{"data":{"id":17230,"title":"Portfolio: Tumbril Land Systems","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/spectrum-dispatch\/17230-Portfolio-Tumbril-Land-Systems","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/17230","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/17230","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"Portfolio","images":[{"id":26463,"name":"source.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/media.robertsspaceindustries.com\/weozjmuuh3hwh\/source.jpg","alt":"","size":843046,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2019-09-19T15:49:32+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463\/similar"}],"images_count":7,"translations":{"en_EN":"This portfolio originally appeared in Jump Point 5.8.\nAs space travel became more and more common, ground vehicles began to be regarded as strictly utilitarian. To many people, land vehicles took you where you were going, but it was space vehicles that took you to places you\u2019d never been. This meant that by the 25th century most kids didn\u2019t dream about owning a racing sled or all-terrain rover; they dreamed about their first spaceship.\n\nFortunately, Kavya Crosby and Aaron Douze weren\u2019t typical kids.\n\nRough & Tumbril Beginnings\nKavya Crosby grew up in a small settlement surrounded by Yar\u2019s vast Red Desert. Consisting of a landing pad and a few small outposts, the settlement had originally been built to monitor the planet\u2019s terraforming process. After the terraforming was complete, it was abandoned and slowly subsumed by the sand until 2501, when the University of Saisei restored the site as a research center and hired Crosby\u2019s parents to run the facility\u2019s landing pad. Already a few weeks overdue, her parents joked that Kavya refused to be born until they\u2019d settled on the planet in 2503.\n\nBeing an only child, and one of the settlement\u2019s few permanent residents, provided Kavya with a unique childhood. When not being tutored by the professors stationed at the settlement, she helped her parents fix machines tormented by Yar\u2019s fine red sand. It was this harsh environment that taught her the value of protecting precious equipment from the elements.\n\nIn 2518, Aaron Douze arrived at the outpost with his mother Meredith Douze, a biotech specialist intent on engineering a crop that could survive Yar\u2019s treacherous biome. As part of her research, Meredith established numerous grow sites outside the settlement to test her crops under different conditions, and was required to visit them often. Then, one day, she never returned from her rounds.\n\nThe settlement mobilized to find her, but a raging sandstorm made it impossible to search in even the toughest land vehicles. Luckily, Crosby\u2019s parents had taken the precaution of modifying an old Crossfire LandCruiser for such situations. Since Aaron was familiar with the location of each site, he joined Kavya and her father on the search. They found Meredith unconscious and half buried in sand at the bottom of a narrow ravine. If they had waited out the sandstorm, it probably would have been too late to save her.\n\nAfter this experience, Aaron spent more and more time in the landing pad\u2019s maintenance hangar with Kavya. He was curious about the Crossfire and the upgrades they had made so it could survive the planet\u2019s harsh conditions. Aaron\u2019s growing interest in ground vehicles wasn\u2019t the only thing that kept bringing him back to the hangar. Romance blossomed between the teenagers, and despite him returning to Saisei with his mother shortly after his 17th birthday, the two remained close, continuing to exchange comms over the next few years.\n\nWhen it was time for Kavya to attend college, it was an easy decision to join Aaron and study at the University of Saisei. She earned an engineering degree while he studied business. After graduating, the two wed and landed high-paying but unfulfilling work in Fujin City. Together, they talked about doing something different, but the comforts afforded them by their cushy jobs were hard to give up.