| From: | Brian Angliss <angliss@*****.COLORADO.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Diary recording |
| Date: | Fri, 1 May 1998 14:16:04 -0600 |
>>>>>[Well, I'll likely delete this as soon as I'm done, but I've found
over=
the years that recording important meetings in the bar so I can go over=
them again and remark on things myself helps me remember them all. I'll=
certainly destroy the recording, even if I don't this diary entry. Ok,=
let's start the recording playback....
+++++ Begin Playback +++++
Roxey: AJ's late.
Diana: Dad'll be here shortly. And I'm sure he'll have an explanation.
Cap'n Silver: I don't think he's goin ta like what we've got ta tell im, ma=
teys.
Waitress: What would you all like to drink while you wait for Alex?
FM: Dragon Piss.
Silver: A bottle o'rum.
Diana: With two shot glasses.
Roxey: Firewater.
Waitress: I'll be right back with the drinks. Any nibbles?
Roxey: Just the usual for now. Poppers, moza sticks, and fried parmesan we=
dges.
Waitress: Right.
Diana: So, what did you all discover?
FM: We're drek outta luck.
Silver: 85% attrition.
Diana and Roxey: (whistle) Ouch.
Silver: In stereo.... You?
Roxey: It's ugly, but not quite that ugly.
Diana: About the same.
AJ: Sorry I'm late. I had to swing by Haven. One of the clinic surgeons=
thinks that there's something weird going on with some of the patients, and=
he wanted a little advice. Alice, some water over here please.
Waitress: Right, Alex. Be right there.
AJ: Ok, verify security. White noise?
Silver: Roger.
AJ: Scanners?
Roxey: Check. No bugs
AJ: Good deal. Let's get down to buisness. Cap'n Silver, let's start with=
our naval ops.
Silver: 85% attrition across the board, boss. We lost 50% o'the whole=
thing in a week, back when Maxim absorbed The Org. We lost another 15% ta=
the other megas as they wiped out areas within thier reach, within another=
month. Attrition after that was about normal, maybe a little high. But in=
the last 3 months, another 10% was wiped. Total o'about 85%.
AJ: That's bad. Pirate acquisition?
Silver: If yer wantin the Phillipines, there's little ta do. Plenty=
o'sales, though. Most o'that area has ta be ground raids, or submersables=
- the IM watches regular boats far too closely. Ivory Coast is the usual -=
overwhelmin force and cash. But so much moves by riverboats that it's=
extractable. The Carribean is a little lower on the power department -=
Aztlan and the Azzies hit our boys hard there, and it'll take months or=
years ta rebuild ta the same level. Cal Free is pretty much available and =
untouched.
AJ: How about smuggling and water-access bases of operations?
Silver: About the same. We'll have ta reacquire several groups and sites=
that have gone private, and some that have been taken over by other=
dealers. But that's ta be expected.
AJ: Ok. FM, how about land smuggling? We still have access to decent peop=
le?
FM: No, we don't. A full half of our smugglers are dead or in jail. =
Another quarter are private or working for competitors who won't like us=
stealing out their best operators. Only about a quarter are still=
unincorporated, and some of them have been taken over by sons, daughters,=
or members who generally didn't like you.
AJ: So I may have to appeal to thier self-presevation instincts. Very=
well, if that's what I have to do, then I'll do it. I'm not in a mood to=
screw around. Roxey, what's up with the Tirs?
Roxey: They're pretty much in place, much to my surprise. However, I have=
a fear that they were left alone because the governments let them be, not=
because they don't know where they are. We'll need to reorganize and buy=
ourselves some new politicians. However, I don't think we have the cash on=
hand for that yet, so I'd recommend we leave the Tirs along for now. The=
only one we can't do that with is Belfast. The market is too lucrative to=
leave alone, but we'll have to cut ourselves a spot.
Depending on what part of Europe you're talking about, our status is either=
excellent or nonexistant. When Maxim was taken out of Germany, so were we.=
We'll have to restart in Berlin. Again, the market's good, but you'll=
have to make your niche. Warsaw and Moscow are in good shape, except for=
Stegenovich in Moscow - his son hates you and now runs the site himself. =
If you're going to make an example of someone, he may be the best one to do=
it with. Rome is shut down completely, as are London, Paris, and Geneva. =
InterPol hit us hard there. Sweeden and Norway still have large=
stockpiles, as does Venice, and they'll have to provide us with our initial=
European sales, until we get acquisitions back online. We may have=
problems with the stockpile owners, but it's too early to say for sure. =
Most of the ones I talked to weren't exactly thrilled to receive your=
reactivation codes, but they took a sales beating when you left off, so if=
you can provide greater income, they'll go along without any problem
And the Middle East is such a market. We have got to get back in there in a=
big way, and soon. I'd even reopen operations there, out of all my region.=
You can acquire thousands of weapons fast and cheap and then sell them=
again. Turnover will be high. As for our connections, we were shot to=
hell in Iran and Iraq, but we're sitting pretty in Saudia Arabia and Libya.=
Egypt is questionable, as is Israel and Jordan. Turkey is also excellent,=
and we've got instant access to our Crete stockpile - the operator was so=
thrilled to see you back in buisness that he called me, not the other way=
around. It'll take some work, but I really think the Middle East is the=
way to go.
