Portfolio: Hurston Dynamics
With a history stretching back over five hundred years, Hurston Dynamics is noteworthy for being not only one of the oldest continuously operated family businesses in the Empire, but also for owning its own planet in the Stanton system. A claim that only three other corporations can match. Tracing its lineage through 15 generations of Hurstons, the company made its fortune as an arms manufacturer, selling a wide range of weapons to the military and, more recently, to civilians. In addition, Hurston Dynamics produces many of the refined materials and components that other weapon manufacturers rely on. The saying goes that every time a shot is fired in the Empire, there is a good chance a Hurston is behind it.
Even with centuries of recorded history, current CEO “Colonel” Gavin E. Hurston likes to claim that his family can actually trace its heritage back even farther to an 11th-century weaponsmith renowned for forging swords. He even goes so far as proudly decorating his office with priceless relics from this era. However, most historians agree that the Hurston family as we know it got its start in the 25th century with company patriarch Solomon Hurston.
GOING FOR BROKER
In 2438, Humanity made contact with an alien species for the first time. While the Banu would prove ultimately to be peaceful, the discovery that there were potentially other civilizations among the stars initiated a multitude of new policies for the UNE, including a drastic increase in military spending to prepare for worst-case scenarios. Many leapt at this chance to capitalize on this sudden glut of military contracts, Solomon Hurston among them. Earning a living as a middleman, Solomon didn’t bother producing goods himself but would instead bid on government contracts and source the supplies at a lower price, earning a profit on the difference. When a contract requisitioning lasers for a series of military space-defense platforms was announced, Solomon found the perfect company to source the lasers from. Cheap and up-to-spec, the only issue was that the company was going out of business and wouldn’t be able to produce enough lasers in time. He took a risky loan and bought the company, transforming it into Hurston Dynamics and marking the Hurston family’s first foray into weapon production.
RISE OF A DYNASTY
Buoyed by the influx of government money, Solomon was able to turn a profit from the struggling weapon production facility. Over the next several years, Hurston Dynamics expanded its operations, going on to produce not only lasers but numerous specialized parts and components. Exclusively focusing on niche products that had few competitors, Solomon secured more and more contracts for his company. By 2460, Hurston Dynamics was a major military manufacturer and, to help him handle the company’s swift growth, the extended Hurston family was brought in to manage operations.
As a child, Solomon had always heard stories of how successful his mother, Janice Delong, had been. However, shortly after he had been born, she had passed away and the company she had founded continued on without her family receiving anything for her efforts. As the Hurstons struggled for years to make ends meet, Solomon had sworn that if he was ever successful, he would see that first and foremost his family was always taken care of. He was true to his word.
Hurston Dynamics would continue to expand, buying small companies, mines, and suppliers in order to meet the demands of its large portfolio of government contracts. With each acquisition, a Hurston family member would be placed at its head to run it. Importantly though, while Solomon believed firmly in family first, he also believed in having to earn your place at the table. Hurstons were expected to work hard to maintain their positions or risk being cut out of the family fortune. Solomon’s own son, Darrington Hurston, was a prime example of what could happen if someone proved unworthy of their birthright.
THE COST OF BUSINESS
The problem with relying so heavily on government contract bids is that in order to stay ahead, Hurston Dynamics had to ensure that it continued to offer the best price on bids while maximizing profits. Darrington Hurston was placed in charge of a factory that produced mag-resistors, but the cost of manufacturing them was so high that they were barely breaking even. Rather than trying to improve production methods or negotiate better material prices, Darrington decided to cut corners. This choice disastrously backfired when a railgun accident involving malfunctioning Hurston mag-resistors took the lives of multiple navy personnel.
The response was swift and Hurston Dynamics’ reputation was nearly ruined, losing several important contracts. Darrington was fired and it would take years for the company to regain the government’s trust. Solomon swore that the company would never again sacrifice quality in order to make a profit, and the company has adhered to that in the centuries since. Instead, they have earned a reputation for cutting costs everywhere else they can except for the product.
