As a Colonial Governor, he'd seen much of SecComm's legacy. He has witnessed the dictator, the rebel, the reformist, the radical. He's watched them all try to deal with the Colonial Legion in their own way. Sometimes, they could reach an agreeable compromise with the remnants of Anthrochauvinism.
Other times, an ideology built on conquest could only talk in bullets.
As a Lord Director, Paolo had seen even more, now having to deal with such actors on an interstellar scale instead of merely interplanetary. He was the one whom decided if one of so many fragmented descendants of SecComm was a potential company asset, or a brand risk that had to be dealt with. Because for Harrison Armory, wayward family was something that one must be keep a wary eye for. It was the duty of the 'big brother' to all these pretenders for a fallen throne.
He could confidently say it was never an easy decision or choice. Just that it had to be done, per the standing orders of the Director General. Paolo was not deaf to the occasional gossip that Harrison the Third was perhaps looking to cement a position of loyalty to ThirdComm, given the questionable behavior of his predecessor. The man had inherited a dubious legacy as his father had died under violent means, some sort of attack on Ras Shamra itself that rocked the entire megacorporation to the hilt.
So Harrison Armory was scrambling for means to recover their public image, launching a variety of outreach programs to try and reestablish confidence in their stock. Bringing in wayward branches of humanity was part of that agenda, as few would criticize if the arguable heir of SecComm made Union stronger by turning in wayward lambs. No, that wasn't quite accurate.
Wayward wolves, yes. That was more like what described the average Anthrochauvinist state, with a characteristic hyper-militarization that oft married authoritarianism. The two were tragically quite linked, and Paolo had seen far too many cases of such. As one often grew quite drunk on might.
In hindsight, perhaps it was a sign of what Union could have become had they let the ideology consume themselves. So talk about a bullet dodged before the creeping infection had reached the heart. Yet the limbs were possibly still diseased, necessitating treatment. Or, if need be in the most extreme case, amputation. That being said, there at times were curious cases that warranted further study before a diagnosis could be made.
The matter of the Cavia Committee was one such study, being a seeming outlier in spite of their origins and peers.
Paolo was of course familiar with the Half Committee. When he had been appointed as Lord Director, he studied about all the various actors active in his jurisdiction of space, that part of the galactic map that the megacorporation had thrust responsibility upon. The SecComm successor had been both a latent threat and hidden ace, being large enough to have individual personalities they could work with, but also too small yet to really fret about associating their company image over.
Well, that'd admittedly been before extremists of their military launched a remarkably successful attack on a Metropolitan world. Something that did catch Harrison Armory quite off-guard, the Lord Director especially. Though again, with the benefit of retrospect, he really should have known better than to trust the intel without verifying it himself.
It would have been an embarrassing mistake for a Colonial Governor. It could have potentially been a very lethal one for a Lord Director, had it not been for the fact that the Half Committee was large enough to have been in the folders of multiple ranking persons. So the internal company blame fell upon no one in particular, thankfully.
But it was also said that Harrison the Third was perhaps watching closely now, which was probably an exaggeration. The man was still touring the Purview, right? Then again, Paolo had just been reminded about the fallacy that was making assumptions.
Which was why he had been looking forwards to this meeting with Premier Moores. A man of Half Committee who, according to his subordinates, was defying the SecComm legacy to establish self-rule on a world after he had taken over. That was very much a break from the norm.
Most of the time, those who secured power through conquest in Paolo's experience loathed to give it up. Sometimes it was simply because they'd gotten a taste and discovered becoming a dictator suited them just fine. He'd also seen occasions of where an insistence of 'good intent' has remained the defining feature, dressing up staying in power as the necessity to maintain a government until an oft very vague date. Usually one that coincided with a retirement from public life.
Moores had definitely bucked the trend by not just stepping back to let the locals determine their own government, but by also willingly cast himself back into the arena when requested to do so by those very same voters. A noble who did not take any crown but the one presented to him, by the people nonetheless. What a curious juxtaposition.
Before, Paolo would have probably written a report that the Cavia Committee was still developing, recommending only low-cost investments and expenditures until the greater sector affair was sorted. However long that would take. Erica's request for reinforcements and the like was probably something that would fit within that definition, though the request for an economic expert had certainly raised his eyebrows. They only grew higher when he learned it to be a request from none other than Moores himself.
Then she sent forward a panicked report that HORUS was establishing a presence, suddenly escalating the matter even more. If the Cavia Committee turned into a great asset then, it was imperative to both secure their allegiance alongside denying one of Harrison Armory's greatest rivals. Something that would be quite a feather in the cap of any company personnel who worked to achieve such a goal.
