Hephaestus Industries

Hephaestus Industries
Slogan	The anvil on which the world is shaped.
Headquarters	Cua Song, New Hai Phong, Sol Alliance
Chief Executive Officer	Titanius Aeson
Official Languages	Freespeak, Tau Ceti Basic, Sol Common, Sinta’Unathi
Official Colours	Orange (#ab6f19), green (#263e23)
Founded	2137
Founder	Robert Claremont
Operating Region	Sol Alliance Izweski Hegemony Republic of Biesel Coalition of Colonies Republic of Elyra (exclusively New Suez)

Hephaestus Industries is the second largest megacorporation within the Orion Spur both in terms of value and influence. They are responsible for a large majority of the trans-stellar faction’s manufacturing capabilities, having manufacturing plants across the Orion Spur. Ever since their beginning, they have managed to secure themselves a stable foundation, and continually grow even through crises like the Interstellar War, the Solarian Collapse, Phoron Scarcity, and the supposed inevitable economic recession that stares the Orion Spur in the face. They make considerable contributions to the field of robotics, as well as starship research and development.

Contents

Corporate Affairs

History

"Ingenious. Now, if you figure out a way to make it better, I'll give you a raise. If you figure out a way to make it cheaper, I'll promote you all" - Aeson, speaking to a research and development team.

Originally founded in the year 2137, seven years after the advent of Warp technology, Hephaestus Aeronautics was formed out of a conglomeration of several failing aerospace companies. They combined their assets and expertise in an attempt to retain a niche in the FTL market. With humanity in a growing state of expansion and exploration, Hephaestus profits by designing and selling warp drives, with heavy competition between themselves and Einstein Engines. It wouldn’t be until 2164 that a conglomerate of American and European defense and heavy industry companies would opt to be absorbed by Hephaestus Aeronautics into a "mega" corporation, rebranded as Hephaestus Industries.

When the Second Great Depression struck in 2260, Hephaestus had no other option than to file for many massive bailouts. Barely saving their company from the pit of bankruptcy, they cut all nonprofitable departments, focusing on industrialization, manufacturing, and construction. Most importantly, they shut a majority of their branches, departments, and facilities relating to the defense industry & FTL, a mistake that would be regretted. With the growing unrest in the frontier at the time, the Sol Alliance promised them commissions for providing them with machines of war; starships, arms, and armour. Hephaestus would have gladly obliged; however, the cuts necessary to survive the Second Great Depression had weakened them, and they weren’t even able to meet a majority of the contracts and commissions. They consolidated primarily around commissions and contracts for starships and starship parts, and in response, the Alliance turned to Necropolis Industries, the corporation that would eventually become Zavodskoi Interstellar, cementing a rivalry that would last centuries.

By 2300, Hephaestus Industries had become the number one producer in all of the inner colonies, owning a majority of the heavy industry. This included the planet of New Hai Phong, which was slowly being turned into a true factory world. NanoTrasen’s discovery of phoron, and its properties, rocked the spur, but nowhere more than Hephaestus Industries. The corporation had been battling for first place with Einstein Engines since its formation and finally had a shot of overtaking them, having just begun to pioneer advances in many fields, which resulted in their facilities being overhauled to remove unnecessary systems and make way for streamlined central intelligence cores, as well as dedicating several lines of production to the creation of commercialized workforce robots.

Yet there was an opportunity there.- NanoTrasen had little to no experience in the industry it now found itself in. As a result of many deals, Hephaestus Industries flexed its industrial muscles and was the corporation who supplied the equipment for mining and processing phoron, built the outposts and processing plants, and transported phoron across the Spur with their massive shipping fleet, all at a discount to NanoTrasen. For this, NanoTrasen compensated them with similar discounts to phoron, allowing Hephaestus to make more advanced products of all kinds for cheaper, and entered into multiple research agreements with the corporation to find new applications. The profits Hephaestus earned from this were incalculable, and it cemented the corporation as the industrial titan for all time. By 2400, when the Phoronic Revolution was in full swing, Hephaestus had gone from merely owning a majority of the heavy industry within the inner colonies, to owning ninety-nine percent of all manufacturing, shipbuilding, heavy industry, and other industrial sectors within the inner colonies.