One main method used over years has been to utilize the most cost-effective production methods no matter their environmental impact. Sited frequently as one of the worst polluting companies in the UEE, Hurston Dynamics began moving its operations to locations with fewer regulations where it could legally use lower cost but environmentally unfriendly production methods. Decades of citations show that the company is even willing to skirt the law if it believes the fines will cost it less over time than upgrading its production to less-polluting methods.
The other cost-saving measure Hurston is notorious for implementing is connected to its hiring practices. In the early 26th century, under the leadership of Arial Hurston, the company’s third CEO, a new hiring contract called the Life/Labor-style employee agreement would be implemented.
Promising to offer stable employment, the potential employee would be locked into a years-long agreement at a fixed rate. While it would seem attractive at the time to have a guaranteed job for years to come, the employee would have little hope of advancement and no option to leave the company without paying an exorbitant cancellation fee. Though many critics have compared the contract to wage slavery, government authorities that continue to work with Hurston Dynamics point out that the agreements are considered to be legal under current labor laws. Despite the questionable labor and environmental records, Hurston Dynamics has had decades of growth and prosperity leading eventually to the company’s most ambitious expansion project, the purchase of Stanton I.
A HOME AWAY FROM HOME
In 2853, lead researcher Aberdeen Hurston helped the company secure an extremely lucrative contract to produce antimatter warheads after the former supplier had a containment breach at its main facility. Within a few short years, this new department would prove to be one of the company’s most profitable until it ran into a serious roadblock when a regular source of refined antimatter was unable to be secured. After being denied access to material being produced at QuarterDeck prison’s refinement facility, Hurston began the arduous process of constructing refineries itself. Because antimatter is extremely dangerous to handle there are severe restrictions on where facilities can be located and numerous laws regarding their operation that makes them costly to operate. In order to return to profitability, the company needed a better solution.
One presented itself in 2865 when the UEE announced that for the first time it was making planets available for private purchase. The four worlds of the Stanton system were to be auctioned off and Magda Hurston was convinced that Hurston Dynamics needed to own one of them. With its own planet, it would be self-governing and no longer subject to the same restrictions that had stymied it elsewhere. Additionally, it would have all the benefits that came with operating within the Empire itself. It would be a major purchase, but one that could finally allow the company to reach its full potential.
So with a vote of 5 to 3, the Hurston Dynamics board heeded Magda’s advice and purchased the rocky super-Earth, Stanton I. After minor terraforming to bring the world up to habitable standards, Hurston moved in and began working towards getting a full return on its considerable investment. Now CEO, Magda led the way on constructing massive mining operations across the planet and saw the establishment of a brand-new antimatter refinery. Facilities that would have taken years to construct under full UEE regulations could be built within months. Following the economic theory that the planet was only losing value every year thanks to inflation, Magda believed it was important that value be recuperated as quickly as possible. Any areas that were deemed to have little resource value were repurposed for factories, research centers, and weapon testing, or in the case of one particular large swath of land, made into the planet’s capital city, Lorville. The urban sprawl of the city houses almost all of the planet’s population and workforce, with the massive Hurston Dynamics Central Tower overlooking it all as a monument to the family’s legacy.
Though only there a few short decades, the company’s impact on the planet can already be seen. Environmental activists are protesting the pollution spreading across much of its surface while labor activists protest the conditions under which Hurston employees toil. Yet, at the heart of everything stands the Hurston family’s undeniable success built upon generations of hard work and amazing business acumen.
Even with centuries of recorded history, current CEO “Colonel” Gavin E. Hurston likes to claim that his family can actually trace its heritage back even farther to an 11th-century weaponsmith renowned for forging swords. He even goes so far as proudly decorating his office with priceless relics from this era. However, most historians agree that the Hurston family as we know it got its start in the 25th century with company patriarch Solomon Hurston.
GOING FOR BROKER
In 2438, Humanity made contact with an alien species for the first time. While the Banu would prove ultimately to be peaceful, the discovery that there were potentially other civilizations among the stars initiated a multitude of new policies for the UNE, including a drastic increase in military spending to prepare for worst-case scenarios. Many leapt at this chance to capitalize on this sudden glut of military contracts, Solomon Hurston among them. Earning a living as a middleman, Solomon didn’t bother producing goods himself but would instead bid on government contracts and source the supplies at a lower price, earning a profit on the difference. When a contract requisitioning lasers for a series of military space-defense platforms was announced, Solomon found the perfect company to source the lasers from. Cheap and up-to-spec, the only issue was that the company was going out of business and wouldn’t be able to produce enough lasers in time. He took a risky loan and bought the company, transforming it into Hurston Dynamics and marking the Hurston family’s first foray into weapon production.
