Ares has taken quite a few below-the-belt punches to its portfolio. Here are the things to keep an eye on.
stocks
If you’re an Ares stockholder, then you might want to consider dumping your shares as soon as you can, because the drek is about to hit the fan. Those watching the stock markets will notice a sharp downward trend in Ares stock prices since the Excalibur’s release, a slope so steep you’d probably kill yourself if you tried to sled down it.
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Unless you want Ares to collapse, hang on to your stocks. A mass selloff drives share prices down, and buying increases the value. As low as Ares shares currently are, too many people selling will cause the stock to bottom out, no matter how many stock splits the corp tries. And if the stock bottoms out, Ares isn’t long for this world. You might lose money in the short term by holding onto your investment, but if Ares recovers, I project those stocks will regain most—if not all—of their pre-Excalibur value.>
Mr. Bonds>
Funny, I never pegged you for an optimist.>
Dr. Spin space raceDespite Vogel’s administration of AresSpace, Ares is losing the space race against Evo and Saeder-Krupp. Partially due to the Excalibur, potential aerospace clients that would normally have hired AresSpace are taking their business to competitors. No one wants to risk sending up a spacecraft that has the same perceived level of quality control as a battle rifle, and I don’t blame them. There’s far more that can go wrong on a complex, spaceborne habitat, and clients believe that if Ares can screw up a simple soup-and-sandwich, no way in hell are they going to trust them with a consommé that requires a lot more nuance and finesse to keep from turning into an inedible, gelatinous mass.
Another item of note: Ares seems to have shut down the Charon Space Station around Mars, and all four of its crew are now undertaking the nine-month journey back to Earth. I’m having trouble finding any credible reasons for the shutdown other than a lack of funds. Not counting AresSpace’s Helios Station, this means Evo is the only corp with a space presence beyond Luna.
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Did what went down at Gagarin Mars Base have anything to do with Vogel pulling the plug on Charon?>
Cosmo>
The safer bet is Evo didn’t want any neighbors and took measures to make Charon untenable to maintain.>
Orbital DK>
Until proven otherwise, I’m blaming both incidents on the triffids.>
Plan 9 revenueRight alongside plummeting stock prices, Ares’s revenues have dramatically fallen. The corp threw a lot of money developing
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Whatever the case is, I’m never going into space now. Or out ofthe house.
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Slamm-0!gavilan ventures
The biggest question mark coming out of Aurelius’s death is who Draco Foundation-controlled Gavilan Ventures will appoint as its new proxy on Ares’s board of directors. Another concern is whether or not this appointee will take control of Aurelius’ interests. Let’s tackle the easier one first. It’s a safe bet that Troy Carpenter will replace Aurelius as head of Ares Global Entertainment. He’s done a decent job as Nick’s right-hand man so far, so I don’t expect the board to vote for a shakeup there. What really worries me is Knight will probably assume control of Project Pyro and take it in even more horrifying directions.
The more difficult matter is Nick’s replacement on the board. Since I suspect Gavilan Ventures still doesn’t know Nick is dead, they probably haven’t given much thought to who should succeed him. Based on what I know of Gavilan Ventures, here’s my shortlist of possible candidates:
• Leonard Aurelius: While Nick’s father might not be the best choice for business acumen, Gavilan appointing him is likely to stick in Damien Knight’s craw. Leonard’s been out of Ares since he sold his stocks to Arthur Vogel and defected to Cross Applied Technologies, so for Knight to see him back in the boardroom must be worth the price of admission. • Nadja Daviar: Although she was Nick’s predecessor on the
board, I believe she’s too wrapped up in dragon drama to worry about boardroom drama. Gavilan may try to appoint her again, but odds are she’ll decline the offer.
• Clayton Wilson: Current head of Knight Errant and founder of Lone Star. He’s one of Knight’s stooges, but if Gavilan backs him, I figure he’ll cut Knight’s leash and try to use Ares to get his former company back.
• Georgina Hampton: Ms. Hampton is the only member of Gavilan’s steering committee that took active interest in Nick’s various interests within Ares, and she often provided him business advice. Hampton makes logical sense from a business standpoint, as she’s very familiar with Aurelius’ goals. If Gavilan chooses her, I believe that would provide the most negligible disruption within the company’s leadership.
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Can’t find much information on Ms. Hampton other than public data. What’s her angle, I wonder?>
Slamm-0!>
She seems legit enough. However, I worry her interests in Mr. Aurelius’ work are purely academic rather than business-related. It is quite possible that Gavilan might use their new proxy to purposely sink the Ares ship and gather up all the survivors from the water.>
Mr. Bonds>
I dug up her voting record for Gavilan’s steering committee. Lots of pro-dragon-related votes. Someone’s definitely pulling her strings, but who?>
GlitchAres
Trembl
es
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Avalon, pimping Excalibur, running damage control, and waging war against a bug population that’s rapidly growing out of control. On the credit side of the ledger, things are looking even more grim. Ares is sitting on hundreds of thousandsof unsold Excaliburs. It has lost countless defense contracts, most notably in the UCAS. People aren’t buying as many items from Ares Consumer Products; they’re not watching Ares Global Entertainment channels or buying AGE-produced trids or sims as often; and they’re certainly thinking twice about purchasing from Ares Arms, General Motors, or any of Ares’s other recognizable brands.
For perhaps the first time in the corporation’s history, Ares Macrotechnology is spending more money than it’s taking in, far more, and cashing in all of its marks or favors hasn’t yet slowed the hemorrhaging of red ink. Profits are non-existent, and the corp is simply trying to break even. Consumer confidence is at the lowest it’s ever been, which is creating an endless fiscal spiral that will be difficult to recover from. And Ares’s best advocate just cashed in his chips to purchase some agricultural property.
I won’t sugarcoat it: Ares’s future is looking pretty grim. They are likely one good shadowrun away from the Corporate Court knocking them down to AA status.