The Hidden Empire

Dubbed the Hidden Empire by economic historian Dr. Edward Nogel, Shubin Interstellar has become one of the most expansive companies in UEE history, with profits to rival any solar system’s and an employee base large enough to fill one. And while most people are familiar with the company by name, because a large portion of their business happens in the most remote parts of space, few are aware of how massive a corporate entity Shubin really is. Yet from its very inception, Shubin was created with big plans in mind.

Founded in 2410, Shubin Interstellar began life as an investment group headed by Sol construction magnate Martha Shubin to take advantage of the nascent terraforming boom. As Humanity’s exploration of the stars continued and more worlds were discovered, Martha was calculating that a large bet on terraforming would pay off. The group began by providing capital to various terraforming firms, but after a series of mergers and acquisitions, Shubin Interstellar found itself with controlling interest in the third largest terraforming conglomerate in the UNE.

The business continued to grow as Humanity did, but the executives at Shubin found themselves with an overhead cost problem once the terraforming was done in any given system. The equipment and expertise that they had built up in the system during the lengthy planetary engineering process was being sold off or liquidated once the work was done, at a considerable loss. Those concerns were compounded as the rapid expansion of the 25th and 26th century began to slow, meaning that there were fewer systems to terraform. The solution presented itself when Fulcrum Mining Associates offered a massive buyout of Shubin’s assets in Centauri system. Instead, Shubin made a counter offer to purchase Fulcrum outright — the plan being that by acquiring their mining expertise, Shubin would be able to seamlessly retrofit their terraforming holdings directly into mining ones.

It ended up being a highly profitable decision, and Shubin’s already impressive portfolio expanded rapidly. Soon pure mining facilities were being constructed in systems without terraforming needs. By the 27th century, mining made up 60% of Shubin Interstellar’s net worth, which prompted the company to segment terraforming into a separate planetary engineering subsidiary and heavily shift focus to ore acquisition. Shubin had successfully transitioned from a company that helped create worlds to one that focused primarily on ripping them apart.

Fast forward to today and Shubin has mining operations in close to every system in the UEE and many more beyond. Their influence on politics and government is unmatched and public records show that Shubin contributed more than any other company to lobbying efforts in the 2945 fiscal year. While these days, referring to a senator as having “rocks in his pocket” is typically used to describe a politician who holds up proceedings, the phrase originally was used for anyone in the Senate who accepted large donations from Shubin. Yet despite their size, history and political sway, their brand new shining headquarters on microTech demonstrates clearly their dedication to remaining on the cutting edge and their commitment to continue to evolve and grow. Many attribute this company’s continued success to their current CEO Gavin Arlington.