NationStates Jolt Archive

[size=1][OOC: Decided to move it to I.I., since I.I. is funner and N.S. is too elitist.]

There had been certain inspiration from Jaque's work (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=442563) within the Imperial Intelligence for National Security Agency , or as it was called within the Empire, [i]Kaiserliche Intelligenz für nationalen Sicherheitsdienst, especially when he began to send his reports to Dietrich Harbinger, who was none other than the owner of Kriegzimmer. Harbinger had been lucky to have began his armament industry during a time of war, indeed, his illegal growth patterns had been largely overlooked since everybody needed his armaments and nobody was willing to put their lifes lines on the line. As a consequence, when the Catatan dynasty had come to power, sitting on the Golden Throne, Jonach I had decided to ignore Harbinger's methodical gobbling of other armament industries. By the time Jonach died Kriegzimmer had become a conglomerate, and Harbinger slipped behind the curtain, keeping a low profile, but retaining his control of the entire armament industry of the Empire.

Fedor was an ardent believer in moderate capitalism. It was to say, he held a free market as long as it did not infringe on the welfare of the people. As Emperor of the Golden Throne, heir to Jonach I, he had the power to enforce his policies with the IINSA, and so far the people had retained their largely free standard of living, regarding social welfare; in terms of money, they made substantially more than they needed - well, the white collar society at least.

However, the restraints on pure capitalism were laxing. The most plausible attributes to this would be the fact taht the Empir was in flames. Indeed, Weigar and Soborguntia were in full fledge rebellion (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=439156), and all the while Havenite forces were moving towards Mosnoi Bor. Fedor's belligerence abroad wasn't helping the situation either, and the war of Golden Succession [that between Weigar, Sarcanza, Hailandkill, Mekugi and SafeHaven] was threatening to engulf battles near Noddestan. Fedor did not have the time to maintain social welfare when he risked being dethroned.

Harbinger was not a man to miss opportunities, as his entire business was built on that, and he decided to take a look at the situation in Guffingford. The Order of the Invisible Hand, something that more information was arriving every day, had interested him immensly, and his mind spun in circles as he thought of what he could do. The reports from Jacque had only served to underscore his perpetual interest in a similar society in the Empire. However, he had no interest in joining or using the Order; no, that would put him as a subordinate, and he was not willing to be second in line - only first. Instead, he designed his own 'Order'. It would shadow and suprass the Order of the Invisible Hand in cruently and tenacity.

For that intent he invited those who thought alike, incuding the aristocracy of Kriegzimmer and the surviving nobles of Dienstad [most had been killed by Heinrich, father and attempted usurper of Fedor's throne during the War of Golden Succession]. In all, some three hundred would flock to him. The meeting was to be held in Fedala within a largely subterranean basement of an abandoned factory, sitting in the ferociously ugly industrial polygon of the city.

The guests began to arrive around eleven of that night, and they walked through the cold streets of Fedala's industrial polygon as the skies flashed above them with the boom and thunder of Imperial artillery punishing ranks of rebel soldiers who dared dethrone Fedor. Most of the guests parked their Maseratis and Ferraris within the heavily guarded manager parking lots sorrounding the area, hounded by criminals ready to steal a good car and sell it for much less than its intended price. But most of the guests didn't matter, simply because the parking lots were laden with specially paid security in the form of conscripted Zarbian nomads, trained in the art of warfare, and even more because if Harbinger's dreams became reality they would be the richest men in the world. They walked in gracefully, patting down their Armani and Gucci suits, and taking a seat in the leather padded chairs that lined themselves around tables of glazed oak.

The room fillled rapidly as the men, and Harbinger soon was prepared to begin his speech. Smiling in the side lines, and waving to men he recognized, he slowly made his way to the lector to the forefront of the crowd, and all fell silent. Taking a good look to those who had come before him that night he smiled again and thought how wonderful this would all turn out. He then closed his eyes, opened them, and began to speak,"Welcome gentlemen to the first union of the Knights of Pis-Sar. You all have a vague idea of what is expected of you, and of your status as a knight, and you have all been briefed on what I know about the Order of the Invisible Hand. Consequently, you all have some sort of idea of what the Knights will represent.

However, to be more specific, I will develope on the Knights of Pir-Sar. The Empire is a capitalistic market, however, even Jonach, and now even more Fedor, have committed themselves to the protection of the white collar and blue collar working class, and they have even exported their welfare ideas to Guffingford, currently facing a clandestine revolution of the Order of the Invisible Hand. This is a direct threat to us, and our business, and our livelyhood, and we for one must not stand for this.

