One of the few modern manufacturers to have never been exclusively an arms manufacturer, IPS-Northstar started as a simple export company. It wasn’t long, however, before exporting became smuggling, and with smuggling came a need for higher protection than their stock of GMS frames were providing. That was how IPS-N broke into the arms manufacturing business, making mechs that were stocky and close-quarters combatants, perfect for shutting down an untimely pirate raid quickly and quietly. With their budget already going into the production of combat suits, IPS-N soon reached a licensing deal with the Imperial Military, a mutually beneficial relationship that has continued even now, when arms manufacturing has been cut so drastically. IPS-N has recovered more easily than the others; their main product was never their weaponry, and it’s not like the weapons they DO manufacture were ever strictly above-board. What the Tempestian Union doesn’t know won’t hurt them… yet.