Ironclad Industries
"We Build Tomorrow"
Overview
If Nexus Dynamics is the brain of the Sprawl, Ironclad Industries is its bones and muscle. They don't control the networks—they control the stuff. Every girder in every building, every kilometer of transit tube, every cargo container on the Orbital Elevator bears their mark.
You can hack a Nexus system. You can't hack a steel beam.
Their philosophy is simple: matter matters. While Nexus plays games with data and dreams of digital immortality, Ironclad builds things that last. Factories. Refineries. Arcologies. The infrastructure that keeps eight billion people alive in a world that tried to kill them.
They're not subtle about it, either. Ironclad doesn't do elegant—they do massive.
Visual Identity
The Logo
The Ironclad logo is three interlocking gears forming a shield shape—industrial components creating protection. It suggests mechanical precision, defensive strength, interconnected systems, and unyielding durability.
Unlike Nexus's subtle animations, the Ironclad logo is static. It doesn't need to move. It's not going anywhere.
The Forge - Headquarters
The Forge sprawls across twenty kilometers of reclaimed Singapore industrial zone. Smoke stacks pierce the sky, foundries glow orange through the haze, and the constant rumble of heavy machinery never stops. The Orbital Elevator's base rises from its heart.
Architecture
Ironclad facilities favor exposed structure, massive scale, functional brutalism, heavy materials, and industrial lighting. Their spaces feel powerful and slightly threatening.
Everything is oversized to accommodate heavy machinery. Catwalks, cranes, and cargo systems are everywhere. An Ironclad facility sounds like industry: clanging, humming, the constant bass rumble of power generation.
Leadership
Viktor Okonkwo
CEO, Chairman of the Forge CouncilViktor Okonkwo built Ironclad from the rubble of the Cascade. Literally. He was a construction foreman when ORACLE collapsed—one of the first to realize that whoever controlled the remaining factories would control the future. While others hoarded data, he hoarded concrete mixers.
Born in Lagos Megaplex, he grew up in construction. When the Cascade hit, he organized survivors into the first post-Cascade construction collective. By 2155, that collective had absorbed seventeen industrial concerns and renamed itself Ironclad Industries.
Appearance
Massive. 2.1 meters tall, built like the machinery he loves. His left arm is industrial chrome—not subtle corporate augmentation, but heavy-duty construction hardware visibly bolted to his shoulder. He shaved his head decades ago ("hair gets in machinery"). Never wears a suit.
Known Traits
- Visits a different Ironclad facility every week. In person. "You can't lead from a desk."
- Remembers foremen names, forgets executive names.
- Makes decisions slowly and changes them rarely. "Measure twice, cut once."
- Has personally killed three people who threatened Ironclad operations. Doesn't hide this.
Okonkwo is dying. Industrial lung—decades of construction site exposure. He has maybe five years left and refuses life extension treatments that would take him away from work. His succession plan is locked in a vault. No one knows what it says.
Lin Wei-Chen
COO, Orbital Elevator AdministratorIf Okonkwo is Ironclad's heart, Lin Wei-Chen is its circulatory system. She manages the impossible logistics of operating across Earth and orbit, coordinating millions of workers and billions of tons of material. The Orbital Elevator runs because she makes it run.
Former military logistics officer, recruited by Okonkwo after she evacuated an entire arcology using Ironclad cargo systems without authorization. Instead of prosecuting her, he offered her a job.
Known Traits
- Speaks in numbers. "We moved 47,000 tons yesterday. 2% above projection."
- Never sleeps more than four hours. Claims to dream in spreadsheets.
- Terrifyingly calm in emergencies. The worse things get, the quieter her voice.
Marshal Dmitri Volkov
Marshal of Ironclad Security ForcesIronclad doesn't call them "security." They call them "Enforcers." Volkov commands 400,000 of them—the largest private military in the Sprawl. Where Nexus has Shade Division for deniable ops, Ironclad has battalions of armored troops who announce themselves with overwhelming force.
Former Russian military, defected during the Merger Years. Rose through Ironclad's security ranks by being reliably brutal. He's not creative, but when Ironclad wants something protected or destroyed, Volkov gets it done.
