Private The Affairs of Bean Counters

[Dorthea Dobson]

Dorthea sipped her coffee on autopilot as she typed away on her touchscreen desktop computer rather frantically. She was trying to manage commodities and assets and her team was struggling to manage the one resource that they seemed to struggle with. Space.

She was almost done crunching the numbers. She already knew the answer to the questions she was asking, deep in the back of her mind. But she needed numbers. Data. Facts. Slowly, her software processed her hoard of collected figures that her team had provided her, and bleak numbers began to appear before her very bloodshot eyes.

Finally, the last figure was entered into her spreadsheet, and numbers processed quickly with pre-written algorithms. Algorithms that accounted for consumption rates, commodity prices, expanded market shares, best case scenarios, worst case scenarios, and so so much more data that she couldn't even begin to recall in her last 8 hours of data entry.

The sums that she was looking at now, were simply unacceptable. There was no way to manage this on her own. They needed a contractor. A good one. Loreena Arenais-Valhoun , her boss, was not fond of outsourcing to third party contractors, but this was the only way. Dorthea would have to make the case to her later…

And there was only one company that Dorthea was sure of that could handle the job.

She keyed her desk comm to her secretary, "please patch me through to Saro Nakaioma as soon as possible. We need to set up a meeting. We will cover expenses. And get me another coffee."

 

[Saro Nakaioma]

CORUSCANT
NAKAIOMA PLAZA

Saro sat from behind his unnecessarily large desk, reclining in his chair as the gaggle of sycophants he called his Board of Directors informed him of the week's events, like most meetings the man held it was conducted through hologram, the transparent blue projections depicting each of the Directors as if they were standing in-front of his desk. Even the decadent comfort of his Coruscanti penthouse couldn't distract him from the monotony of engaging with these men and women.

"The Mawite corridor continues to interfere with our shipping lanes between the Galactic Northwest and Northeast, our people in those regions of Alliance and Eternal space are having to pay double to go the other way around the Deep Core." One man, based out of Eufornis Major, said.

"We've discussed this in the past.. At length, Director. A portion of our wartime defense profits will go to recoup the losses of our Northwestern subsidiaries." Saro replied, already unimpressed with the man's display of impatience, though secretly he was correct to be concerned, given that these 'wartime defense profits' had yet to materialize. Saro was confident they would, but like always there were those that either doubted his judgement or simply did not have the long-term thinking to see the benefit in waiting.

Before the man from Eufornis could respond, however, a much smaller hologram appeared seemingly from within the CEO's desk, a young Atrisian woman- his secretary- in a fine black suit. She gave a brief, polite bow before speaking, "Sir, Chief Director Dorthea Dobson of Damascus Station wishes to speak with you." She informed before her projection disappeared into the desk once more, an option appearing on the datapad beside the man on whether to accept the request immediately or delay it to another time.

Looking to the figures he was already having a meeting with, the choice was clear.

...

"Director Dobson, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Saro greeted with a practiced smile. Whatever she wanted, it couldn't have been worse than what his own subordinates put him through on a weekly basis.

Tag: Dorthea Dobson ​

 

[Dorthea Dobson]

Wow, that was pretty quick.

Dorthea was pretty pleased at how quickly she managed to get through to Saro Nakaioma on a cold call. She knew that she had asked to get a hold of him as quickly as possible, but she didn't consider herself to have unreasonable expectations of a man that ran a galactic scale holding company. There were many possible explanations for the speed which he responded, but it could be safely speculated that Mr. Nakaioma was generally pleased with his previous dealings with the projects in the Praeda System so far. This was already off to a good start.

Dorthea cleared her throat in front of the holocomm to gather her thoughts for just a second. Then proceeded, "Mr. Nakaioma, I am quite pleased to see that you got back to me so quickly. I hope business has been good for you.

"First, I'll let you know that the infrastructure assets that you were contracted to place on Anvil have been hugely beneficial to our operations here, and those projects are going much more smoothly than our projections had predicted. Your track record with us has been pristine, and we have an interest in expanding on our partnership, if you're open to it."

