International Electric Corporation

International Electric Corporation (IEC) is a corporation that deals in Electronics Contracting and general manufacturing.

IEC is in a rather unique position in that, while it has few allies in the true sense of the word, its relationships with most other large corporations, are at least cordial. This is because IEC supplies critical components which most other corporations need for the manufacture of at least some of their products.

Background
In 1998, Following the assassination of Howard Murchison, ownership of the largest American electro-industrial conglomerate moved offshore, to the control of Dr. Gerhard Kessler and his Berlin Industrial Investment Group. Kessler was a ruthless German industrialist and investor who had been consolidating manufacturing companies and resources from around the world, forming what would become by 2020 one of the largest mega-corporations in the world. Like Saburo Arasaka, Kessler preyed upon companies that had been weakened by the world and American economic collapses, cannibalizing the resources and holdings of corporations and companies financially ruined in the crash. Among some of his victims, Aerospatiale, General Electric, Fukuoka International Industries,Korea-Pacific Steel, and many other companies which had seemed indestructible before the collapse.

Kessler's methods were evil but his management and selectivity were impeccable. Under his guidance, and that of his close cohorts, the diverse holdings were molded into the Cyberpunk world's largest general manufacturing conglomerate, the International Electric Corporation. After Kessler's death in 2012 his son and heir Erich continued the skilled management of International Electric and its core company, the Berlin Industrial Investment Group. In 2020, IEC is a major contender, competing with the likes of Arasaka, Militech and EBM in the sale of items ranging from household kitchen appliances to toys to military weapons. IEC is, in fact, the second largest military contractor in the world, surpassed only by Militech, which sells more defense related items but which is less diversified. The Kesslers have always shunned alliances with other large corporations, choosing to remain aloof and cast their lot with none.

Many of the corporations in the Cyberpunk world can trace their power and influence to some particular specialty; some product or service at which they are better than all the rest. International Electric is a little different. Its main strength lies not in any specialty, or the monopolization of some service, but in its sheer diversity. IEC boasts holdings and markets in consumer products, defense industry, heavy industry and durable goods, raw materials, computers, and in media. Ultimately, there can be no doubt that manufacturing is the principal milieu of IEC, but so many different products come out of IEC plants and so many different markets are reached that it is difficult to simply say that it is a manufacturing conglomerate and leave it at that. IEC's non-manufacturing holdings include a media company, a bank, and various diverse retailing and service subsidiaries, but these assets amount to little when compared to the enormous bulk of the IE manufacturing empire.

The Growth of IEC
At the core of IEC is the Berlin Industrial Investment Group, the company which formed IEC and which owns it and most of the companies considered to be IEC subsidiaries. Firmly at the helm of the Group is Erich Kessler, son of founder Gerhard Kessler, and chairman of the IEC board. Erich Kessler, the IEC board of directors and the major investors in the Berlin Group have all had a firm hand in guiding the growth, development and politics of the corporation. IEC has been managed purely as a commercial venture. Kessler, unlike Saburo Arasaka and some of his other contemporaries, has no hidden political goals, at least, not of any international consequence. He merely wants IEC to continue to grow and flourish. Kessler is, like his father, willing to go to any lengths to acquire some company or resource which he thinks would be an asset to his corporation. Even if a target company is not for sale, Kessler will, through IEC's covert operations arm, bribe, blackmail, assassinate, or do anything else necessary to get to a target on the market. He will do the same to make sure that he outbids all all other prospective buyers. Of course, he's only doing what most other corporate directors would do to get an acquisition through in the Cyberpunk world.

One thing Kessler does have in common with Saburo Arasaka is a keen interest in space, but Kessler's motivation springs from a different source. Saburo sees space as a possible extension of his empire, but mostly he is concerned with the Tycho Colony's interference in his plans for the domination of the Earth. To this end, he would like to see the Tycho mass driver destroyed or incapacitated, or have the control of the Tycho colony fall into the hands of his associates. Ultimately, this means military control of space. Kessler sees space as a vast, untapped wealth of resources, and a potential market down the line. Ultimately, Kessler would like to exert commercial control over space. He too, however, lives under the onus of the Tycho Colony. In Kessler's opinion, the Colony managers take too strong a hand in managing the affairs of Earth and free space. He, like Saburo, would like to see the Colony's teeth pulled. Whereas Saburo wants the colony destroyed or under his control, Kessler only wants its main weapon rendered useless. This is why International Electric is so active in the research of orbital defense and high energy beam weapons. Tycho can loft all of the rocks it wants if IEC controlled beam weapons vaporize those rocks before they even reach the atmosphere. Kessler doesn't feel that there is any particular danger in removing the shadow of the rock.

