The Retrieval Companies

Retrieval Companies are licensed or semi-licensed expedition groups recovering people, records, equipment, biological samples, historical objects, and intelligence from dangerous frontier regions and, when possible, beyond the shield.

Some are government sponsored. Some work for universities, families, corporations, Great Houses, or the Recovery Concord. Some are essentially mercenary adventuring companies with better paperwork. They provide a natural reason for mixed groups of capable strangers to travel together.