The Martial Unity

Ria had three months before she would get the frigate that she sought, which was extremely quick compared to the timeframes that she would need to wait if she had procured the custom project organically. The design alone would take nine months, even if for a light spaceship. Then another three months for the manufacturing of the frigate, even with cutting-edge fabrication technology.

But she had managed to get the best of what human civilization had to offer, allowing for a hyper-expedited timetable. In the coming months, she and her friends began planning out the operations, the logistics, and the management of her ventures.

First, it wasn't enough to simply register as a party in the Gaian Adventurer Guild. Since she intended to service an entire industry, the exo-mining industry, she would be doing herself a disservice by limiting herself to one guild.

"Instead," Ria remarked. "I think we should form an LLC."

The five of them sat around on her royal bed, a hologram floating in the air detailing the notes and the planning that they had begun. The light of the morning sun peered into her room through the balcony.

"LLC?" Siliscia asked with a confused expression.

"Limited liability company," Sternon offered.

Misha raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to form a General Party Partnership?"

It was a form of company invented specifically for pathwalkers who undertook commissions and operations together as a party, with minimal compliance requirements to reduce the need for almost any kind of administrative department, or customer service, and minimal regulations and simplified taxation.

Ria shook her head. "If we do that, then the secret sauce for our inevitable success will get divulged. I don't want people to know that I'm the one responsible for finding infected worlds. Which is why…"

She turned towards Misha with a smirk. "I want you to be the nominal director. That way, I draw less attention."

Misha seemed surprised by the offer, but ultimately nodded. "You want to make our impending success look less like the product of a pathwalker's special prowess and more so the result of some kind of new technology or methodology."

Ria nodded. "If people find out that I can directly sense infected worlds, then the sheer amount of scrutiny that will be directed towards me will cause me to be in danger. Not to mention, it will cause my identity to leak, even with Sayfeel working his shadow magic to prevent people from noticing who I am."

Sage Sayfeel, standing by the door in her room, didn't so much as even react in the slightest.

"An LLC, huh?" Runark muttered. "Who owns the company?"

"All five of us will have equal ownership," Ria replied. "But Misha will be the nominal director. And we won't have to disclose who owns the company to the public."

"Wait, all five of us?" Runark's green eyes lit up.

"Yep," she nodded. "All five of us. Since we are all undertaking the risk and putting in the work, all of us deserve a piece of the pie."

They knew she was being generous, since this entire venture would have been completely impossible without her. She could have easily demanded ninety percent of the company to her name, but ultimately chose not to.

Not that they were shameless enough to accept such an arrangement.

"You are truly gracious, Ria," Sternon smiled at her good-naturedly. "But…"

He shook his head. "I don't deserve an equal share. I have not earned it. I don't want more than ten percent."

"Yeah, it doesn't feel right, not gonna lie," Runark admitted. "You're the reason this can work. And you even negotiated an awesome ship for us. I would feel guilty taking an equal share."

Misha and Siliscia quickly agreed.

Ria's expression grew a little troubled before ultimately heaving a sigh with a resigned smile.

"Fine. Ten percent for you each."

The reason she was willing to make it even was simply because it made her feel less self-conscious, which, frankly, was more important to her than the money she would make or control over the company.

"Since we intend to start right away, we should file the paperwork right away," Misha remarked knowingly. "From what I'm aware, it should be done in less than a month, provided we have all the necessary documents."

She turned towards Ria with a raised eyebrow. "How well will your fake ID hold up upon scrutiny?"

"Dad told me it was airtight, so it should be fine," Ria replied confidently.

"We also need to get started on hiring staff the moment the company is created. "Since our clientele is going to be limited in number, I would imagine we will need more than just a website. We will need people who can actually interact with and speak with representatives of nations."

This was especially the case since each of their products was unique. The information they sold was going to be different each time, as would its strategic value.

"We're going to need to have an entire department for client management," Misha realized, sharpening her cybernetic eyes in thought. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend hours negotiating with some executive of some mining mega-corporation answering dull questions about the intelligence."

"Agreed," Runark affirmed. "In fact, we need to hire staff for everything that does have to deal with the actual mission itself."

Sternon nodded along in agreement. "If we want to maximize our productivity, that would be optimal. We will need to have a CEO who can handle the day-to-day management, someone who understands exactly what it is we are doing and what we expect from her."

"Establishing all of this is going to be impossible for us," Siliscia realized. "We have no idea how a business is run. Frankly, many of these concepts are still foreign to me. In elven society, we don't create such strange artificial constructs."

Ria felt envious of the elves for a moment, heaving an exasperated sigh.

"We're going to have to hire somebody very competent in management and administration. Thankfully, I know exactly who to ask for help in this particular regard."