So the Lord Director would personally talk to the Premier-General himself, to get his measure. To see what legacy of SecComm was left upon him, to understand what sort of character he was, and to judge whether or not it would be good business to get into bed with. Hell, if he was even just as half as good as rumored, then a significant investment might even be wise to already plant the megacorporation's flag onto that territory.
Hopefully, Miss Erica hadn't been embellishing her reports, else that promotion he was lining up for her was going to be a tougher sell then.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Damn, Erica's got a nice ship.
It was my first time onboard First to Draw and my goodness, it's very different to anything from my own ships. The interiors were less like a spaceship and more like an office. Even the motorized rails to get people moving through zero gravity hallways were nice, resembling more corporate escalators over the function-over-form ones I was used to onboard Half Measure.Interesting.
That being said, I couldn't really say that I had a fondness for the aesthetic in general. Everywhere I looked, I had to remind myself that this was a ship, which was something that didn't just sit right with me personally. Onboard my flagship, you could never mistake it for anything but while here, I could see signs of how the crew treated this more like a white collar job. Something much softer than the sometimes frantic demands of alarms screaming as general quarters echoed through the corridors.
Hm. Maybe I was just griping about the whole grass being greener on the other side. The atmosphere though definitely continued into the holodeck room, a place where you could actually stream yourself and others through the omninet to appear as holograms elsewhere. All while looking slick in a board meeting room for the aura.
At least there was a window nearby that allowed for a look out into space, and provided ample view of the planet below. I floated briefly near it to just take in the sight, waiting for the notice that soon arrived from the technician. "Um, Commander?" they tested and I nodded, not bothered by whatever title they choose to call me by. "The connection's established and the datastream is beginning. We'll have real time connection very soon."
"Very good. Thank you for letting me know." I took a moment to quickly maglock myself to the deck so that I could appear standing, then glanced at the smoking Erica nearby. "Ready?"
She clicked her tongue and quickly stubbed out her cigarette, looking more disappointed at its loss than nervous about bringing me to meet her superior. "Tch. Let's get this over with."
The lights in the room dimmed slightly, allowing the holodeck's projections to stand out more vividly when it was projected into the air above. It started out as a blurry, hazy hologram that sharpened over the next minute as information traveled both ways, our own side probably having a similar occurrence over where the man was. We waited until the technician confirmed that the omninet connection as best as it could be, an encrypted real time conversation that perhaps spanned a galaxy.
Ah, but I wasn't going to hold my breath on if HORUS was listening. If they were interested, then they absolutely were, so I had to keep that in mind. So no badmouthing them in private, I'll might as well be roasting them in public channels then.
While my mind absently filed that as a potential counter to the meme war, my mouth opened with a smooth, practically ingrained greeting from my noble upbringing. I could always count on that, alongside the fact that I could instantly recognize the pin rank. "Good day to you, Lord Director. I don't believe I've the pleasure of your acquaintance yet."
"It's good to meet you too for the first time, Premier-General," he replied, scrutinizing my uniform. "Or would you prefer Commander?"
Oh, an interesting thing. Did I want to spotlight my superior political rank, or was I more content with my more mundane naval rating? An interesting predicament that was highlighted even more by the social rank of the man asking. I let out a brief hum as if thinking, then gave the answer that I have never changed. "You may call me however you wish, even if it is just by my family name. I hold too many duties to prioritize any over the other."
"Interesting. Then Moores, you may likewise dispense with the courtesies with me and call me Paolo."
A measured nod. "Of course then. Now, Paolo, I understand that Harrison Armory has something they wish to bring to my attention quite directly." I gestured lightly in the direction of the lancer in the room. "One that Miss Erica here hasn't sufficient rank to make otherwise."
"Yes, unfortunately a bother that I will be looking to remedy soon." Said woman let out a brief half-choke that was swiftly masked over as her boss continued talking to me. "It would be very improper for the company to begin establishing a more...thorough presence in the Cavia Committee without notifying the proper authorities. Or seek at their endorsement at the very least."
"Meaning the one who currently holds executive power, and quite a lot of other matters to resolve with it."
"I do apologize if I happened to contact the wrong individual."
"No, you've reached the right authority." Mainly because I don't yet have like a Department of Diplomacy that would handle foreign affairs and the like. I hadn't prioritized establishing it as there were definitely no suitable candidates to head it yet among either the native populace or my own forces. Plus, it felt a little premature for me to already begin delegating something that significant away in these early days of governance, though perhaps I was also a little biased from my personal strategies at 4X games.
I didn't like to worry about other players until I was in a good spot. But they definitely weren't going to wait for me either, so I did at least have some ground to try and maneuver upon. "I suppose I'll hear your case now then. You wish to strengthen your position here?"
