Pre-War Brands of Fallen Britain

The following are a few of the influential companies that existed in the United Kingdom before the bombs fell.

5000 BC

5000 BC were a British publisher of comics, famous for such characters as Cearul of Tír na nÓg, Indium Wolf, Outlaw Commando, Warden Woe, and Zarg the Doughty.

Behemoth Books

Behemoth Books were a British publisher known for film and television tie-in books, graphic novels, and comics, as well as a few original comic lines. Some of their publications included Bunker Boy, Dirk Douglas in the Thirty-Third Dimension, Doctor Noone, Fusion Jones, Paladins of Atom, Robin Hoody: The Emerald Cowl, The Rudimentary Exploits of Hurlock Slome, and Warship Woman.

Aegis Tech

A subsidiary company of Sovereign Technologies, Aegis Tech were a military contractor specialising in the research and development of robotic suits of power armour. They created the iconic Curtana and Gallant power armours for the British Armed Forces.

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BunkCo

Due to its extremely close ties and private funding Vault-Tec received from the American government, many of its projects became protected state secrets. The vaults for which the company was named were no exception.

Throughout Europe, a similar venture named BunkCo offered citizens hope in the event of a nuclear disaster.

Like Vault-Tec, BunkCo marketed secure, radiation-proofed vaults, though they described these shelters as bunkers. The entire company, right down to their mascot Bunker Boy, seemed to be a near-carbon copy of Vault-Tec. That hardly mattered, and still doesn’t. Although BunkCo was incorporated later than Vault-Tec, most British citizens knew little to nothing about the American company. These days, BunkCo and Bunker Boy are the only big name in fallout shelters the descendants of Britain’s survivors have ever known.

If anyone ever managed to see the inside of both a BunkCo bunker and a Vault-Tec vault, they would realise the similarities were not simply cosmetic. Components used in a bunker’s construction were suspiciously similar to those used in a vault. This was no coincidence. The majority of BunkCo’s stock was owned by a holding company called Futureproof Holdings, which was itself only the nearest link in a convoluted chain of shell companies that ultimately led straight back to Vault-Tec. Many of the state secrets Vault-Tec should have been protecting were shared through complex private channels with the company’s secret subsidiary.

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Britannia Beverage Company

Tea is without a doubt Britain’s national drink, and it is in this market that Britannia Beverage Company made its fortunes. First incorporated in 1890 (an example of minor divergence before the 1945 timeline shift), the company fast became the nation’s preferred supplier.

The company famously sought to appeal to the working classes by introducing a new slogan in 1932: “‘ave a brew, luv!”. The line continued to be used in marketing and televised adverts right up until the Great War.

In 2075, Britannia attempted to tap into the “cult of the atom” that seemed to be pervading product lines throughout the world by introducing their Nuclear Blend, a black tea blend containing, among other things, ginger and fiery chili. It wasn’t particularly popular.

Although most famous for their tea, the company produced other hot drink products including Britannia Coffee (which had its own unsuccessful “nuclear blend”, known as Coffee Blast), hot chocolate, and a number of soft drink products including Britannia Iced Teas.

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Newman’s Soft Drinks

Although Nuka Cola was marketed in the United Kingdom and was an extremely popular beverage, the company had its share of local competitors. Its biggest rival in the British market was Newman’s Soft Drinks, a company that manufactured an ever-popular range that included Newman’s Cola!, Newman’s Cherryade!, Newman’s Ginger Beer!, Newman’s Lemonade!, and Newman’s Limeade! among others.

As Nuka Cola began releasing ever more unusual and gimmicky drinks which only seemed to boost their popularity even more, Newman’s Soft Drinks began rethinking their rather solemn image and started experimenting with new drinks and more colourful packaging. The most successful of these ventures was the reinvention of their Iron Brew. The beverage was re-released with a new formula, including the famous and never discovered secret ingredient, as well as bright, flashy packaging: it became Newman’s Atomic Iron Brew.

