Episode 194

"Teiro, catch. This is the list of the former Enzio Military’s primary business partners."

Alan flicked a black chip toward him. Taro caught it with a casual "Senkyu" and jammed it into his terminal for an immediate download.

"Ooh, finally arrived, has it? My thanks to the Intelligence Department for the hustle... Ugh, that’s a hell of a lot of data... Sending it over to you guys too."

Marl and Koume were lounging in the Plum’s common room, taking a breather. Taro gave them a wave. The chip’s contents were a massive directory of the former Enzio Military's main suppliers. Both women pulled out their mobile terminals and started scanning the wall of text.

"I’m impressed this even exists," Marl murmured, sounding genuinely surprised. "I assumed the old government had scrubbed the archives clean."

Alan sank onto the sofa with a weary, bitter smile. "Believe me, I went through hell and back to dig that up."

"It’s not the complete picture, unfortunately, but I managed to scrape together about eighty percent," Alan continued. "Turns out a few rats in the former military made off with the data, thinking it might be worth a payday down the road. I can't exactly praise their loyalty, but they certainly did us a favor. It cost me about three million Credits total, but I assume that’s fine?"

Alan dropped the figure like it was pocket change. Marl’s brow furrowed and she looked ready to protest, but she ultimately bit her tongue.

"Hell yeah, it’s fine," Taro chimed in. "If we got the intel for that... actually, wait. Is it just me, or is my sense of money totally broken? That’s about three hundred million Yen, right? Wait... is that not actually that expensive?"

"It’s plenty expensive for paying off a bunch of looters," Marl snapped. "Koume, run the cross-reference."

"Understood, Miss Marl. Processing... Complete. Transmitting now."

Following Marl's lead, Koume closed her eyes for a heartbeat before giving a sharp nod. Instantly, Taro’s terminal blinked with the results. It was a side-by-side comparison of the partner list provided by Takasaki and this new data.

"...Wait, a big fat zero?" Taro frowned.

The result was "No Matches." Not a single overlapping company between the two lists.

"So, the Enzio conspiracy and this current one are being run by different corporations?" Marl asked. "Is this just some kind of copycat move?"

Taro let out a long, low groan. "I mean, maybe. But would there really be multiple organizations out there pulling this exact same flavor of bullshit?"

Alan looked equally pensive. "It’s a long shot, but I wouldn't rule it out entirely. Besides, at this stage, the idea that someone is pulling the strings is still just an educated guess."

A heavy, frustrating silence descended on the room. Everyone looked like they’d just swallowed a lemon. Suddenly, Koume broke the quiet.

"Excuse me, Mr. Alan, but this isn't the entire list, is it?"

Alan shot her a confused look. "What? No, that’s everything... Oh, you mean the uncurated list?"

"Affirmative, Mr. Alan. All the business partners on this specific list appear to have very recent transaction dates."

"Right, I see where you’re going. Hold on... Here."

Alan rummaged through the inner pocket of his jacket and brandished a second chip.

"This should have every partner going back thirty years. Fair warning: it’s an absolute mess. Probably for counter-intel purposes, but nothing is indexed, the entries are randomized, and the formatting is a nightmare."

"No need to worry, Mr. Alan," Koume said with a sweet smile. "Isn't that right, Mr. Teiro?"

"You bet. Leave it to me. This kind of digital archaeology is my bread and butter."

Taro took the chip, fueled by Koume’s vote of confidence. He initiated the download and started hacking through the forest of disorganized data.

"Right, I keep forgetting the Boss has a cheat code for this kind of thing," Alan muttered. "Well? Anything?"

"Hang on... and presto. All cleaned up and sorted for your viewing pleasure."

"Dammit," Alan cursed. "My team spent days on manual extraction, and you just made us look like absolute amateurs."

"Hey, don't feel bad. I can't verify if the data is actually real," Taro said, waving it off. "I can't track corporate lineages or hidden ties either. You guys still have to do the boring legwork."

"Maybe so, but it’s still a blow to my ego. Next time, I’m just bringing the raw data straight to you... Wait. Hold the phone. Did we just hit the jackpot?"

Alan’s eyes sharpened as he stared at his terminal. Taro met his gaze and gave a slow, grim nod.

"522 matches. All of them did business with Enzio right before the war kicked off."

"And every single one is a shell company," Marl added. "So, they were just fronts?"

"Looks like it... No, I'm certain," Taro said. "Every one of these companies 'withdrew' from the market a few years later, citing lack of profit. Well, duh. They were just sacrificial lamb corporations used for Dumping."

"Which means," Marl leaned in, "the companies that moved in to replace them are the real targets. Which ones are they?"

"Give me a sec... There. Sent the list to your devices. Whoa... these guys were doing business with every single Alliance in the pack."

It was exactly as Marl suspected. The group of corporations on the list had been conducting trades with every single faction that eventually formed the Enzio Alliance.

"They didn't care who won or lost," Alan spat. "Worse, they probably tweaked the scales to keep the fight balanced. Selling high-tech gear to whoever was losing... These are genuine Merchants of Death."

Taro sat in silence for a moment, letting the reality of it sink in.

