蛇怪公司

蛇怪公司是一家 Human personal 飞船装甲制造商，总部设立于Cascom. 他们同时也生产shield generator. 成立于2530年，致力于研究新型复合装甲材料，蛇怪公司的大部分启动资金来源于United Empire of Earth(UEE)直到2792梅塞尔政权倒台. 在那之后的一段时间里，政权更替使得他们的经费受到了大幅度的削减，因此他们开始将他们的产品推向民用市场。
尽管他们每年利润的很大一部分来自于军事合同，但由于来自UEE经费的缩减，他们提供给军队的装备总是廉价且不堪一击。相反的，他们向高端私人企业销售高品质的产品。
==历史背景==
在2535年, High-General Volder参观了一家新兴的船体镀层制造商，令许多业内人士震惊的是，该公司在最近获得了一份重要的UPE军事合同。这家公司的首席工程师兼CEOSimone Visconti正带着她的研究数据紧张的跟在后面。她已经准备好并乐意向最高司令沃德尔解答任何有关她如何革命性的创造出帝国中最强抗损船体镀层的问题。然而根据传说，最高司令沃德尔只向她问了一个问题。"为什么你将它命名为蛇怪？"维斯孔蒂回答道：“因为它们极难被杀死”。她还没来得及详细说明如何杀死这只神话生物，最高司令沃德尔已经大步地离开了，对剩余的细节毫不关心。后世的历史学家们一致认为，最高司令沃尔德关注的是大局。西蒙·维斯孔蒂则在另一层面，专注于每一个微小的细节。这种对微小细节毫不动摇的执着造就了蛇怪公司作为高质量装备制造商的声誉，尽管一些人声称近些年来该公司的产品质量有所下降，但这一区别依然存在。
===蛇怪的诞生===
Simone Visconti2509年出生在 Asura。她的父母为一家足以推动全球经济繁荣的大型矿业集团工作。维斯孔蒂从小就对何种事物充满好奇同时也足够聪明，这最终让她取得了University of Persei Analytical Research and Quantification的全额奖学金。维斯孔蒂在这所大学仅仅学习了一年的物理学，在某一天突然离开了这所大学，去到了另外一所名气远不如UPARQ的University of Tram完成了他的大学学业。 
当被问及此事时，维斯孔蒂风轻云淡的说：“这不适合我”——这是她的朋友和同事习以为常的听到她对不感兴趣的事情的回答。然而，传记作者后来从维斯孔蒂的UPARQ同学那里了解到，到了她的第二学年中期，她已经对学习物理感到无聊，并希望转学到工程学科。UPARQ的教授们拒绝了她的请求，并告诉她等到下一个学期再作出调整。与教授们的要求相反的是，维斯孔蒂不再去上课，而是花费大量时间在图书馆学习工程学相关的知识。这时候她的奖学金岌岌可危，她离所有科目全部挂科已经不远了。但是，与其回到她不感兴趣的课堂上，维斯孔蒂做出了一个更干脆的选择，离开这所学校。
在University of Tram完成工程学学业后，维斯孔蒂向她的父母借款租了一个小实验室，她在那里沉迷于工作，试图创造能同时保护船只并提供能源的光伏船体镀层。大多数人认为这是不可能的任务，但一些看到她早期成果的人都受到了鼓舞。Bernard Pak是其中一人。作为维斯孔蒂父母的老朋友，在当地房地产领域小有名气的帕克提供了一些资金支持维斯孔蒂的研究——而他的实际目的则是使用她的研究去升级设施并雇用少量员工——以获得他所在公司的大量股份。
随着时间的推移，研究并没有明显的突破，帕克变得越来越不耐烦。最终，他威胁要停止支持维斯孔蒂，除非他看到研究有具体的进展。虽然她没有解决光伏镀层的问题，但维斯孔蒂沿途发展的实验制造技术具有其他的优势。她组织了实地测试，以向帕克展示他们的船体镀层比其他制造商更能抵御损伤。当帕克看到实验结果时，他立刻就知道了该怎么做。
===市场影响力===
帕克坚持让维斯孔蒂将现有的船体镀层产品推向市场，以此作为维斯孔蒂研究经费的来源，同时让他能获得一些投资回报。 帕克投入了大量资金建造了一间制造工厂，很快第一批蛇怪蛇怪装甲就从Tram生产线上下线。这家通过宣传产品出色的耐用性，聪明的将目光放在了当地的矿业财团和工业企业上。没过多久，产品就开始供不应求。 Asura's的繁荣经济、充满了高技术人才、蓝领工人的社会，同时加上帕克的房地产业使得他们迅速扩大业务范围。 
与此同时，UPE和Xi'an Empire之间的关系正步入紧张阶段。几年前在，在2530年，Humanity偶然的在Pallas System中首次发现了该物种。 在最初的外交混乱后，两国之间的信任度持续低迷。面对可能存在威胁的外星物种，现代化军队建设成为High-General Volder's的首要任务。正点蛇怪公司的新制造工厂投入生产时，UPE显著的增加了经费投入。 这时机对蛇怪来说再好不过了。凭借他们新获得的极高声誉，同时他们的竞争对手没有时间对他们的产品进行逆向仿造，蛇怪获得了一份他们梦寐以求的政府合同：为全新的主力舰级驱逐舰生产船体装甲。
在2541年, UPE担心的外星战争终究还是来了，不过这次的敌人是Tevarin，而非Xi'an。 军费开支的直线上升使得蛇怪成为了其中的主要受益者。很快，政府合同就成为了公司的主要收入来源，这使得所有私人企业都无法获得他们生产的装甲，这反过来加强了他们在民众眼中的声誉。在First Tevarin War结束时，蛇怪成为了UPE的主要军事承包商之一，这时他们的业务范围已经包括personal armor和ship shield generators。
蛇怪此时是所有国防工业羡慕的对象。 然而，在接下来的十多年里，维斯孔蒂对公司与Ivar Messer's政权的日益紧密感觉到了不安。维斯孔蒂将她的反对意见告知了董事会，结果发现她的研究经费被减半了。她怒气冲冲的来到了帕克的办公室，威胁道如果不将这个问题纠正她就辞职。而帕克则宣称研究经费减半是因为她的研究没有取得进一步的进展。 据说帕克在那时对她说如果你无法接受预算的缩减，那么蛇怪可能就不再适合你了。
维斯孔蒂抛售了她在公司的股份并离开了公司。 她用她手上的信用点来支持她的研究；在她众多的追求中，她回归了她的初心：photovoltaic plating。让人悲伤的是，她再也没能在此项技术上获得突破。
=== Beyond Visconti ===
When Pak retired in 2586, Francis Kelting, a former advisor to Messer, stepped in and gained control of Basilisk. He signed numerous government contracts that included options and extensions which solidified the ties between the company and the despotic regime for decades to come. Any board member who opposed Kelting's decisions was quickly unseated or (in one shocking case) convicted of corruption and embezzlement on clearly trumped-up charges.
