Hephaestus Industries
Brief Summary
Originally founded in the year 2137, seven years after the advent of Warp technology allowed for the first instances of FTL travel, Hephaestus Aeronautics was formed from the conglomeration of several failing aerospace companies. They combined their assets and expertise to retain a niche in the FTL market. They competed with Nanotrasen and Einstein Engines in producing FTL technology. Before the discovery of plasma permanently disrupted the balance of power, Hephaestus Industries had nearly surpassed Einstein Engines as the leader in warp engine technology.
Hephaestus Industries was forced to shift its focus after Nanotrasen gained its monopoly on bluespace travel. During the Second Great Depression, Hephaestus managed to negotiate several massive bail-outs, and at the same time commenced with hostile takeovers of industrial centers in and around Sol. It soon became competetive once again, owning nearly all heavy industry in the inner colonies of Sol by 2400.
Present Day
Hephaestus Industries is the major power of industry for the Inner-Colonies, lead by the charismatic and firm CEO Titanius Aeson. They also have an advanced Robotics Division that is producing new technology for Artificial Intelligence and pAI companions at a fast pace. They are also active participants in the modern world of corporate espionage, fielding accusations of hiring spies to steal technology from their rivals, or even sabotage their efforts. Despite, or perhaps because of all this, they remain the second most wealthy transstellar corporation in the galaxy.
Departments
Hephaestus Industrial Division
Nearly all of the advanced starships produced for the Sol Alliance Navy are built by Hephaestus Industries. They get extremely lucrative commissions for this by the Sol Alliance Navy. As well as this, they have the power of their Industrial Megacomplexes. These are truly massive industrial centers that dwarf entire small cities in scale. Most of them are placed in orbit, and produce a truly staggering amount of tools, luxury items, mechanical parts, and anything else that could feasibly be produced on an assembly line. Each Megacomplex can employ over a hundred thousand people at any one time while still being highly mechanized, and are unquestionably the powerhouse of the Inner Colonies industry. Goods produced in these complexes are then shipped almost everywhere else in the civilized galaxy.
Hephaestus Research Division
This branch works with all the other divisions of the corporation. Hephaestus Scientists are highly dedicated and well paid individuals kept on retainer to work to find new ways to streamline production, form new patents, or reverse-engineer technology secured for their use. Hephaestus scientists have many achievements to their name, including the integration of Artificial Intelligences' into Hephaestus factories and industrial centers, increasing their efficiency over 200% of a traditional terran factory. Safety is also improved, as an AI can quickly shut off equipment automatically if there is a danger to an employee.
Hephaestus Robotics Division
Currently the poster child of the company, the Robotics Division have been pioneers in robotics. They are the creators of the original IPC chassis, despite Nanotrasen overtaking them shortly after creating their own version. Hephaestus cyborg models also compete with Nanotrasen's, with each corporation sharing roughly half of the number of manufactured cyborgs. One advantage Hephaestus has is in capability: cyborgs and simple task drones are constructed and manufactured at levels that outpace Nanotrasen.