Magenta Sparrow Innovations, previously Magenta Sparrow Medical, was a private company that built and sold a wide variety of technology such as Droids, Speeders and Cybernetics to the general public.
History[]
Initially formed under the name Magenta Sparrow Medical, the company was created as a means of consolidating the various individual assets of Lord Darsun Odé following his apparent death on Yavin IV.
His apprentice and sol beneficiary, Benjamin Lambert, sold off his master's assets and invested the earnings in founding and building a single company that could be more easily managed. As there was a war on, Benjamin decided medicine was a guaranteed source of income and so spent several busy months setting up the new company and investing in the latest production technology and the bright minds needed to put that technology to use.
The name itself was chosen on a whim; while helping his wife adjust her lightsaber one evening, the light of the magenta blade cast their silhouettes against the wall, outlining their figures. Lexi's pet-name for Benjamin was 'Sparrow' (given for his gentle nature and the vague resemblance his unkempt hair had to feathers), and an off-hand comment about her 'magenta sparrow' gave Ben the name for his project.
When Benjamin went missing and was presumed KIA after the Eternal Empire's attack on Korriban, ownership and control of the company was passed to Lexi, who reformed it roughly five years later into Magenta Sparrow Innovations to get herself out of the politically awkward position of being a Sith Lord who owned a company that sold medical supplies to both the Sith Empire and Galactic Republic.
Instead, the company was adjusted to better suit Lexi's own skills; she was a talented and highly-skilled engineer, particularly when it came to droids. She was one of many figures instrumental in pushing the technology market forwards during the occupation era, using reverse-engineered Zakuulan technology in everything from speeder bikes to comm units, handing the company a temporary lead before their rivals caught up, along with a not-inconsiderable financial boom.
Naturally, the advantage did not last long, and though still regarded as the top-end of affordable electronics MSI became less advanced as rivals reverse engineered and copied the technology, just as Lexi had done to gain the lead in the first place.
Luckily, the same situation presented itself once more with the discovery of Iokath, a technologically advanced world discovered by the Eternal Alliance and contested by the two major factions. While those groups squared off against one another, Lexi hired a band of down-on-their-luck spacers to fly her onto the surface for a hit-and-run salvage mission.
Though they hit several snags along the way Lexi recovered more than enough physical samples and data readings to put the technology to work for her. Benjamin, who was fighting as part of the Sith offensive at the same time as Lexi's visit, also managed to recover some working samples, using his rank and his Sith friends to smuggle them off-world a few weeks later.
Once again, Lexi and her development teams put the technology to work on common products, designing new lines of datapads, comm units, speeders and civilian droids to flood the market with. Lexi also designed and built an elite model of droid at this time, though production was limited and every sample was kept in reserve for company use.
The boost in sales and the long-term increase in the popularity of the company brand allowed for investment into other areas that were of personal benefit to Lexi and Benjamin, namely the opening and staffing of an off-the-books research facility in one of the oceans of Sonn Vilmari.
Experiments at this facility were aimed at artificially infusing both inanimate objects and living beings with the power of the Force, and thanks to the combined knowledge of Lexi's Mechu-deru and her apprentice Sera Artofen's Sith Alchemy, this objective was completed and was a resounding success when employed during the Purge of Taspir III.
As part of their shared plan, Benjamin defected, escaping the events on Taspir III, eventually leading a Republic strike team to stop Lexi's experiments, killing her and inheriting the company he originally founded. At that time, Benjamin was no longer interested in running a business, choosing to dissolve the company and redistribute its assets into the city of Farrow, on the world that gave it its name
Assets[]
Magenta Sparrow Innovations held many assets across civilised space, selling and developing products in both Imperial, Republic and neutral territories. Some of these assets are as follows:
- Magenta Sparrow Headquarters, a secure compound near Mount Chaolt on Lok sporting entertainment facilities, living quarters for both visitors and staff, offices and control centres and underground factories.
- The Outreaching Hope, a salvaged Gage-class transport refitted for exploration purposes.
- The Sonn Vilmari Biolab, the hidden home of MSI's experimental Biotech Division.
- The Echo Chamber, a captured Star Fortress taken from above Leritor before the fall of Empress Vaylin. Re-purposed as a storage facility for relics, resources, prisoners and physical data.
Two unrelated companies were bought by Magenta Sparrow Innovations and not absorbed into the company, to save them from closing down completely. Those were:
- Gyura Ranch, the ranch on Ord Mantell that Lexi Lambert grew up on, belonging to her mother and father. Though the ranch remained open Magenta Sparrow Innovations had no further contact after the buy-out.
- By Hand, By Dharra, a handmade clothing store on Nar Shaddaa that was being harassed by the Hutts until Magenta Sparrow Innovations bought their debts, allowing the company to continue business with a fair repayment plan.
Divisions[]
Magenta Sparrow Innovations was primarily focused on the production and sale of consumer technology. However, the company had a number of divisions to compliment this primary goal, some of which were as follows:
- Research and Development, which consisted of four interwoven sub-divisions overseen by Lexi Lambert.
- Droid Lab; a team of researchers, droid experts and field testers who worked on developing MSI droids, often fine-tuning prototypes conceived by Lexi Lambert.
- Microtech Lab; a team of researchers and tech experts who worked on developing MSI comm units (portable and home models), datapads and other small electronic devices.
- Vehicle Lab; a team of researchers and expert speeder mechanics who worked on developing MSI vehicles, from hoverchairs to armoured landspeeders.
- Weapons Lab; a team of researchers, blaster experts and military advisers who worked on developing MSI blaster weapons for both civilian and military use.
- Biotech, a small team of contracted scientists with a variety of biological expertise. Initially founded to find a way to infuse both inanimate objects and living beings with the Force, the Biotech Division shifted their aim to creating stimulants and adrenals after their primary objective had been accomplished. These stimulants focused on keeping a user alive for a longer period after suffering serious injuries, with the idea being to reduce both military and civilian battlefield fatalities.
- Wild Sparrows Expeditionary, a mixture of non-combatants and battle-hardened veterans, WSE focused on charting the unexplored reaches of Wild Space for exclusive company use, allowing for uncontested access to any valuable discoveries such as alien ruins or rich resource deposits. This exploration was done aboard the Outreaching Hope.
- Logistics, the lifeblood of the company which consisted of a variety of transports from light freighters to massive cargo haulers. This division was also responsible for negotiating trade deals with clients and suppliers. Retired Republic Army Colonel Vanrick Taetriss oversaw this division.