“Not just guns for hire. Force for hire.” - Five Star Security Motto.
Mercenaries have existed long before corporations, independent groups who wage war according to who can afford them. With the rise of the megacorporation, however, mercenary groups became capable of vastly broadening their horizons. Where private military companies and security firms once augmented the strength of nations and corporations alike, these new megacorporate security groups could successfully replace the army of a small country, or keep the blood off another megacorporation’s hands by waging their entire war for them. Five Star Security is one of the archetypal PMCs of the 26th century, boasting an impressive size and a self-sufficiency that would make some professional militaries blush. Underneath that marketable exterior lies a well-hidden past and present, with deeply concerning acts that call to question the real purpose of the corporation.
History
“Ideology’s got nothing to do with business. A job’s a job, don’t matter who’s paying us at the end of the day. But I’d rather do business the Gorlex way over the Cybersun way. If you enjoy your work, you’ll never work a day in your life. Who’s in and who’s out?” - General Tibial Phermis, setting the seeds for Five Star Security.
Five Star Security’s history is unknown even to the majority of its rank-and-file, with only select members of its leadership knowing the full story. Five Star traces its lineage to the Gorlex Manufacturing Company, more (in)famously known during the Phoron War as the Gorlex Marauders. Despite the reputation of the Gorlex Marauders, largely perpetuated by their nuclear operatives and their distinctive crimson red voidsuits, the company itself lasted only partway into the Phoron War before it was bought out by another Syndicated Corporation: Cybersun Industries. Whichever elements of Gorlex’s leadership could not be bought by Cybersun were exiled or assassinated, with appointed executives taking control of Gorlex and essentially dissolving the company, folding all of its assets into Cybersun to bolster their strength.
Predictably, this did not sit well for some within Gorlex. While plenty of Marauders did not oppose their checks being written by a new corporation, a group began plotting their separation from Cybersun with the intent to carve their own path. Led by General Tibial Phermis, these dissenters (nicknamed “Gorlex Exiles”) enacted a plan intended to preserve assets belonging to Gorlex. At first, the plan was for a full-scale uprising against Cybersun, but this was determined to be useless in the long run, as a possible Syndicate civil war would render any victor (Gorlex or not) vulnerable to being annihilated by an outside power.
Phermis instead opted to pursue a subtler path, completely unlike the usual rancor the Marauders were known for. Utilizing Waffle Co espionage agents, reprogrammed to answer to the Exiles, several data files regarding a secretive base on a habitable frontier world were removed from the Syndicate’s database, with all relevant files within the database being completely eradicated to ensure its location would remain known only to the Exiles. From there, several vessels and their supplies were stolen from drydock by Phermis, again utilizing agents “borrowed” from Waffle Co, alongside the Marauder’s typical brand of violence in certain cases. Once Phermis had his fleet assembled, a bluespace jump was made into unknown territory, with the losses ultimately decided to be not worth pursuing by the Syndicate’s leadership.
Phermis’s prize was Depot GMP-436, a habitable frontier planet located a sufficient distance from other inhabited star systems, lessening the likelihood of its discovery. The Depot, as it became known among the Exiles, had several massive factories spanning across one of the planet’s major continents, each intended to produce a different aspect of a full-scale war industry. The Depot was intended to be the beginning of a full-scale offensive against NanoTrasen that ultimately never materialized, with the location being left in a barely functional state as it was left only partially completed when the Exiles landed. Due to its secrecy, the garrison within the Depot hadn’t been informed of Gorlex’s buyout by Cybersun, at least not until Phermis arrived. Phermis ultimately gave the garrison and workers stationed there a choice: join him and build a new company or be permitted to leave the Depot and return to civilized space. Much of the garrison elected to stay with Phermis, while many of the workers opted to take his offer to leave. Instead, they were killed.
Work immediately began on the Depot to restore more of its systems. The Exiles lacked the capabilities to expand it, but they could refine what already existed. Food production, housing, technology, and so on were put as priority in these early days, culminating in the creation of a massive radar array capable of receiving transmissions from across space. Using this, scouting parties of Gorlex Exiles responded to reports heard about potential bands of Gorlex Loyalists acting as mercenaries and pirates, bringing many of them to the Depot and bolstering Phermis’s forces. Events carried on like this for many years, with Phermis laying the groundwork for a new corporation entirely. That was until GMP-436 was discovered by a caravan of frontier migrants. GMP-436 had not been their original destination, which had instead been a frontier world (designated “Anchor’s Rest”) which they were diverted from as a result of an attack by a small band of Vox pirates.