AJ: Ok. Diana, the spell.
Diana: I've been going over the ritual with Roxey and Michael, and we've=
come up with some improvements. The problem is that they're certain to be=
duplicated. Maxim has the spell too, and I'm certain that they're still=
using it. It's going to take me several months to generate a new one that=
does mostly the same thing, but with a totally different formula so that=
Maxim and the rest of the corps can't access our operative's brains.
AJ: You could easily have that long. What about your region?
Diana: I haven't had the opportunity to do a really in-depth analysis=
because of the ritual, but what I've got so far is pretty much the same as=
the Captain here for the Carribean League. The CAS outlets are gone, but=
we should be able to rebuild for acquisitions rather than sales. Aztlan=
looks almost totally barren, except for our outlet in the Yucatan. The=
Azzies cleaned shop. Silver has already given you an update on the gold=
coast, but the rest of it is pretty well maintained. Morocco is fine, so=
is Lake Victoria. With the civil wars going on, we should definately=
reopen our outlets all around Africa. I'd say, all combined, we're about=
at 60% of capacity in Africa.
AJ: Excellent. Ok, now it's my turn. I'll start with Asia. In Japan, we=
lost about 90%, but with all the new operators we can organize, I expect to=
reverse that trend in less than 6 months. As Cap'n Silver said, the=
Phillipines are ripe for sales of just about anything, but not so good for=
acquisitions or surface smuggling. Calcutta and New Delhi are gone, but=
the Sri Lankan stockpile is still there and available. China and south=
east Asia are prime markets, but we lost about 75% of our outlets back when=
The Org was being absorbed and otherwise chopped up. The 25% we have left=
are going to be blood baths regaining control unless I can somehow convince=
them to reorganize voluntarily. Siberia was left almost completely alone,=
even though one of our largest stockpiles was up in that area. It's=
completely intact, and like the Crete stockpile, it's immediately available=
.
Most of the rest of the Pacific Islands are a mixed bag too. About 50%=
loss, 25% reorganized or in the hands of competitors, and the last 25%=
unincorporated and somewhat available. We'll have to convince them to make=
themselves completely available. Australia is simliar, but our outlets in=
the Western Desert are available, albeit deserted.
South America is ok in Amazonia. The bribes we payed out are apparently=
still decent, although we'll owe more shortly. Chili has one small=
stockpile available, as does Rio.
North America, though, is almost a total loss. Maxim alone took 80% of our=
outlets here, Ares and others took another 15%. We'll have to start almost=
from ground zero here, and with two of the biggest arms manufacturers in=
the world on this continent, we have to make our presence known soon. I'm=
planning to take out some of our competitors with the arms list I got from=
Mercury, regarding the Children of Thunda. They'll be shut down fast, and=
we'll move in and take over the available market.
That's what's up. Questions?
Silver: Boss, who dragged you back inta the buisness?
AJ: Man UpTown. And I'm going to take all his buisness from him and then=
drop him in a black hole in centimeter cubes carved from his still living b=
ody.
FM: So Mut's responsible for putting two AVMs in my Baby.
AJ: What? Baby's been damaged?
FM: Almost a total loss. I was able to save her from spreading herself,=
and me, all over a couple square klicks of the Cascades, but barely. It'll=
take me several mil to repair her, though.
Silver: And my Ocean Commander is sittin at the bottom of San Francisco=
Bay. So I know who ta send the bill too.
Roxey: And so you know, he tried to blast me and my daughter into atoms=
with an explosive. Diana here got nuked by her ex-magical group too, after=
he gave them her location.
AJ: And Slash got a sniper unit hired to drop him expertly. I expect I=
know the group, too, but they're mercs who will do almost anything for the=
right price. But it's his hitting of the Haven bus that finally pissed me =
off.
FM: Uh oh. So it's war.
AJ: Yes. Ok, here's the way it is. Give me a list of the sites that are=
gone, questionable, available, etc. Contact every team that used to be=
connected and we'll find out who's available and what our forces. I want=
complete lists of everything, stat.
Silver: What about your old guarantee, boss?
AJ: We'll stick with it as soon as I say we're up and running again. If=
you have problems with people or sites that are being less than=
cooperative, let me know and I'll take care of it. Roxey, Diana, we three=
are going to take a trip to Moscow to visit the son of a friend.
+++++ End Playback +++++
And I've just found out what happened to have Stegenovich take over his=
father's position. This could be pretty ugly here in a day or two.]<<<<<
-- AJ Diary <02:17:51/05-01-59>