Enemies and Allies
IEC is in a rather unique position in that, while it has few allies in the true sense of the word, its relationships with most other large corporations, even the notoriously standoffish Arasaka, are at least cordial. This is because IE supplies critical components which most other corporations need for the manufacture of at least some of their products. One thing IEC has done in order to protect its market is to ensure that it is the sole source of several important technologies. Other corporations are forced into maintaining a good relationship with IEC since it is too large to take over, and if it was outraged by an attack or hostile politics it might choose to embargo key components, thereby causing serious economic damage to the offender.

Another reason why IEC has few open conflicts with other conglomerates is that it competes directly with very few of them. Because of that very tendency to manufacture critical parts for other corporations' products. IEC items usually aren't competing for sales with many Militech, Arasaka or EBM goods. Since these are the only other corporations large enough to cause IEC any serious trouble, there is little friction. What competition that exists between these corporations and IEC is taken with uncommonly good spirits for Cyberpunk companies.

Things may change eventually, however. IEC deals with both Arasaka and Militech, and both of these corporations have expressed indignation at having to buy from a company which also does business with its main competitor. The IEC board keeps its collective ear to the ground, always gauging the tension between the other two giants. Historically, Kessler has kept IE's army fairly small, a number sufficient only for guard and defense duty and limited combat operations. With IEC's generally good relations with the other mega-corps, and Kesslers penchant for using duplicity and black operations rather than open combat, that is all that has been necessary.

The other potential enemy of IEC is the Tycho Colony. The government of the Colony has long had its suspicions of both Arasaka and IEC, but the two corporations have managed to conceal any long range lunar plans. Nevertheless, Kessler suspects the Colony's paranoia, and IEC security is always on guard against espionage by Tycho agents. Although the Tycho colony uses IEC products and IEC uses raw materials purchased from the Moon, there are tensions between the Tycho government and the IEC board.

Military Industrial Contracting
International Electric is equal to Arasaka in terms of overall diversity, and second only to Militech in military and defense related sales and manufacturing. The thing that separates IEC from Militech, and keeps them from each other's throats, is their particular specialties. Militech specializes in finished weapons and defense systems: vehicles, aircraft, guns, ordnance and so on. IE specializes in components. Whereas Militech makes the aircraft, IEC makes the engines, or perhaps only the turbine fans, the avionics, and the instruments. When Militech makes the vehicle, IEC makes the supercharger. When Militech makes a laser sight, IEC manufactures the laser element. When Militech makes the bomb, IE manufactures the fuse and the radar systems. When Militech makes a tank, IE makes the turbine engine and armor...and so on.

IECs true strength is in the electronic components that go into weapons. Some of its specialties are radar systems, avionics,audio/video information systems, tactical computers, special materials, propulsion systems and components, military telecommunications and military cybernetics. IE does also manufacture some complete systems however, and in this respect it is in limited competition with Militech. Products include ordnance, artillery, and heavy projectile weapons (especially electric cannon and miniguns).

IEC also produces some items which are outside of Militech's capabilities. Militech maintains a shipyard but has only the capability to manufacture small ships and minisubmarines. International Electric is one of the world's leading producers of full-sized submarines plus military and civilian ships. IEC is also a leader in beam weapon technology. They work on practical orbital defense systems using high energy particle beams and xray lasers. IEC is also works on more practical and efficient versions of the man-portable laser weapon. Militech does research work on beam weapons but it lags behind IEC in development and lacks the specialized manufacturing capability necessary for full scale production of these types of weapons.

IEC does not manufacture small arms or complete land vehicles or aircraft (except some for industrial use), limiting itself instead to production of essential components for sale to corporations already established in these areas. One exception is in rockets and launch platforms and space transportation and recovery systems.

Heavy Industry
International Electric is a leader in heavy industry and raw materials. One of the principal products in this area is metals. IEC maintains steel and aluminum production facilities around the world and ships millions of dollars worth of raw and finished metal stock everyday. The corporation also maintains facilities for advanced metallurgical and polymer research and is one of the principal innovators in alloy and composite technology. IEC ceramics, composites and alloys find their way into buildings, aircraft, satellites, personal armor and onto military vehicles as heavy armor.

