Vrell Enterprises

## Presentation

Vrell Enterprises is the research and development arm of the Mercenary Coalition. Headed by the titular Devlon Vrell, the company employsfreelance scientists, engineers, and technicians from all over space who wish to pursue their research unbound by petty morals and scruples. Their entire operation is based out of an orbital station over the planet Tiqim III, called 'Enablement Station'.

## History

### Beginnings

Although Vrell Enterprises technically came into existence at the same time as the Coalition, few scientists were drawn to the company in the beginning. The Coalition was a military force, not a haven for the sciences. That all changed once the Coalition leader, Jorg Succorso, gained exclusive rights for the Coalition to study and mine the spice melange on the planet of Tiqim III. Researchers who wished to study the spice and its effects on humanoids now had no choice but to go through Vrell Enterprises to do it. Once they had joined Vrell Enterprises, many of the researchers discovered that they enjoyed the lack of moral restrictions on their work. Over time, many biologists and physicists flocked to the company to pursue their research.

### Enablement

Eventually, the influx of scientists became too much for the few ground bases on Tiqim III to handle. Additionally, Vrell and Captain Succorso became uneasy with the careful watch the Alliance still kept over the scientist's studies. As a result, Vrell personally led the design and construction of a private space station in geosynchronous orbit around Tiqim III. The station came furbished with holosuites, simulators, laboratories, and massive generators to power the residents' many experiments. A prison wing was also constructed, although Vrell Enterprises denies that it is used to hold unwilling test subjects, instead insisting that it simply serves as a waiting area for captured pirates before they can be processed and sent to Hoth for sentencing.

## Personnel and Site

Vrell Enterprises is entirely based out of a single large stations orbiting the spice planet of Tiqim III, known as Enablement Station. The largest non-government installation to date, Enablement is the size of a small town and is currently home to over 200 biologists, physicists, neurologists, and engineers. The station also boasts a custom point defense system designed by Devlon Vrell himself, as well as an on-board garrison of an entire Coalition platoon, excluding vehicles. The station also serves as a secondary dry-dock for Coalition ships, and at least two combat vessels remain in close proximity at all times. Below Enablement, on the planet's surface, is Base Camp Alpha. Built on a rock shelf near the spice fields, the base camp serves as a deployment zone for the gigantic spice harvesters that supply the Coalition with their cash-crop. The site also serves as a place for biologists to study Tiqim III's native sandworms up close and personal, as seen above. Several attempts have been made to capture a worm for up close study, but all have been unsuccessful and led to heavy loss of life. Despite this, the company seems determined to one day acquire a live specimen and transport it off-world.

## Missions and Objectives

Although scientists working for Vrell Enterprises are free to research whatever they wish, so long as they provide their findings exclusively to the company, the current stated objective of the company is to discover the secrets of the spice melange, and to exploit it and the sandworms for the betterment of the Alliance. Despite such a vague goal, the company has made impressive gains over the first few months of its existence. Researchers have been able to determine that consuming spice in large quantities sends the user into a trance-like state, where they claim to be able to see the future. Test subjects have been able to predict near future events with startling accuracy under the influence of the spice. Unfortunately, prolonged use revealed the spice to be highly addictive and, after mere weeks, lethal. Enablement researchers are immediately began working on ways to reduce the addictiveness, or at least the lethality, of the spice. Eventually, through a delicate and expensive refining process, a non-lethal, though still highly addictive, version of the spice was developed that bestowed upon the user long life and a calming effect when partaking, though it also turned the whites of the user's eyes completely blue after extended use. Mercenary Coalition began to make use of this new product immediately, providing it for their top officers and shipping the rest to Hoth and the colonies to be sold at ludicrous prices. The rich and super-rich immediately began to buy up spice-imbued wine, cigars and food, filling the Coalition's coffers to the brim.