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Martin looked at his holo-news terminal with disgust, one of his aides also looking at his datapad reading the same article. The CEO of GDI wordlessly arose from his chair and looked out of the window of his high rise in Coronet City, the sunlight glinting off of the other skyscrapers dotting the landscape. Silence prevailed between the two men for several moments until the aide spoke up:"What now? Do you want to make a public statement?"
"No."Martin said, placing a cigarette between his lips and snapping a lighter until a flame arose from within it. He lit the other end and took in a few puffs, pushing the smoke out through his nostrils in frustration as the only visible sign of his ill temper."Our foreign investments and income will offset this to some degree. We will need to lobby with some of those representatives to try and get some tax incentives of our own. And we may need to consider preparing for... more egregious government overreach. You heard what happened with those companies linked with the Maw?"
The aide's expression and countenance grew stiff."We... we haven't been dealing with... them, have we?"
"No, nothing so crass. I'm not in the business of outfitting terrorists. Who the feck do you think I am?"The pitch of Martin's voice rose slightly, his ocular implants giving his eyes a particular glint that seemed to highlight his now visible indignance. He calmed down almost immediately after his outburst as he continued:"But rumors are another thing entirely. Subpoenas, search warrants, fines; all of these could be weaponized along with the ebb and flow of galactic politics. We supply the galaxy with arms and armaments within the bounds of the law, but this... this idiocy is clearly meant to dog-whistle intent to rein in those companies like us who do so."
The CEO paced for a moment before pausing, clearly a course of action presenting itself."Get our legal teams to work on fighting this. And in looking for other loopholes we can take advantage of. We aren't going to take this lying down."The aide nodded and rose to comply with Martin's wishes, but he was suddenly stopped with the CEO's voice adding:
"And give me a shortlist of planets we can relocate our headquarters to in more... favorable climates."