Nuclear engineering is another important facet of IECs heavy industry capability. IEC manufactures fission reactors for use in energy production for civil and space purposes and for use as power plants in nuclear powered ships and submarines. IEC is on the forefront of fusion technology too. Special IEC research facilities work full time on the development of fusion power systems. IEC believes that fusion power will allow hundreds of power plants to convert away from CHOOH2, freeing millions of acres of land for food production. It could also make deep-space travel a viable possibility, opening up a whole realm of new frontiers. IEC has no interest in the philanthropic values of these ventures, rather it is concerned with the commercial and public relations opportunities.

Some of IEC's other heavy industry products include CHOOH2 and gasoline engines of the internal combustion and turbine varieties, civilian and military jet and turboprop engines (including the most common engines on the popular V-series Osprey aircraft, replacing the obsolete Allison engines), manufacturing and fabrication equipment such as lathes and laser mills, furnaces, cable products including fiber-optical, metal and ceramic element cables for use in terrestrial and submarine telecommunications and power transfer purposes, oil rigs, mining equipment and building and roadwork construction elements and tools such as cranes, graders and surfacing panels.

Consumer Goods
By far the thing that IE is most well known for, and most visible because of,is its huge line of consumer products. IEC is truly a giant in the manufacture of consumer products, making and selling items as diverse as light bulbs, toaster ovens, refrigerators and cybernetics. Few and far between are the houses or apartments that don't have a few, if not several, IEC items inside them. Even when you discount light bulbs and fluorescent tubes. Upon which IEC has virtual monopoly, almost every urban residence in the world has one product or another made by IEC. Some of their more common items are clothes washers and dryers, televisions and stereos, electric razors, personal computers and news decks, watches, telephones and fax machines.

IE does not showcase its goods like Militech does, there are far too many for that, but it markets them through standard retail outlets around the world. IEC's products have their ups and downs, but by and large they are of good quality, reliable and reasonably well built. In addition, most of them are fairly well warranted. In the consumer electronics markets, IE competes with the likes of Braun, Klemperer AG, Sony, Mitsubishi, Whirlpool and so on. IEC has a lot of marketing punch, however, and it is a solid competitor. It remains the single largest manufacturer of household and personal electronics in the world.

Cybernetics
IE is one of the largest and most successful manufacturers of cybernetics in the world. This is partly because the Berlin Industrial Investment Group, which assembled IEC, also owned part or all of several of the firms which pioneered cybernetics research. IECs share of the cybernetics market has been slipping however, due to stiff competition from new Japanese and Korean developers and other established corporations. IEC remains on the cutting edge in the development of civilian and military cyberware.

IE holds the U.S. military cybernetics contract. This has been an irritation to the Militech corporation.

Commercial Shipping and the Submersible Transport
As an off shoot of its ship production facilities, IE maintains a large fleet of huge container cargo ships. It uses these ships for its own purposes, but it also does transcontinental shipping for several other companies and corporations. IEC ships do not sail under the IEC name, but under that of a subsidiary; Kessler North Atlantic Shipping. Despite the name, the shipping company operates in all oceans worldwide. The ships are registered in Germany however, and hence the North Atlantic designation. Kessler NA runs both surface and submarine tankers and cargo ships.

The nuclear powered submarine transports were developed by IEC in conjunction with All Nippon Technologies and the Arasaka Corporation. Cargo submarines, which can be as long as 250 meters and run as deep as 750 meters below the surface, allowing clients to ship large amounts of cargo across oceans without exposing the transports to attack from the air or from other surface craft. Thus the worries of maritime sabotage, corporate attack, or modern day piracy can be largely eliminated, for a cost. The cargo submarines are detectable using sonar and thermal satellite imaging but they are impossible to individually identify by either of these methods. Since there are almost always several running in any given sea at any given time a potential enemy might find it nearly impossible to identify the correct target, even if they had the means to attack. Submarine shipping is expensive (twice the normal shipping cost), but it is safe. The subs require only standard docking facilities, although, due to their deep draught, some harbors need to be dredged out to receive them.