\n\nEventually, they were drawn back to Yar for an extended period due to the health of Kavya\u2019s aging parents. After only a few weeks of tending to them, both her mother and father passed away within days of each other. While packing up her parents\u2019 possessions, the two came across the old Crossfire under a dusty tarp in the hangar. Most of the components and several panels had been removed, leaving only a skeleton of the cruiser the two remembered so well. Company legend claims Aaron asked Kavya, \u201cWhat do we do with this?\u201d\n\nHer response sealed their fate: \u201cLet\u2019s make our own.\u201d\n\nGetting Off the Ground\nYears before, they had spent many an afternoon in the hangar debating what they would do if they could build their own vehicle, as they had seen many of the outpost\u2019s rovers fail in the face of the planet\u2019s terrain and atmospheric conditions. Dissatisfied with their lives on Saisei, here was a chance to build a range of tough, fast and durable ground vehicles for the public to use during planetside exploration.\n\nThe two were hired on as the new landing pad operators on Yar, and spent their off hours constructing a rig. In a nod to the fact that they borrowed much of their starting materials from an old loader cart, they started referring to their design as the tumbril. Their initial prototype turned out to be so promising that the University, after spending huge amounts of credits repairing failed vehicles over the years, agreed to give them a grant to pursue their designs. Working on it full time, they had a fully working production model by the end of 2535. Tough to the extreme and rugged enough to easily handle even the weather on Yar, the formidable vehicle didn\u2019t reveal its best feature until they got behind the controls. It was a lot of fun to drive.\n\nWith their University contacts, Kavya and Aaron were able to incorporate Tumbril Land Systems in Saisei during 2536. Their first commercial vehicle, the DX20, was released later that year but unfortunately failed to make much of an impact on its initial release. Kavya and Aaron were disappointed but undeterred, convinced that Tumbril only needed time to find its market. Their instinct would be right, but what catapulted the company into the mainstream was most unexpected.\n\nIn 2541, war erupted shortly after Humanity encountered the Tevarin. Faced with their first inter-species conflict, the UPE suddenly realized they lacked the proper vehicles for ground-based operations, and the military scrambled to find a solution. Ground vehicles from all current manufacturers were put through rigorous field tests. The results weren\u2019t even close.\n\nTumbril\u2019s DX20 was so well designed that they were combat ready with only minor modifications. Tumbril landed a massive military contract, and quickly scaled their operation to meet the demand. They were even asked to create new designs for the war effort. It wasn\u2019t long before Tumbril tanks began to roll off production lines.\n\nThe First Tevarin War elevated Tumbril into a trusted and beloved brand. Soldiers raved about the DX20 and this reputation led to skyrocketing civilian sales following the war. Once again, the company continued to expand to meet demand. Decades of sustained growth turned Tumbril into the preeminent producer of ground vehicles for both the public and private sectors.\n\nGone But Not Forgotten\nKavya and Aaron actively ran Tumbril until both were centenarians. A decade after the Second Tevarin War, the two finally retired and relinquished control to their board of directors. Incredibly, the ensuing two centuries were as successful as the first. It was during this period that Tumbril introduced numerous legendary ground vehicles, like the Nova, Timura and C-series.\n\nHowever, towards the end of the Messer regime, budgetary concerns made the military prioritize new spacecraft over ground vehicles and led to the reduction of contracts with Tumbril. Though the lost income impacted their bottom line, many board members saw this as a blessing in disguise since public opinion towards the ruling family and their associates was turning sour. The company\u2019s contracts were further reduced once the Messer regime fell and the new UEE government diverted resources to sectors long neglected.