Highpoint Traders
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Highpoint Traders | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Corporation Profile | |
| Affiliation | Free Worlds League |
| Headquarters | Cienfuegos (New Delos IV)[1][2] |
| Leadership | CEO |
| Product(s) | Freight shipping |
Highpoint Traders is one of the more notable shipping and cargo transport companies operating within the Free Worlds League.[1][2]
Overview[edit]
A small trading corporation old enough to have a Star League trading permit, by the thirty-first-century Highpoint was on the verge of bankruptcy until the company was acquired by scruffling rogue Corey Chang in 3020. Popular myth is that Chang won control of Highpoint after the previous president Hugo Schmatz placed its ownership on the table during a high-stakes game of Four-Card Drax at the infamous Cave on Kyeinnisan, and that Schmatz remains there to this day trying to improve his game and win his company back.[3][4]
Thanks to a combination of hard work, a few called-in favors, and some underworld contacts, Chang was quickly able to put Highpoint Traders back on its feet. A large reason for the dramatically improvement in the company's fortunes was the signing of Concord of Kapteyn which opened up substantial avenues of trade with the both Draconis Combine and Capellan Confederation, with the company deemed reliable enough to secure government contracts with House Marik, House Orloff and the Confederation's Sarna Commonality to carry passengers and freight on a contract basis. One notable example of this was in 3025 when Highpoint acted on behalf of Captain-General Janos Marik to purchase fifty new heavy BattleMechs including Marauders and Dragons from the Combine.[1][5]
Despite this, the company's renewed success under Chang's stewardship is also reportedly due to its more shadier operations, with accusations of smuggling, operating unsafe vessels and even claims of outright piracy practiced by Highpoint vessels operating in the Periphery and Chaos March. While never convicted, perhaps a testament to its CEO's cunning and ruthlessness, it is an open secret that the company constantly skirts the fringes of the law, with much of its post–Fourth Succession War expansion funded by smuggling goods into and out of the newly formed Federated Commonwealth. Reportedly part of the unwillingness of the League authorizes to crackdown more harshly on Highpoint's operations is because SAFE uses the company's vessels as a means of clandestinely entering foreign territory.[1][2]
Highpoint's fleet (two JumpShips and seven DropShips in 3025, expanding to five JumpShips and thirteeen DropShips by 3067) constantly skirts compliance with the League's health and safety regulations, held together with little more than prayers, bailing wire and HarStick epoxy.[1][2]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 131: "Socioeconomics - Other Major Industries - HighPoint Traders"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Handbook: House Marik, p. 139: "Highpoint Traders (HiPoint)"
- ↑ House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 120: "Culture and Arts - Crime and Punishment - Four-Card Drax"
- ↑ House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 151: "Personalities - Corey Chang"
- ↑ House Marik (The Free Worlds League), pp. 132–133: "Socioeconomics - Trade with Other Successor States The Draconis Combine"