I had a lot to do, but I didn't have enough time, money, or resources to get it done. First and foremost, money. While I had enough to be considered part of the one per cent on Mars, it meant nothing when you were using it for more than just living.
First, the gambling dens. A total of five have been opened and are doing surprisingly well already. Though, was it really surprising? Mars lacked…well, everything. The little disposable money people had was usually saved, since there was nothing to do anywhere except in the big cities, and even then, it was mostly just for the rich.
The gangs controlled anything gambling-related that did exist for the common folk, and I'm sure it's not a mystery why most people didn't want to gamble there. Another thing no one considered was the children. They comprised a large portion of the workforce and were an untapped goldmine. My gambling den was, surprise surprise, made up mostly of kids and teens from top to bottom and Cody took advantage of that.
As one could guess, kids were friends with kids, so it wasn't hard to convince many to get in on the fun and use kids' FOMO to bring in even more. He also sent some guys out for some on-site games to bring more cautious kids out of their hidy holes.
Teaching them while they were young. But it wasn't that bad. I mean, half the dens were more like high-stakes arcades than unscrupulous centres built to steal your money and soul like the others.
This is for a good cause after all.
Some of the older customers didn't like it, and there were more than enough trying to intimidate my employees due to their youth, but the den was a gun-free zone, so the security made short work of them. Still, we did segment the areas so people weren't uncomfortable.
While renovating, one of the dens was attacked by a nearby gang for not paying protection fees, but it only injured a few people, so not that bad.
It only provided more incentive to help Pete take over the Chryse underground world. Another good reason was the sheer resources we would get, and I meant 'we' cause there was no way he would be keeping it all, and I needed his insight and knowledge on them. So I secretly signed off on a mission to help Pete take out the gangs of the city.
With many friends in Tekkaden either already familiar with Pete or loyal to me, taking care of inventory, it wasn't hard to write off a good amount of ammo for the mission. All it took was fudging the numbers and writing off a few mobile workers with one mobile suit, and we were a go.
I wanted to do this anyway. This would provide a starter force for my own separate forces, which I didn't need to share. For the mission, Harley would pilot since my main man and attack dog, Andre, didn't want to leave the side of his new owner.
Forgetting that, this wasn't even the only industry I wanted to branch into. With Mars, as mentioned before, lacking a lot, it left many power vacuums open for filling and I would be the one to fill them. That, however, required, guess what? Money and resources.
I could probably get some government funding here and there from Arbrau. I'm also sure they would love a Arbrau-aligned arms manufacturer, considering from my research, Militech is kinda unofficially aligned with the SAU, no matter how many times they try to deny it. This would ensure I would be independent, weapon-wise, so I would never need to rely on Militech and possibly Teiwaz if need be.
I could also team up with a few local businesses and maybe even get McMurdo to invest in a few of my projects. Oh, Kudelia would be an excellent partner. Rich and looking to help Martians in any way possible. How could she say no?
Another thing I wanted to begin was, as mentioned before, a personal army. While I would count on Tekkaden for any major battles, there were some more personal activities I would like done with no one to breathe down my neck.
I still needed to figure out facilities, but I already had potential staff ready. I knew a few veterans from my days as part of the filth of the underground who would love some work. Plus, I could count on a few guys in Tekkaden if I'm still lacking.
This wasn't even considering what I would need to do to reach my ultimate goal. I still have so much to do.
Taking a deep breath in, I gave one last look at my newly bought journal pad before closing it. Sitting around wasn't going to help me. Action. I'm effectively out of the tutorial and into the real game.
Let's make something of this new life.
*********
Entry One:
If anyone is reading this, this ain't your journal; leave it where you found it. If I'm dead, then share this with everyone. It could show off the brilliance that is my mind, which is always a good thing for the world.
Okay, done fooling around. This is the first entry since I started this journal. While I've added to my plans in other parts of the book, this is an overall update of how things are going. Tracking my progress and all.
It's been a few months. Maybe three or four, I don't remember when I began this journal. A lot has happened already, and I don't even know where I should begin.
I guess let's start with the gangs.
Before that actually. I decided to ask Kudelia to connect me to her father. One must never do good work for free after all. I was getting rid of Cryse's gang problems. A job Gjallarhorn did not see fit to fix, and a job that the local authority was overwhelmed with, which was where we came in.
The CGS has already done business with much of the local authorities and Norman Bernstein personally. This history, along with being an ally, protector and friend of Kudelia had made the entire ordeal rather cordial.
We came to an agreement quickly. Here's the rough outline:
Tekkaden – Chryse Security Cooperation Pact
- Tekkaden is authorised to neutralise designated criminal groups operating within Chryse jurisdiction.
- All illegal goods stated further ahead and victims under criminal hostage shall be turned over to city authorities or designated humanitarian partners.
- All other physical property and assets seized during operations are considered Tekkaden's lawful compensation.
- Tekkaden shall operate within designated zones and coordinate major offensives with the city council's security liaison.
