Corporatists

When Humanity broke beyond the bounds of Earth and their home system, they broke beyond the reach of government. There were too many systems, too many people, and too many problems for the origin of mankind to ever hope to govern. At first the endless worlds were governed by whoever was strongest. Bold explorers with private armies could take an entire star system and institute their own rule. When the riches of a thousand world began to flood in, every greedy investor and CEO wanted their cut.

Deep Pockets and Power

The biggest obstacle to expanding into the stars was always money, working capital. You couldn’t buy a ship with hopes and dreams. At first the costs were enormous:

• Building a fleet
• Paying trained workers
• Buying food, fuel, and supplies
• Insurance

50,000 could leave on a single long-shot journey to establish a colony on another system every-day at the peak of the gold rush. Infrastructure was built out to facilitate faster and faster transits, more ships, and more people. It was dangerous and there were losses, but the deep pockets of capitalism had funded humanity’s journey to conquer the galaxy.

Abuse of Power

The only problem with this whole system was its reliance on the richest, cruelest people in human history to do the right thing. Once the corporations were beyond the reach of any Earthly rule of law, they wrote the rules. The corporations controlled who could enter and leave their systems. Ships were hard to come by. Corporate structures dictated the laws that would govern billions of people. Suddenly the worst of the greedy, money-chasing, power-hoarding, abusive executives held all the cards.

As the colonies expanded, systems of law and procedure were put together. Indentured servitude became a common excuse for slavery. Colonists would owe their corporations for every breath they took - even on a habitable world. The system became oppressive. Your only hope of escape was to climb the corporate ladder by throwing others to the ground with each step up. There was infighting, excessive demands, and endless debt to control the masses.

Conflict with the Mighty

Protests and even outright terrorism failed to have an impact. Those who shook the status quo were imprisoned or shot. Even whispers of resistance could earn a lifetime jail sentence. The system was built to be authoritarian. The biggest protests could perhaps fight back with small arms, but the corporatists had all the cards:

• Armies
• Ships
• Food
• Air
• Water

Gather 100,000 people for a protest? Get glassed. A ship in orbit would drop a nuke and the problem was resolved. Any others who dared to protest would suffer equally harsh punishments for daring to speak up. It became impossible to fight back. Wear your collar, obey your overlords, and keep your head down in the hopes of having an OK life.

The Corporatist Today

Corporations have reached a point where they can control multiple star systems, hold private wars, conquer new worlds, and of course there is the ever-present work of insider trading and theft. On the upside, they’re able to cooperate. The Bara Gaon Corporation readily trades with Tycho Corp for workers and supplies. There are a million small businesses in each system industriously manufacturing and offering services, whether ship escorts or managing forced labor.

Corporatists in New Athens

The new Athens corporatists saw an opportunity to break free of the larger organizations. They were smaller, often younger executives who saw a new system on the horizon with a chance of turning a profit. They took their assets and poured them into escaping - much as the original companies had - to run a system of their own. Even a century on, they’re not as big or powerful as the other incorporated systems. Their attention is split between spreading their influence in New Athens and fending off outside threats.