Interplanetary Shipping-Northstar

The Quiet Worlds

The largest of the Triumvirate Corpros is Interplanetary Shipping-Northstar, or, IPS-N, a shipping and transport conglomerate that has been around since the discovery of nearlight and suspension protocols allowed for the first interstellar commerce. IPS-N was created from the merger of two civilian interstellar freight and transportation companies, Interplanetary Shipping and Northstar. The resulting firm, IPS-N is a titanic entity – one of the first corpro-states – with a virtual monopoly over interplanetary and interstellar shipping. Other firms exist, but their gross fleet strength is but a shadow of IPS-N’s fleets of tankers, haulers, freighters, and intergate/interstellar liners. Wherever goods and raw materials need to be moved, you can bet a crew in IPS-N uniforms will be there. The story of IPS-N is inseparable from the history of interstellar piracy. Whatever dangers the galaxy might hold, piracy remains the greatest threat to interstellar shipping lines, costing fleet managers and states hundreds of thousands in manna and trillions more in local currencies. Tremendous capital losses, schedule delays, losses of life, and false-scarcity famines convinced the myriad unions, conglomerates, and cartels of the need to comprehensively safeguard civilian shipping. A process of agglomeration and consolidation that lasted for years eventually gave birth to two major firms, Interplanetary Shipping and Northstar. They finally merged into a single corpro-state in the waning days of Union’s first government, the First Committee. Following the merger, IPS-N began the work of phasing out its fleets of late-model GMS mechs in favour of new proprietary designs. The corporation now sports a range of versatile, durable, and modular mechs that place equal priority on weapons and engineering systems. IPS-N mechs are a good choice for pilots who want a tough chassis that’s built for close quarters and melee combat situations, such as when the possibility of breaching a ship hull is on the table. IPS-N chassis are sturdy, meant to take as much damage as they deal – and then some. IPS-N is closely associated with the Albatross, an anti-piracy and peacekeeping force known across the galaxy for its long history of humanitarian interventions. IPS-N supports the Albatross materially, providing it with chassis, ships, cutting-edge technology, and temporal rehabilitation worlds for its pilots and crews to retire in relative peace. The relationship is mutually beneficial; IPS-N makes a point to emphasize its close relationship to the Albatross in marketing campaigns and PR materials. IPS-N, in addition to developing interstellar ships and legacy chassis, run a humanitarian mission, Northstar Realignment. Northstar Realignment is the top-flight temporal embassy and education center for Cosmopolitans returning from long-haul relativistic voyages. Beyond the Argo Navis system, IPS-N maintains numerous field offices and Cosmopolitan lounges on blink stations, meant to serve long-haul merchants and regular Cosmopolitans both. IPS-N field offices are the first-contact point for aspiring IPS-N engineers, mechanics, navigators, and pilots, as well as a common first-contact point for people looking to crew or rent a berth on an outbound interstellar ship. Of the Triumvirate, IPS-N remains the least diversified in terms of a catalogue of goods. Outside of milspec chassis, hulls, and equipment, IPS-N primarily sticks to interstellar-capable vessels, equipment, and gear, from the fleet-tier to the personal consumer. IPS-N is a sure bet for any interstellar travellers, with a thousands of years of banked goodwill boosting their brand.