Cryer's history is well-known. Max Cryer was a self-made billionaire that put his money into furthering medicine for the good of all Sirius. Or so the official line goes, at least. Though younger in relative terms than Liberty's other megacorporations, Cryer has been improving lives for nearly five hundred years and has shown no signs of slowing down.
While Liberty's other corporations have stayed anchored to House space, Cryer has continued to expand outward, first to Sigma-17 in 727 AS and more recently to Omicron Chi. Medicine knows no borders, and knowledge only comes to those who endlessly push forward. To that end, Horizon Insights was established in 825 AS to expand Cryer's deep-space operations. Though still a subsidiary, Horizon maintains a degree of independence that affords them the necessary flexibility for their objectives.
Primary Installations
Atka Research Station, Sigma-17
Already well-established, Atka houses Horizon's management and administration team in something vaguely resembling safety. The outbreak of war has necessitated a heavier security presence, but a direct assault isn't expected - collateral damage, however, remains a significant concern.
Johnson Supply Depot, Omicron Chi
To call work on Johnson Supply Depot "completed" would be a mistake. Johnson is expected to remain something of a work in progress for at least another year. Locals permitting.
Departments
Shipping Operations
Naming: [HI]HTV-Shipname
Names come from towns, historic or fictional, depicted in Westerns or generally situated in the American West. Positions: Director of Shipping, Convoy Leader, Transport Captain, Freighter Pilot
Horizon Shipping Operations is the typical expected cargo department. Supplies to the frontier are the most important part of their work.
Research & Development
Naming: [HI]HRV-Shipname (transports, liners, gunboats), [HI]Probe-### or [HI]First.Last (small craft)
Large vessel names come from American doctors and scientists.
Probe numbers are up to the player, and do not have to be in order. If you choose less than three digits, leading 0s are necessary - [HI]Probe-008 for example. Positions: Director of Research, Surveyor, Captain, Researcher, Research Assistant, etc.
A significant portion of Horizon R&D is situated at Atka, rather than in ships, so few R&D ships are expected.
Frontier Management
Naming: [HI]HEV-Shipname (large vessels), [HI]First.Last or [HI]Callsign (small craft}
Large vessel names generally are associated with the frontier spirit - Independence, Pioneer, Explorer, etc. Positions: Director of Frontier Management, Scout, Investigator, Security (Pilot/Captain)
Frontier Management is Horizon's euphemistically-named combat division. Officially, they secure convoys and bases. Unofficially, they also work in more aggressive procurement of subjects and material.
Goals
Expand Cryer's deep-space operations.
New discoveries are made all the time. Who can say what's under the next stone, and what use it may have?
Establish stronger business ties in the Sigmas and Omicrons.
We aren't alone out there. We should ensure that we are welcomed.
Diplomacy
Business Partners
Cryer Pharmaceuticals
Obviously.
Synth Foods
A long-time partner of Cryer, Synth has been vital in keeping our more long-range operations fed.
Friends of Cryer
Liberty Navy, Liberty Security Force, Liberty Police, Inc.
We're still owned by a LIbertonian corporation, even if we spend most of our time halfway across Sirius.
Deep Space Engineering, Ageira Technologies, Interspace Commerce, Universal Shipping
In practice, these four aren't likely to come up that often for Horizon.
Bounty Hunters Guild
Cryer's historically had good relations with the Guild, due to how much of their work crosses House borders and requires reliable security.
Says here that you're still a bunch of wanted terrorists.
Junkers
Keep your hands where we can see them and we won't have any problems.
Gallic Royalists, Gallic Corporations, Unione Corse
What would you even be doing out here?
Xenos
Says here that- wait, that's the Order one. Here we go. Says here that...
Hogosha
Kusari says we have to play nice. That doesn't mean we like it.
Natio Octavarium
We know enough of your history not to trust you.
Hostile
Pirates, unless otherwise listed. Outcasts
Fascinating research subjects. Also seem to have murderous rage about us undermining their cartel. Weird.
Golden Chrysanthemums
The Outcasts local minions in Kusari. Less of a problem, but still a problem.
Nomads
Fascinating research I didn't say anything
Standard Spacecraft
Due to the realities of maintenance at Cryer's most distant facilities, Horizon generally favors craft that are particularly resillient and easy to maintain, due to common use in the Edge and Border Worlds or compatibility with a wide range of parts.