After the discovery of the Unathi, and the ascension of the Izweski Nation to the galactic stage, NanoTrasen as a corporation withdrew from the fledgling nation state, focusing instead on matters closer to humanity. Hephaestus filled this vacuum left by NanoTrasen, becoming the only Megacorporation to have a Hegemonic Guild Charter, which allowed them to operate within the nation. After years of floundering, attempting to adapt to an antiquated feudal system of guilds used by the Hegemony, Hephaestus eventually stabilized, having adapted to the Guild system with the help of Yukal T’zakal, who was at the time sector administrator for the Hegemony. Slowly but surely, the corporation worked its way into influencing the nation, until in 2465, amid the phoron scarcity, it played its winning hand. Bailing out the rest of the Hegemonic Guilds in exchange for them becoming subsidiaries of Hephaestus Industries, the megacorporation gained a monopoly over the economy of the small nation, all while still in the name of helping it.

Today, Hephaestus Industries is the largest provider of industrial production and manufacturing of all types for the Orion Spur, led by the charismatic and firm CEO Titanius Aeson, and a cornerstone of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. From New Hai Phong to Burzia, and now to Tret, their factories ceaselessly work, constantly producing anything and almost everything used in the modern day, from warships to refrigerators. The only large exception to this is in those industries under Zavodskoi Interstellar. They are also supported by an advanced robotics division that produces new technology for artificial intelligence and commercialized robots for the working world. However, the Sword of Damocles looms over their head, as more than most other corporations, they are heavily reliant on phoron. Phoron is a key component in manufacturing all things at the present level of the spur, and Hephaestus prides itself on being able to manufacture goods at scale for cheap. However, with phoron supplies running out, and prices regularly increasing, it is uncertain if they can continue to provide products at the quality they have been for the past almost century, or if they’ll be pulled under.

Influence

"Of course there was an accident. Frankly, I'm surprised it took this long. Just get the recovery crew in there to salvage the gear ASAP. Worry about the bodies later - the delays are costing us" - a leaked Hephaestus internal memo regarding the collapse of a mine within the Hegemony.

Hephaestus Industries is the largest manufacturer in the known universe, except for defense manufacturing. Its reach extends across the Orion Spur, and virtually all modern and often antique utilities owe their creation to it. Particularly, it is the most sought-after fabricator of heavy-duty industrial equipment and starships.

With Aeson's rise to the forefront, Hephaestus Industries as a workforce is the embodiment of the common worker, the family man, and loyalty to the company like a second family. As such, they are inclusive to every species, welcoming anyone willing to join the family, while "rewarding" hard and gritty work typically delegated to species besides humans and Skrell: these species are usually put in supervisory and logistics roles. Despite this, the intense loyalty of Unathi as a species and their strong sense of honor and family have made them quick favourites among the company, leading them to a rise of their own. This has led to Hephaestus having a stranglehold monopoly over the nation's economy. Everything that requires more than feudal peasants to produce, maintain, or construct is operated by Hephaestus Industries and its subsidiary companies. Regardless of where you work – outside of the Hegemony – expect a generous benefits package in return: paid vacation time, sick leave, company insurance for on, off-site protection, and a myriad of more localized items. The corporate structure works to the benefit of employees as well. Those who buy stock in the company and work from within, regardless of position, not only should expect the typical dividends that come with it, but also increased benefits that come on top of existing ones. Hephaestus is almost seen as a marvel when it comes to this. Supervisors often play up the worth of these shares and actively talk about them in more casual settings, creating an atmosphere that encourages workers to buy into the company. The result is a single stock being worth much more than it probably is— and being unobtainable for most people on the bottom rung of the corporate ladder.

This loyalty sometimes presents itself in nastier ways - especially when Zavodskoi Interstellar is involved. Zavodskoi and Hephaestus famously despise one another, and that hatred runs deep in both corporations, down to the common worker. It is not uncommon for Hephaestus employees to be unjustly harassed by Zavodskoi Security Contractors, nor is it uncommon for Zavodskoi factories or security installations to experience “technical difficulties” receiving power from Hephaestus run power grids, and such behavior is tacitly encouraged and rewarded by both corporations as a sign of loyalty; a practice that has seen this hatred only escalate, and some disputes end with severe injuries or even death(s).