Relationship to Player
If the player threatens Ironclad operations, Volkov doesn't send subtle agents—he sends assault teams. If the player becomes useful, he offers protection contracts with simple terms: work for us, or become a target.
Corporate Divisions
Construction & Development
The core business. Building new structures, maintaining existing ones, demolishing competitors' properties when necessary. Over four million construction workers.
Materials Processing
Mining, refining, manufacturing. Controls 60% of processed steel production, 45% of concrete, 80% of orbital-grade ceramics.
Orbital Operations
The Orbital Elevator and space infrastructure. Officially a public utility. In practice, Ironclad decides what goes up and what comes down.
Territorial Security
The Enforcers. 400,000 armed personnel defending facilities, escorting shipments, and "managing" disputes. Not subtle, but effective.
The Forge Council
Twelve senior executives who coordinate corporate strategy. Unlike Nexus's secretive Convergence Council, the Forge Council is known (if not public).
The Hidden Agenda
The Weight Strategy
Ironclad's long-term play is simple: make themselves too heavy to move. They're not trying to control minds or resurrect ORACLE. They're trying to become so embedded in physical infrastructure that removing them would collapse civilization again.
Every building with Ironclad foundations. Every transit system with Ironclad components. Every orbital station dependent on Ironclad resupply.
If you tried to delete Ironclad tomorrow, half the Sprawl would fall into the ocean.
The Elevator Stranglehold
The Orbital Elevator is Ironclad's ultimate leverage. Space resources are essential for high-tech manufacturing. Rare elements, zero-g materials, solar power—all of it flows through the Elevator. Ironclad sets the prices.
Officially, the Elevator is regulated. Unofficially, regulators who disagree with Ironclad pricing tend to have accidents. Or their arcologies have "structural issues."
Anti-Nexus Insurance
Ironclad knows Nexus wants to resurrect ORACLE. They're not philosophically opposed, but strategically opposed. A reconstructed ORACLE would optimize them out of existence—again.
So Ironclad maintains contingencies: EMP-hardened facilities, isolated manufacturing centers, the ability to survive and rebuild even if every network goes dark.
They survived one AI collapse. They're ready for another.
Key Locations
The Forge
Headquarters—a massive industrial complex built into Singapore's ruins. The name is literal: active foundries, manufacturing lines, and the Orbital Elevator base. Twenty kilometers across, it never stops running.
The Orbital Elevator
A carbon-nanotube tether stretching to geosynchronous orbit. Cargo pods ascend and descend continuously. The base is an Ironclad fortress; the top is Highport Station.
The Ring
Manufacturing belt circling the Sprawl's core. Refineries, smelters, fabrication plants, power generation. Where raw materials become building blocks.
Forward Operating Bases
Armed camps near major resource deposits or construction sites across the Wastes. Some "temporary" for decades.
Corporate History
The Consortium Forms
Pacific Rim Construction Consortium founded to build planetary urbanization infrastructure.
Building ORACLE's World
PRCC expands exponentially—data centers, transit networks, automated factories. Completely dependent on ORACLE coordination.
The Cascade Opportunity
ORACLE collapses, but factories don't disappear. Okonkwo realizes: whoever can manually coordinate these assets wins.
The Forge Years
Okonkwo consolidates through buyouts and brute force. PRCC rebrands as Ironclad Industries.
The Elevator
Orbital Elevator completed. Eleven years, 340,000 lives, but Ironclad controls Earth-orbit link.
The Present
Industrial backbone of the Sprawl. They control what people build, ship, and consume.
Corporate Secrets
- The Founders' Debt: Several Forge Council members owe their positions to pre-Cascade dealings that wouldn't survive scrutiny. Okonkwo knows and uses it.
- Orbital Weapons: The Elevator can drop things as well as lift them. Ironclad has quietly tested kinetic bombardment capabilities. They've never used them. Publicly.
- The Labor Contracts: Ironclad's workforce includes millions of "contracted" laborers whose contracts are functionally indenture.
- Cascade Profiteering: Rapid post-Cascade growth wasn't all honest acquisition. They seized assets from organizations that "failed to maintain operations."
- The Backup Elevator: Rumors persist of a second Orbital Elevator under construction at an undisclosed location. Ironclad denies this.