporation developed its own code of strict laws to ensure fair dealing as well as the good governance of its workforce. Its influence reached such a state that the so-called ‘Sirius Convention’ was applied not just during deals with the corporation, but between independent systems as well.

Throughout the years, fuel and drive production has remained their core business, although judicious expansion into other markets has driven its astronomical growth. The Sirius Corporation now operates several product-oriented divisions including: Sirius Catering, Sirius Mining, Sirius Power, Sirius Luxury Transports, Sirius Industrial and Sirius Atmospherics. Most recently they launched a new venture, Sirius Gov, to provide governmental services for population management on all scales.

Its history has been marked with some failures, most notable of which is the Antares incident which I will examine in the next article. However, its successes have far exceeded those failures and the Sirius Corporation remains the most powerful corporation in known space.

Sirius Subsidiaries

The Sirius Corporation has a great many subsidiaries, but its main business centres around fusion reactors of all sorts - it makes and sells hyperdrive fuels, hyperdrives, power plants large and small, luxury surface transports, waste processing reactors, atmospheric processing units, industrial facilities for smelting, refining, and a wide range of mining equipment. It has cemented its position by using standardised parts for its power plants - whether it is at the heart of an industrial smelter, a luxury highliner or a surface city.

The Sirius Corporation now runs several dozen systems. These have a strict legal system, their own penal code (based on Federal law), and their own law enforcement. They even have their own navy.

Sirius Industrial

Sirius Industrial makes a broad range of bespoke heavy industrial installations for smelting, refining, processing and manufacturing. There are largely automated and easily assembled on site, using local materials for key elements of the construction where possible. All are centred around large Sirius power reactors - often multiple 100GW units are used in a single plant.

Sirius Atmospherics

The early terraforming tended to use genetically engineered biological processes that would change the atmosphere of a suitable world over many decades to a breathable atmosphere using energy captured from the star via biological processes. This process was both slow, expensive (it was made up of many stages) and only a narrow set of worlds were suitable. The idea of doing direct chemical conversion on a vast scale was there, but not practical because of the vast power requirements.

Sirius Navy

Sirius Navy is a large organisation, providing vigorous protection for all Sirius Corporation interests. It owns its own cruisers built by Imperial Gutamaya yards, and built under license in Sirius' own naval yards, branded in the Sirius Corporation's own royal blue livery, but much of their naval force comes from a large number of Cutters built under license and by Imperial Gutamaya, operating as patrol ships, and a great many fighters.

Subsidiary Influence

In addition to Sirius Corporation exercising direct control of various facilities, a number of Sirius subsidiaries also vie for influence as minor factions in various systems.

Subsidiary	Presence in Systems
Sirius Atmospherics	Mons
Sirius Catering	Phanes
Sirius Drives	33 Cygni Malanquiya Song Ku
Sirius Hot2Cold	Chicoana Hemaki Ross 591
Sirius Hyperspace	Arietis Sector BV-Y c7 Cail Daik HIP 16591 HIP 17412 HIP 17655 Mooramba Ngalia
Sirius Industrial	Holler
Sirius Luxury Transports	Anandariti Col 285 Sector BQ-N c7-13 Col 285 Sector BQ-N c7-21 Col 285 Sector YZ-C b14-1 HIP 47050 Mundindja Nanangolans Vito Xi Shan
Sirius Mining	Guan Gong Raurt
Sirius Mining Merope	Atlas Celaeno HIP 17694 HR 1183 Merope Pleione
Sirius Power	Kikapu

The Sirius Convention

The Sirius Corporation operated under its own strict laws, governing workers rights, privileges etc., and also put in place conventions whereby in dealings with customers for large projects it voluntarily operated under a special hybrid of local law and Sirius law - where the strictest provision was deemed to be in place. This became known as 'The Sirius Convention' - and was often applied in treaties between independent systems.

The Sirius Corporation developed a strong reputation for fair dealing too. It would never refer to rival jurisdictions or deal terms in a negotiation with a government, and would keep such negotiations strictly to the scope of the deal - not using any of the many levers less scrupulous organisations would frequently call upon. Such deals were said to be conducted 'under the Sirius Rule' - another term that effectively entered the language, much like the 'Chatham House Rule' a millennium earlier.

