Trans-Orbital Systems Inc

Trans-Orbital Systems, Incorporated (TOS) was a powerful interplanetary conglomerate with the largest extraterrestrial mining stake of any corporation. TOS functioned more or less outside any jurisdiction, since its headquarters were on Ceres, and most of its operations were on property claimed by TOS and not by any nation. At the time of its collapse, TOS provided 80% of the metals used by Earth in manufacturing.

TOS operated several dozen bases of varying size and workforce. Between 2050 and 2075, TOS fought a de facto internal war against the unrecognized TOS workers' union, who complained of brutal and dangerous working conditions, unfair hiring practices that amounted to impressment, and low pay. TOS (unsuccessfully) employed the infamous Colby Group, a private mercenary firm specializing in microgravity combat to subdue the workers. In 2072, TOS bases in open rebellion, the TOS union officially formed into the Coalition of Human Colonies. When TOS lost control of its offworld bases and colonies, it effectively disintegrated; its mining profits plummeted, and its remains were broken up and absorbed into other Earth corporations. The colonies meanwhile struggled to maintain the mining operations they had inherited without the complex supply lines provided by TOS.

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