The coffee that Dorthea ordered earlier arrived in a beautiful steaming cup. Dorthea wordlessly snatched the cup from the tray of the steward droid and dismissed it with a wave of her hand.

 

[Saro Nakaioma]

CORUSCANT
NAKAIOMA PLAZA

"Business could be better, but business can always be better." Saro retorted light-heartedly, though he was used to putting on a kind face for most meetings, it was safe to say that the man's mood had improved in a more genuine sense now that he'd been given a legitimate excuse to ditch his Board of Directors for quite literally anything else. With all things considered he was lucky Ms. Dobson had wanted to speak with him when she did.

Listening to the station chief as she explained her reason for calling, Saro nodded along in acknowledgement, expression largely neutral, though his mind had already begun it's process of predicting and plotting ways in which his corporation's relationship with Damascus Station could expand. The Praeda System- from the tidbits he could recall from some past weekly meeting at least- had indeed proven to be a success beyond even Nakaioma's expectations, and he was already aware that the system, much like Damascus Station itself had been intended as a gateway towards greater market penetration into Elysium space.

Whether that original goal was still possible given the Empire- or Imperium's new political situation was irrelevant in this particular conversation. Profit was profit and an opportunity was an opportunity.

"I'm very glad to hear it, Director Dobson. And, of course, I would be more than happy to expand our business relationship. As you said, it has already proven to be quite beneficial. What is it that you are in need of?"

Tag: Dorthea Dobson ​

 

[Dorthea Dobson]

Dorthea sipped her coffee thoughtfully before replying. He was a hard man to read, which had its benefits. Men that kept their expressions in check were typically even tempered and calculated, making them good people to make deals with. And Saro Nakaioma had a solid reputation in the galactic corporate scene. His dealings in the Praeda System had reinforced his reliability and trustworthy nature in the eyes of those who ran Damascus Station.

Even taking these things into consideration, Dorthea was still struggling to find the right words to pitch her proposal to him over the holocomm. Normally, Dorthea was more prepared than this, but the nature of what she was about to ask was simply too sensitive for her comfort. But business was business and she needed to press on.

She opened her mouth to speak, and then a troubling thought occured to her. This channel, while encrypted, was being relayed through dozens of hypercom relays. She realized that whatever she did, she simply could not say it in this channel. So instead, she said, "In truth, while this issue is of incredible importance to both our interests, there is a level of… political sensitivity that must be accounted for. The information that pertains to my request is confidential on the highest level, and must be limited to as few eyes and ears as possible. I can come over to you if you like, or you can come here and inspect progress for yourself if you like, but I won't even involve couriers for this. Either way, you will be compensated for your time and expenses will be covered by us."

 

[Saro Nakaioma]

CORUSCANT
NAKAIOMA PLAZA

Political sensitivity? The utterance of those words peaked Saro's curiosity considerably, while he was aware of an ongoing situation in this new Elysium Imperium, he had yet to be briefed on the specifics, or what Damascus Station's role in it all was. For a multitude of reasons his direct knowledge on that market's developments weren't so consequential, though one of the largest was the great many number of people, many of whom were on the floors below him in the very same building, who's job it was to take such things into consideration when it came to corporate planning.

Fixing his formerly reclined position in his seat, Saro leaned slightly forward as he thought of his response. Director Dobson had clearly chosen her words carefully and from that- combined with her proposition of an in-person meeting and insistence on confidentiality- he was able to assume that the woman's request was likely of the precarious nature. Ordinarily, if it had been to do with the Core or Inner Rim, Saro would've had to rely on his advisors, the experts who'd spent years at university with the explicit purpose of learning to tell him exactly what he needed to know. But here, if one excluded the Praeda System and Damascus Station, the Elysians had never been a particularly large market for his business, so the man figured getting on their bad side in the event Ms. Dobson was working on her own wasn't a risk he was would be especially averse to.

"I understand confidentiality all too well, Ms. Dobson." After all, if Alliance officials knew some of the people he'd sold weapons to.. "I will arrange a time for you to visit Coruscant. Due to the ongoing war there are a number of defense contracts in the region that require my personal attention, and as such travelling so far from the Core would prove problematic, I'm sure you understand these things as well as I do." He reclined once more in his chair, "Whatever your request is, I trust your description that it will be of great importance to us both and I look forward to discussing it with you."

