Another morning, another briefing. Bjronson was prepared as ever. In fact, he came in early once again. Still, his army of aids were ready for him at the door.
“Gaoyu has started putting capital in the European stock market. So far no important majority votes have been bought but the hedge fund managers under the Bank are getting antsy. They want assurance that their capital won’t get overshadowed.” But soon another aid intervened. “Gaoyu keeps up sending volunteers and other aid. Together with military power it claims to protect their volunteers. So far the help Italy gained has been quite substantial. In both goods and finance. SEER cautiously advice buying into Italy’s bonds.”

The Gaoyu team then split off the main group and went towards their offices. While the others remained near. “Miss Neosca gave a rather touching speech in Italy. Well, touching by EDA standards. It seems like the general populace will still rally behind her. Despite clear security issues.” An officer from Einherjar came up to the other side of Bjornson. “We succeeded in getting a meeting with Miss Neosca. But failed to give her a rundown of the specifics to be discussed. The EDA guards are keeping a suspicious tight grip around their representative. I wouldn’t be too surprised Mr. Valois is watching from the shadows.”

The group was now half-way towards the elevator when surprisingly enough the GAZPROM team came walking beside Bjornson: “We got some reports about alleged terrorist activity around the Danube and the Ukrainian -Moldavian border. Reports so far remain unverified. Mostly because we got a light grip on events in the Balkan at best. Even SEER can provide accurate projections. However, with the limited information sources available SEER preliminary projections suggests a refugee flow from Romania and maybe Ukraine. Poland is the nearest area owned by a Megacorporation. Then there is also the problem of potential Romanian terrorism. But again, GAZPROM’s media is the only source of this information.”

Now it was time for the largest army, Jötunn’s monitoring group. “If not a sense of humor, the Germans certainly seem to have a sense for insults.” Said one aid as he handed Bjornson a tablet showcasing a certain propaganda show from Munich. For a second Haldjor chuckled. “Munich and Nuremberg are quite emboldened by your support. They have been raising militia groups and inviting various other free German cities in a form of alliance against Jötunn. Which would be required, as it appears that Jötunn is moving armed personnel towards the borders.”

Times were getting increasingly interesting. Especially now. The top executive level had gone through a certain restyling. The Mega-corporation advisory boards each had an office on the floor now. Near Haldjor’s office a meeting room turned into a Central Command. When Bjornson entered, the room didn’t stop. But certain people looked up as he took his seat. Charles was among them, keeping a watchful eye over some monitors against the wall. There was a stark contrast between the young CEO and the veteran leader of Einherjar. “What’s the situation with Jötunn and Operation Mimir?”

“Everything proceeding as planned.” Answered Charles, not looking away from his screens. “Bastion’s first and second shipment is on its way. Mimir has ‘vanished’ from Norway 2 days prior. All seems to go according to plan.” Said the elderly man who still held a very strong aura of strength around him.

“I hope you’re right about him, Charles. Because if this goes wrong, the best case scenario is that we have a notorious terrorist with Top Tier equipment in our borders and the worst case is that Jötunn finds out and the markets are not in the mood for wargames so close at home. ISIL might blow a few market squares in the Middle East and the Balkans may descend into a bit of skirmishing. But I can’t have another Euro-War on my hands.” There was a certain tension within the Command Center. Even though neither of the participants looked at each other, there was a certain charge in the air. The room, despite being big, was still too small for these two giants. “Now, I see that there may be some issues in Romania?”

“Unverified reports from GAZPROM. True or not, they’re mobilizing. It all depends if the international media jumps on early enough. But GAZPROM is a lumbering giant. It’s getting too big. Even worse, they are aggressive above all else. They’ve proven it time and time again when they threw out the banks and-“

“A move that made us a lot of money.” Noted Bjornson.

