“ Invested in your future. ”
– Obelisk Corporate Slogan
A private corporation which rarely shares information about itself. Little is known of Obelisk outside of their few public offerings, which have always proven critical to the functioning and progress of Ascendancy society. Undoubtedly, their two most notable inventions are the Holo-Mesh and Drive Core – each being a key functional component of the OEA, and modern life in general.
Dissidents, Sodality Theorists, and other ne’er-do-well rumor mongers claim that Obelisk is merely an extension of Ascendancy power, and a secretive outlet for their most corrupt and morally reprehensible experiments and designs. Obelisk has not responded to any of those rumors or accusations.
History
The date at which Obelisk was founded has not been released to the public, and there are no records within former United Earth Empire archives to be found about the company, which could place their founding around the time of the rise of the One Earth Ascendancy. Various sources have also posited assumptions that Obelisk was formed shortly before their first public offering of the Holo-Mesh, which was released to the public debtor early in the year 2250EE. This would likely place their founding anywhere from 2241EE to 2249EE. However, due to the UEE Parturition raising questions about the official development of the Drive Core and founding of Obelisk, it is possible the corpo existed secretively for many years prior to their first public release.
Technologies
Holo-Mesh
The crux interface, communications, and network device for all the Ascendancy. Without the Holo-Mesh, nothing that is could be. For more information, see the official Ascendancy release: Formulation Technology, or the Holo-Mesh v./64
Drive Core
The Drive Core is the single most powerful engine thus far produced by mankind. How it works is classified by the Ascendancy, and remains largely a mystery, but fuel is required to power the Drive Core. Miraculously, due to the efficiency of the Drive Core, any form of common fuel can be used. Hydrogen, oxygen, oil, even wood. If it burns, bursts, or otherwise undergoes changes which produce energy, the Drive Core can harness and direct that energy in order to produce power.
The first use of a Drive Core was in the United Earth Empire vessel Parturition. This fact was only revealed due to the whistleblower contractor whom worked with the defunct Whispers of Truth news organization to secret a recording device onto the vessel during clean-up. And this fact is odd, given that Obelisk did not publicly release it until after the One Earth Ascendancy began to produce aether fleets of its own. Thus, some issues arise.
First, Obelisk is most commonly thought to have been formed around the time just before the release of its Holo-Mesh, in 2250EE, but the UEE Parturition containing a Drive Core means Obelisk may have been around since it was built (between 2189-2193AD; launched 2194AD). A second possibility is that Obelisk acquired the technology from whatever source built the Parturition, and just sold it as their own development. Whatever the case, either of the situations shed some light on the obscure Corpo.
As it stands, the Drive Core remains in exclusive use by the OEA, and those it authorizes.