"Look, we deal in weapons too," Taro started. "I don't think there's anything inherently evil about making a buck by selling guns to both sides. But—"

He slammed his fist onto the table, his knuckles white.

"—intentionally fanning the flames of war just to pad your pockets? That I can't stand. Enzio ended up targeting civilians because of this, and this whole mess is eventually going to knock on our front door. I’m not gonna pretend I’m some moral saint, but this? This pisses me off."

He glared at the table, his mouth set in a hard line. "I’m with you," Marl said softly. They all exchanged looks of grim determination.

"The war is one thing, but those brainwashed Pirates are unforgivable," Marl continued. "If your theory is right, this is monstrous. I won't let it slide."

"Agreed," Alan nodded. "I know outer space is usually an 'anything goes' kind of playground, but there are lines you don't cross. This crosses all of them."

"Koume concurs as well, Mr. Teiro. While I may not fully grasp the complexities of human ethics, I was not programmed to stand idly by while harm is inflicted upon those I hold dear. I have my pride as an AI."

Taro looked around at his crew and gave a firm nod.

"Alright. Then it’s settled. Let’s show these pieces of shit what happens when you toy with people for a profit. Koume, give us a summary of the situation."

"Understood, Mr. Teiro," Koume said, standing tall.

"The hostile organization—let us refer to them as the Enemy Company, or EC—likely deployed a massive wave of bellicose Pirates into the three territories of the Old Enzio Territory. These pirates were brainwashed using neuro-narcotics and Override Devices. This was the First Phase."

Koume placed her terminal on the table, projecting a holographic map of the Old Enzio Territory.

"Since the WIND mass-outbreak hadn't occurred yet, the impact was significant. Each Alliance was forced into a massive military buildup for self-defense, reaching a point of no return. However, they became entirely dependent on the low-cost Warships provided by the newly-arrived 'bargain' corporations. This was the Second Phase."

On the holograph, countless ships labeled [SPECIAL PRICE] appeared, their numbers multiplying rapidly.

"Then, timing it perfectly, they stopped the pirate attacks. This left the Alliances with an economy tilted entirely toward military spending, forcing them to find a new outlet for that consumption. With three neighbors in the exact same predicament, a military conflict was the natural—and likely intended—outcome."

The holographic ships began to clash, their numbers thinning. Once they reached a certain threshold, the [SPECIAL PRICE] tags vanished.

"The discount shipbuilders withdraw, and the real players move in to harvest the profits. To ensure no one switches suppliers, the initial discount ships were likely equipped with specific, proprietary systems. A military in the middle of a war doesn't have the luxury of retraining or switching to inferior tech. Consequently, EC's high-end ships sweep the market. This is the Third Phase."

The ships on the map were now labeled [EC].

"So that's how Enzio got those high-spec Electronic Warfare Craft," Alan mused. "They were totally disproportionate to their tech level. They didn't buy them because they wanted to; they bought them because they had to."

Koume nodded. "It is the most logical conclusion. Once this stage is reached, they simply maintain the balance of power. They prop up the losers and suppress the winners, dragging the war out indefinitely to maximize exploitation. Enzio was eventually bled so dry they had no choice but to join forces just to survive. Their only option then was to find a new target to project their military might—which led to the recent war."

The holographic fleet turned as one, moving toward the territory marked [EAP].

"The one thing EC cannot allow in this war is for the EAP to resolve the situation through non-military means. For example, a quick peace treaty involving reparations, or a total Enzio victory that unifies the region."

Marl stood up so fast her chair nearly tipped. "That's why they hit the civilian stations! They wanted to make sure the EAP would be too pissed off to ever negotiate for peace!"

Koume nodded slowly. "And the Alpha Star System was likely targeted for the same reason. The EAP couldn't possibly ignore that. If Alpha falls, the EAP’s only access to the Imperial market is via the Zayed Route. However, since EC doesn't actually want the EAP to lose, they were likely aiming for a quagmire... but then, they hit a snag."

Koume’s gaze locked onto Taro. He smiled and finished the thought.

"Us. And Dingo. We cornered Enzio and actually won. The EAP still has gas in the tank, and Enzio is basically collapsing from the inside out... Thanks, Koume."

Koume pinched the hem of her skirt and gave a graceful bow.

"Everyone on the same page? EC is trying to pull the same trick on the EAP right now. The problem is identifying who 'EC' actually is and finding a way to prove it... Alan, any ideas?"

Alan had been staring silently at his terminal for a while. After a long beat, he gave a slow nod.

"I had a few suspects, but there’s only one corporation with the muscle to pull off a stunt this big. They’re directly linked to the companies that replaced the Boss’s shell corporations."

Alan sighed, looking uncharacteristically small.

"Mercenaries Corporation. They’ve got over 1.2 million employees, and their subsidiaries are too many to count. They do everything from shipbuilding to private security—a textbook military-industrial complex. They’re a 'Mega-Corp' headquartered in the Imperial core, and their public image is actually pretty clean."

Alan looked up, a rare look of hesitation on his face.

"Compared to them, the EAP and Dingo are just dust in the wind. What's the plan, Boss? We didn't just hook a big fish. We accidentally harpooned a goddamn megalodon."