The caravan’s arrival marked a division among the Exiles, plenty believing they should be killed immediately lest their existence be exposed to NanoTrasen or worse. Phermis, however, determined the caravan to be a blessing in disguise, and instead welcomed them to GMP-436’s surface. He agreed that the Exiles would protect the colonists in exchange for their silence about their true origins, promising that the frontiersmen and Exiles could flourish together.
When the Vox arrived near GMP-436, Operation Good Old Days was put into place. One of the migrant ships was made to appear crippled and unable to move, luring the Vox in to board it. Instead finding relatively defenseless migrants on board, they were met with a nuclear operative team that had gone far too long without a good fight. Operation Good Old Days ended as quickly as it started, with the Vox’s command ship being boarded and subsequently annihilated by an internal nuclear detonation, leading the rest of the warband to flee from the system.
Modern Day
“Manifest your destiny, we’ll protect you along the way.” - Frontier Security Services Motto.
After fending off the Vox from GMP-436, the Exiles assisted their colonial allies in properly settling Anchor’s Rest, taking on new recruits from the frontiersmen and training them to evenly split their forces between the two planets. It was around this time that technological improvements gained from the frontier caravan and the defeated Vox allowed the Depot to begin producing new designs rather than old Gorlex equipment, something that became crucial as more frontiersmen were drawn towards the twin habitable worlds of Anchor’s Rest and the Depot, newly renamed Phermis in honor of the late General.
Publicly, the Exiles were a security firm calling themselves “Frontier Security Service” and offered defense contracts specifically to the burgeoning colonies on Phermis and Anchor’s Rest. The colonial leadership on Phermis, however, were more in the know than those on Anchor’s Rest, and began to work on expanding the Depot’s capabilities, adding in civilian functions as well as expanding its military capabilities. It was because of this that Phermis and Anchor’s Rest quickly became economic hubs of the frontier, attracting more migrants with their promises of security and prosperity among the stars.
FSS’s recruitment saw a boost from colonists who both had former military backgrounds or were just eager to defend the systems they called home, allowing the organization to grow beyond its original roots. However, the leadership of FSS had not forgotten their past, and the government of Anchor’s Rest soon became heavily influenced by FSS, to the point where any decisions by the civilian governments of Phermis and Anchor’s Rest could both be superceded by FSS’s military leaders at any point, although this was a fact that was largely unknown to the populace.
Eventually, three more nearby star systems fell under the influence of Frontier Security Services, further bolstering their manpower and resources. It was at this time that Frontier Security Services rebranded to Five Star Security, taking them from a niche protector of frontier colonists with a streak of gunrunning on the side to a military corporation whose presence across space, while not ubiquitous, is difficult to avoid, even for larger corporate and governmental powers who have little need for a military-for-hire.
Internal Organization
“LOYALTY TO THE FIVE STARS. LOYALTY TO MY COMRADES IN ARMS. LOYALTY TO THE CONTRACT.” - Five Star Security Internal Creed.
Five Star operates much more like a professional armed force than a corporation, with the majority of its locations being related to some aspect of logistics, defense, deployment, training, and so on. The company has a strong internal culture reminiscent of an actual military, with loyalty to the corporation and a collective identity being strongly emphasized throughout training in all positions, even those who aren’t expected to take up arms on the frontline. All of Five Star’s equipment from armor, firearms, bullets, vehicles, and so on comes from their own factories, with the largest still being the Depot, having long since been expanded to nearly reach the potential of what its Gorlex designers once envisioned. Even the rations Five Star troops use are supplied by civilian resources on the planets under Five Star’s indirect control.
Five Star recruits from a bevy of sources, namely the population of the systems they inhabit. At the same time, it is not unheard of for prospective outsiders to journey to be hired by Five Star, whether or not they lack prior experience. Five Star holds certain standards for all positions within its ranks, whether as a grunt or as support personnel, ensuring a certain quality to their new hires. Regardless of background, all recruits for their military operations go through a boot camp-like training regimen, intended to acclimate them to Five Star’s internal culture and familiarize them with Five Star’s tactics and equipment. While the original colonies were settled by humans and retain a mostly human populace, Five Star is willing to hire anyone who fits their standards regardless of their species. Training, again, reinforces that regardless of a recruit’s origin, their loyalty is to Five Star and to everyone else within Five Star, leading to a low amount of internal disputes.
Nevertheless, a not insignificant portion of Five Star’s recruits come from former Syndicate operatives, primarily Gorlex Marauders enticed by certain high level spokesmen for the company, who intentionally seek out surviving bands of Five Star’s predecessors. Former Cybersun employees are, almost ironically, equally valued for Five Star’s corporate branches alongside their special operations units, though these tend to flock to Five Star of their own volition rather than being intentionally sought out by the corporation. Typically, the origin of these personnel is not hidden from Five Star’s non-Syndicate recruits. After all, they’re looking for work just like everyone else.