RISE OF A DYNASTY
Buoyed by the influx of government money, Solomon was able to turn a profit from the struggling weapon production facility. Over the next several years, Hurston Dynamics expanded its operations, going on to produce not only lasers but numerous specialized parts and components. Exclusively focusing on niche products that had few competitors, Solomon secured more and more contracts for his company. By 2460, Hurston Dynamics was a major military manufacturer and, to help him handle the company’s swift growth, the extended Hurston family was brought in to manage operations.
As a child, Solomon had always heard stories of how successful his mother, Janice Delong, had been. However, shortly after he had been born, she had passed away and the company she had founded continued on without her family receiving anything for her efforts. As the Hurstons struggled for years to make ends meet, Solomon had sworn that if he was ever successful, he would see that first and foremost his family was always taken care of. He was true to his word.
Hurston Dynamics would continue to expand, buying small companies, mines, and suppliers in order to meet the demands of its large portfolio of government contracts. With each acquisition, a Hurston family member would be placed at its head to run it. Importantly though, while Solomon believed firmly in family first, he also believed in having to earn your place at the table. Hurstons were expected to work hard to maintain their positions or risk being cut out of the family fortune. Solomon’s own son, Darrington Hurston, was a prime example of what could happen if someone proved unworthy of their birthright.
THE COST OF BUSINESS
The problem with relying so heavily on government contract bids is that in order to stay ahead, Hurston Dynamics had to ensure that it continued to offer the best price on bids while maximizing profits. Darrington Hurston was placed in charge of a factory that produced mag-resistors, but the cost of manufacturing them was so high that they were barely breaking even. Rather than trying to improve production methods or negotiate better material prices, Darrington decided to cut corners. This choice disastrously backfired when a railgun accident involving malfunctioning Hurston mag-resistors took the lives of multiple navy personnel.
The response was swift and Hurston Dynamics’ reputation was nearly ruined, losing several important contracts. Darrington was fired and it would take years for the company to regain the government’s trust. Solomon swore that the company would never again sacrifice quality in order to make a profit, and the company has adhered to that in the centuries since. Instead, they have earned a reputation for cutting costs everywhere else they can except for the product.
One main method used over years has been to utilize the most cost-effective production methods no matter their environmental impact. Sited frequently as one of the worst polluting companies in the UEE, Hurston Dynamics began moving its operations to locations with fewer regulations where it could legally use lower cost but environmentally unfriendly production methods. Decades of citations show that the company is even willing to skirt the law if it believes the fines will cost it less over time than upgrading its production to less-polluting methods.
The other cost-saving measure Hurston is notorious for implementing is connected to its hiring practices. In the early 26th century, under the leadership of Arial Hurston, the company’s third CEO, a new hiring contract called the Life/Labor-style employee agreement would be implemented.
Promising to offer stable employment, the potential employee would be locked into a years-long agreement at a fixed rate. While it would seem attractive at the time to have a guaranteed job for years to come, the employee would have little hope of advancement and no option to leave the company without paying an exorbitant cancellation fee. Though many critics have compared the contract to wage slavery, government authorities that continue to work with Hurston Dynamics point out that the agreements are considered to be legal under current labor laws. Despite the questionable labor and environmental records, Hurston Dynamics has had decades of growth and prosperity leading eventually to the company’s most ambitious expansion project, the purchase of Stanton I.
A HOME AWAY FROM HOME
In 2853, lead researcher Aberdeen Hurston helped the company secure an extremely lucrative contract to produce antimatter warheads after the former supplier had a containment breach at its main facility. Within a few short years, this new department would prove to be one of the company’s most profitable until it ran into a serious roadblock when a regular source of refined antimatter was unable to be secured. After being denied access to material being produced at QuarterDeck prison’s refinement facility, Hurston began the arduous process of constructing refineries itself. Because antimatter is extremely dangerous to handle there are severe restrictions on where facilities can be located and numerous laws regarding their operation that makes them costly to operate. In order to return to profitability, the company needed a better solution.
