Katana / KATANA

2461
The massive tracks of settlers leaving earth towards the new colonies gave people room to breathe in the formally crowded cities of earth. Despite the exodus business flourished as nobody conqueres new worlds without proper equipment and preparation. Heavy Machines, cattle, masses of seeds and anything else the recently colonized worlds could not yet produce in sufficient amounts were bought on earth and shipped via the large star ports in New York, Moscow and Shanghai.

But not only adventurous young families were searching their fortune on the new worlds. Many characters of dubious reputation used the anonymous settler trails to reach the distant colonies and start a new career with a clean slate. Therefore, beside other supply goods, numerous weapons were an integral part of the basic equipment of each track.

2463
The 25 years old Ryu Hoshi (Dragonstar), descendant of traditional weapon smith from Tokio, invested all his money to found a small weapons manufacturer located in immediate vicinity of the major Shanghai star port. In the first several year, the Ryu Hoshi Katana Inc. mainly produced small arms and hunting weapons, as well as a basic but robust laser for small private spaceships.

2524
Eight years after the initial colonization of Terra the Hoshi Katana Inc. opened it’s seventh permanent establishment on this new promising planet. Despite his high age Ryu Hoshi attended the opening ceremony. A few weeks later he died and was buried on his country residence right outside the city boundaries of Shanghai. He left the companies leadership to his only daughter Mayumi Hoshi.

2526
With the decline of the settler tracks Mayumi initiated a radical restructuring of Hoshi Katana, away from mass products to exclusive high quality weapons systems. Class rather than mass was the new credo.

2532
A few years after the first unlucky contact with the Xi’An empire, the recently founded United Planets of Earth found itself in a massive arms race. Hoshi Katana made great profit, selling weapons and equipment for various special units.

2539
Despite the prolonged tension between the UPE and the Xi’An, there were multiple initiatives trying to ignite economic co-operations. In 2539 Mayumi visited the Tal-System as member of a delegation of the UPE’s “Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development”. The culture of the Xi’An, with their reserved attitude, respect for the elder and a general military education reminded Mayumi of her families traditional values and she was deeply impressed by the efficiency and strict organisation of the Xi’An industrial worlds in Tal. The similarities of Xi’An culture and her own personal background enabled Mayumi to get hold of some of the absolutely rare cooperation agreements with Xi’An corporations.

2544
Mayumi and her second son Akira took advantage of their new contact. The contact with Xi’An weapon experts took the products of Hoshi Katana Inc. to a completely new level regarding technology and design. Additionally the first Tevarin war added millions to their tills. Multiple special units from the navy to the marines used Hoshi Katana technology or relied on their knowledge on weapon modifications to squeeze even the last kilo-joule of power out of their equipment. Especially hand-crafted and personalized fire arms were popular among high military leaders. In the battle of Idris IV colonel Tio Koshi of the 112th Infantry Battalion, carried one of Hoshi Katana’s legendary rapid-fire “Ryu” blasters.

2558
With the rise of Ivan Messer, the proclamation of the United Empire of Earth and the massive xenophobic propaganda, the conflict with the Xi’An empire aggravated. More and more Katana Hoshi Inc. came under substantial pressure and lost almost all of its military contracts. Akira desperately searched for new markets for exclusive weapons and found them in the shady milieu of corrupted business oligarchs, head-hunters and smugglers.

2612
Two years after the end of the second Tevarin war, the Advocacy initiated legal proceedings against Killian Hoshi, grandson of Mayumi and acting president of Hoshi Katana. He was accused of espionage and high treason, for disclosing secret weapons technology to the Xi’An. Killian was arrested and Hoshi Katana broken up and sold in parts to several investors.

But due to Killians excellent contacts to the underworld he was able the re-buy most parts of the company within a few years after his release. To keep a low profile he used several middlemen and did not reunite the different branches under a common name. But behind the scenes Hoshi Katana experiences a renaissance.

2638
… to be continued