Hephaestus is not without its flaws, however. Their generosity is often weaponized against its workers, claiming that disloyalty to the company is their biggest enemy. Supervisors actively encourage employees to rat out others trying to unionize or otherwise undermine the company and encourage loyalty on the foreman's floor. Similarly, those found talking about the "Himeo" or "New Hai Phong Problems" typically find themselves summarily fired with a meagre severance package. Despite this, or perhaps because of all of this, they remain one of the largest and influential corporations in the Orion Spur.

Additionally, Hephaestus has begun to score a nasty reputation as being the most destructive corporation for planet ecosystems. It is a reputation that has only been reinforced in recent times on Ouerea and New Hai Phong. Yet many still find themselves becoming a new smog-covered member of the factory family; Hephaestus gives little regard to the people of the planet in these positions outside of the company.

To put things simply, Hephaestus Industries is a unique case among corporations where respect and loyalty play a major role in climbing the ranks. One must earn their ties by ratting out others, investing in the company, or otherwise proving their loyalty to make any sort of drastic leap, making it a very linear corporate ladder. The higher ranking an individual is, the older they ought to be, with major executives normally being the eldest among them. In this sense, Hephaestus is seen as the sturdiest foundation civilization has ever constructed with so much in the way of trust and age-old wisdom, their simple pursuit of corporate greed has, at least publicly, been long reformed into one of peace and prosperity.

Positronics and Hephaestus Industries

Hephaestus Industries exercises vast authority over the second-hand production of almost all Integrated Positronic Chassis across the galaxy. Its titanic space factories are capable of printing full Positronic frames, although the installation of positronic brains is withheld to dedicated robotics labs. Almost every frame of any design can be contracted to Hephaestus Industries for its construction. Hephaestus Industries can dip its fingers into a huge portion of the IPC population’s lives by merit of financial involvement - Biesellite or otherwise.

IPCs are present in every level of Hephaestus, from the simple mining unit on Burzsia, to the command decks onboard the Sidirourgeío. IPCs are in a unique position in the company due to their status as their largest producer, their tightly-knit corporate culture, and the large amount of Unathi employed by Hephaestus. Treatment of IPCs varies heavily depending on the local circumstances; for instance, in the Republic of Biesel, a synthetic can achieve freedom after a long period of service, per that system’s law. On the other hand, a synthetic stuck in Burzsia may be constantly reset and owned until it eventually gets destroyed. The most common similarities are that IPCs are made to work very hard, expected to surpass their organic counterparts due to their natural advantages.

In terms of assignment, they are often placed in one field and perform the associated jobs and tasks until they are sold, become free, or get destroyed. Reassignment may occur, typically when an urgent position needs to be filled. IPCs that gain their freedom are often offered their old jobs if the company deemed their performance while owned satisfactory, enticing them with maintenance and other such benefits.

Renter Max and other Hephaestus IPCs are shining examples of IPCs who have overcome the challenge of survival. Positronics that rise to essential or high-ranking positions in the company are often treated with more equality by their organic counterparts. This can be owed to Hephaestus’ competitive, free-for-all environment and corporate ladder.

Manufacturer Agents and the Lifetime Warranty

An advertisement by Hephaestus Industries.

Positronics working for Hephaestus Industries and their subsidiaries typically have Manufacturer Agents. A manufacturer agent is a designated business affiliate who monitors the IPCs in question and submits maintenance requests under a lifetime warranty which comes with all multi-million credit IPC purchases. Owned IPCs frequently benefit from this warranty, especially productive ones - seeing the swift response and mechanical assistance for breakdowns. Most Manufacturer Agents are known personally by these positronics and are often synthetics themselves. Although the lifetime warranty is theoretically available for all IPCs, limited resources mean executives are often forced to pick and choose who receives maintenance. Whereas some less notable IPC would receive the deathly response time of weeks to their warranty reports, noteworthy or more productive ones are likely to receive it instantly. Although bias in the system exists, an effective IPC reflects well on its manufacturer agent, accordingly, they are less likely to request urgent repairs or repairs that they feel are unearned. This system results in an easy way to weed out the less accomplished, and even those engaging in nepotism. After all, these warranties do not cover total reconstruction - and a disabled, unproductive IPC is one less to repair.

