'Darkpaw has exceeded our estimations. We'll be sending a representative shortly to discuss with you in person the future of your company.'
The words on the screen before her spelt a death sentence for her entire company, her entire livelihood, ticking down one week at a time. Her eyes narrowed sharply as she read them once more.
'We look forward to meeting you - Signed, Enigma Inc.'
Fucking sharks.
Zhali sighed and sat back in her chair, sinking into its soft, plush leather. She was a seven foot tall tigress, with the traditional orange and white colouration across her striped body. Her body, which was currently clad in a sleek black business suit, was in good shape for someone so busy, with a strong layer of muscle complimenting her soft curves. Her long, thick coal-black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, however her shorter, side-swept bangs were not to be so easily tamed, and were left free to frame her pretty face, and sharp sea-green eyes. Despite her 'business' look and stress-worn expression, the glistening nose studs and bright pink claws on her hands showed that the CEO still took the time to look after herself, and most importantly, be herself.
This day had been coming for quite some time, looming over the horizon like a bad omen. Darkpaw was growing in size and attracting attention from the greater powers at play. Enigma would get what they wanted, one way or another. They always did. Unless, Zhali could finish up her plan and snatch victory away from the ever closing jaws of the terra-corp. As large as Darkpaw was, a mega-corp was nothing compared to the heavy-weight bulls that were the terra-corps. Enigma were especially well-known for aggressively pursuing new talent to join their ever-growing hydra of a corp, and Darkpaw were now at the top of their list. The just shy of a million employees under Zhali would be swallowed into the hundreds of trillions within Enigma without so much as a second glance.
She tapped quickly on the holo-buttons on her desk, securing a line to her lead engineer.
"Voxer? It's me. Did you manage to fix the heat-pipe issues yesterday? Please tell me the cell is charged?"
"Certainly is, ma'am." Voxer replied in a strong, southern tone. "We're just finishing up the renovations on the main quarters now. Engine and reactor are fully operational!"
"Thank goodness." Zhali allowed herself a small sigh of relief, and relaxed her shoulders. "How soon will it be able to move?"
"Can already. You say the word, we'll begin packing up and moving aboard." Voxer confirmed confidently.
A small chuckle escaped the tigress' black lips. "You have... no idea how relieved I am to hear that. I promise, it'll all be worth it."
"Course it will, ma'am. You're the boss!"
"Thank you, Voxer. I'll make sure you're properly compensated for the overtime."
She cut the line and sat upright in her chair, glancing out of the thick tinted windows to her right. Carefully constructed scaffolding surrounded a shimmering outline of something, cloaked using Darkpaw's own technology, a cloaking field being projected onto the structure. From a distance, the work might have looked humble, but up-close it was anything but, carefully protected by several guard posts all around, all on constant watch. Each guard post was hooked up to Darkpaw's main reactor via a thick black cable, strung through space carefully, casting the cloaking field over the project to keep it hidden from prying eyes. It had been a massive drain on Darkpaw's finances over the last year, but it would save them all.
In theory.
Darkpaw's main headquarters had been built onto an asteroid initially, but the mega-corp outgrew its humble origins in a mere matter of years. Now a proud spire in the stars, humming with productivity and clad in glittering granite plates, the Spire was a testament to Zhali's leadership and business acumen. Hundreds of thousands of employees scuttled around its interior - keeping the corp running was no easy task - but she'd managed it so far. If Enigma were knocking on the door, it was an unfortunate sign that she was running it well.
Something caught Zhali's eye then, interrupting her thoughts. A pair of bright dots were quickly approaching the docking bay, two seperate ships rolling in together by happenstance. One was a ragged-looking nomad vessel, small and unassuming with a faint glimmer of yellow visible through its cockpit glass. The other was a GLYPH prison vessel, blocky and brass, its main body akin a metallic rib-cage. It docked onto the emergency port on the side of the Spire, where newly liberated prisoners were quickly ushered out by Darkpaw engineers, and into the safety of the Spire. Every prisoner wore a heavy brass-coloured armoured suit, fully sealed and protected, but awkward to move in on account of their significant defences.
Removing a GLYPH suit was no easy task. The damn things were loaded with various traps and 'safety' systems, threatening to outright kill the wearer should they tamper too much with it and the fucking things were built solid too. Offering excellent physical and environmental protection, able to survive atmospheric re-entry, and they were impervious to traditional, small calibur weapons too. No nomad worker was going to be able to cut them open without either breaking their tools, or setting off one of the 'safety' devices.
Thus was GLYPH's business plan. They would saturate areas of nomad space with detection probes and send out ships loaded with these trap suits towards S.O.S signals, and those in need. Those desperate enough would seek the safety of a GLYPH suit, and immediately become an indentured slave to the corp, working to repay the debt of the suit for the rest of their lives. Failing to complete tasks assigned by GLYPH would result in a chemical 'purge,' melting the wearer in moments.
Thus, was the mega-corp triad. Darkpaw to the south. GLYPH to the north west, and Koto, a smaller venture but by no means a non-threat, to the east. All three were tangled in war, horns locked, each one of them straining to gain more ground. Darkpaw had the moral high-ground, for sure, but GLYPH had terror and desperation. Even the suits themselves were nightmarish, creaking loudly with each thudding step they took. Designed to be modular, GLYPH could directly bolt new modules onto an 'employee' to change the functionality of their suit. From engineers to enforcers to tech-specialists, all without requiring the 'user' to change out of their gear. Worse still, the suits directly interfaced with the people inside to take care of bodily needs, with GLYPH employees being 'fed' a diet of blood enriching nutrient paste, fed straight into their arteries. It was extraordinarily cheap and remarkably effective, if absolutely horrifying. And those captured, would do nigh-on anything if it meant the chance of freedom.
Recently, GLYPH had become more aggressive, responding to Darkpaw successfully dismantling their suits without killing the wearer, by abducting Darkpaw employees and forcing them into their suits. The thought of her employees being pressed into GLYPH's forsaken business plan made Zhali sick to her stomach, and the fact they'd seen any success at all positively mystified her.
Zhali shook her head sadly as the group of around fifty people emerged from the ship, stumbling towards the Spire, unaccustomed to the weight of their personal prisons. The fight with GLYPH had been bloody so far, but Darkpaw was winning, inch by blood-stained brass inch. Many had been working for the mega-corp for years, their sanity lost, hope gone. They would die for the corp, one way or another. But she knew that treating people right was the correct way to gain the upper hand. People weren't expendable. Not to her.
She sighed softly, pressing her hand against her chin and ruffling her fur, an uncomfortable warmth tingling through her body.
Jeez, this has been a long week... I need a good fuck.
She glanced back then at the other, nomad vessel as its gangplank extended and a figure stepped out. Her view of it from the office was obscured slightly, as the ship had docked at the Spire's main entrance, but she swore she saw a flicker of something dark and...
Wiggly...?
She was only granted a brief moment with her thoughts however, when a security notice popped up on her desk holo-screens. She quickly scooched over in her chair to look.
