Armored Core 6: Cold Ghost

3. CORPORATE NEED

The door slid open letting in a suited businessman with creases sharp enough to cut, dark shades neatly covering his eyes against the artificial lights. Briefcase swinging in one hand, the other adjusting the necktie, exposing the wristwatch that bounced the light to the wall as he walked. He took his seat at the near-circular meeting table along with 7 others, all in relatively similar positions, all executives of various departments within the allied Corporations of Arquebus and Schneider.

The secretary briskly walked to place the file on the desk in front of him and returned to her spot at the center of the room, anxious to get the meeting going as the pressure from all the executives' gaze left her feeling lightheaded.

She started off with the report of Coral resurgence based off a leak from an anonymous source. The leak had mentioned that the Planetary Closure Administration (PCA) falsely declared Rubicon 3 uninhabitable and void of any tangible resource worth extraction from the planet. Nonetheless, the mines and facilities built by the Corporations prior to the cataclysmic event remain barred from both insertion and extraction. Leaving them completely cut off and isolated from their respective parent companies.

"Moving onto the present operations, I wanted to update you on the situation on Rubicon 3 survey; there does seem to be traces of Coral residue on several locations across the planet. While not as prominent nor at the levels recorded in the past, studies on Coral indicate that it's highly likely to have been rapidly multiplying beneath the surface, hidden away from sight.

Preliminary Surveys from the scout teams and deployed sensors have indicated the Belius Continent as one of the most promising location. However, we were unable to determine specific coordinates to the coral reservoirs before their signals were cut off completely and we have yet to reestablish any contact for the past 48 hours. Several Recordings indicate that these incidents are due to either signal jamming or explosions since the signals vanish in an instant.

As you are all aware, Coral is a highly volatile substance so it could also be due to Coral resonating in those areas and-"

"Why not flat out call it Sabotage, instead of "Incidents"? We know who is responsible for them." D. Kouda interrupted, file gripped tightly in her hands but still maintaining her calm and professional posture. Those were her assets and team that are dying out there, and she has the nerve to gloss over them as statistics and hypothesis.

"We know 'what' is responsible for them, not 'who'... And since the PCA has closed off the planet-" One the members put in, spotting her outburst and trying to steer the conversation out of the danger zone.

"Point is that we know that someone's been sabotaging our survey operations, and we know why. So, why are we not doing anything about it?"

"Again, we know 'what', not 'who'. So, even if we wanted to retaliate, there's no one target to pick to satisfy your need for revenge, Ms. Kouda. We might as well start a war with the PCA if you're that eager to go through with your suggestion."

"Unless you're somehow psychic and know the answer already, then please, by all means, enlighten us. The issue we're facing here isn't whether we will or will not retaliate in kind to the ones responsible for our setback, but rather if it's feasible; I don't mind losing assets if we can determine that Rubicon 3 is worth the trouble. For all we know, it could be just traces or residues from after the Fire of Ibis incident rather than untapped Coral Reservoirs that can sustain the needs for the coming years." M. Khan interrupted before Kouda could respond, an executive from Scheinder Corporation who was also overseeing the discreet survey operations in Rubicon 3. Given that he was also personally involved in the operation alongside Kouda, brought down the fire in her to a warm simmer. That wasn't to say she's willing to let go of the subject.