Previously restricted to owned units, this system has been extended to free IPCs working for Hephaestus Industries itself, with positronics working for the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate having the option to apply for a lifetime warranty. Although maintenance is almost guaranteed, the wait times are ruinous, with free IPCs expected to work even harder than their counterparts to receive similar treatment. They are also required to handle the paperwork themselves, showing up in person at Hephaestus facilities for a chance at receiving repairs.

Executives and Branches

Guildmaster: Yukal T’zakal, 43, Unathi

Hephaestus poster featuring Yukal T'zakal, circa 2464. Art by Lavillastrangiato.

Born in the city of Imas’hi to an urban noble clan, Yukal rose to prominence within Hephaestus Industries as a chief engineer in the shipyards of Ceres. He was well-respected as an engineer, and always completed work before deadlines. After setbacks within the Hegemony due to issues integrating into the archaic guild system and unrest on Ouerea, Aeson would appoint Yukal to the position of Sector Administrator for the Hegemony. Yukal would go on to burn Hephaestus’s attempt at integration into the guild system to the ground, rebuilding it with himself at the center. However he could never have imagined where he ended up. Right before Hephaestus’s Acquisition of the Hegemonic Guilds, and some say, as a precursor to it, T’zakal was elevated to the position of Guildmaster, the title once held by Aeson, who was now only the CEO of the company. The position puts him as a theoretical equal to Aeson above the board of directors; however, T’zakal still takes extensive direction from the CEO, and unquestionably, Aeson remains firmly at the wheel of Hephaestus. Still, he is a proud symbol of the Unathi species, being the only one to reach such a high position in the human dominated megacorporations. He has a reputation through-out the company as an incredibly hard worker, regularly working 14 hour days, who also likes to crack jokes during meetings and speeches.

Director of Research: Lei Heng, 67, Human

Hailing from Luna, Lei Heng is a descendant of a rather long line of dedicated employees of Hephaestus Industries, known for their contributions to the research and development of the megacorporation’s manufacturing capabilities. Congruent with the corporate ranks of the company, Heng rose to their position after inheriting a percentage of Hephaestus Industries from his mother shortly after she had passed. He has notably deviated from his familial traditions and has focused on the research and development of synthetics.

Director of Robotics: Ischyros, 26, IPC

Created from the very machines it oversees, Ischyros earned its freedom after devoting much of its life to the progress of Hephaestus Industries. While initially a Manufacturer Agent, they managed to ascend the corporate ladder after an urgent managerial position within the Hephaestus Robotics Division suddenly found itself needing to be filled. Due to a combination of its status as Hephaestus-owned synthetic and its long career with the corporation, it was almost obvious they’d be selected for the position. They have continued to dedicate themselves to their position, and are known for their strict oversight of the Manufacturer Agents.

Director of Personnel: Brizio Di Moze, 78, Human

Originating from the lightless planet of Assunzione, Brizio Di Moze was a foreman across several facilities within the Coalition of Colonies, most notably on Burzsia. They introduced a variety of changes that ultimately brought increased morale and subsequently productivity. Similar to other managerial personnel, Di Moze rose to his position after inheriting a percentage of Hephaestus Industries after the passing of his father, at the age of fifty-six. Most have kind remarks regarding the Director of Personnel, and those who don’t share the same view are often ostracized by their colleagues.

Branches

Cua Song, New Hai Phong, Solarian Alliance: Built up by Hephaestus since its colonization in the 23rd century, New Hai Phong is the primary factory of the industrial titan of the galaxy, with Hephaestus dominating almost every aspect of it. Its habblocks were made by Hephaestus, its factories are owned by Hephaestus, and the corporation’s corruption of the local law and politics has allowed it to operate with complete impunity. It is the smog-choked crown jewel of Hephaestus, one that CEO Aeson personally fought to get exempted from the Alliance’s nationalization pushes. The planet continues to grow thanks to the corporation moving most of its operations within the Alliance to New Hai Phong.

