Lockwell Trading Company (Solar Wars)

The Lockwell Trading Company (LTC) is a uniquely powerful multinational corporation. It is also the oldest surviving space corporation, having been founded 2091 by British entrepreneur Thomas Lockwell. It is also unique in that it is one of the few truly popularly owned space MNCs. In its early days, in order to raise the billions of dollars needed to fund each asteroid mining expedition Lockwell sold shares in the company directly to millions of eager buyers across the Commonwealth. The vast majority of these were, and are, regular people of middle class and working class social standing.

Today, the Lockwell Trading Company is involved primarily in interplanetary shipping, asteroid belt mining, and resource harvesting on many of Jupiter's moons.

Ownership & Governance
The Company prides itself as being "owned by the people", with the single largest shareholder owning less than 10% of Company stock. The Company has a total of 4 million shareholders, the largest number of shareholders of any single Company in the solar system. Every 5 years at the Company's Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors - whose role it is to appoint and supervise (and if necessary, dismiss) the CEO and the entire upper executive team - is renewed. The Board of Directors consists of 15 Directors elected by the general shareholders of the Company and 6 Directors elected by the employees of the Company who have chosen to forgo their voting rights as shareholders. The Chairman of the Board is also known as the Governor of the Company.

Corporate Structure
The Lockwell Trading Company is divided into 4 main subsidiaries: Lockwell Shipping, Lockwell Mining, Lockwell Resources, and Lockwell Development. Each subsidiary has its own unique challenges and business models, and each subsidiary has its own internal divisions and services.

Lockwell Shipping
Lockwell Shipping is the primary revenue stream of the Company, contributing roughly 40% of the Company's revenue. It runs shipping routes all across the solar system but primarily focuses on shipping between Earth and the Moon, Earth and Mars, and Earth and Jupiter. Lockwell Shipping operates a fleet of hundreds of largely automated cargo ships crewed by skeletal crews of between 20 and 70 crewmembers (note: for the purposes of this page, the term "crewmembers" includes all onboard personnel including the captain, deck crew, engine crew, electro-technical crew, stewards, security crew and others).

The Earth-Moon shipping routes usually take only half a day one-way with the use of less efficient but less expensive fusion drives, meaning Lockwell ships running these routes are usually the smallest and are crewed with the most basic crews. There is usually one doctor on board and basic medical supplies. As piracy between the Earth and Moon is generally non-existent, most Lockwell ships running these routes do not have on-board security.

The time length of the Earth-Mars shipping routes vary greatly depending on the time of year, dependant largely on how close the Earth and Mars are at the time. At their closest, the route can take up to 2 weeks with the most efficient non-Wilson Drive, and 2 days even with the use of the Wilson Fusion Drive (WFD). At the furthest distance between Earth and Mars shipping is scarce as the journey can be up to 2 months long one-way. Therefore, ships running this route are significantly larger so as to maximise the revenue of each trip. Ships of this route are crewed by 30 to 50 crewmembers. Due to the relative prevalence of piracy along the Earth-Mars shipping routes, between 5 and 20 of the on-board crew will be in-house security personnel, operating under the umbrella of Lockwell Shipping Security (LSS). Under international space law, Lockwell Shipping ships are allowed to operate a limited number of short-range anti-ship guns and, with the permission of higher executives, are allowed to shoot on pirate ships. Most security personnel however will be trained in infantry tactics to repel attempts by pirates to board their ship.

Using the Wilson Fusion Drive, the time length of the Earth-Jupiter shipping routes are roughly 7 days one-way at their shortest, and 3 months at the furthest. As a result, ships running this route are even larger than those running the Earth-Mars routes and travel the route far less frequently. These ships are crewed by 50 to 70 personnel. Due to their extreme isolation and distance from medical aid, all Lockwell ships running this route have on-board medical teams up to 5 people strong. Additionally, as the inner-outer planet routes suffer the most from piracy, these ships usually have between 10 and 30 security personnel and are the most militarised in the Lockwell Shipping fleet. They all operate anti-ship guns and have clearance to use them (within the relevant Rules of Engagement) at the orders of the captain. Some of the largest cargo ships even field up to 2 fighter craft operated by licensed mercenary pilots. Lockwell Shipping also handles all transportation of resources harvested by Lockwell Resources from Jupiter's various moons. Lockwell Shipping does not handle transportation of resources mined in the asteroid belt by Lockwell Mining.

Lockwell Mining
Lockwell Mining contributes 35% of the Company's revenue and is the oldest component of the Company, having been in operation since the very beginning of the Company. Lockwell Mining runs continuous mining operations across large portions of the asteroid belt, with most crew staying in semi-permanent habitats not far from their worksites for months at a time, not unlike oil rig crew on Earth. Workers are ferried to and from their designated habitats roughly every 6 months, and each time roughly 1.5 full sets of crew are ferried to allow for shift changes. These shift changes are staggered but overall allow an individual worker to have up to 1.5 months of cumulative free time to relax at their habitats, not working.

Said habitats are staffed by a crew of stewards, fitness, and security personnel; and the more developed habitats even include entertainment centres. All habitats contain the necessary technology to allow for communication with family back home to keep up employee morale.

Due to the high value of their cargo, the relative length of their journey's, ships carrying mined resources back to Earth are heavily protected by security personnel and are equipped with anti-ship guns.

Lockwell Resources
Lockwell Resources contributes 25% of the Company's revenue and is the newest component of the Company. The entirety of its focus is on harvesting the bountiful resources on Jupiter's many moons, including hydrocarbons and ice, for use in and around Jupiter as well as back on Earth (particularly since the complete depletion of oil and gas reserves on Earth). WIP

The Battle of Ekhart's Rock
On the 21st of March 2245, a Lockwell Trading Company mining facility located on the asteroid named Ekhart's Rock was subjected to a coordinated attack by a coalition pirate force numbering an estimated 2,000 pirates. Defending the facility, which was largely automated and at the time housed 100 civilian personnel, were 52 security personnel. Security personnel defended the facility as on-site civilian personnel were evacuated. The attack lasted 7 hours and 21 minutes and ended with 13 casualties suffered by Company security personnel and 500 pirates killed. For their bravery and sacrifice, all 52 security personnel were awarded the Wolf's Heart - the highest distinction awarded by the company. Additionally, for their outstanding leadership and bravery, 15 personnel were awarded various levels of awards by their home governments.