Faction Know Your Worth | ATTN: Commerce Guild

[Luca Caldogne]

PROCOPIA
TAPANI SECTOR
​

On a fine evening Baron Luca Caldogne was waiting for two esteemed guests. It was rather windy at this time a day, but the landing platform of the First Bank of Procopia offered a beautiful view of the oceans around the island. Maybe it was a little bit sentimental, but Luca had been doing this a long time. Some sentimentality was certainly called for. His very first deal began like this and spelled a lifetime of fortune. Perhaps this one would extend that fortune for another lifetime.

A missive had been sent out to Isar and Caulder Dune . Fortunately both responses were positive and the meeting confirmed in short order.

Luca liked it when things went smoothly. It meant that they didn't have to resort to any nastiness, that things could immediately slide into place and the clockwork could begin ticking. It wasn't entirely certain yet if the meeting itself would go anywhere, of course.

It might very well be that both or either one of them would express disinterest.

Such things happened in the world of banking. Not all actors knew their worth or what they hid inside. Luca, on the other hand, became an expert on uncovering just the right amount of value within. So, either way, he didn't think this meeting would be a waste of time. One way or another it would be interesting. "Sir, their ships have just registered with the air control, their pods should land in just a moment."

"Just in time. I was worried I'd become peckish before they arrived."

"Would you like me to prepare you a short meal, sir?"

A thin smile spread across the man's face.

"No, I don't think so. It wouldn't do to make our guests wait. Perhaps we will have dinner together." The attendant bowed and began to withdraw.

"Very well, sir. I will prepare the refreshments in the meeting room."

​

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[Caulder Dune]

Luca Caldogne | Isar

Caulder Dune. Deputy Director of the InterGalactic Banking Clan. A withering and mean-spirited old man. By all accounts, the only thing that had changed to any measurable degree was that the longer he served as Deputy Director, the meaner his spirit became.​

​

Few men had sought power within the Banking Clan for causes of ideology rather than profit – and those few men, like Caulder, were so often disappointed with the results. The Clan could not be made to dig the galaxy out of this pit. Only deeper. He would refocus his efforts on mastering the true science. Perhaps with that done, a new way would reveal itself. For now...​

​

Caulder entered the meeting room at a clipped gait, leaning heavily on a lavish wooden cane for support. Cold eyes darted about, assessing the surroundings as if he were here to appraise its value. Behind him loomed his faith protocol droid – an inscrutable and sinister presence.​

​

Eventually the deputy director's eyes settled on Luca. "What a charming setup you have amassed here, Baron Caldogne."​

​

Ah, hadn't Caulder been a baron once? Yes. In another life. Raxus Secundus. But now that world was now a slag heap. All thanks to the activities of certain monstrosities. His jaw tightened for a moment, but then he continued, polite but with the usual undertone of elderly impatience.​

​

"And where might the other one be?"​

 

[Isar]

Click. Click. Click.

A metal cane rapped softly on the marble floor.

Marcus Tritum emerged from around the corner, leaning heavily on the serpent head of his metal cane as he limped into the room.

"Pardon me-" the man's green eyes glanced at Caulder's own cane and he raised an eyebrow, before looking down at his leg, "... an old dueling wound."

He patted the leg gingerly as a colossal Mandallian giant emerged behind him to loom menacingly.

"Yes, thank you, Rahgot. That will be all."

Rahgot waited outside.

Marcus limped forward until he was able to slide into a chair. "Gentlemen, very nice to meet you all in person. Mr. Caldogne, your establishment is as grand as your interest rates," he said with a coy smile.

 

[Luca Caldogne]

Isar Caulder Dune

"To live in comfort means to live in satisfaction, mister Dune. Please do have a seat while we wait, I am sure Marcus will be joining us shortly, his shuttle was en route last I checked."

Just as Luca himself took a seat Marcus Tritum graced them with his appearance.

"Ah, mister Tritum, I am glad you could make it and I am glad both of you appreciate our facilities. After all, some of it was paid by yourselves, was it not?" A lightly hint at humor, before his eyes shifted towards the limp and then back to the man carrying it. "Carry it with pride, it's only in a true blood duel that we meet our true selves, no?" Which was an easy position to take when you could regenerate practically any wound given enough time. Especially if you sated and once your dueling opponent was dying, well, it would be a waste not to partake.

Once they were all seated Luca displayed one of the more illusive smiles in his assortment.

"I am sure we are all busy men here, so I won't prolong this meeting with questions about your health, I am certain that both of you are in the absolute prime of your life." Instead his hand tapped on the console next to him and two dossiers projected up from out the table.

Tritum and Dune's to be exact.

