PCBaller World/Montana/Organizations/Helion Corps.

Helion Corps., previously known as Helion Energy, is a large interplanetary private organization that specializes in space colonization technology, propulsion, and nuclear fusion (it's original purpose). Helion is one of the biggest players in Montana's energy industry, generating over 70% of the nation's energy. Even then, Helion is moving fusion technologies into other countries, including Sorbia, Germany, and the LFA.

Pre-Collapse
Helion Energy was founded in the year 2013 by David Kirtley, John Slough, Chris Pihl, and George Votroubek with the goal to provide commercially viable fusion energy. The company's early generators are based on the Inductive Plasmoid Accelerator experiments that ran from 2005 to 2012, which used deuterium and tritium nuclei to achieve fusion. The headquarters of Helion were built in Everett, Washington.

In 2014, the company manufactured its fourth prototype of its own nuclear fusion reactors. Dubbed "Grande", the fusion reactor was able to outperform all other prototype fusion reactors of its day. It was able to create magnetic fields of 4 Tesla and produce plasma with an energy level of 5 keV. In 2015, the company managed 95% direct magnetic energy recovery over a million pulses. Over a billion FRCs were produced in the process.

In 2018, Helion made its fifth prototype fusion reactor. Dubbed "Verti", the reactor was able to produce a magnetic field 75% stronger than Grande's, clocking in at 7 Teslas. Ion temperatures as high as 2 keV. It was constructed to test the scalability of earlier reactors such as the IPA-C and the Grande.

In 2021, the company developed its sixth prototype reactor, dubbed the "Trenta". It managed a magnetic field strength of 10 teslas and internal plasma temperatures over 9 keV; this is their first reactor to go over the 100 million Kelvin mark. Later in the year, they created their seventh prototype, dubbed "Polaris". It was initially expected to finish development in 2024. This new reactor would be 25% larger than Trenta, significantly lowering the damage the superheated ions may inflict on the reactor's internal wall.

Starting in 2022, Helion developed its eighth fusion reactor prototype, "Arcturus". It will include a mechanism for direct magnetic energy capture. It managed a magnetic field strength of 17.5 teslas and internal plasma temperatures of over 11 keV. The reactor's direct magnetic energy capture was upgraded to a 96% efficiency rate. This was completed in 2026, and it was the first reactor to boast a net positive. It was able to run fusion pulses at 10Hz, or ten cycles per second.

In 2024, Helion built a new major office in Bozeman, MT. They would send Grande and Verti there, and they would make it an extra research outpost.

In 2026, the Arcturus reactor was able to make a net positive, but that wasn't enough. So in that year, they began to develop their ninth prototype reactor. It was dubbed "Scuti". "Up to this point, the reactors have used D/T/3He fuel as composed of simple hydrogen. This prototype was intended to maximize fusion energy output as well as increase the output/input energy ratio. The prototype, however, was not finished.

Early Post-Collapse
Okay, there's the American Collapse. The energy contract between Microsoft and Helion Energy was broken during this tumultuous event, so they lost their obligation to provide fusion energy to Microsoft by 2028. The governments of Washington, Oregon, and Northern California fell under the control of the Northwestern Imperium. Their original headquarters and offices in Everett, WA were evacuated. The materials they needed were flown to Bozeman in an attempt to evade destruction.

As Helion rebuilt, they were nearly unaffected by the Northwestern Imperium while they did so. Montana's government was still active in Helena. As the nation of Greater Illinois to the east was just forming, they poured millions of dollars of investment into Helion.

In 2029, the company would have been ready to build "Scuti" and finish it.