So, I am back with another chapter for you all to enjoy. There is not much to say, just a slower chapter that does some setup and comes back to deal with something that was left hanging a couple of chapters back.
Anyway, let us get onto it and as per usual all credit for this idea goes to World and all those who support me on this project, and as always, all rights go to their owners as I own nothing!
It had been a couple of weeks since John had seen the Historian in person, for he had Cortana had been busy in the last seven weeks. As between what had taken place with Ijaat and Valerie onboard the Dreadnought heavy cruiser to the one-man crusade he had spearheaded against the local Clans in this area of Concordia making John something of a local legend in the process.
Knowing this, both John and Cortana had decided for the moment it was best that the two of them kept a low profile, at least until things calmed down.
But the Spartan knew that he could not keep out of the spotlight forever, especially after several moves that he had made.
Such as the setting up of their new base in the old Death Watch storage center in this area. Also, John and Cortana had set up an enterprise that required their attention as despite only being a couple of weeks old it was already drawing a good deal of interest from a couple of different parties.
Mostly from MandalMotors and Mandal Hypernautic, as Cortana had reached out to them to see if they could come to some kind of arrangement with one another.
Even so, not all the attention their new startup was getting was wanted. The New Mandalorian government had started taking notice of the rapid rise of this unknown company in such a short span of time that it seemed almost unnatural.
The other party that had taken notice of Misriah Technologies was the InterGalactic Banking Clan, as the Muun's had taken what seemed an unusual interest in this little start-up in the Outer Rim.
As to the reason as to why the IGBC had taken such an interest in their business, John and Cortana could only guess. But Cortana had already suggested two reasons as to why they might have taken an interest in their business.
The first one was that the Muun's were known for their galaxy-wide reputation as being the major financiers of most if not all companies and corporations within the galaxy. So, for a small start-up to be running without their consulting was practically unheard of except in the most backwater of backwaters of the known galaxy.
That and the fact that they had not even gone to the Muun's for a loan to fund the business most certainly raised questions as to the legitimacy of the company in question.
Cortana had already received multiple requests from IGBC representatives for a meeting regarding Misriah Technologies; which she had put off for a while now, as the AI knew what this meeting would be about and needed more time to put some final pieces into place before Cortana had her new CEO meet with the Muun's.
But as to the second reason Cortana suspected that it was partly connected to the first. As she had explained to John the IGBC saw something in their company and wanted a piece of the action, as she had stated it. Having to explain to John what she meant by that, the Spartan being completely unfamiliar with such terms.
John's training had included certain things about finances, but more so how he could use them to track his targets rather than to use them. It had been assumed that in such a situation where a Spartan team would have to use any sort of financial system during their mission their assigned AI would handle such matter. Such was the case now with Cortana.
In her few weeks of being in this galaxy, Cortana had managed to amass a large fortune using the Galactic Stock Exchange. Her numerous accounts have amassed somewhere between 850-900 million credits and rising.
So, they would not be running out of money any time soon, but this was also where the problems started. Cortana knew that she simply could not liquidate all the assets without drawing unwanted attention from the Republic, the IGBC, the market regulators and finally the New Mandalorian government itself.
Knowing this Cortana knew that she had to be careful how she handled these funds, so as not to raise any red flags from any of these parties.
As for John, he was not worried about these issues. For this was the last thing on his mind, as Cortana said that she was already working on a solution to ensure that the IGBC did not become a problem.
So, he would have to trust Cortana to handle this situation. For his part, John had left her back at the base to handle that, as he had gone alone to speak with the Historian.
Under normal circumstances, John would not have let Cortana out of his sight. But there had been some developments that made him more comfortable, leaving her behind to supervise the base.
During one of the few times, John had his MJOLNIR removed for maintenance and upgrades. Cortana had made some adjustments to the armours communications systems; allowing MJOLNIR to connect to the Holonet more easily while at the same time getting major security updates regarding any major cyber threats they might face in this galaxy.
