NationStates Jolt Archive

Raja Tylon stared out the window at the melancholy site. For years upon years, he had stared out this window for thoughts and ideas that came to his mind. Today it was different. The world seemed to spin all around him as if he was in the center yet had no influence where it went. Tylon let out a deep sigh through his mouth and nose as he turned around and walked into his Executive Room. Serving as the CEO/Chairman of Space Union National Arms Corporation was extremely stressing. For a long-time, SUNACS had been an extremely profitting corporation, seeing extreme success at home and success at abroad by filling many nation's contracts. But all that had ended. A string of scandals, caused by top executives on book cooking and bribing, had left the company finiancially unstable and weak along with a stock that was worthless. No one believed in SUNACS anymore other than the Space Union government.

Tylon swiftly moved toward his desk and picked up his manilla folder. He dared to open the sealed folder and see its contents. His eyes narrowed on the seal as his fingers pressed on them feeling the smooth texture. He bit his lip as he finally removed the plastic seal and dropped it into the trash can. His eye's widened to the size of the planet as he stared into it. It was a letter from the Council of Executives.

To: CEO/Chairman Raja Tylon,
From: Council of Executives
Subject: Finiancial Solution and Agreement

We welcome our supreme leader, Raja Tylon, to an important announcement.
As you know, our company has been destroyed by finiancial problems with a
string of scandals, corruption, and contract losses. Our workers have rioted
in factories, shutting down factories across the board, while customers leave
in anger from not having their contracts fulfilled. Meanwhile, our stock prices,
which had been worth a splendid amount, is almost worth nothing now with no confidence and no new investments for our company. The Board of
Executives have been heart-broken by these turn of events to our once
great nation. But we can not ignore these unfortunente turn of events for
the sake of pride. Therefore, we must inform you on an extremely hard
decision we have passed. In order to save the company and fulfill for the
better of the workers, we have decided to sell the company and all its
assets.

We have planned a bid to begin with other domestic and foreign companies
to buy us out. The Board has contacted a couple of companies to bid for the
company. It seems that after a due process, the winner of the entire contest
has come to be Sarzonian-based Portland Iron Works. They have had the
biggest and best bid and have aquired the company. They have offered to
discuss details on their visit here. They will arrive in the end of the day. We
sorry for the short notice but the hope of saving our company is much more important.

Signed,
Board of Executives

Raja Tylon grabbed his heart feeling the pain in his heart. It was more mental pain than actual physical, though it felt like he had his heart removed with bare hands and then lost it. He quickly got up and then straightened himself. Finally he hunched himself on the chair as he clicked a button. In a monotone he spoke into the voice speaker, "Please get my limo ready for departure to the airport in 5 minutes. Thank You." He unclicked the device as he got up and got ready for the big meeting.

OOC: Sarzonia, just RP arriving at the airport then coming to the conference room. Then I'll let you start the meeting by putting your deal that you think is best fit on the table. I'll then respond. This way we don't waste time and get to the real point. Thanks.

Even though the briefcase he carried only weighted three kilograms, the weight of expectations Ike Randall carried upon his shoulders felt like he was trying out for a strongman competition somewhere in Scandavian States. He was in the newly-created role of Chief Operating Officer for the Portland Iron Works, a company that seemingly expanded overnight.

As well-planned and executed as the buyouts of three Sarzonian defence companies that had charted their course until only recently had been, Randall was keenly aware of the sense that his company would have growing pains for a while as it evolved into its expanded reach. Even though most observers thought that PIW would be wary of expanding yet again into a foreign market after the debacle involving the divestiture of Pomentane Ballistics, Admiral Barbara Tucker was not one to play things safe.

"But ma'am," he'd argued, "you're proposing a buyout of Space Union National Arms Corporation when they've just Enroned? And after Pomentane? That's a bit of a risk."

"When you've been in this business as long as I have," Tucker told him, "you learn which risks are worth taking and which ones are foolish. This one's a risk worth taking."

