Dragoon Tactical Investments Ltd.
Written by: Ursa-Minor
Every few years or so, a small fledgeling corp comes along that manages to outsell one of the dominating AAA megacorps in a city and gets to proudly wear the distinction of being a local favourite. Sometimes this is because of a unique product the corp has exclusive rights to, other times it's because a smaller target demographic allows them to more easily tailor their goods and services to an individual. In the case of Dragoon Tactical Investments, they have managed to outsell Knight Errant and Lone Star Security Services as the primary security contractor in Raleigh mostly because they are cheaper. I suppose that is something of an oversimplification of the matter. Dragoon Tactical Investments has held the #1 spot for contracting private security in Raleigh for a myriad of small reasons, but it is generally agreed upon that they've secured a lot of their repeat-customers by offering almost everything Ares and Lone Star can but on a budget that reflects in their fees.Their presentation is a big part of it too. Dragoon PR portrays the corp's smaller stature compared to larger and more established corporations in a plucky-underdog light, which endears them to the independant minded locals.
It also helps that they hire almost entirely from said locals, giving them a community presence and letting them paint any attack on the corp as an attack on Raleigh
Not that they don't keep a few foreign hires on board when humanisation might hinder mission effectiveness.In spite of being a smaller corporation, I would personally advise taking them as serious as you would any of the larger security providers. Dragoon might not have the same variancy in abilities and megical support as Ares or Knight Errant, but their tight budget has rarely impeded on the quality of their core products, and the powers in charge know that any slip-up could pave the way for another corp to take over. As well, their emphasis on hiring locally will make any fatalities a public issue, and I should not have to tell you why that is a bad thing to members of our pseudo-profession.
Structure
Dragoon's organisation structure takes after Ares in having a military aesthetic to their hierarchy and nomencleture, referring to interns as 'Privates' and plotting operations and contracts as 'missions'.
Public Agenda
As with any corp, Dragoon Tactical Investments' agenda is about making money. Their means of attaining profit lie primarily in providing private security assets, both rank-and-file security personel and highly trained HTR units, as well as providing internal and external consultasions on matters of security.
Assets
Predictably, Dragoon's primary assets are their monumental armed presence. Several thousand active corpsec, smaller groups of HTR operating-teams, and scores more employees to keep it all running, along with a small fleet of armored up cars, motorbikes and the occasional bulky personel-carrier when they feel the need to emphasize their authority.
Equipment-wise, you can expect both rank-and-file and HTR Dragoon forces to be roughly on par with their megacorp counterparts, minus a few expensive peripherals. Dragoon ground-forces have an unusual 'make do' esprit de corp, encouraging them to take responsibility for the state of their own gear and source replacement parts by themselves when possible. This gives both the rank-and-file and HTR assets of Dragoon a slightly ragtag and varied (within acceptable corporate parameters) appearance to their gear.
Recruitment advertisements encourage potential Dragoon to bring their own handguns with them to job interviews. If it meets their standards, they can carry it in lieu of their issued sidearm. Emphasizes their 'of the people' schtick and saves a few pennies on equipping their boys themselves.Locals of Raleigh are very familiar with the "barracks" owned by Dragoon, based on the old Perf-Prefab brand buildings from the 50s, given a 'period makeover' and subtly forified to emphasize their presence in every district. The garish faux-stone panels and castle turrets on the outside clash to a surreal degree with the squeaky-clean corp-chic interiors, enough that you might not notice that both the interior and exterior have been made into formidable defensive positions beneath the decor. This aesthetic carries on to a lesser extent to their less public areas, such as their factories and R&D facilities. You can reliably tell how unwelcome you are in Dragoon property by how functional the surrounding architecture is.
The stone veneers aren't a joke either. We've seen the trids of that truck careening full-speed into one of the stations and bouncing.
History
Initially called Imperator Security Enterprises, the passion-project of one Gabriel Hampton opened with no small fanfare, taking full advantage of the publicity of his career (and its notorious end) to make local news with its opening, despite its humble start as a simple consultancy agency. In spite of the grief he caused at the end of his career, Knight Errant seemed oddly charmed by its former prodigy starting his own security, not only humoring his bid for independance but even hiring him on occasion for consultations their local dealings.
Gabriel Hampton's decades of experience and training led to Imperator taking an unexpected growth in influence in the Raleigh area, with investors from outside going out thieir way to get the founder's opinion on secure architecture or HTR response tactics. Feeling like the proverbial big fish in a small pond, Hampton took full advantage of his investments returning by expanding Imperator's services from a consultant and middle-man to taking a more active role in Raleigh's private security operations, first in participating in the training of local security/law-enforcement services, then in procuring their own forces to take on local contracts, changing their name to Dragoon Tactical Investments in the process.
Dragoon's expansion was slow but steady, drawing on Gabriel Hampton's emphasis on logistics to secure its foundations before moving up. Equipment was no longer bought at market price but made locally under the corporate banner, with various product lines sold to the public and to other contractors for a steady profit. The company's big break came in 2074, subsequent to Lone Star Security Services's downgrading of its general law-enforcement contract in Seattle, the Raleigh city-council began controversial talks on withdrawing their law-enforcement contract with Lone Star and handing it to the Dragoon, a move that would solidify its dominance in Raleigh as primary provider of security contracts and arms-production.
Dragoon's also taking much more aggressive leads into the Concrete Forest and surrounding Z-zones when on corpsec business and staying there a lot longer. They know Lone Star and Raleigh's city-council like to pretend those parts of the city don't exist, so it makes for a good PR move for the little people while also snubbing their competitors.Following Hampton's stepping down from CEO, the company is currently in the hands of one Eva Weston. More information will follow soon.
"Send For the Finest Cavalry!"
Founding Date
2054
Type
Corporation, Security
Alternative Names
Imperator Security Enterprises
Demonym
Dragoon (or simply Goon, derisively)
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
Mutual Ongoing-Contracts
Osberger and Dragoon have agreed to a mutual deal of providing oneanother with discounted/preferential services, with Osberger LES providing Dragoons with marked-down wares and early access to new developments in exchange for Dragoon discounting the price of their ongoing security contract and priority HTR response-times.
Corporate Competition
With Dragoon expected to be Lone Star's replacement if their law-enforcement contract gets pulled, relations are as close as you can get to openly hostile while still retaining a transparent veneer of 'friendly competition'.
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