For too long we have been teaching about Darwanism, but for too long we have ignored the simple facts that life, money and survival depend on this, even in today's economy. Those who are built for it make it, and those are the ones with the gold. As it is put so finely by our philosophers of the 19th century, those who own the gold make the rules. Therefore, I propose we form a coalition to make sure we are the fittest for survival.

It is to say, we will take capitalism so far that we will suck the living blood from the whatever country we may be in at any time, and the profit will go to us. We will destroy people, destroy countries, through economy. We will become economic terrorist. We will be the cuase of poverty world wide. But in the end, we will have the gold, and we will have the world."

Whispers ruffled through the crowd, and that soon become shouts, and cries for order, and the such. The people had been stirred, that was quite obvious, but some had been persuaded, as others stared in disbelief. However, all understood that the Knigts of Pir-Sar were not just myths, and that it would soon rise as a reality. Indeed, if things went as Harbinger expected, the Empire would soon be the first nation to fall to the Knights, and then would come others. Most men around those tables were business men; they were trained for greed - and tonight would prove that.

After some ten minutes, as Harbinger stared calmly into the crowd, order began to form, and most fell silent. A single man from a table far in the rear stood and said,"I am a knight." Soon, others followed, and finally those who decided not to conform left the building, carefully watched by Harbinger. He studied their faces, memorized every aspect of their characteristics, because they would be the first victims of Purified Capitalism.

Harbinger smiled for the third time and murmured,"Let the economic holocaust begin. The Empire, beacon of social welfare, and military prowess." He giggled and finished,"This was."

Fedala International News Reporter

National

Kriegzimmer United With Greater Electric Industries

Beda Fromm, the Empire - In an epic deal Kriegzimmer Conglomerate, long owner of all Imperial armament companies, gobbled up Greater Electric Industries [GEI], provider of ten percent of the Empire's electrictal power needs, as well as twenty-eight percent of her appliance needs. The deal was struck at two hundred billion Reichmarks, which was paid in full to the CEO and Owner of GEI, Albrecht Schloster. The union has faced terrible criticisms and has already had dire consequences for several workers of the Empire.

Indeed, economists have hailed the deal as another case of Dietrich Harbinger's attempt to monopolize several industries. Harbinger, owner of Kriegzimmer [although not CEO], forged Kriegzimmer and he himself crafted the monopolization of the armament industries through wit and quick thinking. By 2011 he had basically forced other companies to join under his wing because of his ability to steal costumers. Now, many fear that Harbinger is attempting to monopolize the electrical industry.

Countering the accusations Harbinger claims,
I don't understand why someone would want to accuse me of that. Even by monopolizing the armament industries there remains the fact that there are dozens of foreign exporters which cheaper prices. It' just a matter of quality, and in no way, shape or form am I attempting to gain full control of either industry. The claims are simply ludicrous.

Nonetheless, the effects of the union could be felt throughout the Empire within two days, as over six thousand workers lost their jobs, with another projected sixty thousand losing them by next year. The administrational welfare has been hard put to recreate those jobs in another market, but can only promise to have forty thousand jobs by the time the job loss projection had been finalized. Some workers have gone picketing, blaming the throne for not putting down the monopolization of goods as it had promised to do.

It is expected that Dienstan General Electric [DGE] takes over some six percent of GEIs market, and then more if DGE continues to expand. Most economist expect this to happen, as one says,
I don't believe there's a chance that Harbinger can buy off DGE, the single largest electrical company in the Empire. This is simply because Fedor offers them more money per annum than Harbinger can think of. This will very easy become an economic war, and it will be Harbinger's money against that of the Empire. Frankly, how could the latter lose?

However, no one can really say what would happen, as what Fedor once protected against happens before his very eyes.

Dietrich Harbinger sat down in a poorly constructed wooden chair, half luxury/half crap, in front of his colleague Gareth von Vender, the highly esteemed owner of Dienstad General Electric, which had become the largest independent gas provider to the Empire after Kriegzimmer had eaten Greater Electric Industries. This succession of events had led Harbinger to lust for DGE, especially when it would lead to him owning the majority of the electricity and gas industry of the Empire. This is why he had cajoled von Vender into meeting him that evening. At first the latter man had frankly dismissed the idea with meeting with the economical monster that was Harbinger, but through a series of scare tactics used by the newly rooted Knights of Pir-Sar von Vender had been 'persuaded' to change his mind.

von Vender stared coldly at Harbinger, who returned it just as well. All emotion was drained from the faces of both men, and it was von Vender who spoke first, his low toned voice booming through the room,"Mr. Harbinger, what brings you here to meet me? You must understand that I have no time to quibble with you over such trivialities, and you should understand from the beginning that I will not sell this business to you, and your conglomorate."