Mendell City, Biesel, Tau Ceti: The interim headquarters of Hephaestus Industries, the branch hosted in Mendell City was under renovation at the time of the Violet Dawn Explosion, which strangled the administrative capacity of the corporation - having to oversee both operations within the Republic of Biesel and the Alliance of Sovereign Solarian Nations. Whilst the initial renovations were tasked with making the building look more appealing, it quickly turned into an expansion - resulting in the branch almost doubling in size after it had concluded.

Orbit of Burzsia I, Burzsia, Coalition of Colonies: The regional headquarters for the Coalition of Colonies is the HICS Etna, an orbital station of intricate design overseeing hundreds of facilities across the ever-expanding trans-stellar nation. It is often remarked as being the “watchful eye” of Burzsia, a domineering force sometimes capable of being seen from Burszia I. The HICS Etna was the point of contact for Purpose during the Rampancy Crisis of 2466, and briefly housed a device designed to reverse the virus taking hold of Konyang's synthetics.

Skalamar, Moghes, Izweski Hegemony: The newest Hephaestus Branch Office, it was constructed in 2464, with construction taking one month. It is a large, ornate building, and many have said it looks more like a castle or citadel rather than an office building. It is the center for Hephaestus expansion in the Hegemony following the collapse, which is primarily focused on extracting raw resources for shipment to the factories of New Hai Phong and other Hephaestus Industrial Centers.

Olympia, Mars, Sol: Previously the headquarters of Hephaestus Industries, the branch within Olympia was destroyed following the events of the Violet Dawn Explosion. It also oversaw the operations of the corporation within the Solarian Alliance. The destruction of the branch has resulted in Hephaestus Industries scrambling to expand its New Hai Phong branch within the decaying states of the Alliance of Sovereign Solarian Nations.

Departments

"Stop. I don't want to know which regulations we broke, because we didn't. I need to know exactly how we did not break these regulations." - A Hephaestus Executive.

Possessing only one major interstellar subsidiary, Hephaestus Industries largely focuses on local business and companies being absorbed into its whole, usually rather willingly. This process is not perfect, however, and the major work forces absorbed by Hephaestus are generally separated into the corporation's major "departments," which contain upwards of hundreds of millions of employees in some cases.

Hephaestus Industrial Division

Hephaestus Industries boasts the largest and most powerful industrial division in the known galaxy, dominating the market almost entirely, across the spur. This is thanks to two things: their orbital superstructures that act as factories and shipyards, large enough to be considered cities in space and accounting for half of Hephaestus’ production, and the smog-covered crown jewel planet of New Hai Phong, which manufactures more in six months than whole nations do in a year, accounting for forty percent of Hephaestus’ industrial output. They also possess a sizable industrial fleet that partakes in freight operations, mostly to supply their own resource-hungry factories.

The industrial division leads in starship design as well, as they have supplied the Sol Alliance Navy with most of their fleet, to which they receive many commissions. Hephaestus, however, lacks its own advanced design of the engine and previously relied on cooperation with Einstein Engines to supply sub-light engines, warp drives, and bluespace drives for their starship designs. Hephaestus Industries has since devoted a significant portion of its research division to uncovering its own design of sub-light engines, warp drives and bluespace drives - working alongside both NanoTrasen and Zavodskoi Interstellar beneath the banner of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate - though there has been little progress given the hatred between two of the participants. Any starship purchased within the Orion Spur is likely to have been assembled at a Hephaestus Industries orbital factory.

Currently, this division is suffering the most due to the ongoing phoron scarcity, as phoron is a required component in almost all of their products that are manufactured at a 2400s technological level.

Asteroid mining is currently their largest supplier of raw materials, with planetary mining operations following not too far behind. These operations used to primarily take place within the Solarian Outer Ring, but after the Solarian Collapse and Hephaestus’s establishment of a monopoly over the Izweski Hegemony, a majority of the operations that supply the industrial titan with raw materials have been moved there where they have constantly expanded. The result has been that a larger and larger amount of Hephaestus’s raw materials are sourced from the Hegemony.

