017. Intrepid Fights Back

AGLOSTARROS - Interstellar tour operator Intrepid has publicly confirmed its intent to hire a private security firm to protect customers vacationing on frontier and Conglomerate Exploration Zone (CEZ) worlds.

The move follows a tragic spate of savage attacks by local wildlife on luxury resorts throughout the ever-expanding CEZ. Intrepid also cited an increased threat from neighbouring communities of sentients, though to date there has been no open hostility between galactic civilisations.

Under increasing scrutiny from government regulators, Intrepid announced in an open letter to investors on Monday morning that it had chosen paramilitary titans Gridlock Transgalactic to protect its passengers. The contract has been valued at an unprecedented ⍺500 million, but market analysts predict that the rise of armed security on the frontier is just beginning.

“Regrettably, the shine has worn off the promise of faster-than-light travel,” commented one trader who asked to remain anonymous, “and the interstellar holiday industry is reckoning with the price of settling so rapidly on unmapped worlds such as Tyriss and Varior.”

The recently rebranded Gridlock Transgalactic last made headlines when a shootout involving its operatives resulted in the burning of large swathes of farmland on the coreworld of Gil Tol. Like Intrepid, the company is keen to distance itself from past failings, observing in recent publicity that “this new age of discovery affords all citizens their second chance.”

In related news, Intrepid has refuted multiple studies showing that high-frequency sounds emitted by magnetised particle fields can provoke aggression in certain animals.