Opportunities, opportunities everywhere.

[Arage Bao]

Looking back at all the things I have been through, the good and the bad, I can’t help but be just a tad surprised. Surprised I ain’t dead or even worse, surprised that in the end I have managed to turn things around for myself. Probably wouldn’t have been able to do it without Spencer though, Spencer and Ashin… and Sargon and-- Sorry, I have to stop myself there. Too many damn names on the list, but I remember them all, every single one of ‘em. They remind me that my journey to the figural top wasn’t done all by myself, I wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own, that’s for sure.

These days I go by a lot of titles, titles and ranks. They make up my world and it’s getting increasingly harder to shrug them off, too much responsibility and too much power to handle… responsible. I manage tough, probably because of the aforementioned people, they keep me grounded to the… well… ground. Don’t allow me to grow too arrogant, because ticking me in the nose and reminding me what I am all about.

 

[Arage Bao]

Yet… I am growing more anxious by the day, fidgety; not knowing entirely what to do with my time. It’s not that I don’t have things to do, but ever since Sasha officially returned to the scene of Santhe… things have quieted down there. Not as much work necessary, the meetings grew shorter… you know the drill, sorta liked it in the beginning if I can be honest. Finally a moment to relax and all that, get some other activities in; learn more about the Force, you know how it is.

But like I said, anxious and restless, I can feel it in my gut again… that feeling of wonder and exploration. Telling me I gotta head out again and just… try something new, ain’t sure yet what I want to do though. Got all the money in the world, more power than I know what to do with and a woman who I am starting to… well let’s not use the L-word right away, but yeah. Let’s stick to appreciation for now.

 

[Arage Bao]

I had told Valik I was becoming bored with Santhe Corporation, right before he knocked me out cold with that pill and operated on me. Which was partially true, Santhe was specialized in a variety of things, and in heart… I wasn’t much of a ship person, I just ain’t feeling that connection. Especially once I sit in a small transporter and feel the soft screeching of the durasteel, protesting against the forces that were actively trying to squeeze the ship together.

So yeah… something different was in order, but what?

Eventually I decided it would be best to reach out to a couple of folks, get to know my options in the Corporate Segment, because I ain’t omniscient. I don’t have all the information always, guys in the boiler room might be able to give me a couple of tips. Tell me what the best target would be, profit-wise and also something that fits my… interest more these days.

 

[Arage Bao]

Didn’t take my contacts long to compile a pretty elaborate list on all the things that might be of interest to me these days. Jobs, artifacts, opportunities of sorts; they were all neatly organized on categories, labeled for convenience. One of the perks of operating the Security of a whole Nation, your guys know how to do things the good and organized way.

There were multiple things on the list that immediately jumped to mind, things that I would want to do, would want to take advantage of. Yet I knew that I couldn’t take too much on my plate, I settled down for a while and started crossing off things on the list. Things that just weren’t feasible at the moment, things that would take too much energy and work without enough pay-off, things like that.

 

[Arage Bao]

Took me a while though, a couple of hours definitely. Eventually I reached the end of the list for the upteenth time and was able to reduce the list to a mere two pointers. One of ‘em was an artifact retrieval, there was an auction currently ongoing on Contruum, with a… well I wouldn’t call it a valuable artifact.

But definitely interesting, I wouldn’t be able to get a bid on it myself, it was too late for that now… didn’t mean I wouldn’t try to get my hands on it regardless. I flagged that list, my men would keep track of the lot. Make sure we would be able to find the guy or girl who would end up acquiring the piece, and when I had some more time on my hands we would… see to acquiring it.

 

[Arage Bao]

Until that time there was a different matter though, as said previously Santhe Corporation was in good hands with Sasha. I would still go out and help the Corporation in any way possible, saw it like my baby… but it was time I found something else in the Galaxy. Something I could call my own, and that’s where point two comes into play.

This corporation was a big player, but not in the usual sense of the word. It ain’t focused on creating capital ships, or mass weapons of destructions… it was focused on the more subtle forms of enhancements. Just the thing I was a fan of these days, but how to acquire it?

