The Mega Corporations (Background And List)

The UCR has always been a nation very much in favour of corporations. From the very day of its founding, the Third Federation has allowed corporations to have more or less free reign, and as a result the nation has profited greatly from the immense economic activity these companies generate. Prior to the year 256F ATF, there were tens of huge corporations that existed on the UCR, vying for dominance in a highly competitive market. The government maintained oversight of the corporations, using what few regulatory powers it had to prevent any one company from establishing a total monopoly.

The election of 2560, however, changed the entire economic and political landscape. The Harmony Coalition, which had been in power for nearly a thousand years, was completely swept away in the elections, losing all but two of their seats and essentially becoming a non-entity. In their place rose the predecessor to the modern-day FNUP, the National Alliance Party.

The NAP was elected into power in a landslide, and Chancellor Yin Park quickly moved to reforming the country. One of the first acts she passed was the Corporate Rights Act, an act which essentially removed the last few regulatory shackles that the companies bore. Though many accused her of doing this to pander to the companies that many suspected had helped get her into power, Yin was quick to defend her actions as "the best move for the health the national economy".

The enactment of the Corporate Rights Act had immediate results. The largest of the companies began buying up every smaller company they could get their hands on, and slowly but surely the modern-day megacorporations emerged. Since that day, the Corporate Rights Act has been amended numerous times, but the core purpose of the act, to allow corporations to grow and operate with as few restrictions as possible, has remained intact.

In 3845 ATF, the UCR experienced the most brutal conflict it had ever experienced, even to this day; th civil conflict known as "The Calamity". The Free Systems League, a separatist movement, launched an all-out invasion of the UCR's outer colonies. The conflict escalated until nearly the entire nation was engulfed in flames. Planetary governments, cut off from the central government by the conflict, began to collapse. People were left to fend for themselves, and turned to the only stable organisations left; the corporations.

As the federal military retreated, the corporate security forces took over, and in many places even took over control of entire planetary governments. While the conflict wore on, the corporations kept their new territorial holdings safe and secure. Th UCR even hired the corporate security forces to assist in military operations, giving even more power to the corporate behemoths. After fifteen years of conflict, the Calamity finally came to an end with the destruction of the League's High Command on Devlin.

As the dust settled, the corporations relinquished control to the newly reformed central government. But they profited greatly from their newfound power, and further coalescence of the companies left only a few massive entities left in the nation, all of which are still in existence today.

There are four companies considered to be megacorporations, and one considered to be a hypercorporation.

Megacorporations

- Westland-Stahl Corporation
- Helion Industries
- Elysium Technology Group
- CVK Biotech

Hypercorporation

- Columbia Conglomerate