\n\nThe significant reduction in government contracts forced Tumbril to find more profits in the private sector. Eager to increase their market share, the board pushed a series of designs through before they had been subjected to the rigorous in-house quality assurance protocols that had been in place for decades. A string of unpopular new vehicles, combined with the disastrous decision to use cheaper materials to reduce production costs, finally tarnished the Tumbril brand beyond repair for a generation of consumers.\n\nDuring the 2850s, the company burned through numerous CEOs in an attempt to pull Tumbril out of its death spiral, but it was not to be. In 2862, despite still having a few lingering government contracts with planetary surveyors, the company declared bankruptcy. Tumbril was shuttered and the brand seemingly destined for the dustbins of history.\n\nIt would have stayed there if not for Terrence Naban. The charismatic entrepreneur partnered his investment firm, DevCo Group, with numerous outside investors and bought the defunct Tumbril brand in 2941. Much like the company\u2019s founders, Naban loved ground vehicles and believed the marketplace was underserved, so he made a radical decision to resurrect the Tumbril brand. He believed that restoring its name would be a more effective way to reach customers than launching a new brand, particularly since original Tumbril vehicles had become collectors\u2019 items over the previous decades. There were even still original C-series being used by homesteaders on some of the more remote frontier worlds.\n\nIf the recently announced Cyclone series is any indication, Naban seems intent on delivering on his promise to restore Tumbril to its former glory. No expense was spared to hire talented designers and engineers to breathe life back into the brand. They started simple by producing a single model of the Cyclone and outfitting it with four variants. According the Naban, their goal was to get one vehicle done right, then expand from there.\n\nEighty-five standard years after Tumbril folded, it\u2019s back. The UEE\u2019s ground vehicle of choice for centuries has been given a new lease on life thanks to Naban. As a sign of how much he cares for the brand, Naban has named himself Tumbril\u2019s CEO and made it his personal mission to bring the brand back to relevance. If Naban can return the company to its roots, then Tumbril Land Systems appears ready and willing to crest whatever subsequent obstacles might appear over the horizon.","de_DE":"Dieses Portfolio erschien urspr\u00fcnglich in Jump Point 5.8.\nMit zunehmender Verbreitung der Raumfahrt wurden Bodenfahrzeuge immer h\u00e4ufiger als rein zweckdienlich angesehen. F\u00fcr viele Menschen brachten dich Landfahrzeuge dorthin, wo du hingehst, aber es waren Raumfahrzeuge, die dich an Orte brachten, an denen du noch nie warst. Das bedeutete, dass die meisten Kinder im 25. Jahrhundert nicht mehr davon tr\u00e4umten, einen Rennschlitten oder Gel\u00e4ndewagen zu besitzen, sondern von ihrem ersten Raumschiff.\n\nGl\u00fccklicherweise waren Kavya Crosby und Aaron Douze keine typischen Kinder.\n\nGrobe & tumbrilische Anf\u00e4nge\nKavya Crosby wuchs in einer kleinen Siedlung auf, umgeben von Yars riesiger roter W\u00fcste. Die Siedlung, die aus einem Landeplatz und einigen kleinen Au\u00dfenposten besteht, wurde urspr\u00fcnglich gebaut, um den Terraforming-Prozess des Planeten zu \u00fcberwachen. Nachdem die Terraform abgeschlossen war, wurde sie aufgegeben und langsam vom Sand abgetragen, bis 2501 die Universit\u00e4t Saisei das Gel\u00e4nde als Forschungszentrum wiederherstellte und Crosbys Eltern mit dem Betrieb des Landeplatzes beauftragte. Schon seit einigen Wochen \u00fcberf\u00e4llig, scherzten ihre Eltern, dass Kavya sich weigerte, geboren zu werden, bis sie sich 2503 auf dem Planeten niedergelassen hatten.\n\nAls Einzelkind und einer der wenigen st\u00e4ndigen Bewohner der Siedlung hat Kavya eine einzigartige Kindheit erlebt. Als sie nicht von den Professoren der Siedlung betreut wurde, half sie ihren Eltern, Maschinen zu reparieren, die von Yars feinem roten Sand gequ\u00e4lt wurden. Es war diese raue Umgebung, die ihr den Wert des Schutzes wertvoller Ausr\u00fcstung vor den Elementen lehrte.