Stacker Pentecost glared at the liaison, who looked determined and cool but was internally panicking.
"..No."
"Marshal-"
"I said no."
That immediately shut up the liaison from Apex Cybernetics, the company that was pioneering 'next gen' technology in today's time. Technology that was, admittedly, better than most that the PPDC could get, except for Hoenn's tech.
Yet, Stacker was no fool. He knew that companies like these always had their own agenda, especially Apex, since he had personally busted one of their 'black sites' where they were experimenting on Kaiju remains for their own gain, but he was forced to forget all of this because of politics.
The liaison from Apex Cybernetics, a man called Jonathan, fumed at the Marshal's direct refusal to their company's proposal.
"Marshal, I know that you have your grievances with us, but you must look at the big picture here. We are all working towards the collective good of the human race-"
"2001, November. Apex Cybernetics, then known as Applied Experimental Technologies, was caught selling advanced weapons to the Russians through a proxy. The military leaders of those times wrote it off as a simple mistake, and you all got off scot-free because you paid your way out of it."
Jonathan fell silent as Marshal Stacker Pentecost, the de facto leader of the PPDC, which was increasingly becoming the only military arm of the UN under Hoenn and its allies' strong-arming and coercing at the UN, glared down at him, making the civilian so nervous that he might really soil his pants at any moment.
"The world forgot about this incident and moved on. But I did not, because I lost many fellow graduates from the officers academy when we intercepted one of those ghost ships and were fired upon by your PMC."
"That incident prompted me to dig deeper into your people, and I found a lot of stuff that you buried under the dust of history."
"Now, now, Marshal-"
Stacker clicked a few keys, making the holographic display show several files.
"1999. Applied Experimental Technologies, AET for short, was found guilty of contacting terrorist organizations to try and sell arms to them. They were pardoned after they claimed corruption and used a few middle management members of their company as scapegoats. The only reason they were allowed to do all of this was that AET was one of the biggest Military Contractors of the USA, and the country could not afford it to switch sides at that time."
"2005. AET formed a joint venture with Magma Industries to provide 'protection' to the paranoid countries around the world after the Titan scare at the 1999 classified UN meeting with Hoenn's representatives that discussed the existence of the Primal Trio and other such native titans. A venture that neither of your companies has delivered on to this day, despite taking billions in funding."
"2007. After many intensive investigations carried out covertly by the UN, it was revealed that AET was working on cybernetic implants that would allow them to control animals, which required inhumane experimentation on animals and people. AET avoided all blame by, once again, bribing their way out of it and using someone else as a scapegoat while continuing their work. Work that, we suspect, has been sold to Aqua Shipping Inc."
"2013. After the first Kaiju attack, your people were the first on the ground. Not to help the civilians, but to harness the Kaiju tissue samples. Records show that your people deliberately ignored the pleas for help from many a trapped and injured civilians in favor of your scientific curiosity, leading to the deaths of many people who could have been saved."
Stacker glared at the pale Jonathan and turned off the display.
"This is just the highlight reel. Jonathan Reed of Apex Cybernetics. The extensive list that I have on your company is enough to fill out a whole chapter of the history books and still fall short of capturing how atrocious you and your company are to this world and humanity as a whole."
"And now? Out of nowhere, you people suddenly show up at PPDC? Claiming that you want to 'help humanity'? How laughable."
The man stalked around the seated corporate executive, who had already soiled his pants by this point under the sheer intimidation factor of the fearsome veteran.
"I know exactly what you and your CEO and shareholders are after."
Stacker grinned maliciously as he whispered in a low voice.
"The HAM reactor, and access to Hoenn's Anti-Matter generation method."
Jonathan nearly collapsed when he heard those words, because it really was true.
Ever since Hoenn published their scientific paper and showed proof of their Hoenn Anti-Matter Reactor, or HAM reactor for short, and their Anti-Matter generation particle accelerator to the world, there has been a frenzy where literally anyone who dabbled in the energy or weapon development sector was chomping at the bit to get their hands on this technology.
Unfortunately for them, Hoenn has strictly kept this technology off limits for all civilian industries and companies, and even governments at large, only choosing to trade this technology to the PPDC in the name of fighting the Kaiju. Even then, this technology was only on lease and would be reclaimed once the war was over, and all data on it would be purged from PPDC's databases and files by Hoenn's agents, who were constantly keeping a watch on PPDC across all ranks.
That is why Apex made the bold decision to come directly to the Marshal and try to persuade him to let Apex into their ranks, which would give the company the opportunity to compromise the PPDC from within and allow them to extract the data about the reactor and generation method to the company.
Unfortunately, they could have never guessed that Marshal Pentecost had a personal grudge against the company and was always keeping tabs on them, busting their plans before they even began.
"Get out of my sight, and never come back. Tell your pathetic CEO, that bastard Walter Simmons, that I know his god complex all too well, and I will never allow him to so much as look at what we have here. As for his backers and the politicians he has on his payroll? I have ways to deal with them as well."
Stacker sneered as his next words nearly made the civilian pee his pants again.
"After all, it would not be the first time that the agents of Hoenn made VIPs disappear into thin air, even if they have mellowed out in the past few decades."
"Tell him that the next time he tries anything at my PPDC, I will personally make sure that history remembers him for exactly what he is, and Apex Cybernetics will cease to exist."
Jonathan directly ran out of the office, not even caring that everyone would catch sight of his soiled pants, for terror was the only thing on his mind at the moment.
As for Marshal Stacker Pentecost? He picked up his phone and dialed a familiar number.
"Tendo? Call in our Hoenn delegates to my office. Tell them that we might have possible 'parasites' trying to invade us in the future."
With that, the office fell silent as Stacker Pentecost continued to look at Apex's file, staring at one particular report that was only half complete before the whole investigation was shut down due to pressure from various political bodies.
An investigation that talked about Apex's attempts at trying to develop a device that could control a native Titan.
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