What was it about secret meetings that made them so much more enjoyable?

Tag: Dorthea Dobson ​

 

[Dorthea Dobson]

Dorthea smiled at the holoimage before her, but tried her best to not let too much relief seep into her expression. An invitation to his office was all she needed. She was confident that her diplomacy could handle the rest, “Thank you, Mr. Nakaioma. I will be there as soon as possible.” She shut off the comm and keyed her assistant to start making arrangements…

---

Several days later of hyperspace travel, Dorthea’s little personal transport, the Bean Counter, dropped into Coruscant outer traffic. The giant mega city was maddening to behold, even for one as well-travelled as Dorthea. Glowing amber lines and curves spread across the entire planet’s surface like a psychopath’s spiderweb over a giant sphere, while crawling lines of space lanes could already be seen coming and going from even here.

She was tempted to keep gleaning details of the famed world of galactic commerce, but first, she knew that she would have to get out of the hyper lane exit zone before another ship came a smooshed her. She had already received her flight instructions from Coruscant Air Control, and her permit to land at NAKAIOMA plaza, so all she had to do was tap an icon to activate her prewritten flight data, and let the computer do the rest. Suddenly, the stars and world-scape beyond her viewport shifted and her ship began to make its approach.

---

The ship touched down on a landing pad that was fairly high up on the massive building. Dorthea had been pleased about this for many reasons. For one, the plaza was karking massive, and for her have to walk from the guest landing pads at the bottom and make her way all the way to the top, could potentially take several hours. No doubt, security checks would have been stringent, and thorough, and numerous on the way to the top.

Another reason for why Dorthea was pleased about scoring an upper landing pad was the apparent priority of her arrival. Being assigned an upper landing pad suggested that Saro Nakaioma was at least taking this meeting seriously. It was all speculation on her part, and nothing was certain, but to be given a lower landing pad would have been an insult. If she had been given one of those, she might’ve even turned around and flown away, in truth.

The engines wound down and the ship settled on its landing gear. She unstrapped her harness and left the cockpit. She left her blaster in her quarters. Definitely no need for that today.

The ramp extended and she stepped out of her ship, looking around expectantly.

 

[Saro Nakaioma]

CORUSCANT
NAKAIOMA PLAZA
SEVERAL DAYS LATER...

"Welcome to Coruscant, Director Dobson." The head of Damascus Station found herself greeted by a small, Atrisian woman in a fine black suit as she stepped out of her craft and onto the firm tarmac of the landing pad, a view of the never-ending Galactic City urbanscape extending for as far as the eye could see on all sides but the one that Nakaioma Plaza itself occupied. "I'm Mr. Nakaioma's personal secretary, he sent me to welcome you to our headquarters and to provide an escort." She bent over to provide a polite bow before gesturing for the station director to follow, her jet black hair was held up in a tight pony-tail, and a pin with the company's red flower emblem sat on the lapel of her suit, "I hope your journey to the Core wasn't too troublesome." The secretary said as she made her way towards a set of doors, trusting Ms. Dobson to stay close.

The building's interior was a curious, but by no means offensive clash of cultures and styles. Traditional Atrisian gardens, wood furniture and artwork decorated the otherwise strictly pragmatic, metallic Coruscanti walls. While scrolling LED panels and holographic projections placed every dozen or so meters cycled through reminders of company work quotas, galaxy-wide financial news and corporate propaganda every few minutes before beginning all over again. Connecting directly to one of the building's numerous upper-floor landing pads, the wide, open corridor the pair of women made their way down lacked the foot traffic of the building's lower-floor landing bays, with only a few higher-ranking executives or their assistants passing by the two every now and again, though little acknowledgement was made, even to the secretary.