\n\nIm Jahr 2518 kam Aaron Douze mit seiner Mutter Meredith Douze, einer Biotech-Spezialistin, die darauf bedacht war, eine Kulturpflanze zu entwickeln, die das t\u00fcckische Biom von Yar \u00fcberleben k\u00f6nnte, an den Au\u00dfenposten. Als Teil ihrer Forschung richtete Meredith zahlreiche Anbaugebiete au\u00dferhalb der Siedlung ein, um ihre Ernten unter verschiedenen Bedingungen zu testen, und musste sie oft besuchen. Dann, eines Tages, kehrte sie nie von ihrer Runde zur\u00fcck.\n\nDie Siedlung mobilisierte sich, um sie zu finden, aber ein heftiger Sandsturm machte es unm\u00f6glich, selbst in den h\u00e4rtesten Landfahrzeugen zu suchen. Gl\u00fccklicherweise hatten Crosbys Eltern die Vorsichtsma\u00dfnahme getroffen, einen alten Crossfire LandCruiser f\u00fcr solche Situationen zu modifizieren. Da Aaron mit dem Standort der einzelnen Standorte vertraut war, begleitete er Kavya und ihren Vater bei der Suche. Sie fanden Meredith bewusstlos und halb im Sand am Boden einer schmalen Schlucht vergraben. Wenn sie den Sandsturm abgewartet h\u00e4tten, w\u00e4re es wahrscheinlich zu sp\u00e4t gewesen, sie zu retten.\n\nNach dieser Erfahrung verbrachte Aaron immer mehr Zeit im Wartungshangar des Landeplatzes mit Kavya. Er war neugierig auf das Crossfire und die Upgrades, die sie vorgenommen hatten, damit es die harten Bedingungen des Planeten \u00fcberstehen konnte. Aarons wachsendes Interesse an Bodenfahrzeugen war nicht das Einzige, was ihn immer wieder zur\u00fcck in den Hangar brachte. Die Romanze bl\u00fchte zwischen den Teenagern auf, und obwohl er kurz nach seinem 17. Geburtstag mit seiner Mutter nach Saisei zur\u00fcckkehrte, blieben die beiden in der N\u00e4he und tauschten in den n\u00e4chsten Jahren weiterhin Kommunikationen aus.\n\nAls es f\u00fcr Kavya an der Zeit war, das College zu besuchen, war es eine leichte Entscheidung, Aaron beizutreten und an der Universit\u00e4t von Saisei zu studieren. Sie erwarb einen Ingenieurabschluss, w\u00e4hrend er Betriebswirtschaft studierte. Nach dem Abschluss heirateten und landeten die beiden hochbezahlte, aber unerf\u00fcllte Arbeit in Fujin City. Zusammen sprachen sie dar\u00fcber, etwas anderes zu tun, aber der Komfort, der ihnen durch ihre bequemen Jobs geboten wurde, war schwer aufzugeben.\n\nSchlie\u00dflich wurden sie f\u00fcr einen l\u00e4ngeren Zeitraum aufgrund der Gesundheit der alternden Eltern von Kavya nach Yar zur\u00fcckgezogen. Nach nur wenigen Wochen, in denen sie sich um sie k\u00fcmmerten, starben sowohl ihre Mutter als auch ihr Vater innerhalb weniger Tage voneinander. Beim Packen des Besitzes ihrer Eltern stie\u00dfen die beiden auf das alte Kreuzfeuer unter einer staubigen Plane im Hangar. Die meisten Komponenten und mehrere Panels waren entfernt worden, so dass nur ein Skelett des Kreuzers \u00fcbrig blieb, an das sich die beiden so gut erinnerten. Die Legende des Unternehmens behauptet, Aaron habe Kavya gefragt: \"Was machen wir damit?\"\n\nIhre Antwort besiegelte ihr Schicksal: \"Lasst uns unsere eigenen machen.\"\n\nAufbruch in den Boden\nJahre zuvor hatten sie viele Nachmittage im Hangar damit verbracht, dar\u00fcber zu diskutieren, was sie tun w\u00fcrden, wenn sie ihr eigenes Fahrzeug bauen k\u00f6nnten, da sie gesehen hatten, wie viele der Rover des Au\u00dfenpostens an den Gel\u00e4nde- und Wetterbedingungen des Planeten versagten. Unzufrieden mit ihrem Leben auf Saisei, bot sich hier die Gelegenheit, eine Reihe von robusten, schnellen und langlebigen Bodenfahrzeugen zu bauen, die die \u00d6ffentlichkeit bei der Erkundung von Planeten nutzen kann.\n\nDie beiden wurden als neue Landeplatzbetreiber auf Yar eingestellt und verbrachten ihre Freizeit damit, ein Rigg zu bauen. In einem Nicken zu der Tatsache, dass sie einen Gro\u00dfteil ihrer Ausgangsmaterialien von einem alten Ladewagen geliehen haben, begannen sie, sich auf ihr Design als den Tumbril zu beziehen. Ihr erster Prototyp erwies sich als so vielversprechend, dass die Universit\u00e4t, nachdem sie im Laufe der Jahre riesige Summen an Credits f\u00fcr die Reparatur ausgefallener Fahrzeuge ausgegeben hatte, zustimmte, ihnen einen Zuschuss f\u00fcr ihre Entw\u00fcrfe zu gew\u00e4hren. Sie arbeiteten Vollzeit daran und hatten bis Ende 2535 ein voll funktionsf\u00e4higes Produktionsmodell. Das beeindruckende Fahrzeug, das extrem robust und robust genug ist, um auch das Wetter auf Yar problemlos zu meistern, zeigte sein Bestes erst, als sie hinter die Steuerung kamen. Es hat viel Spa\u00df gemacht, zu fahren.