"Quite right. To be specific, I would like to inquire as to the possibility of Harrison Armory even establishing a new local branch in your territory." Paolo's hologram peered forwards inquisitively. "In the future, we would even perhaps be open to further cooperation if things go well. Such as perhaps offering substantial credit and material support to support your administration."
Oh, that's tempting. I could especially see the constructed bait from how he was surely aware of my requested for an economic expert on scrip, so he was trying to lure me into pledging the government over to the megacorporation. Which was admittedly tempting in a personal sense in that I could drop everything off to Harrison Armory, then disappear.
But I had to think about the long term, I couldn't afford to be shortsighted. Especially because I realized that if any troubles or teething issues were to happen during the takeover, there was no way that the megacorp wouldn't drag me back via lancer to fix up their own mess. Now that I thought about it some more, I remembered how I had suspected Xing was going to be 'offered' a new position in the company to turn his skills into a corporate asset. Though given the lack of mention of them at all, it looked like Paolo wasn't so interested in them like others.
How sure was I in thinking that it wouldn't happen to me? What guarantee did I have against Harrison Armory also just tossing me to Union should they ever need a scapegoat? I couldn't yet trust Paolo like I could with Erica.
Which...was surprisingly a fair bit. Huh. Well, I guess finding out that her world revolves around when she next gets to drink, smoke, or set things on fire eases up some worries I had since meeting her.
Ah, I accidentally let silence linger, and Paolo seemed to take that for an answer. "Hm. I see it's a very challenging decision, and it would be quite unfair to press it so hard in our first meeting." He rubbed his chin before giving a curt nod. "I suppose I came off as too hard. My apologies."
"No worries. But I was also considering that such a substantial commitment would be beyond my authority." I positioned as a recovery, earning a look of mild interest from him. "It sounds more like a matter of debate within the legislature congress first, to decide on that course for their people. Only when they have made their choice is the executive then empowered to act on it."
The Lord Director stared at me briefly before chuckling. "Yes. Yes, of course, you must respect what your constituents chose." I was surprised by the actual respect embedded in that comment, expecting it to have been something of a more sarcastic tone. "The offer is on the table regardless, but regarding at least establishing closer ties…?"
He trailed off expectantly and all I could do was give a nod. There wasn't much reason to deny Harrison Armory at least investing a bit more here otherwise, and honestly? It was something that could help to counterbalance the growing HORUS presence. "I see no reason that we cannot at least have like an embassy or enclave present in the spirit of cooperation. Especially when I am looking to employ one of your technical experts as the Director of Economics."
"Ah, yes. You wanted somebody to provide guidance on the integration of colonial scrip within your official currencies, right? Then, let's see." He walked over to a holographic desk and began to work at some computer on it. "I had been thinking of sending you like perhaps a relative of a governor perhaps."
That earned a jump of the eyebrows from both Erica and I. The mech pilot was the one to voice her surprise more vocally. "That's a significant personality, sir. With all due respect, that's far more than what would be expected."
"But at the same time, given that Harrison Armory is very interested in amicable ports in this sector, such investment is warranted. Particularly as this seems to almost be the only friendly power for a good distance." He paused, then glanced my way. "Excluding the regional headquarters of course."
Given the way Erica's eyes narrowed, I had a feeling that he meant the opposite. Just that he couldn't speak it aloud. "I see, sir."
"Arguably in fact, given that the company would like to at least recoup some of the lost investment from the now-defunct Half Committee, a more sizable individual could be dispatched to fulfill your request. Especially in the spirit of friendship and cooperation. As it so happens...I might have a more suitable personality instead of a mere relative."
My gut suddenly churned and I got the bad feeling that this wasn't exactly the casual token of gratitude that I had been hoping for. I tried hastily to turn down the offer before it was made. "I'm sure you don't need to go that far."
"It actually also ties into a greater issue that I'd like to resolve." He turned to Erica, ignoring me. "First to Draw's casket remains unfulfilled, correct?"
The lancer was definitely taken back by the implication too as she answered numbly, "Yes."
"Then the stars have lined up splendidly. I've recently received custody of a freshly cycled NHP from elsewhere in the company that needs reassignment. I'll chat with and send him your way with the reinforcements as well. Make use of them in either battle or peace, I'm sure you'll find a use somewhere!"
Another NHP? I almost wanted to breath out a sigh of relief before tensing, remembering that HORUS was still present. Sure Veronica was still fine, but if Luna decided to be more grabby with a megacorporation's AI, all bets were off. So the safer option would probably be to never let them come here.
But well, I couldn't turn down Paolo's half-order, half-offer now that he talked all about cooperation. Friends don't reject gifts, so I had no choice but to glumly accept the suggestion. Alongside the likely future headaches that it would bring.