Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Foundation and Empire (Irani)

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
[member="Darell Irani"]

Mr. Irani,

Don't be alarmed if this letter implies things you wouldn't want revealed. The message protocol's security is unimpeachable.

There once was an angry man who did something rash. He made something wrong of himself, and charted an unpleasant course. He lied to many people in the process. He made mistakes. When he pulled off his magnum opus, nobody cared. A cold shoulder awaited him.

Injured, tired, and most of all unemployed, he turned his mind to other pursuits. Other avenues for achieving the justice or revenge that natural processes had denied him. He realized that, although regimes fade, beliefs never do; they merely find new incarnations. Cut off the head, and three grow back.

But he recognized, also, that every empire wages a long defeat. Even moments of glory and grand achievements carry within them the seeds of decay. And while governments rise and fall, other structures have more potential for lasting influence.

He took stock of his assets. You may be familiar with his designs - some of them, at least. Others were secret, but no less lucrative. And while he'd waged his personal campaigns, the royalties had poured in, half-forgotten. Invested for a future day, because subterfuge and brutality struck our friend as more satisfying uses for his time. But suffice it to say that the man who invented the modern stealth vessel has a credit balance that not even you would disdain.

Naturally, it was not enough for what he sought. Investments here and there couldn't match the order of magnitude required. So he approached others. Souls who'd spent their fury's heat and found a home in a colder and more precise anger. He took, as his partners in crime, a menagerie of experienced, well-heeled businesspeople with unique life experience and connections in the appropriate regions. And together, they turned their attention to an undervalued opportunity.

Attached you will find my cabal's statement of intent to purchase a controlling interest in Iron Crown Enterprises from your conglomerate.


The ensuing document proposed, in broad terms, the following:

  • That all the assets once pertaining to ICE be spun off into a single corporate entity again, separate from Irani's conglomerate. These assets to include the shipyards of Annaj, Rakata Beta, and Lwhekk, the unfinished Blood Trail hyperlane, the mining and refining properties adjacent to 244Core, and appropriate vessels and sentient resources in a phased plan, along with all other assets and locations previously belonging to ICE.
  • That the new corporate entity be established with a new valuation, a stock platform, and an eventual public offering derived from the purchased portion of stock.
  • That the new entity be separated from all liabilities related to ICE's past as a parastatal for the Fringe Confederation.
  • That the new entity be re-branded according to the attached business model.
  • That 100% of the new entity's newly created stock be divided as follows:
15% - Saiba Group
85% - The Foundation Trust, a private trust comprising a panel of active and silent investors with portfolios relevant to the proposed business model.

While Rel was not in a position to divulge all names involved, a few would certainly stand out.

Connory.

Ventus.

Merrill.

Beorht.

We believe, Mr. Irani, the letter continued in an attachment to the business model, that ICE's position as the gateway to the Unknown Regions always constituted its greatest strength. Its poor market performance as an independent entity stemmed from trans-Unknown Regions shipping costs, risks, and delays, along with an over-saturated warship market. We believe that ICE's old assets can be turned to more profitable and popular use. The new entity would continue to provide products derived from the unique technologies, species, and opportunities of the Unknown Regions. However, the shipyards would shift focus toward vessels other than capital warships, as well as the development of S-thread booster technology.

Hyperlanes across the galaxy rely on this technology, from the Koros Trunk Line to the Sanctuary Pipeline. It is no exaggeration to say that a single missing S-thread booster would affect interstellar commerce as thoroughly as a single missing vertebra would affect your body. And the crucial point is this, Mr. Irani: all existing S-thread boosters, apart from a few expensive, miniaturized versions, are massive, ancient pieces of technology. Both in terms of increasing operational lifespan of various super-hyperlanes, and in terms of improving upon the basic technology, we believe ICE is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this niche market. The required magnitude of shipyard is available. ICE is deeply familiar with the challenges of hyperspace turbulence due to its work in the Unknown Regions and the challenges of carving the Blood Trail. This familiarity extends to personnel, to technical aptitude, and to appropriate technologies.

All of this, while potentially lucrative, is only one aspect of our proposal. The Foundation Trust has a purpose as secret as the allegiances once discussed on Cato Neimoidia. Civilizations rise and fall, Mr. Irani. Dark Ages have happened before and will happen again. We are determined that something worthwhile, some seed of order, will endure. It is our intention to...

