The New Normal – 12-6 – Interlude – Proton
The bitch of a Champion wasn't here. She was on some 'diplomatic visit' to Indigo, but Proton knew a holiday when he saw one. She was probably just pining for her boyfriend and wanted an excuse to get out of the region.
He could relate to that last part. Sinnoh was too fucking cold and miserable. He felt bad for the poor fucks that called this place a home.
Regardless, he had thought that with the bitch gone, they would have an opportunity to act. He thought that Cyrus would finally see reason and allow him to take action.
Unfortunately, the bitch had left her loyal attack Houndoom in her place, and that fucking Flint had been making a mess of their connections to their business allies. Proton knew that he wasn't the best administrator, but he even he could understand how bad things would be if Flint pried away all of their 'allies'.
As Cyrus had explained in one of their meetings, the only reason that the public wasn't currently tearing them to shreds after the reveal of their financial inconsistencies was because of Galactic Company's sterling reputation – a reputation which they exploited to gather the support of other businesses to defend against the allegations made by the Sinnoh League.
However, because his boss wasn't as smart as he thought he was, that 'alliance' was now slowly breaking apart. According to Cyrus, Flint had been going around and 'making nice' with them, convincing them to turn their coats and withdraw their support.
This was why the only type of persuasion that he liked to use was fear and violence. No one disobeyed when they were too scared that you'd beat the shit out of them if they did. But of course he wasn't allowed to go around and forcefully intimidate their 'allies' to remain on their side – because that was apparently just walking into a life sentence waiting to happen.
"Flint undoubtedly expects us to react rashly once our allies begin to leave us." Cyrus had explained, "As much as it frustrates me, trying to enforce their cooperation will only cause us to fall for their trap. Threatening them with violence wouldn't work, as the Sinnoh League have the bigger stick."
Proton bitterly agreed with his boss' reasoning, but he didn't like it.
Still, that didn't solve the major issue that they were having – which was that if Galactic Company was left completely isolated from all their political support, then there would be nothing stopping the Sinnoh League from descending on them like a hammer of Arceus and uncovering everything they could about their illegal operations. It would be the doom of 'Team Galactic'.
And its members would be nothing more than a forgotten footnote, locked away behind unbreakable bars.
He vowed to never let that happen to him.
Which was why he went to Cyrus, demanding answers for the newest pile of shit that they found themselves in.
"It is quite the predicament." His boss agreed, "I had hoped to make use of the Champion's absence to restart a few operations, but now that seems like it's no longer possible."
"Cut the fancy language." Proton interrupted, "Do you have an answer for us or not?" Because he was really considering jumping ship if they didn't.
"Calm yourself, Proton. Do not let your fears overcome you." His boss said easily, "It is not all bad news. Put your fears aside for a moment and remind yourself that the loss of Galactic Company means nothing to our final goal. It just means we would have to abandon our façade of legality."
"Stop speaking in riddles and speak plainly." He interrupted with a growl, "Do you have this problem solved or not?"
Despite his attempt at intimidation, Cyrus merely smiled, "I see that you are unsatisfied. That is fine. Your question was prudent, and so I shall explain my plans to everyone as a group." His boss turned to a nearby grunt, "Please, have everyone reconvene for a meeting."
Seeing that he wasn't about to get any answers from his boss until then, Proton backed off and sat in his chair in annoyed silence. He remained that way until the meeting began.
His boss began once everyone had arrived, and he quickly explained why he had gathered everyone here and the nature of Proton's question – and how they would be dealing with the very likely future of the prosecution of Galactic Company.
"Let me make one thing clear to everyone." His boss said, with his dead eyes glancing at each and every member at the table, "Galactic Company has always been nothing more than a source of funding and a front for our true operations. It has always been disposable, and was meant to be nothing more than to buy us time. Time to complete our research and to gather the necessary elements to wield the power of the Legendaries, and resources to train up our grunts and their Pokémon. But many of our hidden facilities are unrelated to Galactic Company, so abandoning the company will not cause us to lose them."
"But we're already strapped for cash." The fat lard working for Maxie pointed out, "Wouldn't abandoning Galactic Company make things more difficult?"
"Of course it would." Cyrus agreed, "But trying to defend it would cost us even more. Luckily, I have already foreseen this eventuality, and have already been in discussions with your bosses to ensure that we will be able to retain the necessary funds for research and operational purposes, even if we were to lose access to the funding from Galactic Company. In the future, we may have to restart some of our illegal operations, even at the cost of subtlety, but I believe by that point the need to stay hidden would have long since passed."
Proton knew that the only fucking way that Team Galactic could sustain itself on such limited amount of cash was because everyone here was comprised of true fanatics, who had no greed in their hearts. These madmen weren't doing this for the money, so there was no need to waste money on their 'salary'. Not only that, but 'good living conditions' and 'proper facilities' were similarly non-factors to these fanatics, and could be ignored.
That meant that all the money could be siphoned into where it was actually needed.
"So we're confirming our previous decision to abandon Galactic Company?" Maxie asked.
"Yes." Cyrus confirmed, "Of course, we shall stall for as long as possible, but I believe that we should start cleaning up the company entirely. Wipe out all traces that could connect 'Team Galactic' to 'Galactic Company', and start making sure that all essential elements have been successfully relocated to our properly secured bases, if they haven't been already."
"Then, when the time comes. Galactic Company will be burnt down, leaving nothing for them to find. And Team Galactic will arise from the ashes in the safety of our hidden bases, away from the prying eyes of the ignorant Sinnoh League. We will make every sacrifice to ensure our success."
Cyrus' statement had a feeling of finality to it – as if the abandonment of Galactic Company would mark the beginning of a new direction for the Team. He knew it in his bones that the moment that Galactic Company fell, the time for hesitation was over.
Team Galactic would be waking up.
But that last comment of Cyrus struck something within Proton. He always knew that his role was to be the muscle, and to be the experienced team leader that led their field operations, but the lack of any hesitancy from Cyrus when it came to making sacrifices was…unnerving him. Would Cyrus…
No. He couldn't think that way. The other bumbling fools surrounding Cyrus couldn't match his field experience. They needed him. He was necessary.
And he was on the winning side.
A.N. The shield of public opinion around Galactic Company is starting to be peeled away, and the Sinnoh League has not been idle. Now the façade has almost been exposed for all to see, partially thanks to John pointing the authorities in the right direction unlike in canon. But Team Galactic aren't just going to roll over and wait to be defeated, so now they're starting to take action. Their time for passivity is almost over.
And I also wanted to highlight one unintentional benefit of having everyone be a crazed fanatic – it's a lot less draining on resources when you don't have to worry too much about morale. And of course, this is from Proton's POV, so he's not getting the full picture of the true situation and also his doubts are starting to surface. Hope you enjoyed!
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