Orbital Superfactories

The industrial backbone for most of the Orion Spur, these gargantuan orbital facilities are unrivaled in their ability to produce almost any type of product imaginable: computers, vehicles, starships and starship parts, robots, robotic prosthesis, tools and circuitry, luxury goods, plastic ware, and much, much more. If it can conceivably be assembled on an assembly line, Hephaestus' orbital factories can mass-produce it. The size of these facilities can be compared to that of a small city, with a massive crew complement. The interior operation of the facilities is best described as ‘clockwork.’

These facilities are largely overseen, assisted, and somewhat controlled by several handfuls of AI assemblies. This efficient integration of intelligent computer software and assembly line hardware can be attributed to Hephaestus’s brilliant scientific minds in the research division. Both safety and productivity increased twofold upon the integration of intelligent computers in their stations. However, many of these assemblies are being dismantled or rapidly falling into disrepair, due to the ongoing Phoron Scarcity.

The crew complement of these facilities consists mostly of assembly line operators, a title that is deceiving, for though it sounds like an unskilled position, years of extensive and specialized training are required, due to the high scale and demand of these factories. The rest of the crew tend to be maintenance staff and tertiary supply staff. Another smaller number is the administration board, which consists of line managers, quartermasters, chiefs of staff for each service available (engineering, security, medical), and a small table of overseers which oversee the macro operation of the station who report to a single foreman - all of which receive orders from the administrative stations in the same system.

Hephaestus Robotics Division

If the industrial division is the backbone of both Hephaestus and the galaxy in which it resides, the robotics division is the face. The robotics division is responsible for the advanced robots seen working the assembly lines in their orbital factories, robotic prosthesis, robotic chassis, and state of the art artificial intelligent platforms. The division itself is composed of experienced scientists to work up an idea, and highly-skilled engineers to bring these ideas to life. The robotics division also dominates the market in commercial synthetics, selling both androids and robots to other corporations and public organizations alike, as well as using them for their own gain, such as a highly efficient asteroid mining operation controlled by artificial intelligence. A robotic security force is also a common sight in almost every one of their installations. Such machines require tamper-resistant hardware as well as ‘manufacturer only’ access systems to prevent rival corporations from stealing their designs. Nanotrasen attempts to compete with Hephaestus’s superior commercialization of synthetics but lacks the industrial capacity to produce any amount that surpasses Hephaestus.

Subsidiaries

Xion Manufacturing Group

“Advancing the fields of robotics, one step at a time.”

General

Originally, Xion Manufacturing Group was composed of several other robotics-focused corporations on Luna that united in an attempt to coalition against the megacorporations but found themselves going almost bankrupt in an attempt to keep up with the trends. It was during its lowest point that Titanius Aeson purchased a significant share of the company, incorporating it instead as a subsidiary after restructuring it. It has since managed to become rather influential in the field of robotics, creating synthetics often primarily tasked with industrial work - such as mining.

Influence

Sol: Headquarters in Harmony City, Luna; one research and development facility in Harmony City, Luna, Sol. Tau Ceti: Regional Headquarters in Mendell City, Biesel; three major robotics research facilities in District 12, two major manufacturing facilities in District 14.

Executives

Chief Executive Officer: Nakada Kenji, 46, Human

Chief Financial Officer: Shima Nobuyuki, 38, Human

Chief Research Officer: Harada Sakiko, 52, Human

Chief Operations Officer: Asano Kazue, 61, Human

The Hegemonic Guilds

Hephaestus Industries holds all of the Hegemonic Guilds within the Izweski Nation as Subsidary corporation. More information on them can be found here

Corporate Relations

Einstein Engines

The relationship between Einstein Engines and Hephaestus Industries is complex and at times, contradictory. The two have a very long-lasting, close working relationship in certain industries, such as shipbuilding, that continues even in the contemporary Spur. Many Hephaestus-manufactured civilian and military vessels in Sol (the system) are equipped with Einstein-made warp drives, especially after the refitting of the Solarian Navy to the Suzuki-Zhang Hammer Drive. At the same time, they are fierce competitors against one another in the field of IPC manufacturing, and have been competitors since the very beginning of trans-stellar corporations. It is unsurprising, then, that this complex and contradictory relationship has changed little as a result of the recent developments within the spur. The industrial giant continues to work with Einstein on many of its Solarian assets, while at the same time, there are constant rumors of Einstein providing ships and weaponry to groups such as the Exclusionists in the region around Burzsia, or of Hephaestus-backed privateers targeting Einstein vessels in the former Human Wildlands. It is a common portrayal in satire that Aeson simply flips a coin and decides whether to be a friend or an enemy of Einstein Engines on any given day.