The letter went on. Even after three terms in the Republic Senate and a brief secret stint as a Sith, Rel wasn't totally comfortable going for such florid writing. Nonetheless, the faintest self-mocking edge might predispose Irani to look on it favorably, and that took a little bit of hot air.
 

Hira Mitsae

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
[SIZE=10.6667px][member="Rel Connory"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Mr. Connory,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]It pleases me that the years have not devolved your way with words. It is an interesting venture that you propose and the names you mentioned are not to be trifled with by any sense of the word. Consider my interest piqued. I currently find myself in the Dromund System for an ongoing project, which might pique your interest, it would be my pleasure to receive you here so we can discuss this proposal of yours in more detail.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]- Darell Irani[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Primeval Space was not exactly the most stable of territory these days. With Anja, the Host Lord, dead and buried her Warlords were warring against one another. One of them - a Zambrano Hutt, had launched a crusade from the Chiloon Rift, wherever he went… fire and destruction followed. But this was not a concern for Irani or the Saiba Group. They were not humanitarians and had no real stake in the Primeval, as long as they stayed out of his business… he would stay out of theirs.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]The Dromund System was locked down for all intents and purposes. Preliminary hyperspace beacons established all around the sector to make sure nobody could approach without them receiving a forewarning. Maladis, Nobles and other warships patrolled the systems, ensuring that if someone entered with hostile intent… it would be the last thing they did. Already Saiba had to ward off some incursions - nothing too dangerous, mostly stray pirates who figured that with the Host Lord deceased, they could start picking at the corpse. But Irani made sure that his investments were protected as humanly possible.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Before her death the Host Lord had paid a [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]large[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] sum of wealth, rights to valuable lands and other commodities for a project. Namely the restoration of Dromund Kaas; which was still experiencing a minor ice age after the Mandalorians crashed a few asteroids into its surface.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Orbital stations surrounded a large portion of the world. Hooked together to form a comparable structure as the Telos Station. It was the staging ground for the terraform efforts that were being planned out right now. Truthfully, Irani could have simply picked up the payments and let Dromund Kaas rot. But there was something fascinating and [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]exhilarating[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] about restoring the former capital of the Sith Empire back to its ecological splendor.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]It was there that Connory would find Irani.[/SIZE]
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
[member="Darell Irani"]

[SIZE=14.6667px]The vessel that exited hyperspace over Dromund Kaas wouldn’t have gone out of place in the Tion Cluster or the Core Worlds. In form, it resembled an ancient Baudo yacht, all swooping lines and slim aerodynamics. In function, it was a far cry from the Mon Cal-built medical cutter it had once been. This was, in point of fact, the [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]Liberty’s Veil[/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] -- the first modern stealth ship, a name known to few. Stygium cloak, thrust trace dampers, gravitic modulator -- the holy trinity. A combination invented by the man at the helm.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]The years hadn’t been kind to Rel Connory, born Galeth Hennst. He knew that well enough, but the sight of his face on a reflective dial still made his mouth twist. You couldn’t serve in the Republic Senate, or in the One Sith, with your soul intact. That he’d joined the latter as a deep cover agent for the former only compounded the problem. As any undercover cop could tell you, it grates on the soul, that kind of service. It wears you down like a rough stone rolling from a mountaintop, one hard knock at a time. And the pieces you lose, they fall by the wayside and you don’t get them back. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]He dismissed the holodisplays for a handful of unnamed prototype instruments -- always in flux, the [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]Veil[/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]’s sensor nodes -- and brought up the comms. A prearranged tightbeam signal connected the [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]Veil [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]with one of the many linked stations below. The wonders of repulsorlifts: orbital mechanics alone could never have kept that monstrosity together, no more than the Taris platform had been a simple matter of rotational velocity. The repulsor fields affected his approach vector; a basic Hohmann transfer wouldn’t do. He laid in a more complex course toward the docking bay indicated by the return transmission. Partway through, a new transmission came in, something more personal, and he accelerated to gain height over the curve of the crippled planet.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Jaded though he was, the shipwright in him couldn’t suppress an indrawn breath and a reexamination of those experimental sensors. The [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]Reason[/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]-class was ugly, studded with thousands of guns large and small. He arced the [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]Veil[/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] under the monstrosity’s port flank and slipped into the hangar bay alongside ranks of starfighters.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]The little ship was worth, at minimum, billions in the right hands. He didn’t lock the hatch.[/SIZE]
 

Hira Mitsae

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
[member="Rel Connory"]

Darell knew the plights of being undercover well, but in his case it was less being a spy and more being an actor who had grown into his role to such an extent that he no longer knew where he began and the Sith Lord ended. But they all had a role to play in the Galaxy and his was chosen by himself. No one to blame, no one to curse, but him. It was these times when he could simply be a businessman and CEO that gave some small measure of ease, when he didn’t need to contend with the jackals of the Sith and their nonsensical, destructive ways -- instead having to contend with the corporate lunatics.

