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[size=medium][size=medium][color=#FFFFFF]» About Ageira Technologies

Ageira is one of the oldest and most influential corporations in all of Sirius, and arguably the wealthiest in Liberty. Ageira is primarily concerned with the creation and development of new technology. Our biggest success is in the field of transportation technology. Ageira developed Docking Rings, Jump Gates, and Trade Lanes, which completely revolutionised travel throughout the Sirius Sector. Secondarily, we develop sub-light engines and manufacture smaller ships. Detroit Munitions, a partner company of Ageira, specialises in the manufacturing of weaponry.

Our closest business partners are Deep Space Engineering, Universal Shipping, and Interspace Commerce. We enjoy a close relationship with the government of Liberty, and friendly status with the Bretonian government. We have a neutral standing with the houses of Rheinland and Kusari. We are hostile to the Gallic government.

Ageira Technologies is one of the "Big Three" corporations of Liberty's business world, specialising in Faster-Than-Light transportation research and development. With the high demand of Ageira products, which are required to expand a faction'€™s borders, Ageira Technologies has become quite the powerhouse as the only producer of Jump Gate and Trade Lane parts. Along side Deep Space Engineering the company remains the only carrier of Jump Gate and Trade Lane parts to all of the houses of Sirius. On top of that, they are the inventors of the Valhalla Drive Technology, and also produce various other commodities such as Light Arms, Super Alloys, and Super Conductors.

Ageira'€™s current objectives include the distribution of Gate/Lane parts to existing development sites, and the exchange of other resources and commercial products from other groups which cannot be obtained in Liberty. Also, over the last ten years, Ageira has been looking to expand its corporate armoury in order to maintain its strength in the increasingly militarised Sirius Sector.

[color=#FF0000][size=medium][color=#FFFFFF]» Company History

Founded in 44 A.S. under the name of Valhalla Research, the company received major backing from interests in the government and military after unveiling a breakthrough in materials research. By studying the great sleeper ships used in travel to Sirius, Valhalla Research managed to discover a way to miniaturize the drive technology that was used in the ship. On top of that, they also improved on its design, increasing the power and efficiency of the drive. This new "Liberty Engine" allowed the travel between neighbouring star systems could be accomplished in a matter of months rather than years.

96 A.S.: With the arrival of the LCC Einstein in Rheinland, the first real-time communication was made with another Alliance colony. In that communication, business was conducted, and a technology swap was made: Valhalla's new "Valhalla Drive Technology" was exchanged for Rheinland's advanced information on construction technology. The technology would be studied, but nothing interesting would come of it until the arrival of the LCC Edison in Bretonia in 106 A.S. A deal was made with the government and Bretonia exchanges its advances in materials technology for the new engine designs.

In 120 A.S., Valhalla Research revealed their latest technological wonder. Using the technological advances which had been acquired through trading with the other sleeper ship colonies, Valhalla developed a "Space Elevator", utilising super-strong crystalline polymers and frictionless bearings. When connected in a sequence and placed in stationary orbit, Docking Rings revolutionised the way ships launched from a planet into space. This nearly completely negated the high costs of atmospheric launch and landing, revolutionised exploration and industry almost overnight, and opened up the entire New York system for commercial exploitation. Valhalla licensed the technology to the other houses, reaping huge returns in the process.

With the success of the last Valhalla project, they started planning for their next great project. At a secret meeting with the Order of Cincinnatus and the highest ranking board members of Valhalla Research, they devised ambitious plans for a '€œProject Jump Gate'€ that would be completed in fifty years. Using the research that was made on Valhalla 1, the Jump Gate idea was created. These Gates would allow near-instantaneous relocation between two distinct points in space, making it possible to travel between systems very rapidly, in contrast with the month-long travel time which had restricted humanity'€™s development. At the onset of the project, Valhalla Research announced their intention to build a major research facility in Texas. The base would be used in the research of "Project Jump Gate" and other secret projects in conjunction with the Liberty Military.