She knew Randall wasn't sold on the idea of the acquisition so soon after the move to acquire Avalon Aerospace Corporation and Incorporated Ordnance Company were made final. Accounting was already moaning about the increase in personnel records to add to the payroll, while Human Resources staff had worked around the clock to double-check records and enter them into the database. But Tucker knew something rapid but smart growth. After all, few observers predicted that her company would even survive, let alone account for such a major percentage of the country's gross demestic product. Randall would learn to trust his boss's judgment.

"We're almost through the security check," he heard his aide say. Brenda Halsley looked chipper after the announcement was made that the Council of Executives had agreed in principle to the buyout proposal Tucker made with a matter of days after the request for bids was set forth. Too damn chipper, he thought. He realised she was a morning person and it was still only 9:30 a.m. Sarzonian time. The coffee he consumed on the Windham & Green Avionics corporate jet hadn't had a chance to kick in while Halsley didn't seem as though she needed coffee.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"The limo's waiting for us."

"Good work Brenda."

"Thank you, sir, I try," she smiled. When she was walking around with his suitcase, he muttered to himself about her demeanor being too perky. He sat down, mentally going through the checklist of things Tucker wanted to accomplish with the merger. He was just starting to get perked up by the caffeine when the car parallel parked at the street corner.

"We're here," Halsley said.

"Thank you," Randall said to the driver as he went out to fetch his briefcase. As he reached into the trunk to pull out his suitcase, a tall, slender young man in what looked like a porter's uniform smiled and held up his hand.

"We've got orders to take your suitcases to your hotel rooms," he said. "You just relax and we'll take it from here." He smiled at Randall again and got into the car, when sped off as he closed the door. Randall followed Halsley's lead as she walked them to the concierge.

"Room 1216, take the elevator, then it's straight down the hallway. Third door on the right."

"Thanks," Halsley said. They got into the elevator, and as it began its rapid ascent, Randall finally smiled. This was going to be the easiest negotiation he'd ever had in his life.

Finally, after they walked down the hallway with images of watercolours of Space Union aircraft and one of Tylon himself. Finally, Randall's right index finger purposefully glided through the air to the doorbell that would toll the beginning of a new and hopefully fruitful relationship between Portland Iron Works and Space Union National Arms Corporation.

Raja paced inside of his room as he awaited the ring. All that he could think of was, "this is the decision of the Board and for the best of all our workers" but yet he didn't get any soothing effect from it. His mind was racing with billions upon billions of thoughts as if he were a madman struck by guilt of a murder. Finally, he stopped in his tracks. He paced toward the mirror and looked at himself. He was looking very unprofessional. His hair was a mess and was damp from sweat while his face looked like someone had dropped a bucket of water straight on to it. He gently picked up his hankerchief and began rubbing his face and fixing his hair. As he did so, the bell rang for his room. He almost jumped through the roof from his already nervous state. But luckly he didn't. He knew inside that he had to remain calm and act like he was not nervous. He had to retain control at all costs and seem professional.

Gently, the oaken doors slid open as two figures appeared in the room. One was a women and one was a man. They were both dressed in professional outfits, with the man carrying a briefcase. The aid quietly ushered them into the room as he closed the door behind, making sure that no one would interfere with the talks. Raja immedietly shot out a smile that made even rainy days look like sunny days. His smile warmed the hearts of millions of workers when they saw him and he was hoping for the same effect. Gently, he pulled out his hand and brought it up to shake with the two. "Welcome, madame and sir. I congratulate you on your arrival to our beloved homeland, Space Union, for our awe inspiring meeting. I must introduce myself, I'm CEO/Chairman Raja Tylon." He paused before staring at the women, "I understand you are the fabled Admiral Barbara Tucker. You are quite renowned in Space Union for your superior naval products, I must say." He gave a gentle smile as he shifted toward the man, "And I understand you are Chief Operating Officer Ike Randall. I hope both of you will have a splendid stay, at the very least."

Raja swiftly moved out of the way leading the group into the conference hall where Raja sat down on his chair. In front of him was a wooden circular table made out of Kashmir Wood. Both Tucker and Randall sat down on the other side of him. He could see that both of them showed no sign of nervousness, unlike him who was just hiding it, though, ratherly impressively unnoticed. A waiter immediately entered the room with a white tray in his hands with three glasses and another man entered with the drinks. "May I offer you drinks," Raja pointed out as glasses were set by both of them.

