Humanity has discovered Faster-Than-Light (FTL) travel, and the expansion to fill the galaxy is taking its first steps. Near-earth space has been divided into governmental sectors out to 550 light years, and settlers are moving to fill the habitable planets. This has created a new frontier atmosphere, with law enforcement spread thin and corruption everywhere.
The year is somewhere in the late 21st century. Technology has advanced significantly from today in the fields of medicine, power generation, and the construction of artificial masses. Gravity generators were the key to faster than light travel, allowing a starship to enter what is knows as "hyperspace" to move at up to 900 times the speed of light.
Earth is still ruled by the United Nations, which is considered a minor power these days. The UN created the United Planets (UP) when interstellar colonization began over 100 years ago. That body has grown to eclipse its founder.
In spite of all that, space is a very wild-west kind of place. The UP provides no interstellar police force, and the UP army only gets involved in planetary affairs at the request of the local governors. The sector governments are supposed to provide global police forces, and sometimes the do. Other times they use their forces to repress the planetary populations under their control. In other places the individual planets are left to their own devices.
In this volatile atmosphere a demand has appeared for interstellar mercenary groups. One of these (though the owner will deny it) is Valkyrie Security. Valkyrie is the most successful security company in existence. This has been attributed to both shrewd business sense and the use of the Franchise model for setting up operations.