Ethos
“Rebel attack successfully thwarted with no casualties, so no extra fees for medical treatment. Ammunition costs, however…” - Sergeant 1st Class Marbis Portley collecting payment following a successful Five Star deployment.
Five Star’s marketing strategy is to offer themselves as an augmentation of or direct replacement for another power’s military (or lack thereof). At the smallest scale, this tends to involve actual security work, with a Five Star detachment guarding another corporation’s assets (locations, vessels, personnel, etc.) when their own security forces are either stretched thin or their training is seen as insufficient for the importance of the assigned locations. For non-corporate entities such as local governments, colonies, and unaffiliated organizations, small deployments like these are also common in an identical form, though these occur on worlds that are otherwise less militarily developed or are, again, uncertain of the quality of their own forces.
The more well-publicized deployments of Five Star see them go beyond “security” and take a more proactive role in the conflicts of their employers. Five Star fields infantry alongside armored support, ranging from conventional vehicles to highly mobile mechs that draw on their own designs, rather than those used by other corporations. These are often paired with drones for extra fire support or reconnaissance, among other roles.
Tactically, Five Star works off the idea of overwhelming force, utilizing all assets available to them in order to demolish the enemy’s capabilities of mounting a successful offensive or defensive action. Operations tend to have a defined goal, whether it be rooting out insurgents, destroying high value targets, capturing certain locations, and so on. Due to the sheer size of Five Star, the organization is happy to partake in extended campaigns, so long as the money keeps coming in from their employers.
Five Star’s equipment follows a similar design philosophy to Gorlex’s, being heavily reliant on ballistic weapons. Five Star small arms, all the way up to their anti-vehicle options eschew advanced energy weapons for tried and true methods of destruction. What few energy weapons Five Star does field can be found in their special operations units, utilizing energy swords and shields for quiet, close-quarters combat, being specially trained in the use of these weapons to ensure optimal results.
However, Five Star’s focus is around ground combat and, as such, its space forces are lacking by comparison. The majority of Five Star’s space fleet is dedicated to transporting their forces to wherever they’re needed, alongside escorts for these transports. Their proper combat vessels are, likewise, designed for the defense of their territories rather than to be used in any dedicated conflict, though their aforementioned fleet escorts can provide plenty of defense against pirates who (are dumb enough to) see Five Star as a potential target.
Influence
“Five Star Security is not a ‘private army with a nation.’ I suggest all those who believe our peaceful and prosperous existence to be the result of one corporation consider reflecting from where their prosperity originates.” - Phermis’s Minister of Foreign Affairs during a Galactic Corporate Commission hearing, 2564.
Five Star is, really, a military in control of five separate star systems. That being said, it exerts no public, direct control over the lives of anyone living in these systems that are not in Five Star’s employment. The civilian governments still reign over the day-to-day lives of their citizens, Five Star only intervening in matters that would otherwise disrupt their business. That aside, the corporate leadership of Five Star remains largely indifferent to the civilian governments, as directly governing all five systems themselves would stretch their focus from a military corporation to a regional power.
That being said, Five Star’s influence is still felt in the lives of those not in their direct employment. Numerous civilian food production and mining companies hold contracts with Five Star, the former providing the corporation’s rations while the latter gives them all they need to produce their equipment. As mentioned before, recruits are also drawn from the civilian populace, with Five Star seen as just another employment opportunity. A portion of recruits from their titular systems do not go into Five Star’s active forces, but rather their logistical forces. Accountants, factory workers, drivers, cooks, and so on and so forth, acting as an “army” that keeps Five Star going behind the scenes.
Five Star’s influence beyond its home systems is negligible but still present where they operate out of or do business with. Many previously or currently wartorn areas have or are currently feeling a Five Star occupation, their forces used to stem out hostile activity with a swiftness and brutality that borders on dubiously legal at times. The only times Five Star attempts to gain any power beyond its current sphere is when a corporation has technology that is of interest and acquirable within reason. This typically means smaller start-ups that can be bought out or forced into submission without an overwhelming response from a larger corporate entity. Once Five Star to acquires what they want, the subsequent company is usually folded into Five Star’s existing assets. Many of these mergers take place each year, courtesy of Five Star’s well-developed intelligence division, ironically where most former Cybersun personnel end up working.
Corporate Relations
“Command to 1-3, remember the ROE. Do not engage unless they directly interfere with the objective. Attempt to establish communications, find out why they’re here. Over.” - Five Star Security communications during an encounter with a NanoTrasen exploration team.
