Concordance Extraction Corporation: The Planet-Crackers
The Concordance Extraction Corporation was the mining concern that pioneered Planet Cracking and ended the Resource Wars, operating the deep-space fleet led by the USG Ishimura. Its reach made it a vehicle for the Church of Unitology and the retrieval of Marker 3A.
The Concordance Extraction Corporation, known as the CEC, was the mining concern that pioneered the Planet Cracking process and operated the deep-space resource fleet led by its flagship, the USG Ishimura. In a galaxy starved of resources, the CEC engineered the ships that promised to save humanity, and the engineer Isaac Clarke spent his career in its service. The corporation's vast reach also made it a vehicle for the Church of Unitology, which used its influence within the CEC to retrieve a Red Marker from Aegis VII.
Origin and Planet Cracking#
The Concordance Extraction Corporation rose at a moment of crisis, when humanity's rapacious and unsustainable use of resources had brought the species to near-desperation and the only path to survival was to search new planets for what remained. The CEC engineered the ships that would carry that search outward, and in the mid-25th century it developed the revolutionary mining process known as Planet Cracking. This breakthrough, achieved under the new EarthGov administration's efforts to relieve the pressure on Earth's resources, brought the bloody Resource Wars to an end.
The corporation's flagship and the first of its Planet Cracker fleet was the USG Ishimura, a vessel designed for the new resource-gathering era and regarded as humanity's salvation in a time of scarcity. The Ishimura and its sister ships ranged across colonized space, conducting operations in systems such as the HAT-P1b System, where the Ishimura began work in 2506, and the Cygnus System, where it began operations in 2507.
Influence of the Church#
The CEC's prominence made it a target of the Church of Unitology, which had grown to be the most influential religion in human space and held sway in the corporation's higher echelons. Prominent Unitologists within the CEC headhunted sympathetic figures into its ranks, as in the case of Hanford Carthusia, whose family connections and faith brought him to their attention and into a project-management career with the corporation. Carthusia went on to manage the illegal Aegis VII mining colony, established by the CEC in 2505 in defiance of the government's ban on the system, drawn there by the rich deposits of precious metals beneath the planet's crust.
The Aegis VII operation#
When the Aegis VII colony uncovered Marker 3A in 2508, the Church used its influence within the CEC to take control of the situation. Captain Benjamin Mathius, a high-ranking Unitologist and ship captain employed by the corporation, was entrusted with retrieving the Red Marker and crewing the Ishimura with a majority of devout followers. Acting on the Church's orders, Mathius had the artifact taken aboard the ship over the objections of its security and science officers. The retrieval triggered a Necromorph outbreak that spread from the colony to the Ishimura, and when the ship fell silent, the CEC dispatched the USG Kellion, carrying Isaac Clarke, to investigate. What the Kellion's crew found was the wreck of the corporation's proudest vessel, overrun by the very creatures the Marker had created.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Concordance Extraction Corporation?
- The Concordance Extraction Corporation, known as the CEC, was the mining concern that pioneered the Planet Cracking process and operated the deep-space resource fleet led by its flagship, the USG Ishimura. In a galaxy starved of resources, it engineered the ships that promised to save humanity, and the engineer Isaac Clarke spent his career in its service.
- How did the CEC end the Resource Wars?
- The CEC rose during a crisis when humanity's unsustainable use of resources had brought the species to near-desperation. In the mid-25th century it developed the revolutionary mining process known as Planet Cracking, achieved under the new EarthGov administration's efforts to relieve pressure on Earth's resources, which brought the bloody Resource Wars to an end.
- What was the USG Ishimura's role in the CEC?
- The USG Ishimura was the CEC's flagship and the first of its Planet Cracker fleet, a vessel designed for the new resource-gathering era and regarded as humanity's salvation in a time of scarcity. The Ishimura and its sister ships ranged across colonized space, beginning operations in the HAT-P1b System in 2506 and the Cygnus System in 2507.
- How did the Church of Unitology influence the CEC?
- The Church of Unitology had grown to be the most influential religion in human space and held sway in the CEC's higher echelons. Prominent Unitologists within the corporation headhunted sympathetic figures into its ranks, as with Hanford Carthusia, who was brought into a project-management career and went on to manage the illegal Aegis VII mining colony.
- What happened during the CEC's Aegis VII operation?
- When the Aegis VII colony uncovered Marker 3A in 2508, the Church used its influence to take control, entrusting the Unitologist captain Benjamin Mathius with retrieving the Red Marker and crewing the Ishimura with devout followers. The retrieval triggered a Necromorph outbreak that spread to the Ishimura, and when the ship fell silent the CEC dispatched the USG Kellion, carrying Isaac Clarke, to investigate.