But by doing this Cortana had also made a small software adjustment that had not gone unnoticed by him.
If this adjustment Cortana had made worked as intended, then she would be able to reach him through the Holonet with little to no problem. His armour acted as a homing beacon for her once she entered the Holonet.
So, with the new system now in place, John felt slightly more comfortable leaving Cortana to watch over the base as he exited the mine elevator and started making his way to where the SPARTAN suspected the old man to be.
Needless to say, the SPARTAN had been right on his assumption, as he found the old man where he expected him to be. As the Historian was currently in his office, working on the latest manuscript that he had been able to recover.
The SPARTAN waited at the door until the old man had noticed him and invited him into the room.
"Honesty Chief, I wasn't expecting you to visit for a couple more days." The Historian admitted to him.
As he had not been expecting him to return from one of his off-world trips so soon. Especially since the job he had given him was the biggest ones yet.
For the Historian had tasked John with recovering an old Jehavey'ir-type assault ship. Because despite its age, the old man's contacts had managed to locate the old capital ship being left to rot on some backwater junk world in the outer rim.
Needless to say, it had taken Chief, Cortana, and the Wookiee Wamoshoool nearly a week to extract the warship from the ring of metal that it entombed into.
After which it had taken them another two hours to get the ship to a jump point, all the while being hounded by the systems' local security forces. They did not want to sell the flying death trap as they called it John for any cost.
So, they had simply taken it from them.
Still, it had not been easy at all to pull this off and in fact, it had been Wamoshoool that had proven to be the deciding factor in this whole situation. Even so, John would not say that he trusted Wamoshoool, but through their brief time together the Wookiee had managed to make an impression and by doing so gained his respect, was in John's mind worthy of making the effort to get to know Wamoshoool.
Life debt notwithstanding; it was obvious that the beast had great skills when it came to both combat and engineering.
John suspected that these skills would be put to the test in the coming days and months ahead.
"I wanted to talk over something with you," John stated simply.
As there were a couple of things that John wanted to go over with the old man; especially one topic in particular that John felt had been put off long enough.
John needed to know if he could trust the Historian going forward, and that meant uncovering his motives.
That meant he needed to know what the Historian's relationship was to the True Mandalorians and what that meant for himself. From John's understanding, the True Mandalorians had considered themselves reformers and the true successor to the Mandalorians of old.
Knowing this John had to know just what role he had played in the True Mandalorian organization.
"This was something that I've been meaning to talk to you about as well. Still, can we go over our accounts before we dive into this?" The Historian then inquired.
As the old man preferred that they get everything else out of the way before they talked about, that. For he knew that it was most definitely going to be a heavy subject for him to talk about.
For it would both bring up unpleasant memories and would bring up the topic of his perspective on what John should do moving forward.
So needless to say, it came as something of a relief to the old man when John nodded his head in agreement. There were some things that John would also like to go over with him before he got into the topic of his past.
"First off I would like to thank you, Cortana and Wamoshoool for what you did regarding recovering the assault ship. As most other contractors wouldn't have gone as far."
Which was the truth, as the old man had worked with many other private companies and contractors before the Chief. When faced with a similar situation to what John had encountered, they had simply informed him that they would be unable to complete the contact and left.
Sometimes if he were extremely unlucky the Historian would simply get a message saying that their job was done and leave with the credits, he had given them.
So needless to say, finding good help was hard in his line of work.
As for John's perspective on this, he had little problem with this. Mostly because this line of work allowed him to earn an income, which did not matter as much as it did before give what Cortana had just told him. But also, by working with the Historian John had learned much about this galaxy while keeping a low profile which suited him.
For the Spartan was not here to make waves. John was treating this as something of a change of rest and recovery before he returned to the UNSC, as he had not gotten much downtime during the war.
Because despite their best efforts John was often sent back onto the field before, he fully recovered from previous injuries. So needless to say, he was going to take Cortana's advice and allow his body some time to recover.
