2023-12-15: The State of Future Affairs
- Cast: Ada Legatum Luckwright, Teletha Testarossa
- Where: Neo-America
- Date: U.C. 0097 12 15
- Summary: A business proposal for an outside security contractor, mediated by arms manufacturer Foresight, as concerns measures to protect vital offshore infrastructure.
<Pose Tracker> Ada Legatum Luckwright has posed.
Foresight corporate headquarters is a spectacle to behold, a temple of manufacture and a shrine to the machinery of war. It stands beneath a dome of artificial sky, lit on the horizon of Neo-America like a sphere of idealized space, embellished nebulas and glittering constellations more akin to media depictions than the dim, light-polluted reality of interplanetary space. The architecture of Foresight Headquarters is said to be modelled after the pyramids of old Egypt and the Mayans as much as it is modern affluent technological styles.
Said to be, but this visit will not be confirming that. Cut-outs do not walk in the front door. The client has still generously arranged a meeting at an upscale restaurant in a wealthy art deco neighborhood of penthouses and offices within driving range of Foresight. A private room on the second floor of the restaurant has been reserved for the meeting.
On paper, the meeting is with Gavin Petronelli, a mid-level executive whose portfolio is given as a deliberately obscure-sounding department whose function is not clear. In practice, it is understood: the shareholders of Foresight are beholden to the primary investor who built the company as it is today, and their votes are hers. Senator Ada Legatum Luckwright, power broker of the neo-colonies, decides policy. She is waiting to meet the cut-out representative, surrounded by her security detail: a platinum blond woman on the farther end of middle age, wearing a tam hat and tan pantsuit, with the well-practiced smile of an unrelenting businesswoman.
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
Tessa, unfortunately, is the victim to bureaucracy as anything else. Even if her trade is as with the commanding of the frontline of Mithril's general West Pacific battalion, there are still cases where she has to be the one on the backlines; Dictating policy, movements, and general plans of attack. The Intelligence Division would rather handle it, but...TImes were changing, and she was not one who could turn down the sudden push to attend a meeting from Foresight.
Such was the wonders of the battlefield waged on paper.
"Still, a private room..." Tessa muttered to herself, idly adjusting her own uniform. Still distinctly emblazoned with the emblem of Mithril, the formal uniform and skirt showcasing the usual formality of herself and her position. And standing beside...Was Lieutenant Commander Andrey Kalinin, a Russian man currently adjusting his tie for the meeting at hand. Formal black suit to the nines, a (in what he'd think, restrictive) tight overcoat to highlight his silhouette, and the all important cuffs.
"Don't think too hard about it. Formality is meant to unnerve you."
"Of course. The usual lead?"
"Of course."
The two walked side by side, led into the room by the waiter proper. Kalilin was completely at ease in his usual soldier self, Tessa doing her best to maintain herself. "...You are not Gavin Petronelli, I presume." Kalilin's voice was monotone about it; He expected such a bait-and-switch.
Such was, again, the battlefield of political theatre.
<Pose Tracker> Ada Legatum Luckwright has posed.
"Mr. Petronelli is a busy man," Ada says. If they recognize who she is, this is a joke; no matter what it is Petronelli actually does, Ada's itinerary is much tighter and harder fought for. She steps forward, extending her hand to offer a decisive handshake to both of the Mithril representatives... or, technically, the Argyros representatives. "Ada Legatum Luckwright," she introduces herself with a smile. No title; it would be insulting to presume Mithril hasn't done their homework. And, perhaps, another power tactic, contrasting a formal setting with a modest, business-casual greeting, despite the cadre of security behind her. She lets the two introduce themselves, though she likely knows, given her lack of surprise at a seventeen-year-old girl in uniform. She knew to shake Teletha's hand first.
"Thank you for coming all the way here," she says, as her security detail pulls out the chairs for each to seat themselves at the table. "This place is a little hidden gem I've known about for some time. You will want to try the salmon. It's as good as fresh."
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
Tessa doesn't skip a beat when shaking that hand. The mere fact that Ada reached out to the smaller girl first confirmed everything; Knowledge was power, and this one...Had knowledge, to put it simply. "Teletha Testarossa." Her own handshake was firm, black-ringed eyes ablaze with an inner fire. Kalinin's handshake, utilitarian and prompt.