So far, only IEC, All Nippon Transport (a subsidiary of All Nippon Technologies) and Sato Commercial Shipping (a subsidiary of Arasaka) own and run submersible transports. Many corporations buy shipping space on these craft however, and they have been a profitable venture. Currently, other corporations in Korea, Japan and Germany are producing designs for their own submersible transports, but none have created a serviceable design yet. The current models use an All Nippon Technologies hull design, an IEC nuclear power plant and Arasaka developed anechoic (silencing) technology. Both All Nippon and IEC manufacture the craft; All Nippon in Korea and IEC in Germany.\

Space Technology
Gerhard Kessler firmly believed that space had only been exploited to fraction of its commercial potential. After his death, his son Erich continued that philosophy. Consequently, the Kesslers and other directors of the Berlin Industrial Investment Group devoted a great deal of IEC's resources towards the development of an aerospace engineering department. IECs aerospace department developed several unmanned satellite and cargo boosters, most of which have been sold to the Orbital Air Corporation, NASA or to the European Space Agency. Although the ESA mass driver at Kilimanjaro and Orbital Air space planes account for most commercial low orbit lifting, some payloads must still be lifted by rocket. IEC has several classes of single and multi-stage disposable boosters that can be used to carry a variety of payloads into low earth or high geostationary orbits. IEC has no launch facilities of its own, so these boosters are produced strictly for sale.

As with military weapons, IEC's prime contribution to space vehicles comes not through any complete lifting system manufactured by the corporation but through the components and sub-systems sold to other manufacturers. Almost all other lifting systems in wide operation, including the space plane, NASA shuttle Mk II, ESA Hermes and the Kilimanjaro mass driver, use IEC manufactured drive, avionics or control components. Key products include the Tornado 2 Hypersonic engines which drive the space plane in the critical period between when its standard jet drive cuts out and when the French-made rocket system which propels it in open space cut in. IEC also makes the avionics package, including the proprietary computer system which allows the space plane to compute trajectories for successful re-entry and navigation without assistance from ground stations. An IEC nuclear plant powers the Kilimanjaro mass driver and the original French magnets and magnetic control systems were refitted in 2012 with updated models designed and manufactured by IEC.

Other than the rockets, only one group of space-related products is manufactured to completion by IEC. These are orbital transfer vehicles. IEC maintains a plant in low Earth orbit where it manufactures orbital vehicles using raw materials sent up from Earth via the Kilimanjaro mass driver and IEC heavy boosters or from the Moon via the Tycho mass driver. Different types of vehicles manufactured at the IE orbital workstation include unmanned cargo sleds, small unpressurized personnel craft and full sized, pressurized shuttle vehicles capable of flights between low orbit and the moon and all points in between. IEC and Orbital Air are co-developing a series of second generation craft which will allow travel to the furthest reaches of the solar system. IEC is designing the propulsion units and electronics and OA is developing the hull and interior design. The project is being carried out in deep secrecy, and no completion date has been announced.

Finally, IEC has a large hand in making accessories for use in space. IEC manufactures many of the essential components in the current ESA standard spacesuit, small maneuvering unit and manned maneuvering unit. IEC is not responsible for final assembly of these products, but its contributions are essential to the design. Specialties include life support components, power systems, communications and computer packs and the in-helmet heads-up data display system for use by individuals without cyberoptic links.

Media
IE owns the Seward Entertainment Corporation, a large media conglomerate which, in turn, owns several broadcasting networks, a movie studio, a large recording label and a braindance label. While the Seward Corp. is not as large as any of the dedicated mediacorps, such as NET 54 or DMS, it is a major force in international media. IEC obtained the media corporation as rider in the acquisition of a much larger industrial conglomerate. Recognizing the value of an in-house media group for P.R. access, the IEC board decided to retain Seward intact. Seward was also well run, and had shown a profit for several years before the acquisition. Not wanting to meddle in an already successful operation, the IEC board allowed the management of Seward to continue largely unmolested. They have, however, made extensive use of Seward's production resources as well as its catalogue of artists, music and multimedia entertainment in a shrewdly constructed advertising and public relations campaign. DMS and NET 54, the two major worldwide media conglomerates, would both like to get their hands on the Seward catalog, but both realize the folly of irritating the vast International Electric. IEC's relationship with the giant mediacorps has been acrimonious at best, however. Both of them were in the running for Seward before it was acquired by IEC. This doesn't stop the media-corps from using a wide variety of IEC products, however.

Dr. Gerhard Kessler
Father of Erich Kessler and head of Berlin Industrial Investment Group until his assassination in 2012.