Even so, Cortana knew that John could not stay in one place for too long. As such she had made it something of a side mission for them to collect samples of technology to take back with them to the UNSC. The AI knew that certain pieces would be of great interest to the higher-ups in both ONI and the UEG.
"I did what was necessary to complete the mission, nothing more," John stated simply.
As this was the truth. The Historian had paid him to collect the ship for him, the fact that it had been in a junkyard world in which the Spartan had come across a couple of items of interest had been simply a bonus for him.
"Still, I appreciate the effort you went through in getting that ship. I'll give you double what we originally agreed upon as well." The Historian said as he knew that this would cover most of the experience that John had encored to get the ship here. "Also, if I might ask did you find anything regarding that other lead that I sent you?" The old man inquired.
To which John responded with a simple nod of his head. On his way back, he had managed to investigate the other lead the old man had given him.
Needless to say, what they had found on that volcanic hellscape more justified the trip in John's eyes. They did not only gain invulnerable data but at the same time, Chief and Cortana recovered something that would have made the trip worth it even if they had not found what they had been looking for.
"Good, I'm just glad I didn't waste your time," The old man said.
As that tip had been from one of his less trustworthy sources, the Historian had left it up to the Spartan as to whether he wanted to investigate this.
But then again considering the fact that John had been forced to stay on that volcanic world while they acquired the necessary repairs to ensure that the assault ship could safely return to Mandalorian space. This had come as a nice distraction while he waited for that work to finish.
"It wasn't as what we discovered more than made up for it," John assured the old man.
"I'm glad that was the case, so would you care to share what it was that you found?" The Historian inquired, as his interest what Joh had recovered.
At which point John slid him a data-chip.
"This was the information that we were able to recover from the ship. Cortana thought you might be interested in it." John stated simply.
To which the old man took and pocketed the chip to look over later.
"If you don't mind me asking… how is your new start-up doing?" The Historian then inquired.
As the old man had been one of the founding investors in the business. So, he had a personal stake in ensuring that it was successful. As such he wanted to know just how well it was doing, as Cortana had mentioned some things, but the old man had no way of confirming anything she had said.
In response, John then retrieved another data-chip that he had on his and slid it into the datapad that had been resting on the table to his left before handing it to his benefactor.
"We already have some orders coming in."
"Are they now?" The Historian was a little surprised by this fact.
As the old man had not been expecting to hear that from the Spartan.
In response to this, John then showed him some of the models that Misriah Technologies was planning to put on the market in the next couple of weeks. There were a couple of different things that John wanted to get his opinion on.
"These are what are getting the most interesting," John said, pointing to a couple of models to the Historian.
As this was actually the first time that he had seen what the company was selling.
"I can see why that is. Who designed this?" The Historian inquired as he brought up an image of the prototype fighter.
"Cortana designed them," Chief stated simply.
As she had been the one to design this from the ground up. All John had done was sign some paperwork and set up their physical locations with C9 and some local contractors that had built their small factory in which they would build and test their products for future sales.
"She definitely has a talent for ship design, as between the price you're asking and the fact that you can customize like the old YT-1300, it should sell rather nice on the open market." The Historian remarked.
As he was not a fool went it came to ship design. For this Hilux starfighters despite not having certain features that other starfighters on the mark had did have one thing go for it.
Which was flexible, for it was obvious to the old man, as with a good amount of credits and the right technician these fighters could be anything from a well-armed attack craft down to just a pair of engines that would power a pod racer given the cost of the craft.
So overall so long as the quality of Hilux could match most other starfighters on the market, then they should sell rather well. Even with all the limitations they had on them.
"Also, there's been some interest in our blasters as well." Chief then told him.
"I wasn't aware that you were entering into that market as well." The Historian admitted.
From what John understood, Cortana explained to him, Misriah Technologies was mostly going to focus on the public sector. So, to hear that it was also entering into the arms market made the Historian nervous.