But they were nothing compared to the Sith Lords. The worse it could get was a sternly written letter or maybe some arched eyebrows at the next gala. Nothing as gruesome as planetary annihilation to have a point come across. What a waste. One of Irani’s new assistants, a cyborg-humanoid hybrid called Ashley, was already waiting in the hangar bay for the arrival of Rel.

As the former Senator annex engineer annex spy annex Mandalorian… well, if they started to recount every role Rel had fullfilled over the years they would probably be here for awhile, as he exited his ship, Ash would nod and greet him.

“Mister Rel, you are expected. Would you follow me please?”
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
[member="Darell Irani"]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Ooh, the first name approach. Very Southern Systems. He’d been [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]Senator Connory[/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px], he’d been [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]Ori’ramikade and Rally Master Hennst[/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px], he’d been the Bard of the Hyperlanes and for a while he’d even been Darth Parash, but [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]Mister Rel[/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] was a new one. Mildly charming affectation, if he’d been even mildly susceptible to charm. He smiled anyway -- senators were good at that, even retired ones -- and went along with the decorative cyborg. He contemplated asking whether the implants had been a condition of her employment, and whether they served recreational as well as business functions, but making her uncomfortable wouldn’t shed any more light on Irani as an employer. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]And that, in the end, was the great question. He’d known Carach as a master, but Carach and Irani weren’t even visually similar, though they were the same man. Carach had shielded him from the One Sith, known his purpose as an undercover operative, but Irani was a bit more enigmatic. The role could become you, after all, and Rel had very little foundation for guessing whether Carach or Irani was the real man. Maybe neither. That seemed probable.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]The willowy cyborg led him through the guts of the command ship; he attracted few glances. He dressed like a middle-grade businessman or bureaucratic functionary. No white tie and tails; no diplomatic gala. His cane was his only distinguishing feature, and that was plain enough, the kind of thing that made eyes shift away. The assistant offered commentary on the ship, though nothing of substance, and answered his few questions with engaging deflections. Shields up, presumably. He wondered how much of what Irani knew of him was accessible to the assistant.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]A door opened, and Rel limped forward on his cane. “Mister Irani, thanks for seeing me.”[/SIZE]
 

Hira Mitsae

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
There was one word that Darell Irani could be described with. Dignified. A mere decade ago he had been quite the… free spirit in terms of recreation, but the years had a mellowing effect on the man. A bit of gray at the temples, some lines on the face, but he was not as worn out as Rel was. Perhaps it was because Irani had accepted his roles and parts, stopped fighting against the influences they made on him, maybe a part of him even enjoyed it at this point - it was tough to say.

One man had been able to look into Irani’s soul. He was dead now, or so he was told. One less ancient in an ancient old Galaxy to worry about.

“Mister Connory.” even the inflection of his voice was different than Carach. Less pronounced deep baritone, less restrained animal and more… calmness? Difficult to describe, really.

“I am always interested in mysteries, and since the moment we met you have shown to be far more interesting than most people I meet.”

He looked back to the transparisteel viewport, out towards Dromund Kaas itself.

