[h2]Hobart~Tasmania
7:35 AM[/h2]
The helicopter kicked up storms of wind as it landed atop the building, the rotors loudly whirling in the crisp morning air. The rising sun backlit Hobart, the beams of light framing skyscrapers and apartments as it rose up. The night had been cold, and Melinda was exhausted, she had had to wake up early for the flight over here as one of the representatives had suffered a heart attack, and OIF had rushed electing a new one for God-knows-what reason. The bright sun blinded her as she stepped down from the whirring beast, her shoes' normal tapping that they would make against hard tarmac was drowned out by the shuffling of soldiers and machines. Six members of Department Six disembarked after her, their black combat uniforms and balaclavas making them an intimidating presence on the field. The pilot slowly wound down the engine, and helicrew dashed up and down the rampart, preparing the helicopter for wherever it would need to go next.

Despite the time period, it was already warming up to be another boiling hot day, and Melinda was more than happy to be inside once more, both for the air conditioning and the fact that she knew this office was constructed of bulletproof glass- the OIF were even more paranoid than her, and every higher up had every measure taken to defend themselves. She guessed when half of what you knew was top secret information, and you dying would mean that a whole lot of said information would be lost, you had to be more protective of your own grey matter. The company could always fall back on one of her siblings, they all knew how the company ran, but the OIF guys? Geniuses, each and every one of them.

She paced down toward the elevator, she flipped her briefcase across to the opposite hand, fumbling it. Swearing, she bent down to pick it up, the metal casing having clunked conspicuously against the carpeted flooring the building was blanketed in. She caught sight of herself in the polished metal, and quickly checked her face, knowing that something as simple as a helicopter trip could mess up what her stylist had spend time doing. Luckily for her however, it had all persevered, and she examined the job again briefly. The bags under her eyes were gone, along with the minor blemishes that she hated so. Sure, she could get them removed with surgery, but when? She was a busy woman, she couldn't spend days with bandages around her face waiting to recover.

The young assistant who she'd never seen before hurried up to her, dusting himself off before bowing slightly. “It’s a pleasure, Ms. President, to have you here in Hobart today. I assume you'll be wanting to meet with the new director, Mr. Jameston?" The man stammered a bit as he said this, but otherwise remained calm in the presence of one of the most powerful women in the world, no mean feat. "I'm your new assistant miss, James Coalwry. An odd surname, I know..." 



"I assure you, I have no issues with odd-named staff. We used to half a half-Japanese director before he retired. [i]That[/i] was a mouthful Mr. Coalwry." She smiled, thinking that he would be decent, as long as that stammer wasn't a permanent thing. "Here, you'll need this. That has everything you need to know on Department 5, our Paris Operations, our deals with Concorrant Industries, including the survey station and the SGRS. There's also the Somalia operations, and you need to read up on that now, because we're heading to Somalia to meet with a Gencultura Tech representative and watch our first few mining operations being set up."

"Jesus Christ.. Pardon miss." Melinda waved her hand to dismiss the apology as unneeded and started walking into the elevator, the assistant pulling out the top sheaf of documents and clipping the briefcase shut again, scanning it. "Miss, really quickly, I wasn't given top-secret clearance until practically yesterday. If it's not too much of a bother, what's... Department 5? I'm sorry if that's a dumb question or what..."

"James, Department 5 is our secret service and special operations. Any dealings with foreign companies will involve them, so get used to seeing them everywhere. Oh, and they form our security detail, and that of every other higher-up in our organisation. So yes, you really, [i]really[/i] need to get used to seeing these guys everywhere. Officially though, they're just a security detail from AIS."

The man's face went serious, and he nodded, before pressing the button they needed, causing the elevator to softly ding, before jerking downwards, the hypersystem not kicking in for the short, 3 floor trip. The doors dinged again and whirred open, and she purposely strode out and pushed open the door into the meeting room here. Immediately, the whole room stood up, and placed her hands on the wide glass table, her rings clacking against it, before saying "Let's get into this meeting fast.

The men and women looked at each other and nodded, before sitting down, the shuffling of suits and ties filling the room. “Now, we all know what has happened in Europe. But that is not why I’m here now. Earlier today, I recorded a public announcement in which I pledged that our company would be sending over a number of our engineers and a small cash donation in order to help rebuild the damaged buildings.”

The business men shuffled about and nodded, clearly happy that steps had already been taken towards making AUC look like another helping hand. “Now. May I see the new representative?” A young woman, probably no older than 23 stepped forward, pushing a pair of glasses up her nose. “Hello Ms. President. I’m… I’m Carey Nguyen. Third generation Australian before you ask. We've just kept the surname."