Interconnectedness Unlimited

Somewhat of an enigma, Interconnectedness Unlimited is a massive and mysterious multi-division corporation within the Federated Suns.

Company Profile
New Avalon Stock & Commodities Symbol: IntUnl

Home Office: Granite Falls, Rosamond.

President/CEO: Count Elric Von Steffelbus IV (circa 3025), Count Elric Von Steffelbus V (circa 3067)

Overview
When or how the company was founded is unknown, IU first appearing on Marlette in 2971 virtually fully grown. The company's first acquisition was the popular Triple-F fast food chain, observers shocked that totally unknown company that seemingly formed overnight had enough capital and assets to swallow such a large and profitable company as Triple-F. From this start, for the next 50 years Interconnectedness Unlimited slowly acquired yet more companies seemingly without rhyme or reason, all almost completely unrelated, all rapidly improving productivity thanks to both extensive IU funds and an almost brutal lack of patience for labor problems, selling off any companies that didn't quickly perform.

The fact Interconnectedness Unlimited could expand during the depressed economic conditions of prior to the Fourth Succession War startled many. The company's mystique was only enhanced by its almost totally reclusive CEOs. In the early years of IU, its then young and flamboyant company founder Elric Von Steffelbus IV claimed the philosophy of his company was about the interconnectedness of all things which he attributed to an ancient book he'd read in his youth, but by 3010 he had gone into almost total seclusion and was never seen in public again. Save for his participation in an annual religious festival outside Granite Falls on Rosamond, the elder Count's son Elric Von Steffelbus V adopted a similar level of secrecy.

Despite its early success, strangely just when the FedSun economy bounced back in the wake of the post-Fourth war recession with increasing links to the Lyran Commonwealth, Interconnectedness Unlimited began to suffer cash flow and management problems compounded by public scandals effecting Triple-F in early 3030's. Forced to sell off many of its lesser performing divisions, by the mid-3040's the company was a shell of its former self, surviving on the strength of its three major divisions and four smaller subsidiaries.

The company managed to reclaim some degree of notoriety in 3066 when it won the 2.8 billion C-bill contract to build a SLDF-sponsored Class Six arena stadium on Solaris VII. That the almost unknown company was able to beat out bidders from all the Great Houses, including the famed Chandrasekhar Kurita, caused considerable comment that Interconnectedness Unlimited only secured the bid as part of a pro-Davion agenda, supposedly supported by the fact the arena was being built on land formerly belong to Black Hills and the mammoth dome covering the construction site featured the House Davion logo. With the project quickly falling behind schedule, unfortunately the collapse of the Second Star League abruptly ended payment to IU and was rumored to put the company in dire straits, the ongoing problems of the Word of Blake Jihad dealing near mortal blows to the divisions it retained.

Divisions
At its peak IU boasted 23 separate division, the most notable were:

Triple-F (Federated Fast Food) Restaurants
IU's very first acquisition, Triple-F was also the corporation's largest division and the cornerstone of its good and bad fortune. Famous for their Triple-F Burgers, made from the meat animal most common to the area, Triple-F was the largest fast food chain in the Federated Suns, its logo is instantly recognizable to anyone born in the Davion realm, bolstered by food contracts with many local AFFS and mercenary units (and thereby being at the roots of Beaufort's Cossacks' peculiar mutiny of 2970).

As of 3025 there were over 5,000 Triple-F restaurants in Davion space, with the opening of markets in the Lyran Commonwealth and Sarna March by the early 3030's the company had expanded to almost 25,000. This peak was unfortunately short-lived after the chain became embroiled in a number of high-profile lawsuits and news stories showing instances of stores using past-date meats that triggered a string of food poisoning incidents on three Sarna March worlds. By 3067 Triple-F could only boast a respectable 15,000 locations across 330 FedSuns worlds, 84 Lyran worlds and 23 former Sarna March worlds.

Unconfirmed rumors indicate Triple-F's fate during the Jihad was especially dire, with another wave of food poisoning claims, shipping restrictions and widespread government rationing forcing IU to liquidate the entire chain by 3071.

Holy Order Press
The Federated Suns' third largest publisher of religious books, while not formally affiliated with either the Unfinished Book Movement or New Avalon Catholic Church, several of their notable authors had their works published through Holy Order Press, giving the division significant market penetration. This was further enhanced by an ongoing agreement to place religious material in every hotel room with the Golden Star Hotels and Casions.

Unlike the other IU divisions, Holy Order Press was rumored to have thrived during the crisis of the Jihad, both off the back of a large contract to print pocket-book editions for the AFFS as well expanding its services to quickly meet the needs of the various new faiths and sects that cropped up.

Peloran Motors
Founded in the early 2900's, Peloran was a struggling civilian vehicle manufacturer with only two models of note before being absorbed by IU in 2998. IU funding allowed Peloran to invest in a top-flight R&D department and an aggressive PR campaign that turned all that around, the company now a member of the "Big Fifteen" FedSun vehicle manufacturers with more than a dozen different lines of economy vehicles.

Much like Triple-F, rumors during the Jihad indicate Peloran's civilian sales plummeted with the disruptions to shipping. However Peloran appear to have overcome this by turning to the military market, developing the Barouche hover transport and manufacturing the RetroTech version of the Commando BattleMech. This manufacturing line was shut down by 3079 however.

Manufacturing
Peloran Motors has a manufacturing center on the following planet:

Golden Star Entertainment Group
Acquired in a hostile takeover in 3013, Golden Star Entertainments was the larger producer of the holo-films in the Federated Suns while the Golden Star Hotels and Casinos, a chain of 50 high-end hotel and gambling casinos scattered across Davion space. While the division had started to rebound thanks to IU funding, its improvement was not fast enough with the corporation selling the Golden Star Entertainment Group in 3034.

D.Gently's Detective and Information Agency
Division Head: Dirk Gently IX (circa 3025) A centuries old detective agency, D.Gently's specialized in marital cases. Aside from following spouses and kidnappers the division's many agents also espoused heartfelt sermons on the interconnectedness of all things, a homage to the company founder and what prompted Count Steffelbus to acquire the company in the first place. The fate of this division by 3067 is unknown.