Save the Day Program, once again. (Gundam IBO/Satisfactory SI): Chapter 7

Bureaucracy, no matter the world, is a headache.

Fortunately, I have a competent assistant to take care of the tedious stuff. Even though she could do with reduced bad jokes on her part.

“Well, looks like everything is in order, Mr. Thornton. On behalf of the SAU, I welcome you and FICSIT Inc. to the Jupiter sphere.”

I smiled and shook hands with the representative from Strategic Alliance Union, or SAU for short.

The smooth process with which ADA and I managed to register FICSIT Inc. as a legitimate industry migrating to the Jupiter Sphere from an inner colony made the hassle of dressing in a formal suit and lubricating hands with a lot of money worth it.

It took me nearly one month, ever since I landed on Europa through my make-shift slingshot maneuver, to reach this point.

And it was not easy.

Ever since I landed on Europa, I saw proof everywhere that this was a Gundam universe without much effort.

The starving people on the streets of the habitat module, the wealthy industrialists that were subordinated to the Economic Blocks, the rampant use of military to suppress the common people, and the blatant lack of care for human life, the undercurrent violence across the habitats all over Jupiter’s moons and the space colonies, the list went on and on.

In the one month I spent in the underbelly of these habitats and stations, selling my ore and resources illegally to gain obscene amount of credits, the currency in the Jupiter sphere, which is valued at roughly 1 Jupiter credit being worth 0.1 Earth credit, gathering intelligence, hacking into all sorts of public and private infrastructure, I have become intimately familiar with the kind of struggles that the human race of this universe is facing on a daily basis.

But the thing that made me angry was that all the issues that these people were facing were things that could be easily fixed with just a little effort on the part of the rulers of this place, who happen to be a Conglomerate known as Teiwaz followed by the two economic blocks of SAU and the Oceania Federation.

Now, one might question, why am I registering my business under the territory of SAU when I know that they harm their own people in such a way?

Simple, because I need a legitimate starting point from which I can rise to the top, and then legally and cleanly take over everything.

To do something like that, SAU is the only option I have.

The Teiwaz ask too many questions, and their quasi-Yakuza way of doing things is not something I like, not to mention that those guys practically advertise their piracy and illegal activity, which makes any business affiliated with them go through heavy scrutiny when they do business with Earth.

The Oceania Federation, on the other hand, is way too lax, letting the companies registered under its territory duke it out for the sake of supremacy, which I don’t like either.

This leaves the SAU as the only option since, despite its rather strict way of doing things, it is also rather easy to weasel my way into its structure, given that I’ve learned just whose palms to grease and whose life to threaten to reach this point.

“Thank you, Mr. Mercy. It was a pleasure.”

The fat bastard in front of me grinned as he shook hands firmly, probably imagining all kinds of greedy things like how he can manipulate me or gain something from me down the road.

Poor bastard has no idea that if my plan succeeds, people like him will go away for a long, long time.

“The pleasure is mine, Mr. Thornton. Incidentally, I have already fast-tracked the approval request for your company’s utilization of the Ariadne network within the Jupiter Sphere. It is a shame that the network does not extend past Uranus, which means that you will have to navigate the perilous space between Pluto and Uranus on your own.”

Ah, I see. So that’s the angle this guy is going for.

He wants to use the lack of proper trade routes between Jupiter and Pluto to attack my cargo through proxies like the various Pirate groups and then gain a profit for himself.

Clever, but foolish.

“I see. It is indeed a shame, but I think we will manage. Thank you for the work, Mr. Mercy. A small token of my appreciation, please accept it.”

I forwarded a ‘small’ amount of credits to his account, making his communicator chime at the message and making the fat bastard grin even more.

Politics. I hate it so much, but I also recognize its usefulness, especially for my current situation.

With the deal done, I walked out of the lavish district within Europa’s habitat and headed for the shuttle that I had bought recently with the money I made by selling my raw materials here.

Actually, it would be accurate to say that ADA brought the shuttle as a sham from one of the industries that sells spaceships in these parts.

Why is it a sham? Because she used the purchase as a way to break into their systems and steal the blueprints for all of their larger ships without them noticing anything.

She is quite a scary girl when she is curious about something.

But seriously, she got a lot of business done in the one month I spent here, researching the social systems, geo-political climate, and other such stuff.

She managed to falsify an ironclad paper trail that made our presence legal on Pluto in both the Jupiter Sphere’s systems as well as that of the Jupiter Sphere branch of Gjallarhorn.

She also brought the mining rights on the planet in such a way that it predates our presence on the dwarf planet, giving us a legitimate reason to exist there.

