The Corporate Review
by Chrome Tyger (chrome@badkarma.org)

> Okay, so I was up late a few nights back and decided to hit one of my old haunts, DeeCee. While flying down datastream ZHDA-004788 I looked off to my left and saw the big black scarab of Onyx Military Industries in all it's iconoriffic grandeur. Well, I just HAD to check it out. Here's what I learned.
> Chrome Tiger
Posted: <10:45:12/08-08-60>

Primary Business

Onyx corporation has been a major military and paramilitary manufacturer since before the turn of the century. Their specialties are in small arms, armor, and vehicle accessories with some special contract work in advanced avionics, drones, suborbital defense platforms, and matrix security hardware. Their popular PWS-2000 remains a main field weapon for the European Alliance and Caribbean League. Though not as big or widely produced as Ares, Onyx is well known for products of superior quality. This reputation is well founded.

Corporate Structure

Founded by an ex-military weapons specialist, the company started out and has maintained a strong military recruitment. Some of the world's finest weapons designers and testers are employed or contracted by Onyx. The subdivisions are divided into smaller task groups, each arranged by order of superiority and experience.

Their headquarters, located on the rural outskirts of DeeCee, includes a proving gorund and test range within the same grounds as the shiny black Onyx pyramid. There are several branch offices including Grand Rapids and Mt. Pleasant, Michigan (their wilderness equipment testing facilities), Jamaica, Denver, and Seattle.

> Word has it that the CEO and possibly a couple of the other execs are in tight with the UCAS military and some shadow intelligence group, some remnants from the old CIA.But this is only rumor and I can find no evidence of it.What makes me wonder is that the person I heard this from can 't be reached for further comment.
> Stark

Security

Physical security is tight. Professionally trained security guards armed with Onyx's latest and greatest armor and weaponry roam the grounds of every Onyx property. Some light armored vehicles patrol the more remote facilities such as the Michigan wildlands test site, but for the most part guard patrols are personnel only. Remote perimeter defenses have beeen equiped with multi-range sensors, cameras, and surveillance drones from Onyx's own labs.

Magic security is maintained by a combination of in-house talent and outsourced mages. A high level of screening takes place for all security mages, internal or outsourced. Primarily, the mages provide watch spirit services around the clock but are all well trained in combat scenarios should a breach occur.

Employing many matrix security specialists from the military and government labs, they security layers are tight and efficient. A specially designed high-speed IC hosting mainframe provides a host of bleeding-edge IC written by ex-Fuchi coder Riyuko Takawara. Several members of the matrix security staff are ex-military and ex-government, keeping with Onyx's habit of hiring.

> This was a tough nut to crack, trust me.I had to make three runs and finally drop a good chunk of savings on a Russian packet mask so I could get myself past their access node intact.I didn 't get much sniffing done,just general touring.Their datastore looked pretty heavy with crash and burn IC to keep the files intact and trash them if not.
> Chrome Tiger