---Victor POV, Thirty Minutes Later---
After purging Dahl’s forces from the station, I aided the local security force in rescuing the trapped civilians. Using the Odin-Force to heal the wounded, my personnel began disposing of the Dahl corpses. Knowing nothing could be gained from re grunts, our best chance for answers was the unmarked ships my n captured. Contacting the sailors for an update, they gave the bad news to straight away.
“Supre Commander, we have completed our search of the captured ships. All crew mbers appear to have been killed by an unknown energy weapon. The only thing that remains of them are piles of ash and scorch marks.”, the fleet commander reported. “In addition, their computer systems have been fried beyond repair. These ships are nothing more than floating scrap heaps now.”
‘Seriously… Dahl went to great lengths to erase any trace of the upper managent’s hand in this ss. Sothing big must be in the works behind the scenes involving the Necron technology they stole. I sincerely hope they are not about to kick off another Corporate War, I do not want to deal with a third major threat.’, I thought, pushing those thoughts to the side for now. “I understand; thank you for your fine work and speedy response. Please take the ships to Production World #51 for further examination. Commander Bannister and I will attempt to recover data at a later ti. Once the ships are delivered, you and your n are free to take the rest of the day off.”
“Understood!”, the Fleet Admiral said before disconnecting.
With the matter resolved for the mont, I walked over to my wives to check on them. Taking a well-deserved breather on the pier, they were discussing how to better handle things in the future. Feeling that their response could have been better, Angelica was taking detailed notes on everything being brought up. Clearing my throat to get their attention, I gave everyone a nod before handing Olivia a mana potion.
“Olivia, I respect your passion for saving lives, but please do so more carefully. Overexerting your mana pool can lead to far worse consequences than mana depletion sickness.”, I scolded my kindhearted wife.
“I know, I am sorry, Victor.”, Olivia said ekly before drinking the potion. “I owe you an apology as well, Roxanne. Stopping just short of exhausting my mana is the first thing I was taught, yet I disregarded that today. My actions could have gotten us both killed; please forgive .”
“It is okay, Olivia; I cannot fault you for staying true to yourself. Recklessly risking your life to protect innocent people is one of your best charms, at least that is what Victor says.", Roxanne remarked, giving her a warm smile. “Your magic depletion sickness aside, the six of us were never in any real danger today. Do not forget, our power armor was specially made for us by Victor. It is safe to assu that if we were in a life-threatening situation, they would do sothing to protect us, right, Victor?”
Turning their gazes to , I nodded my head in confirmation. Going over all the safety asures I built into their armor, nothing short of a Nova Cannon could harm them. If sothing did manage to overwhelm their shielding or damage their armor, they would imdiately be teleported ho. Apologizing for keeping quiet about it, I had done so to prevent them from recklessly using themselves as shields for others. Understanding my concern, my wives looked genuinely happy to hear how much forethought I put into their equipnt.
“So, I am just chopped liver then? Really feeling the love there, Victor.”, Samus remarked, giving a smirk. “Before you head back to continue your military operation, I want to ask you sothing. Why do you think Dahl’s lawyers were so against paying out what I was asking? Five hundred million credits is a drop in the bucket for a company that rakes in over seven hundred sextillion a year. The fallout from their actions here will cost them substantially more than I was asking for. Do you think there is sothing else going on?”
Raising an isolation barrier around us, I wanted to ensure that what I was about to say was not overheard by anyone else. The last Corporate War in this universe crippled six galaxies and decimated another nine. Atlas, Jakobs, and Torgue aside, the other manufacturers cared more about profit than the lives they were destroying.
“Simply put, I think Dahl is gearing up for another Corporate War.”, I answered honestly. “It explains why they are innovating via grave robbery. Most ancient technology is far superior to what we use today. As reverse engineering usually leads to more breakthroughs than typical R&D, it makes sense for them to hide their activities. That is why I think the lawyers turned hostile after you ntioned the Necrons. They wanted to ensure your silence to keep what they are doing confidential until they are ready.”
“Fuck… I really hope you are wrong about this. The last Corporate War crippled eight galaxies and left another twelve in ruins.”, Samus remarked, rubbing her arm uncomfortably. ‘I should have kept my damn mouth shut and walked away. Now that I have blown the whistle, Dahl will probably put a bounty out on the branch manager and . I do not want to drag Victor and his family into this ss any more than I already have. Maybe I should consider chartering a ship to a distant galaxy where I can rebuild myself…’
“This goes without saying, but we have your back one hundred percent, Samus. Whether you like it or not, at this point, you are like family to us.”, Angelica asserted, seeing the worried look on her face. “No matter the trials you face, we will be right there beside you. Right, dear?”
“Of course, it is my duty as her fake husband to ensure her safety.”, I chuckled, referring to our ti on Tatooine. “Alright, you lovely ladies should head on back ho for the day. I will take care of notifying the Jedi Order about what happened here. After we wrap things up on Solemnace, I will head ho too so we can discuss vacation plans.”
Giving a hug as I prepared to head out, I gave Samus a reassuring nod before taking the Bifrost back to Solemnace.
