Typhon Munitions
Written by: Ursa-Minor
The concept of conspicuous consumption - purchasing goods as a display of luxury and economic power - grows more ubiquitous and commonplace by the day, and effects more hobbies and products today than ever. The use of a firearm as a status-symbol is by no means a new concept, but few corporations can match Typhon Munitions, a Saeder-Krupp subsidiary of specialist arms and ammunition, in how contemptuous they make the average gun-enthusiast. Typhon's weaponry are by no means bad: they are agreed upon by enthusiasts to be high-quality firearms (albeit equally high-maintenence). It's simply that, Typhon has something of a turbulent relationship with civilians, ones that aren't rich to be specific. The corporation places a great deal of emphasis on being an 'exclusive' brand for privileged customers, the kind that are as likely to buy such firearms for a private security-force as they are for personal use. This attitude has softened in recent years owing to financial issues necessitating broader clientelles, but the fundamental practices remain: Most of their product-lines can't be purchased off-the-rack at local stores, and must be purchased directly from their stores and matrix-sites after submitting SiN-details to ensure you're the 'preferred' kind of customer. This understandably makes purchasing such firearms off the grid difficult, but not impossible, as long as the right contacts are known and care is taken not to alert the company of your ownership. Typhon's demeanor towards 'DeniableContractors' - their nomenclature for Shadowrunners - is surprisingly tolerant one: Payment is almost always direct cash-payments and never in products from their more exclusive lines, and most runs focus on ensuring their products are no longer in the hands of people deemed harmful to Typhon's public-image, but overall the company remains consistantly reputable as employers, providing reliable information and having no current record of turning on employees once the job is done.Just make sure to come dressed in a suit. Typhon Johnsons like to discuss business in fancy suites, and not gonna lie, I felt a little out-of-place in my street clothes...
I mean real shit, that just makes me want to show up in a hoodie and joggers.
Public Agenda
Typhon Munitions' stated agenda is offering firearms, ammunition and accessories to high-profile clients and personal-security teams that are, in their words, "As aesthetic-conscious as they are lethal," and also advertise themselves as liasons and employment-agents for procuring dependable bodyguards.
Assets
Typhon's headquarters and primary manufacturing-facilities are based in Raleigh, along with a (mostly) public outlet on the Downtown Elevated Plaza, though rumors are being spread that their headquarters might relocate to Essen, Germany. All security, once handled by in-house contractors, are now managed by Centurion Security.
History
Typhon's origins are quite particular, as rather than having its roots in security or heavy engineering, the corporation's origins were in fact in clocks. The founder, Odette Bartlett, was the latest scion in a long and prestigous family of timepiece makers, renowned throughout multiple countries for producing the most sought-after luxury watches and clocks for the exclusive use of the world's elite.
The turn from watchmaking to arms-dealing came as a natural consequence to the changing needs of the sixth-world: More of our everyday tools intergrate themselves into the matrix every day, constantly communicating with oneanother in the name of efficiency and monitoring, and the market for so-called 'throwbacks' in the form of non-digital goods and accessories, such as watches, grew smaller and smaller as the ownership continued its transformation from tool to decoration.
Mechanical timepieces would never vanish entirely and the Bartlett family were still financially secure for the next couple of generations, but Odette was justifiably convinced that they would imminently become unfeasible as a business-model. Numerous attempts were made at applying her family-talents to other markets (including lighters, music-boxes and even novelty cigarette-cases), but none of them felt sufficient to replace or even supplement timepieces as a source of income. The Barletts sold more and more of their antiques and prototypes, and it seemed like the family would fade into obscurity.
Odette's moment of inspiration came unexpectedly and to an extent unwillingly: She had taken her nephew to visit the Royal Armouries, a museum of weapons and armor in the United Kingdom. Initially intending to simply humor her relative's fascination in implements of injury, Odette's attention was piqued when she came across an unusual firearm from the previous century, a prototype caseless assault-rifle called the Heckler and Koch.
Something about this overengineered precursor to modern caseless weapons sparked something in Odette, undoubtably in no small part due to the complex innards of the receiver being comparable to a mechanical clock in its abundance of gear-based mechanisms. When they returned home, Odette made a convincing case to the family to consider taking her talents into a whole new venture: arms manufacturing. And to her surprise, they gave her their collective blessings.
The first few designs were what you would expect: overengineered, high-maintenence tools that appeared to be novelties rather than firearms. Once engineers with actual experience in weapons-engineering were bought into the fold, the fledgeling company fount its calling in its first majorly succesful firearm, a high-performance sniper rifle called the Bartlett Arms Synergist that was purchased in (relatively) strong numbers by well-funded security forces and wealthy sport-shooters alike.
Having discovered their niche, Baretlett Arms took their new businesses to new and aggressive heights, poaching talented engineers from other corporations to continue their streak and renaming themselves 'Typhon Munitions', after the creature from Greek myth, when their previous name allegedly showed itself to be unmarketable to security-specialists.. Unfortunately, these combatative practices earned them the short-lived ire of Saeder-Krupp, who did not take kindly to seeing several promising employees dissapear from the roster of Onatari Arms and reappear on Typhon's payroll.
Lofwyr's retaliation was subtle, but swift and decisive: Numerous recordings of controversial statements regarding product-quality and safety design from Barlett's boardroom-meetings were leaked to the public, and the company suffered a serious blow in public-relations and sales as a result. SK, playing the part of concerned bystander, offered to assist the company in recovering from their losses in return for their loyalty. Typhon Munitions, hemorrhaging customers, had no choice to accept and became a subsidiary of Saeder-Krupp to ensure their own continuation.
You didn't hear this from me, but SK legitimately didn't know how compromising the recordings would be when they sent in Shadowrunners to bug the room. They expected a sudden but recoverable blow to Typhon's stocks, and everything else that happened was just a happy little accident.Since Saeder-Krupp's takeover, Typhon Munitions' business has mostly remained unchanged but their target-demographic has still been forced to broaden to improve sales and consistant profits, including more weapons that are affordable and simpler to mass-produce than the majority of their previous stock.
"Protecting the ones that matter most."
Founding Date
2060
Type
Corporation, Manufacturing
Location
Ongoing Contracts
Valkyrja have multiple standing contracts with Typhon Munitions to supply them with the corporation's more upscale arms and equipment, in exchange for bulk discounts on VIP services for their executives and key staff.
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