- Any collateral disputes shall be mediated by an appointed council arbiter.
This pact remains valid for three months and may be renewed or revoked upon review.
Here was a shortened list without anything too extensive or legal jargon. If this worked out well with Chryse, Norman could spread the word and we could conduct such contracts all round Mars.
With this, we basically had salvage rights over all criminal property. A win-win for all since Chryse didn't need to spend a cent on us while we reduced their crime. I then needed to come to an agreement with Pete over all salvaged goods since he would be helping.
The criminal had knowledge on much about or future targets and planned to participate anyway. We came to an agreement of a 65-35 split in my favour since I was taking the bigger risk.
When the equipment and guys I sent back to Mars to aid Pete arrived on the Riotor, they did not waste time. Pete and Cody had already planned everything out so they began operations immediately.
With the aid of Chryse officials, a likely sweep of the gangs and criminal entities turned into a guaranteed wipe.
We didn't need to be secretive and quick about our exploits since the officials would be helping or staying out of our way. The authorities added to our information superiority, which aided in the total removal of entire gangs and decapitation tactics we employed.
For obvious reasons, all the collected property was under Tekkaden's name until we sold the property dirt cheap to shell companies that belonged to Pete. We couldn't be known to be working with criminals. This was also why Pete's men were dressed as workers under Tekkaden.
It had Pete grumbling since it allowed me to siphon off extra money from his pocket but what could he do? With those extra funds, I had Cody pay out worker bonuses to keep everyone involved, happy and quiet.
Currently, most people back on Mars were people close to me, so there was not as much need to worry. There were still unknown factors like Dexter, the account guy on Mars, who was the guy we left in charge. With a carrot being a nice bonus and a stick being the reminder of what happened to his old companions, he easily agreed to keep things hush-hush.
He also helped me in fooling Merribit.
One might ask, where was Orga, Eugene, Biscuit, or anyone who could oppose my actions?
On Earth, of course.
I convinced them to stay on Earth for a longer period. While I was the designated liaison and unofficial figurehead on Earth, I made sure to have Orga and the rest join me in some of the lesser important gatherings under the guise of learning how to deal with such diplomatic situations. I would not be able to attend all important meetings, especially those on Mars so they would need to handle them.
Plus, one of them needed to take my place if anything were to happen to me, thus it would be best if they all had basic diplomatic skills.
It was quite amusing seeing how the country bumpkins fumbled around trying to act fancier than they were. While I was no diplomatic guru, I was leagues better than the rest. This also helped to reinforce my position in their eyes.
One never realises how hard it is to catch the nuanced double-speaking diplomatic jargon that the snakes in suits like businessmen, politicians, and magnates love to use till they need to do it.
And this wasn't even considering the fact that they were taking it easy on us. Why use a carefully thought-out response when they wouldn't even understand the watered-down version?
That was actually really helpful to me off the bat, since it gave me an idea of thier character.
We also needed to set up a proper Earth base of operations, which required meticulous work that needed all of us on it.
While I did come to tell Orga about the deal, considering I required more than what could easily be written off, I did it in a controlled manner and rephrased it. I also made sure he was unaware of the timeline, so I kept some of the earlier gains and ensured I didn't look untrustworthy.
Well, more so than what would be tolerable.
I told him how the Chryse autonomous region was suffering from criminal entities and requested aid, and in return, we would get some of the loot we found, but it would be determined at a later date so I didn't give all the good stuff to the entire organisation.
While he wasn't happy about me going off and accepting deals without him, he seemed to have gotten used to it, and the fact that it wasn't I who initiated it but was a response to a call for help aided in his placation.
When I had a chance to get away from distracting the other leaders of Tekkaden, remotely operating all that was happening on Mars or meeting officials of various standings, I was busy planning out my new venture on Mars.
Militech.
This was a major military manufacturing company that originated from the SAU. While the company claimed to maintain independence and zero political favour, I doubt anyone believes that for a second. This is where I noticed a vacuum, particularly in the rival of the SAU, which happened to be Arbrau.
I began drafting a plan to create an outwardly independent but secretly Arbrau-aligned arms manufacturing company.
The problem is, how was a cash-strapped young man such as myself gonna start such a thing?
Since I couldn't be the producer yet, I could certainly become the middleman. I still needed to tweak out the details, but I think I have something ready to present. I'll come back to report on it later.
Finally, I have a huge plan for Mars. It was a long time coming anyway; I just acted on it first. Mars was lacking in governance, and it was obvious in the fact that PMCs could exist and act as warlords.
I plan to establish myself in this dog-eat-dog planet of course, then once I'm in a stable enough, powerful position, I'm going to bring in a new age of governance to legitimise it. I'm already in a good position to make it all come to pass.
I have a plan or two to make this happen, but it will require help from a few people. I won't say much yet; I need to confirm it's possible. My timeline was also short. The window of opportunity the environment has given me requires that I complete everything in, max, four or five years, but more likely three.
Well, best get to work.