IPX 1 Introduction To the modern ear, the very name InterPlanetary Expeditions sounds quaint. A holiday trip to Mars or Proxima is well within the means of most Earth citizens. Going to another planet is hardly a remarkable thing, so the company name sounds absurdly grandiose, on a par with `Intercity Expeditions' or `Slightly Overgrown Garden Explorers'. Small wonder, then, that the company prefers to use its initials, IPX, in all advertising and public relations material. However, IPX is much more than its name suggests and those who underestimate the corporation have learned to regret their mistake. 2 The Corporation InterPlanetary Expeditions stock is publicly traded on the CESE (Combined Earth Stock Exchange) and BEL (Mars stock exchange) but the company's headquarters is on Mars. The company is normally registered on Mars too but has been known to switch its holdings to another flag-of-convenience nation for financial or political reasons. In the past, IPX has been a Swiss, Greek, Zimbabwean, Trinidadian or Proximan company for brief periods. As of 2267, the largest shareholder in IPX is the Hartung family, with just under 30% of the shares divided among various members; various EarthForce cut-outs and close allies hold another 25%, while Simone Barrett is the largest individual shareholder at 11%. The remaining shares are held mostly by various investors and speculators, although the Hartung Foundation was granted 2% of the company stock in perpetuity when it was first endowed. The Hartungs have the support of the majority of the shareholders and a Hartung has been both chairman of the board and CEO since Waugh was ousted after the fall of President Clark (IPX normally combines the roles of chairman and CEO, a tradition started by Jasper Hartung). However, as IPX depends heavily on its relationship with EarthForce, especially the New Technologies division, the EarthForce board members have influence over the company disproportionate to their actual shareholdings. 2.1 Corporate Structure IPX was once referred to as being organised like the three monkeys of avoiding litigation: Administration hears nothing illegal, Operations sees nothing illegal and the Field Offices do nothing at all. The company's dedication to avoiding entanglements and responsibility is legendary; if any of its field teams do anything that might endanger the company, that field team is legally cut off almost instantly. Field teams might loot alien tombs, set off ancient booby traps, start wars with other races, destroy whole colonies by accidentally loosing ancient fire-breathing space goats but head office will disclaim any responsibility for the field 1 team's actions the instant the operation becomes unprofitable. The company operates like an espionage agency at times, remorselessly abandoning agents who have been compromised. 2.1.1 Administration The administration section of IPX is based on Mars, in the arcology in MarsDome One. Administration handles the basic functions of the company - accounts, payroll, purchasing and so forth, as well as liasing with the company's partners. The most important of these partners is obviously EarthForce but the company also has close relations with numerous aerospace corporations. IPX continues to research and develop new technologies for surviving and living on alien worlds but it has no manufacturing capacity of its own. Instead, it contracts the manufacturing of its spacecraft, satellites, portable habitats and survival gear out to other corporations, mainly Celis Aerospace and Universal Terraforming. IPX also had a close relationship with the Psi Corps. Telepaths are incredibly useful in xenoarchaeology and xenopsychology | not only can a telepath bypass language and culture and communicate directly with an alien, mind to mind, but powerful telepaths can even pick up psychic echoes from physical objects, giving vital clues to researchers on site. The Corps was strongly averse to putting its cherished telepaths in danger, though, so each field operation involving a telepath required a complicated exchange of favours and debts between IPX and the Corps. Psi Corps demanded complete accountability when a telepath was placed in danger, while the whole structure of IPX purposefully deflects accountability. Reconciling the two was both difficult and expensive. Administration's other major purpose is long-term planning, known as `The Word from On High' in the internal company patois. Ever since the Earth-Minbari War, the word has been `organic technology;' in the past it was `hull design,' `medical technology' and `hyperspace navigation.' The Word from On High is whatever IPX is most interested in locating at the moment. 