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“No howling masses ever overcame the might of hope.” – John Creighton Harrison I, "Excerpt from Foundation Day speech, 4515u"

Armor and Weaponry

Harrison Armory is the premier manufacturer of weapons and weapon platforms in the galaxy. It is one of the three largest corpro-states that dictate the consumption habits of the Diaspora and Cosmopolita; unlike the others, the Armory is a major and overt participant in galactic politics, pursuing an expansive imperial project that is reined in by only Union and the Karrakin Trade Baronies.
The Armory develops some of the most advanced conventional and paracausal tech that can be legally obtained. Next to GMS, the Armory is the second most popular supplier for state fleets, militaries, and police forces. It is a massive imperial power with a population numbering in the billions, continuing to grow as more and more Colonies pledge themselves – voluntarily or otherwise – to Ras Shamra.
The Armory’s success can be credited in large part to the Special-Exception Persistent-Cultivation Legionspace Engine: SEPCLE, or colloquially, the Think Tank. The Think Tank is the Armory’s version of the GALSIM, a choir of persistent near-cascade NHPs that the Armory uses for research and development into paracausal technology, forecasting, and management. The Armory is permitted to run a full choir of these borderline unshackled NHPs thanks to an extensive post-Interest War treaty structure established with Union. The location of the Think Tank is kept secret, though it is presumed to be buried deep below the frozen tundra of Ras Shamra’s night side. The Think Tank, while a closely guarded corpro secret, is known to Union, which enjoys regular inspections of the facility. Union’s access to the Think Tank is a thorn in the side of the Armory’s director general, who would prefer that Union keep its prying eyes far from sensitive corporate technology.

Corporate Growth

Firmly expansionist, Harrison Armory works to expand and develop humanity’s presence across the stars – its mission, while mirroring Union’s, often encounters regulatory hiccups. It is rare, though not unheard of, for the Armory’s colonial legions to face the regulatory and martial wrath of the DoJ/HR. The Armory maintains a broad portfolio of colonization and development missions, attracting both independent Diasporan colonies and minor affiliated subjects – typically Baronic, owing to the Armory’s proximity to Karrakis – with promises of meritocratic citizenship, infrastructure development, protection.

History

The origins of the Armory lie in the tumult surrounding the Second Committee’s overthrow in the 4500s. Following the dissolution of SecComm, many members of the deposed Anthrochauvinist Party retired, fled, or quit from the bureaucracy, seeking worlds distant from the revolutionary fervor that gripped Cradle. As the newly minted Third Committee stabilized and worked to secure its hold on Union as a whole, a mid-level Anthrochauvinist Party officer, John Creighton Harrison, founded Harrison Armory from a coalition of resource-extraction communes present on Ras Shamra.
The fallout of the Hercynian Crisis may have broken SecComm, but its aftermath ushered many loyalists into the command structure of the nascent Harrison Armory. Now, the Armory is ruled by their descendants and heirs, and its relationship with Union is colored by the expectation of friction in the distant future. For the time being, it is more beneficial for both entities to work together than against one another, however cold their personal relationships might be.

Corporate Headquarters

The eponymous Harrison Armory complex is located on Ras Shamra, a tide-locked world orbiting Ptah’s Star. The Armory itself is a sprawling administrative, research-industrial arcology built in Ras Shamra’s terminator line, a temperate band where the day and night side of Ras Shamra meet and mix.
The Armory circles the planet, a city-campus that holds a population of nearly three hundred million employees, executives, and other personnel inside of its walls. Meanwhile, the day and night sides of Ras Shamra act as testing grounds for Harrison Armory’s chassis, weapons, and legions. Dedicated acquisitions legionnaires earn honors for proving themselves in both the day and night advanced training courses, setting themselves apart from green hires who enlist to advance their corporate political career.
Ras Shamra is encircled by concentric rings of orbital defense Stations and shipyards upon which around 100 million permanent residents reside and work. Here, the great paracausal and supermassive weaponry of the Armory is built, tested, and stored. The work in the rings is constant, and hulls of all sizes are churned out at a rate that, while not rivaling IPSN, is staggering in scale.

Additional Goods

In addition to its weapons technology, the Armory is known for sturdy exploration gear, consumer- and state-level logistics and infrastructure packages, personal groundcars, and fine liquors. It’s a big player in galactic trade thanks to its Distal Development Program, which cultivates and exports exotic alien spices, flora, fauna, and minerals for consumer use.

Most citizens of the Galactic Core and well developed Diasporan worlds – those who define what amounts to “public galactic knowledge” – would not know anything in particular about Ras Shamra, the Think Tank, or the operations of Armory colonial missions. They would know Harrison Armory as a weapons manufacturer and defense contractor whose name they hear in snippets of newscasts about Cradle politics, distal colonial affairs, and IPSN’s stranglehold on interstellar shipping. Some who have studied the history of Cradle and Union might know of the Armory’s ties to the Anthrochauvinist SecComm, but five hundred years after the fact, it certainly feels like old news.