Ares Technology Conglomerate
(Slogan/Motto)
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Common Name
Ares, Ares Tech, Ares Technologies
Origins
Ares Technologies was formed in 2017 on the wave of popularity in space travel and tourism corporations with the goal of providing deep space launch capabilities to be sold to NASA and for their own use. They established ties with the famous SpaceX corporation, which would have been their main competitor if not for the fact that their long-term goals were not at all in conflict. SpaceX wanted Mars, Ares Technologies wanted the asteroid belt. The only thing they shared was a need for long-range rockets, which Ares was more than willing to provide at a discount if SpaceX agreed to share their own designs and technology.
Ares Technologies set up shop, unsurprisingly, in Florida. By 2020 they had managed to attract more investors than even SpaceX itself through a series of publicity stunts, including sending their own independent rover to Mars before the NASA Mars 2020 rover could even be launched. With the capital they had earned through investing they performed the first major merger in the industry with Planetary Resources, an asteroid mining company that hadn't managed to mine any asteroids thanks to their own financial problems. Using Ares Technolgies' launch vehicles and Planetary Resources' designs for mining equipment, Ares Technologies managed to become the first company to successfully deliver a profitable load of offworld minerals to Earth in 2025. In the following five years, they stepped up their mining efforts and began to branch out into the field of arms production.
Using their existing aerospace experience, they entered the bid for a new close air support plane for the US Armed Forces following the retirement of the A-10 and lack of a sufficient replacement. They devised an ingenious, diamond-shaped modular plane capable of carrying an assortment of ordinance as well as having the option to mount a similar minigun to the A-10's. Its core feature, however, was its ability to dock midair with two small triangle-shaped aerial superiority fighters that could provide escort for it on any mission. Another heavily advertised (only to the military, of course) feature was its ability to carry tactical or strategic nuclear weaponry. Finally, it was designed to be capable of taking off from a carrier provided the "parasite fighters" took off separately. They got the contract.
As time went on, their mining efforts kept increasing and increasing without showing any sign of stopping. What's more, they didn't hold back on their sales. There was no artificial scarcity they created, so they began to flood the market with cheap materials (including many processed raw materials made using factories they had acquired through various mergers). Nobody knew whether or not they would finally stop and come to their senses, or even if they could have crashed the economy, because the economy crashed before they could make it. In 2031, the stock market crash hit and the USA fell. Around their facilities in the south, the company witnessed what was more or less a civil war erupt before their eyes. It was then that they formed their security arm, for the purpose of protecting their employees and holdings.
In 2033, Ares Technology Conglomerate lost its founder and president to something as simple as a heart attack. As he had left an unorthodox will-simply giving all of his personal possessions to his closest friend and providing instructions apparently meant only to be read by that same man-there was no clear inheritor of the company. As a result, it was decided that it would go to the largest stockholder that was both clearly alive and active in the company.
Under the leadership of the new President, the company shortly found itself in a position of massive power in an anarchic region. It was the only organization with any semblance of a formal military, as the military personnel in the area had all just gone their own ways in the new world. Ares began to peddle a new commodity: order. Their security personnel marched into cities and towns and gathered supporters the same way that so many other people in history had done. They said that the old system had failed, and that under the leadership of the Conglomerate the Great Collapse would never be repeated. It was a lie. A gigantic, obvious lie. But everyone ate it up, and so Ares advanced through the south. Old military equipment was revitalized and used to further their influence, all in the name of stability.
Now, the Ares Technology Conglomerate plays government for the entirety of the former Southern USA. The individual state governments are all more or less subsidiaries of Ares, and whatever Ares says goes for the most part. Children are taught about the selfless actions of the ATC in the chaos following the Great Collapse, and the entertainment companies owned by Ares make sure that nobody looks away from their TV screens long enough to see that it is all a lie to earn money. The asteroid mining continues, with the original drones and vessels deployed to carry it out still being operated while Ares tries to clear out as much debris as possible to allow LEO launches to take place without needing to wait for a window.
Leadership
The ATC is openly run like a traditional business, but in reality all the power lies with the CEO. A board of directors exist and shares are traded, but the security arm takes orders directly from the CEO. As a result, whatever the CEO says goes thanks to the fear of assassination. Everyone knows well that it is Ares that runs things, and state governments only exist to prevent the ATC from spending its own resources on things like education. The only lie in their rule is that it is benevolent.
Major Industries/Brands/Subsidiaries
Ares Aerospace (Original, aerospace)
Sparta Armory (Arms manufacturing)
Ansbach Entertainment Corporation
Technora Orbital (Space debris cleanup and spacecraft launching)
Company Culture
The ATC is founded upon a cult of personality around its CEO and his family, with the entire idea being that they saved the people from anarchy and ruin. At some point in history, the jokes about the CEO of Ares being a demigod reached the line between joke and actual belief. The CEO can do no wrong, and the CEO will always protect you. Anyone the CEO hates you hate as well. As far as the people are concerned, the CEO has the characteristics of god. He is a perfect being of infinite love for his people, and anyone that says otherwise is simply blind.
In reality, of course, the ATC is far from that. The CEO cares for nothing but his bottom line, and is more than willing to kill others in cold blood if it means he increases his profits. Though there has been no actual examination, those that know the truth consider him to be a psychopath. He in an expert at manipulating others by manipulating his own emotions. He cries with the people and he laughs with the people, but all only to keep them loyal. It is impossible to know what he is truly feeling at any given time, and he uses this solely to increase his coffers.
Security Detail
The ATC security arm itself is relatively weak, only really used to guard their facilities and put down revolts the state governments can't handle. The true power of the ATC comes from its puppet states, all of which have their own military forces that the ATC is happy to supply in exchange for what amounts to total control over them. If they somehow lost their grip on the governments of their puppets, then Ares could likely simply order the military to make whatever move it wanted and have it be done anyways. It also calls upon militia forces if the situation requires it, bringing in people of any age who volunteer (or are intimidated into volunteering). This is a testament to just how far the CEO's cult of personality goes, as the very people he personally tramples over are more than willing to fight and die for his name.