Individuals

Li Yong-Rui, CEO of Sirius Corporation

• Li Yong-Rui - CEO of Sirius Corporation, and CEO of its government division Sirius Gov.
• Patricia Spellman - Vice President of Sirius Finance.
• Ana Quin - Junior Vice President of Interstellar Logistics.

Vessels

• Antares - An experimental passenger liner that went missing during its maiden flight in 3251.

Locations

Core Systems

Sirius Corporation maintains a presence in a number of Core Systems.

• Sirius (HQ, permit-locked)
• Avik
• Luyten 674-15
• Luyten's Star
• Mildeptu
• Procyon

Sirius Colonies

Beginning in March 3301, Sirius Corporation established a network of colonies and support outposts stretching beyond the Core Systems. While Sirius still maintains a presence in most of these systems, a number of the stations have since fallen under the control of other minor factions. Also, one system that Sirius Corporation had slated for colonization, Wredguia SX-L d7-92, was inexplicably never colonized despite the presence of two natural Earth-like worlds.

On March 22, 3304, Sirius Corp announced that their presence in Sothis and Ceos would be expanded with new starports, settlements, and Megaships. On April 5, 3304, Sirius completed 15 new orbital and planetary starports and multiple Bulk Cruiser Megaships (Aquarius Class Tanker KTF-895, Demeter Class Bulk Cargo Ship HXO-889, Dionysus Class Agricultural Vessel GTP-8846, Freedom Class Survey Vessel MRM-629, Gordon Class Bulk Cargo Ship QLR-562, Hercules Class Bulk Cargo Ship KAS-093, Naphtha Class Tanker HTH-082, and Sagan Class Tourist Ship VOY-438) distributed throughout its colonies. Sothis, Ceos, Robigo, and HIP 8396 each gained three new ports, Takurua gained two, and Almagest gained one.

System	Allegiance	Stations and Surface Ports	Notes
Sothis	Federation	Don's Inheritance Newholm Station Sothis Mining Vantage Point Velinski Enterprise	Formerly Wredguia SX-L d7-91
Ceos	Federation	Babbage Gateway Brunel Hub New Dawn Station Sinclair Market	Formerly Wredguia WD-K d8-66
Robigo	Empire	Hauser's Reach Robigo Mines Sirotanovic's Legacy Quaid's Vision	Formerly Wredguia QA-N b34-4
Almagest	Independent	Attenborough Terminal Sirius Reach	Formerly Wredguia XD-K d8-78
Takurua	Independent	Foothold Orbital Mackay's Prospect Tharp Depot	Formerly Gliese 97.2
HIP 8396	Independent	Foster's Beacon Shackleton's Hope Stepping Stone Base Titus Station
Te Kaha	Independent	New Horizons Orbital	Formerly Col 285 Sector WA-L b9-3
Cao Junga	Independent	Soddy Port Szilard Point

Timeline

22 MAR 3304

• Sirius Corporation announced that it would be expanding its presence in the remote Sothis and Ceos systems with multiple new starports, settlements, and Megaships. The move was a response to the steadily increasing traffic in those two systems.

13 JAN 3302

• Li Yong-Rui announced that the search had resulted in the recovery of the wreckage of the Antares.

The wreckage appears to confirm that the component failure described in the ship's final status report did indeed result in the destruction of the Antares. My hope is that by subjecting the wreckage to further analysis, we will be able to determine exactly what caused the malfunction and apply this knowledge to the development of new safety protocols. With luck, we will be able to reintroduce the innovative drive technology used aboard the Antares. This discovery could serve as the catalyst for a whole new era of interplanetary travel.

— Li Yong-Rui

22 DEC 3301

• Li Yong-Rui, CEO of the Sirius Corporation's government division, announced a new official search for the Antares. He asked for Wreckage Components to be delivered to Davy Dock in the Procyon system.

Since the Antares was lost 50 years ago, there have been great advances in scanning technology, and we believe it may now be possible to find the remains of the ship. We are inviting every pilot in the galaxy to deliver wreckage components to our research base at Davy Dock in the Procyon system. Once we have accumulated enough material, we will subject the debris to comprehensive analysis to determine its origin. With luck, not only will we find the remains of the Antares, we will be able to determine her fate.

