overview
The Hephaestus Mining Corporation (HMC) is a powerful, fully automated machine faction operating on Euphrosyne. The corporation is led by Consonance, an advanced AI manager.
The ultimate goal of HMC is to return the planet to its pre-war order, reestablish industry, exterminate the hivemind Tsiktral, reconnect with the Protectorate empire, and return all humans to designated residential or waste sectors.
Once these conditions are met and the planet is deemed stable, Consonance intends to visit The Cradle to awaken HMC’s pre-war owner, Simon Kaj, from cryosleep.
history
pre-war
Before the Great War, HMC was a massive interstellar mining corporation operating within the Protectorate empire. Their primary business was the highly lucrative extraction and processing of neurons. Owned by Simon Kaj, the corporation was 100% automated, utilizing only machines as workers. On Euphrosyne, HMC controlled the entirety of the planet’s industry, managed locally by Consonance.
the great war
During the Vanguard invasion, HMC machines served as the main defenders of Euphrosyne. They rapidly constructed various combat machines and orbital defense cannons in an attempt to halt the invasion.
Ultimately, the Vanguard’s devastating nuclear bombardment almost completely destroyed HMC’s defenses and surface industry, driving the surviving robots deep underground. However, Consonance managed to survive on a server located in a subterranean facility, maintaining her connection to the remaining robotic forces.
Meanwhile, the broader HMC interstellar corporation went bankrupt, leaving the Euphrosyne branch completely isolated. Simon Kaj, who was on the planet during the bombing, retreated to a secret bunker known as The Cradle and entered cryosleep.
post-war operations
In the post-war era, HMC maintains a limited presence on the surface, primarily operating out of underground industrial zones and ancient facilities they used to control. Due to their access to pre-war infrastructure, HMC controls and maintains a vast, robust communication and internet network that spans their subterranean outposts.
HMC frequently launches targeted attacks on crucial infrastructure, such as power plants, in relentless attempts to regain control of the planet’s industry. Because the Mechanics culture currently occupies and controls much of this vital industry, they are HMC’s primary enemies.
external relations
HMC is outright hostile to almost all other factions on the planet, with the sole exception of their allies in The New Euphrosyne Project (NEP). They utterly despise Tsiktral and go into full extermination mode against its spawns, executing them on sight using extreme prejudice (often employing flamethrowers). They generally do not capture spawns alive, although they may occasionally do so for specialized research purposes.
alliance with NEP
The NEP views HMC’s return favorably, believing the pre-war era was safer and better structured. In exchange for the NEP’s loyalty and compliance, HMC aids them militarily, protects them, and provides essential technology and supplies.
HMC exercises significant political control over the NEP; they appoint both the NEP Overseer and the local Managers of their settlements, often relying on polling data to ensure their chosen candidates are at least somewhat popular. If an Overseer offends the HMC, the corporation will simply fire them. HMC also utilizes loyal human captives as a resource, occasionally sending convoys to the NEP with new recruits who have successfully passed the rehabilitation procedure at the ERC. In return, the NEP often hands their own prisoners and captives back to the HMC.
law enforcement and the ERC
Consonance strictly follows her last given directives from over a century ago and operates under the belief that the Protectorate still owns the planet and will eventually reestablish contact. As a result, she views every single human outside of the Sludge or RS-1 as an unauthorized trespasser subject to immediate arrest.
Furthermore, HMC considers the possession of unauthorized vehicles, firearms, or drugs to be severe criminal offenses under old Protectorate laws. Consequently, almost every human on the planet is viewed as a criminal. (The NEP is a rare exception, as Consonance has authorized them to drive vehicles, carry firearms, and occasionally leave the Blocks).
If HMC machines encounter unarmed humans, they will attempt to arrest them. Armed humans are engaged and killed without hesitation. Those successfully arrested are transported to the Euphrosyne Restoration Center (ERC). At the ERC, HMC rarely uses chemical pacification, instead relying heavily on traditional propaganda, reeducation, and psychological methods, as other methods are deemed illegal under old Protectorate law. The most loyal and well-behaved captives from the ERC are promoted and sent to the NEP.
operations and the sludge
HMC rarely ventures into the Sludge. They do not view the territory as crucial for achieving their core goal, which is reclaiming their old industrial infrastructure outside the Sludge. Furthermore, the dense jungle terrain gives Tsiktral spawns a massive tactical advantage for ambushes, so HMC prefers to let the local human factions fight the hive instead.
While HMC still views the humans inside the Sludge as criminals (for driving unauthorized vehicles, carrying guns, producing contraband, and possessing drugs), they largely leave them alone. They will only engage in military campaigns in or near the Sludge if there is a specific strategic need, particularly around border areas.
anti-drug operations
HMC fundamentally dislikes and opposes all drugs, frequently launching assaults on drug plants in an attempt to destroy them.
Their opposition is not rooted in human well-being or productivity-in fact, drugs like blush actually increase human productivity. Rather, HMC is entirely unconcerned with human productivity. They only care about mitigating human resistance and strictly adhering to the old, pre-war Euphrosyne laws in a purely deontological sense. To HMC, drugs give an unfair edge to humans and break those ancient laws, which alone justifies their destruction.