Onk Conglomerate

Overview
The Onk Conglomerate is a galactic empire that is ruled and controlled by a board comprised of the major Industrial giants that have formed unions, spreading power and jurisdictions over its various colonies among them.

The industrious nature of the Gwix led naturally to conglomerates makeup of unions which enabled its technological advancement and colonization of star systems.

The Conglomerate has begun to feel the strain of progress however as old ways that are entrenched in their culture are allowing other empires to outperform them, such as their reliance on a caste system and old inheritance laws.

Galactic History
Rich in ore the home planet for the Gwix was a natural mine inandof itself, their small statures and hardy constitutions made them prime for subterranean exploration. During their medieval feudal period family alliances emerged that would eventually go on to form companies and then unions as time went on. Profits pushed progress and eventually the Gwix were ready to face to stars, as the unions began to colonize and mine nearby asteroids and planets.

Avoidant of war, but happy to trade in the War business they sold minerals and supplies to both the Galactic Coalition and the Federation during the succession war which was found out after their armistice leading to rising tensions which has restricted trade somewhat with its major partners.

Demographics
The conglomerate is comprised mainly of Gwixie who live in their colonies both above ground and in subterranean mega-mines. Open to outsiders but only through a means test to ensure they can be useful within their colonies.

Young Gwix are typically frustrated with the old ways and space travel has allowed them an escape, one of the problems the Conglomerate now faces is mass emigration with an aging populace.

Military
The Conglomerate maintains a relativity small navy force, mainly used to protect its shipping lanes and police its local space, preferring to save what money might be spent on what could be see as superfluous military spending, something they see other empires as overspending on in peacetime.

Economics
The Conglomerates focus has always been on heavy industry and exporting its mineral riches outside of its borders. Successful and shrew business practices led them to be one of the richest empires in the galaxy at one point. Regular trade with other empires as well as domestic success lead to a burgeoning economy.

However its rate of growth fell off a sharp cliff when the Succession War ended, with what could be seen as their bubble bursting. The galaxy now saw an empire that had been playing both sides for profit and even those not involved in the fight were now looking for alternative business partners, this coinciding with a youth population looking for opportunities outside its borders it began to lose the workforce it desperately needed to ensure its continued economic domination. Now falling into a slump the empire must find a way to restart an industrial giant, that no one wants to trade with.