One presented itself in 2865 when the UEE announced that for the first time it was making planets available for private purchase. The four worlds of the Stanton system were to be auctioned off and Magda Hurston was convinced that Hurston Dynamics needed to own one of them. With its own planet, it would be self-governing and no longer subject to the same restrictions that had stymied it elsewhere. Additionally, it would have all the benefits that came with operating within the Empire itself. It would be a major purchase, but one that could finally allow the company to reach its full potential.
So with a vote of 5 to 3, the Hurston Dynamics board heeded Magda’s advice and purchased the rocky super-Earth, Stanton I. After minor terraforming to bring the world up to habitable standards, Hurston moved in and began working towards getting a full return on its considerable investment. Now CEO, Magda led the way on constructing massive mining operations across the planet and saw the establishment of a brand-new antimatter refinery. Facilities that would have taken years to construct under full UEE regulations could be built within months. Following the economic theory that the planet was only losing value every year thanks to inflation, Magda believed it was important that value be recuperated as quickly as possible. Any areas that were deemed to have little resource value were repurposed for factories, research centers, and weapon testing, or in the case of one particular large swath of land, made into the planet’s capital city, Lorville. The urban sprawl of the city houses almost all of the planet’s population and workforce, with the massive Hurston Dynamics Central Tower overlooking it all as a monument to the family’s legacy.
Though only there a few short decades, the company’s impact on the planet can already be seen. Environmental activists are protesting the pollution spreading across much of its surface while labor activists protest the conditions under which Hurston employees toil. Yet, at the heart of everything stands the Hurston family’s undeniable success built upon generations of hard work and amazing business acumen.
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--- Tue Jul 23 2013 00:00:00 GMT+0200
+++ Tue Jul 23 2013 00:00:00 GMT+0200
@@ -1 +1 @@
-This article on Hurston Dynamics, one of Star Citizen’s weapons manufacturers, first appeared in last month’s Jump Point! Jump Point magazine is available only to development subscribers and contains exclusive articles on the making of Star Citizen and the Star Citizen universe. A new Jump Point will launch this Friday, featuring all-new fiction, information about the making of Star Citizen’s economy and more!
+With a history stretching back over five hundred years, Hurston Dynamics is noteworthy for being not only one of the oldest continuously operated family businesses in the Empire, but also for owning its own planet in the Stanton system. A claim that only three other corporations can match. Tracing its lineage through 15 generations of Hurstons, the company made its fortune as an arms manufacturer, selling a wide range of weapons to the military and, more recently, to civilians. In addition, Hurston Dynamics produces many of the refined materials and components that other weapon manufacturers rely on. The saying goes that every time a shot is fired in the Empire, there is a good chance a Hurston is behind it.
@@ -3,2 +3 @@
-History
-Hurston Dynamics is the United Empire of Earth’s premier producer and distributor of both quantum cascade lasers and a wide variety of electron guns. They are also the single largest outsource producer of standard munitions warheads for military contracts and the third-largest refiner of antimatter precursor in today’s economy. Though few finished products bear the Hurston name, their raw materials and manufactured components are found in nearly every piece of space technology in flight today.
+Even with centuries of recorded history, current CEO “Colonel” Gavin E. Hurston likes to claim that his family can actually trace its heritage back even farther to an 11th-century weaponsmith renowned for forging swords. He even goes so far as proudly decorating his office with priceless relics from this era. However, most historians agree that the Hurston family as we know it got its start in the 25th century with company patriarch Solomon Hurston.
@@ -6 +5,2 @@
-Copies of Hurston dies are used in manufacturing facilities across the galaxy, with illegal copies even crossing the border for use in Xi’An production hubs.