Arriving at a row of turbolifts after a few minutes of walking, the secretary pressed several different numbers on the keypad for one of the lifts and to the untrained eye it would have seemed to be a simple input failure or confusion on the Atrisian woman's end, yet the keypad's digital screen blinked green regardless. "Mr. Nakaioma typically holds these kinds of sensitive meetings within the confines of his penthouse." The younger woman spoke as the turbolift doors slid open, "It's where he feels most comfortable as I'm sure you understand. Regardless, confidentiality is a privilege we try to grant all of our clients." She continued, stepping into the turbolift before gesturing for Ms. Dobson to do the same. "I won't pretend to know what the contents of your meeting will be, but he has seemed particularly curious about it whenever it's came up in conversation these past few days." The turbolift, it's interior a combination of slick black metal and fine Atrisian wood much like the rest of the building shot upwards with a barely noticeable jolt.

Ascending to the vast building's top floor within less than a minute, it's final climb and gradual stop was even less noticeable than it's take-off, gently coming to a halt before it's doors opened to reveal a long, beautifully decorated corridor. There would seem to be no security measures in sight, of course there were, they just couldn't be registered with the naked eye.

From within the penthouse at the end of the corridor, Mr. Nakaioma patiently awaited his guest..

Tag: Dorthea Dobson ​

 

[Dorthea Dobson]

Dorthea attempted to mimic the younger woman's bow as best she could as the woman greeted her formally and respectfully. "Yes, and and thank you. The trip was uneventful." She simply replied. The secretary then led Dorthea through the building, which was a marvel of stylized architecture. Dorthea herself was a woman that came from the extreme wealth of a corrupt family, so she knew fine taste when she saw it. But this was on an entirely other level.

The kinds of wealth-driven opulences she had experienced on the outer rim were always price driven and expensive for the sake of being expensive. Always, she would encounter miss-match collections of acquired trophies of exotic trinkets on display to show the far reaches of one's influence. But this, this, spoke of real taste. Atrisian style, integrated into Coruscanti architecture was the sole focus and was natural without seeming like an imitation, or a tribute. It felt authentic, and inspired, while sparing no expense. It flowed nicely and naturally with the flow of business and commerce that coursed through the building. No, Dorthea suddenly realized. This isn't merely inspired by Atrisian architecture. It is Atrisian architecture.

For the first time in a long time, Dorthea felt… lesser. Cheap.

They reached the turbolifts and stepped inside. The door closed and the young secretary proceeded to describe how seriously Mr. Nakaioma was taking this meeting. Dorthea listened carefully to the woman's words, noting potential subtext, but she found herself to be genuinely pleased at the reception which she was being given. Surely, Saro Nakaioma had his own reasons to take such an interest in Dorthea's proposals, but Dorthea accepted that as the way things are. The best deals made are the ones where everyone gets what they want.

"Very good," Dorthea responded to the secretary, "The people on Damascus Station already hold Mr. Nakaioma in high regard. So for him to show a similar regard for my people is an incredible compliment to us."

It was something of an autonomous response, said in the droll of ordinary diplomatic exchange, but Dorthea knew that the words held true all the same. She was getting a good vibe here all around.

The door opened up to a long lavishly decorated corridor, which they proceeded to walk through. At the end was the door to what Dorthea assumed was Saro Nakaioma 's personal suite. Dorthea then went ahead and pressed the buzzer, ready to enter upon invitation.

 

[Saro Nakaioma]

CORUSCANT
NAKAIOMA PLAZA

Unceremoniously, the doors clicked open shortly after Ms. Dobson had pressed the buzzer, as over the entrance's intercom the voice of Mr. Nakaioma declared with a crisp quality, "Enter." The young secretary wasted little time in fading away as she disappeared back into the turbolift, clearly knowing what was expected of her in this kind of situation. Within the penthouse, Saro sat at his desk as he typically did, going over a folder full of financial secrets and corporate intrigue, waiting for his guest to arrive. The man's personal suite maintained consistency with the rest of the building's unique interior design, but with an added warmth, comfort or whichever other word one would use to describe it's differing, homely feel.