\n\nMit ihren Universit\u00e4tskontakten konnten Kavya und Aaron 2536 Tumbril Land Systems in Saisei gr\u00fcnden. Ihr erstes Nutzfahrzeug, der DX20, wurde sp\u00e4ter in diesem Jahr auf den Markt gebracht, hatte aber leider keinen gro\u00dfen Einfluss auf die erste Version. Kavya und Aaron waren entt\u00e4uscht, aber unbeirrt, \u00fcberzeugt, dass Tumbril nur Zeit brauchte, um seinen Markt zu finden. Ihr Instinkt w\u00e4re richtig, aber was das Unternehmen in den Mainstream katapultierte, war h\u00f6chst unerwartet.\n\nIm Jahr 2541 brach kurz nach der Begegnung der Menschheit mit den Tevarin ein Krieg aus. Angesichts ihres ersten interartiellen Konflikts erkannte die UNE pl\u00f6tzlich, dass ihnen die richtigen Fahrzeuge f\u00fcr bodengebundene Operationen fehlten, und das Milit\u00e4r k\u00e4mpfte um eine L\u00f6sung. Bodenfahrzeuge aller g\u00e4ngigen Hersteller wurden strengen Feldtests unterzogen. Die Ergebnisse waren nicht einmal ann\u00e4hernd.\n\nTumbrils DX20 war so gut konzipiert, dass sie mit nur wenigen Modifikationen kampfbereit waren. Tumbril erhielt einen massiven Milit\u00e4rvertrag und skalierte schnell ihren Betrieb, um die Nachfrage zu decken. Sie wurden sogar gebeten, neue Entw\u00fcrfe f\u00fcr die Kriegsanstrengungen zu erstellen. Es dauerte nicht lange, bis die Tumbril-Tanks von den Produktionslinien rollten.\n\nDer Erste Tevarinkrieg machte Tumbril zu einer vertrauensw\u00fcrdigen und beliebten Marke. Soldaten schw\u00e4rmten \u00fcber den DX20 und dieser Ruf f\u00fchrte dazu, dass die zivilen Verk\u00e4ufe nach dem Krieg in die H\u00f6he schnellen. Das Unternehmen expandierte erneut, um die Nachfrage zu befriedigen. Jahrzehntelanges nachhaltiges Wachstum machte Tumbril zum f\u00fchrenden Hersteller von Bodenfahrzeugen f\u00fcr den \u00f6ffentlichen und privaten Sektor.\n\nVerschwunden, aber nicht vergessen\nKavya und Aaron f\u00fchrten Tumbril aktiv, bis beide 100 Jahre alt waren. Ein Jahrzehnt nach dem Zweiten Tevarinkrieg zogen sich die beiden schlie\u00dflich zur\u00fcck und gaben die Kontrolle an ihren Vorstand ab. Unglaublicherweise waren die folgenden zwei Jahrhunderte so erfolgreich wie die ersten. In dieser Zeit f\u00fchrte Tumbril zahlreiche legend\u00e4re Bodenfahrzeuge wie die Nova-, Timura- und C-Serie ein.\n\nGegen Ende des Messer-Regimes f\u00fchrten jedoch haushaltspolitische Bedenken dazu, dass das Milit\u00e4r neue Raumfahrzeuge \u00fcber Landfahrzeugen Priorit\u00e4t einr\u00e4umte und die Vertr\u00e4ge mit Tumbril reduzierte. Obwohl sich das verlorene Einkommen auf ihr Ergebnis auswirkte, sahen viele Vorstandsmitglieder dies als einen Segen in Verkleidung, da die \u00f6ffentliche Meinung gegen\u00fcber der Herrscherfamilie und ihren Mitarbeitern sauer wurde. Die Vertr\u00e4ge des Unternehmens wurden weiter reduziert, nachdem das Messer-Regime gefallen war und die neue UEE-Regierung Ressourcen in l\u00e4ngst vernachl\u00e4ssigte Sektoren umgeleitet hatte.\n\nDer deutliche R\u00fcckgang der Regierungsauftr\u00e4ge zwang Tumbril, mehr Gewinne im privaten Sektor zu erzielen. Das Board, das seinen Marktanteil erh\u00f6hen wollte, setzte eine Reihe von Designs durch, bevor es den strengen internen Qualit\u00e4tssicherungsprotokollen unterworfen wurde, die seit Jahrzehnten gelten. Eine Reihe unbeliebter neuer Fahrzeuge, kombiniert mit der katastrophalen Entscheidung, billigere Materialien zu verwenden, um die Produktionskosten zu senken, tr\u00fcbte die Marke Tumbril schlie\u00dflich f\u00fcr eine Generation von Konsumenten \u00fcber die Reparatur hinaus.\n\nIn den 2850er Jahren brannte das Unternehmen zahlreiche CEOs durch, um Tumbril aus seiner Todesspirale herauszuholen, aber das sollte es nicht. Im Jahr 2862 meldete das Unternehmen, obwohl es noch einige wenige verbliebene Regierungsvertr\u00e4ge mit Planetenvermessern hatte, Konkurs an. Tumbril wurde geschlossen und die Marke schien f\u00fcr die M\u00fclltonnen der Geschichte bestimmt zu sein.