Free Flight, Limited
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Free Flight, Limited | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Corporation Profile | |
| Affiliation | Free Worlds League |
| Headquarters | Bounty Station (Fletcher II)[1][2] |
| Leadership | CEO |
Free Flight, Limited was one of the most notable shipping and cargo transport conglomerates operating within the Free Worlds League.[1][2][3]
Overview[edit]
Though legally incorporated during the short armistice between the Second and Third Succession Wars, Free Flight was actually built upon the remains of Amalgamated Spacewares, one of the Grand Duchy of Oriente's oldest trading combines. The unrelenting warfare of the First and Second Succession Wars had dealt grievous financial blows to Amalgamated, its customers and its suppliers, damage that convinced the company's board that the continuation of the existing company was impossible. After a complete reorganization, including the sale of over three billion Eagles' worth of assets, the corporation reopened as Free Flight, an independent passenger and freight hauling company within the League and beyond.[1]
As of 3025, Free Flight maintained a fleet of seven JumpShips (including two Star Lord-class vessels) and over fifteen DropShips (including a rare Overlord-class ship). By 3067, the company's fleet had expanded to twelve JumpShips and nearly forty DropShips. Free Flight's fleet is normally divided almost equally between long-term freight contracts between the company's four cargo dispatch centers on Fletcher, Holt, Atreus, and Maxwell and "pay-to-hire" agreements. In addition to its own craft, Free Flight also maintained long-standing agreements with a number of independent family run vessels, expanding the company's reach even further.[1][2]
With numerous instances of trading vessels forcibly impressed into military service during the "crisis" of the First and Second Succession Wars, Free Flight signed an agreement in perpetuity with then-Captain-General Philippa Marik to carry military personnel or cargoes on a priority basis whenever or wherever the need arose, such as for example the Andurien Secession. This agreement, with minor modifications, was affirmed by all but two of the Captains-General and was still in force even as the company was on the verge of reaching its bicentennial. During the reign of Janos Marik, the company permanently stationed two of its JumpShips at Atreus and Marik for the personal needs of the Captain-General; during the reign of his son Thomas these two vessels worked in close conjunction with federal authorities, providing a secure courier service in cooperation with the ships of the League's Communications Command.[1][2]
All of the company's vessels carry a full complement of marines largely drawn from retirees of the Free Worlds League Military's own marine forces to protect Free Flight's assets in space and on the ground. Even with such efforts, the company still relies heavily on spaceport and local garrison forces to protect its ships. Around 3022 a Free Flight JumpShip was lost to pirate forces operating along the League's Periphery border, resulting in an increase in the volume of both onboard security forces and gunnery crews of vessels plying that route.[1]
The company's CEO during the era of the Second Star League was Astrid Balaresque, former captain of the JumpShip the Infinity. While she had some regrets at giving up command of her ship, the challenge of managing an entire fleet kept her busy. On her recommendation, by 3067 Free Flight was undertaking an aggressive expansion program, commissioning the construction of two additional cargo way-stations—one at Dieudonné and the other at Tamarind—as well as pushing through the development of a new cargo-carrying JumpShip, the Clipper-class, at Technicron Manufacturing Tamarind shipyards. Free Flight also constructed a pressurized dry-dock at its homeworld of Fletcher during this period both to support its own needs as well as hopefully securing military even WarShip construction projects, with Balaresque also negotiating with the FWLM for access to battle armor suits with which to train the corporation's substantial and ever-present marine force.[2][4][5]
Located at Fletcher's L1 point, many within the company began to regard the new dry-dock as an expensive albatross after Balaresque was not able to procure any government contracts, until the Word of Blake Jihad. Following the destruction of the larger shipyards of its more prominent competitors, while not able to produce anything independently, by 3079 the Free Flight dry-dock was servicing a constant stream of JumpShips in need of maintenance and repair.[5]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 130: "Free Flight, Ltd." profile
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Handbook: House Marik, p. 139: "Free Flight, LTD (FreFli)"
- ↑ Handbook: House Marik, p. 120: "Society and Culture - Science and Technology - Travel"
- ↑ Handbook: House Marik, p. 139: "Touring the Realm - Duchy of Oriente - Fletcher"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Objectives: Free Worlds League, p. 18: "Duchy of Oriente - Industrial Systems - Fletcher - Free Flight, LTD."