MerthCorp
MerthCorp is the largest and most diverse corporation in the Kingdom of Guardia. It is the only Gatian corporation to have significant presences in other nations. MerthCorp has been, at various points in its existence, a Medinan, a Tasnican and a Guardian corporation. No other modern corporate entity has changed its nationality as many times as MerthCorp has.
| Corporate | |
| Headquarters: | Bangor, Guardia |
|---|---|
| Founded: | 2267 AD |
| Founded In: | Coast Town, Medina |
| Main Product/Area of Focus: | Tech components, Aerospace, weapons, computers |
| Locations: | Tasnica, Medina, Guardia |
| Corporate Slogan: | |
| Personnel | |
| Corporate Head/Title: | Mace Merthor/CEO |
| Members of the Board: | |
| Prominent Division Heads: | |
| Other Important Personnel: | |
Contents
Founding
MerthCorp was founded in the late 2200's by Mace Merthor in Coast Town, Medina. Merthor was able to thrive in Medina under Ozzie XI because he was a Mystic (a Hench, to be precise), and accrued surplus wealth through trade in Guardia facilitated by his partnership with Guardian aristocrat Aldernathy Monstressori. Close ties to the Medinan government helped to shelter MerthCorp from the ruthless Syndicates that ruled Guardia.
The Medina Three
Following the Syndicate Wars, MerthCorp was one of three major Medinan corporations that flourished and came to dominate with the collapse of Syndicate rule over Gate. The other two were JetCo and then later OmegaTech, both owned by entrepreneur Gorgon Wells (though JetCo was founded and had been run for years by Wells' father). Both Merthor and Wells supported Skull's rebellion (especially when it became clear that the Grand Army would handily win the KMT War), and the Medina Three (as the trio of corporations came to be called) prospered under Republican rule.
Shortly after the rebellion, Atreus would rise in Medina, and from this point on it was understood that "Medina Three" would now refer to Eusic Mori, Wells and Merthor together, though this would last only until Atreus gained sovereingty with the dawn of Web space travel.
The Tasnican Invasion
With Atreus sovereign and Gate firmly established as a major player in the Core, the Tasnican AAA Corporations (in particular Kuat and Saeder-Krupp) sought to establish a foothold in the dimension in order to gain unfettered access to advanced Gatian technologies.
Attacking Guardian corporate assets was unrealistic, since they were all held by the government. But Medina, with its free markets and Republican government, was perfect. So the AAAs set their sights on the kings of Medina's hill: Merthor and Wells.
While Kuat and S-K engaged in limited black ops tactics to vandalize Gorgon Wells' assets, another AAA player, Tasnicology Computing, sought a different route to challenge Mace Merthor. Tasnicology's CEO, Xavald Lousten, grossly underestimated the guile of MerthCorp's directors and made a bid to buyout the company. Through a series of market maneuvers that, to this day, are studied in collegiate level business and economics classes, however, Merthor reversed the buyout bid, and managed to take control of Tasnicology before Lousten's own bid could be realized. Merthor liquidated Lousten's position in the merged company and basically left him penniless. The former CEO committed suicide not long after.
MerthCorp as an AAA
Following the conquest of Tasnicology, MerthCorp made the move from Medina to Tasnica and joined the hallowed ranks of the AAA Corporations. Unlike his contemporary Eusic, Merthor would do fairly well among the Tasnicans, and MerthCorp was modestly successful. Merthor himself was known for his tendency to never engage the other AAA's in open competition; his approach was more concilliatory, and he networked well among such titans as Lofwyr and Damien Gavalian. He brokered a number of agreements between himself and other AAA Corporations, ensuring that there were profits enough for all within every market MerthCorp tackled. Though these agreements were often short-lived, and sometimes even ignored outright, they did afford MerthCorp some latitude and ability to survive long enough in Tasnican commerce to become established as a mid-tier player.
Return to Gate
Archbishop Meres' call to boycott Tasnican goods in the Gate Dimension would severely harm the corporate presences of several AAA Corporations, the effects of which are felt by some of the Corps to this day. Merthor, however, would capitalize on this by changing citizenship yet again.
Following the announcement of the boycott, Merthor met privately with Meres and arranged to move his base of operations to Guardian soil, in exchange for a discounted contract to provide supplemental hardware manufacture for the GDF and GSF.
Maintaining his presence in the Mana Dimension, but shifting his corporate headquarters to Guardia and making use of existing MerthCorp factories in Medina, Mace Merthor went to work for the Guardians. In addition, he acquired the rights to a number of Guardian military and aerospace technologies, which he began to manufacture and sell as a parts distributor to aerospace firms in Tasnica. Had Guardia and Tasnica gone to war over the Extraterritoriality Act (as some speculate Meres was contemplating), Merthor might have faced charges of treason for this, but Merthor had many friends in the Tasnican Senate, who happened to know that Rhodes Palmerston had been pushing for a repeal of the ET Act since even before the boycott. He judged correctly that Meres' boycott was just the thing to give that move the momentum it would require to succeed.
MerthCorp and the CCC
Following the Cleansing Wars, King Derik's governmental reforms would liberate the Guardian corporations that were previously government-owned. Together they would form an interest group lobby called the Corporate Concerns Council -- and Mace Merthor, having played at this game the longest, would naturally come to be at that body's head.
Products and Innovations
MerthCorp has been responsible for a number of technologies over the years. The bulk of its income is derived both from the sale of component parts for larger technologies, and from the patents it holds on specific devices or manufacturing processes. MerthCorp developed and manufactured the first energy-based shielding systems used in both fighter-scale and capital-scale starships. Most shielding systems built today are based off the MerthCorp model, which the company freely licenses and receives royalties from. MerthCorp also developed the bio-chemical weapon that was used to wipe out all life on the Hiveworld at the end of the Hivan War.
Because it produces parts and components, MerthCorp necessarily still deals with a number of other companies, including Kuat and several of the Guardian corporations. MerthCorp does not have dealings with JetCo and OmegaTech, however; lingering remnant of a bitter feud between Mace Merthor and Gorgon Wells.
