Jump 466: Call of Duty - Advanced Warfare

Jump 466: Call of Duty - Advanced Warfare
>The World: Completeness and intricacy of design. A great work.
The world is mine.
>Age: 29
>Location: 2053 Anno Domini
>Classes: (-300) Atlas, Infiltrator
>Drawbacks: (+600) Open Tab, Made Of Irons, Part Of The Problem
So let's run down the checklist - I'm working for a company run by my uncle, and he's got some good ideas... but at least I can grab a beer with my cousin Will when he comes back from deployment?
>That's Classified (Free, Infiltrator)
Hiding who I am is old hat by now.
>We're Smarter Than This (1000, Infiltrator)
I don't think the average IQ of a character from Call of Duty is a high bar to set against anyone's intellect. Or the dev, for that member. Kerning much?
>That Was Awesome (900)
Hey, if I'm going to end up using an exo frame, I should ensure that I'm good at it.
>Your Worst Nightmare (Free, Atlas)
Useful in the boardroom and in the field.
>On MY Authority! (800, Atlas)
Operating above the law is amusing. Right up to when the local military starts shelling you.
>The Way Forward (600, Atlas)
Huh, this is a useful card to put in the 'social manipulation' deck, and it's right up my alley...
>Democracy (300, Atlas)
This one, too. It's good to be the king.
>Prometheus Heavy Industries (150, Atlas)
Funny coincidence, isn't it, that the best talent from Prometheus gets poached by Atlas regularly? Almost as though there's an unspoken agreement between the companies, or even a conspiracy. This will work nicely as a part of CruxCorp henceforth...
>Grappling Hook (Free, Infiltrator)
>Exo Shield (Free, Infiltrator)
>External Applications (Free, Atlas)
>Mag Gloves (Free, Atlas)
>Slim Profile (100)
>Linking (0)
So let me get this straight - this is an exoskeleton that can be concealed as long as I wear something with long sleeves like a lab coat or business suit, has a deployable shield that can block small arms (briefly), will let me climb on things as long as I can get a magnetic lock on them, and has a grappling line for the things I can't climb? Not to mention it can attach to anything within reason, like a jetpack or a RIG? Damn, where was THIS thing during my early chain?!

You know, this jump was a bit of fun for me. I started out with my very own private military company, and promptly put them to work. There are plenty of places they can do some good, especially in a world like this, and if I'm at the head of the company... everyone's going to enjoy the benefits of hypercompetence. After all, we might not be the biggest, but we most certainly are the best in the business.

Oh, speaking of which, it stands to reason that Atlas being the biggest PMC in the world would worry a lot of people, and so I elected to do something about that. Laws were quietly introduced and while Atlas and existing PMCs were grandfathered in, new PMCs based in G-8 nations (and others) faced stark limitations. Which is all well and good, and a boon to existing PMCs of course because this means they've all essentially got a monopoly on such things.

And that's all well and good until the number three company gets bought by some company called CruxCorp in 2053, which let it keep the grandfathered status to its subsidiary. And then it bought two more. Meanwhile, Prometheus grew steadily over the years, CruxCorp introduced medi-gel which bought it a lot of goodwill that it used to bend many rules, and Atlas... well, circumstances changed faster than anyone might have thought. It didn't wane, it was more of a matter of its growth hitting the wall while Prometheus and CruxCorp either grew or absorbed others until they could both stand shoulder to shoulder with it.

And really, this all came to a head in early 2055. Because that was the day that I stepped into the boardroom with Jonathan Irons, the CEO of Atlas, and Shin Cross, the chairman of CruxCorp's board. Which was pretty hilarious, considering who he was, but the pretense that he is a separate person was a necessary one.

Jonathan Irons was not pleased to hear that CruxCorp had completed its acquisition of Prometheus Heavy Industries and that I was going to be put in place as their CEO. He was far less pleased to find that CruxCorp was now staging a hostile takeover of Atlas, in fact.

