Aries Industries is based in the Alpha Arietis system, and has dominated commercial industry there since the early days of Terran colonization.
Aries started, just as the colony did, as a mining concern, and even today their asteroid mining, smelting, and alloy forging endeavors make up 26% of their total revenue. As Terra established more colonies that supplied purified metals and alloys, prices dropped, and Aries turned towards machining and industrial frame manufacturing to make up the lost revenue.
This transition, while a seemingly simple business decision to maintain relevance, ended up deeply affecting the politics of the organization and the system. While most of the raw materials they initially produced were consumed by the Solar Union, many of the finished goods, the most easily recognizable being the MU04 Constructor, were consumed by freshly established colonies.
Within fifteen years, over 50% of their profits were from non-Solar Union contracts. With the financial transition, a quiet political transition took place as well - one so gradual that it escaped the attentions of the Union. Alpha Arietis had become a self-sufficient, independent system, no longer tied to Union contracts. Aries has taken great pains to quietly maintain that status, also eschewing any sort of connection to the Free Coilonies in recent years.
<more to come...>