He knew that the blaster market was cutthroat, and most of the small companies such as his usually ended up going bankrupt in the first five years of entering it.
"It was… a joint decision," John stated simply.
For Cortana and John were merely using this as a cover for them to conduct weapons research under the guise of selling weapons. With the end goal for them was to be able to reverse-engineer the Covenant weapons they had on them.
As Cortana merely saw this as a stepping stone to their eventual goal. As even if their first line of blasters did fall the feedback would be invaluable to Cortana where she started eventually had the company begin their work on reverse-engineering Covenant technology.
"I wished that you would've consulted us before you made this decision." The old man said.
As the Historian knew that he would not be the only one not happy with not being consulted about this decision. Especially with the number of credits on the line.
"If I was allowed to, then me and Cortana would've informed you," John stated simply as he then scrolled down to show the Historian the order.
"You must be joking," The Historian then said.
As on the datapad in front of him, the old man could see the signature of the New Mandalorian government on those orders.
"So much for their pacifism," The old man commented as he continued to look over the order the list of equipment they had ordered.
Because at this point the Historian did not care if he was not supposed to see this. But considering the fact that John was not stopping him suggested that he had wanted him to know what was happening.
The old man could see that there was a gag order involved with this as well. This was telling honestly, as he guessed that the Kriffing dar'manda did not want their hypocrisy to be known to the wider public.
"What are they ordering exactly?"
"Depends on what department is ordering, but the theme Cortana noted was the fact that most of their orders requested blasters that could rapidly stun targets," Chief explained.
As it was rather obvious to the two of them that the New Mandalorian government was doing, for it was preparing for what might happen under wartime conditions. For he knew that despite everything Satine said, she was more than aware of the danger of civil unrest.
Especially in a society such as this one.
"I see; but as I'm assuming you found out the hard way that this isn't the easiest thing to implement for obvious reasons." To which the Chief nodded.
As he and Cortana had found out that having a rapid-fire stun setting on a weapon tended to cause several issues. The chief of which was the amount of power it went through, and the fact that it really degraded the weapons barrel life.
Even so, they had made some progress in regard to the amount of power consumed when the blaster was on full auto stun mode. As for the weapons barrel life, after running a few tests it was decided that this was something that could be fixed in later models.
They needed to deliver the product that they had been contacted to make.
"We've already made some adjustments and have the weapons in their final stages of testing," John said surprising the old man.
As he had not been expecting to hear that.
"Are they now… I hope that their quality matches the price you're asking." The Historian remarked.
The old man was more than aware of the fact that if Blaster did turn out to be a black Nerf, then even if the Hilux was a hit. Misriah's reputation would still be tainted by this failed launch.
"Cortana and Wamoshoool are working out the final issues with them, there shouldn't be a problem," Chief assured them.
As he was going to be using some of these weapons soon enough. For Cortana had pointed out and as the last mission had shown rather definitively.
The assault rifle was not pulling its weight. Despite its reliable build and stopping power, John had come to realize that he would have to adopt the local weapons of this galaxy.
Firstly, so that he did not stand out everywhere he went and secondly, so that he would have a weapon system that would prove more reliable. At least until they could figure out what they could do with all the UNSC weapons in his current possession.
As John knew that certain weapons would still prove effective in certain situations, knowing this John thought it was best to have a variety of weapons available for him to choose from.
So that he could customize his kit as needed.
"Can you keep me informed about your progress regarding these contacts?" The Historian then asked.
Because the Historian knew sooner or later that word about this would get out and when it did the old man knew he would need his back when the investors came to ask why they had not been informed about the deal.
"I'll tell Cortana to keep you informed."
"Thank you, now I assume that you want to talk about, that." The Historian said to which John nodded yes.
The old man then let out a sigh, as he knew that this conversation had been coming for quite some time now, even so, it did not make it any easier for him to talk about this.
