Gloriana

Gloriana was a private military company active in the and the galactic frontier in the years following the. Specializing in providing private security and military training, it was also known for its well-stocked arsenal and lethal private commando force. Despite ties to many large arms manufacturers based on and the, Gloriana was also known for its  sympathies. While never directly involved with rebel groups or other criminal elements, the corporation often took employment from independent colonies and took an active role in promoting economic growth outside the UEG’s sphere of influence.

History
Gloriana was founded in 2538 following the suppression of a brutal uprising on. The company’s founder and first CEO Arthur Campbell had quietly used his fortune to fund the rebels and their resounding defeat coupled with his efforts to escape imprisonment following the uprising’s defeat left his family destitute. In a desperate entrepreneurial bid Campbell gathered up military surplus left over from the uprising and used them to arm a small contingent of private guards. He then hired the guards off to other families for protection against bandits and other marauders across war-ravaged Mamore. Several of Gloriana’s initial employees were veterans of the failed rebellion and their combat experience—coupled with Campbell’s intricate knowledge of Mamore’s upper-class society—quickly won them renown as the colony’s most effective security force.

With his family fortune restored, Campbell grew more ambitious with his new security force. Extending an olive branch to his old enemies, he took several lucrative government contracts protecting CAA officials from Mamore’s still restive insurgents. With so many UNSC forces deployed on the frontlines of the Human-Covenant War, the military was greatly undermanned within the colonies themselves and private security forces were in high demand from beleaguered CAA administrations. Recognizing that there was little future to poverty-ridden Mamore, Cambell moved Gloriana’s offices offworld and began courting government contracts in other systems. The company’s first real break came when it was hired to defeat a well-armed group of pirates stealing shipments from CAA convoys. Gloriana forces raided the pirates’ compound and were surprised to recover several billion credits’ worth of tea shipments. A jubilant Campbell adopted a teapot as the company’s official logo.

Arthur Campbell had made his peace with the Insurrection’s defeat and offered many aimless rebels protection from UEG prosecution if they would lend their skills to his organization. Though many viewed such a stance as betrayal, some former rebels took him up on the offer and allowed themselves to be hired by Gloriana. The company was soon filled with disillusioned Insurrectionists and thus gained a bulwark of employees well-versed in unconventional guerrilla tactics. However, Campbell was wary of how his hiring policies would be perceived in the Inner Colonies. He instituted a strict company etiquette policy and ensured that all his officers became known and respected within colonial high society. Gloriana soon gained a reputation for sophistication as well as lethal effectiveness. Despite their humble Outer Colony origins the Campbell family moved deftly into the ranks of the colonial elite. Campbell’s connections with many prominent families won Gloriana even more military contracts and deals with arms manufacturers such as secured the company a sizable contingent of military vehicles, including a squadron of state-of-the-art.

Arthur was careful to keep his company away from contracts involving the Covenant and avoided investing in anything that might be destroyed by the alien fleets. Thanks to his prudence Gloriana emerged as one of the few private military companies relatively unscathed by the destruction. With the reconstruction market overflowing with security contracts, Gloriana was poised to triple its revenue prospects. Unfortunately Arthur did not live to see his company’s triumph: he was assassinated during a trip back to inspect a potential contract on his homeworld of Mamore. After a brief period of instability, Arthur’s daughter Arya Campbell inherited his shares in the company and succeeded him as CEO. Arya shocked both the company and the business community by forgoing further UEG contracts in favor of pursuing opportunities on the colonial frontier.

The extent of Arya’s ambition soon became clear. Rather than remaining cloistered by the UEG’s extensive corporate regulations, she aimed to expand Gloriana as a major player on the growing market in independent space. While maintaining her company’s genteel reputation, she opened offices across the frontier and offered Gloriana’s services at a discounted rate to planetary governments in need of protection and training for their own defense forces. Remaining independent of criminal organizations such as the Syndicate and New Colonial Alliance, Gloriana provided a respectable alternative to UEG-hostile support. Under Arya’s leadership it expanded its arsenal well beyond UEG-prescribed limits and actively campaigned to orchestrate free trade between independent colonies and UEG aligned planets. By 2557 the company had added several refurbished warships to its arsenal and was among the first to invest in MJOLNIR armor systems for its operatives—all while maintaining the company’s trademark gentility.