Caldera

Caldera is a Human manufacturer of personal armor based on Mentor in the Rhetor system. It sells high-tech spacesuits and exploration gear designed to withstand harsh environmental conditions. Most of its products are built with internal communications devices and scanners for use in remote or unexplored locations. While its suits are not combat armor, they do come with defensive capabilities.

History

Caldera was founded by Layth Brentano, a self-described "capable engineer, but a better go-getter" who was born in a cold region of Vann in the Croshaw system. Brentano spent much of his youth maintaining his family's mining outpost, repairing machines in harsh weather, and developed a lasting passion for mechanics. A scholarship brought him to Reisse to attend the University of Rhetor, where he met Tetsuya Lang, an engineer known for his work on mitigating thermal expansion in metals. A comment from Brentano inspired a solution to a problem that had stalled Lang's research, and the two began collaborating. Brentano observed that heat-resistant armor often accounted for thermal expansion by incorporating other materials between its pieces, and proposed that limiting those materials could produce a safer, sturdier suit. After Lang's early experiments showed promise, the pair secured a UEE student research grant and, by graduation, a research and development grant and a provisional lab on Persei.

The initial review of their work on Persei flagged several missed benchmarks, and the pair were reassigned to a smaller lab. Brentano then met Akili Harris, a former Navy pilot working as a research pilot for the Department of the Interior, collecting core samples from planets, moons, and asteroids. Harris had spent extensive time in extreme environments, and after examining their work she began helping to upgrade her own armor kit with their technology. Although the team ultimately lost its grant, Harris had become invested in the project and helped facilitate their move to Mentor, personally flying the most valuable equipment there. In return, Brentano built her a suit to her specifications, incorporating features she requested such as ample storage and a comfortable inner lining, and offered her a share of every unit sold.

Harris retired from the Department of the Interior and worked with Lang to refine the cold- and warm-weather suit prototypes while Brentano sought a buyer. To demonstrate the suit's appeal, Brentano asked Harris to take him to the most beautiful place she had visited, and footage from their expedition to a snowy caldera convinced early investors and inspired the company's name. The first production run sat on shelves for nearly a year before becoming the most popular purchase of 2942. A late-2941 government report revealing ancient Tevarin settlements in the newly discovered Kabal system spurred consumer interest in explorer suits, and Brentano recut the expedition footage into an advertisement that he placed on landing-zone displays across the United Empire of Earth. The ad features an explorer in a Novikov suit summiting the rim of a caldera, ending with the company's slogan.

Caldera has since expanded steadily while emphasizing quality, with the Novikov and Pembroke environmental suits remaining its flagship products. Lang leads new product development and continues to refine older designs, while Harris consults for the company between her own expeditions. Brentano remains CEO and personally field-tests each new product to provide engineering and user feedback.

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