"Just so you know, this isn't something that I usually talk about for various reasons."
"Then keep it brief," John then suggested.
As he did not need to know everything, just the events that the Historian deemed important. The rest, John, and Cortana could attempt to fill in later if they felt the need to do so.
But right now, John wanted to know the Historian's core motive for joining the True Mandalorians, and why he had approached him in the first place.
"Okay, I joined the True Mandalorians when my Clan became a victim of the war. Tor Vizsla had made it clear to me at that point that he wasn't the reformer that Mandalore needed." The Historian stated simply.
It had become obvious to a majority of the Clan's that they needed to adapt to the changing galaxy around them. As such they had elected as Mand'alor a former well-respected Journeyman Protector named Jaster Mereel.
Who was seen as an honourable man with strong morals that would hopefully set Mandalorian people in the right direction.
Needless to say, some Mandalorians opposed Jaster's reformers, saying that it was un-Mandalorian and restricted them too much in combat. Still, this was coming from the elements that had pretty much turned into nothing more than pirates.
Raiding anything that travelled too close to Mandalorian space and considering what had happened the last time the Mandalorian sector was considered an issue to the wider Republic.
Thus, leaving no room for Jaster and Tor to negotiate. Not that there would be any sort of negotiations between the two of them, because as far as the old laws were concerned Tor and his followers were already outlaws for not binding to the word of the Mand'alor.
Which left civil war as the only outcome of this situation.
A war that would drag in many Clans and prove to be the ruin of them, as it would prove to be the most savage in the whole history of the Mandalorian people, who carried scars of it even to this day.
"Did you ever intend to get personally involved?" John then inquired.
As he wanted to know more details about why he had chosen to get involved with this conflict.
"I never intended to, neither did my father. As he didn't want to get involved in this conflict. As we dedicated ourselves to ensuring that the history of the Clans. Even those not our own, to ensure that if they were to disappear that their deeds would be still known to all." The Historian explained.
As in certain interpretations of Mandalorian tradition, a person was not considered completely dead so long as their memory survived and was passed along from one person to the next.
This was the burden that the Historian's Clan had upheld.
To ensure that as many Clans and more importantly individuals from those Clans would not be forgotten.
But this changed once Tor Vizsla had wiped out everyone besides himself. For the Historian could only guess how much was lost when the Death Watch had butchered his Clan.
Still, the Historian carried on their Clans tradition. But unlike before knowing that all his valuable information could be lost if he were to die the old man had changed his way of storage all the information he knew.
Despite this, he continued to collect songs, stories and folktales that were only known to a select few in certain Clans. Trying to rebuild what was lost once his Clan had been destroyed in the Great War.
"I wouldn't have thought that the Clans would've cared about such things." John then stated.
It seemed rather unusual for a society that was supposedly made up of the greatest warriors this galaxy had ever seen. But then again this was information that John had gathered from the Holonet, and as he had learned rather quickly well.
Things were never what they seemed in this little corner of the galaxy.
"You would be surprised as to how many Clans specialize in certain things." The Historian remarked.
This was true, as his Clan had specialized in the history of the Mandalorians as a whole. Working to ensure that certain Clans and their history and deeds were not lost to time. So, when his Clan had been massacred for not siding with the Death Watch, the Historian had known the choice as to whether he got involved in this war had been made for him.
So, he had sided with True Mandalorian and even though he might have not agreed with all their reforms they were attempting to pass with the Codex. The old man had seen it as better than what Tor Vizsla envisioned for the Mandalorians.
Despite being rather close to their ancestors, Tor had pretty much ignored all the problems that the wider sector was having made it obvious that he was merely doing this for his own personal gain.
Especially considering the fact that the force-forsaken madman had stated openly that the way to solve their current issues was to launch another great Crusade.
"Why did you risk starting this museum after the war then?" John then inquired.
