Corporate Profile
Attar Technologies stands as the undisputed leader in Altspace and Tenebrium-based technologies, controlling key patents that have made interstellar travel possible. Founded on the revolutionary discoveries of Justin Attar, the corporation has grown into a labyrinthine network of subsidiaries spanning sectors from ship construction to advanced research, maintaining its dominance through both legitimate innovation and ruthless industrial espionage.
Origins & Leadership
Attar Technologies emerged from the ground-breaking work of Justin Attar, who discovered Tenebrium's ability to access Altspace in 2185. Rather than reporting this revolutionary finding with the Solaris Republic research facility where he worked, Attar concealed his discoveries until his contract expired in 2188, at which point he established Attar Technologies to develop and commercialize the technology.
After twelve years of intensive development and several failed prototypes, Attar Technologies constructed the first stable Altspace loop in 2200, fundamentally transforming humanity's relationship with space. The corporation rapidly expanded its operations, establishing dominance in the emerging field of interstellar travel technology through aggressive patent enforcement and strategic acquisitions.
Today, the corporation is helmed by Arnault Attar, heir to the founding dynasty, a reviled eccentric whose leadership and ruthless pursuit of power have become legendary throughout settled space. Under his direction, Attar Technologies has diversified beyond its core Altspace technologies while maintaining jealous control over its fundamental patents.
"Innovation is revolution. Attar didn't improve travel; we shattered its very limitations. The difference between us and our competitors is simple: they adapt to the universe, while we reshape it."
-Arnault Attar, ATech Summit, 2320
Business Operations
Attar Technologies' core business remains centered on the design and manufacture of Altspace loops essential for interstellar travel. Through its subsidiary Isarrow Orbital, the corporation maintains a near-monopoly on commercial loop production, allowing it to extract substantial licensing fees from virtually every vessel capable of Altspace transit. Secondary revenue streams include advanced research services, specialized ship construction, and Tenebrium mining and refinement operations.
The corporation's business strategy emphasizes maintaining technological superiority across multiple fields through a combination of internal research and aggressive acquisition of competing innovations. Attar's corporate intelligence division operates one of the most sophisticated industrial espionage networks in human space, systematically identifying and neutralizing potential competitive threats before they can challenge the company's dominance in key sectors.
Notable Subsidiaries
- Isarrow Orbital: Primary manufacturer of Altspace loops and specialized spacecraft systems incorporating proprietary Tenebrium technologies*
- Paras Mining: Specialized survey and extraction operation focusing on identifying and harvesting Tenebrium deposits in both the core and on the frontier. Paras is historically notable having been founded by Mary Paras who was responsible for the discovery of Tenebrium
- AstraNova Medical: Research division focused on genetic and medical technologies and holder of countless semi-perpetual medicine patents
- Tesseract Shipping: Interstellar transport corporation acquired to reduce supply chain risks and costs.
IO ships are known as Dock Divas due to their need for special handling due to their unfriendly designs.
Corporate Culture
Attar Technologies cultivates an internal environment that prizes adaptive thinking and calculated risk-taking, allowing it to maintain its edge in rapidly evolving markets. The company's organizational structure is intentionally labyrinthine, with competing divisions and research teams often working on similar problems without knowledge of each other's efforts, a system designed to maximize potential breakthrough approaches while minimizing the impact of inevitable failures.
The crown jewels of Attar's corporate structure are its unparalleled R&D division, which operates with near-total autonomy and receives generous funding regardless of market conditions, and its brutally effective Mergers and Acquisitions division which often operates at the edges of the law, and the Market Research division which is the colloquial name for Attar's skilled corporate espionage teams. Together these divisions work together to ensure that what Attar cannot steal it can develop, and what it cannot develop it can own.
Technology & Innovation
Attar's technological portfolio centres on applications of Tenebrium, the exotic element essential for Altspace travel. While competitors have managed to replicate basic Altspace loop functionality, Attar maintains a significant lead in efficiency, stability, and specialized applications due to over a century of accumulated research and development. The corporation closely guards its most advanced techniques, with key processes known only to a handful of senior engineers and executives and kept on highly secured and isolated systems under heavy encryption.
Recent innovation focuses have included reduced Tenebrium requirements for standard loops, enhanced stability in gravity-distorted regions, and experimental applications of Tenebrium's unique properties in fields beyond transportation. Unbeknownst to the public Arnault Attar has recently approved several classified studies of biological Tenebrium exposure, studies that are illegal in most jurisdictions.
Signature Products
- Attar-Isarrow Standard Loop: The industry benchmark for commercial interstellar travel, found in approximately 70% of Altspace-capable vessels
- Octant-class Entropy Compensation Systems: Proprietary systems that reduce disorientation and transit illness during Altspace travel.
- Lacunar Depth Coils: Advanced components that significantly enhance loop efficiency and stability in turbulent conditions
Political Influence
Attar Technologies leverages its control over essential interstellar travel technology to exert enormous influence across all major factions. The corporation maintains particularly strong connections within the Solaris Republic, where strategic campaign contributions and technology sharing agreements have secured favorable regulatory treatment and military contracts. Within the Centauri Democratic Union, Attar operates more subtly through a network of proxies and subsidiaries that influence policy while maintaining plausible separation from the parent corporation.
The most visible extension of Attar's power comes through "Attar's Muts", a group of genetically enhanced Exalt agents who serve as Arnault Attar's personal envoys and enforcers. These individuals are bred with the most advanced modifications available and conditioned from birth to protect Attar's interests with fanatical loyalty, operating both publicly as bodyguards and covertly to eliminate threats and acquire technologies that might extend their master's lifespan.
Public Perception
Attar Technologies has developed a poor public reputation. While it's role in opening Altspace to humanity is acknowledged it's contributions have been overshadowed by the eccentric arrogance of its CEO and his clear willingness to sacrifice anything (and anyone) for profit and power. Monopolist acquisitions, aggressive patent enforcement, and unsubtle attempts at regulatory capture of patent law in particular have created broad resentment. Many factions have begun to see it's licensing fees as exploitative taxation on essential technology.
Notable Individuals
Arnault Attar: The current CEO and controlling shareholder, known for his paranoia, ruthlessness, and obsession with extending his own lifespan. Despite being over 150 years old, Arnault maintains the appearance and vitality of someone decades younger through a combination of Exalt technologies and experimental treatments.
Dr. Mira Katze: Director of Advanced Research, responsible for Attar's most cutting-edge Tenebrium applications. Her brilliance is matched only by her ambition, with rumors suggesting she seeks to eventually challenge Arnault's control of the corporation.
Zemira VI: Chief of Attar's Muts and Arnault's personal bodyguard. A fourth-generation Exalt with enhanced strength, reflexes, and loyalty conditioning, she serves as both protector and enforcer of Attar's will throughout settled space.
Duke V: Former head of the Muts now assigned enforcer and head of Gold Ring security on Axis station. An enormous, powerful, and laconic figure feared throughout the company.