Hawke Holt holds 9 core chip patents, but during the CEO election, he is backstabbed by his fiancee Chloe Churton, who casts her vote for her idealized former crush Zane Young. Completely heartbroken, Hawke decisively breaks off the engagement and resigns, taking his core patents and team to join Sterling Group, helping Sterling become a 100 billion industry leader. Skyreach Group is instantly paralyzed as its technology is pulled out, and is mired in massive debt.