Rise Robotics

Rise were a British-based manufacturer of robots and robotics technology. Although not as commercially successful on continental Europe as Sovereign Technologies, Rise easily occupied second place in the British market.

The Rise securibot became a common sight in pre-War Britain, supplementing local police forces (police securibots were nicknamed “Bobbybots”) and taking the place of security guards in many locations. Their line of Robopups became popular pet substitutes for families unable to care for a live animal. Shortly before the Great War, Rise had seen the potential of adapting their robopups for security purposes, resulting in the robohound which joined police officers and Securibots on the streets of London and other cities. The military also bought many robohounds to supplement security personnel on their bases.

Rise also manufactured the popular Rise High Performance Labourframe, a powered suit designed for heavy lifting such as construction and warehouse stock-shifting. Although not strictly power armour, the Labourframe is essentially similar technology to a power armour frame. Versions of the Labourframe were created to protect the wearer in extreme operating conditions. Unlike a power armour frame, the protective casing of a labourframe cannot be removed without the aid of high power tools.

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SanaChem

SanaChem was a European biochem pharmaceuticals company and the leading producer of medicines used by the UK’s health services. The health industry was only the tip of the iceberg: SanaChem was also the parent company for many companies creating products as varied as legal performance enhancers, vitamin and mineral supplements, and even the popular Fission! energy drink. SanaChem was also contracted with the British Armed Forces to develop chemical weapons as well as counter-strategies, along with experimental performance enhancers.

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Sovereign Technologies

Although many American-made robots, computers, and other technologies made it to the British market, they weren’t without fierce local competition. As the world’s resources began to fail and it became more expensive to do international business, American competition began to disappear altogether. Accordingly, most American-made robots found in the wastelands of Britain are older models.

Sovereign Technologies was a British company, and a European market leader in technological innovation. They produced many of the most successful robotic and computer lines. Among their greatest success stories was the HandyComp, an arm-mounted personal computer that competed with the American-made RobCo Pip-Boy and proved to be far more successful due to improved compatibility with locally made computer technology. HandyComps were embraced by BunkCo and given to all bunker residents. Meanwhile, desktop OfficeComp terminals can be found not just at bunker workstations but in offices and homes throughout Britain and its colonies.

Among Sovereign Technologies robotic productions, its most popular commercial line was the ButlerBot, a robot that filled a similar service role to America’s favourite, the Mister Handy. The ButlerBot line was so popular, in fact, that the ButlerBot became the company mascot, and its silhouette was incorporotated into the Sovereign Technologies logo.

Sovereign Technologies was one of the British military’s primary contractors, and they created many weaponised robots including the Triumph line which included machines of similar power to RobCo’s Sentry Bot. Triumph robots were divided into three types, the land-based Brigadier Triumph, the water-capable Commodore Triumph, and the flight-capable Air Commodore Triumph. The armaments of each differ slightly but they are all similarly lethal. Nevertheless, British wastelanders unlucky enough to encounter a rogue Air Commodore Triumph consider them the most dangerous given the freedom of movement and unrivalled pursuit ability their flight capacity provides them. Fortunately, there are few Air Commodore Triumphs that still retain the fuel reserves needed to activate their flight-jets. Most are now land-locked, rendering them comparable to the Brigadier Triumph, albeit with a slightly different loadout.

A Sovereign Technologies subsidiary, Aegis Tech, specialised in power armour research and development. They were responsible for creating the Curtana and Gallant power armours for the British Armed Forces.

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Taranis Energy

Taranis Energy was a UK-based company that provided electricity and gas to homes in the UK as well as petrol and oil throughout the UK and Europe. Originally one of several competing energy suppliers, Taranis Energy achieved complete domination of the nation’s power due to their acquisition of the national grid and gas supply in a widely vilified privatisation deal brokered with the Conservative-led government in the year 2046.

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