Elite5 / ELITE5

One could say that Elite5 was founded late in the twenty-first century when humanity was taking their first steps away from Sol. Seeking to take advantage of the booming prospects that interstellar expansion offered, five factions came together to form a mega-corporation.

The company to propose the plan was Crewcorp in 2150. Led by Erik Meister, Crewcorp focused its energy in producing some of the finest mercenaries early space-pioneers ever saw. Not only were they extremely skilled at most tasks, the output of soldiers exceeded the next two competitors combined. Eventually Crewcorp saw its mercenaries picking up more skilled positions, until they built a new reputation as ace pilots.

The first company to pick up the offer was Blitzsteig Industries. A leader in the field of physics, they were an integral part in producing some of the early technologies used by Roberts Space Industries when they built the first Quantum Core Engine in 2075. With Nicholas Steiger at the helm, they earned contract after contract, eventually becoming behind-the-scenes architects for many (often competing) ship manufacturers.

Not long after Blitzsteig Industries arrived Small Services. Unlike their name, Small Services was a vast company well-known for providing top quality freelancing. What set them apart from the competition was their exceptional ability to route operatives to specific jobs. In their many years of operation, not a single job went undone. Credited with the algorithms that led to their success, CEO Nicholas Smalley is almost single-handedly responsible for their rapid growth. They had the highest ratings in the business and eventually started working contracts for the UEE Navy.

The last corporation to join was a conglomerate of two competing water-tech firms, HydroSwim. The two leaders, Mark Occhionero and Jonah Tomsick, realized they were stronger together, and they combined their technologies of water-reclamation and water cooling systems. With their additive clout, HydroSwim helped provide the engine cooling technology used in the first consumer starship, the RSI Zeus in 2140. Their water reclamation apparatus was eventually upgraded to a much larger design as part of Elite5, and was used in the successful terraforming of Mars in 2157.

Thus Elite5 was born. The management was a quintumvirate formed by the 5 leaders: Meister, Steiger, Smalley, Occhionero and Tomsick. As a governing team they worked exceedingly well together, playing off each others strengths, and making up for any weaknesses. Under their watchful eye and guiding hand, Elite5 had many prosperous years with almost exponential growth for half a century. To preserve their legacy, all five men made a pact to name each of their firstborn sons after themselves. This began a long line of recognizable names in the industry to present day.

When RSI achieved their technology breakthrough in 2214, Elite5 was at the very pinnacle of anything and everything that had to do with space flight and ship technologies. In 2214 Roberts Space Industries unveiled their new engine design, which could reach speeds of up to .1c. This caused an unprecedented boom in an already profitable area as interplanetary travel came to the common man. Unfortunately, this led to the decline of Elite5 due to the greed of Mark Occhionero. While padding his already full pockets, Mr. Occhionero was caught insider-trading between an external company and a sister-company of CrewCorp, LexCorp. This scandal took a heavy toll on Elite5 and stocks plummeted. Occhionero payed a large fine and broke off relations with both companies. Once everything blew over, Occhionero was welcomed back in the company. Jonah Tomsick however, was disgusted by the entire situation. He left Elite5 on bad terms and used his dwindling stocks to fund the Artemis mission to the Epic System. Ultimately the Artemis broke off communications and disappeared in 2232.

Elite5 never saw the same level of prosperity, though they did see a small jump in profits when the first jump point was discovered in 2271. Mark Occhionero eventually abandoned HydroSwim as water technologies reached a plateau. He gradually took control of several medical ships and cut out a small part of the healthcare field for Elite5 as spacefaring injuries grew all too common.

Due to the overcrowding of Earth, Elite5 moves their headquarters to Terra in 2516, a much more free and corporation-friendly planet. The decision to move was made easier by the increasing commerce and improving relations with the alien Banu since contact was made in 2438. Contact was made swiftly with the Xi’An in 2530 and the Tevarin in 2541. The Tevarin ultimately proved to be extremely hostile and Elite5 saw a brief glimpse of prosperity under commander Messer until the Tevarin were wiped out in 2610 with the defeat of Corath’Thal.

Peace once again saw the slow decline of Elite5 as the remaining Tevarin were incorporated into human society. While violent contact with the Vanduul in 2681 offered the promise of growth, this was ultimately quelled by the United Empire of Earth Navy taking on Small Services full-time instead of contracting them out. Nick Smalley left Elite5 to help the Navy deal with the Vanduul threat. While remaining in contact and leaving on good terms, shareholders were understandably worried and stocks plummeted. CrewCorp and Blitzsteig Industries took over the freelancing contracts, but Elite5 was now a small company.

Unable to keep up with thousands upon thousands of newer, bigger organizations and corporations in the coming years, the remaining 3 leaders sold of the rest of the stocks and moved Elite5 for the final time to the Nyx System where they currently sit now in 2945. Meister, Steiger and Occhionero now see only a few contracts a month, which usually fall under the fields of Bounty Hunting and Freelancing, though they are known to provide Medical Services as well, if the money is good.

Though only a shadow of their former glory, Elite5 still has a reputation for quality service and a job well done. They still operate as their motto indicates: Elite Training, Trusted Protection.