Borrowing. Technically Without Asking, but Borrowing All the Same.

[Arrbi Betna]

There came certain benefits when one was married to the interim head of a major corporation. The fact that she was a ten-out-of-ten bombshell was the major perk. The fact that she could hold her own in a brawl or gun fight was another. The fact that she was sweet as could be, smart as hell, and knew her way around a starfighter was yet another. The really minor one, the one that didn't matter as much as the others, was that he could get a bit of access to the more heavy machinery Mandal Hypernautics made.

Sure, he could've asked the actual CEO of MH, but this was more fun. Yes, he could have had the costs charged to the Protectors, but he wanted this to be a surprise. Anija would get mad, probably, but if this paid off, he could get out of cleaning the house and tending the yard for the next few months in punishment. Actually, he'd probably still have to clean and do lawn work, but it would still be worth it. Probably.

As a bunch of his clansfolk started offloading the gear, he heard at least one drill going in the background. With the mining equipment at hand, they could get to work.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Before they could hit the rock below, they had to clear the earth. A few drills were going, but not to chew through the stone below. They put small holes in the dirt and soil. Into those holes went explosive charges. A few minutes later, the explosives went off and the digging equipment moved it out of the way.

It was going quickly and it was going cleanly, much to Betna's delight. He went over the plans with a few of his clansmen. The majority of the clan was trained to fight and hunt those that used the Force, but a few were more atypical and opted for more practical professions. A few of those were engineers. While they weren't technically mining engineers, they knew the ins and outs of load bearing and the like, so Arrbi wasn't worried.

More and more earth was moved and more and more explosions could be heard. With luck, they would hit bedrock soon and, from there, to the material they desired beneath it all.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

The majority of the earth was out of the way, but some was still there and needed moving. Plus, they had to get the dirt they'd blown out of the way... out of the way. There wasn't really anywhere to put it, really. Nothing to fill in, nothing to build up. It was just a mining operation, nothing fancy, no real need for that much dirt.

With nowhere to put the soil and nothing to really do with it, plus not wanting to let it sit in a giant pile where they'd probably have to move it again, Betna asked himself the question he often did when it came to this type of situation: What would Larraq do?

The answer was simple: Sell it.

That much dirt, that much soil, especially with how fertile the mountain soil could be, could fetch a nice price. At the very least, it'd pay for the explosives they'd used.

Betna contacted a few local contractors and agricultural centers. Within a few hours, a couple of hover trucks arrived to cart some of the dirt away. Unfortunately, as much as the dirt mountain was being shifted away, the last of the soil from the mountain side was still being added to it. Hopefully, more would come to buy the dirt and they'd be able to clear the space in the future.

In the background, drills and explosives echoed around the mountain valley. It was a sign that the last of the dirt was gone and the rock below was exposed. Time to start breaking rock.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Bit by bit they dug further into the mountain. It was slow going, slower than the Protectors' excavation on Mandalore's northern pole, but with less manpower and fewer individuals to push the workers onwards, it was understandable. The drilling and echoing booms from the explosives kept a constant company and, after a time, it fell into a background murmur.

The pile of dirt was slowly being eroded away be the locals. Some came to buy it for filling in the land. Others bought it to place over fields. Still others bought it for gardening supplies. It was going away slowly, but steadily. In exchange, the locals paid a fair price per square meter. The price and the dirt added up slowly and, to Betna's surprise, the costs for the explosives were almost repaid. That meant, depending on how the rest of the venture went, he might actually be able to return the equipment... and pay for any replacements and maintenance they needed.

So far, so good. Though, as he gazed around the excavation site, he realized he had another problem. They were drilling and blasting the rock apart to get at the materials deep underneath it. Which meant the debris had to go somewhere.

And there was a slowly growing pile of it next to the pile of dirt.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

The ever growing pile of rock and dust and dirt and debris was getting bigger and bigger. The fact that the pile of dirt was almost gone failed to cheer him up in light of the pile of rubble. He didn't really know what to do with it, but he figured he had to find out a way.

He called a few places like he'd done with the dirt, but very few people wanted rubble and debris. Betna called out further and further, hoping to find someone who would buy it or, at least, take it off his hands. He had no luck the entire time.

Behind him the mining went on, the pile grew larger, and the hope of finding someone to take all the rock off his hands grew less and less. Betna heard the reports from his crews and crew leads. They only had a bit more rock to get through before they got to the vein of material they were after. They told him it was a few dozen more tonnes of rock, maybe a few more days of work, and they'd be in the vein itself.

