Chapter 109: Saladin gets a gunship fleet
"What the hell are you doing?" thundered Elijah Edelstein, looking at Erik Gorbachev in horror.
"I don’t see what the problem is. You put the sanctions against Libya to a vote, and Russia is well within its rights to veto it," replied Erik calmly.
"Fine! Do your worst! We’ll just lump Libya into your sanctions outside the UN!" yelled Elijah, storming out of the UNSC meeting room.
"Well, that went well," chuckled Erik, as the other members of the UNSC shot him angry glares.
"Don’t think you’ve won. NATO is now authorized to enforce a full blockade and arms embargo on Libya, in addition to you," growled Daniel Goldberg, representing the US.
"I don’t see why you’re so worked up about a public private partnership between Libya and your own Sirius Software," replied Erik.
"Sirius Software is one thing! That joint venture between those antisemites in Albrecht Nuclear Systems and those imperialists in Yamamoto Corp. is another! That’s what this resolution is about! To make that partnership illegal! And mark my words, it will be!" snarled Daniel.
"Good luck with that," replied Erik nonchalantly walking out of the room.
----
The Bach slid silently into the Sirius-Albrecht-Yamamoto shipyard complex, and dropped anchor.
A gangway was lowered, and Aaron disembarked, followed by Natasha, Olga, Friedrich, and Hajime.
"All right Saladin, what’s the situation, now that those UN vultures have decided to uphold the sanctions?" asked Aaron, as he shook hands with Saladin, who was waiting for them on the dock.
"We’ve got about a hundred tonnes of titanium ingots in our reserves, so production on the new ships has halted. But the silicon fabs and other factories are running without an issue," said Saladin.
"Great. How are the education initiatives going?" asked Aaron.
"Extremely well, thanks to your funding. And yes, the new weapons factories are now up and running," replied Saladin.
"All right. I’ve brought along the drones and the tooling to start mass-producing the HellVortex here in Libya. Knowing our friends in the UN, they’ll try to use some sort of tactics to destabilize us while squeezing the sanctions. These new puppies will help us keep the peace," said Aaron.
"I want to see the performance for myself first," insisted Saladin.
"Of course," replied Aaron with a smile.
The shipyard cranes unloaded the HellVortex prototype from the Bach’s hold, and placed it on the tarmac.
Natasha and Olga disappeared into a makeshift changing room to don their flight suits, while several technicians removed the shipping restraints and performed a quick systems check.
"All right Natasha, show the good Premier what this baby can do," said Aaron, handing her the fob.
Natasha climbed into the pilot seat, while Olga climbed into the gunner seat.
Saladin’s jaw dropped as the HellVortex soared across the sky, performing tight maneuvers and precision strikes on target drones launched from the ground and from the Aristotle.
"Saladin to Aristotle. Can you track that HellVortex?" he asked into the radio.
"Aristotle’s systems can track it, but its stealth systems are making it difficult to get a lock," replied the Aristotle.
"Impressive," muttered Saladin.
"HellVortex, to Premier Saladin, our targeting systems can’t lock on the Aristotle either, we’ll need to be within visual range to engage it," came Natasha’s voice over the radio.
"Equally matched. Impressive! Well, young Aaron, consider me sold," said Saladin, smiling broadly.
"With the titanium we have in reserve, we can produce a thousand of these and have more to spare, a much better allocation than trying to cut corners on building another missile cruiser," said Aaron.
"Yes. And I will have a nice ground attack and urban warfare force to keep those insurgents in check," said Saladin with a smile.
"All right. Let’s get this thing back on the ground," said Aaron.
The HellVortex returned to the tarmac, and landed smoothly.
Its engines powered down with a series of hisses and whines.
"All right, on to other matters. Erik, what’s the status of the Lunar project?" asked Aaron.
"Production of the Energia heavy lift rocket is underway. The rover and excavation drones are undergoing final testing. We should be able to launch within the next six months," replied Erik.
"These sanctions mean that I cannot send my freighters to Libya anymore, so we’ll need to find another way to get your consumer electronics out of Libya," said Hajime.
"That will be a problem, especially since NATO is watching both the Aristotle and Bach closely. Hmm, I have an idea, but it will require some cooperation from you, Erik," said Aaron.
"Go on," replied Erik.
"We offload the consumer electronics from the Bach to Russian freighters in international waters, and they take it to Vladivostok. Hajime then picks it up from there. It’s a bit roundabout, but it should work. NATO isn’t going to stop a legal transfer of goods in international waters," explained Aaron.
"That could work. I’ll get my shipping partners on board with it," replied Erik.
"Good. Now, let’s get to work on building more HellVortex choppers," said Aaron.
----
Kazuya Honda sat in a booth in the Star-Crossed Maid Café, massaging his temples.
"Kazuya-sensei, what’s wrong?" asked Tomoe Tachibana, coming over to his booth.
"The board of directors and shareholders are after me to sever ties with Sirius Software. They say that our partnership with them is too risky," sighed Kazuya.
"But all we do is publish their video games. We aren’t involved in their more... controversial ventures," replied Tomoe.
"That’s not the point. The board is worried that our association with Sirius Software will hurt our reputation, especially with the way they are tangled up with this business in Libya," said Kazuya.
Tomoe cocked her head to the side.
"Then why not ask Master Zakhrov to buy out SEGA? He certainly seems to have the money for it," she suggested.
Kazuya’s eyes widened.
"That’s... actually not a bad idea," he said slowly.
Tomoe smiled impishly.
"Kazuya-sensei, you’re a dummy sometimes. It should have been the first thing you thought of," she teased.
Kazuya chuckled.
"I suppose it’s because I’d rather be Aaron’s partner than his subordinate," he said with a small smile.
"Hmmm, well. Would you trust SEGA to be owned by Sirius Software?" asked Tomoe.
Kazuya thought for a moment.
"I suppose it’s better than being owned by those vultures in BlackRock and Vanguard," he said with a sigh.
"Exactly. Now, why don’t you go and talk to Master Zakhrov about it?" suggested Tomoe with a smile.
Kazuya nodded, and stood up.
"Thanks Tomoe. I think I will," he said with a smile.
"Anytime, Kazuya-sensei," replied Tomoe with a smile.
----
"You seriously want me to buy out SEGA?" asked Aaron, looking at Kazuya in surprise.
"It’s either that, or I’ll be forced to sever ties with Sirius Software. The board and shareholders are worried about our association with you, especially with the way you’re involved in Libya," explained Kazuya.
"Why not sell to Hajime then?" asked Aaron.
"Hajime was forced to sell his stake in SEGA long before you came along. The Japanese government would rather sell SEGA to BlackRock than let him have a controlling interest," replied Kazuya.
"Then how are they letting him build them an aircraft carrier?" asked Aaron.
"The defense ministry is Hajime’s stronghold, the ministry of culture on the other hand is run by his main rival, Kenji Mitsuharu, who is in bed with BlackRock and Vanguard," explained Kazuya.
"All right. I’ll buy out SEGA, but on one condition," said Aaron.
"What’s that?" asked Kazuya.
"You have to stay on as CEO. I don’t trust anybody else to run SEGA," replied Aaron.
"I’d be honored," said Kazuya with a smile.
"Now, let’s get the paperwork started," said Aaron.