Erich Kessler
Erich Kessler is Gerhard Kesslers only child, and the chairman and CEO of the International Electric Corporation, as well as director of the IEC core investment company, the Berliner Industrie Kapital Gruppe. Gerhard Kessler raised his son in the corridors of corporate power and saw personally to his education, always intending for Erich to inherit the mantle of power and responsibility upon his father's death. When Gerhard Kessler was assassinated in 2012, thirty-eight year old Erich took control of his father's controlling share of the IEC corporation. However, certain other members of the IEC board had their sights set on the CEO position and the directorship of the Investment Group. These individuals saw Gerhard's death as an opportunity, and a fierce power struggle ensued. There was a year of chaos during which assassinations and recriminations were rife within the upper levels of IEC and the Berlin Industrial Investment Group. Ultimately, however, the years of training and discipline under Gerhard paid off as, with help from his father's ally Colin Powers, Erich wrested control away from his competitors.

When the dust kicked up by the power struggle finally settled, Erich was firmly in control of IEC, laying claim to the combined tides of Chairman of the Board, CEO, and director of the Berlin Industrial Investment Group.This combined power put him in nearly absolute control of the International Electric Corporation and its resources, making him a member of that elite club of corporate men and women who can claim to be the most powerful individuals on earth.

Erich Kessler has been firmly in control of the IEC family of companies ever since the turbulent days of 2012-2013. Kessler is a meticulous and intelligent man, fiercely proud of his Prussian heritage. He is handsome, tall and muscular, with graying hair and finely chiseled features. He is also cosmopolitan and well traveled, fluent in English and French and conversant in Japanese. He regularly lives in a Berlin penthouse but he maintains villas in the German Alps and the French Riviera and apartments in New York, London and Tokyo. He is groomed his sixteen year old son Peter to take control in his own time.

Peter Kessler
Peter Kessler is Erich Kessler's sixteen year old son, and the heir apparent to the IEC empire. Peter studied at an exclusive prep-school near Friedrichshafen in the German Alps, being prepared for the tough German college entrance exams. The tests were probably somewhat extraneous for Peter as, even if he were to fail, his father could, through influence, gain him acceptance to any of several prestigious institutions around the world. This guarantee is probably for the best as Peter is something of a renegade, chafing under the oppressive hand of preparatory education. He is also extremely spoiled and rather selfish. Erich is worried by his son's demeanor and is considering sending the youth into the Euro Defense Forces for a couple of years and having some discipline hammered into him if necessary.

The young Kessler is always under strict (but discreet) protection as he is considered a prime target for extortion or terrorism. Peter makes a game out of ditching his guards, and being assigned to him is secretly considered punishment duty among IEC solos. So far no one has ever attempted anything against the boy.

Peter is tall for his age, and handsome, with classic Aryan blond hair and blue eyes. He is active on athletic teams at his school, and keeps in fine shape. His looks, fitness and wealth make him a prime target for the local young girls, which is one of the reasons he is so fond of ditching his security.

Colonel Maxwell Von Bruckner
Colonel Maxwell Von Bruckner is the commandant of the IEC regular military forces, a position he has held for over ten years. He is also the man responsible for the expansion and redesign of the IEC forces. A competent and distinguished military officer, Colonel Von Bruckner had a fine record with the German contingent of the Euro Defense Forces. Hardened in battle in his youth, his mind was honed first at the German Institute of Engineering at Stuttgart, then at the Euro Defense War College in Paris, and finally at the elite Lazarus Military Studies Institute in Bethesda, Maryland (see the Lazarus Group Main Products and Intent).

Max Von Bruckner is the odd man out in the IEC upper echelons. He continues to work with IEC because he enjoys the challenge of restructuring their forces, he has many friends at IEC and, most important, he is contractually bound. He is secretly disgusted with the methods employed by the Kesslers and their associates in furthering the goals of the company. He especially despises the compassionless Colin Powers, and the relationship between the two of them has always been icy. Von Bruckner keeps his distaste hidden to all but a few trusted friends. He is secretly considering shopping around for an extraction client or jumping ship, but only if he can find a suitable organization to work for. Currently, the Lazarus Group is at the top of his list. Colin Powers, who suspects Colonel Von Bruckner's intentions, has secretly argued for his dismissal or liquidation. Erich Kessler values the Colonel however, and has refused to act against him. Kessler considers Powers' motives to be rooted more in personal matters than company welfare. A fierce behind the scenes influence war is being waged between Powers and Von Bruckner.

Colonel Von Bruckner is fifty-one years old in 20202, with grey hair and a salt-and-pepper mustache and beard. He is short and stocky, but extremely powerful. He rigorously trains his body, spending part of every day at the track and in the gym. As part of his respect for his body Von Bruckner eschews all cybernetics. The Colonel has a gruff personality and a reputation for a short tolerance when it comes to incompetence or insubordination. He is also compassionate and forgiving, and his troops and friends, to whom he is devoted, are fiercely loyal. This loyalty and support is one of the things that has enabled the Colonel to survive and persevere in his struggle with Colin Powers.

