Considerations (1)

Times really have changed, an old man mused as he sat at the head of the table. He had just dismissed the board of governors of the Iresal corporation. Since it was a family run corporation, most of these members were also his family members. 

He was at the head, the chairman of the board. In his time, he had been so outstanding that he had eclipsed everyone else in the family. However, this new generation was truly capable. 

For a young, up and coming corporation, the youth needed to be hungry and ambitious. Only then would they push the corporation and, in turn, the family, forward. The more ambitious they were, the further they would push. 

Luckily, their Iresal corporation was not lacking. The young men under him were turning out to be giants. Just then, they had just concluded a meeting with the family. It was all brought about by the machinations of Phanas. While he had a weak start, the boy was showing himself to be more capable than they realized.

While all this was good news to the corporation and the elderly, for the younger generation, this was a nightmare. This was especially so for one Young Rayas. 

As the younger cousin to Phanas, the man had shown amazing promise. Despite his young age, he was even more accomplished then Phanas. Unfortunately for him, Phanas had one big advantage over him. Phanas was the firstborn son of the first family. 

With such advantages, despite Rayas' renown, he still was not the heir apparent. If all the younger generation were to be ranked based on their renown, potential, accomplishments, and promise, Rayas would be ranked first. 

In all the various engagements of the corporation, this competition was without a doubt the one that stood out the most. From the least amount of winnings a corporation stood to gain, the corporation stood to grow by more than 30%, and this was a modest estimate. 

As such, this competition held great importance to the family and corporation. Even the residents in the corporation's various territories stood to gain quite a lot. If the company needed to expand, it would mean more jobs and other opportunities for development.

With such far reaching ramifications, the pressure to perform was extremely high. For Rayas however, he felt he had reached his theatre. Where others shrank away, he had already made adequate plans. 

Already, he had set up quite a few dojos. Through them, he had acquired top tier experts and talents. What only a select few knew that from his collection, Rayas had handpicked several experts and taken them through arduous training. Eventually, he had managed to refine excellent fighters. 

Not one to give up, Rayas had cajoled, sucked up to, and licked the right boots, until he manage to get three of his finest experts into the team. Due to the way he had inserted himself, despite it being Phanas time, one could only assume he was aiming at stealing the show. 

For all his efforts, what had he gotten from it? Dead bodies. One had been killed by a grievous wound by the griffin. Two had died from the Laventine corporation's attack. This was not even the worst part. 

Rayas had done all this to outshine Phanas. Everyone in the family knew this. The elders were watching, judging. Even if he didn't win the competition, it was enough to outdo Phanas. Maybe the next competition would be his to manage. 

Unfortunately, not only had the new team, all who were under Phanas, hopelessly outdone his people, they had also gained much renown and increased the profile of the corporation as a whole. Even if they did not win anything, the elders were already satisfied with this performance. 

This way, even if they don't acquire direct access to these resources, they increase their partnerships with other major corporations, safeguarding a slice of the pie that was planet Tres. With the teams performance, it was not unusual to even gain recognition from the Tres Family group. 

If he could, he would go and kill every one of the people, but doing so would be foolish. Such was the nature of family. Even if one was dying of jealousy, they would not easily squash a family member's good fortune, since doing so would mean stepping on their own chances of advancement. It was the equivalent of putting the cart before the donkey. 

However, there was one last thing he could do. Someone had approached him with an offer. Perhaps it was not a bad idea to consider it. Previously, it had been too risky, but now, it was time to go all in. Thinking about it some more, he picked up his communicator, feeling like the very traitor he was.

As Rayas mopped and plotted, Phanas was uncocking his second champagne bottle. He was hosting a party to celebrate. Despite this not being a victory, it was still more than he had hoped. There were multiple representatives from the major powers in his party, all here to probe for sure, but also with gifts and cooperation offers.

If he played this wisely, then he could boost the corporation's network, and ultimately, its net worth. As such, he was busy cooking up ways to enhance his ascension. He had to make his relationship with Tim and the group more intimate.

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location some place in Lake Heart City, the Forest view mercenary group members were resting. It was more of an underground bunker, but it was equipped with training equipment. This was one of Iresal corporation's special training ground. 

Currently, two beauties had just finished registering as mercenaries, and had officially become members of their budding organization. They had had to cajole, threaten, manipulate, basically pull out all the stops, just for their men to allow them into the organization. 

It was only after much trouble, and a lot of convincing and showcasing their invaluable medical skills, did the men give in.

Everyone was buzzing and in high spirits. However, from her position, Alma could see something was bugging her man. She found a chance after dinner, where she sat him down and had him tell her his worries.