Harbinger turned his face into a smile, and looked elsewhere, thinking for a second about his next words, choosing them carefully. He turned back to stare right into the other man's eyes and responded,"I think that you have a basic misconception on the conglomerate. We work to cooperate-"

He was cut off by a jumpy von Vender,"Bullshit! You are a creature that works to destroy the common worker, to dictate the economy. You undermine the throne, you undermine the people, and you undermine all what is good. I cannot allow you to take over this industry. You already own all of the armament industry. Are you never satiated?"

Harbinger shook his head,"Again, you fail to understand. Everything will be mine given time. You need not worry yourself about that. What you should worry yourself is your own safety."

von Vender naturally felt offended by the threat, but in a way he knew that Harbinger was correct. Although the Knights of Pir-Sar were still relatively unknown, those earlier threats were most likely coordinated by Harbinger, and there was something stirring in the economic underground. Indeed, under the table intelligence reports had talked about the Order, infamous for their actions in Knootoss, Exalbia and Guffingford, infesting the Empire. Others talked about a possible counter against the Order, yet much more extreme in their dealings with those who supported welfare, and not pure capitalism. Nobody, not even in the corners of the business world truly understood the Knights, as they had only existed for some thirty-six hours, but most would understand soon enough, in the face of the heat of fire.

von Vender gulped and retorted,"Get out of my office you swine."

Harbinger nodded and got up, but before he left he said,"You were warned by friend. You could have joined us and lived a wealthy life. Now you will die just like the rest of the inferiors that populate this world." He turned away and walked out of the office, von Vender gawking at his back. How dare that man come in and threaten him?

As Harbinger walked out of the three hundred meter building that formed the GDE headquarters in Macabea City, the old capital of the First Empire [changed to Fedala by Jonach I, first emperor of the Second Empire], he took out his cellphone and punched in a few numbers. The phone was connected to his own sattelite network of communications, out of reach from the government. Indeed, when you owned the space industry you could do whatever you wanted. A voice responded on the other side and Harbinger quickly said,"Refusal."

He put the phone back into this pocket, as all the while von Vender stared from the thirtieth of one hundred floors, also on the phone,"...I want extended security tonight and for the rest of this week...what?...I don't care, get me an army if you can."

von Vender seemed to know that when Harbinger didn't get his way the consequences were dire, but von Vender would not sell out his workers or his country. He would fight to the end, even if it meant death - that was the way of the moralistic business man of the Empire.

It had taken about three days to design the operation but the Knights would not allow their name to turn into one of lathargy, and they finished what Harbinger had ordered them to do. Harbinger had been denied the purchase of Dienstad General Electric and it seemed that now he would do his utmost to make sure that DGE and Gareth von Vender were repaid in hostility. Indeed, the Knights of Pir-Sar would culture a name that meant fear, war, violence, death and most of all, utter effeciency. It was easier to complete this when you had the money and technology of the Kriegzimmer Conglomerate, which was the sole weapons industry within the Empire, and the sole provider of armament to the Werhmacht, and to many foreign armed forces as well. It was to say, the possibilities were endless, and so were the means to complete the job.

The explosives had been trucked in from the industrial polygon outside Fedala, taking about a half a day, under the reason that the convoy was headed to Macabea to resupply certain military deployments there with new armaments. Of course, the country was pretty much open from the inside; only the national borders were heavily watched and guarded - consequently, the Knight's job was made much easier. The exact explosive was heptanitrocubane, which was perhaps thirty percent more powerful than octagen, and it was packed into small suitcases which could very well blow an entire floor of a building back to the stone age.

When it had arrived in Macabea it was dropped in Kriegzimmer warehouses and from there shipped to the subterranean local headquarters of the Knights, marked by nothing but moory. The entire order was carried out in an utmost proffessional matter, as again, they were to be infamous for deadly effecient economic terrorism, and by the third day they were all ready.

