Westjer Airijac
Character
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Image Source: Made by myself (
virtf
). I know, my MS Paint skills are immaculate, thank you. - Canon Link: Not applicable.
- Primary Source: Not applicable.
- Corporation Name: Aeronautical and Electronic Medicine Conglomerate - stylized as ÆM.
- Headquarters: Denon, Denon system, Iseno sector, the Inner Rim.
- Locations: ÆM has branches established on the nearby Froswythe, Belazura, Loronar, Wielu, and Quarzite. A little further abroad, ÆM has recently established a flagship branch on the somewhat local Corellia, which is being used as a staging point for further expansion throughout the core worlds. These locations are having mixed results without the laissez-faire economic and private sector policies, and the diminished civil and social rights, of Denon, which the company is strongly rooted in.
- Operations: ÆM trades quite broadly within the health and pharmaceutical industries. This ranges from delivering assorted medical services through hospitals and clinics, producing and trading pharmaceuticals, and providing paramedicine services. As an extension of this, ÆM offers a private health insurance scheme that provides subsidized access to the services provided by the company.
- Parent Corporation: Not applicable.
- Subsidiaries: ÆM currently has no subsidiaries which have not been completely absorbed and integrated into the conglomerate. In other words, no player faction subsidiaries.
The ÆM Conglomerate is a health and pharmaceuticals conglomerate which is perhaps most aptly described by the punks of Denon: as greedy blood-suckers, in more ways than just credits. True to the form of any successful Denon megacorporation, their success is built on the wholesale exploitation of the poor and the piles of corpses it left behind. More than likely, if it's a health or pharmaceutical service, ÆM provides it all in one place or another. Need to visit an emergency department, or be admitted to another ward in the hospital? The ÆM conglomerate has a company hospital in almost every district in Denon, and even in some places abroad! Need to consult a GP or specialist, such as a speech pathologist, occupational therapist, or clinical psychologist? ÆM employs several private clinics as franchisees who can provide quality services planet-wide! Are you in trouble and need emergency treatment and transport to the nearest emergency ward? ÆM provides both unarmed and armed paramedicine services! Need a prescription filled or to speak with a pharmacist? Your local ÆM pharmacy can help! Are you struggling with a new or rare medical condition? The ÆM academics and research team are already working on the next revolutionary medication! Do you need any of the above? Well, I sure do hope you have ÆM private health insurance, or jeez... maybe we can refinance your last payment plan, or perhaps you'd like to sell an organ?
While ÆM publicly supports the Corporate Authority of Denon, specifically in the form of the DireX board, this is only true for as long as it is convenient. It's one of the company's worst-kept secrets that Westjer - the chairperson of the company - has aspirations for membership on the DireX board, just like any other self-respecting Denon corporate magnate, and nobody makes it that far without getting blood on their hands. The same rationale applies quite broadly throughout the company. Competition for higher positions and better conditions is fierce and the bottom line is fiercely protected throughout. Where industry-leading experts can't be convinced to join ÆM through salary packages, they're often coerced, and almost always extracted by force with the deployment of armed asset recovery teams. Competitors are rarely happy to let their best talent go work for the other guys, and on Denon, there's no law, only CorpSec. Likewise, ÆM corporate intelligence and counterintelligence are better equipped than many planetary governments, with intelligence officers, spies, and slicers going to any means necessary to protect the interests of the company. ÆM even employs a private security force, and seedy spaces in the CryptNet even suggest that ÆM retains a private special forces group beyond armed paramedics and asset recovery teams, which has allegedly done all sorts of awful things covertly. All of these things have their place in the ÆM corporate structure - or at least, they do as long as the return on investment ratio is positive.
In short, like any good Denon megacorporation, policy and practice are determined by social status and the bottom line, whether it's above board or shredded at the first sign of a shakedown. While the law on Denon is as good as CorpSec's interests, this isn't likely to change.
RATIONALE
Westjer, at the time a Coruscant corporate exile, grew to influence the company after becoming a major stakeholder through stock shares. The company, at the time named "Health West", was a holistic and even people-focused company, with priorities placed on outcomes and the continued health of their clients. Through careful donations and fine dining, Westjer influenced the policy of the board, even going as far as to become a board member over time. The entire board was skeptical at first, but the struggling company had no choice but to accept the donations and humor the foreign magnate if they were to stay afloat. Through this influence, Westjer was able to guide policies to more aggressive practices: exploitative services and shifting focus to the bottom line, for example. This brought Health West success and many members of the board grew a taste for it. The chairperson of the time and his supporters, finding themselves out of favour in their own board room, began to plot to dispose of the meddling foreign magnate, but it was already too late. Sudden illnesses, tragic accidents, financial duress, serious allegations of crimes with well-aligned evidence, and other distant commitments drove almost all of the old guard away. Those who remained were almost all supporters of Westjer, so it naturally came that Westjer became the next chairperson of the board, which seat he has held for over 20 years.
As the company grew and began subsidising, integrating, or destroying competitors in the market share, it grew into the ÆM Conglomerate which the Denon common man knows and hates today.
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