ProThrust was SubPro's one-time engine and propulsion division, and warranted by a substantial upswing in development and sales, splintered off into a standalone entity. It is still directly associated with its parent corporation, but possesses the ability to manufacture and market engines to other industries. The company is under Commission of Commerce Charter, and retains facilities in Plaxton and Anchorron on Caspar.
Right From the Start[]
The engine division can trace its roots back to the original Incom-SubPro partnership, and the production of the successful Incom fission and fusial thrust engines. Where Incom focused on smaller, high-performance powerplants for small craft, SubPro would dabble in larger, high-capacity engines for larger vessels, such as liners and heavy freighters. When the two companies parted ways in 22 BBY, SubPro found itself in foreign territory, with little prospect of forward-thinking design and development. They continued to build their lineup of starcraft, and things progressed slowly.
Noteworthy powerplants for the Ushton-class heavy freighter and the Lightning-class sloop were developed during the twenty years of mediocrity. The Ushton's engines demonstrated that SubPro could continue producing robust units, while the Lightning's powerplants propelled the sloop to exceptional sublight speeds. Engines for the Z-series fighter craft were acquired from Incom on an assembly-line level, but no real development was done on them. Then, a severe blow was dealt to SubPro's prospects when Incom was liquidated by the Empire in 1 BBY, thereby cutting off SubPro's supply of smaller-scale engines and components. It also unsettled SubPro's management that they might be the next to feel the weight of Imperial reprisal.
Outlook brightened considerably when SubPro came to Caspar in 0 BBY. The company found an eager, technically proficient society hungry for work and for products. They settled in, and built a fabrication yard and factory on the southwest flank of the city limits, at the very foothills of the Vira Bluffs. They contributed to Union Starport's upkeep during the Renaissance of Innovation, and helped modernize an orbital platform that would later be expanded into Victoria Drydocks. (more coming)
Tempered By Fire[]
Unfortunately for the burgeoning company, the next two years saw nothing but grief and near-total devastation. Early in 7 ABY, during the season of Orleniv, a particularly nasty hurricane hit the coast, grinding all industry and commerce to a halt. Much of Plaxton's southern suburbs were inundated with monsoon-like rain, which resulted in heavy flooding. ProThrust had to suspend operations to ride the storms out, and while the sodden damage could, and would, be repaired, what followed was far more insidious. Mere months after the factories reopened their doors, the Yavin Plague unleashed its wrath upon Caspia, forcing The Crest to close its borders and quarantine everything — nothing arrived to or departed from the planets. Commerce once again bore the brunt of the hardship. In under a month, though, a cure was found, the quarantine lifted, and business resumed. Things appeared to be on the right track, until the turn of the year — and ProThrust would be lucky to survive it.
8 ABY brought Imperial greed and treachery, with first a frenetic space battle, then a system occupation, finally culminating in a full-out invasion of Caspar and Mergansar. The seeds to the Imperial War of Aggression had been sown, and each of Caspar's cities were quickly occupied by the Imperial oppressors. The southern suburbs of Plaxton once again became the epicenter of chaos as the remnants of the Caspian military holed up and defensed the Vira Bluffs, which held their primary base. ProThrust's factories and warehouse yards became a labyrinthine battlefield for both forces within a matter of days as Caspian forces repulsed assault after assault by the Imperials. Operations turned into a siege, and then the rains of Orleniv came.
And did they come.
Unlike the previous year, which saw one colossal storm, the rainy season this time was not as intense, but much more prolonged and pronounced. It was heralded by two straight weeks of continuous rain. Everything turned into a quagmire, and the two sides used the ruins of ProThrust in their protracted stalemate. When a ceasefire was finally negotiated, and the occupation over, the cleanup task facing the engine producer was staggering, leading some to justifiably speculate that the company was finished, at least on Caspar.
Instead, to their credit, ProThrust enlisted the populace to do what they could about repairing the Plaxton facility, and set up a lucrative branch location in Anchorron by refurbishing an unused bearings plant. It would take nearly two years to get the Plaxton facility back to a fully functioning status, but ProThrust did indeed survive, and remain on Caspar.
At the Heart of A Champion[]
With the Navy's buildup after the debacle suffered during the Imperial War of Aggression, ProThrust was spurred to not only produce more engines and powerplants, but to improve upon existing designs and innovate new models. With CDMC giving a few points of guidance,