Wasn't Kwanjong-ni's factory at least implied to be used for the Hidden Army before Defiance found it and rebuilt it for the Lyrans?
Kwangjong-ni had a secret underwater mech factory that exceeded limits on mech production imposed on the Rim Worlds at the conclusion of the Reunification War. When rumors leaked, the SLDF investigated but never found the factory. There’s no direct link to the Hidden Army, but it makes sense as a possible source.
There are references to other Rim Worlds manufacturers, like Diplass Technologies, getting around limits on mech production by misportraying the nature of their facilities (e.g., mech refit instead of production) and possibly having unknown factories. Again, makes sense as a possible source for the Hidden Army, but there is no direct link.
It’s entirely possible that sources like Kwangjong-ni and Diplass only supported the buildup of the Rim Worlds Republic Army prior to Operation Apotheosis and never supplied the Hidden Army. Secret factories located on the other side of the Periphery may have supplied the Hidden Army instead. To my knowledge, we just don’t know.
The Hidden Army was 50 mech divisions strong, which is 150 mech regiments. Assuming 108 mechs per regiment, that’s over 16,000 mechs. It would have required 450 Overlord dropships (or the equivalent) and 150 Invader jumpships (or the equivalent) to deploy that force. And that says nothing of the materials, labor force, facilities, and sheer gobs of money involved. Regardless of where all that came from, it’s hard to believe that SLDF intelligence never had an inkling that, to quote Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, something strange was afoot at the Circle-K.