Howard Murchison
A man renown for his calm pragmatism. Howard ran IEC from an unknown year before 1992 until 1998 when he was blackmailed into relinquishing control of IEC and assassinated by Colin Powers in a power grab by the Berlin Group. Howards pregnant daughter was also killed in the assassination, however the twins she was pregnant with were delivered by Trauma Team and survived. Howard was survived by his only other child, Roy Murchison.

Roy Murchison
Son of Howard Murchison and legal guardian of his niece and nephew Rory and Lea. Roy Murchison was a struggling musician at the time of his father's assassination. Ironically, although IEC murdered Murchison, the corporation completed payment for the stock that they extorted from him before his death. This ensured that the sale went through legally and possession of the portfolio went to the Berlin Industrial Investment Group. Between that payment and his already fairly large personal fortune, Howard Murchison left a fair estate behind when he died. All of this was legally inherited by Roy Murchison, Howard's only surviving child. Roy used the money to raise Rory and Lea in comfortable surroundings, and to ensure that they attended good schools. For several years Roy kept the children insulated from the truth about what happened to their parents. Then one day, when the twins were sixteen years old, Roy revealed the secret in a fit of drunken depression. The children were astounded and enraged at the revelation, and each vowed to even the score in their own way.

Roy Murchison lives a life of seclusion on a ranch in the Rocky Mountains. He stays hidden from IEC in order to avoid being taken hostage by them and used as weapon against the twins.

Rory Murchison
Rory Murchison shared his uncle's predilection for music. A guitarist of no small talent by his sixteenth year, he vowed to use his music as a weapon against International Electric. In 2020, Rory is only twenty-two years old, but he is already one of the most successful rockerboys in the world. Rory has assembled a band whose members all have some gripe against major commercial corporations. Rory's band has toured several countries under the name Vengeance Word, attracting huge crowds in the combat zones of cities in the U.S., Japan and Europe, and splitting the bill with famous rockerboy bands like Blood and Ice and Pervert Cupid. The music has a strong anti-corporate bent, specifically targeting IEC, Arasaka and NET 54, each of which has wronged some member of the band. The band also uses the touring as a cover for launching sabotage missions against agents and facilities belonging to these corporations. Not being solos, however, the effects of these endeavors have been more cosmetic than anything else. The band has weathered several assassination attempts and all of its gigs are carried out under the constant threat of disruption and attack. Of course, that's exactly the kind of thing that attracts a combat zone audience.

Rory Murchison is a fidgety and energetic young man, tall and thin with long polychromatic hair. He's a guitarist and singer by trade and also handles much ofthe song writing duty for Vengeance Word. Rory is congenial and personable most of the time but he has a tendency to get moody and sullen, especially when asked about his family. He is a fiery performer, renowned for his energy and stage antics. He has also been known to flip out and start destroying objects on the stage completely at random—a tendency which keeps his band mates on their toes at all times. For this reason, stage crashing at a Vengeance Word concert is considered a poor proposition. More than one unlucky soul who tried this has been batted into instant unconsciousness with one smack from Rory's guitar.

Lea Murchison
Lea has sworn revenge against Powers and Erich Kessler. She also realizes that she will be awhile in fulfilling that vow as both of these men are well nigh unassailable targets. In the meantime she has obtained private funding from various other enemies of IEC, and hires her services out to individuals and corporations who wish to run operations against IEC. She also does straight up solo work to keep the bills paid. At twenty-two, Lea is young for an established solo, but her competence and reputation have earned her a reputation on the street.

Lea is a deliberate and intelligent young lady, even tempered and cool under fire. She is not given to wild swings of emotion, and she is wont to consider even the most troubling of situations dispassionately. She can be aloof to the point of coldness, an attitude which has earned her the street nickname Ice Princess. Always one to take things in stride, Lea wears the nickname like a badge of honor. Her trademark outfit is white leather. Lea is also extremely beautiful, with the same soft features, naturally dark hair and slim build as her brother. Unlike her brother, Lea keeps her hair short and has not altered its natural color. Many a street romeo has been attracted to Lea only to find himself nursing a black eye, busted head or broken limb after pushing the issue a little too hard. Lea has some friends, but they are a select and very small circle of people