2.1.2 Technology and Support Technology and Support (or `Technically Separate' as it is sometimes referred to) works hand in hand with Operations. T&S is responsible for all of IPX's physical assets, such as buildings, spacecraft, mobile habitats, computer systems and so on. Expeditions lease ships and equipment from T&S. T&S also includes IPX's security force, which is composed almost entirely of EarthForce veterans. Following a rash of thefts of artifacts in the 2200s, IPX tightened security consid- erably at all its facilities and laboratories. The security force is both highly paid to reduce the lure of bribery and highly automated. IPX laboratories are fitted with robot security systems, alarms and traps as well as Human security. IPX Security has a reputation for firing first and asking questions later. Another section of Security, Section Seven, uses undercover agents to infiltrate expedi- tions and ensure that no technology or artifacts are stolen | by raiders, or by the expedition crew themselves. Employee theft is an unforgivable sin within IPX. 2 2.1.3 Operations Despite the name, IPX Operations does relatively little fieldwork. Its main purpose is to research and reverse-engineer items brought back by field teams. If the researchers cannot crack a technology fast enough, the samples are sold to EarthForce or another, larger com- pany. While IPX is easily the biggest and most powerful xenoarchaeological company, it is a relatively smaller player when it comes to technological research and development. Compa- nies like Edgars Industries or Mitchell-Hyundyne have far bigger, better funded and better skilled research departments. The research department of Operations has won thousands of profitable patents for IPX but its main purpose is to support and guide field operations. Cracking the techniques used by some dead civilisation to grow crystal buildings would be a huge breakthrough for IPX but learning how to detect such buried structures from orbit is more immediately valuable. Short-term usability is more important than long-term profit. The work environment within the research department is absurdly pressurised; scientists are constantly required to come up with usable results. Few can stand the pace for long, whereupon they jump ship to a more reasonable corporate patron. The handful of long- term researchers in IPX tend to be either so brilliant that they can keep coming up with breakthrough after breakthrough or are so eccentric they have nowhere else to go. Operations runs IPX's field offices, which are scattered all over known space. Field offices range in size from tiny grubby shacks on some new colony world to huge corporate edifices but they all have the same purpose | to gather information and organize expeditions. The field offices are the main points of contact between IPX and its expeditions and digs. Each field office has a staff of researchers, advisers and corporate agents, and normally has a number of technical and security specialists on site as well. The various field offices are organized into several districts. Each district has one or more offices scattered among its planets, controlled from the main district office. The active districts are: Sol: The Sol district comprises just the planets of Earth's solar system. The district office is on Mars at head office but there are field offices on every continent on Earth (obvi- ously, there is no xenoarchaeology on Earth, so the field offices there are focussed on recruitment) and on Io and Ganymede. Inner: The old Inner District has been unprofitable for decades and would have been merged into the Sol District if it were not for high-level political infighting at head office. While the Inner District was the scene of IPX's early triumphs, like the discovery of interceptor technology, there have been no significant finds here in the last 50 years. Oddly, the systems around Sol were never settled by any alien races, so there is nothing to find save the occasional ancient outpost or space derelict. The district office for the Inner District is on Proxima; there are also offices on Beta Durani and Orion. Border: The Border District is also fighting for its corporate life, despite being the most prof- itable of the five districts. The Border district has jurisdiction over all IPX operations from Vega to Jericho. Up until 2252, it also included the space now allocated to the 3 Rim District and there has been growing pressure to further split it into a Minbari District following the opening of Minbari space in recent years. The Border district's sheer size make co-ordination between its offices difficult | the District Office is on Sinzar, with branch offices on Babylon 5, Sinzar, Jericho, Centauri Prime, Corillan and Beta 4. League: The League district was the first major expansion of the company's efforts beyond Human space and was founded in the aftermath of the Dilgar War. The League District is the best district for picking up rumors of potential new sites and legends of ancient spacefarers but the larger Border district has far more active expeditions. The district's main office is on Beta 9, with offices on Brakos and Krindar. Rim: The Rim district is the newest of the five operational theatres and is generally seen as the one with the most opportunity for On High discoveries.