(Excerpted from Modern History: Since the Deluge, K. Bethany et al, Random Haus, NW, (c) 2422.)
"As do most great events, the great corporate war of 2378 began over something trivial; the interception of a delegation to a scientific conference. A convoy from the biotechnology corporation ViaCode, on its way to deliver a seminar on groundbreaking techniques of genetic engineering, was ambushed by a mercenary company in the employ of rival PicoGen. Vital documents and personnel were stolen, and PicoGen scientists gave the lecture under their name, garnering fame, respect, and several lucrative contracts. Though bold, this move was not unusual in the corporate world, just another news story. The use of mercenaries was commonplace, and every corporation sought to steal their rivals' secrets. ViaCode, as expected, struck back; legal recourses were few, as it was generally given to the corporations to get away with whatever they could. ViaCode hired a small mercenary strike team and obliterated a supposedly secret PicoGen research laboratory, managing not only to slow several lines of important research, but also stealing back ViaCode's seminar research material.
It should be noted that the CEO of PicoGen was one Charles Lincoln, an extremely intelligent but exceedingly proud man. As is also the case throughout history, the actions of strong leaders such as Lincoln often influence events far in excess of their actual importance. Lincoln was incensed by the strike at his lab, as it spoke not only of ViaCode's lack of fear, but also that the secrets of his corporation had been compromised (in reality, ViaCode had no such inside contacts, but had merely planted a tracker on their research as a precaution). Clearly, he assumed, ViaCode had extensive knowledge of the internal workings of PicoGen, and would certainly use that information to destroy them. In a mighty (some say psychotic) move, Lincoln began two operations. The first was a sweeping inquisition and purge of his employees. The second was a massive, though subtle, offensive against ViaCode's data centers.
The subtlety of this assault bears mentioning. It was, of course, carried out with mercenaries to help hide PicoGen's involvement (they could no very well use their own troops). It was also strung out over the course of six weeks, from early April to mid-May of '78. Though the attacks were almost constant, they were spaced out enough and were at such diseparate targets as to give the impression that it was nothing more than a slight increase in the usual raids common at the time. PicoGen's forces found victory, and managed to steal and erase a number of ViaCode's main data centers, before the mercenaries' cover was blown.
The massive purges of PicoGen's employee base created a large amount of resentment, even among those found innocent. On May the 12th, an employee named Lindsey (no other information about her has survived) made contact with a ViaCode operative and turned over sensitive documents demonstrating the nature of the attacks. Less than two weeks later, on the 23rd of May, ViaCode launched a huge and simultaneous counter-offensive, targetting many of PicoGen's main administrative complexes in New Boston, New Washington and Pittsburgh. It must be noted that, during this time, administration was generally agreed to be inviolate, and raiding was kept to R&D facilities and other producers of knowledge. PicoGen reeled, pulling their executives (more than a third of whom were already dead) back to Main Headquarters outside of Chicago. Though most of their corporate struture had been knocked out, they still had contact with their labs, which were mostly untouched. From their labs, PicoGen lashed out at ViaCode, pulling in all their mercenary contracts and buying out ViaCode's contracts, smashing their corporate centers, and laying waste to large segments of the cities surrounding ViaCode's buildings. ViaCode crumbled as most of their mercenaries deserted them in favor of the desperately lucrative contracts offered by PicoGen, and, in November of 2783, ViaCode was officially dropped from the New Washington Stock Exchange, for “excessive degredation of corporate structure.” It appeared as though PicoGen had won the war, at the cost of nearly all of its office complexes, as well as more than 60% of its R&D laboratories.
The war was not quite over. On December 8th, a crack team of mercenaries on retainer from the former leaders of ViaCode delivered an early Christmas present to the main offices of PicoGen - a tactical nuclear weapon. PicoGen's main HQ, along with all of its top-level executives and most of its top scientists, was obliterated. Some eighteen blocks in the outskirts of Chicago were rendered uninhabitable, to the tune of nearly 400,000 casualties; it seems that ViaCode was a bit too eager to ensure its foe's destruction. Both companies collapsed and were absorbed by Genentech, a rival company. In the last act of that year, on December the 17th, the Legislative Council officially disbanded the mercenary trade, outlawing the sale of armed services, with myriad severe penalties."