Tylon mentally cleared his thoughts as he got ready for the beginning. His hand slid under his chair as it pulled out a white briefcase with a red SUNACS seal on it. He opened it up and revealed a bundle of white papers. He placed them on the table as he put the briefcase down. He then nodded for the waiters to leave as he began to speak, "Well with no further interruptions, I would wish to start this meeting. As you are our guests of honor, I would be honored to have your side put up your deal first on our merge." A smile curled up on Raja's face. He knew that it would be easier to conduct the meeting if he understood his guests better. All he could do was wait.

Halsley smiled and blushed just slightly.

"I'm afraid Admiral Tucker herself couldn't make it out here," she offered. "My name is Brenda Halsley. I'm an aide to Mr. Isaac Randall, chief operating officer of the Portland Iron Works."

"Please," Randall smiled. "Call me Ike. Admiral Tucker had, um, some errands to run," he said. "Thanks for your hospitality. I am a bit thirsty, actually. Do you have any coffee?"

"Coffee's big in Sarzonia," Halsley said. "We can't live without the stuff."

Randall pulled out a manila folder from his briefcase. He opened it and leafed through the contents slowly.

"I have the proposed buyout offer here," he said. "I'll give it to you to read it carefully, but the gist of our proposal is this: Your employees get to keep their jobs, but instead of you signing the check, it will be Admiral Tucker. Secondly, we've got our Inspector General's office prepared to start an internal audit into company practices."

Halsley looked carefully at Tylon and saw what she interpreted to be a oh no, not again look in his eyes. She matter-of-factly spoke up.

"It's standard practice whenever we acquire a company," she said, stopping short. Makes us sound like predators, she thought.

"It's just smart business practice," Randall said. "We figure if there are best practices that we're missing out on, we'll implement what works best for us. If we find something that needs fixing, we'll fix it. We implemented civilian designs into PIW after we acquired the Wilmington Shipyard Corporation, which was expected to buy us out a few years after we were founded. Incorporated Ordnance implemented most of their individual weapons systems after buying out Pomentane.

"Secondly, we've been looking at the ramfan engine," Randall said. "We believe that opens some possibilities of collaboration between our companies. As you may know, the Portland Iron Works has made a living out of joint projects and subcontracting some of our designs. The Shield-Bearer class was such a success that the Navy asked us to unretire the class again."

"Wasn't that designed by Ranudon?"

"Yep. Their shipyards couldn't handle the demands of building what was then the biggest ship they'd ever designed, so they contracted our yards to build the ship and allowed us to sell it. It was so well-received that the Imperial Praetonian Navy bought production rights to it. I think it was the biggest monohulled warship they ever incorporated into their Navy."

Tylon leaned back with his eyes widening in amazement. "Go on."

"Actually," Randall said. "We're getting a little bit off topic. Back to the point, we do the audit as standard operating procedure. Once we've completed the audit, we'll implement a new marketing programme to start moving units."

"And what's in it for us?"

"Well, the Council of Executives were reluctant to agree to a deal with a foreign company," Halsley said. "Especially after what happened with Pomentane. We had to give assurances that we would allow you to regain your independence as a company when the time was right.

"That's where Admiral Tucker comes in. She offered to provide some financial assistance when that day comes, with production and distribution rights for some SUNACS-developed technology and any joint designs we develop together."

"And," Randall said, "we offered a full half billion more than the next nearest competitor. It was the best deal on the table by far. They pretty much had to take it."

Randall sat back and waited for Tylon's reaction. He knew he'd given the SUNACS chief executive a lot to digest. He also had Tucker's final instruction ringing in his head. Close this deal out. Do whatever it takes within reason.

OOC: Oops :( From your write-up it looked like it was Tucker that was accompanying Randall. My apoligies.

Tylon leaned in his green chair. He thought silently to himself about the deal. It was quite a good deal and it would result in little change other than formally. Yet, SUNACS had been his child from the very beginning and like all parents, deep inside he could not give it away unless he thought so. He moved his lips yet nothing came out. He was at a loss of words. Taking a deep sigh, Raja finally found his words, "Well, I must say that your deal is quite gracious and an extrordinary offer. And you are correct that you are the only company that I would trust to give this company to." He paused silently. He knew what was coming, but he was trying to delay it. But he knew that it was futile. But he had a couple of questions to go over.