"If you insist. That and a small cocktail will be perfect." Kalinin takes a seat; Tessa, her own. "But we have some time before food, no?" Kalinin takes the lead regardless. Tessa may be the Captain, but Kalinin was the head of their unit. "So, let me be direct."
"What is your proposal? Calling on a PMC such as us does not come cheap, Senator Ada. We may be hired for an exorbiant enough price, but we have standards."
<Pose Tracker> Ada Legatum Luckwright has posed.
"Certainly," Ada says. "Only a water for myself," she tells the waiter, and then turns to one of her security detail, to be handed a manila folder of documents. She smiles despite herself on Tessa's guarded expectations for her proposal, and lays out, from the manila folder, a map of Africa and the Middle East. The primary designated spaces on the map do not denote national borders. They instead carry the names of a mix of provincial governments, paramilitary organizations, insurrectionist militias, and separatist movements. As one moves away from the orbital elevator, the shapes change from the regular provincial districts of the CA and EA to constellations of unconventional local communities and militias.
"What do you see when you look at this?" Ada asks. Another power play? A quiz on geopolitics? These are not foreign places to Mithril; they will know the hotspots of conflict where these designated militias clash and where they don't, as well as the concentrations of resources being fought over.
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
Both display similar expressions of frowning at the sight of the continents and their political leanings; Tessa scanning over the outlined map, muttering to herself. Yes, this was familiar territory: The layout of places, cells, and other such groups both outside and covert, working their ways into eventual open conflict. A few unknowns, a few mentally marked as missing on the map. Information was information. Was that it?
Kalinin did not have to look long at it. Intimate familiarity on the battlefield precluded large conflicts, and he had been on the ground floor for a while. A long while. The organizations were named differently, the reasons varied and many, but in the end, he was a soldier. Whomever had to die, had to die.
"The state of current affairs." The simplest answer to betray nothing of their suspicion. "Specifically, around the current known and forecasted tensions." Dakar was always a hotspot, that place marked with multiple cells inside and out. She reached out, tapping a particular dot on the map. "Your research is slightly out of date. This cell-" A random, no-name one, one of many that popped up in the wake of conflicts and inspiration elsewhere. "-was wiped out as of 4 hours ago."
<Pose Tracker> Ada Legatum Luckwright has posed.
"Very generous of you," Ada says, gesturing with a hand to another of her security detail. This one must be in charge of taking notes; thank you for the free intel. "So, then. The state of current affairs is what you see. Something like this." She reaches forward and idly taps a few ongoing hotspots and powderkegs likely to soon ignite into conflict. Once again: some Teletha would not have considered, and omitting other significant spots she has.
"That's of value, of course. But it's not what I'm looking at."
Ada shuffles through the manila folder and draws a transparent overlay which she places over the map. This one is a forecast. It explicitly identifies resource-rich areas, lines of trade between them, ongoing conflicts, and what appear to be color-coded predictions of potential outcomes of those conflicts spreading out into future conflicts, and potential borders of allied (or at least neutral) bodies under those future scenarios. Some of these future scenarios involve some unlikely seeming conflicts between factions which have no particular history of hostility, though no real alliance either.
"The state of future affairs. Lines of production and transport disrupted. Tensions that could threaten to spill into conflict between Britannia and the OAC. Lines of dominos which could spread factional instability as far as the metropolitan areas surrounding the Orbital Elevator, in the worst case."
Why hire a PMC like Mithril? Ada owns her own PMC with its own forces, if not the elite special operatives Teletha has access to. It's the one that deployed that 'wonder-weapon,' the Myrmecia. She's a senator with strong pull in the Neo-Colonies and a history of military 'aid' intervention. Why not send her own people?
Those unlikely conflict points. They're only present in the outcome scenarios that preserve the production lines and keep unrest sequestered in the poorer provinces and independent countries nearer the edges of the OAC and the borders of Britannia.
It wouldn't look good for Federation forces to be involved in the escalation of new conflicts in the region.
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
Give and take. The generosity is not unwarranted, but the way its noted says it all: Always keep on one's guard. Always keep watch. Her guard only raises at that note, watching Ada tap away at the figurative kegs laid on the board. There, there, there, there...The subconscious note that there are some left unconsidered, some new ones pointed out. All of it pointed to another font of information that Mithril had not been turning over enough.
Kalinin remained unresponsive, impassively surveying the map and the eventual overlay. Familiar places. Familiar conflicts. New names, new goals. The same people going to war, fodder for everything.