“Can you guess what we are doing here?”
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
[member="Darell Irani"]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“Straightforward enough. You’ve taken the same function for the Primeval that Akure took for the Mandalorians: reclaiming Dromund Kaas. Akure put its focus on excavating and containing the nastier elements of Kaas City and assorted ruins. You’re going for terraforming.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]He had some experience with terraforming himself, as various One Sith planetoids in the Core could attest. Rerouted comets had been his instrument of choice. The problem with Dromund Kaas, however, came from a surfeit of ice and transorbital impact, not a paucity. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“I’d imagine you’ve contracted a clan or two of Ithorians, you’re looking at large-scale atmospheric filtration to get the dust out -- maybe by adapting ramscoops -- and you’re contemplating orbital mirrors to melt down the ice. Atmospheric seeding to rain the particulates out of the lower atmosphere -- that’s what I’d imagine is the main function of your station here. Amino acid bombardment might not fit, same with bacterial seeding, but all the other standard terraforming techniques apply. Atmospheric renewal on a planetary scale.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]He shrugged.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“Or at least that’s how I’d do it.”[/SIZE]
 

Hira Mitsae

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
Darell smiled, genuinely. If only there were more men like Connory in the Galaxy. He’d hire them all and then take every market by storm, sadly there was a shortage of brilliant engineers these days or perhaps he simply wasn’t looking hard enough.

“I imagine it is something like that. Truth to be told I am more of a business-type, I let my personnel worry about the science. Learned a long time ago that trying to control every aspect of a company will only lead to disaster.” he pondered a moment, before making a small executive decision.

“I actually managed to acquire a piece of technology that- apparently- will significantly speed up the process. An artificial moon that is capable of terraforming processes. Through my connections within the Techno Union we also managed to study the terraform processor on Hanoon. If you are interested my scientists can show you some of it.”
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
[member="Darell Irani"]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“The Rekali heist. I knew they billed the job to Arceneau, gave ATC the scans, then auctioned it to Black Sun, but I always did wonder where it went. On the other side of the planet now, or still being repaired? Either way, I’d love to take a look at it after we’re done here. As for the Hanoon technology, that’s not something that’s crossed my path. I’d be happy to take a look at that as well.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Rel leaned on his cane, staring out the viewport at Dromund Kaas’ years-long winter. “I can’t blame Larraq, you know,” he said absently. “It was tantamount to terracide, but the Mandalorians got their chance to strike back after, oh, years of being in the Sith Empire’s shadow. Dromund Kaas was their one shot to make a dent, get a punch in while the Republic had the Empire’s fleets and Lords tied up. So Gilamar Skirata and Tracyn Ordo went down to Kaas City and destroyed the Obsidian Throne. Then Ember Rekali tore the whole facade off the citadel with a lightsabre and some basic physics. They beat the clart out of every Sith that showed up to oppose them, and there weren’t many. Completely successful raid, but not enough to make up for Junction, or the nuke outside Keldabe. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“The kicker is, of course,” he said with a sigh, turning away from the view, “that if Circe Savan hadn’t tried to sharpen her Star Destroyer’s prow, or let Larraq accelerate for that long, or done half a dozen other things, Larraq might not even have seen the need. Twenty-something asteroids. The planet’s lucky he didn’t liquefy the crust. Thirty thousand years of civilization destroyed by impact earthquakes and a miniature ice age, just like that. I might not have much love for the average Sith, Mr. Irani, but I believe in learning from the totality of history before I decide which parts to preserve and which parts are best forgotten. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“That’s the principle behind the trust I represent. We all know another Dark Age is coming, whether by Akala’s Rapture or an Omni resurgence or just a galaxy full of exhausted governments that never learned how to govern effectively. What matters to us is that the next Dark Age be as brief and merciful as possible. A thousand years, say, rather than ten thousand. What matters to us,” he said, “is that knowledge, technological advancement, history, species, and cultures are preserved. Archive vaults. Gene banks. Redoubts. Sanctuary moons. Excavations. Winnowings, to borrow an old Whiphid term.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]He’d worked with Velok briefly, once upon a time, when they’d both served the Echani Compact. He’d have liked to think the Whiphid’s Blackguard heritage would have won out over his nature as a chaotician. A partner like that could have come in handy.[/SIZE]
 

Hira Mitsae

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
[member="Rel Connory"]

“A very laudable objective, mister Connory.” Irani replied without revealing too much of his personal feelings about it. Not that Rel really needed to try and read him. After serving a brief stint as his ‘apprentice’ within the One Sith framework, he would know that above everything else Carach, and as an extension Irani, strove to preserve knowledge wherever he could. Less destructive in his ways than a certain Whiphid, he preferred to stay in the background wherever possible and simply… silently work on his own little projects.

Onderon had been quite the profitable venture in those terms. Its University had added much and many to his personal archives - though with the sheer extent of them, he wasn’t sure if duping them ‘personal’ was a realistic approach anymore.

