My Slice of Haven

[Daxton Bane]

[member="Lady Kay"]

By this time the Red Raven presence on Commenor was visible, thanks in no part to the efforts of Daxton Bane. The Ravens kept to their end of the agreement and respected most of the laws and in general made a lasting impression.

So the arrival of Daxton Bane at the presidential palace did not raise so many eyebrows as what he brought with him as a gift. Scanners identified it as pineapple, a thorny fruit that had surprising amzing taste and texture. While pretty common on the core worlds, the price of a single fruit increased the closer one got to the outer rim.

Rampant was the speculation as to his purpose, whispered through the halls of power, as the Sith patiently sat down and waited for his request for an audience be granted.

Had one not met him previously, Daxton could have easily been mistaken for relatively weathy Zabrak merchant. He was wearing an expensively cut tunic suit of dark blue hue, the only apparent jewelry was a platinum collar pin shaped in the Red Raven sigil. He leaned on a walking cane, made from some kind of dark resin with a handle shaped like a hand holding a globe.

According to weapons scans, there were none on his person, which made them double check the results but it did seem he was unarmed. Well as unarmed as Dark Sith Lord could be.

Daxton’s eyes made note of everything around him, mentally cataloging for possible future use. He smiled as he let the fires of speculation stoke around him.

 

[Kay-Larr]

There were only a few Zabraks that Kay knew. And neither of them were a threat to her. In truth they were all either allies or trusted friends. Would she tell them all of her secrets? No. But she wasn't as cautious around them as she was around complete strangers.

To hear that [member="Daxton Bane"] was here to see her came as a bit of a surprise. The Red Ravens had done very well with their hospital. There was never any complaints or issues that would arise. At times it seemed as though they had engrossed themselves into Commenori society very well.

Kay opened the door to her office, looking to the adjacent sitting room where Daxton now sat. "Hello. I haven't seen you for a while. Please come in. Can I get you some tea? Or brandy?" The last time hat he was here, he asked for help in matters of the Force, to which she sent him to the Praxeum nearby with [member="Darlyn Excron"] to assist him. "To what do I owe the honour of this visit?"

 

[Daxton Bane]

Bowing to [member="Lady Kay"], Daxton replied, “Tea please if you could be so kind. Alas my duties have taken me far from your world, such is the mantle of leading my people. But least my manners elude me, I have taken the liberty of a small gift.”

“May I present the pineapple, a delectable fruit which both astounds and puzzles the taste buds. After the granana, the second most popular fruit in all the galaxy. Quite comon in the Core Worlds, but as you head outward the price simply skyrockets like you wouldn’t believe. That is part of the reason I am here.”

“If you would endulge an old Zabrak, let share with you a story. Recently I was on the tour of the Outer Rim, to oversee some investments the Ravens made and my hosts had thrown a banquet. It was during this time a young woman sneaked through the crowd and fell prostate at my feet, begging for the scraps so that she could feed her children. Naturally, my hosts were mortified and would have had their guards dragged her away had I not stopped them. I saw something in her eyes, a fierce reckless courage that burned from within.”

“I had her taken aside and we talked, simply talked and I found out the siuation was far worst than what was officially supposed to be happening. Food riots, fuelled by sky rocketing prices of basic goods, had driven people the brink of Chaos. And unfortunately the Ravens were part of the cartel speculating on food prices.”

“That one piece of fruit could easily go for a thousand credits. I saw and felt shame. Profit is one thing, that was borderline theft. So I made a pledge, the Ravens will do what we can to alleviate the prices of basic goods to the Outer Rim so we can avoid a possible crisis in the future.”

“Which brings me to the purposes of my visit. While we can grow produce on our hydrophonic vessels, we cannot meet the demand, which is why we are approaching the Commenorian government about a possible partnership. Based on our scans, there is a vast track of desert, arid and uninhabited on your world. We would like permission to terraform the land and create Haven, a mass production produce and livestock facility for the purpose of lowering prices of basic goods to a more affordable level.”