+GOING FOR BROKER
+In 2438, Humanity made contact with an alien species for the first time. While the Banu would prove ultimately to be peaceful, the discovery that there were potentially other civilizations among the stars initiated a multitude of new policies for the UNE, including a drastic increase in military spending to prepare for worst-case scenarios. Many leapt at this chance to capitalize on this sudden glut of military contracts, Solomon Hurston among them. Earning a living as a middleman, Solomon didn’t bother producing goods himself but would instead bid on government contracts and source the supplies at a lower price, earning a profit on the difference. When a contract requisitioning lasers for a series of military space-defense platforms was announced, Solomon found the perfect company to source the lasers from. Cheap and up-to-spec, the only issue was that the company was going out of business and wouldn’t be able to produce enough lasers in time. He took a risky loan and bought the company, transforming it into Hurston Dynamics and marking the Hurston family’s first foray into weapon production.
@@ -8 +8,2 @@
-The Hurston family has been helping Humans make war on one another for generations. They can readily trace the name back five hundred years, to the development of the first power lasers for space defensive platforms. More fanciful family histories connect the present-day Hurstons to Earth’s dark ages, crediting the family with everything from broad axes and crossbows to fixed-wing aircraft and atomic weapons. The current patriarch, “Colonel” Gavin E. Hurston, adopts this backstory wholeheartedly, decorating his office with millennia of killing tools and infusing the company’s advertising and corporate culture with medieval weaponry wherever possible.
+RISE OF A DYNASTY
+Buoyed by the influx of government money, Solomon was able to turn a profit from the struggling weapon production facility. Over the next several years, Hurston Dynamics expanded its operations, going on to produce not only lasers but numerous specialized parts and components. Exclusively focusing on niche products that had few competitors, Solomon secured more and more contracts for his company. By 2460, Hurston Dynamics was a major military manufacturer and, to help him handle the company’s swift growth, the extended Hurston family was brought in to manage operations.
@@ -10 +11 @@
-Whatever the true history, the old adage has proven correct with the current generation: war is good for business. Hurston Dynamics is one of the rare mega-corporations which can properly boast that it owns its own planet, having secured Stanton I from the UEE government in a money-and-stock deal worth an estimated fifty trillion credits. Prior to the acquisition of Stanton I, Hurston was based on Earth, with mining assets and weapons testing ranges scattered throughout the galaxy. In the past fifty years, these have been significantly consolidated to the facilities on Stanton, making it the place to go for Hurston technology.
+As a child, Solomon had always heard stories of how successful his mother, Janice Delong, had been. However, shortly after he had been born, she had passed away and the company she had founded continued on without her family receiving anything for her efforts. As the Hurstons struggled for years to make ends meet, Solomon had sworn that if he was ever successful, he would see that first and foremost his family was always taken care of. He was true to his word.
@@ -12 +13 @@
-A glitzy showroom and an uncomfortably formal pilots’ bar, Viola’s, belie the overall situation on the planet. Unlike the other inhabitants of the Stanton “office park,” Hurston has consciously run the planet into the ground: every inch of the world not assigned to corporate facilities is being mined for antimatter precursors or blasted apart in research and development tests. Soot and smog pollute the atmosphere to the point that inhabitants must be issued breathers when conducting work outside their habicubes. The worker satisfaction rating on Hurston is an astonishing 0 .5 (out of 10), and very few miners last more than a single conscription tour. The corporation is always seeking to import low-skilled workers and rumors persist that there is a market for Human slaves on their planet.
+Hurston Dynamics would continue to expand, buying small companies, mines, and suppliers in order to meet the demands of its large portfolio of government contracts. With each acquisition, a Hurston family member would be placed at its head to run it. Importantly though, while Solomon believed firmly in family first, he also believed in having to earn your place at the table. Hurstons were expected to work hard to maintain their positions or risk being cut out of the family fortune. Solomon’s own son, Darrington Hurston, was a prime example of what could happen if someone proved unworthy of their birthright.
@@ -14 +15,2 @@
-Whatever the truth, privateers will find that Hurston pays well to those who provide them with involuntary labor and is an excellent source of low-cost munitions and metals.
+THE COST OF BUSINESS
+The problem with relying so heavily on government contract bids is that in order to stay ahead, Hurston Dynamics had to ensure that it continued to offer the best price on bids while maximizing profits. Darrington Hurston was placed in charge of a factory that produced mag-resistors, but the cost of manufacturing them was so high that they were barely breaking even. Rather than trying to improve production methods or negotiate better material prices, Darrington decided to cut corners. This choice disastrously backfired when a railgun accident involving malfunctioning Hurston mag-resistors took the lives of multiple navy personnel.
@@ -16 +18 @@
-As a result of their disregard for Stanton I’s ecology, Hurston frequently finds itself the prime target of environmentalist groups, including the Citizen’s Clean World Alliance (CCWA) and the Wildlife Conservation Project (WCP). The Colonel does nothing to hide his disgust for such movements, frequently boasting about the number of indigenous species his company has exterminated (mounted Osoian heads and flatcat sensor nubs decorate his sitting room) and inciting further hatred from organizations unlikely to be purchasing radioactive munitions in the first place. In response, more militant environmental groups have even been known to target Hurston space convoys. Illegal bounties on Hurston corporate spacecraft are plentiful, though the corporation pays better for the requisite escort pilot muscle.
+The response was swift and Hurston Dynamics’ reputation was nearly ruined, losing several important contracts. Darrington was fired and it would take years for the company to regain the government’s trust. Solomon swore that the company would never again sacrifice quality in order to make a profit, and the company has adhered to that in the centuries since. Instead, they have earned a reputation for cutting costs everywhere else they can except for the product.
@@ -18,2 +20 @@
-Weapons Systems
-Though their weapons technology is found throughout the Empire and beyond, Hurston currently manufactures “only” two lines of branded ship weapons: quantum cascade lasers and electron guns. Both lines are available in multiple sizes, configurations and purposes. Weapons sizes range from tiny “needle” cannons to the massive capital batteries found on UEE warships. Hurston’s extensive tool and die experience allows for both weapon types to be sold in both Gatling repeater and strict cannon configuration. Variants of the guns (at various grades) are designed for different markets: Cheap for export, Standard to Quality for licensed civilian use and Excellent for the UEE military.
+One main method used over years has been to utilize the most cost-effective production methods no matter their environmental impact. Sited frequently as one of the worst polluting companies in the UEE, Hurston Dynamics began moving its operations to locations with fewer regulations where it could legally use lower cost but environmentally unfriendly production methods. Decades of citations show that the company is even willing to skirt the law if it believes the fines will cost it less over time than upgrading its production to less-polluting methods.
@@ -21 +22 @@
-Hurston’s “Spectrum” line of external cavity quantum cascade lasers has been used effectively by a variety of operators for nearly a century. Quantum cascade lasers fire electromagnetic bolts that convert any material contacted into plasma, giving it a reasonable “bite” that is useful in most space combat encounters. A Hurston Dynamics Spectrum 7 QCL is recommended by the Bounty Hunter’s Guild as the gold standard for “starter” laser cannons, while the Spectrum 9 Gatling variant has been adopted by the UEE for their destroyer-based CIWS systems currently undergoing space trials. While many corporations produce cheaper quantum cascade lasers, mostly based on Hurston’s technologies, the Hurston name continues to convey a strong cachet.
+The other cost-saving measure Hurston is notorious for implementing is connected to its hiring practices. In the early 26th century, under the leadership of Arial Hurston, the company’s third CEO, a new hiring contract called the Life/Labor-style employee agreement would be implemented.
@@ -23 +24 @@
-The less-celebrated “Magnitude” line of electron guns is generally considered a specialist’s weapon. Standard UEE units do not use Magnitudes, although they are mounted on particular special operations and Advocacy spacecraft variants. The guns strip electrons from hydrogen atoms and then accelerate them at high speeds suspended in a magnetic bolt focused through a multi-stage Einzel lens. A pilot trained in the use of his particular model of electron gun will find it an incredibly precise and powerful weapon … a “newbie” activating such a gun for the first time will find it largely useless.