Which the Historian then hesitated, but it was then that the old man realized that John was asking him to trust him. In the way that he had shown his trust to him by showing him the information regarding the New Mandalorian government orders from Misriah Technologies. He knew that if anyone knew that he had seen them then Chief not only risked the order being cancelled but faced jail time or worse from the New Mandalorian government for breaking their non-disclosure agreement.
'Perhaps it's time to come clean to him.' The old man thought as he knew that they would need one another assistance in the coming months.
"For starters, my Clan was only one of two that I know of that specialized in our field. The other Clans deem it unimportant that they know the history of the other Clans. Mostly because they usually keep to themselves about it. So, with me being the only survivor of those two Clans, it made sense for me to ensure that what I knew would not be lost. Also, I was hoping by doing this I could attract others like myself who followed the old ways." The Historian explained to the Chief.
This had been the principal reason as to why he had started this in the first place. For the old man had used this to network with others who had thought as he had. Believing that soon enough they would be called on once again to deal with what they all knew was coming.
"Could you rebuild your Clan?" The Spartan asked the obvious question.
To which the Historian simply shook his head in response.
"I'm too old to be doing that Chief. Because even if I could it would take years if not decades to pass on what I know to my successors, and honestly, I do not believe that I have that time. Especially with what you told me," The Historian said as John immediately realized what he was talking about.
"The Death Watch,"
"Right; as they were supposed to be disbanded, but as you saw that's far from the truth. Many are not happy with Satine's government but do not have any idea as to how to deal with her. Unfortunately, they don't have that problem." The old man stated.
Because if there was one thing that Tor Vizsla left to his dar'manda, it was a vision for them to reach. For they saw themselves as the restorers of the old ways; even if those old ways had degenerated into nothing more than being low-grade pirates and raiders.
"Were you hoping to attract something like myself?" John then inquired.
"I was hoping to attract those with good moral standards." The Historian admitted to the Spartan.
For he knew that this next conflict would be as much a fight for the heart and soul of all Mandalorians as much as it was to be physical. As such whoever championed the Commando Codex would need to be both a great warrior and a great role model for all to see.
Something that the Chief seemed more than capable of doing in the Historian's opinion. His ignorance about the Mandalorian culture and the wider galaxy aside. That could be easily remedied with some basic history lessons.
Which he was in fact already making for the Chief and those he had adopted. He knew that his lessons could easily pull double duty, ensuring that both the ade and the Spartan learned about what they needed to know to be a true Mandalorian.
"And if I hadn't fit your standards?" John then pressed.
He wanted an answer, to which the Historian provided.
"If not," The old man simply shrugged. "Then I'm assuming that you would eventually attract the man who might be able to be further what is needed."
For this was the Historian believed fully. For the Chief was someone who, despite trying to avoid doing so, had gathered a following around him. The Historian knew of the rumours that were going around about the Spartan.
Also, he saw the type of people that were flocking towards the Spartan.
Having interacted with a couple of them, it had become obvious to the old man that Chief despite not wanting to would have to take up the mantle of leadership. If for no other reason than to prevent what he saw as an easily avoidable disaster.
Still, the Spartan did have one last question before he made any decisions.
"Why do you believe that you need someone like that?"
"Because the simple truth is that civil war was never truly resolved. For no one idea was truly accepted as the New Mandalorians have surpassed the Codex, while no one who adheres to the old ways accepts the jetiise backed government in Sundari." The Historian explained to Chief.
As he needed to make John understand the situation, he currently found himself in.
To which Joun understood the situation perfectly. For there was a culture power vacuum, and like any vacuum, nature would attempt to find a way to fill it no matter what form that took.
"What role would I play in this, should accept?" The Spartan then inquired.
He wanted to know the Historian's perspective on how he fit into this situation.
"At this moment all I can say is that's up to you. For I'm certain that you already know the options that are in front of you." The old man stated simply.
For the Historian was under no illusions that the Chief understood the options he had. Considering the trust that the Chief had placed in him, the Historian only found it fitting that he did the same for him in this situation.
