Atreus

Atreus was a corporation that was founded in Medina by Eusic Mori shortly after the end of the Syndicate Wars. Funded largely by a big fat noble inheritance (Eusic was a son of the Montressori house of Guardian nobility) and driven by cheap Mystic labor, Atreus sought to fill a corporate void left by Syndicate collapse in the Gate Dimension.

The Rise of Atreus

After Gate's entry into the Web of Worlds, Atreus branched out and expanded its production of weaponry, competing directly with firms like Truppenamt and Saeder-Krupp. The space race pushed Atreus into even greater prominence: helping to develop and construct the Guardian and Medinan space fleets brought Atreus into a unique sort of status thus far not duplicated among the Web's large corporations: Atreus became sovereign.

The Gate Three

As a sovereign entity, Atreus formed one third of the Gate Three with Guardia and Medina. Together the Gate Three colonized half the Web of Worlds, and became a dominant and unrivalled force in Web politics. Atreus was also a member of the Confederation. This era of Gate dominance would come to an end just as powers like Esper and Tasnica were throwing their full weight into the space game.

Move to Tasnica

Eventually, Derik and Eusic would have a falling out that would separate Atreus from Guardia and Medina. Eusic's plan was to flee Gate and have Atreus become a Tasnican corporation, but Derik was willing to go to war to prevent that from happening. Rhodes Palmerston would step in to broker the truce, and in the end Rhodes would be the biggest winner from Eusic and Derik's falling out: just under half the Gate Dimension's colonial empire was to become Tasnican in the deal. Atreus itself would get very little, but Eusic's gambit was that, in the long run, his company would prosper under the umbrella of corporation-friendly Tasnican rule.

Decline of Atreus

Atreus, at first, did fairly well on the market. There was a buzz about Atreus that gave its stock value. But after the first year of Atreus' being Tasnican, the company began to lose its sheen. Contracts that Atreus had reliably held as a sovereign corporation-state were lost (likely due to intimidation from King Derik), and new contracts were hard to come by (by this time Kuat and Saeder-Krupp dominated the field of aerospace design and weapons manufacture; two's company, three's a crowd).

Atreus' infamy had earned it a place on the AAA corporate council, but it held little real clout. Just to hang on and make ends meet, Atreus found itself producing consumer electronics -- and even then, they found it hard to compete against Gatian imports (of all things).

Eusic Mori's untimely (and somewhat scandalous) demise didn't help the company much, either. Atreus went through a string of CEOs in the years since, and with each successor the company progressed along a steady decline. Most doubted Atreus would ever recapture its lost glory.

Atreus (re)Rising

In the year 46 WR, Troy Sordana came to head Atreus. His becoming confirmed as the corporation's CEO just happened to coincide with the untimely strangulation deaths of five of the six Atreus board members in a freak accidental gas leak. The remaining member of the board, Galnar Dracken, served as Chairman of a new board of directors that was hand-picked by Sordana, until Dracken himself was compelled into early retirement. At the present time, Sordana serves as both CEO and Chairman of the Board, and is also majority shareholder.

While not abandoning Atreus' mainstay in consumer electronics, the company under Sordana is attempting once again to break into the market that it once dominated: weapons, high-technology and space craft manufacture. The re-aquisition of the Masa supercomputer, and the return of the genius scientist Solast Bendiron to Atreus, are sure to help in this, though the company is looking at quite the uphill climb if they wish to compete against the likes of Kuat and Saeder-Krupp.

Atreus Contributions

Atreus' most recognized contribution to Web high technology is nanotechnology. Atreus technicians were the first to pioneer the use of nanites in applications ranging from medicinal to military. All of the modern innovations in the field are directly attributable to work done in Atreus labs during the heyday of the Gate Three.

The first space colony in the Web of Worlds on Gate IV still bears Atreus' name, even though the company's logo hasn't so much as been hinted at in the Dimension since the Gate Three split up.

CEOs of Atreus, Inc.

