[hr][color=gold][center][h1][i][b]DELTΔ HYPER[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color][color=gold] [center][h2][i][b]After Australian GP at Team Valkyrie Headquarters Aachen, Germany [/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [hr] [img]https://i.ibb.co/k6WpPVkW/Team-Valkyrie-HQ.jpg[/img] Alexander had hit the ground running. Alexander was working his way through the stack of reports waiting for him on his desk. There were a ton of things requiring his attention at headquarters. Mabel finally had an update from Lipusv on the backordered antigravity parts. Manufacturing of the parts required some rare minerals and ores. That was the bottleneck. They were asked to recycle failed parts by sending them back to the European Space Union to help speed up replacements. Alexander was focused on future growth and stability for the team. That meant he had a lot of larger and long term projects going on that he needed to follow up on. He was still trying to hire more engineers. Mabel had been headhunting and compiling resumes for him to review. He had reports from Sami to review about the Junior Team. Reports from Katherine on marketing concerns. Lipusv had requested a meeting. Alexander snorted in laughter since Lipusv didn’t so much as request but demand a meeting. His meeting with her was slated for this afternoon at 1:30pm. The legal team had managed to procure the necessary building licenses to build a research and development laboratory on the headquarters campus. The new research and development complex would be located on the backside of the complex on currently reclaimed land that had been cleaned up after manufacturing toxins had leached into the ground. The land was no longer hazardous but it still didn’t support much in the way of greenery. It was perfect for this project. It was located on the opposite side of the campus and test track. The location was ideal for a facility nearby but not close enough to endanger the living and working part of the facility in case of an accident. The Board of Directors had not been idle either. They had been hard at work interviewing and vetting potential CEOs to take Brendel’s position. They had landed on Antonia Spirito as the new interim CEO. She would take over the position of CEO but had a probationary period of one year and would be under the direct supervision of the board of directors. She was due to start this week. She came highly recommended from the manufacturing sector. She had been a CEO for an agricultural machinery company headquartered in Italy but one was well known throughout the world for technological breakthroughs. She was very well liked by her former employees and respected by the former company’s board of directors. She came with glowing recommendations and had passed Wulfric’s deep background check. Many other candidates had not. Wulfric had turned over evidence of corruption on two other CEO candidates he had been asked to vet for the position. Katherine was set to interview and shoot an announcement campaign with the new Interim CEO to introduce her to the world. Alexander was not familiar with her but was relieved that he would hopefully have some help with some of this in the future. He had also started an inquiry into what had happened with Dorian’s ship. It didn’t sit right with Alexander that Dorian had been experiencing so many issues with his ship while Paul had not. He had Wulfric and Cavan quietly investigating to see if there was any internal sabotage happening. He had ordered Dorian’s ship taken back to the hull and rebuilt before the next race. He had also tasked Cavan to work with the team to develop a strategy to counter the speed of Al Saqr and Carrera Condor’s ships. [hr] Aurora’s floating holographic head appeared in the media room as the cameras focused on capturing the interview. [quote]Aurora: [color=ed1c24]"Paul, it feels like you've hit your stride! With such consistency, how does it feel to be putting a team like Valkyrie so high up the grid? How do you feel about the future of the team, and in particular, the next steps with the 2095 chassis?"[/color][/quote] Paul smiled and looked relaxed as he sat at the curved team table on the stage with the team’s logo on it front and center. He was wearing a team polo shirt, jeans, and sneakers. The wall behind him had all their current sponsors’ logos in all their holographic glory. Paul’s eyes lit up with excitement. [color=fff200]“The ship is still in development but I am excited to see what improvements the team manages to make. I know there is a focus on getting more speed from the ship without compromising our handling and stability. I trust the team will create a masterpiece.”