Sources
- WikiConcordance Extraction Corporation — Dead Space Wiki entry
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Related entries
EarthGov
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Church of Unitology
The Church of Unitology was the most influential religion in human space, born from the death of Michael Altman and built on the belief that the Markers promised rebirth and unity in death. Its faith in Convergence ultimately served the very forces that meant to consume humanity.
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Aegis VII was a remote, metal-rich planet in the Cygnus system used by the Sovereign Colonies as a secret test site for Marker 3A. Two Necromorph outbreaks scarred the world, and after Isaac Clarke returned the Marker to its pedestal in 2508 the planet broke apart entirely.
Benjamin Mathius
Benjamin Mathius was the captain of the USG Ishimura and a high ranking Unitologist, placed in command to retrieve Marker 3A from Aegis VII for the Church. His devotion and the Marker''s influence drove him to madness, and he died restrained on his own ship as the outbreak began.
Hanford Carthusia
Hanford Carthusia was the Unitologist project manager of the Aegis VII mining colony at the time of the Second Aegis VII Incident. His devotion to the Red Marker and his refusal to heed warnings about the spreading violence helped doom the colony, and he offered himself to a freshly reanimated Necromorph in the morgue.
Isaac Clarke
Isaac Clarke was a ship systems engineer for the Concordance Extraction Corporation who survived the Necromorph outbreak aboard the USG Ishimura, became a host for the Markers'' replication blueprints, and spent years hunted by EarthGov and the Church of Unitology as he fought to destroy the Markers.
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Abraham Neumann
Abraham Howard Neumann was a security operative in the Aegis VII colony who suspected the Red Marker was behind the madness spreading among the colonists. He survived the early outbreak but vanished after fleeing the infested communications needle.
Aegis VII
Aegis VII was a remote, metal-rich planet in the Cygnus system used by the Sovereign Colonies as a secret test site for Marker 3A. Two Necromorph outbreaks scarred the world, and after Isaac Clarke returned the Marker to its pedestal in 2508 the planet broke apart entirely.
Aegis VII Colony
The Aegis VII Colony was an illegal mining settlement built on Aegis VII by the Concordance Extraction Corporation in 2505. After the discovery of Marker 3A in 2508, the colony fell into madness and was overrun by Necromorphs before being destroyed in the planet crack.
Alissa Vincent
Alissa Vincent was the Chief Security Officer of the USG Ishimura who fought through the outbreak after Marker 3A was brought aboard. She died launching a warning beacon, unaware the Marker had manipulated her into luring more victims to Aegis VII.
Benedykt Malyech
Benedykt Malyech was a disgraced CEC supervisor turned Magpie captain whose zeal for the Church of Unitology turned deadly when his salvage crew stumbled onto Marker fragments aboard the derelict USG Ishimura. He died there and rose again as a Necromorph.
Benjamin Mathius
Benjamin Mathius was the captain of the USG Ishimura and a high ranking Unitologist, placed in command to retrieve Marker 3A from Aegis VII for the Church. His devotion and the Marker''s influence drove him to madness, and he died restrained on his own ship as the outbreak began.
Brant Harris
Brant Harris was an Aegis VII miner driven to violence by exposure to Marker 3A, transferred to the USG Ishimura for treatment, and turned into the Hunter by Dr. Challus Mercer''s experiments.
Church of Unitology
The Church of Unitology was the most influential religion in human space, born from the death of Michael Altman and built on the belief that the Markers promised rebirth and unity in death. Its faith in Convergence ultimately served the very forces that meant to consume humanity.
Colin Barrow: Aegis VII Dig Foreman
Colin Barrow was the dig foreman of the CEC mining colony on Aegis VII and the husband of Jennifer Barrow. A skeptic of the Marker, he carried his wife''s body to the Ishimura and unknowingly brought the infection aboard.
Crazed Colonist
Crazed Colonists were ordinary CEC personnel of the Aegis VII colony driven insane by the dementia spread by Marker 3A. As the Marker''s influence deepened, victims passed from sleeplessness and paranoia into total delusion, turning violently on themselves and others before the Necromorphs rose.
Deakin Abbott
Deakin Abbott was a First Class engineer and Unitology lay preacher on the Aegis VII colony. When the removal of the Red Marker sent a piercing screech through the colonists'' minds, he took it for the voice of God and led his congregation, and himself, to mass suicide.
Divet
The Divet was a compact automatic pistol issued as a standard sidearm to crew and security personnel of the Concordance Extraction Corporation. It fired laser-sliced lead slugs and was used widely by P-Sec officers during the Aegis VII and Ishimura incidents.
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