Kelting held onto the reins of power at Basilisk with an iron fist until he suffered a catastrophic heart attack during a particularly intense board meeting in 2673. Legend has it that one board member quipped, "I take it this meeting's adjourned," then collected her files and left without offering any help to the man many had come to despise. Basilisk executives spent the following decades trying to undo their Gordian knot of connections to the Messer regime without facing retribution. Then once again, the tides of history intervened in their favor.
In the late 28th century, mining conglomerates were fleeing the Ferron System in droves after depleting Asura of its resources. Basilisk followed suit, claiming the skyrocketing crime rate was not conducive to its employees' safety or to beneficial business conditions. The company moved their headquarters and main manufacturing hub to Castra. Internal documents show that board members, eager to disassociate themselves from the growing corruption of the Messer regime, timed the move so that their operations wouldn't be fully functional when the next round of government contracts became available. Citing a lack of manufacturing capacity, Basilisk extricated themselves from over half of the government contracts that they would have been expected, or more accurately pressured, to undertake.
Basilisk also used the move to Castra to shift their business model back toward the private sector. The market was flooded with products of a similar quality, but few had both Basilisk's reputation and name recognition. Though they couldn't avoid their associations with the Messers, ex-military personnel attested to the brand and their initial sales in this new market were encouraging.
After the Messer regime finally toppled, the UEE made sweeping changes to the military budget that reshaped the landscape of government contracts. Basilisk soon found themselves having to undercut competitors to retain the government contracts they had come to rely on while re-establishing their place in the civilian and industrial markets. As profit margins shrank on their government contracts, Basilisk was forced to institute cost-cutting measures.
=== Present ===
Today, items destined for the UEE military are produced at different facilities and using cheaper materials than their private sector counterparts. Amid accusations of inferior manufacturing, Basilisk insists that all items they produce meet exacting military standards. It is said that Navy pilots often joke that if Basilisk armor is strapped to their ship, then it better have been purchased from their public site.
However, despite any quality concerns, Basilisk remains a preeminent defense industry manufacturer, one that has weathered centuries of turmoil thanks to a revolutionary product made possible only because of Simone Visconti's dedication to the details.
==琐事==
* 蛇怪公司经常被海军士兵们开玩笑说：如果你想用蛇怪的产品装配你的飞船，一定要确认你是从他们官网上订购的。
==画廊==
==引用==
Category:Vehicle components manufacturers
en:/Basilisk