Strategic Improvements Corporation—often called "StratCo"—was formed in the early 21st century by two men, John Bishop and Ingolf Rixmann.
Having discovered a new process for enhancing the physical capabilities of human soldiers, they began to generate government interest in their techniques, selling them to the highest bidder. When the U.S. government began outsourcing many of its functions in 2020, StratCo won the bid to manage much of the United States military. (Some conspiracy theorists believe that StratCo was partially responsible for this privatization, although there is little hard evidence supporting this claim.) As a result, although StratCo was founded in Germany and its world headquarters is located there, the company has many branches located in the United States as well.
Six months ago, StratCo split into two factions when Rixmann, the head of R&D, attempted a corporate takeover against Bishop. Rixmann took StratCo headquarters with military force, and Bishop was forced to flee when he was unable to deal with the forces aligned against him. (Although it is not public knowledge, those familiar with these events know that Rixmann had formed an alliance with Noj and the Rex wraith. When Bishop summoned a gold dragon to aid him against Rixmann's troops, the Rex wraith somehow transformed it into a dracolich, which then attacked Bishop, who only managed to escape thanks to his new bodyguard, Jack Daniels.)
After the infamous showdown between Rixmann, Noj, Sitruc, Anna, Bishop and the combined PCs outside Pax Artificium, Rixmann escaped, and StratCo lay in ruins. Bishop began to take legal action against Rixmann to regain his company, and a trial date was scheduled for early January. Several PCs were asked to testify. But in late December, Bishop told the witnesses that the trial had been canceled, and that he had reached a settlement out of court with Rixmann wherein Rixmann would retain control of the company. At the same time, he dismissed Jack, his only remaining his faithful bodyguard (his other two, Castor and Pollux, had disappeared six months ago during the turmoil).