“We propose an initial five hectares to start with, then there is an option to expand to at least twenty five more. Construction materials will be sourced locally if possible, shipped at cost if not. We envision a labor pool of 50,000 for construction, to be hired locally through the aid of the government. Any deficit will be sourced off world should there be a lack of suitable labor locally. Once construction is complete, there would be a staff of 10,000 to oversee production make sure the computers operate at optimal levels. Again, we would prefer to hire locally but reserve 20% of the staff assignments for our specialists and those which first hand experience from off world sites. The Commenorians would provide security for which we are more than happy to negotiate price.”

“The Commenorian government will provide any passes and or license as required by local law. They are free to inspect the goods to ensure the highest standards are met. For this we will share the sixty percent of the profit with the Commenorian government, provided we receive a lease for the land for at least 100 years. After which time, the Red Ravens will turn over the whole operation to the sitting Commenorian government. While the land and local hires are subject to the Sovereign Commenorian government, any Red Raven staff or member is still subject to our laws as we discussed in the past.”

“I pause now, so you may ask me any questions you might have so far.”

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay nodded as [member="Daxton Bane"] requested some tea, so she began preparing it for him while he spoke. The aroma of the leaves as they were crumpled into the cup began to spread into the air around them.

A brow was raised as he mentioned bringing her a gift. He didn't really need to. But as his story progressed and the hot water poured into his cup, she soon understood the meaning behind what he had brought. Kay approached him, passing along the cup in trade for the fruit. Her brows furrowed as he spun his tale, letting her know how bad things were in the Outer Rim. There wasn't a lot of reasons for her to head out there much. Now she began to wonder if she should. For an economy heavy in trade, it made sense to extend their reach even further.

Kay set down the fruit on her desk and gathered her own cup of tea before sitting down in a comfy chair. Daxton started to relay his proposal. Daxton had done his research thoroughly. Transforming the land wasn't something that she was keen on. It could change their weather patterns. Unless of course it was all done indoors. That was something that she had to find out.

"Are warehouses and greenhouses being built for this in the desert? Or were you thinking of transforming the desert itself into a climate that is suitable for growing food without constant help?" That was sure to be the first of many questions for a project of this magnitude.

 

[Daxton Bane]

Reaching slowly into his robe, he retrieved a data pad which he used to show [member="Lady Kay"] his projections, “According to our projections we need to view a long term approach since weather control would have create unseen ppossible environmental changes. They to this plan is installing a series of hydro collectors, given the arid conditions we would be working the primary concern would be where would we get the water. Hydro converter uses the power of wind to collect ambient moisture and stores in underground for later distribution to the fields.”

“Secondly, we want to reduce any carbon footprint we might generate and keep wastage to a minimum. We envision that the facility would use photovolatic cells to use the natural light as our power source, while not as powerful as a standard plasma generator, we would not be generating additional heat or waste products either.”

“As you can see here, once the initial resource acquisition is in play, the next step is the creation of a series of sealed environmental facilities while will allow us to control temperature as well as a host of many other factors. We will also be creating a series of silos and warehouses as time passes to store the produce.”

“Now I had mentioned we are looking at the long view for this project. Our primary goal is to help the land recover naturally, the initial crop would be grass, cacti and other hardy root bearing crops. This would allow anchor the sand, and prepare it for when we plant orange trees., we plan to introduce local and non invasive fauna as well to slowly change the ecosystem. Once these has taken root, we can slowly begin to increase moisture, and nutrients into the soil. When the acidity and nutrient level is sufficient we can start introducing root crops like corn, potatoes, and steady move on from there.”

“Once the farm is producing sufficient fodder, we can start bringing in and breeding livestock. Aside from the meat and other products they would produce, they would also serve as a source for natural fertilizer for the plants. A working synergy if you will, working hand and hand to a goal. By the end of the project, we envision the place to be a self sufficient production center, no longer a desert but land suitable for whatever purpose you will have for it.”