"Well, you support the decision I make?"
"So long as it doesn't come to the determinant of my people; as that's the only line I won't cross." The Historian said making his position clear to the Chief.
Something which John was grateful for, as it gave him the line he needed to know before he made his choice. Needless to say, John was more than aware that whatever choice he made now would have far-reaching consequences.
As despite trying not to draw attention to himself, so far John had failed spectacularly in that regard and knew now that his only option was to use his newfound status to influence the outcome of what he knew could be a bloody civil war.
"I will give you my answer once I return from my next mission. Can you wait until then?" John then inquired.
As he needed time to think over his answer, even though John already knew what he had to do in this situation.
"I can, I'll work to lay the groundwork for you while you're gone." The old man assured him.
To which John nodded in response.
"Now go, as I assume that Cortana's waiting for you." The Historian said knowing that the SPARTAN wanted to leave.
Then, without so much a word, John left the room, leaving the Historian alone with his thoughts.
The Historian then wondered if he had pressed the SPARTAN too far, but most of all wondering to himself as to whether he was truly being honest with himself.
As this was a question that he felt that he had to answer. For not only their relationship but quite possibly the very future of the Mandalorian people may rest on it.
Mando'ade dictionary:
Ade - Children, Sons, Daughter's
Dar'manda - - A state of not being Mandalorian - not an outsider, but one who has lost his heritage, and so his identity and his soul - regarded with absolute dread by most traditional-minded Mando'ade
Jetiise - Can mean Jedi plural, or Republic give the context
Mand'alor - A title meant "sole ruler" for the Mandalorians
That is all for now, I hope that you enjoyed it.
As we got to see John and the Historian come to an understanding after what happened at Clan Dyra, wasn't the clearest way I could've done it, but then again such things don't come easily to the Chief, so it seems appropriate that it turned out this way.
Also, a quick note, certain things can't be included in chapters for time's sake, so me and World are going to give you some bite-size lore to go with it.
Such as this report to tell you about the company that John and Cortana are now running. I hope you all enjoy this small lore dump.
IGBC private internal Financial Report:
As you are more than aware we have been monitoring a local start-up in the Mandalorian sector, originally known as Misriah Technologies, it has been eclipsed by one of its subsidiaries.
That being Mandal-Earth Arms Tech, or M.E.A.T for short.
This start-up has flown under the sensor scoop for us, and for good reason, as it seems that they've been privately funded up to this point in time.
So, when we finally made a move to attempt to reach out to the company, they had already secured a deal with Mando Hypernautics, which by then meant we couldn't offer anything more in terms of funding, which they did not take.
One move that did take us by surprise was their board acquiring Hoersch-Kessel Drive, Inc. and making it into a subsidiary of Misriah Technologies.
This has been a trend with the company and one that allowed M.E.A.T to successfully enter into other markets, it is clear that the time has passed for us to gain a controlling interest in the company.
As such, it would be recommended that we use our contacts in the CIS to attempt to engineer a situation in which, even if we cannot gain control of the company, to at least ensure that other businesses that are under our umbrella aren't at a completive disadvantage while gaining their trade secrets.
They hold a good 63% of all weapons traffic in the galaxy's north, alongside their strong civil sector sales. It is clear to this board that despite the recent arrival of M.E.A.T. on the galactic market, it is clear that they are on the path to becoming another of the megacorporations.
Especially if they can keep their contracts with the Republic shipbuilding.
It is my recommendation, that if we are unable to unable to gain a controlling interest in the company after the war, we use our assets to pick them apart, as there is simply too much profit to be made by allowing this corporation to remain out of our reach.
IGBC Chair of Financial.
That is all. As we can see a couple of years down the line the Muun's want to get their hands on John and Cortana's company.
Obviously, they didn't let that happen, as what situation the Muun's talked about creating, will be explored in a later chapter.
Anyway, that is it for me and until next time, have a good one.