- Category
- weapons
- Made by
- Ironclad Industries
- Tier
- Silver
Overview
Forward Operating Bases are Ironclad's modular fortified compounds deployed near every major resource deposit, contested territory, and active construction site. Sold as deployment-as-a-service packages: Ironclad-steel structural frame, Forge-Grade concrete pour, OC-Class A blast-rated bulkhead inserts, 32-personnel rotation barracks, three Enforcer squads garrisoned, 90-day supply chain endurance with Lift Contracts integration where orbital-relevant. Some are intended temporary. Others have been temporary for decades and now have permanent plumbing. That is the corporation's territorial expansion model. Construction equipment arrives. A perimeter goes up. The base becomes infrastructure that costs more to remove than to maintain. Ironclad does not pretend it is anything else.
The Toronto-Montreal Green Wall firebreak FOB chain alone consumes more annual budget than Ironclad's entire non-military operational division. Lin Wei-Chen has been quietly proud of that operational complexity for fourteen years. The competing rapid-deployment vendors in other corporations sell modular agility whose perimeter fails at the joint when the threat profile slips. The competing vendors have not held a perimeter through an Aftershock. Ironclad pours Forge-Grade concrete because plumbing that lasts requires foundation that cures, and the corporation will not apologize for taking longer to deploy than firms that intend to leave.
Packaging & Appearance
The base IS the product. Modular forge-black wall panels with hi-vis orange hazard banding. Perimeter watchtower with embossed three-gear shield. Scarred-steel blast walls with hazard-yellow caution stripes. Photographed at deployment dusk — hardhat-helmeted contractor crew at shift handoff, the Wastes horizon fading behind, no soft lighting. The base is not staged for marketing. The base is staged for the perimeter.
Ingredients
Structural frame: Ironclad orbital-grade steel (foundry-poured at Ring, gear-shield embossed on heel of every load-bearing beam). Pour: Forge-Grade Concrete (cured 28-day standard or 90-day blast-rated). Bulkhead inserts: OC-Class A orbital ceramics (kiln-fired at Ring, gear-shield embossed on back face). Modular wall panels: forge-black coated steel with hi-vis orange hazard banding. Garrison: 3 Enforcer squads under standard Ironclad rotation terms (Perimeter and Response service tiers). Supply chain: 90-day endurance contract integrated with Lift Contracts where deployment is orbital-resupply-relevant. Deployment class: FOB-Resource (extraction perimeter), FOB-Construction (active site), FOB-Garrison (long-term territorial). Deployment foreman signature on file at Bayfront for every perimeter walk-down since 2155.
What Nobody Can Explain
Unverified · in-world intelligence
Who actually owns the perimeter? When an extraction contract transfers and the FOB garrison stays on Ironclad rotation terms, the new extraction-rights holder pays for a perimeter they did not deploy, garrisoned by Enforcers whose chain of command ends at Ironclad Bayfront. The contractual relationship is clear. The territorial relationship is less clear.
What is the oldest active "temporary" FOB? Ironclad's public deployment record lists 23 FOBs designated temporary with service contracts active for more than 20 years. The oldest has been operational since 2161, with permanent plumbing, a 32-personnel garrison, and a Forge-Grade pour. Inquiries about decommissioning are redirected to the Bayfront contract-renewal desk.
Has any FOB ever been voluntarily decommissioned? Ironclad's published decommission record is not publicly audited. The corporation's position is that decommission requests are evaluated on structural-endurance grounds, and a poured Forge-Grade foundation cannot ethically be removed before the 50-year integrity window closes. The 50-year window was added to the standard contract in 2158.
Unverified Intelligence
Unverified · in-world intelligence
At least three FOB-Garrison deployments in the Northern Wastes have been identified by independent surveyors as having structural footprints larger than their published 32-personnel specification. Ironclad attributes the discrepancy to "phased capacity assessments." No updated specifications have been filed at Bayfront.
The Toronto-Montreal Green Wall FOB chain was originally contracted under a 6-month emergency deployment authorization. That authorization has been renewed 28 consecutive times. Lin Wei-Chen signs the renewal personally. Her assistant has been asked not to flag it for review.
Two competing rapid-deployment fortification vendors whose perimeters failed during the 2179 Northern Aftershock event subsequently became FOB-class Ironclad clients. Both deny that the timing was related to the Aftershock. Both signed within 90 days of the event.
An internal Ironclad memo circulating in procurement circles refers to FOB-Garrison deployments as "anchors" in operational planning language. The term appears in no public contract or marketing material. The memo's author is listed as Deployment Planning — Bayfront. No individual is named.
Marketing
