Djibril made a beeline for his alcohol cabinet as soon as he got back in his office. Having the other members of LOGOS nag over every single detail over the amount of funds that were to be allocated to the Phantom Pain group tended to get on his nerves after all. Although every member of LOGOS was a wealthy individual, their greed tended to make them stingy about parting with some of their fortune even when it was going towards a good cause.
Okay... if one wants to get technical, it would be two good causes. One would be the military campaign geared towards exterminating Coordinators. And the second would be towards starting additional conflicts in which the members of LOGOS would be able to benefit from since their military hardware production capabilities would be in full demand.
Even with a strong case, most of the other members were adamant on knowing where exactly their money would be spent and how much each department should get. It was such an inefficient usage of time. If he had his way, he would simply present a strong case and then propose a preliminary budget in which to satisfy short-term objectives which would lead to long-term success. That way, he could spend more time on productive matters. At this rate, he'll probably have to arrange 'accidents' for all the old men so that their successors would be more responsive to his suggestions.
The only other members who didn't really nitpick as the old geezers did were the Adukurf siblings but they weren't of much help. Matias, the male sibling, was a fruitcake in his opinion. He spoke like a woman and liked being vague and mysterious whenever it was his turn to state an opinion on a particular subject matter. Matisse, the female sibling, seemed to possess more sanity than her brother but she didn't really put in a serious effort to help out during those meetings, opting to fiddle around with a deck of cards instead.
He needed a strong drink and unfortunately, he neglected to order someone to restock his favourite whiskey. He gave a resigned sigh and reached for a bottle of beer instead. Not exactly as dignified as whiskey but alcohol was alcohol and he had the need to get buzzed.
Just as he popped the bottle open, his phone rang. The call display indicated that his caller is none other than Matisse herself. 'Speak of the fucking devil...' He took a swig of the drink before picking up the phone. "What do you want?"
"I would like to have a word with you about the contract with Aktaion Industries."
"What's there to talk about? Thanks to those stingy old men, I was only able to get enough money to build the mobile armour for Lorrnoke and the Strike Noir for Lieutenant Bayan," growled Djibril in an irritated tone.
"Do you think that ZAFT will quake in fear because of one prototype mobile suit and one prototype mobile armour? They'll probably be able to adapt to them fairly quickly if another armed conflict arises. We need a few more trump cards that we can use against them."
"Well, I'm all ears." It was difficult not to miss the bitter sarcasm in Djibril's voice.
Matisse continued on. "I'm e-mailing you a rough schematic file for additional prototype mobile suits that my own men have came up. I'm sure these designs will be quite familiar to you. I've done some work on my end to mask this project as an investigative venture."
"And the reason why you didn't tell me earlier is... ?" He quickly took his desktop computer out of idle mode and logged in.
"A proper feasibility analysis had to be conducted along with future calculations on how to get these prototypes delivered to us at minimum cost. I trust that we'll keep this little information between us at the time being? I would rather not have the other members breathing down our backs on this venture."
The message came as promised and Djibril looked at what his colleague had in mind. His mood started improving as he thought about the potential that these units had. "My lips are sealed."
On his computer screen were preliminary designs for the GAT-X1022 Blu Duel, the GAT-X103AP Verde Buster, the GAT-X207SR Nero Blitz and the GAT-X303AA Rosso Aegis. Considering that the original Duel, Buster, Blitz and Aegis were all part of a team with the Strike, he would have to get some recommendations from Lieutenant Bayan, the future Strike Noir pilot about which pilots would be best to bring out the potential that these machines had.
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(Posted Sun, 07 Jan 2007 05:15)
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