Founding  |  BEGIN

Arctara AG did not begin as a subsidiary under Vytal, nor did it emerge from a traditional corporate lineage. Its roots trace back to an ambitious origin: REDEX Advancements, an independent research and development firm founded in 2756 in Oslo, UEA, by aerospace researcher and test pilot Hannah Yu.

Yu had previously worked under the renowned physicist Dr. Leonora Stile at the University of Oxford-Luton, a central institution in the development of Microfusion Propulsion Train (MPT) technology; the basis for modern performance-craft racing. She contributed significantly to the early architecture of MPT systems and leading multiple high-risk testing campaigns. Yet despite her technical prowess, Yu often clashed with Stile over the future of MPT. 

The open research of MPT revealed a widespread demand for the technology; something that Yu wanted to take advantage of. While Stile valued the integrity and open scientific application of the propulsion system, Yu envisioned something bigger: a future where MPT could power high-performance vehicles, showcase engineering dominance, and lead to massive commercial success. The tension between innovation and monetization would rise massively within the team, and after several publicized disagreements regarding the monetization and direction of the project, Yu was formally dismissed from the Oxford-Luton program.

Not to be left behind by this, she would form REDEX Advancements in the hopes of monetizing the MPT technology that Oxford-Luton had invented.

As rumors swirled of a dedicated racing league, Yu decided to make a gamble: she would transform REDEX from a technical firm into a competitive performance-craft manufacturer, one that would revolve its entire identity around competition on the track. The Interplanetary Spacecraft Federation (ISF) had barely begun talks of forming a proper league, but Yu was already preparing for it. She believed racing would become the proving ground for the next generation of propulsion, and that REDEX would be the one to lead the charge.

The Hydrus Spacecraft Racing League
Yu’s gamble paid off. In the inaugural season of the ISF Hydrus Spacecraft Racing League (HSRL), REDEX entered the grid with a vehicle that was well developed: a sleek, angular craft that combined raw thrust with adaptive fusion control modules. The team very quickly found itself locked in a dramatic season-long duel with Stile-RD, derived from the Oxford-Luton research team. Beyond the audiences, however, it was more than a rivalry - it was a clash of philosophies.

REDEX barely beat out Stile-RD in a dramatic finale, claiming the league's first-ever championship title. The victory was influential throughout the aerospace world, with investors, advanced materials firms, and propulsion think tanks flooding REDEX with attention and capital, eager to align with what the industry was calling the “future of aerospace.”

Backed with resources, Yu began an aggressive expansion of the company: upgrading their testing infrastructure, hiring top-tier engineers, and refining their proprietary flow control systems. Most notably, the team began work on a conceptual propulsion upgrade: the Flow Drive. In theory, the Flow Drive promised unprecedented acceleration and vector control, which would give REDEX a massive advantage against others in the same industry.

Unfortunately for them, this would prove to be too ambitious.

Unstable Flow Drive
In early 2768, REDEX travelled to the Fort Cydonia proving grounds to perform an experimental test flight. Jean Roquete, REDEX’s head engineer and lead test pilot, was performing a routine trial of the second-phase Flow Drive prototype. Early on Roquete reported a minor control spike with the propulsion system; an error that had become somewhat routine during prior tests. Confident, Roquete pressed on.

This confidence would not last long with both parties. Roquete reported yet another control spike, this time in a different chamber of the system. Seconds later, the craft began to accelerate uncontrollably, with all overrides failing. Communication would cease shortly after, and the team was unsure of the status of the craft. Though, once the recovery team arrived minutes later to find only scattered debris, it was apparent that there was nothing to recover. Camera footage revealed that the ship collided with the outer perimeter wall of Fort Cydonia at a velocity equivalent to over 7000G, disintegrating the vehicle and killing Roquete instantly.