\n\nEs w\u00e4re dort geblieben, wenn nicht f\u00fcr Terrence Naban. Der charismatische Unternehmer hat seine Investmentgesellschaft DevCo Group mit zahlreichen externen Investoren zusammengebracht und 2941 die nicht mehr existierende Marke Tumbril gekauft. \u00c4hnlich wie die Gr\u00fcnder des Unternehmens liebte Naban Bodenfahrzeuge und glaubte, dass der Marktplatz unterversorgt war, also traf er eine radikale Entscheidung, die Marke Tumbril wiederzubeleben. Er glaubte, dass die Wiederherstellung des Namens ein effektiverer Weg w\u00e4re, um die Kunden zu erreichen, als die Einf\u00fchrung einer neuen Marke, zumal die originalen Tumbril-Fahrzeuge in den letzten Jahrzehnten zu Sammlerst\u00fccken geworden waren. Es gab sogar noch Original-C-Serien, die von Homesteadern auf einigen der abgelegeneren Grenzregionen verwendet wurden.\n\nWenn die k\u00fcrzlich angek\u00fcndigte Cyclone-Serie ein Hinweis ist, scheint Naban entschlossen zu sein, sein Versprechen einzuhalten, Tumbril wieder in seinen fr\u00fcheren Glanz zu versetzen. Es wurden keine Kosten gescheut, um talentierte Designer und Ingenieure einzustellen, die der Marke wieder Leben einhauchen. Sie begannen einfach damit, ein einzelnes Modell des Cyclone zu produzieren und mit vier Varianten auszustatten. Nach Angaben der Naban war es ihr Ziel, ein Fahrzeug richtig zu machen und dann von dort aus zu expandieren.\n\n85 Standardjahre nachdem Tumbril gefaltet wurde, ist es wieder da. Das seit Jahrhunderten bevorzugte Bodenfahrzeug der UEE hat dank Naban einen neuen Aufschwung erfahren. Als Zeichen daf\u00fcr, wie sehr er sich um die Marke k\u00fcmmert, hat sich Naban zum CEO von Tumbril ernannt und es sich zur pers\u00f6nlichen Mission gemacht, die Marke wieder auf den Punkt zu bringen. Wenn Naban das Unternehmen zu seinen Wurzeln zur\u00fcckf\u00fchren kann, dann scheint Tumbril Land Systems bereit und willens zu sein, alle nachfolgenden Hindernisse, die sich \u00fcber den Horizont erstrecken k\u00f6nnten, zu \u00fcberwinden.","zh_CN":"This portfolio originally appeared in Jump Point 5.8.\nAs space travel became more and more common, ground vehicles began to be regarded as strictly utilitarian. To many people, land vehicles took you where you were going, but it was space vehicles that took you to places you\u2019d never been. This meant that by the 25th century most kids didn\u2019t dream about owning a racing sled or all-terrain rover; they dreamed about their first spaceship.\n\nFortunately, Kavya Crosby and Aaron Douze weren\u2019t typical kids.\n\nRough & Tumbril Beginnings\nKavya Crosby grew up in a small settlement surrounded by Yar\u2019s vast Red Desert. Consisting of a landing pad and a few small outposts, the settlement had originally been built to monitor the planet\u2019s terraforming process. After the terraforming was complete, it was abandoned and slowly subsumed by the sand until 2501, when the University of Saisei restored the site as a research center and hired Crosby\u2019s parents to run the facility\u2019s landing pad. Already a few weeks overdue, her parents joked that Kavya refused to be born until they\u2019d settled on the planet in 2503.\n\nBeing an only child, and one of the settlement\u2019s few permanent residents, provided Kavya with a unique childhood. When not being tutored by the professors stationed at the settlement, she helped her parents fix machines tormented by Yar\u2019s fine red sand. It was this harsh environment that taught her the value of protecting precious equipment from the elements.\n\nIn 2518, Aaron Douze arrived at the outpost with his mother Meredith Douze, a biotech specialist intent on engineering a crop that could survive Yar\u2019s treacherous biome. As part of her research, Meredith established numerous grow sites outside the settlement to test her crops under different conditions, and was required to visit them often. Then, one day, she never returned from her rounds.