"After all, Atlas is a publicly traded company, uncle Jon."
>"One, you don't get to call me that anymore, you damned traitor. Two, even if you held enough shares - which you don't - you'd have to beat an eighty percent supermajority to even buy the board. Three, even if you could do THAT, I'd sooner sell off our R&D than let you gain control of it."
"Oh, I don't care about whatever biological agents you've got cooking in the back room. By the way, I'm fairly certain that the FBI is downstairs raiding it as of two minutes ago, because you may not think you answer to the United States but you're still here - you aren't a foreign diplomat, you don't have immunity."
>"You imbecile! Do you have any idea what you've done?!"
"Aside from the fact that you'll have an international arrest warrant waiting for you? Oh, by the way, certain things have been noticed by the SEC and I'm the only reason they've not started a massive investigation. I believe some fellows from Interpol are currently in New Baghdad along with some United States marines investigating some very curious rumors about mandatory vaccinations, among other things."
>"How in- are you shitting me?"
"I hear there are some drones in development with some very interesting payloads there, uncle Jon. It's just a pity that the city came under attack by a terrorist group with an EMP bomb right about... oh, now. Sorry, but your people are grounded."
>"You little shit!"
"Oh, so now you're going to shoot me? Shoot us both? Oh, I'm sure that's going to completely stop what we've put in motion. It's quite all right, I'm willing to leave the Atlas brand on things for the time being."
>"No, I- I can still fix this. Rogue researchers- no, forget it, it's time to go global-"
"Not that bullets would actually STOP me. So, put down the gun, would you? I have a proposal for you instead."
>"A proposal."
"Oh my, yes. This isn't my master stroke, after all, this is just the icing on the cake. I've already done what you were going to do."
>"You're... going to need to explain further."
"What, do you think I'm assembling more soldiers than NATO and the Soviet Union had at the height of the cold war for fun? What is it you say about your company again?"
>"What, that we don't sell policy, we sell power?"
"Yes! Exactly. A super power for hire. Except once I've consolidated, I'm not selling - this will be a hyperpower. So what I'm proposing is this: you work for me. You do an excellent job with Atlas - you'd likely make a great president, too."
>"You're proposing a coup and offering to put me in charge? That's hilarious, why didn't you simply lead with that?"
"Because I don't have to propose anything, I already control the United States."
>"Do you actually expect me to believe-"
"Also Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, most first world nations really. Are you familiar with the concept of the Illuminati? It's not so much a concept as a long standing reality and I've been pushing them toward this direction for the last three years. They acquiesced. We're taking control for the world's own good. You're not part of the 'in' crowd, but you think like we do."
>"The way you're talking, usually I'd call that crazy conspiracy bullshit - but you're not joking, are you?"
"No. CruxCorp was my baby, always has been. Its people are beyond your belief, it's safe to say they've taken what you'd consider the current cutting edge battlefield technologies and advanced them a full century. Not just exoskeletons, but cybernetics meant for extended use and draining less power than they can gain from the bioelectricity generated by a toddler, medical nanites, cloned organs, the whole shebang. Screw helicopters, we've got electromagnetic levitation. Mr. Cross here is a convenient figurehead and is himself a recipient of our technologies. Feel free to shoot him if you want to see it in action, just preferably not in the head?"
>"I'll... pass."
"You're missing the show, but you're right, it would be messy. In any event, however... my point remains: I am in control. I have always been in control, though you may not have realized it. Bread and circuses work remarkably well, but the Illuminati has given the world's governments carrot enough to get with the program. Atlas... is the stick. independent of any nation, as was Atlas, but writ large."
>"You realize you could have come to me with this months or years ago, and I'd have been on board, don't you?"
"Oh, probably, but you'd have wanted your name in lights. I'm sure you still do, but that's fine. You get what is to outsiders a very generous golden parachute, you take a short sabbatical and then get elected president. Everything that's going on now? It disappears. The FBI got a bad tip. Interpol never investigated anything. That EMP was a terrible terrorist attack. Carrot and stick. Smoke and mirrors."
>"Illuminati. International politics has just been window dressing all along?"
"No, no. More like a bunch of pretentious old men playing at running the world - I gave them a swift kick in the backside, and they couldn't fall into line fast enough when they realized what benefits they'd gain. Resources that are now at my disposal, that could have been used years ago."
>"And now they will be."
"I brought them into line. CruxCorp has advanced technologies by leaps and bounds since then, and the battlefield is just the beginning. This world is going to witness a new age. And I'm going to bring it to them."

In 2056, president Irons was sworn in. Coincidentally, while he was president, the United Nations got a bit more in terms of teeth, though no true standing military of their own.

In 2057, the G13 made a push within the United Nations for a leader, a formalization of the UN's solidifying power structure. Nations that did not agree with this course of action had .. ahem, "interventions" with various PMCs, chiefly Atlas. By 2058, they were either toeing the line or

In 2060, I was elected world president.

As my first act of office, I abolished the world's governments and declared global martial law. Nothing changed in most peoples' daily lives, of course, and there was initially a lot of resistance, but we'd been prepared for this for a long time and by this point almost everyone in the highest positions of authority in first world countries were mine. It was everywhere else that really took offense to it. Fortunately, I had a standing army that was contracted with the UN that put down revolts.

...I gotta say, though, I'm kind of shocked by the billions of people who didn't resist, and instead took it with a smile.