Victor-Marshall
Established | pa_215 | Type | Automobile Manufacturing Cybernetics, Air Conditioning | Image Pending |
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Headquarters | The Marshall In Aleph Null System, on the planet Albion, in the City-State of Insulae |
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Affiliate Organisations | On Albion, Insulae | VM Heavy Industries, Test Track A, Test Track H | ||
On Traveller, Sargasso | Unity Branch Office | |||
On Traveller, El Hermosa | Test Track U | |||
Societal Affiliations | Kingdom of Albion, Unity Protocol | |||
Chair Persons | “Grandfather” Marshall - Owner Mel Marshall - Inheritor |
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Slogan | Good driving makes greater living | |||
Mascot | A Charging Stag |
Victor-Marshall is a humble family business based in Albion that just happens to be classed as a Super Corporation. The owning dynasty, long since split into various spoiled offspring, are descended from the merchant class of Albion's society rather than its nobles.
Notable Products
- Farming Equipment - Victor-Marshall's entry into the market was with reliable farming and agriculture equipment, marketed and sold to Caledonia and then throughout the rest of the Aleph Cluster.
- Tractors - Reliable, heavy, possessing a top speed of about thirty kilometres, and enough torque to pull out the most heavily rooted of treestumps, these tough vehicles are a farmer's delight. They can mount a variety of modules behind them to thresh, cut, till, or hoe their land. After popular demand from less agricultural portions of VM's fanbase, their tractors can even be fitted with nitrous for … extreme farming.
- Combine Harvesters1) - These vehicles are capable of cutting, threshing, and moving grain for storage in from field in one fell series of rotating swoops. In particular, the machines are exported to the moon colonies of Nonna and Shade, and then given retrofits by local Units to be integrated into the harvest processes.
- ATV - A four-wheeled all terrain vehicle intended for farmers to get from one end of the paddock to the other quickly and securely, these hardy little things are capable of towing small trailers to increase their carrying capacity, and the storage rack behind the driver can have a rear-facing passenger seat secured over it, provided there is no cargo in the rack. They are also popular amongst adrenaline junkies.
- Floaty ATV - A return to form for the VM motorgroup as the hover technology from their car lines returns to their agricultural line. Used to allow farmers to move light items, equipment, and some small livestock over any terrian or disaster. Letting them escape natural disasters and try to continue operating despite them. Unfortunately the advanced equipment, high cost, and difficult maintainence makes this a less popular product in the VM lineup.
- Sports Cars - Development on farming vehicles paved the way for creating nimbler vehicles suited to the road and race track rather than a pasture. VM's sports cars are known for their joyous handling, and being full of both leather and weather.
- El Brando - Their first model of sports cars and the original head turners on the highways of Albion, the El Brando series of sports cars have a central engine, two seats, two doors, and the trunk in the front. Even with its sleek, angular profile, a top speed of 237 km/h, and naught to one hundred in 4.57 seconds, elements of VM's farming roots can be seen in its mechanics. It's possible to use some of a VM tractor's parts to replace the Brando's components in a pinch - and the car remains operational!
- Il Pegassi - Possessing a smoother body and more luxurious interior than its eyepatch-wearing brother El Brando, the Pegassi series of sports cars have catered to a more refined taste. They sport a wooden veneer in their interiors, heated leather seats, and viewscreens in the back. The creature comforts offered by this car do not downplay its top speed of 214 km/h and a its naught to a hundred in 4.25 seconds; It can switch from showboater to showstopper with a simple dismissal of the driver's inhibitions.
- La Dracona - VM's foray into hover car technologies proved to be one of its less popular experiments, but it broke even within its first few months of sale. La Dracona's main design challenge was making its handling match that of its earthbound descendents, and assistance from One-Stop's engineers was sought to create an anti-gravity solution which could remain nimble in the air and over land. Its four emitters2) are capable of moving independently of each other to ensure thrust is directed efficiently and safely. It has a top speed of 205 km/h in the air, and is capable of going up to 263 km/h flown close to the ground.
- Combat Vehicles
- El Corcelle - While not selling directly to any military customers, Victor-Marshall does maintain a side industry of heavily protected personnel transports and carriers. Combining VM's tough engineering standards with heavy armor, decent mobility, and passenger survival even when the vehicle takes heavy damage. The El Corcelle is an eight wheeled armored box with room for sixteen crew and passengers designed for VIP extraction, armored insertion, tactical movement, and riot control. Designed to be nigh unstoppable, the El Corcelle is designed to move people or things into Hell and back out again.