Pre-emptively Answered Questions:
Q: IWeren't you working on-
A: I bounce between ideas pretty often. I've gotten to the point of posting this one, so it's what I'm sticking with. Blame or thank Kalhmera for accidentally helping me decide.
Q: Why not just be Cryer?
A: Because I'm not comfortable trying to directly represent a vanilla NPC faction. Horizon gives me the lattitude to comfortably experiment while still playing as a part of Cryer.
Q: But you do represent Cryer? Will you speak for them in diplomacy, and if so, how will you justify it?
A: Yes. Horizon Insights is a subsidiary of Cryer, and I have no intention of breaking away. It will be justified, in as much as that's necessary, by our successes giving us more pull within our parent company.
Q: You've talked about more in the Sigmas and Omicrons. What about Liberty?
A: For Horizon, Liberty isn't really part of our day to day operations. Down the road, should we pursue officialdom, I hope to have our Sigma and Omicron ZoI expanded, perhaps in exchange for dropping Cambridge and Liberty if necessary.
Q: Why the Old West naming?
A: I like themes, we're on the frontier, and no one else that I can find beat us to it. Doc Holiday doesn't count 'cause he's one person. That said, Horizon's nature means we'll likely be (in-RP) hiring on freelancers as full-time employees, who may well have brought their own ships with them. The occasional break from theme can be allowed, with story reason.
Q: This looks a little sparse.
A: That's not a question. And yeah, I'm hoping to have some ideas to expand things later, but since it was a recently-established subsidiary there's not going to be much history to Horizon specifically. And I don't really like the idea of regurgitating the NPC faction's history. I'll try to get some pictures to pretty it up later.
Q: What does "Unfriendly" mean for Horizon?
A: We'll sell you basic supplies, we'll treat you if you're sick, but you're paying full price and probably a hazard markup.
Q: Where's the recruiting post?
A: It'll be here later, I'm going to bed soon.
Q: That seems like kind of a limited shiplist.
A: Yeah, wanted to apply a bit of theme to it. I'll make allowances if it fits the RP - I'm not opposed to CTE showing up, I'd just rather use more border/edgeworldy ships for flavor. The omission of anything with mountable cargo pods was intentional and non-negotiable, however; such ships don't seem well-suited to beginning work in the Omicrons. Thanks to Cryer's 100% access to both LibCiv and BretCiv, though, we have most cargo ranges covered - we have a conspicuous gap in the 1k-2k region, but I can fund Mammoths or Percherons to start people instead.
Q: Weren't you just gone?
A: Bite my glorious golden ass.
Edit: Please note, this is again a work in progress, more stuff to come.
I like the idea of what you're aiming to do and can respect the distancing from the npc faction to give a little flexibility in your rp.
Good luck, hope to see you out there.
(10-16-2018, 11:36 PM)JorgeRyan Wrote: Looks nice. I'll be interested to see what you do with Johnson, after its move to quite an... interesting location
Yeah that was an awkward position to put it in. I would've expected Theta or maybe Delta, not Chi.
Glad people like it so far, was kind of nervous about actually posting it. Once I get some internal and backend stuff sorted out, I'll get the recruiting post up and whatnot.
(10-16-2018, 09:39 AM)Thexare Wrote: Blame or thank Kalhmera for accidentally helping me decide.
I noticed the info card for the cryer base in Chi mentioned Corsair and Core leaving the base alone but no mention of the Order, Figure I do something about it! Good luck in your faction!
Just as the constant increase of entropy is the basic law of the universe, so it is the basic law of life to struggle against entropy. - V. Havel
So hi, I'm back and I can't get this idea out of my head so I guess Horizon's back too. Sorry, you're stuck with me. Some of you have already seen me in-game.
![[Image: Horizon-Insights-Wordmark.png]](https://files.cordilon.net/disco/horizon/Horizon-Insights-Wordmark.png)
![[Image: VuqlNAR.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/VuqlNAR.gif)
![[Image: EjUDu1h.png]](https://imgur.com/EjUDu1h.png)
![[Image: iytffEd.png]](https://i.imgur.com/iytffEd.png)
![[Image: GAy6bGA.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/GAy6bGA.gif)