“I have always been a fervent proponent of preserving the knowledge of the Galaxy, all the knowledge. Though, admittedly, I was and am less interested in disseminating most of my gains. Knowledge can be a boon, but it can also be a weapon of mass destruction in the wrong hands.”

He did not comment on Larraq’s role with Kaas’ destruction. It had been needless slaughter from his perspective, but he hadn’t been there - and more importantly hadn’t been in the Mandalorians’ shoes after Junction and Keldabe. His opinion was less than relevant, a culture’s worth of hatred could be a potent thing sometimes.
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
[member="Darell Irani"]

“Knowledge propagated,” said Rel slowly, framing his concepts and finding words, “is knowledge that may endanger the corpus -- the main body of knowledge -- if preservation is the aim. Short-term secrecies as the price for future revelations. Perhaps not even in our lifetimes, though life isn’t always ephemeral or temporary.

“Which isn’t to say I don’t believe in redundancy. Too many eggs in one basket, and one mistake or hostile act could ruin years and millions of credits’ worth of work. Fortunately, Iron Crown’s infrastructure permeates the Unknown Regions from end to end, and as far out as Lwhekk. No organization has access to more desolate, remote corners of space. Nobody has so many places to bury things, or such valid reasons to send ships through the region. And if one or two should disappear along the way -- that’s the cost of doing business past Wild Space. A convenient cover story for whatever shipments, deposits, caches we need to send...virtually anywhere. That, along with the S-thread advantage, is why the Foundation Trust is so interested in Iron Crown.

“Along with their assured suspicion that they may have your sympathies. Members of the Trust come and go, with varying degrees of access -- we don’t necessarily trust ourselves, or each other. Personally, I’m an Imperium sympathizer; I’m tired of the Republic’s waste and everyone else’s chaos. But Mara Merrill is another member of the Trust for her own reasons, a silent partner, and she’s not only Galactic Alliance, she’s almost certainly a Warden of the Sky like her father, not to mention closely linked with the Underground. And yet we coexist. Or take Linna Beorht -- former Foreign Minister for the Omega Protectorate, then celebrity political commentator on Coruscant before it fell. ‘I can see Atrisia from my house’ -- you remember her? Not someone whose background or sympathies necessarily align with mine, for various reasons, and yet we coexist. We each have a full share in the Foundation Trust, as well as several others, and I’ve been tasked with offering one to you."
 

Hira Mitsae

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
Now that was unexpected.

After working with Rel back in the day, they had come to an understanding. In a lot of ways he might even like the man, competent, intelligent, not afraid to speak his mind about this or that and above all… ferocious when his anger was summoned. The ideal Sith in Carach’s eyes, but he would never say that outloud.

Monroe’s fate at the hands of some rogue elements would never be forgotten.

“Heh.” Irani chuckled, taking a look at Rel to see if he was joking. Which did not seem to be the case at all.

“Once again you manage to surprise me.”

Part of him wanted to say yes immediately, but the businessman in him picked against it. Their goals might be worthy, but at the end of the day he was doing fairly well for himself already, it all came down to how this would affect the proposal.

“Before I can make any commitments, I will need to know how this would affect the proposal you sent me.”

[member="Rel Connory"]
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
[member="Darell Irani"]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“It wouldn’t. The Foundation Trust’s membership operates under Chatham House rules; your name doesn’t need to be associated with the Trust if you don’t want it to be. Publicly, the deal looks the way it should look: Saiba keeps 15%, the Trust purchases 85%. Your effective share of Iron Crown would increase as a result, though the Trust’s membership numbers fluctuate; a full share of the Trust might be one-fifth or one-twentieth of the whole, and assets invested remain invested. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“What you would gain would be the opportunity to be a key voice, as loud or quiet as you prefer, in deciding what elements of the galaxy’s millions of civilizations to preserve. Which species, which bloodlines, which concepts and technologies. Does it affect your profits today, or next year? Probably not -- though there are benefits to membership, and I don’t just mean the free caf. But I’d submit that you’ve come so far that this is the next step, the one you were looking for even if you didn’t know it. We’ve shaped the galaxy. This is what’s next.”[/SIZE]
 

Hira Mitsae

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
[member="Rel Connory"]

Irani nodded.

