Alrighty, let’s propose some Corps! I’d like to drop the disclaimer that these are not ratified by representatives of the corps in question.
The Owl Initiative
During the mid 44th century, the Federation hold on Sector 1003 began to wane sharply. Catastrophic losses against the Empire caused a mass panic that resulted in almost a billion people fleeing their colony worlds. The flight and subsequent battles to halt the encroaching Imperial forces became known as the Diasporan Wars, and it was here that the Owls came into being.
The Valor Collective, an independent mining colony founded by Samuel Valor was drafted in to help with the evacuation, and their defense monitors, such as they were, were drafted in to help protect the refugees. As the first Imperial scouts entered the fringes of the Sector, Valor requested the Armada provide him with funds to refit his mining fleet for combat duties. They accepted, and the Valor squadrons were rushed into battle alongside the Armada’s militia.
It took several weeks for the new ships to trickle into the system, but the Empire had chosen to regroup rather than press its advantage and so, when the attack came, the Valor Collective were ready. By the time the Imperials reached Valor Colony Samuel and his fleet were ready for them. Armed with Alligator Mk IIIs, re-purposed from mining operations to full combat duty, the mercenaries were able to halt, and eventually push back the Imperial squadrons. Despite their victories, Samuel abandoned his colony and fled to the Owl Nests; an asteroid cloud rich in precious metals. There his fleet of Alligators settled amidst the mining equipment and hollowed out chambers of the rocks. Their crews performed last-minute refits and repairs, powering up mining drones and arming their scout ships with plasma cutters.
As the Imperial fleet entered the Owl Nest, Valor and his men sprang the trap. Their weapons were too short-ranged for use in open conflict, but in the dense mining belt they were unmatched. Their Swifts sliced through the enemy formation, while shoals of drones began carving through the hulls of Imperial frigates and harvesting the rare metals within. All the while the Alligators kept them penned in, daring forward in groups to pound the enemy with seismic charges fired from improvised mortars, only to melt away with speed before a solid counter-attack could be made. The Imperial vanguard was forced to flee and await reinforcements from the capital ships, which in turn prompted a lengthy siege of the Owl Nest.
It was almost a year before the Armada could summon a Battlefleet to drive the Empire out of the sector. By then there was only one small pocket of resistance left; an asteroid field where no Imperial pilot dared to tread. When liberated, the Navy proclaimed them to be heroes, and honoured “The Owls of Sector 1003” by re-christening the Alligator Mk III the “Valor”.
Following the war, ownership of Sector 1003 was officially given over to Valor and his men, who formally refounded himself and his people as “The Owl Initiative.” Since then, the Owls have had many ties with the Federation and have become renowned for the quality of their engineering, mining and covert-operations technologies.
The Owl Initiative officially severed ties with the Federation in 4567CE, choosing to revert to their founding principles of autonomous colony status. This in turn opened new avenues of business for them, and resulted in a dramatic increase in interest from the Empire and Jericho. Since then, Owl Mercenaries have been known to operate for both the Federation and the Empire, though the central oligarchy remains politically neutral in foreign affairs.
Owl squadrons have played supporting roles in several key battles of the Precursor Wars. Though they are rarely in the spotlight and do not hold prominent positions within local political groups, the Owl Initiative has nevertheless made itself known. Among pirates and other lawless types there is a common saying; “never follow an Owl into its nest”. The Owls, true to their tradition, are masters of ambush and surprise attack, and entire wings of hardened pilots have turned and fled at the sight of a single Owl interceptor, for those that engage often fall mysteriously fall silent, and the wreckage of their ships are found drifting in asteroid belts and dust clouds not long after.
CORP
The Corporate are a Jericho Clan whose favour waxes and wanes continuously. They were founded shortly after the Third Bartle War, when the Techs were ascendant and interest in peaceful interaction with other nations was on the rise. Corporate’s task was to establish an autonomous, remote outpost in neutral space and establish commercial interactions with locals, especially the Federation. This was done primarily to assess and acquire samples of foreign tech, as well as provide a contact point for Jericho spies.
Corporate’s financial success helped them gain favour within the Families and as a result their operations grew in scope. Their leader was officially uplifted by the Council, and so Corporate’s Guildmaster became a Lesser Family head.
Since then, Corporate has been downsized, reassigned and re-purposed many times over. During periods of conflict with the Federation their power and respectability waned sharply, causing them to effectively start over from scratch. However, their ability to bounce back, provide a steady income of money and materials, and the slowly growing influence of their leader resulted in several copy-cat organisations appearing.
By the onset of the Precursor Wars, Corporate found itself struggling to take advantage of the situation. With few military resources of its own and open war looming, Corporate severed ties with most of its trade partners and invested heavily in mercenaries. They sought to control the flow of Artefacts to and from Precursor Space, and for a time had the backing of the Families. However, the destruction of the Raid at the hands of the Empire at the Battle of Ontregos, combined with the defection of the Wolfpack, the Enclave and the Cybers resulted in a violent shift of focus within Jericho. Corporate was excommunicated, its members declared Apostate and their Family Head disbarred.
With no means to reaffirm their ties to Jericho, Corporate reluctantly became a third-party within the Precursor War. They have primarily acted as a mercenary nation, serving whomsoever is willing to pay them for their troubles.