HTS| Personal Database- "Klaus Ritter"

[Drakor]

Data Entry: April 22nd, 819 A.S.

Name: Klaus Ritter
Location: Barrier Gate station, Deck 1A, Hall 3, Room 173
Entry: #1

A few days ago, I got in contact with a friend, from Liberty... but that's not the beginning, I suppose.

My name is Klaus Ritter. Formerly a Hauptmann in the Rheinwehr. I served with them for twelve years, but with the Economy of Rheinland suffering, the militar has suffered some cutbacks lately. Not the least of these cutbacks was a reduction of overall personnel, even with the war going on. Wages were already at an all time low- there were some months when I simply went with out, but that's beside the point. The Rheinwehr has shrunken by nearly half a million pilots, over the last year, and that's just from those laid off- let alone the casualties.

At any rate, after having served the Rheinwehr for twelve years, one could imagine that my skill set was limited, coming out. I drifted about for a few months, serving with some companies as a hired escort for a while, before they could no longer afford to pay either. So I dropped my prices- but even still, Rheinland's economy is badly hit, and it is difficult to find work. A lucky stroke came- and a Kusari convoy was down on their escorts. So I started working in a larger area, and that in turn brought me more work.

Eventually, the workload became too much for a single man to handle, and I had to temporarily cut my service. But that gave me time to start thinking, and researching. Back in the twentieth century, on old Earth, there were corporations that provided a lot of the services which freelancers provide today. Of course, given geopolitical boundaries, and international laws, their status was always questionable at best, and usually quite limited in their potential clients, and scope of operations.

I started wondering if I could find a proper corporation along those lines- Now more then ever, with all the wars, and rampant piracy across Sirius, there is obviously demand for such a service. What I found was disheartening- Most companies have their own private security wings, yes, but they were never properly trained, and further, even though laws have opened up in regards to private militar's, they have not flourished. In fact, I could not find a single private militar company.

So I started trying to get one together. The demand was there- all that was missing was the supply. I looked everywhere I could, in Rheinland- but tensions over the war, and residual dislike of other houses from previous incidents left most of them feeling bitter- combined with the economy at an all time low, too incapable of providing their own vessel for the corporation. So once more, I expanded my scope.

Finally, a few days ago, I contacted a friend from Liberty. I met Mr. Ravis aboard Freeport 2, and I got to discussing my ideas with him. At first he was skeptical- there had to be a good reason behind there not being one. Liberty of all houses couldn't possibly have had such an oversight. Then, a convoy passed outside the bar's view-port. An unescorted Interspace convoy. Barely five hundred meters out of the ceasefire zone offered by the Freeport, and it was attacked by Outcasts.

It's escort had been destroyed on the trip to the Freeport, and the cargo was time critical enough to move ahead, without escort. I pointed out the convoy to him, just before it came under fire- and as I spoke to him, the attack began. "Look. Do you see that convoy there?" I asked. It took him a moment, to find the convoy- a few small specks in the view-port, only detectable by the plasma trails left by their engines. He nodded, indicating that he had found them. "That convoy has no escorts. There are too few plasma trails. What would you bet that it will come under attack?" No sooner had I asked this, then the attack began.

Even from the distance we were at, the strike was clearly visible. First there were three transports. Then a disruptor came in- and their cruise was stopped. Evasive maneuvers began, but it was already too late. One of the three transports got away- but by the time recovery ships had arrived, all of the escape pods had been broken open, or tractored in. Not a single pilot, or crew-member to save.

During the recovery operation, I continued my discussion with Mr. Ravis. Eventually, after getting past the point where he suspected me of having an involvement in that attack, we got to discussing how one would go about organizing a company to fill the gap. His experience in Liberty Police Incorporated was invaluable in this- while they are the official police of liberty, they are also a Private Security corporation, after a fashion.

They have a standing set of contracts with the Liberty Navy, Security Force, and Government. All in all, a relatively lucrative setup, but the organization was much more interesting to me. After a while of hammering out the details- a somewhat similar organization was adopted. We would have a 'Civil' branch- mostly in charge of public relations, recruitment, and resupply management. And a 'Security' branch- the entire point to the company.

But then we took it further, and got to proper organization. Wings, groups, and general operating and command structure. Standardized operating practices, equipment, and even theoretical operating costs, and wages. At this point it was all on paper, but not available for practice. We left on good terms that day, but he was still employed in the Liberty Police at that point, and I saw no indication that he would change that any time soon.

A few days later, we met again. Halfway through this meeting, he told me that he had left the Liberty Police, and was quite ready to give the company a try. Naturally, as I had not expected to actually get to work on that company for a while, idea development had slowed- and while the company was theoretically in a usable format, it did not even have a speculative name. In our discussions, and indeed even in my written outlines, it was only referred to as "PMC", Private Militar Company.

After a while, we settled on a name we could both agree on, and got to work on establishing Haven Tactical Security. Whilst I hammered out a logo, and an encoding format for our communications, he handled physical assets, and eventually got us some operating space on Barrier Gate, of all places. While surprising, it is at the moment the best place to base our operations out of. Neutral ground, and access to almost all.

As I sit here, recording this log, it causes me to wonder how things will turn out over the next coming weeks. The demand is there- and now there's a limited supply, as well. I do suspect that we shall be well off, as far as the work situation goes. Only time will tell us whether this is a good idea or not, but I look forward with... Mostly anticipation. Aside from working with Mr. Ravis, that is. He is quite the annoyance in doses too large.