\n\nThe settlement mobilized to find her, but a raging sandstorm made it impossible to search in even the toughest land vehicles. Luckily, Crosby\u2019s parents had taken the precaution of modifying an old Crossfire LandCruiser for such situations. Since Aaron was familiar with the location of each site, he joined Kavya and her father on the search. They found Meredith unconscious and half buried in sand at the bottom of a narrow ravine. If they had waited out the sandstorm, it probably would have been too late to save her.\n\nAfter this experience, Aaron spent more and more time in the landing pad\u2019s maintenance hangar with Kavya. He was curious about the Crossfire and the upgrades they had made so it could survive the planet\u2019s harsh conditions. Aaron\u2019s growing interest in ground vehicles wasn\u2019t the only thing that kept bringing him back to the hangar. Romance blossomed between the teenagers, and despite him returning to Saisei with his mother shortly after his 17th birthday, the two remained close, continuing to exchange comms over the next few years.\n\nWhen it was time for Kavya to attend college, it was an easy decision to join Aaron and study at the University of Saisei. She earned an engineering degree while he studied business. After graduating, the two wed and landed high-paying but unfulfilling work in Fujin City. Together, they talked about doing something different, but the comforts afforded them by their cushy jobs were hard to give up.\n\nEventually, they were drawn back to Yar for an extended period due to the health of Kavya\u2019s aging parents. After only a few weeks of tending to them, both her mother and father passed away within days of each other. While packing up her parents\u2019 possessions, the two came across the old Crossfire under a dusty tarp in the hangar. Most of the components and several panels had been removed, leaving only a skeleton of the cruiser the two remembered so well. Company legend claims Aaron asked Kavya, \u201cWhat do we do with this?\u201d\n\nHer response sealed their fate: \u201cLet\u2019s make our own.\u201d\n\nGetting Off the Ground\nYears before, they had spent many an afternoon in the hangar debating what they would do if they could build their own vehicle, as they had seen many of the outpost\u2019s rovers fail in the face of the planet\u2019s terrain and atmospheric conditions. Dissatisfied with their lives on Saisei, here was a chance to build a range of tough, fast and durable ground vehicles for the public to use during planetside exploration.\n\nThe two were hired on as the new landing pad operators on Yar, and spent their off hours constructing a rig. In a nod to the fact that they borrowed much of their starting materials from an old loader cart, they started referring to their design as the tumbril. Their initial prototype turned out to be so promising that the University, after spending huge amounts of credits repairing failed vehicles over the years, agreed to give them a grant to pursue their designs. Working on it full time, they had a fully working production model by the end of 2535. Tough to the extreme and rugged enough to easily handle even the weather on Yar, the formidable vehicle didn\u2019t reveal its best feature until they got behind the controls. It was a lot of fun to drive.\n\nWith their University contacts, Kavya and Aaron were able to incorporate Tumbril Land Systems in Saisei during 2536. Their first commercial vehicle, the DX20, was released later that year but unfortunately failed to make much of an impact on its initial release. Kavya and Aaron were disappointed but undeterred, convinced that Tumbril only needed time to find its market. Their instinct would be right, but what catapulted the company into the mainstream was most unexpected.\n\nIn 2541, war erupted shortly after Humanity encountered the Tevarin. Faced with their first inter-species conflict, the UPE suddenly realized they lacked the proper vehicles for ground-based operations, and the military scrambled to find a solution. Ground vehicles from all current manufacturers were put through rigorous field tests. The results weren\u2019t even close.\n\nTumbril\u2019s DX20 was so well designed that they were combat ready with only minor modifications. Tumbril landed a massive military contract, and quickly scaled their operation to meet the demand. They were even asked to create new designs for the war effort. It wasn\u2019t long before Tumbril tanks began to roll off production lines.