The subsequent investigation, conducted jointly by REDEX, ISF safety regulators, and Terran aerospace authorities revealed a critical failure in the Flow Drive’s mechanical regulator. Under specific conditions, the propulsion system entered a 'runaway state', which would ignite a chain reaction within the microfusion chamber that rendered any manual override useless.

REDEX, and by extension Yu, refused to accept the findings. She insisted the incident was either pilot error or a test environment anomaly - to which the ISF disagreed with. The team launched its own internal campaign to disprove the failure analysis, performing a series of unmanned tests using freshly built Flow Drive modules. However, the results were clear. Each test reproduced the catastrophic behavior under the same conditions.

Total Collapse
The fallout experienced by the company was swift and unforgiving. Public trust in REDEX crumbled, with multiple aerospace firms, previously aligned with Yu’s team, terminating contracts and withdrawing investments. Mass-scale orders for the Flow Drive - made months before the incident - were canceled. Media outlets decried the company’s failure to acknowledge basic safety warnings, while the ISF began opening formal inquiries into REDEX’s testing protocols.

As the league prepared to resume, REDEX found itself in disarray. Once dominant, the team now struggled to even qualify near the front of the pack. This became evident in the 2768 season, where they placed last in the standings. Internally, Yu became increasingly combative, defiant toward critics and unwilling to admit fault. The tragedy and the backlash had hardened her resolve, but not in a good way.

Trust in Hannah Yu’s leadership began to flip. Engineers and staff, once fiercely loyal to the leader, were now disillusioned by her refusal to accept responsibility for the Flow Drive catastrophe. What started as whispers of disapproval turned into open disagreements, and gradually, key personnel began to leave; many migrating to rival teams within the HS300 League or stepping away from racing altogether.

As the company hemorrhaged its talent, they began to miss critical deadlines. External projects promised to investors were quietly shelved, deliveries on prototype systems went unfulfilled, and company partnerships would break loudly among the public eye. The innovative image that had once defined REDEX now turned into a toxic culture that frequented the media almost daily. This financial and impressive blow from severed contracts and public mistrust proved fatal for company operations.

By 2779, REDEX could no longer sustain its operations in the HS300 League. With no viable path forward, the team announced its premature withdrawal in the middle of the 2779 season. From the outside, it was widely speculated that the company would declare insolvency before the year’s end.

Partial Recovery
Fortunately for those remaining at the company, REDEX would be bought out by the Neumann Collective, the owners of performance-craft manufacturer Vytal. The acquisition was initiated largely through the influence of Saya Yoshiro, a multiple-time HS300 champion who had joined Vytal’s experimental division in 2777. Realizing the value of REDEX’s infrastructure and remaining talent, Yoshiro persuaded Neumann executives to acquire the company's failing racing sector as part of their planned entry into the league.

Once the buyout was complete, Yu was promptly fired from the company, and REDEX quietly folded into Vytal’s operations; being internally rebranded as Project Arcturus. Yoshiro was appointed as director of the project, bringing with her not only technical credibility but also a racing pedigree that instantly reignited morale.

She started working on the team immediately, uniting surviving REDEX engineers with Vytal’s own development teams and redirecting efforts toward building a brand-new HS300 platform from scratch - starting with a complete relocation operations to Stavelot. Veterans of the REDEX program described the period as a “renaissance,” noting that for the first time in years, the engineering team felt invigorated. Imperatively, Neumann’s extensive resources meant that evolution was no longer stifled by budgetary constraints or managerial turmoil.

After four years of intensive development, Project Arcturus - now Arctara AG - unveiled their next-generation racing platform: the Renn Sport chassis, in 2783. Unlike REDEX’s panicked efforts in their later years, the public reintroduction of the team was measured, downplaying their potential in the league. They projected realistic expectations, claiming they would aim only for lower-midfield performance as they adjusted to the league's now-developed standards.

In 2784, Arctara AG officially re-entered the HS300 League. While the name and leadership have changed, the spirit of high-performance evolution had survived.