"Both your companies are ticking along nice enough. My accountants are impressed with what you have been doing vis à vis the loans our institute has generously supplied you with." He waved his hand and their portfolios were spread open in front of them. "But, they have noticed certain opportunities as well."

While leaning back in his chair Luca took the opportunity to sip from his water.

Oh, certainly, they were waiting for him to get on with it, but it never did to rush yourself through this process. Patience was required in his experience.

"Mister Dune, you haven't had any difficulty finding partners to protect while they go on about their business, but establishing long-term engagement has been rather complicated, hasn't it? And Mister Tritum, your mining facilities have been chugging along nicely, yet, your spreadsheet has quite a large rate of attrition. Mustafar can be quite dangerous this time a year, no?"

 

[Isar]

Tritum shifted in his seat as Luca pulled up dossiers on them. He shared a look with Dune briefly.

“True,” he smiled, “if the volcanic eruptions don’t get you the locals might.”

He tapped a finger on his cane.

“And there will be future investments soon. So what’s the proposal, I give Silver Shield a no bid contract on my current and future holdings while you finance us both?”

Tritum spread his hands palms open.

“Sounds like good business to me. Dune?”

 

[Caulder Dune]

Luca Caldogne | Isar

​

The droid pulled out a seat for him, and Caulder eased himself into it as if he might shatter. As if most of him hadn't been scraped out and replaced with high-end cybernetics. Sometimes being old really was just a mindset. "Yes, I do so love to keep other peoples' accountants happy," he rasped in the middle of Luca's explanation.​

​

Cynical eyes peered over the dossier as it scrolled before him. What was all this? Another little cartel to be roped into.​

​

"Sounds like impeccable business to me," he eventually conceded, "I trust the good baron isn't just doing this out of the kindness of his heart. What are you looking for?"​

 

[Luca Caldogne]

Caulder Dune | Isar

Luca smiled at the little interruption, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Regardless they seemed receptive to the little pitch. Of course, he hoped they would be, but you always had to be prepared to be disappointed by humans.

They didn't always know what was good for them.

"Oh, I do a lot of good, but you are quite correct. I have my own interest in these affairs." Another wave and a third spreadsheet popped up.

This one was of the bank itself.

To be more specific its former holdings and what the First Bank of Procopia was now reduced to. "As you can see, the Bank has seen better times. We have the wealth, but no longer the ability to effectively project it outside the Tapani Sector."

It was an honest admission, but sometimes good business required honesty.

"I have what both of you need. Money and a lot of it. I need combat-ready men," a glance towards Dune. "And I need a massive amount of resources for new infrastructure." To Marcus next.

His hands spread there.

"Ingredients seperate from one another can be fine enough.The right ones put together however? They will make for a perfect meal, wouldn't you agree with me, gentlemen?"

 

[Isar]

Something about the way Caldogne compared them to ingredients in a meal was vaguely unsettling, but bankers in general tended to be upsetting.

Usually because they were asking Marcus to repay all the money he owed them.

"So we would be what, some sort of commerce guild?"

Tritum nodded, "I can support that. I'll have Azimuth's general counsel start drafting up the contract."

 

[Caulder Dune]

Luca Caldogne | Isar

Ingredients. Hah. If Caulder was a spice, he'd be flour. Or maybe a sourdough starter.​

​

"Ah, there it is," he mused, "A tidy circle of self-interest. Or a commerce guild, if that's the paperwork you're drawing up."​

​

Maybe the Commerce Guild, Force-willing. Provided some two-bit mouth-breather hadn't already taken the name. Caulder snapped a handkerchief out of an interior pocket and issued a few hacking coughs into it. He then passed it off to his droid which, inexplicably, had already produced a replacement and traded it to Caulder.​

​

The Umbaran stuffed it into his jacket pocket and droned on, "Yes, sure. I'm in. Whatever your security needs, we'll be sure to meet them."​

​

He was not especially interested in playing hard-to-get these days. Whatever kept the money wheels spinning. The longer they spun, the more time Caulder could focus his attention elsewhere - on the things that mattered.​

 

[Luca Caldogne]

Isar | Caulder Dune

"I do so enjoy when the pieces come together so neatly." Luca murmured warmly as he reached out for his glass of water and took a measured sip once again.

"I am thankful that both of you came Procopia for this meeting, but it wouldn't do to continue using it in the future. After all, this... 'commerce guild', as both of you so eloquently said, will be build on equality. All three of us, equal partners. As such we need a neutral ground where we can meet and speak as one."

This time the three dossiers disappeared.

In its stead was a map of the galaxy with certain worlds pulsing red.

