In 2050 Corporate Wars are an accepted part of business life. The historical precedents are well established: as early as the 1700s the English, Dutch/Imperial and French East India Companies fought land wars against each other, raided each others shipping and lied about, cheated and stole each other goods and contracts. In 2050 the system is the same but, as befits the modern world, more advanced and widespread. Wherever there are two or more companies, sooner or later there’s conflict. From the streets of London and Beijing to the Orbital Wheels and the depths of the Pacific, where there’s a profit, there’s a company soldier…
Corporate wars break out for only one reason: money. They are fought to decide takeovers, control sales territories, destroy stock market prices, grab mineral rights and the like. Financial tricks, propaganda, computer viruses and fraud are as much weapons as guns, bullets and bombs. Assassinations and resisted recruitments (ie kidnappings) are common; sabotage and espionage target property as well as personnel. Battles and skirmishes are not unusual, but tend to be self-limiting due to the desire of all participants not to destroy whatever is being fought over — a corporation that has been bled to death in the course of a war is useless to the victor in many cases. And the wars are not without other rules: wholesale slaughter is generally avoided and customers — any customers — are relatively safe, even in the middle of a shooting war. It isn’t a positive advertising statement to blow the customers away, after all… unless you can make it look like an accident or blame the opposition.
Governments have, for the most part, stopped trying to control the big, warlike corporations. When an entire economy can be destroyed in 15 minutes by a run on the currency, the state tends to turn a blind eye to a murder or two. In several parts of the world corporate feuds can be registered and legalised, giving the governments involved some cause to claim that they are “protecting” innocent bystanders by “forcing” the corporations to behave with restraint. The reality is that most boardrooms tend to think in other terms: presidents and prime ministers come and go and are cheap; profits are for ever..
Most corporations have at least some sort of “Special Security Department” on the payroll made up of company soldiers, ninja, “street samurai” and assorted financial raiders. A few companies — most notably Texas Rangers Inc, Melara & Pinkerton and The Sword & Shield Society — specialise in supplying soldiers to fight other peoples’ wars, and there is a healthy market for individual freelance talent as well. A good corporate warrior can earn as much as a upper-echelon executive, although admittedly with more risks. But at least during a war he gets to shoot back…

