Montreal Twilight - Diliff (Creative Commons)
Ever since the Corporate Court rating system exists, the AAA rating was only given four times : Yamatetsu in 2042, Wuxing in 2059, Cross Applied Technologies in 2060 and Horizon in 2065 (the other cases only are either permanent AAA rating for the court funding corporations or technical adjustments when a AAA corporation becomes the subsidiary of another corporation). Though the case of Fuchi Industrial Electronics is still argued over by specialists, the AAA rating was removed onlyonce, to Cross Applied Technologies in 2065.
To grasp how important this event was, one needs to remember Corporate Court rating aims to assess a corporation default risk as well as financial and functionnal autonomy. A "A" corporation can withstand national economical crisis. A "AA" corporation must be able withstand global economical crisis, and maintain its activities on its own (which justify the extraterritorial privilege). A corporation receive AAA rating when she can not only withstand a global economic crisis, but when its own activities can trigger such a crisis (which justify these corporations must have a least one representative on the court). However, there also are political motivations behind those ratings. Anyway, when a rating is brutally and unexpectedly lowered, it means either a failure of the system or a major crisis is underway.
The Cross Applied Matrix Technologies Corporation was funded by Lucien Cross, a computer science expert, in 2034 in Montreal, Quebec. The group becomes Cross Applid Technologies (or CATCo) in 2044. They're active in computer technology, electronics, medias and biotechnologies. The Corporate Court granted it AA rating in 2053. A few months earlier, its subsidiaries Cross Biomedical bought over Bioleve in the UCAS. The Bioleve takeover causes the first conflict between Cross and the Ares Macrotechnology group, which was a majority shareholder in Bioleve. It resulted in an assassination attempt against Lucien Cross, before things calmed down. The conflict re-ignited suddenly in 2057. The Ares group then try to compete with Cross in every field. Cross intelligence service, nicknamed the Seraphim, are on the frontline against Ares attacks. It was created as early as 2034 by Lucien Cross, who recruited former members of American and European intelligence services. In 2059, Cross recruits Leonard Aurelius, the son of Ares founder, who join Cross Applied Technologies with a number of employees from Ares (including several game designer teams from Ares Global Entertainment who left with the drafts for all the following years blockbusters).
But it's another corporate conflict that will determine Cross fate. The death of the great dragon Nachtmeister in 2062, in a aerial duel with Lofwyr, leaves the Frankfurter Bankverein (FBV) without a leader. Within the bank, Nachtmeister handled personally the portfolio of Proteus AG. The following year, Proteus attempt to take over FBV would show how critical their cooperation was.
The FBV allied themselves with Ares Macrotechnology to fend off the attack (FBV and Ares already were connected through their involvement in Israeli arms exports). Ares provides financial backing, as well as security and intelligence assets. Ares and Proteus military units would fight in several occasions. To help planning operations, the FBV gave Ares full access to its data concerning Proteus. Finally, Proteus gets a new management that put an halt the FBV takeover attempt.
By accessing FBV file, Ares analysts discovered the financial links between FBV, Proteus and Cross Applied Technologies. These data, now in Ares hands, comes from the heart of the system, and will be a decisive edge against Seraphim.
Ares services start a long and meticulous work to search for how Seraphim operations are financed, trying not to trigger any alarm. Specialists from Bank of America, an Ares subsidiary, are tasked with the delicate work of studying the network, and find how to use these information in the most effective manner. They're surprises to discover the true extent of Cross Applied Technologies financial activites through shell companies the Seraphim control.
The 2064 computer crash forces Ares to speed up its plans. In the first hours of the crash, Lucien Cross is killed in an aircrash, caused by cascading computer glitches. Considering what happened after, legitimate doubts remain on the actual cause. At the same time, a coup d'état is underway in the UCAS. Several high-ranking executives from Cross Global Development are involved, providing the "Patriots" communication channels and several strike teams. All are former employees of Ares Macrotechnology who had jumped ship along with Leonard Aurelius. For the Seraphim, it comes to confirm the doubts they cast on Aurelius teams.
While the Seraphim higher-ups assess the situation, they're taken off-guard by a treason among them. "Joshua" was a former US intelligence services agents Lucien Cross recruited after CAS and California secession. But his true allegiance, probably from the start, was to the Patriots.
In Seattle, a Seraphim team acting on Joshua orders try to assassinat Nadja Daviar. The UCAS VP is rescued by a second team, sent by Jezebel Surrateau, codename "Gabriel", in charge of Seraphim operations in Seattle. Through former agents from the "Dunkelzahn network" she recruited after the dragon's desmise, Surrateau get in touch with the Draco Fundation to exfiltrate Daviar outside Seattle, as no arms of the UCAS or Ares seemed trustworthy enough at that point.
Outside of Gabriel iniative, the Seraphim whole chain of command is left paralyzed by Lucien Cross death and Joshua treason, while the crisis reaches its apex. At the Frankfurter Bankverein and Bank of America, analysts are left baffled by the sudden collapse of Seraphim network of shell cmpanies as a financial crash storms the world. While stock exchanges are shutting down, Bank of America management receives orders from Ares to keep holding stock in these companies, and increase position when possible. Those orders are coming from Damien Knight himself.
When the storm calms down, Ares boss has stacked the deck in its favor to negotiate with Jean-Marie Cross, now head of Cross Applied Technologies. His corporation suffered from collossal loss, more than half its debt is now controlled by Bank of America. Knight also has detailed intelligence on the role played by Seraphim and several of Cross subsidiaries in the failed coup. What happened puts Cross Applied Technologies AAA rating and all its activities in the UCAS in jeopardy. Although the coup failed, nobody knows for sure how deeply the Patriots may be entrenched within the Seraphim and Leonard Aurelius teams. Cross is stuck.
Damien Knight will get what he wants, the more interesting assets : biotechnologies, defense, aerospace, medias. By tearing down the group, Cross is almost guaranted to lose the AAA rating, which will happen the following year. For Ares, the move is an opportunity for growth, while effectively ending any threat Cross represented.
The Seraphim had acquired extensive knowledge of Ares group strengths and weaknesses. If Ares doesn't take advantage, its competitors are likely to. This will be the case for Katrina Showski, the head of Cross European Development and Seraphim operations in Paris, who first joins French corporation Aésa, before being groomed as their candidate for Esprit Industries CEO seat in 2071. A number of Seraphim who were operating under the cover of A-N Telecom, also follow her, as the company is taken over by Aésa. In Europe, Proteus AG is also said to now host a number of former Seraphim agents.
Ares did recruit a number of Seraphim and integrate their structures in a new intelligence unit. However, it may be difficult to trust former enemies : all their activities are under heavy scrutiny from Ares headquarters.
Another group of Seraphim are also indirectly involved in Ares operations : behind the scenes, Jezebel Surrateau now works for the Draco Foundation. Twenty years ago, Surrateau belonged to Lucien Cross bodyguards when Damien Knight dispatched a hitman to assassinat him. Bu putting herself in the line of fire, she suffered a permanent spine injury. Now, she's in charge of watching Knight and Ares activities on the behalf of the Foundaton. It's on a suggestion from Surrateau that Nicholas Aurelius, with whom she worked when he was heading Cross Advanced Electronics in Seattle, was chosen to seat for Gavilan Ventures on Ares Macrotechnology board.
What happened to Joshua after the 2064 coup is unknown. He may be able, if he's still alive, to handle Patriots who remain within the Seraphim. There also may be Patriots within Ares or Knight Errant, who may have helped Joshua lieutnants to seize control of Ares Seraphim unit. On the other heads of the Seraphim, their identity as much as their fate remain a mystery...