She also made FICSIT Inc. a proper company, albeit registered as a start-up business, from one of the inner colonies, making the process of registering our presence within the Jupiter Sphere a breeze compared to the hoops I would have been forced to go through if I had registered it as a company created in the sphere itself.

She also falsified records of having over a few hundred employees under our company who ‘work’ in our ‘mining and manufacturing facility’ on Pluto, masking the truth that all of our systems are automated, which is heavily frowned upon within the colonies and outright banned in the Earth sphere.

And as if all of this was not enough, she also pilfered all kinds of technologies and scientific knowledge without notice from across the Jupiter sphere on the side while carrying all the previous tasks.

All in all, while I was dealing with the physical aspects of our presence in this universe, she was dealing with the digital aspects, which are orders of magnitude harder than my task.

I’ll say it again, ADA is one scary girl when she is curious and driven with a purpose.

As my shuttle took off and started its inertial drives to travel to Pluto, I took off my business suit and put on my FICSIT suit, making me feel relieved since I felt practically naked without my HUD and the conveniences that I had gotten used to having with my suit.

“ADA, how are things looking on your end?”

“I have traced the paperwork filed by Mr. Mercy, Administrator. He was telling the truth. He had indeed expedited the request for accessing the Ariadne network for FICSIT’s use. However, I have also found that he has made several communications with known Pirate groups in the Jupiter Sphere.”

The Ariadne network is a series of communication buoys, scattered across the solar system.

These things work on Ahab reactors, which is a whole different beast that I’ll think about at a later date.

The reason why access to these things is so important for anyone is because they act as the lighthouses within the abyss, lighting the way for nearly all forms of space travel through the perilous dangers of outer space.

Supposedly, these things were put into use way before the Calamity War and paved the way for the colonization of the Solar System. However, after the Calamity War, much of the network had been abandoned due to the massive fields of junk and ruin that now clutter these paths, thanks to the war, making it impossible for most ships to travel through those routes.

Aside from the practical problem, there is also the issue that any commercial ship transporting goods must travel through the Ariadne routes if they want to pass through Earth’s security fleet and trade with the homeworld, since Gjallarhorn refuses entry to any ship that does not travel through the Ariadne routes.

In other words, the Ariadne network works both as a safe passage and as a Panama Canal expy which allows Gjallarhorn to control the various corporations and Economic Blocks on Earth with an iron fist.

“I see, so my guess was right. He will attack our cargo ships the moment we start shipping the raw materials to SAU from now on.”

“Assumption highly likely to be true. I suggest we start the militarization of our factory to protect FICSIT Interests.”

“And how are things looking on that end?”

If ADA had a human face, I have no doubt that she would be grinning ear to ear right now since I can practically feel the glee in her tone.

“I have already managed to buy a lot of weapon blueprints from various defense contractors, including the Mobile Worker units and Mobile Suits, along with various Kinetic and Ballistic weaponry. I also tried to find the so-called Beam weapons and other advanced military technologies, but the annoying ban on such branches of science by Gjallarhorn has hindered my progress in those areas.”

“That is fine and all, but how are you planning on powering the Mobile Suites? The Mobile Workers can be retrofitted to work with our biofuel systems since they are primarily electric vehicles, but the Mobile Suites require the Ahab reactors to function, which we have no way of acquiring for now. At least, not until we find a way to purchase the damned things from Gjallarhorn once we gain a proper reputation.”

“You are correct, Administrator. However, just because we can’t use them does not mean they won’t be of any use to have the designs. Besides, I can use the time until we get the reactors to study the designs and improve on their primitive systems, bringing them up to FICSIT standards.”

Honestly, she is such a kleptomaniac when it comes to unknown things. But, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

ADA has become a close friend in the years we have spent together, which means that I accept her for who she is, including her quirks of personality.

Shaking my head to get rid of those thoughts, I watched through the viewports as the shuttle left the range of the Ariadne network, heading towards Pluto.

I have a lot of work to do and barely enough time.

But one thing is for sure, I will make it so that FICSIT become the dominant force in this region of space, allowing me to overtake the colonies and help fix whatever damage I can.

Not because I have a god complex or because I think I can fix all of humanity’s problems by myself.

God knows I am not that selfless. In fact, I am very, very selfish by nature and prioritize the safety of myself and ADA first and foremost.

However, I do think that once I secure ADA and I’s interests, I will still have sufficient power left to change the lives of these people for the better.

So why not do it since I have the power to do so?

That is why I want to do it, because I have the power and it won’t cost me anything to do so.

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Economic Blocs on Earth: