The Exelus Corporation / EXLS

In the year 2875, three years after the UEE embarks on its quest to create the Synthworld, a ship of unknown origin was pulled into the ‘verse. Sophie Bannister of the ICC first identified the odd signal. She was delighted and overjoyed. She reported the findings to her superiors. The Rust Society was hired to investigate and salvage the unknown vessel and their scanners indicated no apparent lifeforms. The salvagers carefully identified the entrance of the ship and made their way inside where they found stasis chambers. Aghast, the salvagers radioed headquarters regarding their find. A team of engineers boarded the ship and found a way to initiate the startup sequence. Alarms starting ringing. The sound of ventilation units starting whirling. A small layer of fog began to swirl around the floor. Then, the first stasis chamber creaked, and the chamber door hissed open. Out stepped a humanoid wearing what looked to be a stasis suit with the letters E X L S written on the left sleeve.

As more stasis chambers opened, the head of the salvage team attempted to engage in conversation. It seemed none of them could speak at all perhaps a result of prolonged stasis. The group was gathered and moved to a ship waiting to transport them to some unknown location for debriefing. All records of the encounter were erased, and no mention of the group could be found anywhere.

In 2877, a farming village under attack by a band of raiders is thwarted by a small, fierce group sporting only a few ships showing an unprecedented amount of coordination and teamwork. The grateful farmers asked their heroes why they defended the village and how they could show their appreciation. They were told that the job was already paid for by the mill the village sells to as the company did not want to suffer the financial losses the death of the villagers would have cost them. The farmers ask the group to at least tell them who they are and are simply told “Exelus.”

During the next few years, The Exelus Corporation has turned their one ship and non-existent network into a small fleet with contacts in every system. They started taking whatever work they could get a hold of to learn more about the ‘verse they suddenly found themselves in. Word of this mysterious organization known simply as the Exelus corporation spread from the undercities and backstreets to the farthest remote outposts where their successful ventures turned this one unknown ship into a promising enterprise of assisting those in need whether it was protecting people and goods or stopping pirates and raiders alike. Further investigation revealed that smaller companies hired them quite often and they earned a reputation as a competent, loyal group of freelancers that can be counted upon to uphold their contract with honor.

On one such fateful day 8 years later, Exelus had just finished a contract in an outer system when they picked up a distress beacon was being transmitted. A small freighter was beset by pirates and the crew was not able to escape due to a damage quantum drive. The nearest Advocacy ship was hours away so the Exelus vessel, the LongShadow immediately responded and jumped to the coordinates of the distress beacon. The crew of the LongShadow was immediately met by five light to medium pirate vessels attempting to disable and board the freighter. The LongShadow launched a strafing run of the pirate vessels destroying one and damaging another, but the pirates were not going down with a fight. Delaying the boarding of the freighter, the pirates turned their attention to the Exelus vessel. The space around the freighter became a dazzling display of ballistic tracers, laser projectiles, shields becoming damaged, and strewn bits and pieces of superheated ship parts. The pirates managed to knock out of the main thrusters on the LongShadow, but the Exelus crew kept fighting. As the engineers battled internal fires and repairs to both the thrusters and shields, the LongShadow was able to find the space to get behind the main pirate vessel and destroy it. The two remaining light pirate fighters immediately jumped out of the engagement as soon as they saw the explosion. The freighter was listing but the crew was mostly in one piece. The Exelus crew were still repairing their ship when the radar announced two blips sounding the alarm to battle stations. As they headed towards the unidentified blips, a transmission was received and verified. The Advocacy had finally arrived. Two years later, the Exelus Corporation was officially recognized by the UEE for the work accomplished within its systems. This official recognition provided Exelus additional opportunities. The Exelus Corporation was now receiving contracts among larger corporations employing Exelus’ expertise for trade escort, security, and defense of key infrastructure. The recognition also allowed Exelus to apply for licenses and rights to work officially for the UEE and its affiliated worlds such as provisional rights to train smaller government security forces as well as run security ops.

Although no one knows the true size and strength of its forces, Exelus had amassed a small fortune through their savvy business practices and smart investments by the 2910s while intentionally remaining a smaller entity due to their desire to help people while still maintaining close-knit relationships with their employees. The Exelus Prime at the time once said “a small company can get more done than a giant corporation when it comes to helping those less fortunate or just starting their adventure in the ‘verse”. Despite an ever-expanding client base, Exelus never forgot the support of those who helped them get started after the “awakening” many years ago and continued to focus on more “honorable” contracts. During these years of prosperity, the management of Exelus decided it was time to embark on the most radical change of their forty-year history; refocusing their business model from private security to a more wide-ranging, freelance company. Exelus continued to maintain its high moral standards and only takes jobs that are in line with the standards set forth at their “awakening.” They focused on helping those who need it, protecting those who are set upon by others, and bringing those violating the rules and regulations of the UEE to justice. The Exelus Corporation will still do private security on the side, however, it is focus will be to follow their moral compass.