- Medical Implants - In the tight medical sector, VM implants are known for their lifetime gurantee. Yours, to be precise! Using patented precision printing and extrusion techniques, we can make a new part of you.
- Combat Enhancements - Protect yourself and those you love, with yourself! 3) VM's range of combat cybernetics include integrated firearms or blades, or discreet layers of ballistic material or replacable plates woven into the skin. Perfect for bodyguards.
- Air Conditioners and Heaters - For buildings, cars, or spacecraft, a little air conditioning and climate control makes a ride smoother, and living better. In addition, Victor-Marshall can provide their closed-system technologies for industrial-scale refrigeration. In particular, one of their noteworthy interstate clients are the manufacturers of the climate-control domes present in York.
- Terraforming Equipment - The logical step up from tending a backyard garden into perfection; Advances in engineering, geology, and chemistry mean the garden has effectively turned into a whole planet, and the tools have grown to match. Victor-Marshall supplies and maintains the tools, equipment, chemicals, compounds, and licensing needed for localised or planet-wide terraforming. The most frequent clients are large-scale disaster management projects to smooth craters out and mend broken land.
Overview and Company Code
While being a household name, VM tends to try to disguise just how much it makes by occasionally subdividing its conglomerate, putting an idle heir in the hotseat while letting the company officers run it. This is to avoid the 'Big Company' feel that often leads to irrational hatred of some corporations, and unwanted attention from would-be heroes or activists.
Design
“Aerodynamics wasn't necessary for our initial vehicles, nor was load balancing, comfort. Even so, the concepts managed to translate well enough into smaller vehicles, with our ATV line paving the way for our forays into faster engines and automotives. Needless to say, we looked, we leapt, and look where it's taking us!” - From Victor-Marshall's website. |
Victor-Marshall employs many different design teams, but often they focus on sturdy, maintainable designs with a high warranty value. Each market VM covers has its own challenges and concerns, so while the markets change and product strategies evolve, these core tenants remain at the heart of a majority of VM design. Grandfather wouldn't sell you anything he wasn't prepared to trust himself.
Production and Distribution
Victor-Marshall's production team includes many assembly-line factories crewed by robots and operators/maintenance staff, in addition to supervisors and quality inspection. Some parts of the automotive are made and fitted by hand, such as the leather seating or laying the veneer into the dashboard. Once the car is complete, it is given a rudimentary road test to ensure it works as intended, then it is packaged and sent to a reseller or to an official VM dealership.
For testing their vehicles, VM owns have a pair of test race courses, codenamed Test Track A and Test Track U. Test Track A is characterised by its long stretches of straight road and gentle turns to observe speed, while Test Track U is intended to put a car's handling to the test.
Every now and again, the Test Tracks are opened to the public to drive their own vehicles on them, rent a passenger seat in a Victor-Marshall car with a professional race driver, or are hired out in heavily publicised race events. This is done to ensure the tracks can pay for themselves, and it makes sponsorship easier to come by.
A third Test Track called H, is never open to the public and is designed to test cars, tanks, and household products to destruction. Including how well it can handle explosives, smallarms fire, and crash testing.
Marketing
With their image of being in touch with their Greaseheart customer base, Victor-Marshall often lends their sponsorship to racing events on air, land, and sea; and Frame Running. There, the core audience are most likely to see the distinctive VM logo. Standalone, their advertising campaigns for cars portray an air of sophistication - juxtaposed by the roaring engines and the speeds they are capable of.
Victor-Marshall are in direct competition with Gruppen Tanhauss in the medical field, particularly in Cybernetics. Tanhauss' head developer Dr. Tobias Lange usually uses his platform at Tanhauss conventions to diss Victor-Marshall's work. In return, Victor-Marshall takes aim at Tanhauss' shadier practices and unethical behaviour. Like, literal aim.
“If those dogs in Noir had the stones to operate where there's even the smallest sliver of oversight, they'd be shut down within a day. Those incapable of honest business have no business at all.” - Victor-Marshall's Marketing Department |
Holdings
Victor-Marshall has the following holdings and distributions, by location:
Distribution
Throughout Albion and Traveller | Victor Marshall Auto Showrooms |
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In Traveller, Sargasso / Unity Branch Office |
Territory
On Albion, Insulae | Test Track A, Test Track H |
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On Traveller, El Hermosa | Test Track U |
Production Facilities
On Albion, Insulae | VM Heavy Industries |
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