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. We shouldn’t assume GAZPROM gave us a gift the day they started throwing out their financial institutions.” Said Charles as he turned around and marched towards the map projected on the main table. He looked over it, at the Danube. “What does GAZPROM want with that river…” the old man mused, trying to see the game of chess being played with 3 players. The EDA, GAZPROM and Jötunn.

Bjornson rose from his chair and looked out of the window. “Can Poland handle the refugees?” he asked, more in an off-hand interested voice than legitimate concern. Haldjor had no interest in humanitarian aid. Such things were best left to Gencultura. Who had long stand experience on the subject. This however, gave him an idea. “What if we asked our North-African brothers for help?”

“Gencultura? Hmmm, a fair proposal. Their humanitarian resume is a lot bigger than ours. We’d have to give something in return. Those guys down south may be sentimental from time to time, but they certaintly aren’t cheap. We’ll have to give them something.”

Haldjor nodded, agreeing with Charles. “For now, just monitor the refugee situation in Poland. Give the Gencultura taskforce orders to dig in. I want to have something they want if the Balkans situation turns into a crisis.”

“There is still Jötunn to worry about.” Noted Charles to Haldjor who moved to the other side of the table. With a doubtful gaze he looked at the divided Germany. “East and West. History repeats itself. Only this time the west is screwed. I cannot blatantly go up against the Giants. Another Euro-war would cost us billions if not more. So we need an alternative.”

“The rising German Federation seems to be doing rather well on its own for now.” Said Charles. Who, with a single movement, enlarged the map of Germany. It showed a clear red line to separate East and West. “At this rate, I doubt Germany would become part of Jötunn soon. At least not in any peaceful way. Sadly, Jötunn has never been known as peaceful. I do, however, have a continuity plan I’d like to suggest.” The old man looked at Haldjor without continuing. It was a silent sign. Whatever was going to be said now was the very least illegal, often highly immoral and at worst, it could destroy relationships between Mega-corporations for years. Haldjor nodded. “Germany will fall. We’re just buying it more time. I will not deny Germany’s fighting spirit though. They are though and stubborn. But Jötunn carries too much police and military weight. Right now SEER is trying to figure out why Jötunn wanted Germany so bad and I feel it will give us that answer soon. When we have it, we move that resource out of the free Federation.”

“Scortched earth tactic.” Noted Haldjor.

Charles nodded. “Rather, still-burning-earth. If we play our cards well and Jotünn still grabs East-Germany, we can have trained resistance fighters tucked away in every nook and cranny there is. We make it our Trojan Horse. Once Germany gets annexed the sleeper cells can spread themselves through Jötunn territory.”

“A daring plan… I will think it over. At least the Trojan Horse part. I will await SEER’s report on West-Germany’s value. Once we pinpointed what Jötunn wants, we drain West-Germany of that. You have my blessing for that plan. Now, for the next issue.” With a few taps the holo-map moved towards Italy. “The bomb, the EU and the EDA. It seems Miss Neosca is somewhat cooperative. But not enough. I don’t know if it’s indecisiveness, stubbornness or cheer incompetence but so far we only got paperwork from her.” One of Haldjor’s famous secretaries moved closer, knowing she’d at least would have to relay a message to her colleague. “Luckily the EDA is still quite an open economy. Start buying stocks in French and Italian companies. Keep them afloat. Show some economic goodwill. In that we have always been better than Jötunn. Central Europeans may desire more security but what they truly love is economic stability. Help the EDA in that.” The secretary nodded and excused herself.

“Then there is still the issue with Goayu buying European stocks. Our financial experts don’t see an immediate pattern in it. It’s neither aggressive nor hugely influential.” Said another secretary. “I’d personally say they are slowly but surely trying to get into the EU’s economy as times become more interesting.”

Haldjor nodded in understanding. He couldn’t show that it went unnoticed. Nor could he risk antagonizing another mega-corp. “Buy stocks of the companies they bought. Slowly, steadily. Try to use the same randomization they’ve used. Don’t buy too much influence. Just enough so we can get the board’s attention when required but try not to poke the panda bear.”