"Before I make my decision, I would like to ask if you will respect the Space Union government's blacklist of nations? I understand your native government has a blacklist that your company goes by. We do the same thing. It is to say that we don't want any of our technology falling into hostile hands. The blacklists are pretty similar with Sarzonia's but we must ask that would it be possible to add the nation of Ankhmet to your list? Ankhmet has been Space Union's longest-time enemy and is extremely hostile toward us from our victory over them in the Thorasien War. Would that be possible to arrange?"

"Another question, what is PIW's policy on production rights? SUNACS does not believe in production rights to anyone unless they've had a long-track record with us and are trustworthy. Only then do we give specific production rights. We generally don't ever give domestic production rights that can be used to create any amount of our products. Does your company also have a similar policy?"

"Another point, will our factories also be converted to create Avalon Aerospace Corporation's products too? If so, will they be sending engineers alongside that to switch and transition the nessessary factories? Also will contracts that we are fulfilling for foreign governments right now and in the foreseeable future continue on schedule?"

"One last question that is extremely important, what is your stand on black projects for the government? SUNACS is running a secret "Advanced Research and Development Division" which deals with the creation of secret black project. I think you might be interested and need to know about these projects we are running."

"I'm sorry for all these questions but as a responsible business person, I think these are nessessary questions to ask. Thank You for your cooperation"

Tylon gently leaned back in his chair once more to relax. He would have to ask a couple of questions before he would give the company away like that.

Randall sat back patiently as he began to work through the answers to the questions. He scribbled down the questions so he could go through them systematically, then opened his mouth and began to speak.

"With respect to the Ankhmet situation," Randall said. "That's a bit dicey because in our view, the Ankhmeti government has not been hostile toward us and we do not presently have a black list on them. Having said that, we'll comply with your wishes if you're willing to comply with the nations on our list.

"I suppose I should clarify the Black List by the Portland Iron Works. It is not imposed on us by our government; most of the time, our action preempts the government's decisions. If there's one thing Admiral Tucker is, she is very politically astute and the Portland Iron Works has enormous influence on the nation with its 18.6 percent share of the nation's GDP."

Randall looked at Tylon before continuing.

"As far as production rights are concerned, we wrote up our production rights contract with the theory being that most nations would not request production rights contracts from us. Our policy is that we don't discourage our customers from requesting production rights, but we don't actively encourage them to do so. However, with some recent requests for production rights, we are considering a policy revision."

Randall didn't know what Tylon's reaction would be to that response, but he realised that sometimes, it takes a while longer to nail down the details of a contract even when both parties agree in principle. He just hoped the areas of further negotiation didn't bog the deal down before it could be finalised. Deciding to give her boss a break, Halsley answered the third question.

"We are more than willing to send our engineers to Space Union and have yours come to Avalon Aerospace," she said. "And, all extant contracts will be honoured, both yours and ours in as timely a fashion as is practicable. That will be the case for the forseeable future, as well."

Randall nodded his thanks to Halsley and looked squarely at Tylon. He leaned in closely and whispered.

"As far as 'black projects' are concerned," he said, "that may be best answered by General Wilcox or Admiral Tucker. But, I don't forsee a problem with a Skunk Works-type development programme. We would be interested in finding out about it, and I'd note there are some black projects that PIW has developed." Without mentioning it, he figured if Space Union intelligence was worth its salt, they would have found out about Project Furious or Project Adamant. If they hadn't, he wasn't going to let the cat out of the bag.

Raja listened intently on the answers to each of his questions. Each question was being answered perfectly and in a professional manner. He nodded in approval after each answer. Things were going smoother than he had ever guessed would be possible. No doubt because of the capability and trustworthiness of Portland Iron Works. Finally as both finished answering his questions, he leaned into his chair before making some comments.

"Well I thank you for answering all my questions in a rather "professional" manner. I apprieciate that. Now I understand that you do use your government's blacklist voluntarly not out of intimidation. We also follow a similar policy on this issue. But I stress that I wish that none of the advanced technology might fall into the hands of Ankhmet that could later be used to hurt my people. But I am pleased to hear that you will take my proposal into consideration, and we will likemindedly also adopt your black list so that none of our technology falls into the Sarzonian government's enemy's hands," Tylon repeated. He understood PIW's point of view very clearly.