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay looked to the datapad that [member="Daxton Bane"] offered, sipping her tea while he layed it all out in front of her. All seemed well and good, however the long term result of the change in the landscape wasn't what she had wanted. Commenor would lose one of it's deserts and as such, the entire planet's climate could change. There was a reason why the population hubs were few and far between in comparisson to other wprlds. It was all to maintain a perfect balance, most especially with all of the pollutants coming from the trade traffic.

"You've thought on this long and hard. However much I applaud your efforts and everything that you've come up with, I'm unsure if I can accept the location that you've chosen. But if I may, can I suggest an alternative? We have an uninhabited moon called Brelor that has a good climate and untouched land. I'm certain that you could find suitable soil there and wouldn't have to wait to get the good crops growing, as well as having places for livestock, silos and warehouses. It could save you a few years worth of work, which would do well for the people needing the food the most."

She sipped her tea and then added another thought. "Plus we could send in shipments of food to those worlds that need them, lowering the costs as it would fall under humanitarian efforts."

 

[Daxton Bane]

If Daxton was surprised at the suggestion, he gave no indication of such. His answer actually spoke volumes on how prepared the Sith Lord was see his plan through. “Ah Brelor. Such a wise and considerate decision [member="Lady Kay"]. I have but one concern, as I mentioned, want to invest into the local economy by providing jobs and information through this project. Would placing the facility on Brelor pose any problem for us hiring local population. As this is another joint long term project for both our people we want the investment to be mutually beneficial. In fact, we take pride in knowing that more effort is exerted when one feels they are invested in the project. However, if this does not pose any considerable complication to your people, we would be happy to accept your suggestion. We would only need your greenlighting this project so that we can proceed.”

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay listened to [member="Daxton Bane"] 's concerns as he layed them out. Fortunately for the both of them, his concerns weren't that bad. In fact it was just a matter of logistics which weren't that difficult to deal with.

She smiled as she bowed her head. "Getting to Brelor isn't much of an issue, nor is getting any of the equipment there. We have plenty of resources for fuel that will ensure a fair profit will be made. Our University students would be quite pleased to help out with such a project that could be included as a paid practicum for their studies. We have graciously been given a large number of cloned troopers from the Empire, so defending Brelor wouldn't be difficult." She tilted her head to the side a bit. "I suppse that what I'm saying is that you have the greenlight for this project."

 

[Daxton Bane]

“Excellent news, my [member="Lady Kay"]. Do you have any possible concerns who wish for me to check? If not, then I can have the Ravens begin construction within the week, as soon as I inform our ships where to go. I trust both our peoples will benefit greatly by this project. Thank you for your time and your blessing on this new endeavor.” The Sith smiled like acat who got to the cream, ever the tackful diplomat he just scored a major coup in this new project.

 

[Kay-Larr]

"Not at this time. I'll send some of my people up to Brelor to help get things underway and survey the area for you to pick out the best locations. Then I'll have those co-ordinates sent your way." That look in [member="Daxton Bane"] 's eyes gave her a bit of a pause, but she didn't have the right mind to focus on that right now. Her pregnancy didn't help with maintaining her focus on anything for long. It was why she hired more assistants.

Kay bowed her head to him as he thanked her. "You're welcome. I hope that this does well for the people in the Outer Rim. It isn't fair that they should be made to suffer because of where they are."

 

[Daxton Bane]

“I agree wholeheartedly [member="Lady Kay"]. Plus if it generates good will for your people and mine, I would consider that as a bonus as well. Thank you for your time and patience in hearing my humble proposal. I ask that you excuse me now so that I can inform my people that we are to proceed.” With a polite bow, Daxton makes his exit from the room. Anyone who would be paying notice with note his brisk pace as he headed for his vehicle. Time was money after all and the Sith loathed to waste any moment unnecessarily.