Megacorporations

Three megacorporations operate system-wide, cutting across faction territory under their own contractual authority. They are not governments. They have more power than most governments and none of the accountability.

The Three Powers¶

Corporation	Sector	Presence	Status
Apex Industrial	Heavy machinery, fusion drives, infrastructure	Dominant in outer rings	Experiencing unexplained Flicker failure events
Vanguard Orbital	Privatised military, enforcement contracts	System-wide	Transforming into independent sovereign power
Praxis Biomechanica	Genetics, neural implants, biolabs, cyberware	Inner worlds dominant	Threatened by Devotion effect in Synthetik units

Strategic Position¶

Each corporation holds power over different systems:

Apex controls the infrastructure that keeps the outer rings functioning (mining equipment, fusion drives, debt contracts)
Vanguard controls the violence that enforces contracts (military, police, enforcement, kill teams)
Praxis controls the technology that defines human capability (implants for Guild, chassis for Synths, genetic modification)

This creates interdependence, but also vulnerability. When the Flicker disrupts these systems, each corporation has different exposure and different response options.

Relationship to Hephaistos-9¶

Praxis: Owns and operates the research station
Vanguard: Ex-Vanguard personnel conduct the kill team operation (likely deniable contract)
Apex: Equipment is present on the station (standard, unremarkable)

The Azimuth Question¶

The Azimuth Event — forming near the system's gravitational center — forces a reassessment:

Vanguard's transformation: Looking at the Azimuth, Vanguard performs the first assessment in its history that is not denominated in contract value. The assessment is: this is worth owning, not selling.

This triggers the Vanguard-Guild war — the largest military engagement in the system's recorded history.