"As for production rights, we really don't believe in giving away production rights very freely as well as discourage it for almost everyone except allies and close trading partners. I must cite that it is important to restrict even limited production rights to anyone except allies, trading partners, and a few select. I hope you understand." Tylon immediately paused as he rethought his words.

"Ah, yes, we thank you for your cooperation in continueing our customer's contracts. You might be happy to hear that we are in the process of securing a contract to sell our SuF-5 Lions and F-5S Super Tigers to the nation of Saint Fedski along with selling F-5S Super Tigers to the nation of Thornz. The deal is most likely worth a couple of ten billions, if they succeed, though they are not very large in terms of history. Also as for factories we will send our top engineers and designers to Avalon's headquarters immediately and will welcome any Avalon engineers and designers to come to our factory." Finally Tylon had come to his part's end but he swallowed before ending the final part.

Suddenly, Tylon's voice turned into a quiet whisper, though his words could be heard as clear as a shout,"As for our 'black projects' I must say that you will be quite interested." Tylon paused for a second to instill the words into the air. Finally he began once more with his eyes narrowing on the two people, "For a little over a year, we've been working with the Space Union to create an advanced air superiority fighter to combat the influx of new foreign aircrafts like the rumored aircraft that might be being worked on by a company in Soviet Bloc."He knew what PIW was thinking right now. "The problem was that our politicians have become wary of Space Union's constant switching and upgrade of our fleet of fighters because of foreign whims. So they've not allowed for it. But the air force needs this badly, so they have made this into a top secret black project that most politicians excluding Federate Harsimran and some in his administration, who all are supporters of this, don't know about it." He gently stroked his hair as he stopped talking. He could see that both Randall and Halsley were quite interested so he released some more information, "As far as the project has developed, we are on our way to constructing the first prototype. It will take advantage of some of the most advanced technologies that have been refined to the point that they may be considered 'our' technology. And just to say, the aircraft that I'm refering to is the SuF/AX-6 Shadow. I must urge that none of this information is to be leaked from this room. When production time comes, only Space Union and a few select allies, which Sarzonia may be if they show interest in the project, will know about this. I do not wish to feel the wrath of our politicians nor the frantic response that will be given by the international community to try and counter our product."

Finally Tylon leaned out his chair and put his hands on the table. He was anxiously awaiting their replies.

a little bumpy for the Sarz man. :)

Sarzonia: I have an OOC question, when we merge, am I going to post my designs up in your Aerospace section? Or am I going to make my own section to put my stuff. I don't mind or care either way is perfectly fine for me. :)

[OOC: You can send them to me and I'll clean it up and put it under Aerospace.]

"Trust me, I am firmly in support of Space Union's governmental stance on production rights," Randall said. "That is not an issue for us in the slightest. Our government put a production rights contract in place when we expected production rights purchases would be a minor element of our financial bottom line. With the ascent of certain nations in the international scene, we find we may be forced to revise our contract to make sure that only our closest allies would have beyond limited production rights."

Randall smiled for a moment and continued.

"I don't think you'll have a problem with the one country we have been willing to provide fairly unlimited production contracts to, considering they're also a strong ally of yours." He smiled again. "The Democratic Imperium of Praetonia mostly uses indigenous products so anytime they ask for production rights, we've jumped at the chance to provide them. We consider it the ultimate compliment when the country that invented Liberal Imperialism purchases a Sarzonian product."

Randall leaned in slowly and deliberately and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"As for your black project, we have been looking to dramatically increase and upgrade our aerial forces ever since Inkana and our engagements against the Doomies. We believe the Doomies use products similar to those employed by Soviet Bloc, so we know we're going to have to work hard to at least keep up, if not actually advance beyond what they've done. That project should be very interesting to Admiral Tucker. As for the suits, I can't say for certain if they'll be on board with it or not, but mention Doomies to them and they might look the other way, so to speak."

