Zales Trading Company

The Zales Trading Company is a commercial and industrial shipping founded and based in Vacuo. For decades, they have been one of the largest shipping and trading companies in all of Remnant.

History
The company's origins can be traced back 60 years to a former Schnee Dust Company executive named Jared Zales. Jared was removed from its board of directors by the CEO over contract disputes. He moved to Vacuo following his termination, as no other business or corporation would hire him after the fact. Back then, the main city of Vacuo was based around was less modernized than the remaining world at the time. Few major companies had been thriving in the desert kingdom, and a major need was a decent trade route between Vacuo and other settlements and kingdoms. Even with the transcontinental railroad's completion between Vale and Vacuo, not much cargo had been transported between the two kingdoms; only passenger trains had traveled along the main line.

After bringing a proposal to the governing council of Vacuo, Zales was granted a business permit, a grant of a few million Lien, and a contract with the kingdom to secure freight lines by road and rail between Vale and Vacuo. Through this, he began shipping mining resources from Vacuo to Vale, and in return, Vale sent back  food, supplies, and other types of cargo to the desert kingdom in their convoys and trains.

With a secured trade route with a steady rate of shipments coming and going from both points, both Vacuo and Zales' company flourished. Once he was sure the company had well-established itself, he reached out to his family in Atlas. They moved down to Vacuo to join him, but they weren't alone. Hearing of his economic success, the SDC along with other major corporations started establishing headquarters in Vacuo. This was the start of the over-industrialization of Vacuo, but also presented new opportunities. Towards the end of Jared's life, he passed control of the company to his son, Helzberg. Though a teen at the time, the young man was a business prodigy and his father's business partners had no qualms with the passing of the torch.

Days before Jared passed away of natural causes, the trading company secured its biggest collection of contracts ever. A new trade agreement made by the four kingdoms and Menagerie had been made, and Zales Trading was able to open routes to ship to Menagerie, Mantle, and Mistral by sea. A new route along the coast of Sanus also presented itself. With their company's wealth gathered over the years, Zales purchased a fleet of freighter ships to sail the oceans all over the world, connecting kingdoms through their trade routes and providing for all of Remnant.

Of course, after the Fall of Beacon and the attacks on Vale, usual shipments of all kinds have temporarily ceased going into Vale. While the company has been tasked with providing relief aid, it's all supplies for rebuilding and recovery, mostly donated by charities set up to help restore Vale to its former glory. The Dust embargo has also put a tight squeeze on outgoing shipments from Mantle as well. Both these have attributed to a major decline in Zales Trading Company's profits. Currently, Zales is still shipping in routes between Vacuo, Mistral, Menagerie, and Atlas, but the lack of non-relief shipments going across Sanus to Vale, as well as the Dust embargo on Atlas, have done a great blow to the company, Vale being the oldest and more productive routes. Still, Helzberg and his board of directors are finding ways to recover from this decline, along with the help of the company's heiress and Helzberg's daughter, Diamond Zales, who he brought on as she awaits her first year at Shade Academy.

Assets and Locations
As previously stated, ZTC bases their operations in Vacuo's main city, although they have headquarters in seaport districts of Vale, Mistral, and Mantle for their shipments coming in by sea. They also own a freight yard in Vale at their end of the transcontinental railroad on Sanus, as well as multiple warehouses and delivery centers across the globe. For passengers, they own multiple stations for their passenger ferries and trains in each kingdom.

Shipping a large portion of trading goods across the world of Remnant takes quite alot of heavy machinery. Because of this, Zales owns 4 large cargo ships, 8 smaller freighters, and 15 passenger ferries that range from a capacity of 100 to 2000 people for ocean routes. For travel on ground, they own 1000 trucks, some armored for important shipments or for travel through dangerous areas between settlements. For rail travel, they own 20 locomotives and dozens of different coaches and rolling stock to be pulled across railroad lines