But why would all five of these corps be sending "special security" assets into the sprawl rather than doing things openly? I can think of several reasons off the top of my head. First, to avoid legal restrictions on their out-of-Tir activities (I don’t know the details of the Tir biz laws, but I hear they’re pretty fragging draconian). Second, because they don’t want their competitors back home to know they’re cozying up to Aztechnology, say, for a major joint venture. Third, because what they’re planning is against UCAS and Seattle metroplex law. And fourth, from what I’ve seen of the biz world, corps sometimes like this cloak-and-dagger drek for the sheer frag of it, just because it’s chill. Of those possible reasons, it seems that only the third one might involve cutting some kind of deal with the Cutters.