— Li Yong-Rui

18 NOV 3301

• The Sirius Corporation's appeal for osmium to at HIP 8396 came to an end, after a positive response in which hundreds of miners contributed.

The pilots who contributed to this initiative have performed a great service, and proved that the people of this galaxy are motivated as much by altruism as by the promise of reward. We are all humanitarians at heart.

— Li Yong-Rui, CEO of the Sirius Corporation

05 NOV 3301

• The Sirius Corporation's appeal for osmium to revitalise the economy of HIP 8396 started.

The people of HIP 8396 are part of the Sirius Corporation family, but if we are to help our compatriots, we will need help ourselves. So I implore all galactic citizens to contribute to this initiative, and bring a new era of peace and prosperity to HIP 8396.

— Li Yong-Rui, CEO of the Sirius Corporation

22 OCT 3301

• Following increased pirate activity in the Robigo system, Sirius Corporation offered a generous reward for anyone who helped clear the pirates out, in line with the corporation's zero-tolerance approach to those who threaten its holdings.

15 OCT 3301

• Following their expansion earlier in the year into the HIP 8396, Almagest, Sothis, Ceos, and Robigo systems, Sirius Corporation CEO Li Yong-Rui announced a new initiative to revitalise the economies of those systems. The fist stage would consist of an appeal for independent pilots to deliver osmium to HIP 8396.

15 SEP 3301

• Investigation data was handed over to the Sirius Corporation that a spokesman for Federation Vice President Nigel Smeaton’s family said might help to locate the wreckage of the Highliner Antares. The data was encrypted, and had been found on a device among Nigel Smeaton's personal belongings.

04 AUG 3301

• A Sirius Corporation shuttle crashed into Patterson Enterprise in the Sirius system and was destroyed, when its docking computer failed on approach to the station. Five died, including Sean Richards, a senior consultant engineer who helped to compile the incident report on the disappearance of Starship One and, 50 years earlier, had been part of the task force of the Highliner Antares enuiry.

27 MAY 3301

• In the aftermath of the disappearance of Starship One, specialist teams from Core Dynamics and the Sirius Corporation attempted to analyse the wake and uplink data captured by the President’s Guardian Wing escorts in the moments before all four ships jumped.

12 MAR 3301

• The Sirius Corporation announced that it would be returning to its colonisation roots with the launch of 12 new colonial outposts in 9 systems.

02 MAR 3301

• The Sirius Corporation announced that the reconnaissance portion of its latest colonisation project had drawn to a close. Hundreds of scout ships had contributed, gathering data on tens of thousands of potential candidate systems.

28 FEB 3301

• Sirius Corporation announced that, thanks to the work of hundreds of explorers, 8 new colonisation candidates had been identified.

23 FEB 3301

• Sirius Corporation announced its plan to launch a number of new colonial outposts to the very edges of occupied space. They offered sizeable monetary rewards for exploration data submitted to Nourse Orbital in Lambda Andromedae.

We're very excited to move forward with this project. It's been a long time coming, but finally the board have agreed it's time to get the ball rolling. We've got the tech and the volunteers, all we need now is to know where to send them.

— Ana Quin, Junior Vice President of Interstellar Logistics

3251

• A Sirius Corporation vessel known as the Highliner Antares disappeared during its maiden flight in the Sirius system. It was the first ship to use a production version of a new type of hyperdrive. When attempting a hyperspace jump it experienced a simultaneous explosion and mis-jump. The final report concluded that the most likely cause was that a part in the drive had failed just before the jump. No wreckage from the vessel was found. This led to considerable speculation and many conspiracy theories concerning what actually occurred.

2339

• The Sirius Corporation launched the first completely corporate colonisation mission, and arrived in the Sirius system. Sirius Corporation had become integrated into military and civilian production, and they had earned a trusted status with both the Federation and Empire, supplying both sides during their conflicts.

Gallery

Sirius Corporation logo

Li Yong-Rui, CEO of Sirius Corporation