In the pitch-black vastness between the light of alien stars, enterprising space adventurers from all walks of society constantly risk their lives in pursuit of fame, wealth, and power. Most individuals who walk down this path are doomed to be consumed by it, trapped in the maze of inflated risks and diminished rewards after having lost the ability to discern whether a venture is worth the effort; all in a desperate bid to rebound from some self-conceived concept of failure until their inevitable downfall by reason of their own misplaced sense of zeal. Moguls, billionaires, and philanthropists abound their ranks, unaware for their own descent into self-destruction; gleefully rejoicing in their ignorance of the cracks that would someday destroy the very pedestal they have placed themselves upon.

Despite the overwhelming majority of spacefaring merchants being this way, there are those rare few who are able to withstand the destructive temptations of success and recognize the pitfalls that have laid low so many in their pursuit of accolades and achievements; stalwart in their own belief and masters of their own fate – architects of their victory that extends far beyond any individual transaction and into a routine nurtured through constant and daily hard work. It is with this mindset that Lex Lancaster and Celine Hagbard created their budding empire.

From humble beginnings as a modest independent freightage and transport business of only a single Freelancer-class starship, Queen Universal Enterprises has skyrocketed into a rising transport empire of dozens of vessels that service clients within the Terra and Sol Nexus; and household name within the Banuheld territories to the extent that they have been recognized as one of the United Empire of Earth’s emissaries to ensure the continued peace between Humans and the Banu. Through hard work, determination, and a modicum of luck, Lancaster and Hagbard have created the most quintessential example of a noseto-grindstone success story in an interstellar age.

Born on the planet of Lo within the Corel System, Lex Lancaster and Celine Hagbard were both orphaned at an early age after their parents – both of whom were business partners and co-owners of a modest interplanetary shipping company – perished in a Jump Point accident. Nevertheless, the nature of their parents’ work at the very least allowed for both future founders of Queen Universal to live most of their lives off the proceeds of their parents’ life insurance claims, if they wanted to. However, the shared adversity in their lives only allowed for the two to friends grow closer following their parents’ respective footsteps, ultimately becoming intergalactic transporters themselves when they both came of age.

In their early years as new members of the intergalactic transport community, their first job was with the Argo Astronautics as civilian contractors in the ongoing trade agreement between the company and the UEE Navy. It was an easy job with decent pay and benefits, but it lacked the personal growth and freedom that both of them sought to have from the life of a transporter. Nevertheless, it was during this time with Argo where the pair were able to hone and cultivate their craft with every order and delivery as they gradually built up their experience and financial base. Eventually, the two childhood friends were able to have enough money saved to invest in a Freelancer-class starship of their very own and, following this, quit from the Argo Astronautics to register their own business venture they had dreamed of owning.

In the first few months of Queen Universal’s juridical existence, it rarely had any kind of job order considering the oversaturation of transport businesses like them in a market that favored established corporations to take the lion’s share of the contracts while leaving independent businesses like them to fight for the scraps. Out of desperation to keep their business afloat, Lancaster and Hagbard began to accept off-the-record deals from less-than-savory members of society, and sometimes even smuggle outright illegal products from one system into the other. Dangerous as it might have been, it was this decision to delve into the illicit transport trade that allowed Queen Universal to rise out from obscurity and into the current state they now enjoy.

After one of the pair’s runs to the Hades system to deliver some illegal substances for a local warlord, their ship came across the hulk of what used to be a Merchantman-class starship, with the wreck still floating around dead in space despite its relatively intact appearance. Unsure if the ship was occupied due to it not having a beacon and wary of the fact that it was an outright trap by space pirates looking for an easy score, Lex and Celine erred on the side of caution and hailed the derelict starship to see if there were survivors. To their surprise, however, their random communication attempt yielded a response from a Banu captain who explained that he was in dire straits before their timely, if not fated, arrival.

Once Queen Universal’s Freelancer attached a gravity anchor and began to tow the ship to the nearby Bacchus system, the unfortunate soul shared their story relating to their current misfortune and how they arrived there. He explained that during a job to deliver parts for an Orion-class starship, he and his crew were ambushed by several pirate ships while in transit. Although they managed to flee from their pursuers with a random jump, the attacks, as well as the evasion attempt itself, damaged their vessel’s jump drive, fuel tanks, and emergency distress beacon. As such, their escape attempt became less of an escape and more of a means of securing a slow death from being stranded without any hope of rescue. That is, of course, until Lex and Celine’s Freelancer came in and saved them from such a fate.

As soon as the pair dropped off their precious cargo of parts and lives onto the planet of Bacchus II in the Bacchus System, it did not take long for the grateful Banu captain to repay his crew’s saviors with the generosity that the Banu were known for, as well as proceed to share the news of their saviors’ deeds with the rest of his kind, which placed the Queen Universal’s reputation squarely within the social psyche of the alien race as examples – albeit heavily exaggerated – of the Humans’ capacity for selflessness, further strengthening the already solid friendship between the two cultures.

Needless to say, due to this incident, Queen Universal experienced a massive surge in orders from Banu clients – both legal and illegal – as well as those who wish to ride the goodwill fostered by Lex and Celine straight into better business relations with the alien merchants. This itself caused the partnership’s stock prices to rise astronomically, leading to numerous investors and an influx of new employees as the once small partnership blossomed into a rising transport empire within a span of only three years, and branching out its once specialized transport services into the field of personal security, trade facilitation, common carriage, and even ore and mineral refinement. Moreover, it currently enjoys the highest satisfaction rating and positive rapport than any other transport company from the UEE, regardless of unsubstantiated rumors of it being engaged in unaccounted transport runs with questionable cargo.