Raven Industrial had taught me a few lessons on how to go around acquiring property. It had been fairly easy, but then again… the company hadn’t been really that big either. This would be different, very different… a challenge at last.

This was going to be fun.

 

[Arage Bao]

The Corporation was publicly traded, which meant that the first thing I would have to do was find the current owners of the stock and options of the company. Which might be easier said than done, but as said… I have been looking for a good challenge anyway, so this ain’t too shabby.

Fact that the corporation was publicly traded was a blessing and a curse at the same time. Meant that there would be records somewhere, records with names which could prove to be a good lead. But first I would have to get my hands on ‘em somehow, probably would have to call in a few favors for that but.. yeah, this was probably worth it. Worth it a lot.

Point was, with it being publicly traded… there would be more attention towards possible shifts in ownership than I was comfortable with. Would have to find a way to get around that problem, keep my name out of the books, all of ‘em.

 

[Arage Bao]

Best approach would be to not be involved at all, except in spirit and mind. Control a few people’s minds, make ‘em sign all the deals with mind controlled drones… stay out of sight, out of mind the whole time.

Seemed prudent.

I was enjoying this way too much honestly, could almost feel the giddy feeling rising up through my veins. Looked around for a moment and then finally settled eyes on the holofeed, with a few clicks I contacted a guy, who knew a guy, who knew a guy.

Majority stockholder would have to come first, if there was one to begin with. Gotta know my targets, might just keep a few of ‘em around, wipe their will and turn ‘em into tools. Might be a good idea, some of ‘em might have a better idea on how to properly run the company and all that.

Would have to think about this more closely.

 

[Arage Bao]

There was a majority stockholder, his name was Alexandrovski Damadoran the Fourth. A pretty long, stylish name to be honest, I think Tyrin would have appreciated the man if he had known him, probably. There were a few ways to go around this, the first way was the most obvious one, hit him up and mindbend him into giving me what I wanted. It was the most obvious one, the easiest way and the quickest. Fact was though… it was also the way to expose myself, which wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, I was trying a new route, one where my face didn’t decorate the news or any Sio-based blogs.

So option two was something more subtle, find out everything about him, what he does, when he does it and all that crap. Then walk into his favorite restaurant with a biochemical mask, wait until he arrives, pretend to be eating and then change his mental patterns just slightly. Enough to give out an offer or two that would be profitable for me, but not… for him. Again, this meant me going out of my way to interact with him.

Option three was maybe simpler, but not exactly the way I was looking for. Just give him the damn money, the exact worth of the stocks and maybe a tad more. This meant spending quite a bit of money, but if the guy was happy, he wouldn’t go out of his way to poke around and see what was up. At least, if he was willing to sell in the first place, which honestly.. it didn’t really look like he was.

So… maybe option two combined with option one? After that I’d have to go through the rest of the holders though, I ain’t wanting to share this company with other nozzles, not yet at least.

 

[Arage Bao]

Didn’t take long for me to take the figurative third option, even though it’s actually the fourth option, doesn’t matter. What did I do, you might ask yourself right about now, pretty simple really; I picked out a random guy in a crowd of people, fixed up his mental patterns just a tinsy, tiny bit and then sent him out on an errand with me riding proverbial shotgun in his mind. This way I wasn’t physically there when everything went down, the guy I was using as my extension wasn’t connected to me in any way and if something does go wrong I can just cut ‘im loose, pretty cold but hey. It’s business.

So with that I came into majority control over Neuro-Saav Corporation, the former owner was convinced to part with his shares for a bargain price and was even pretty happy with his deal. He even gave my guy a couple of tips on how to track down the other little shareholders, which was pretty useful for us when we eventually came around to do it.

That’s really the end of the story, ain’t sure what else to add here. Was I a bit of a bastard for doing this? Probably. But hey, I never tried to claim to be some kind of Paragon of Virtue, you will need some Jedi Master for that. Heard that Sardun guy knows what’s what in that territory.