Update: On Chartered Companies, a Knightly Order and Shackleton Class Starships.

Yeah, I know I am bad and I lie sometimes. I am working on the rest of the Ramblings, but I am also in the process previously mentioned of getting my shit together to do this maybe even for CrImps. This of course means that I am coming across stuff I have written in a few different places and am collating that data into a master set to have in one place. Doing all this work means I am not fleshing out the notes I have for finishing the Ramblings post. Fear not! I am going to finish it, but while you are waiting, feast up on these found tidbits of information that had been in the Archives and has been brought up to the Stacks for your enjoyment and education.

In other news have a draft product list. Wow, I have made a lot of work for myself. *shakes head* Already, I am wondering why I decided to do this for real. Gone are my lovely days of leisure and doing this as I felt it. Now I am trying to stay on target and get my ducks in a row (and where oh where did that one come fro?) and what once were days where I could be lazy, suddenly I don't have enough time to do everything. Gak. Yep, me and my big mouth. Mom was right, it does get me into trouble. Good thing it is also so very good at getting me back out of trouble.

So, without further blabbings by me, fresh from the notebooks:

Imperial Charters. There are three common types of company organizations within the Imperium. 

The MegaCorps mostly are given an  Imperial Charter (IC), they are unlimited in range and scope of operations. They usually have their own vast fleets and powerful military units, civil administrations with their own courts, and resource exploitation systems that range "from dirt to J-space". IC companies have great corporate autonomy, for instance they can claim Imperial protection and trial in some cases. Shareholders have severely restricted liability when things go wrong. They often own worlds (Gov 6) within the Imperium, while other merely have a presence major worlds only.  

Next up are the Limited Charter (Ltd or LC) companies. These companies are limited usually to a regional collection of worlds and a select set of products or services. They are more firmly regulated in those services they can autonomously provide, they have smaller fleets and security units with the occasional mercenary unit attached as needed. Unless their business is resource exploitation, they generally procure theirs from another company. Quite a bit bartering of good and services goes on and not as many CrImps trading hands. As long it is documented and the Imperial Treasury is not shorted, it is legal and encouraged as a mechanism to stimulate interstellar trade. A good deal of product assembly is done at this level. 

The last type are those companies with a National Charter (NC). These companies are usually the home of the subsided merchant vessel. The Fat Traders move much of the freight and commerce on minor or even specially created routes and compose most of the known NC companies. They often only known of near their route connection to the major routes. Their routes are usually less than half a dozen worlds. They have small fleets and may contract out their security to another NC company. Security and mercenary units make up most of the rest of the known NC companies. Of course they have almost no autonomy other than that required by the length of communication lines.

Zessi Company [FS 0532, UWP: D 255 46B-5 GG Fs]

Shaasagra-Inkesi makes Jump Drives and Power Plants.

CyberSkillsr. Known mostly for infomercial level wares, but for those who look with diligence find they also make a series of instructional TransferMedia (a proprietary firmware compatible with MilSpec cybernetic instruction standards). 

Saniisha makes Jump Drives.

Daash Works makes Maneuver drives and Power Plants.

Fliskin Transport, NC. A multi-system Freight and Cargo National Charter company. 

Thornwood Enterprises Unlimited, IC. Specializes in exotic biologicals and custom memory systems.

Adirdika Daarnaludak Gimaka. The Thornwood-Daarnulud Combined Holdings Company. Used also as the Houses Treasury, They are a major backer of mercenary reparation bonds in the Imperium.

Thornwood-Daarnulud Computational. Makers of quality starship, facility and home component and wares.

Thornwood Industrial News. This news source covers the heavy industries from tool and part makers to producers of industrial scale projects for end users. From mining equipment and planetology to die molds and supply chains to starships and the construction yards that produce them.

The Order of the Spinward Marches. A Knights of Rhodes and Malta….IN SPACE! Originally only open to Imperial Agents, members of the Imperial Space Guard, Navy and Marines. Others have been accepted by the order, but only if the applicant's actions in some way made the starlanes safer for Travellers. Or at least that was their original charter according to founding orders and charter issued during late Third Imperium. Currently it is an order for those of the law enforcement agencies of the Imperium. Agents from the Ministry of Justice, Imperial Marshals, Agents of the Ministry of Commerce's Corporate Enforcement Division, members of the Imperial or a National Space Guards and the occasional member of the Dump Defense Forces are the most commonly met members of this order. 

HMS Elephant Island. A DDB designed and constructed Battle Class Starship. This Shackleton class starship is used by the Imperial Space Guard (ISG) for Search/Rescue/Repair/Salvage (SRRS) missions in deep space. The Elephant Island has a large bay sufficient to dock and repair the largest Adventure Class Starships and is equivalent to a Class C starport yard. It has extremely broad array of deep space range sensors and a much larger signals section than most Imperial Navy warships and rivals those of Imperial Joint Intelligence Service information warfare vessels. It carries not only large medical facilities and a full time medical staff, but has Colonial Low Berth Pods for massive disasters leading to them oddly known for showing up and freezing the infected away for later treatment. Ships of this class though are primarily designed for the rescue and repair stranded space vessels. If rescue and repair are not possible, the ship or boat can be scrapped for parts on site. This class of ship are often used after a space battle has been decided and deals with cleaning up the remains so they don't become a hazard to astrogation. Older models are lower tech and some have had their Jump drives removed, the hull braced for upgraded Maneuver drives and are used by National Space Guard agencies.