• Eusic Mori, Founder, 2311 AD-2318 AD (28 WR-35 WR)
  • Achievements: Founded Atreus, Inc., and for a time was the Web of Worlds' premier weapons merchant, temporarily dethroning Truppenamt Macrotechnology (one of the four companies that would later form the Kuat Consortium). Earned Atreus sovereign status. Member of the Gate Three and the Confederation. Moved Atreus from Gate to Tasnica.
  • Departure: Died under mysterious circumstances (was assassinated) in transit between Mana III and the Atreus-run colony on the fourth moon of Mana VI.
• Scot Mekel, 2318 AD-2320 AD (35 WR-37 WR)
  • Achievements: Guided Atreus through a rough transition period. Shifted the company's focus away from small-arms and into starship manufacture.
  • Departure: Resigned after company stock plumetted when Atreus failed to win a bid to build cruisers for the RMCAA.
• "A.C." Kuklarma, 2320 AD-2321 AD (37 WR-38 WR)
  • Achievements: A Moogle from Backwoods, Kuklarma was Atreus' first non-Gatian executive. Shifted Atreus resources more firmly behind spacecraft construction and sale. Downsized Atreus' design departments and focused on contracting ship construction with the Grand Army and Tasnica.
  • Departure: A major security breach late in the year 37 allowed several Firelance frigates to fall into the hands of what may have been Unbound pirates. As the scandal unfolded into 38, it was revealed that other ships built at Atreus shipyards, as well as ship parts, had been stolen before the incident that had started the firestorm, and the company had covered it up by eating into profits while they attempted to fix the problem in-house. Kuklarma resigned in disgrace shortly after Senate Proconsul Kenneth Brackhaven forced the closure of the Atreus shipyards at the colony on the fourth moon of Mana VI. (Kuat later aquired these shipyards)
• John Ceylus, 2321 AD
  • Achievements: Hired on hastily after the resignation of Kuklarma, Ceylus was an old-school Atreus hand who wanted to bring his company back into the small-arms game.
  • Departure: Ceylus' clumsy effort to reclaim its lost glory was handily massacred by Kuat. Ceylus' term as CEO lasted less than four months. He quit in frustration and went to Egmont to become a Kuat Arms Expert. (if you can't beat 'em...)
• Mike Spendlesten, 2321 AD-2323 AD (38 WR-40 WR)
  • Achievements: With piss-poor stocks and mass layoffs looming on the horizon, Spendlesten shifted Atreus' focus yet again, this time to electronics goods.
  • Departure: Poor leadership failed to avoid a disastrous round of layoffs. The board demanded Spendelsten's resignation, but Spendelsten had the support of the stockholders and threatened to fire the entire board. Died of "food poisoning" shortly thereafter.
• Gill Carmelio 2323 AD-2326 AD (40 WR-43 WR)
  • Achievements: A Priman, and unlucky enough to assume control of a Tasnican AAA Corp in the same year that Kenny Brackhaven became Prime Minister. Managed to establish Atreus' niche in electronic appliances, handheld devices and entertainment wares (televisions and stereos).
  • Departure: Despite being the most successful Atreus CEO since Eusic Mori himself, the Board requested Gill Carmelio's resignation in the third quarter of 43. The rumor mill at Atreus has it that Carmelio was sleeping with several of the board members' wives. Carmelio is currently the governor of the Tasnican State of Prima.
• Teve Tobs, 2326 AD (43 WR)
  • Achievements: Didn't really do anything during his short term as CEO.
  • Departure: At his second board meeting, Tobs suggested Atreus return to its roots and manufacture weapons again. The Board thought he was joking. At his third board meeting, Tobs brought in plans and a time table for returning Atreus to its roots as a weapons manufacturer. Teve Tobs disappeared under mysterious circumstances after that third board meeting. Sadly, he was never heard from again.
• Kerc Chaar 2326-2329 AD (43 WR-46 WR)
  • Achievements: Chaar held stock prices steady for the first two years on the job, but generally did nothing to improve the company's image, in Tasnica or elsewhere. Improvised a catchy little song one day called "My Golden Parachute."
  • Departure: While driving home, a tree jumped out in front of his car. The accident was fatal -- and failed brakes didn't help.
• Troy Sordana, 2329 AD (46 WR) - present
  • As Atreus stock plummeted over the course of a decade, Sordana slowly bought it up, actinig through front companies and front-of-a-front companies. When he was finally majority shareholder, he declared himself the new CEO (after his inside man, Galnar Dracken, assassinated his predecessor) and killed the Board of Directors.

Notable Members of the Current Atreus Board of Directors

• Chairman: Troy Sordana (CEO, Majority Shareholder, President and all-round guy-in-charge of Atreus)
• Director of Axis Research and Development: Doctor Solast Bendiron
• Director of Legal Counsel and Accounting: Marcus Newsome