The business part was sound then - to a degree. He had wondered if Rel was going to offer anything more than credits, because they both knew that inherently… credits had lost all value to him. It was just a counter to him now, new threshold numbers each week, but meaningless considering he already had more than enough to- well, that was irrelevant.

“Then perhaps you should know about a few deals I made over the years to expand my own personal influence. They are covertly tied into Iron Crown Enterprises, because it was the corporate entity I owned with the least amount of public exposure.” Which sounded hilarious, considering how big the company was. But ICE’ success stemmed from its role as the gateway to the Unknown Regions.

But the Unknown Regions were just that. Unknown. He doubted that many people would know about the finer details of the Regions, except the ones that had spent a lot of time there themselves.

“You know about Apex Industries, of course, considering you joined the Voice’s Court right around the time it was being formed.” a huge conglomerate that controlled all the military industry of the One Sith. The shipyards in Corellia, Bilbringi, the Chiss’ biggest shipyards - though the name eluded him now, Telti’s great droid factories and so much more.

“But you may not be aware of my efforts to influence the InterGalactic Banking Clan.”
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
[member="Darell Irani"]

"Apex I know. And I knew the Banking Clan had your fingerprints on it. What I didn't know until just now was that you'd routed your control through Iron Crown. This bid doesn't include the Banking Clan connections. It's not calibrated for the valuation, the regional commitment, or the externalities and previous obligations tied to the Clan."

An ugly light glinted in his eyes, and he knew it. "We do want Apex, though. For a host of reasons. First off, we know that much of its infrastructure, at least initially, was repurposed from Iron Crown, and our bid is calibrated to include those assets and their derivatives. Second, we know that as Titan's inheritor, Apex gets the One Sith shoving pillaged money at it, hand over fist. Now normally this would seem like an incentive for you to hold onto it, but I think, and the Foundation Trust thinks, that you see the writing on the wall.

"Every empire is caught in a long decline after its moment of glory. The One Sith's moment passed when Contruum fell, I believe, though you would know better. Imperial overstretch, fatigue -- defeated by success. Exactly like the Republic before them, and the Sith Empire before that. Today the One Sith control the heart of the galaxy. A year from now, they'll be substantially reduced. There will be weaker leadership as the strong go elsewhere. Questions will be raised, complications will multiply, and Apex will become toxic. Let us be the ones to steady the ship. Or, at least...guide it."

Not that it mattered all that much, of course. Iron Crown was still orders of magnitude larger.
 

Hira Mitsae

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
[SIZE=10.6667px][member="Rel Connory"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]As you know Apex is as much controlled by the One Sith as it is by myself. The Titan-fiasco poisoned the well, so to speak. Apex Industries controls the assets, I control Apex, but at the end of the day it cannot be considered an independent entity… yet[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px].” Irani replied frankly. Rel would know most of this simply because he had been [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]there[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] when most of this had come to fruition. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]Yet can turn to soon quite quickly though. But this would have to happen very slowly, carefully and no new public faces can suddenly appear in control[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px].” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Basically. For all intents and purposes Carach, the Voice, would still have to be the Overseer. It wouldn’t work otherwise.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]But that brings us to the elephant in the room, Connory. Which is that I have more than enough money for multiple lifetimes, that my holdings generate even more than I will ever need. This transaction will have to be about more[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] than money and more than admittance to an organization - granted, one which has [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]quite[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] the membership- that for all intents and purposes is still a new player[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px].” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Because at the end of the day this was about sharing his control with other people. His projects were going well, he had assets planted in every corner of the Galaxy and he had a particularly nostalgic view on ICE; because of its old connection to the Fringe.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]It wasn’t that Darell wasn’t interested in the concept, but as it stood he would be giving away control- direct and creative, whilst only receiving something he already had.[/SIZE]
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
[member="Darell Irani"]

"Agreed on all counts, on behalf of the Foundation Trust." Rel rubbed at the side of his cane's crook with his thumb, pondering the best way to put this.

"The members of the Trust anticipated your request. You're right: the Trust as a whole is a new player. That means what we have to offer stems from our individual, rather than collective, backgrounds and capabilities.

"I'm a shipwright and an inventor. Frankly, I'm one of the better inventors alive. I have projects and prototypes, and I can solve problems that few can. I also have secrets that would be of value to you, significant value if leveraged properly. Leverage on a galactic scale, and I don't say that lightly.