[/color] He shrugged nonchalantly. [color=fff200]“Of course, we will all have to wait and see how it compares to improvements being planned by other teams.” [/color] [hr] Alexander had a video meeting with Johanna. She wanted to know his strategy for maintaining the team's momentum for the rest of the season. She really wanted the team to place well in the rankings. Alexander understood it but his focus was on getting ready for next season. He had faced so many damn setbacks already. The meeting with Johanna left Alexander with an uneasy feeling. He had to agree with her that there was something not right going on at Al Saqr. Layla's sudden withdrawal from racing and disappearance due to health issues set his teeth on edge. Alexander's gut said there was more to it than he knew. Johanna's recommendation was that he ask for a formal investigation into what happened to Layla. Alexander was reluctant to take that route. It felt underhanded and wrong to him. He did want to know what really happened to Layla but he would rather defeat Al Saqr straight up without any technicalities or excuses as to why they were beat. Alexander understood that to the shareholders all that matter was the win and profit. The team was finally rebounded from all the bad press from earlier in the season and the investigation caused by Brendel's activity. Alexander needed new sponsors and money flowing into the team. He understood how critical this was to get the new chassis ready for the next season. He needed that new Research and Development Center with the specialty labs for new materials testing. That took money. He needed to hire even more engineers and scientists. That took more money. He needed more regular investment and cash flow for the team. The contract with Immersia Entertainment was set up so that Team Valkyrie would see an endorsement fee and then after the game had been out for 6 months the team would receive 10% in royalties. If Immersia decided to develop a new game or sequel, they would have to negotiate a new contract. Alexander had permission and permits to build the new Research and Development Center. They would be breaking ground on the new facility by the end of the week. They were waiting on the last of the engineering designs to meet approval. Alexander needed a new injection of cash to get that project completely launched and so he could start headhunting the talent he would need for it. Alexander had groaned when Mabel had informed him that Artie wanted him for a new fashion campaign with Lena. Evidently Lena was being tapped for a wedding attire line and Artie wanted Alexander to pose with her. Alexander couldn't help but wonder if he was being set up to propose. He couldn't only guess at what Arianna and Mabel would think about this one. Mabel already had a devilish glint in her eye as she informed him of Artie's new proposal. He would once again have to shoot an ad campaign and walk in at least one show. This one would be in London. Alexander put it on the maybe pile. He was not eager to be in the spotlight again. Alexander reviewed the report Cavan had submitted about the engine failure that happened in Australia with Dorian's ship. The engine had failed after reaching temperature. Evidently a minor manufacturing defect caused a hairline fracture in the engine manifold after the ship's engine came under stress and heat during the race. That was unacceptable to Alexander because they were supposed to use imaging equipment on all high stress parts to prevent this exact kind of failure. Either someone got lazy and missed it or it was overlooked on purpose. Either way, the result was not acceptable. He had Wulfric begin a quiet investigation into everyone who had been involved in inspecting and putting the ship together. He wanted to know who had handled that part and who failed at their job. Then he wanted them watched. He would not put his pilots in danger because someone on the inside was taking bribes or worse. He called Dorian into his office for a meeting. He understood that Dorian was angry and upset about what happened. He let Dorian know that he was running an internal investigation to find out why the defect was missed and who was responsible. He asked Dorian how he would feel playing a more integral role in the next race's strategy. He promised Dorian that his ship would perform for him. He wanted Dorian to take on Hamid and keep them busy while Paul took on Kais. Dorian seemed eager for a chance to have a more active role and a chance to highlight his skill before the end of the season. Even if he was part of the strategy to help Paul get back on the podium. Alexander got an email from George Hafner of Transolar Industries. Transolar Industries was one of ten top renewable energy companies in the world. They built solar panels, solar sails for space craft, wind turbines, and wave driven turbines. They were looking to sponsor a Formula AG team because one of their competitors was sponsoring Silver Apex. They liked the progress that Paul had made since the beginning of the season and were talking about sponsoring the rest of the season and next year. They were talking enough money to be one of the team's primary sponsors. Alexander would have to run this one past the board of directors. It was a great opportunity for the team but there were more strings attached than he liked to the deal. [hider= Team Valkyrie Characters] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zrLx5XUgYiVm6KjTpFTWZtJvXc0MX77enkLzINHujKw/edit?gid=0#gid=0 [/hider]