With the construction of the Dallas Research Station in 128 A.S., Valhalla Research began to expand their operations in the Texas system and with the military declaring a large portion of space surrounding the Dallas off-limits, many rumours existed as to the precise nature of the research being conducted. In 130 A.S. one of the most historic events in all of human history occurred as the Valhalla Prototype Jump Gate was tested. Houston residents in the northern hemisphere would have seen a bright flash, like a meteor streaking across the sky at exactly 15:34 HST ...and then nothing. This flash was a small drone leaping across many light years of space in the blink of an eye. Several weeks later, Valhalla received a telemetry signal from the drone, indicating it had survived the jump intact. It was the first successful test and marked the dawning of a new age.

[size=medium][color=#FFFFFF]» Timeline

155 A.S.: Valhalla Research was renamed, and became Ageira Technologies.

180 A.S.: Just over 50 years after the first test of the Jump Gate, the first full-scale jump between Texas and Alaska was conducted, and five years later in 185 A.S., a announcement is broadcast throughout the entire Sirius sector. The President of Liberty unveils the Jump Gate project to the public, and immediately the other houses of Sirius began to conduct business deals with Ageira to purchase its revolutionary technology. A deal was signed with Sirius Shipping to transport the Gate Parts between Ageira'€™s R&D labs and the construction projects being built by Deep Space Engineering.

189 A.S.: The first official Jump Gates are built between New York and Colorado, opening up the mineral riches of the Colorado systems to the rest of Liberty. In the following years construction would begin on more gates and in 207 A.S., the systems of New York and California would be connected. With most of Liberty connected by Jump Gates, Ageira began construction a manufacturing facility in Colorado. This facility would be crucial in the mass production of Jump Gate components to meet the high demand. The facility was completed in 215 A.S and began to export Jump Gate parts to the other houses, in order to link their own system. As mass production of the gates moved into high gear, funding becomes an issue for many foreign corporations and governments who wish to build routes of their own. Because of the capitalisation of the entire industry by Ageira Technologies and Deep Space Engineering, Interspace Commerce was formed in 218 A.S. to offer loans and assist in the financing of jump gate construction.

In 280 A.S.: Ageira Technologies introduced their next advance in technology, something nearly as miraculous as the Jump Gates designed almost a century ago. Used a variation of the Jump Gate acceleration principles, '€œTrade Lanes'€ could be built along arbitrary routes through systems which would accelerate ships to superluminal velocities. These Trade Lanes would maximise commercial trading within systems, and in combination with the Jump Gate network, a sector wide economy came into being. Eventually, by 420 A.S., the demand for Gate parts began to shrink and the demand for Lane parts increased. Therefore, the Ageira Technologies facility in Colorado decreased its production of Jump Gate components and concentrated on producing Trade Lane components.

500 A.S.: The Ageira Technologies scientists aboard the Dallas Research Station began testing a new, long-range Jump Gate that would have allowed travel beyond the Sirius Sector. Disastrously, a concentration of dark matter along the jump route created a feedback wave that annihilated Dallas and killed everyone on board, and spread huge masses of dark matter throughout the system. A quarantine was immediately erected across half of the system. The prototype Gate sank into a monstrous singularity that is still there today. With the Texas system permanently scarred, Ageira Technologies withdrew most of their operations from the system. After the Texas Incident, Ageira Technologies stayed quiet until the opening of the Detroit Munitions Depot in New York, 614 A.S. It specialised in the manufacture of small and medium arms, supplying the Navy, Police, and independent buyers who became frequent customers.

700 A.S.: Ageira Technologies and Interspace Commerce made a deal to become business partners, in order to develop the "RTS" or "Real Time Scanner". It would scan cargo of vessels passing through the Jump Gates and Trade Lanes, and by attaching a Universal Ship Identification Number to every vessel and piece of cargo, governments could automatically scan for contraband while Interspace Commerce could more accurately assess insurance fees. The new scanners began production at the Ageira Technologies facility in Colorado.

Ageira Technologies continued to gain profit from Gate and Lane Parts as well as its other products from 700 through to 800 A.S., experiencing a brief surge in Small Arms purchases during the Nomad War. To this day, Ageira remains the only manufacturer of Gate and Lane components.