"Mara Merrill may be a silent partner, but what she brings to the table is an incentivizing connection to other powers: she's a shareholder in Silk, Akure, Arakyd, and a Sasori subsidiary. Her involvement is also a virtual guarantee that we won't get her aunt poking around unnecessarily. Or her father, for that matter.

"Selka Ventus is neck-deep in the kolto export world, enough to secure preferential contracts for the Trust from any number of worlds. She's personally visited every kolto-producing planet and brought them into the Silk fold. She's the former CEO of Silk, compounding the Merrill connection. And when the Techno Union falls, the two of them will be in a position to run a hyperlane from Ryloth to Sullust, connecting the Sanctuary Pipeline to the Death Wind Corridor.

"Which would make it possible to circumnavigate the galaxy from Endor to Muunilinst without coming near the core. Rave Merrill's Blood Trail dream, but running through space where actual trade takes place."
 

Hira Mitsae

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
[SIZE=10.6667px]Ah, now there it was. Once upon a time Darell had been [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]younger[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] and less experienced with the matters of business. He would have asked for artifacts, perhaps unique ships or shares -- things that had immediate consequence, but times changed and Irani did too. This mellowing allowed him to see past these basal desires and look straight at the heart of the matter.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]The value that Rel was offering was unmistakable. By this point in time SCINET was basically everywhere. To have access to it would mean a great wealth of information available to him, augmented by the findings of the SpyNet and his own personal informants? Well. It could definitely help him clear up certain pictures. Rel’s technical expertise was not to be trifled with either, neither should Selka’s contacts or Mara’s ability to keep the heat away from them.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Respectable,” Irani responded after a moment of pondering.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“I find myself leaning in favor of the proposal, there is only a single request that I want to make. A request that would simply ease my mind, so to speak. When Apex Industries was formed a deal was made with the Sith -- if the war drums would ever halt, I would retain the ability to take complete control over the industry and infrastructure.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]That might have surprised Rel, because this was a part of the agreement that was [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]less[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] well known.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“I want to add a form of that stipulation in this deal too. Organizations, brotherhoods dissolve and fall often. I wish to retain the legal ability to reacquire the stock, if for some reason the Foundation becomes inactive, dormant or defunct.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]This way the ICE would not be crippled and Irani would not have to contend with sudden appearances of stockholders later on.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px][member="Rel Connory"][/SIZE]
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
[member="Darell Irani"]

Grand projects came to nothing, all too often. For his part, Rel had generally preferred short-term impact over long; it was more reliable. This time might be different, if only because of the Trust's plans to connect Ryloth and Sullust. The Blood Trail would have linked the Sanctuary Pipeline with Muunilinst, but this...this could be the genuine article. Insanely ambitious still, but far more achievable. To run from the Pipeline to this new route, the Death Wind Corridor, the Mara Corridor, down to the Perlemian and the Daragon -- now that was an investment.

"Certainly - at a price commensurate with the company's growth between now and then. Our bid, times the ratio of valuation at that future point to the current valuation, with a backstop minimum equal to the current valuation. Can't ask for fairer terms than those. Every Trust member has agreed to the same, couched in more careful terms, binding in all relevant industrial centers. There'll be no unrecompensed defaulting to sole ownership, no sudden acquisitions. They're not people I would like to cross without cause."
 

Hira Mitsae

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
[SIZE=10.6667px][member="Rel Connory"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“This satisfies me.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]And it did. At the end of the day this was a deal made in good faith. The people who were involved were either people he had already cut deals and cooperated with, or had at least passable reputations in being [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]honest[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] about their dealings. The reputation of each individual would keep them restrained from pulling anything overly senseless. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]The truth was that Irani only had [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]so[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] much time. This was perhaps the best way to maximize the profit margins and maybe bring ICE to new heights -- especially considering it was on a point in its existence that it could go either way.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]It would either crash, and he would have to start rebuilding (which was its own fun, really.) or it would flourish and his beloved company would be capable of things that would make him proud.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Its own game, really. Irani had built up corporate empires and toppled them; sometimes his own when he was bored and wanted to start anew. His game wasn’t focused on competition anymore, not on the short-term prizes, because he had enough of those.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]It was about challenging himself.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]He extended his hand for a shake. Of course, they would have to sign papers and all that business, this wasn’t a Mandalorian Clan and a Crime Syndicate, but they would start here.[/SIZE]
 

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