The Thalesians
The leading scientists of Thales Station are known to keep the best research to themselves. While the station will sell next-gen hyperdrives and sensors, it is a public secret that the very best will always stay in their own hands. Only when they develop better technology, or technology capable of countering the previous generation, will older technology become available for purchase.
On top of this, the Thalesians insist that weapon technology is never sold and its research kept permanently classified. They do sell defensive technology, though at a level where they are capable of piercing it themselves. To keep their founding Corps satisfied, these Corps get first rights on such defensive technology. This keeps the founders capable of resisting basically any attack except one of Thales Station, to make sure they never turn against the station.
On account of their public secrecy, plenty of conspiracy theories exist about the Thalesians. The obvious ones are that they are actually aliens that are manipulating and guiding humanity, which makes little sense as they were founded centuries after the first Hyperdrive was created.
Others say that it makes no sense that Corps peacefully aligned and decided to share their researchers. They claim that the true power behind Thales Station is the heirs of the Hyperdrive fortune, investing their money in a way to make even more. The existence of the station only makes sense with such a powerful force being the ones behind the curtains. For a conspiracy theory, it makes a peculiar amount of actual sense.
The last big theory is that Thales Station's true motive is an arms race to deal with some unknown threat they discovered deep in the Hypersea. Rather than causing panic or allowing a war to break out, they hoard their technology to prepare for what will be a fight to defend humanity from an extinction event.
Comments