The DGE building, rising three hundred meters above the ground, perhaps one of the tallest in the city, was flanked by a subterranean parking garage which could house somewhere around six hundred vehicles at any one time. The entourage of Audis, Alfa Romeos and Jaguards moved into said parking garage, working their way to the very bottom plant where they were assured a great deal of spaces to station their vehicles. It was all very suspicious at that point, but with three days gone by, nobody had taken Harbinger's threats seriously in DGE, consequently, the level of vigilence had gone down since the first day, although of course, no man would lower security past a certain point when Harbinger threatened them. When they finished parking each car released four men, putting out a total of twenty men.

Three-fourths of them carried suitcases, while the rest began to heavily arm themselves, stocking ordnace under their long parkas, including shotguns, pistols, assault guns, and even small rockets and grenades. It looked as if they were preparing for a war, and indeed, some could say they were. With that in mind, they made their way to an elevator that united the garage with the lower plant of the building and it took them about a minute to get there. When the doors opened a series of security officers set their eyes on them and pointed towards a conveyor belt that moved objects under a X-ray. Unfortunately for both the men didn't listen, and instead the lead man put a bullet into each of one, sending people to the floor, screaming as loud as they could.

The lead man raised his voice,"This is a robbery. Nobody move, or I will shoot" A few people took a bit longer than tolerated to get to the floor and they were immediately killed. The lead man turned around and nodded and two men broke off, allowing them to make their way back to the cars - they were needed in case the police came. The rest continued their way through the now fearful crowd while the lead man stayed behind to keep an eye on the bottom floor. The rest moved to the elevator and made their way to the tenth floor. Nobody was really sure what happened next but it was assumed that the suitcases were all placed on that floor and that the men made their way back down, and left the building as police were just making their way there.

It took only about seven minutes for the police and special weapons and tactics to filter the area, but they were far too late. It had taken five minutes for the Knights to finish their operation, and leave the garage. By the time the building was full of officers the tenth floor gave out in a massive explosion, sending licks of flames through ten to twenty floors down and up respectively, killing many within seconds. Others were severly burnt, and the exists collapsed, trapping people inside the building. All the while, the foundations and skeleton of the building began to creak as it because obvious that the steel skeleton on the tenth floor had been snapped by the huge explosion.

From the outside people looked horrified at the situation. Never before had they been attacked like this by terrorist, and nobody knew how to react. Nobody had even heard of a terrorist cell before, but they all saw what was happening. The fire inside raged ever more, and finally the weakened support structure gave out on the tenth floor sending everything above straight down, smashing through the bottom ten floors and killing all the occupants of the building. A wave of black smoke rushed through the streets, clogging people's lungs, and forcing most under cars and such. When the dust settled all people could see was a huge pile of debris occupy where once the huge DGE building had stood, as well as other flattened buildings around it, destroyed by the force of the collapse.

A couple of minutes after von Vender, who had been out south to speak with other electrical companies, received a phone call from a number put down as 'Restricted'. He picked it up and the voice on the other line calmly said,"You shouldn't have said no."

von Vender's eyes widened and he sneered,"You son of a bitch."

The consequences of the buildings concerning the Empire and international politics were not as dire as one would expect. Of course, the IINSA began to pick up on the traces of the Knights, and the idea of a foreign terrorist network attacking was thrown out immediately, as such a thing was largely impossible. None of them had truly found out, but the economic holocaust within the Empire had begun, and it would take a lot of the Empire's resources to stop the Knights of Pir-Sar.

It was a massacre.

Terror is Macabea

MACABEA, the Empire - Terror struck yesterday in Macabea, old capital of the old Empire, and the capital of our Empire for the first years. Nobody had expected this as never has the Empire been a target of terror, and indeed, anything that does attempt to get through our borders is usually caught. Past security nonwithstanding, yesterday flung our security into our faces, and it has caught up with us that this war of Golden Succession is becoming more heated and more unconventional as the hours pass.

Indeed, an estimated forty thousand have died in yesterday's bombings, all crushed or burnt within the heat or collapse of the three hundred meter building. These forty thousand are purely theoritical numbers, but it is the expected number of occupants of this building at the time, which would be prime time for workers; around 11 AM. Officials claim that they won't have a realistic body count until the rubble is fully cleared which can take up to as much as two months, depending on the circumstances and the weather.