It does not take long for the obvious reason to sprout up. "...A proxy war." Instead of one's own units, hire another's with less accountability. These were all places Mithril were looking at; Places that, sooner or later, carried increasing risk of escalating into something further.
In other words: Their objectives aligned.
"...And why exactly should we trust this information? What do you gain with mystifying your involvement in these affairs?"
The reasons were plain. The explanation, requested.
<Pose Tracker> Ada Legatum Luckwright has posed.
The reasons are plain enough that the request is irritating, though Ada wears her patient business smile. "Flexibility," she answers, which is itself a flexible way of answering. "There are always factors obstructing quick movement in larger organizations, though I'm working on some proposals to smooth business over. You don't need to worry about indiscretion with your involvement. I don't make a habit of doing business with partners I intend to cast aside. Not only does it build a bad reputation, it's disrespectful." In other words: 'I don't need a scapegoat, I just need to do this quietly.' "I trust, in turn, in the discretion of Argyros Security." Deliberate use of the cut-out company's name, in other words: do not disclose employer. "I can provide a more detailed briefing of the anticipated operations, if you can guarantee the confidentiality of the materials. We have a road map prepared with a few contingencies in case of unexpected developments. You will, of course, have right of refusal for any individual operation, in which case we may look for another partner for that matter."
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
Ah, capable enough to stand up to simple questions. Good; It'd be needed if she came across someone more obstinate. (Poor Kurz, being considered the barometer.) The answer is unsurprising, frankly... "I understand. You've done your research, Senator Ada." It's a summation of everything: Plan, proposal, reasons why this works, the goal of Mithril connecting further outwards, further entrenching themselves in the world beyond the trappings of Federation conflicts.
"Right of refusal, right of proper discretion..." There's always the paranoid risk of backstabbing. This was to be under-the-table, something...already done multiple times by the same PMC. "Kalinin."
"I have no objections to the proposed arrangement."
"There you have it, approval from the one carrying out the operations. I have...one more question."
A clearing of Tessa's throat. "What is your endgoal for this?"
<Pose Tracker> Ada Legatum Luckwright has posed.
"Prosperity," Ada replies lightly, as if it were obvious. "I told you what my endgoal is. Left uncontrolled, these situations can threaten lines of production and transport, aggravate tensions with Britannia, or even threaten stable population centers. The whole Earth Sphere is one world, interconnected and dependent upon the flow of commerce, and that will not change, even if the Federation falters. Even the Orbital Ring is not separate from the concerns of the Earth below. Putting a full end to conflict would be titanically difficult and vastly expensive. But with a few surgical operations, we can achieve conflict management and minimize the damage to global infrastructure."
The unspoken corollary: Ada's Foresight is more deeply invested in arms manufacture than private military deployment, and despite the Myrmecia project, still specializes in workhorse infrastructure and mechanical infantry rather than advanced mobile weapons. That includes the kind of lower-end weapons of war that these militias will have the money to deploy and service. She's likely banking on making more profit return on selling to the newly inflamed conflicts than she's going to be burning on 'a few surgical operations' inciting them.
<Pose Tracker> Teletha Testarossa has posed.
It fits in with Mithril's general MO. It fits in so perfectly. There's only a sigh escaping her lips, pursing her hands together to gaze over the overlaid map. To have direct notice of what was popping up, where, and to work on conflicts...It's only the vaguest sense of unease at the possibility of biased information.
Still.
A mental note to direct a few of Mithril's own investments, the futuresight of movement and anticipatory success. "Then, you have our word as the representatives from Argyros Security: Whatever material you hand over will be considered confidential. The confidentiality agreement can be negotiated between our successive departments." Translation: She's not going to delve into the specifics here. Not without written promises and the letter of the law behind such dealings.
Words were mutable. The law...still mutable, but a paper trail is a Cover Your Ass thing, no matter the time.
<Pose Tracker> Ada Legatum Luckwright has posed.
"Of course." Ada's lips curl into a satisfied smile. "My people will be in touch with yours to negotiate the terms, and when they can reach a mutually agreeable arrangement, you will be provided the operation dossier." She lifts her glass of water lightly. "Then, provided nothing unexpected happens, it seems: to a mutually beneficial arrangement." A toast, offered. The girl is sharp and professional. Her organization has quite the reputation among those familiar with it, and Ada is not disappointed in the slightest.