While Arrbi was ecstatic about the news, he was still bothered on what to do about that pile of rock.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Betna found himself sitting on the rock pile on the edge of the mining camp. He had yet to find anyone who wanted the debris pile and, as of yet, had no real place to put it. Nearby, another pile of rock was in the making from more excavation. It was troubling to the young Mandalorian.

After the dirt pile, he'd hoped to at least make enough credits to replace and repair the gear he'd used, but it was getting to the point that he realized that wasn't going to happen any time soon. He kept calling here and there, hoping someone would want the stuff, but no one did. No one even wanted to come and get it for free apparently.

Frustrated, Betna picked up one of the rocks by where he sat. He looked at it a moment and noted it was oddly round shaped and smoother. Bits of quartz or some other common crystal typical of basic rock could be seen. All in all, it was nothing to really look at in the end.

"Too bad I can't sell pet rocks or something," he said with a sad sigh, half joking. He tossed the rock away and off the rock pile, then slid down to the ground. He had a meeting to attend.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

As he headed towards the prefabricated building that was designated as the temporary headquarters for the mining operation, Betna's mind ran through a few options for the rock pile. He figured he could maybe sift the rocks out and sell the dirt? No, too much time and effort. Maybe he could toss the debris in a hole somewhere? No, he'd probably piss off a local environmental group like ATEP or something and get shut down. Could he donate it? No, he'd have to deliver it.

He kept walking and thinking when he passed something glinting in the grass. At first he figured it was a piece of trash and stopped to pick it up to toss it away properly. When he reached down and picked it up, he realized that wasn't the case.

It was half of a geode. A bunch of crystals formed inside of a rock hollow. Looking around for a moment, Betna found the other half. He put the two together and realized that this was the rock he had been holding atop the pile of debris.

Light-bulb.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

He made a few phone calls, a few ads in the local news agencies and holonet spots. Now came the wait and it wasn't a long one.

With the mining still going on, more and more debris and rubble was being pulled up. More rubble meant more geodes, common crystals, and the occasional interesting bit of geological waste. People came by the dozens to rummage through the rubble and find neat things. Not everyone found something when they came to look and sort, but they kept coming as new rubble was dumped daily for them to search through. People walked away with geodes the size of Betna's palm and he'd spotted a few folks carrying away geodes the size of his head. Common crystals like quartz were found in varying sizes, some large, some small. People found occasional fossils or the rare gemstone and all in all everyone enjoyed the searching itself.

Considering Betna charged by the visit and not the time, it was a highly profitable venture. Sure, he probably lost some money for the huge geodes or quartz crystals that he could sell on the market for a high price, but for every large chunk of stone or gems someone found, dozens more only found little things or nothing at all and both types of people paid to visit the site. In the end, he made more this way than by doing it himself and selling the things he found.

The best part, though, was that he'd been making a profit off the sales and rummaging which meant he'd covered the majority of the costs of the dig. Plus a little extra. He'd hand that extra profit back to Mandal Hypernautics at the end. For now, it was a nice budget in case more things came up.

Plus, they were getting closer to the material he wanted.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Betna rummaged through his paperwork. So far, they were far into the black for the operation and, so far, no one had figured out what he was doing back at Mandal Hypernautics. The dig was going very well and they were getting close and closer daily. That said, it was still taking a while.

The little sorting and rummaging business he'd set up to handle the rubble was doing well enough. The debris that no one wanted was still a problem, but he'd figured that out as well. He'd snagged a few more people and had the worked through debris sorted through one last time. What the rummagers had managed to miss he stockpiled and sold in a little shop he'd set up near the sorting site. Those who wanted a keepsake or a neat gemstone or geode, but didn't want to put the work into finding one, could find one there to buy outright. It was often more expensive than just sorting to find one, but some people were more or less lazy or just wanted a keepsake or gift for visiting. That, and the people who came away disappointed, but were determined to come home with a fancy rock anyways.

The remaining debris was crushed, pounded, and ground up into gravel and dust. The rock dust he managed to sell at a discount to a local duracrete company. The gravel he was able to sell on the market to tool stores, gardening supply depots, and interested individuals. The funds earned covered the funds expended for more materials and more workers, which meant he stayed in the black.

As Betna realized he seemed to have a knack for financing and running a business, he received a comm message from one of the foremen at the dig site saying to come quickly. Hoping it wasn't anything majorly bad, Betna hauled tail for the mine.