round 8 PNPCs Drs Richardson and Gray - Of Mice and Men

[Merrick R'Ven]

((Burellion, Azinda, Consortium HQ, Sub Basement Level 7))

::Stalking through the corridors, Dominic Gray inspected his new domain. The Consortium’s new HQ went above and beyond any mere tower. Set on the edge of the city it was practically a whole new district in its own right. It’s two towers situated at 0 and 180 degrees around a circular ring of flats looked down upon the rest of the city. The HQ formed the shape of the Consortium’s logo and was visible from space. They had very much stamped their mark on this planet. The towers housed their pharmaceutical and heavy industries respectively, with the lower levels reserved for industrial operations and machinery, while the upper levels were related to the managerial aspects of running a galactic corporation - marketing, finances, legal department and much much more. It was no wonder they needed such dominant and far reaching towers as big as their ambition. The deepest, most secret and secure levels were for the special projects. These were need to know and he was directly in charge of most of it. This was his domain and down here, he was king.::

 

Richardson: Jasin Maradere was quite impressed with our investment here and of course the access to skilled workers will help us recover our strength after the unfortunate loss of the Vanquish. Tor’kath let his success go to his head. He got sloppy and all his plans went awry but you know what they say... “the best laid schemes of mice and men do often go awry.” I can’t have another incident like that Mr Gray, I must and will protect my business interests with any means necessary.

 

::While it was clearly good news that their settlement here was going well, they wouldn’t have lost business and been forced to move out here had it not been for Tor’kath. Dr Richardson was a man with little patience for fools and no tolerance of mistakes. Since the Federation started poking around and investigating the Vanquish and other assets the CEO had been especially difficult to work with. When he told you heads would roll, he meant it. Right now his menacing tone betrayed his fury that one of their most important special projects had hit the rocks. This was down to one of his own people - Natalya Lagunova but as lead developer the buck stopped with him. He would make her pay for her failure, for making him look incompetent in front of the boss! He had given her a spearhead class ship for the smuggling operation. The CSS Repulse was fast, maneuverable and tough. It didn’t have a lot of raw firepower but it’s EM warfare systems could lock down enemy systems, leaving them disabled and unable to prevent them fleeing to distant lands. He rounded on his boss, as his own short fuse sparked. He had already explained the cause of the setback and the individual behind it so there was no point rehashing the same points repeatedly.::

 

Gray: It is the plans of lesser men that go awry. 

::He ran a hand through his cropped black hair, which was flecked with grey, giving it a tousled look. The back of his hand swiped his rough chin as he cooled his demeanour and sought to remind Victor just how valuable an asset he was to The Consortium. His proven track record and talent for disposing of the competition had easily secured him this position and he had no desire to lose everything he’d worked so hard to gain.::

 

Gray: Being as resourceful as I am, I was able to develop a cheaper substitute. Not only have we claimed three months back from the initial setback, we’ll save billions of bars of latinum in the long run - not to mention the heat generated by efforts to acquire biomimetic gel. 

::Of course there was a catch, several actually. The product was being of lower quality, not suitable for use in all experiments. It wouldn’t eliminate their need for biomimetic gel, it would merely reduce it. The fact that the substitute was more unstable and hazardous than the real deal made it a poor long term solution in his mind. However, the ultimate goal was to start production of biomimetic gel in their own facilities and plans for a small manufacturing plant had already been passed to fabrication. The underground site was being dug out and fortified as they spoke.::

Richardson: In that case it won’t bother you to hear that this Captain Renos has been placed in charge of an operation in the region then?

 

Gray: What? 

::He turned his head, steely grey eyes met Dr Richardson’s. This was the first he’d heard of any operation involving the Federation, nevermind this Captain Renos. They couldn’t be here simply on their account surely? It worried him little. The Federation had no territory, very little presence and less influence out here. They were all aware that House Larokon would be little more than fair weather friends, but as long as looking after Consortium interests was in their interests they could do as they pleased.::

Richardson: Official line is that they are here as peacekeepers, responding to Caraadian pleas for help in the war against the Valcarians.

::A war they intended to profit from considerably.::

Gray: Unofficially? 

Richardson: I have it on good authority they plan to ‘keep an eye on us’. ::He paused for dramatic effect::  I thought it might be nice to extend the hand of hospitality to our suspicious neighbours to personally show them what an upstanding business we run here.

Gray: Wonderful. ::In an oily manner::

::A sly smile crept across his face, which was mirrored by the man before him who was both his employer and mentor.::

Richardson: I’m headed up to the core. I have a meeting at 2 to discuss the Scorpous serum. Our new friends are very keen to see a sample in action to verify the effectiveness of the product. They will suffer no more delays Gray. You will have your deadline by 5pm and you will rise to the challenge because the consequences of failure would be dire indeed.

PNPCs Dr Richardson, CEO and Dr Dominic Gray lead developer at The Consortium
Simmed by:-
Fleet Captain Renos - Commanding Officer, Andaris Task Force

* Executive Council & Captain's Council Member

* Academy Commandant

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