+Promising to offer stable employment, the potential employee would be locked into a years-long agreement at a fixed rate. While it would seem attractive at the time to have a guaranteed job for years to come, the employee would have little hope of advancement and no option to leave the company without paying an exorbitant cancellation fee. Though many critics have compared the contract to wage slavery, government authorities that continue to work with Hurston Dynamics point out that the agreements are considered to be legal under current labor laws. Despite the questionable labor and environmental records, Hurston Dynamics has had decades of growth and prosperity leading eventually to the company’s most ambitious expansion project, the purchase of Stanton I.
@@ -25 +26,8 @@
-Extensive weapons labs have been established on Stanton I, and rumors of a third line of guns continue unabated. These rumors gained serious traction last year, when the corporation put out a record-high ten million credit bounty believed to be for a mercenary who stole a test artifact from the corporation. It is unknown whether or not the bounty was claimed or the artifact was recovered. Observers do consider it highly unusual that Hurston produces conventional and antimatter warheads without their own delivery system. Many believe it only a matter of time until the company premieres an entirely new antimatter-derived slug thrower gun type. When — or if — it happens, it is likely to throw the balance of power among civilian pilots wide open … and potentially impact the course of the war against the Vanduul.
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+A HOME AWAY FROM HOME
+In 2853, lead researcher Aberdeen Hurston helped the company secure an extremely lucrative contract to produce antimatter warheads after the former supplier had a containment breach at its main facility. Within a few short years, this new department would prove to be one of the company’s most profitable until it ran into a serious roadblock when a regular source of refined antimatter was unable to be secured. After being denied access to material being produced at QuarterDeck prison’s refinement facility, Hurston began the arduous process of constructing refineries itself. Because antimatter is extremely dangerous to handle there are severe restrictions on where facilities can be located and numerous laws regarding their operation that makes them costly to operate. In order to return to profitability, the company needed a better solution.
+
+One presented itself in 2865 when the UEE announced that for the first time it was making planets available for private purchase. The four worlds of the Stanton system were to be auctioned off and Magda Hurston was convinced that Hurston Dynamics needed to own one of them. With its own planet, it would be self-governing and no longer subject to the same restrictions that had stymied it elsewhere. Additionally, it would have all the benefits that came with operating within the Empire itself. It would be a major purchase, but one that could finally allow the company to reach its full potential.
+
+So with a vote of 5 to 3, the Hurston Dynamics board heeded Magda’s advice and purchased the rocky super-Earth, Stanton I. After minor terraforming to bring the world up to habitable standards, Hurston moved in and began working towards getting a full return on its considerable investment. Now CEO, Magda led the way on constructing massive mining operations across the planet and saw the establishment of a brand-new antimatter refinery. Facilities that would have taken years to construct under full UEE regulations could be built within months. Following the economic theory that the planet was only losing value every year thanks to inflation, Magda believed it was important that value be recuperated as quickly as possible. Any areas that were deemed to have little resource value were repurposed for factories, research centers, and weapon testing, or in the case of one particular large swath of land, made into the planet’s capital city, Lorville. The urban sprawl of the city houses almost all of the planet’s population and workforce, with the massive Hurston Dynamics Central Tower overlooking it all as a monument to the family’s legacy.
+
+Though only there a few short decades, the company’s impact on the planet can already be seen. Environmental activists are protesting the pollution spreading across much of its surface while labor activists protest the conditions under which Hurston employees toil. Yet, at the heart of everything stands the Hurston family’s undeniable success built upon generations of hard work and amazing business acumen.
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23.07.2013 00:00:00 -> 01.10.2020 00:07:19
--- Tue Jul 23 2013 00:00:00 GMT+0200
+++ Tue Jul 23 2013 00:00:00 GMT+0200
@@ -14 +14 @@
-Whatever the truth, privateers will find that Hurston pays well to those who provide them with involuntary labor and is an excellent source of low-cost munitions and metals.
+Whatever the truth, privateers will find that Hurston pays well to those who provide them with involuntary labor and is an excellent source of low-cost munitions and metals.
ID | 13152 |
---|---|
Veröffentlichung | 23.07.2013 |
Kategorie | Undefined |
Channel | Undefined |
Serie | Portfolio |
URL | /comm-link/spectrum-dispatch/13152-Portfolio-Hurston-Dynamics |
Kommentare | 72 |