---3rd Person POV, Dahl HQ---
Sitting in Dahl’s boardroom, before CEO Stanton Dahl himself, the four lawyers Samus killed sat silently with their heads hung in sha. Having been resurrected back at headquarters after death, they had patiently been awaiting the result of the battle to co in… until now. Giving the n ti to review it for themselves, their faces turned ghost white with dread.
“Sir, please give us a mont to explain what happened.”, Lawyer 1 pleaded. “The negotiations were well under way when Miss Aran inford the association’s representative about our illegal activities. Once the cat was out of the bag, it was too dangerous to let them live. As heavy-handed as our response was, we were only trying to protect the company.”
“Reports stated Samus Aran was broke, leeching off a team of bounty hunters led by another platinum-ranked hunter. We had no way of knowing she had her own military force lying in wait. I an, seriously, what freelancer has the money to financially bankroll a powerful military-level force like that?”, Lawyer 2 asserted.
“We have protocols for this sort of problem, don’t you rember? You should have left the ditation room and gotten in contact with headquarters imdiately. We keep unsavory individuals from the underworld on payroll to handle troubles like this. As we speak, so of them are currently working to mitigate the damages you four morons caused.”, Dahl comnted, rising from his seat and walking over to the window. “Now getting back to what you said a mont ago, how were the negotiations going prior to her blurting that information out?”
Lying through their teeth, the four n swore they followed standard procedure to the letter. Attempting to deflect bla right out of the gate, they haggled back and forth with her until she asked to take a break. It was when she was stepping out into the hallway that Samus blurted out the company’s secret.
“Is that so…”, Dahl remarked, turning back to look at them. “Is there anything else you would like to add?”
“No, sir. That is everything.”, Lawyer 4 replied, clenching his fist nervously beneath the table.
Tapping his foot twice on the floor, a squad of soldiers rushed into the room and restrained the n. Pleading with the CEO for rcy, they swore to work overti for the next ten years for a lenient punishnt. Shaking his head, he looked at them with anger and disgust.
“I don’t take kindly to being lied to, gentlen. You purposefully played hardball with Miss Aran to secure a promotion within the company. While I can appreciate your go-get-'em attitude, you have cost us far more than what she was asking for.”, Dahl spoke, retrieving his personal ECHO HUD from within his coat pocket. “Do you know why we give these nifty devices out to the public for free?”
“To garner goodwill from the public and to make a hefty profit selling optional extras for them?”, Lawyer 3 answered.
“While technically correct, that is just the convenient reasoning we tell the public. Their true purpose is to help us locate unknown Eridian vaults. Every fifteen minutes, they send audio logs to headquarters, which are then analyzed by our fleet of AIs for any information regarding the Eridians.”, Dahl told them. “It goes without saying that we also use them to ensure our staff maintain unwavering loyalty to the company. Need I explain more?”
Realizing they had been caught red-handed, the n began profusely apologizing for their actions. Begging for a second chance to prove their worth, Dahl shook his head, rejecting their request.
“Take them down to the lab for brain wiping and lobotomization.”, Dahl ordered, with a cruel smile. “Do try to enjoy your new positions as free laborers for the Dahl Corporation. We sincerely thank you for the many years of dedication you have given us and look forward to having you continue doing so until you drop dead.”
Kicking and screaming as they were forcibly dragged out of the room, Dahl let out an exhaustive sigh as he took his seat again. Pushing a button on the chair, he told his secretary to dispose of the guards once their work was done. Acknowledging his request, she inford him that a call was waiting for him on Line 13. Thanking her for the heads-up, he clapped his hands to shut the doors before taking the call.
“You work faster than our usual information brokers, Mr. Luttum Aaniz. What do you have for ?”, Dahl questioned, kicking his feet back.
“Let start off by saying, your subordinates really screwed the pooch, Mr. Dahl. I did a bit of digging into the group Samus Aran is traveling with, and their leader is REALLY bad news. He is a prince of the Imperium of Man, a prominent peacekeeper in the Galactic Republic, and has strong ties to the Algrand Empire.”, Aaniz reported. “He is an eight-foot-tall beast of a man that possesses technology beyond anything we have in our region of space. Based on a few rumors from within the Galactic Senate, he has a plethora of weapons that can erase star systems.”
“Is there any chance he can be reasoned with…?”, Dahl asked. “I need this incident to go away as quickly as possible.”
“Not a chance; your forr distributor in this region was killed by him. Apparently, Jabba the Hutt mistakenly tried to kidnap so of his wives, and the guy did not take that too well. Jabba attempted to make peace, but his response was to purge Tatooine of the Hutt Syndicate’s presence.”, Aaniz remarked. “Due to that incident, they have effectively ceased operations in the western region of the Republic to avoid unfortunate run-ins with him.”
Releasing another long sigh, Dahl thanked him for his work and ended the call. Understanding that their newest market was lost to them now, he began the tedious process of calling back personnel and shipnts. Hoping to buy enough ti for their latest tech to hit mass production, all he needed was six more months; then this waiting ga would be at an end.
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