Boss Ulanti had politely retired back to the barracks, while Samuel and Boss Marsters joined the Lord at his request. Samuel was not surprised to discover that both Virginia and Boss Marsters had been colluding with the Lord of House Indron prior to the ground invasion of Gedra Prime.
It seemed to Samuel, that everyone had an agenda, some personal Bottom Line that they worked tirelessly to achieve. For him, it was a life on the frontier with his growing family. For Virginia it had been a unionist movement that could operate in the open without fear of violent reprisals or institutionalized marginalization. For Wynn Marsters it was about protecting the interests of not just the marines of Tango Platoon, but the entire Reaper Corps.
Lord Indron has his own agenda, one that had begun with a House tradition that demanded he get military experience while incognito amongst the common soldiers. That agenda culminated with seeking fortune and glory on the front lines of the Ellisian Trade War, and his ultimate gambit for Gedra Prime.
“You realize by now, of course, that I am responsible for the signal and footage, of Virginia’s death and the entire collection, passing through the command filters and going out on the Reaper Command channel?” asked Lord Indron with a knowing smile.
“Tillman told me that she had secured support for the strike from elements within Reaper Command. Given your time with Tango Platoon I suspected it might have been you. The Reapers and the new Union owe you a great deal, Lord Indron,” nodded Boss Marsters as he looked straight into Soren’s eyes before giving the man a thin smile and returning to his paperwork, adding, “Of course none of that gratitude could be expressed publically without creating a number of complications for House Indron, a risk I am sure you were prepared to take. My hope is that you will reap some manner of reward for your efforts.”
“Grotto Corporation is on its way toward a better future, which is reward enough. Though indeed, I have appropriated the requisite number of signatures from the Anointed Actuaries to empower me to bypass having to get a ruling from the Board of Executives.
The Anointed see the potential gains to be had from unlocking the secrets of the Gedra technology, and unlike the board, they are able to look past the short term losses that will be incurred from the continued military seizure and occupation of tomb-worlds,” said Lord Indron as the palanquin lumbered across the broken ground towards the Lord’s camp, “Today’s meeting enabled me to get those signatures.”
“House Indron footed the bill for the penal legion, since this mission was classified as elective,” breathed Samuel as the marine finally came around to understanding just how complex and bold Soren’s plan was, “And in exchange House Indron holds exclusive title and deed to the tomb-world.”
Indron nodded approvingly, “Naturally, and thanks to the Reaper strike I was able to meet the Anointed under plausible circumstances without attracting a trade infringement demerit from the Board or give any of the other Houses an opportunity to file any anti-trust or traitorous dealings motions against House Indron.” Lord Indron smiled as he looked out the window at the necropolis that dominated the skyline, “You have to understand, Prybar, the Board of Executives represents everything that is best and worst in Grotto Corporation.
In this case they are very much against innovation, and prefer to rely nearly exclusively on rudimentary technology and human capitol. They will let the rest of the tomb-worlds we’ve claimed sit and collect dust, essentially shelving them to keep anyone else from coming up with a way to profit.
I agree with our departed comrade, Tillman, in that the military union’s success will have a cascading effect, we’ve already seen evidence of that. Unionist movements will rise up, and the cost effectiveness of treating the citizenry as human capitol and a primary profit center will gradually become a secondary element of Grotto economics, perhaps even tertiary. Technology is a way to expedite the kind of innovation that this corporation needs if it is going to be the dominating company in the universe. We can only achieve that with collaboration, in this specific case I mean Augur Corporation.”
“I suspected some degree of corporate collusion when I saw that your stratagem hinged on Merchant Militant operatives to enter the city at a greater expense to your House than, say, a Reaper detachment,” said Wynn flatly and without looking up from his datapad as the former platoon leader poured over the new REAPER rights and protocols paperwork, making minor corrections, additions, and subtractions as he went, all of which would be brought up at his first meeting with the Board. “No citizen of Grotto would spend more for the same result if there is not some additional benefit to be gained from the cost.”
“The Dire Swords came gratis with Augur parti-cipation,” Lord Indron replied, “And the mercs will be given prototypes and steep discounts once the Gedra weapons technology has been decrypted.
Mercs are easy to negotiate with when you acknowledge that all they really want are bigger guns and better pay. Augur and House Indron, and by extension, Grotto Corporation, will jointly develop maximal energy technologies from the very bones of the necropolis. Once we can determine how to activate the materials and manage the transference of energy, the tomb-worlds can be dismantled and sold in pieces.”
Lord Indron held up his ring finger. “Based on our initial estimations, even a shard the size of your fingernail could boost the power output of this palanquin’s battery sufficiently enough to ensure that even my grandchildren won’t have to swap out batteries until they are older than I am now.
The Board is xenophobic about collaborating with other corporations, from our schools to our battlefields. Progress is slow and often the result of such covert maneuvers. The only thing that will drive the Board toward progress is money, and though it may take some years before this deal bears fruit, once it does, there will be so much money flowing that the Board will be powerless to stop it and won’t want to anyway.”
“House Baen will likely never forgive you for supporting the strike,” said Samuel as the palanquin strode past several groups of Indron tech staff busily working to strengthen the military encampment’s stationary defense structures, “Even if they can’t prove that Augur gifted you with the mercenary company.”
“That is the beauty and the danger of the Merchants Militant; they serve you only in so much as they serve the contract, as you veterans of Tetra Prime now understand with terrible clarity. I know many of you served alongside the Folken against the very corporation that employed them as our foes.” Lord Indron smiled as he leaned back in his chair, taking a sip from his hip flask before changing the subject. “We play these games of war and economics, and we hope that we leave something of a legacy behind us. We did some good today, gentlemen.”
The remainder of the ride consisted of small talk and the swapping of old war stories, mostly from Vorhold. Once the palanquin reached the center of the camp Lord Indron disembarked with a curt farewell. They had reached his headquarters, and the Lord was eager to resume direct command of the ongoing defense of Gedra Prime.
Wynn and Samuel were escorted to a simple tram system, predominantly used to rapidly move troops and supplies across the expanding network of pillboxes, bunkers, and air defense batteries that were being constructed around the dead city.
“He really had me convinced he was some kind of by the book Reaper, for years he pulled that act. It’s strange to see Boss Aiden be so cavalier, even boastful,” Samuel observed as he boarded the tram car and squeezed himself into one of the small open air seats in the mostly empty troop section. “He fought just as hard as anyone; don’t get me wrong, just strange to see the shift in personality and realizing the man I thought I knew never existed.”