"I have taken the liberty to highlight a few planets that would be helpful in this regard. Tax havens, lax labor laws, friendly to corporations, you know. The reasonable worlds that understand the positive change gentlemen like us can bring." One by one the red pulsating lights dimmed as Luca explained why they would not be preferable to the kind of business they were to undertake. Coruscant was beautiful, yes, but also under the wing of the Galactic Alliance which was a bunch of goody nancies with no humor. Tion was a ravaged husk of its former self and the Ashla Crusade was already salivating at the prospect of bringing it into their fold.

On and on it went, until one world remained pulsing bright.

"Denon, then, is the world I believe would fit with our needs. It isn't so far away that the travel from our homeworlds to it would be frustrating, but has the exact right climate to welcome us with open arms."

The map went back to the assortment of red pulsing pebbles.

As if to signify that the choice wasn't his alone and that they had their own moment to provide input.

"Please, if you disagree, now is the time of course."

 

[Isar]

“Mini-Coruscant? Yes I think that would work nicely but…”

Marcus’ fingers played idly with an earring.

“Didn’t they just have some sort of hostage situation last year? I saw it on the news. But I guess that’s where you would come in Mr. Dune.”

 

[Caulder Dune]

Luca Caldogne | Isar

​

Strange, Caulder didn't feel like he was among equals. But that was a side-effect of having reality-altering powers at his fingertips whenever he felt like it. He was resting his chin in his hand now, listening closely as worlds were lifted off. His mouth twitched irritably at mention of Tion. Bad memories. Did he even have any good ones?​

​

"It's an ecumenopolis," he said, "There's a hostage situation somewhere every ten to fifteen minutes. It's nothing to sweat about."​

​

There were worse things on Denon. Those anarchist losers he only vaguely remembered, for instance. Wiretime or something. Like so many things, though, this concern was far beneath Caulder Dune.​

​

"Denon will suit nicely, I have no complaints."​

 

[Luca Caldogne]

Isar | Caulder Dune

A thin smile was produced in response to Dune's retort.

"This was my thinking too." He shrugged lightly as he made the map disappear, once it became clear that both were in agreement. "There is the matter of the Darkwire." Providing Dune the organization name he was thinking of. "They might become a nuisance, but I am certain that mister Dune's security forces will be more than adequate to keep them in check."

The cost of doing business. There might be property damage, lives lost, but they'd just write it off of their taxes.

As easy as that.

"Since we are in agreement let us sign a memorandum of intent. It is not as legally binding as a contract, but it will allow my accountants to begin drawing up lines of credit and the sort."

Each man received a little screen in front of them. It was the usual corporate yadada.

"Simply sign your name and we will be off to business."

 

[Isar]

Tritum quirked a smile as he raised a finger to sign, skimming through the document, "You know I'm something of an attorney myself."

Then he added his name to it with a quick flick.

He needed those lines of credit.

"We should do this over drinks and a show next time," Marcus raised an eyebrow. They had probably heard about the type of parties he enjoyed throwing.

He really needed those lines of credit.

 

[Caulder Dune]

Luca Caldogne | Isar

Drinks and a show? As if they needed that kind of distraction. Caulder's threatened to peel back in a grimace, but he resisted the urge and refrained from saying anything. Manners were important, even towards second-stringers.​

​

There was a very long and uncomfortable pause as Caulder very clearly read each word of the entire document. At the end of this eternity, the old man offered a vague grunt of agreement. Fortunately his signature was much clearer. Two deft strokes of a stylus later, it was added to the document.​

​

He set the stylus down with a satisfying clack. "Right. Anything else? I believe there are new arrangements I need to make."​

 

[Luca Caldogne]

Isar | Caulder Dune

His eyes settled on Marcus and grew thoughtful for a moment.

This was possible, because Dune committed to his role as the Umbaran of the group with fervor. Every line, every word meticulously analyzed for even a shred of information that could be disadvantageous. One note that was quite important was that said paper stipulated that their companies would make exclusive usage of the First Bank of Procopia as their primary financial institute.

Of course, this was just a memorandum of intent. In essence it meant 'I intent to do this thing'. They'd still need to draft fully-legally binding documents on Denon, but at the very least it gave Tritum and Dune (or at least Dune since he was the only one who read it thoroughly before signing it) an idea of Luca's desire.

"Ah, well, I am always interested in a drink, Marcus. So, if you are offering, I would gladly partake in your drink." He smiled in an encouraging shade, before clapping his hands together once Dune signed.

"And with that things can start rolling. I do not believer we have any other business here, gentlemen, so feel free to go about your business. I am sure we will meet soon again."

Only then smoothly rising up to help his guests find their way to the exits.