System: Loyalty

[3025] The Loyalty Theatrical Academy is a lively young institution was founded a mere 50 years ago to meet the demand for trained dramatic actors created by the vidtape fad. Although the fad eventually petered out, the Academy continued, with backing from both major vidtape networks.

This has placed the Academy in an odd position. Some of the best performers in the League were hired and given carte blanche to provide the networks with a constant stream of talent and ideas. Then, unsatisfied with the results, the networks tried to control the curriculum by manipulating the purse strings and hiring practices.

The turnover among the teaching staff is high, although teachers may be fired and rehired several times, depending on which creative direction manager is in power at the networks. The Academy is currently seeking independent backers from a powerful House to sustain its struggle against censorship. Along with the standard (and sub-standard) vidtape fodder, it is turning out original and exciting actors, writers, producers and directors.

[3067] SelaSys Incorporated are one of the oldest and most experienced JumpShip manufacturers in the Free Worlds, its pedigree dating back to before the first Star League, making it a natural partner in the FWLM’s WarShip program. The company was hired to bring back into service a number of mothballed vessels, most notably the FWLS Neuva Badajoz (hull CH4, the former SLS Impetuous). SelaSys also plays a significant role as a component supplier for Technicron and Illium, and was instrumental in the design of the Impavido-class vessel (manufactured at Technicron).

The corporation’s involvement in the League’s first WarShip project allowed it to install its own candidate, the CEO’s cousin, Ian, as the first vessel’s initial commander. An undistinguished naval officer, the now-retired Commodore Ian Deakin brought little to his command role, but his experiences serves SelaSys well — SelaSys has employed him as a consultant on the Venturer-class light cruiser currently under development; the first new WarShip class to be constructed at the yards.

Like many of its naval engineering peers, SelaSys also manufactures BattleMechs, having acquired Ronin, Inc. in 3016. One of several companies stripped from supporters of Anton Marik after his brief rebellion, Ronin is little more than an assembly facility for designs developed elsewhere. The simmering industrial disputes on Wallis have so far limited the company’s ability to compete in the wider market, resulting in little innovation, though its production capacity has increased substantially over the past two decades. That appears to be changing, however, as Ronin recently opened a new light Gauss rifle plant and has petitioned for a license to produce a new Warhammer variant.