Corp. Spotlight: Ares
April 27, 2057

So, it seems the big boys are choosing sides. Damien Knight, head mucky-muck at Ares has publicly thrown his support (and copious wealth) behind the great dragon Dunkelzahn's presidential run.
Now, before you start yammering about skeletons being buried and never dealing with dragons, I thought it might be time to review the "happy family" that is the great UCAS mega. Remember that, for all of his "man in charge" drek, Knight only controls so much of the corp. A fact of which that Aurelius and the other board members have recently started reminding him. Remember, when folks like Aurelius and Knight fight it out, it's scammers and jammers like us that take home cred. Add a powerful, ancient wizwyrm, and a UCAS presidential race into the mix, and someone's going to make a killing. Thus, without further ado, here's the lowdown on the infighting at the corp where they make all the guns.

Rating	AAA
World Headquarters	Detroit, Michigan (UCAS)
President/CEO	Damien Knight
Chairman of the Board	Leonard Aurelius
Corporate Status	Public

Ares Macrotechnology, run by Damien Knight and headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, UCAS, is the seventh largest corporation in the world, the largest in the UCAS, and is the current leader in the defense and aerospace industries. Its five main divisions are AresSpace, Ares Global Entertainment, Ares Arms, Knight Errant Security Services and General Motors.

Ares was founded shortly after the turn of the century by Nicholas Aurelius under the name Ares Industries. Being a major American megacorp, the old United States granted special benefits to Ares. Taking advantage of this and the near-collapse of the country, Aurelius managed to purchase NASA (including all its facilities, vehicles and equipment) from the US in 2016, with the agreement that portions of it would be returned to the country in 2055. Of course, the United States had collapsed by that point.

Around 2030, Leonard Aurelius had control of Ares passed to him by his father.

In 2033, Damien Knight pulled off the Nanosecond Buyout. In about a minute, he managed to acquire 22% of Ares stock. The Board, stunned by the performance, gave him the CEO position.

Ares has a long-standing history of battling Insect Spirits. In 2055, the Ares subsidiary Knight Errant launched multiple attacks on Insect Spirit hives, culminating in the disaster that turned Chicago into Bug City. They were responsible for launching a tactical nuclear weapon at the Cermak Power Plant which wiped out the majority of the bug spirits.

Dramatis Personae

Damien Knight is the President/CEO and Chairman of the Board of Ares Macrotechnology. He is currently the second largest shareholder with about 23.7% of all shares. He has a long-standing rivalry with Leonard Aurelius.

His first public appearance was on the 24 January 2033, as the Nanosecond Buyout made him the biggest shareholder of Ares Macrotechnology. It is rumoured that "Damien Knight" isn't his true name and he has maintained a veil of secrecy about his origins.

He is believed to be (or to have been) a certain Major David Gavilan of the US Air Force.

It is more or less known for sure that he is about sixty-five years old, having undergone through several treatments of Leonization.

A close friend of Dunkelzahn, he recently began supporting the Dragon's candidacy in the UCAS Presidential election.

Leonard Aurelius is the son of Ares Macrotechnology's founder Nicholas Aurelius. He inherited from him a major stake in Ares' capital, and took the position of CEO and Chairman of the Board of the corporation after his father's final retirement in 2030. The board replaced Leonard Aurelius by Damien Knight in 2033, the same year Nicholas Aurelius died. The relations between Leonard Aurelius and Knight were stormy ever since the Knight's takeover. Leonard Aurelius returned to the position of chairman of the board between 2049.