KIGA Modular Industries, commonly abbreviated KMI or simply KIGA, is a GSC-allied megacorporation that produces the bulk of the allied galaxy's exoframes. They face fierce, but ultimately lacking competition from Six Stars, and their logo appears on nearly every exoframe one could find.
KIGA Modular Industries was founded in SY 1142 by Naomi Kiga, a Zhyn born Ekat Ini Nomu Kiga, to the old Hilix Confederate Stars just before the Human First Contact War. Kiga changed her name and defected to the Greater Human Cooperative early in the war. She brought her species' knowledge and experience in modular mechanics to the other side, and founded the corporation in the process. After the war, she followed the splinter faction that would become the Galactic Sapients Coalition, and brought KMI with her.
KIGA provides first-party licensing services which are used as a preliminary requirement by most companies and governments before proceeding to more specific certification. There are various different levels of certification offered:
Exoframe designs are largely decoupled from the hardware that adorns them and provides them functionality besides basic movement and diagnostics. As such, their classification generally describes their lineage,
KMI produces five series of frame models, each with their own capabilities and use-cases. They additionally maintain, but do not manufacture or release, a sixth line called their “Legacy” series into which deprecated designs are automatically filed.
All sizes of frames can use gear designed for smaller sizes, although the usefulness of such configurations varies by use case.
Light type frames are designed to be nimble and easily reconfigurable, placing emphasis on versatility above all else.
Heavy series frames are generally larger and are designed to take more punishment than their light series cousins. They represent the jack of all trades designs, although they are less prevalent than the light series due to their often prohibitive cost.
KIGA's Superheavy line is all about punch and punishment. Superheavy exoframes are often worth a small fortune and feature prominently in colonization efforts, fast-response wartime teams, and spacescale construction sites.
The KIGA X line is an experimental series of exoframes released in small quantities for short bursts at a time. All X-frames are usually highly specialized and contain various cutting-edge functionality which sets them apart from all the rest in specific capacities.
Similarly, the KIGA S line stands for “Special”, and represents their less cutting-edge, but still specialized frames. These are most often, but not always, made to enable specific types of research.
M-Series frames are the blanket term given to commissioned designs made for wealthy clients. M class frames are not available for repurchase and the design rights are usually given to the client as part of the transaction.
Naomi Kiga's personal design.
Legacy series frames are a blanket term for any design that is no longer being manufactured by KMI. Some more recently phased out models may still retain warranties and production of maintenance parts, as per KIGA's “Never Obsolete” design ethos.