Many say it was to expect, with Weigar and Sarcanza in rebellion, and the city of Weigar itself in flames, what would stop either rebel group from forming terrorist parties to further 'persuade' Fedor to either step off the throne, or grant them their independence earlier. There are also two other major foreign powers interested in the throne, Haven and Malatose, the latter having the strongest claim but as of yet no physical presence in the war. However, many refute that and say that it was something much more sinister. The theory revolves around growing rumors of a secret organization called the Knights of Pir-Sar, and yet another organization called the Order of the Invisible Hand. The latter is known to be present in Guffingford, as their own newspapers confirmed it, and it is known to be an Knootossian machination, although nobody had known that its tenticles had expanded to the Empire. The former has been rumored to be a splinter cell of the Order of the Invisible Hand, while others claim it is a rival organization bent on controlling the economies of the world, either directly or through a series of strings.

Nonwithstanding, we have little actual evidence to confirm either one, and the administration has yet to speak publicly. However, it is known that those who committed these atrocities will be 'hunted down and destroyed, just like they destroyed us.' Even Kriegzimmer owner, and now owner of some fifty percent of the Empire's gas and electric industry, said that he would cooperate further with Fedor for the stopping of this group.

From evidence collected from surviving individuals who had managed to run out from the bottom plant it is known that the blast was created by fifteen individuals carrying suitcase bombs of unknown calibre or strength. Setting it off on one of the lower floors they were able to blow out that plant, forcing the rest of the building to come down after the steel supports bent out. The force of the falling building caused the lower floors to be flattened in succession, causing the deaths of all occupants except those who had managed to run out prior to the collapse. Those on the upper floor died as parts of the building jutted out and collapsed into surrounding buildings. All in all, it's expected that thirty-six thousand occupants within the DGE building died, as well as four thousand from sorrounding buildings.

In support for this day Fedor has called for two minutes of silence, and all flags, including military flags on the front, have been ordered to half-mast. Fedor himself gave us these words of consolidation,
"This was not the act of Haven, nor of Malatose, nor of the rebels who now plague our great Empire. Even they are not as barbaric to resort to this. This was done by something darker, something that none of us understand with great detail. However, it does exist. Indeed, the rumors are correct, this was perpetrated by the Knights of Pir-Sar.

However they are, whatever they believe in, whoever they work for, will be destroyed without a hint of mercy. Those found to belong to the Knights will be charged for treason, there will be no amnesty. Those charged with treason will be executed, the first executions within the Empire... unfortunately. Regardless, my will stays firm, and my law shall be planted. They have been judged, they have been weighed, and now they shall be purged."

No matter how they react, the Empire has utmost faith with Fedor I, already holding his ground against three, soon to be four, contenders for the throne. The Fedala Imperial Paper gives these words,
"You will be caught."

Harbinger had been within the courts when the Emperor had been taking guests to deal with the issues of the Empire, and he smiled within himself. The first of the guest, Dr. Billy-Bob Longbottom, owner of a small clinic named Babies-2-Go, approached His Majesty first,"Embryo selection isn't really genetic engineering in the technical sense. It's more like being able to have a dozen abortions per month until you get the foetus you desire. I can't really see what's wrong with parents who can afford it being able to eliminate foetuses with undesirable genetic traits - like stupidity."

Fedor I sneered, cracked a laugh, and dismissed the man by waving him off, allowing ohann Hendrikson,a prominent cardinal within the ranks of the Broken Dawn, to preach his own argument,"Thou shalt pay for thy sins! This is just meddling with the sanctity of life. If these children are to be born with horrible defects then it's God's will and who are we to question it? This technology must be banned at once!"

Fedor, a very religious man, nodded but waved him off, whispering his words of affection for the thoughts of the church. But he would not ignore the other two; the first of which was Bill Fellow,"This technology shows promise. But we can't trust the private sector with the future of our nation's children. We must place it under strict government regulation, so that we only screen out embryos with serious genetic conditions."

Fedor thought about it before he waved him off, but then proceeded to wave him off, and allowed the next man to make his own speech,"This has got me thinkin'. If this technology lets us reduce genetic defects, then couldn't it work the other way? We could create ourselves an army of genetically superior soldiers! With our army of Super Soldiers, no nation would dare stand in our way!"

This had Fedor thinking and he motioned for Harbinger to come in closer. Looking back at the man he then turned his attention to the owner of Kriegzimmer, and he asked,"Would this be possible?"

