This episode is brought to you by the Intrepid journalists of the Templin Institute who since
this Saturday, May 22nd, 2021 have been on location in the Stanton system investigating
the Invictus launch week. To watch us tour many of the ships featured in this episode alongside
dozens of others, be sure to follow us on Twitch. Links can be found in the description below.
Within the United Empire of Earth, the largest aerospace and defense corporations have become
powers in their own right. Names like Roberts Space Industries, Aegis Dynamics, Origin Jumpworks
and scores of others have become synonymous with interstellar civilization. Countless starships
manufactured by these companies can be found in every sector of settled space binding together the
myriad of worlds, stations and lanes of commerce within the Empire. They are admired, valued and
respected as shining examples of human ingenuity, the pillars upon which society has been built.
Drake Interplanetary is not among them. Instead, the salvage vessels, utility craft and other
starships emblazoned with their branding provoke controversy and feelings of acrimony . While
hundreds of thousands of their craft are used in every manner of legal enterprise,
a distinctly unsavory reputation accompanies the Drake name, one encouraged by the company itself.
The origins of Drake Interplanetary lay in the short-lived “Volksfighter” Program
of 2845, a development and acquisition competition between various aerospace firms.
The intention was to procure a low-cost, highly configurable space fighter for use by frontier
or reserve squadrons. A small design team led by Jan Dredge produced “The Cutlass” and while it
performed favorably against its competitors, the design was ultimately not selected.
Without any federal contracts, Dredge and her design team pivoted towards the civilian sector,
marketing the Cutlass as an inexpensive fighter and utility craft. The extraordinary performance,
reliability and modularity of the Cutlass made it immediately popular with frontier militias,
private security forces and freelancers. Within nine months of its introduction,
production of the Cutlass had expanded across half a dozen worlds.
By the 2850s, the now incorporated Drake Interplanetary had become the fifth largest
spacecraft manufacturer in the UEE. The company was seen as a thrifty upstart,
challenging the more established brands like RSI and Musashi Industrial. Drake’s innovative designs
and methods of production made their competitors seem antiquated and stagnant by comparison.
The phenomenal success of the Cutlass however underscored a
wider issue across the Empire. Despite the relatively peaceful conditions of the era,
the rampant demand for the Cutlass led to journalists, lawmakers and law enforcement
officials to question the causes behind this demand, and to whom it was being sold.
The revelation that the Cutlass had become the ship of choice for piracy groups and
outlaw organizations damaged the reputation of Drake, but not their overall sales.
Cut off from the standard insurance system available to Empire Citizens,
the nation’s criminal element had found in the Cutlass an easily replaceable ship from which it
was far easier to make a profit. Within a few decades of its introduction, it was estimated
that the Drake Cutlass was involved in roughly two thirds of all piracy related incidents. They found
a place as drug-runners, cargo raiders, and were even occasionally used to attack police forces.
The Cutlass had almost single handedly made piracy profitable.
Rather than distance itself from its growing reputation as a supplier of organized crime,
Drake Interplanetary made only superficial policy changes
and instead began encouraging a kind of roguish, outlaw persona.
Where other aerospace firms have cultivated a strong sense of association with the UEE Military
and are typically located on major colonies, Drake has sought to endear itself to the frontier,
and headquartered itself on the borderland system of Magnus. Drake has become the largest employer
here, almost solely responsible for revitalizing a once economically depressed system in the Empire.
In 2947, during an undercover job interview, CEO Jan Dredge was recorded making controversial
statements that seemed to imply the company was deliberately selling the Cutlass to known
criminal elements. This kicked off a firestorm of public outrage and calls for the Cutlass to
be banned. The incident led to Dredge removal as Drake Interplanetary CEO, replaced for an
interim period by her son, Jon Dredge, and then by Anden Arden who has maintained the position since.
In the modern era, Drake has retained its position as one of the top starship
manufacturers in the Empire, yet its unsavory reputation has never left it.
It continues to lean into its romantic or courageous outlaw persona, branding its starships
with skulls and crossbones, and provocative names ripped from the ancient golden age
of maritime piracy. The Drake Cutlass remains one of the most popular designs ever built,
and is now available in a multitude of different models with the Cutlass Black, Cutlass Blue and
Cutlass Red specialized towards militia use, law enforcement, and search and rescue. It has been
joined by the Buccaneer, a dedicated interdiction fighter, the Caterpillar a modular cargo ship,
the Corsair a survey vessel, and many others that have continued to expand the Drake brand.
It has even entered the capital ship market, with the Drake Kraken serving as a light carrier,
mobile outpost or the headquarters for a large-scale salvage operation.
Each of these ships has retained the defining elements of the Cutlass. They are affordable,
rugged and reliable. They can be found on the edge of the frontier and in the hands of the criminal
underworld and while Drake has repeatedly donated large sums to anti-piracy elements,
they have in effect, merely profited off both sides in an escalating conflict. It is a strategy
that has made them a power unto themselves within the Empire, for while its competitors
define themselves by the idyllic galaxy they wish to see, Drake is content with the galaxy as it is.