Few legitimate megacorporations have a need for Five Star’s services despite their resources and capabilities. Only those without a substantial private force of their own or who lack the confidence in their forces on certain assignments are likely to even seek out Five Star Security’s services. On rare occasions, a corporation who desires anonymity may turn to Five Star, though this is up to the discretion of their leadership. In turn, Five Star rarely conducts financial business with other corporations due to their insistence on domestic production of almost all of their goods, only turning to other corporate entities in the rare instances where they cannot manufacture something themselves due to cost or lack of available material.
NanoTrasen maintains no formal relations with Five Star, and vice versa. Currently, Five Star’s command staff sees no reason to bother NanoTrasen, being focused more on profit over petty Syndicate-era rivalries. This attitude is reflected in the field, where both companies follow a strict ROE of never engaging one another unless fired upon first. That being said, NanoTrasen does often caution explorers that Five Star may engage in hostilities if they perceive their mission as being interferred with to a degree that hostile action is necessary. It is difficult to say how many times NanoTrasen and Five Star forces have come to blows, as both sides prefer to leave no survivors as to avoid a political headache. At the same time, Five Star’s subsidiary groups hold no protections as the corporation does not formally acknowledge them as being part of itself, and NanoTrasen similarly does not acknowledge these subsidiary organizations as being “part” of Five Star.
Kynde Pharmaceutical Group is one of the few established megacorporations to actively hire Five Star, albeit for field missions rather than “security” work. It’s presently believed that kidnappings and assassinations on Vey-Med and Zeng-Hu personnel alongside attacks on affiliated locations are carried out by Five Star special forces. Kynde generally prefers utilizing its own infiltrators in sabotage and espionage on its two primary competitors, but have been willing to rely on Five Star for extra deniability or a need for brute force. That being said, Five Star soldiers can typically be found guarding certain high-value installations either directly or indirectly owned by Kynde. It is presently unknown if Kynde is aware of Five Star’s full history.
The Blackstar Legion and Five Star are currently engaged in a proxy war. Once Five Star Security became an established presence in its own sphere of the Galaxy, they sought to contact the Vox they had previously waged war against. While Five Star’s diplomats were nearly killed by the Vox on sight, the deal they offered was enough to smooth over the two group’s rough history. Five Star would inform the Vox of any Blackstar convoys moving through their part of space and, in turn, allow the Vox to raid them as they saw fit. Ultimately, this deal has been successful in severely weakening Blackstar’s own influence close to Five Star space, and despite claims levied against Five Star about foulplay, the corporation has never been formally charged with any wrongdoing. More directly, Five Star offers a “discount” to any employer for missions that involve direct combat against Blackstar forces. Across many, many battlefields on the frontier, the two corporations fight each other under the guise of business for third parties. This is, ironically, how many of Five Star’s firearms end up on the market, being sold to traders by Blackstar soldiers who have no need for such trophies.
Criminal Activities
“Remember to keep up your end of the deal. We give you the ammo, arms, and armor, you keep those Vattie fucks from taking over this planet.” - Anonymous Five Star Security personnel to a newly inducted “subsidiary.”
Since its early days, Five Star has ensured that the presence of the Gorlex Marauders is still felt across the frontier. Some of the Depot’s original functions are left unaltered to produce genuine articles of Gorlex equipment, including their iconic crimson voidsuits and submachine guns, among other weaponry. Due to Five Star having a strict policy of not exporting their current line-up of armor and weapons, this older gear is what’s mostly presented to various black markets across the Galaxy, often leaving many confused as to where all the mint-condition Gorlex gear is coming from.
In this side hustle lies a legitimate strategy for their war against Blackstar, however. Certain criminal organizations are simply bought out by Five Star through supplying them with equipment, often making them resemble the Gorlex Marauders at their peak. These are subsequently made into unofficial “subsidiaries” of Five Star, becoming shell companies of mercenaries who can be sent to do Five Star’s work at a fraction of the cost and with the added benefits of not drawing resources away from Five Star’s other jobs while granting them a degree of plausible deniability. In recent times, Five Star has been known to reach out to more legitimate independent contractors to resolve situations that aren’t worth sending a larger force to investigate.
These organizations are only loosely related to Five Star, with orders infrequently coming from “command” which usually direct them to set up shop on particular planets in order to deny Blackstar territory. The rest of the time, the mercenaries are free to do as they see fit, often rampaging and participating in illegal actions of their own. Much of the proxy war between Blackstar and Five Star has been waged through these shell companies, with these lesser skilled “mercenaries” (as they often self-identify, sometimes even mistakenly calling themselves Five Star) whittling down Blackstar’s strength and denying them full control of a region. In recent times, one of these proxy conflicts has been waged on Miaphus’Irra within Hadii’s Folly, much to the frustration and puzzlement of the local SDF.