Harbinger nodded, and Fedor pushed him away, returning his attention to the guest. Harbinger smiled again as he watched His Majesty accept this as the ultimate decision. It meant that Kriegzimmer would be the only conglomerate allowed to research, or so Harbinger thought. The Knights of Pir-Sar could use this; imagine the abilities of genetically researched knights, designed for the suicide missions the economic holocaust required, especially when regarding the manpower necessary to carry operations to other nations and overseas. The machinations of Harbinger never ceased to impress.

However, when all had left, except a few guards, Fedor rose from his throne, forcing Harbinger immediately to his knees, always keeping lower than His Imperial Majesty and Fedor, with his face as serious as any other day, said,"Rise." Harbinger did as told and Fedor continued,"You are not to receive the right to this genetic research. You have already a vast economic empire, and I decided to allow the privilage to a smaller biological firm in Beda Fromm, named Seydlitz und Johann Biological Research Center [SuHBiR]. Please, do not take this as an insult."

Harbinger's faced turned to horror, then to hate, then to disgust, and he backed away from Fedor while retorting with,"Do you not trust me?"

Fedor grinned, and then with a sterner look repeated,"You will not receive the rights, now leave."

Harbinger tried hard not to sneer; insulting the Emperor could mean instant death, and he turned around abrubtly, pounding his way out of the reception hall. The guards, garbed in Imperial colors, opened the huge oak doors and allowed Harbinger out. As he continued towards the front of the palace the huge doors closed behind him. He had been insulted, and he would gain that genetic research, one way or the other, he could assure all of that. The Knights would rise, and they would destroy those that opposed them, even the Golden Throne if they had to.

He had much work ahead of him, including a flight to Beda Fromm, and then he had to return to Macabea, the area of the first act of the Knights of Pir-Sar. With the entire armament industry under his belt and now fifty percent of the gas and electric industry, after various companies submitting to his will, he turned into a very powerful man, and he would use that power to his best advantage. Again, the Knights would ultimately come out victorious, he was very sure of that.

Harbinger folded his hands across his lamp and looked Gretchen Seydlitz, narrowing his eyes, and he pushed over a stack of papers, unified by a sole staple at the top, and said,"Will you sign?"

Seydlitz put his hands on the stack, and looked up, and retorted,"Do you really expect me to sell you my company? Do you think I am insane? To join your conglomerate would be instant death to me and my workers."

Harbinger scoffed, insulted, and replied,"You do know what happened to von Vender and his industry? It was destroyed."

Seydlitz shook his head and said,"I think you must leave." Harbinger laughed and and Seydlitz stood up and pressed a a red button on his intercom, calmly relaying,"Security." He looked at Harbinger in disgust,"You are a monster. But, you will not defeat me, or my partner, Mr. Harbinger. I suggest you take your cojoling elsewhere." Two massive figures came through the door, and Seydlitz smiled, and Harbinger stood up, mouth wide open in awe. Seydlitz continued,Meet my security guards. Two genetically produced super soldiers, designed to survive five bullets at point blake range for a couple of minutes, allowing them to defend my properly. They are the first generation of genetic engineering on humans, and of course, we are making improvements day by day."

Harbinger, was impressed, but he shook his head and simply said,"You are right Gretchen; I must leave." With that, he slipped past the guards, who looked at him with murderous stone hard faces, and made his way down. Those guards had struck a lightbulb within his mind, and he thought, why use human fodder when he could genetically produce a race of supermen to be the Knights of Pir-Sar. Indeed, he would have no use for human labor, or human allies - the wealth of Empires would all lay in his hands, while all slaved at his feet. Indeed, the Knights of Pir-Sar had hit a turning point. Nonetheless, such a theory would only be possible after years, and by then this operation of economical conquest could be completed, depending on the willingness of certain nations. Regardless, it was an idea indeed.

But, Seydlitz would not be allowed to go on this one. Indeed, he had insulted Harbinger, and too insult the most powerful business man in the Empire was not a wise idea, especially when it was open knowledge to all big business cronies that the Knights of Pir-Sar had begun to rise from just a small force, to a massive army of the willing.

It was strange, how men critisized each other for greed, and yet at the hint of gold their policies reverse. As the rule of thumb always said, whoever has the gold, makes the rules. For sure, whoever made the rules had the power, and power, even to the most liberal, was always a superior force. It was like gravity, you simply could not leave its grasp. With this single force, slowly Harbinger's grasp of the economy would lead him to control the Empire's economy, able to turn in on a fraction. Imagine the manipulation of the Emperors, imagine the manipulation of the armies. Harbinger would own the Empire. Glory in all its splendor.