“So, how did the search go? Did you find anything worth the Company getting involved over?”

“No, sir. Every single one of the ships we searched came up the same. There was not a single weapon, military vehicle or magazine of ammunition anywhere within any of the Arcadian vessels.”

“Are you sure you searched properly? Those scanners are worth more than you are, and they need to be used in the right way. Otherwise they are a pointless waste of money, and we don’t waste money here at Omniconpro, do We?”

“No, sir, we don’t. I can stake my career on the fact hat we used the scanners as they were intended. All we found were foodstuffs, first aid supplies, fresh water, house-building materials and a whole lot of empty crates.”

“Empty? Do you think that they might have already been emptied of their cargo? Perhaps they hid the weapons and such elsewhere aboard their ships?”

“I don’t have a reason to suspect hat to be the case.”

“Oh? You are so certain? From where does this confidence stem from?”

“They allowed us to search every nook and cranny of their ships; from the smallest crawlspace to the widest cargo bay, there was no place that they did not permit us to go, let alone search. They even pulled up floor panels to show us that there was nothing hidden. To be honest, I think they did all this just to mock us.”

“Mock Us how?”

“Not too long after the Captain made his declaration, the droid in command of the Arcadian relief force made a nearly identical ne directed towards us and sent a few boarding shuttles to search our ships. Oddly enough, they seemed fully cognizant of which containers had military hardware within them and would make a show of almost searching them before switching to a crate without such things in them. The fact that they called their ships ‘civilian bulk freighters’, just like we were ordered to refer to ours, shows to me that they know why we are here and intend to do the exact same thing as us.”

“Your thoughts are noted, but We have confidence that the primitives do not have the mental faculties to do something so cunning. As for why their droids acted the way they did, it should be obvious that those robots are attempting to sabotage their masters. They may make useful pawns, until they can be melted down to slag.”

“With all due respect, sir, I think you are underestimating them. They-”

“You should simply follow Our instructions and think as We wish for you to think. We are the ones with the high positions, and We are the ones who have the highest risk to bear. We are aware of things, and We know that they are too primitive to even begin to fathom Our plans. Continue with the agenda and pay no further attention to the Arcadians. They are obviously not a threat to Our plan going forward, and any evidence to the contrary is false news and should be ignored. We would not want to spook the shareholders with erroneous data, not that They are anyone other than Ourselves!”

“Of course, sir. I will remove any further reference to the Arcadians and their activities from our reports, if it would please You.”

“Yes, that is acceptable to Us. They will not interfere in the plan going forward, We are sure of it. Now, return to the task at hand, and do not delay for anything or anyone. We will not have the quarterly report tainted by anything. You do understand what will happen if the quarterly objectives are not met?”

“Yes, sir. For the Pursuit of Profit.”

“For the Pursuit of Profit.”

…

The OCS ships shoved their way into orbit around the planet, even going so far as to fire their ‘defensive systems’ at the Consortium ships to get them to move aside. For ‘purely defensive systems’ the weapons on board the OCS ships hit like a Mack truck, at least by UGN standards. Such was the privilege awarded to those with more money than they knew what to do with; laws regarding civilian vessels could be waived if you paid the right person or group the right amount of money. Although bribery was illegal in the UGN, Lobbying was not, and over time the rules regarding Lobbying became more and more lax until you could Lobby someone even when they were not actually running for or in government.

However, even with the large amount of wealth that the Megacorp had at its disposal, they were ultimately unprepared for the massive time/ money sink they were about to deal with. Perhaps if the heads of the company had actually done some research or listened to anyone other than themselves, they might have realized they were about to get in over their heads. But alas, they were stuck in their own echo chamber, and with absolutely no accountability to anyone and massive golden parachutes they had no reason to even think that they were about to lead their company and the UGN itself into a prime example of the ‘Sunk Cost Fallacy’.

Their ships began to disgorge cargo and transport shuttles toward the territory held by the Galactic Unity Movement, while Arcadian cargo and transport shuttles flew toward the areas controlled by the Children of Liberty. It was now a matter of which side would get the most aid, and whether or not they could hold out long enough to bleed the other dry. The Omniconpro Corporate Sector was not only sending military hardware, but also their own PMC, or as PR would put it, ‘Private Security Forces’. Was it any surprise that the Arcadian Galactic Commonwealth was also sending its own soldiers in the form of the Mobile Suit Golems to aid their chosen proxies?

The Arcadian forces had a leg up on the OCS forces in the vein that the ‘personnel’ that they sent had actual military experience rather than just being well disciplined thugs with guns. The OCS ‘Security Forces’ were good armed guards, but they had no real military experience whatsoever. At most they had brutally dealt with riots, strikes and unions, but even the UGN military itself had little to no actual combat experience. Even the war with the Angelus Holy Union had been less of a war and more of a haphazard running retreat with no clear desire or intent to defend anything.

The MSGs on the other hand not only had the experience that the war with the AHU had given them, but also the experience from the wars on Gaia that seemed to be so distant a memory for the organic members of society. Well, a distant memory for the Humans and Beastmen, perhaps, but Arkhan, Asharia, the MSGs, the MAGs, the Elves and Dwarves still remembered it like it was yesterday. Such were the perks and downsides to having such special existences.

Still, with Arkhan’s creations now on the planet, they could bring in military hardware through ‘The Hangar’ pocket dimension, cutting resupply and rearmament times by a great deal. As the first guns entered the hands and manipulator appendages of the Children of Liberty, the stage began to be set for a war that would last as long as could be drawn out and cost the UGN and OCS as much as possible. The Proxy War had reached a new stage.