\n\nThe First Tevarin War elevated Tumbril into a trusted and beloved brand. Soldiers raved about the DX20 and this reputation led to skyrocketing civilian sales following the war. Once again, the company continued to expand to meet demand. Decades of sustained growth turned Tumbril into the preeminent producer of ground vehicles for both the public and private sectors.\n\nGone But Not Forgotten\nKavya and Aaron actively ran Tumbril until both were centenarians. A decade after the Second Tevarin War, the two finally retired and relinquished control to their board of directors. Incredibly, the ensuing two centuries were as successful as the first. It was during this period that Tumbril introduced numerous legendary ground vehicles, like the Nova, Timura and C-series.\n\nHowever, towards the end of the Messer regime, budgetary concerns made the military prioritize new spacecraft over ground vehicles and led to the reduction of contracts with Tumbril. Though the lost income impacted their bottom line, many board members saw this as a blessing in disguise since public opinion towards the ruling family and their associates was turning sour. The company\u2019s contracts were further reduced once the Messer regime fell and the new UEE government diverted resources to sectors long neglected.\n\nThe significant reduction in government contracts forced Tumbril to find more profits in the private sector. Eager to increase their market share, the board pushed a series of designs through before they had been subjected to the rigorous in-house quality assurance protocols that had been in place for decades. A string of unpopular new vehicles, combined with the disastrous decision to use cheaper materials to reduce production costs, finally tarnished the Tumbril brand beyond repair for a generation of consumers.\n\nDuring the 2850s, the company burned through numerous CEOs in an attempt to pull Tumbril out of its death spiral, but it was not to be. In 2862, despite still having a few lingering government contracts with planetary surveyors, the company declared bankruptcy. Tumbril was shuttered and the brand seemingly destined for the dustbins of history.\n\nIt would have stayed there if not for Terrence Naban. The charismatic entrepreneur partnered his investment firm, DevCo Group, with numerous outside investors and bought the defunct Tumbril brand in 2941. Much like the company\u2019s founders, Naban loved ground vehicles and believed the marketplace was underserved, so he made a radical decision to resurrect the Tumbril brand. He believed that restoring its name would be a more effective way to reach customers than launching a new brand, particularly since original Tumbril vehicles had become collectors\u2019 items over the previous decades. There were even still original C-series being used by homesteaders on some of the more remote frontier worlds.\n\nIf the recently announced Cyclone series is any indication, Naban seems intent on delivering on his promise to restore Tumbril to its former glory. No expense was spared to hire talented designers and engineers to breathe life back into the brand. They started simple by producing a single model of the Cyclone and outfitting it with four variants. According the Naban, their goal was to get one vehicle done right, then expand from there.\n\nEighty-five standard years after Tumbril folded, it\u2019s back. The UEE\u2019s ground vehicle of choice for centuries has been given a new lease on life thanks to Naban. As a sign of how much he cares for the brand, Naban has named himself Tumbril\u2019s CEO and made it his personal mission to bring the brand back to relevance. If Naban can return the company to its roots, then Tumbril Land Systems appears ready and willing to crest whatever subsequent obstacles might appear over the horizon."},"links_count":0,"comment_count":12,"created_at":"2019-09-11T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"6 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-07 21:58:02","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":17229,"next_id":17232}}