FTH Complex Accident

The FTH Complex accident is a recent robot insurgence that caused a full-fledged siege of the FTH habitat. It started during the evening of the 9th of October, at 19 o'clock, and ended five days later, on the 14th of October at 20:32, when Omegatech successfully activated a contingency nuclear explosion, destroying the FTH complex and everything inside it. Since everything involved was related to Omegatech they lost support, and the accident is pointed at when talking about the latest Omegatech innovations' morality and safety.

The Conflict

Deployment

A fault in the robot control grid inexplicably led all the automated workers linked to it to stop their jobs and meet at the entrance of the industrial district where they worked. Though it was later decided that Omegatech was not responsible for the fault in the grid, it is still unclear how the AI grid was able to redirect all the robots' assignments.
Once the corporation noticed what was happening, the insurgence had already begun. Inner defence positions were quickly activated, antiblast doors sealed, and automated soldiers, connected to an autonomous control grid and unaffected by the insurgence, were released in the neighbouring area.
Hanto Gardes, the Omegatech supervisor in the complex, informed central command and asked permission to predispose evacuation protocols in case the insurgence got out of hand.

The Engagement

For five days the automated soldiers and the insurgent robots killed each other while the population panicked. Access to several districts was restricted, and an emergency state was declared. Omegatech approved evacuation protocols after two hours when it was clear that more and more machines were joining the insurgents.
After about 24 hours, Gardes noticed no more answers from Omegatech headquarters were incoming to arrange the evacuation. A rapid investigation uncovered that, somehow, the machines had managed to cut communication lines with the Omegatech command. Gardes was now on her own. After a while, even internal communication between districts became unavailable for unknown reasons.
When the first rescuers arrived from nearby habitats to start the evacuation, they made a new horrific discovery. The machines had seized the surface defence district and got control over the anti-aircraft positions. They shot the evacuation crafts, and the military escort started firing down against the defences.
Since the main entrance to the habitat was contiguous to the defence district, it was too dangerous to evacuate people through that, which meant it was not possible to make the Lavanchy 315-H land inside the habitat. Observing the situation on the surface through a camera drone, Gardes decided to use an old fleet of Lavanchy land vehicles and a secondary emergency exit to the surface.
On the evening of the second day, the evacuation started, but since there was not enough equipment for every person in the habitat, people were drafted into several waves, hopefully with increasing size when more surface suits arrived from nearby habitats. Luckily, Lavanchy Corporation had mobilised a fleet of aircraft able to land anywhere without the aid of external structures, as the faster and more common L315-H doesn't, and left it waiting not far from the FTH Complex.
In four days, the entire population was evacuated, with minimum losses, and Gardes planed the final move of her contingency plan. She infiltrated an enemy-controlled nuclear power plant with an unknown number of Omegatech agents and triggered a cascade failure in the grid that would ultimately cause the collapse of the power plant after almost 24 hours, allowing them to flee the doomed habitat.

Outcome

While, technically, the machines took control of the entire habitat, it was soon engulfed in a nuclear explosion and razed to the ground. Of the 250 thousand people inside the habitat, 200 thousand were successfully evacuated, while the others died to the insurgence. The evacuation and relocation of so many people cost the corporation an unspecified amount of money, likely millions.
Gardes was granted a medal of honour for her actions and decisive response to the emergency.
The UNA issued a temporary ban on the Omegatech AI project, to be lifted when an investigation of the accident finished. Furthermore, the UNA imposed on Omegatech to fully pay for the sanification of the FTH area through the so-called radiation-eating nanomachines. Tera Nanotech, a Weyer ally and Omegatech rival, offered a swarm for a million and a half instead of three million.

Aftermath

Omegatech promptly collaborated and wasted no time, hoping to salvage the situation as best as possible. Gardes wrote a detailed report of the events and an equally long addendum with all the security measures in place before the insurgence. The investigation was completed after six months when a UNA nominated commission reviewed the state-of-the-art Omegatech AI and deliberated it was impossible for it to independently rewrite the code of the command grid to cause the insurgence. Human aid was necessary, probably from a rival organization or terrorist group.
People have divided once again into Omegatech and AI fanatics and their opposition, the first believing it was the First Order Church's or the Weyer Biotechs' plan to sabotage Omegatech to gain popularity, while the latter claim the corporation corrupted the UNA commission to fall standing after the accident. Whatever the case, Omegatech did lose some support.
The UNA also issued a resolution requiring a new contingency plan that would not contemplate detonating a power plant and safety measures for all habitats employing an Omegatech automated control grid. Non-compliant habitats would pay a severe fine annually. Measures included aircrafts not requiring external structures to land and land vehicles, in a congruous amount for the number of people inside the habitat.

Conflict Type

Siege

Battlefield Type

Urban

Start Date

13012, Oct 9th

Ending Date

13012, Oct 14th

Conflict Result

The machines took control of the habitat while people were evacuated. In the end a nuclear explosion obliterated it.