Seems things are going a lot better than I expected, Randall thought. He looked at Halsley and smiled. We'll have our vacation soon, my sweet he thought jokingly. He waited for Tylon's response.

OOC: Alright. I'll send you my designs once we seal the deal.

Raja listened intently as Randall and his collegue answered his questions without a touch of nervousness. He was pleased at the answers, all of them. The time had come, seeing as all his companies policies and all of PIW's policies aligned he had nothing left to discuss. He swallowed as he gave his part out, "I am very pleased with your responses to my questions. Your policies make no objections to my own. For the production rights, we have absolutely no problem with offering our allies in Praetonia production rights to anything. They are a valued ally in Space Union."

Raja's voice went down to a whisper, "As for the 'project', I think PIW has much to gain from this if it succeeds in its goals. I assure you that this project will outdue anything the Doomingsland force's use or operate by a whole nine-yards. Our engineers will make sure of that, and your "suits", I think they'll agree with it."

Raja finally pushed out his chair as he pressed a button. Immediately a screen popped out of the desk, where both Randall and Halsley. It was time. "As you've answered all my concerns and questions quite thoroughly and I have nothing left to say, I think it is time for the end of this discussion. Please sign in the blank line. As you've all seen the contract and all that formalities, I do not wish to bore you with it again and I wish to get to the point." He watched as both Randall and Halsley signed the machine.

Raja inside was crying but happly. He had given his company away but it was to a company that he knew was perfectly capable and a leader in military equipment. He rose up as he went over to the women and the man, "Also in order to make sure that you don't have to create new jobs and executive positions, I and the Board of Executives have ruled that we will retire and save you from this problem. The workers is all we wish to keep in labor."
He pulled out his hand to shake both people's hands and seal the deal. A union had been formed.

OOC: Sorry forgot to put this part in the thread. It goes along with my last post.

Raja shook hands with both Randall and Halsley before moving toward his briefcase. He unhooked it and opened it up. Inside was a bundle of paper that was mostly corporate junk and formality. As he shifted through his papers, he came to what he was looking for. It was a large bundle of papers, stapled at the side. On it read the words, "SuF/A-6 Shadow Advanced Air Superiority Fighter." (http://s13.invisionfree.com/The_NS_Draftroom/index.php?showtopic=366) He closed his briefcase and slid it under his chair. He moved toward Randall and whisphered, "This might interest Admiral Tucker, to say the least. It shows all the information concerning the project and what has been accomplished so far. I wish only for you two and Admiral Tucker and anyone else she deems trustworthy enough to lay eyes on this paper. It is top-secret." He slid the paper toward Randall who immediately picked it up and scanned it.

*The Words are a Hyperlink

bump (dang Subscription feature doesn't work!)

bump seeing as we are almost done and just need a reply from Sarzonia. :)

Randall smiled slightly as he looked through the 'Shadow' information. He picked up the contract and read it carefully. Finally, he pulled out his pen and signed it.

"This is pending final approval by our government, but that will be a formality according to my sources within the government," he said. "Consider the deal done. And," he added, smiling and extending his hand. "Welcome to the Portland Iron Works."

Tylon pulled out his hand from his pocket and he pulled it foward and shaked Randall's hand. He smiled and said, "Thank You and we hope that you had a good time here." Immediately a man came in and ushered the two in as he took them to their room. They would stay the night there and then return home the next day in the morning.

Inside, Tylon shook his head. He had the best he could think of and it would hopefully pay off. Only time would tell............

OOC: Hey, now that we sealed the deal, do you want me to post like a news article that discusses the merge in your PIW v.3 thread? I'll do one and then you can do one. I'll then send you my stuff to put up.

Tylon pulled out his hand from his pocket and he pulled it foward and shaked Randall's hand. He smiled and said, "Thank You and we hope that you had a good time here." Immediately a man came in and ushered the two in as he took them to their room. They would stay the night there and then return home the next day in the morning.

Inside, Tylon shook his head. He had the best he could think of and it would hopefully pay off. Only time would tell............

OOC: Hey, now that we sealed the deal, do you want me to post like a news article that discusses the merge in your PIW v.3 thread? I'll do one and then you can do one. I'll then send you my stuff to put up.
OOC: Works for me.