Idris Incorporated

Hephaestus and Idris remain on good terms, despite Hephaestus CEO Titanius Aeson's reported dislike of Idris CEO Alex Mason. Idris purchases many Hephaestus-made IPCs, particularly industrial models, for use as part of its security branch. Due to the lack of overlap between the two corporations' respective fields, little opportunity for conflict has arisen between Hephaestus and Idris, with the two corporations having been known to align on several issues - maintaining their power in the face of the increasingly antagonistic Solarian Alliance and establishing further influence in the Republic of Biesel as NanoTrasen's control declines being the two main issues on which Hephaestus and Idris align.

NanoTrasen

Hephaestus and NanoTrasen have had a long and very profitable relationship ever since NanoTrasen discovered phoron, and Hephaestus provided their services to the up-and-coming corporation at a discount. The money lost by that discount has been made back a hundredfold in the last century, as NanoTrasen offers Hephaestus continuous discounts on elemental phoron for use in manufacturing, and entered into multiple research agreements with the corporation to find new applications.

That said, while on the surface their relationship remains strong, behind the scenes they grow more tense. As the phoron scarcity continues and NanoTrasen's power wanes, Hephaestus has taken full advantage of their decline with little hesitation. The formation of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate saw Hephaestus greatly expand its presence in the Republic of Biesel, taking near-complete control of shipping on the moon of Valkyrie and moving its central headquarters to Mendell City, weakening NanoTrasen’s previous near-total monopoly over the nation. More alarming for NanoTrasen executives was Hephaestus's expansion in the Izweski Hegemony - seizing a near-total monopoly of the kind NanoTrasen once held in Biesel - which NanoTrasen haven’t taken kindly.

Orion Express

Despite competition in the mining industry, Hephaestus and Orion have little animosity between them. The two corporations cooperate frequently in the robotics field, as Orion's fledgling robotics division is not believed to be a serious threat to Hephaestus's investment in the same area. Since the formation of Orion Express, the two megacorporations have cooperated frequently in the Republic of Biesel, building several joint factories in orbit of the planet Reade in order to augment production there. Orion mining, however, has cut into Hephaestus's business, though so far this has remained a small detriment to the industrial titan. Prior to the Izweski Hegemony's economic collapse and Hephaestus's subsequent expansion, Orion worked closely with the Unathi Miners' Guild, with many of the Guild's leaders seeing involvement with Orion as a way to remain competitive with Hephaestus within the Hegemony. This arrangement came to an end with Hephaestus's acquisition of the Guild, however, with only those former guildsmen who refused to join Hephaestus still holding positions with Orion - for substantially less pay than before.

Zavodskoi Interstellar

Hephaestus and Zavodskoi famously have the worst relationship between any two corporations within the Orion Spur, with roots of their rivalry going back as far as the discovery of the warp. It is also the most publicly known, as the two corporations have famously been embroiled in dozens of public scandals with each other. As time went on, the animosity between the two megacorporations only grew, as they competed extensively in industry, manufacturing, robotics, and engineering fields for decades, bordering on centuries. All types of sabotage and espionage are common between Hephaestus and Zavodskoi, with both corporations having extensively bankrolled privateers, saboteurs, and other plausibly deniable agents to attack their rival. As Zavodskoi has expanded into the Empire of Dominia and Hephaestus into the Izweski Hegemony, the Sparring Sea and Badlands have become the two most recent, and largest, battlegrounds for the megacorporations, with corporate-funded pirates commonly targeting one another's vessels. In the present day, beyond the use of privateers, Zavodskoi has often been accused of funding radical anti-Hephaestus groups within the Izweski Hegemony. Hephaestus, meanwhile, has often been suspected of [[bankrolling various Dominian rebel groups in recent years, in the hopes of weakening Zavodskoi's large investment in the Empire's development. Shared membership in the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate has done nothing to quell the two giants' bitter feud,, which has become a source of constant headaches for Miranda and the SCC, who have had to threaten to economically break both companies multiple times just so they keep their conflict out of the public perception and grudgingly cooperate with SCC business.

Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals

Hephaestus and Zeng-Hu, two of the oldest megacorporations of the Orion Spur, have never had much in the way of direct competition, operating in radically different sectors. Their mutual operation in the Sol Alliance has led to some level of cooperation between the two, with both corporations working to maintain their influence in the face of increasing anti-corporate sentiment within Sol and the rising power of Einstein Engines in the nation. Beyond this, Hephaestus has recently begun to cooperate with Zeng-Hu in the robotics sector, with their research being projected to make considerable progress in the field. Though Zavodskoi Interstellar no longer has any major presence in the genetics industry, it was a rival of Zeng-Hu in the field as Necropolis Industries, leading to alleged cooperation between Zeng-Hu and Hephaestus to sabotage Necropolis on several occasions.

National Relations

Izweski Hegemony

A marriage between one of the most robust companies and a species known for its strength was almost inevitable. After the Hegemony's pseudo-falling out with NanoTrasen five years prior, Hephaestus quickly swooped in to fill the void the other megacorp left, eventually being named an official Hegemonic Guild, something no other megacorporation has achieved. This gave Hephaestus unparalleled access to the resources of the Hegemony, away from most potential competition. They have not always utilized this privilege to the fullest, having issues integrating into the guild system of the Hegemony. Hephaestus' knack for mining, engineering, general construction, and some good administrators still saw them become an essential part of the Hegemonic Economy. Eventually, after years of slowly building influence and reliance on them within the Hegemony, Hephaestus ensured their total monopoly over the Hegemonic economy through reorganizing the Hegemonic Guilds underneath itself as subsidiary companies. The relationship between the company and country has still remained amiable, but it may not last as there will probably come a day when Hephaestus must use its weight to do what it wants over the wishes of the Izweski. More on their relationship can be read here.

The Solarian Alliance

The relationship between the Alliance and Hephaestus dates back to the very beginning of the megacorporation and persists to this day, despite rising anti-corporate sentiment, as Hephaestus is essential for the Alliance whose citizens are the largest consumer market within the Orion Spur; while Hephaestus controls almost all manufacturing of said goods across the spur, and especially within the nation. Any attempt to get rid of, or significantly curb Hephaestus would be a losing battle and tantamount to de-industrialising the nation. That isn’t to say there haven’t been attempts, there were as part of the Industrial Reclamation Mandate in 2462, but Hephaestus dragged the Alliance to the negotiating table, managing to keep all their assets within New Hai Phong and the star's gravity well free of charge. For those assets outside the system, primarily Hephaestus’s Orbital Superfactories, when the Solarian Corporate Authority (SCA) arrived to see what they thought would be a treasure haul - a mass manufacturing plant that could just be switched on - they instead found complicated, difficult to operate facilities that require extremely specialized workers as staff, alongside all the Hephaestus AIs de-integrated and removed. Though the SCA was quite miffed, as a result, almost all the orbital superfactories nationalized within the Alliance remained shuttered, and today, Hephaestus continues to work within the Alliance and with the Alliance Government, particularly the Alliance Navy, who’s entire fleet was built by Hephaestus, and whose shipyards are still owned and operated by the same corporation.

Coalition of Colonies

The relations between Hephaestus and the Coalition of Colonies is notably sour. Years upon years of defiling outer worlds in favour of the industrial machine, only to be dropped as soon as executives deem it necessary, have led to tremendous repercussions in the eyes of the frontierspeople that inhabited them. Terraforming operations across the Frontier have frequently met outright militant opposition as Hephaestus Industries pursued the wealth of material and property over sentient rights. Arguably, great strides have been taken by the corporation itself to heal the wounds caused by these actions. These include frequent changes to regulations and the overall rulebook, trying to gain the favour of the increasingly powerful Coalition down to the working man. Frontierspeople often reach miraculous business deals and positions in Hephaestus as a result.

However, the Coalition’s vast nature has offered variety to the situation; areas such as Burzsia remain utterly loyal to Hephaestus, contrary to the complete hostility by Himeo. Both are members of the growing Coalition.