Aside from the newly arrived Ms. Dobson, Saro was currently the suite's sole occupant, with his family tending to live elsewhere, whether it be in another Coruscanti penthouse or in one of the clan's more mansion-esque estates throughout the civilized corners of the galaxy. Throughout the apartment, it's halls were littered with reminders of family patriarchs, their accomplishments and victories, some in the form of beautifully painted portraits in a whole array of styles and others as statues of varying materials and sizes. The chief of Damascus Station's route would be short, only having to take her across the suite's main hall, passing it's well-lit zen gardens on the way to Saro's office, he had left the door open for an easier time finding him.

Saro had spent most of his day until this point in a cycle of reading and revising documents he had been spent by his subordinates in a cycle that was only too familiar to the tycoon. The Chaldeans were in need of a new combat droid to supplement their armed forces, he could hardly blame them given their proximity to Maw-controlled territory (though the fact his Defense Dynamics subsidiary was not currently developing any form of droid was problematic to say the least), while the world of Constancia was looking to modernize their planetary defense force in response to the Alliance military's overstretched capabilities.

War was never something he enjoyed proliferating, and frankly he had almost grown tired of it in recent months, given how often they seemed to be erupting, but it was always one hell of a credit printer, so with a sentiment that was somewhat surprising, Saro found himself hoping his meeting with Ms. Dobson wouldn't revolve around conflict. If it did, then he worried even the peaceful, traditional Atrisian flute and string music that echoed throughout his suite would do little to lighten his mood. Hearing a pair of footsteps approaching, the man looked up from his desk, taking the time before they got closer to slide the folders he was browsing through back into one of his drawers.

"Ms. Dobson, welcome." He greeted the woman as she arrived at the doorway to his office.

Tag: Dorthea Dobson ​

 

[Dorthea Dobson]

Dorthea crossed the penthouse suite with a brisk walk, trying not to swivel her head rudely around the place. Like the rest of the building, it was also a stylish marvel of wealth and taste. Dorthea didn't want to appear to be snoopy as she strode through a man's personal place of residence. She found it particularly difficult as she passed a zen garden, which baffled her mind as she tried to glean as many details with her peripheral vision as she could. Who has a zen garden? Why? What do they do? How do I get one for myself? Her mind was struggling to ask questions that kept up with everything she was seeing all at once.

She proceeded to the end and found the office with an open door. Inside was the man of the hour; Saro Nakaioma . She stepped inside the room and extended her hand with genuine bewilderment in her eyes as he welcomed her. She replied, "thank you so much for seeing me on such short notice. Your estate is truly beautiful, Mr. Nakaioma. I find it to be quite humbling and inspiring at the same time. May I take a seat? We have much to discuss, and not much of it is easy to say, I'm afraid."

 

[Saro Nakaioma]

CORUSCANT
NAKAIOMA PLAZA

Briefly getting up from his seat to reach out and shake his guest's hand, Saro used his free hand to gesture for the woman to take a seat in one of the two fine, deep red cushioned chairs that sat on the other side of his desk before he himself sat back down. Her look as she entered the room had somewhat rustled his curiosity, given that the majority of visitors who entered his office were already acquainted with the extravagance of his home, it was easy for him to forget how it might appear to those unfamiliar with it. "Thank you, Ms. Dobson. Having such.. Comfortable surroundings makes it easier to work, I find." He explained his short philosophy with, resting one leg over the other and clasping his hands together as he reclined in his chair.

"So I've surmised, your description of it being politically sensitive was one of the reasons I was so eager to meet with you. I'm aware of the ongoing situation in the Elysium Empire- or Imperium, rather, as well as your own personal circumstances, and while our investment in that region of the galaxy isn't quite as significant as it is elsewhere, anything we can do to assist our clientele is well worth the effort in my eyes." Anything within reason, that was, though Saro had the wit to avoid mentioning that part. In truth he still had little idea as to what kind of a proposal the director of Damascus Station was going to make, and subsequently whether or not he would be able to fulfil whatever was required in said proposal, she did have a warrant out for her arrest after all, something he had only been informed of after the meeting had already been arranged.

Not that it mattered to him much, the Elysians should have purchased more products if they didn't want him assisting their criminals.

Tag: Dorthea Dobson ​

 

[Dorthea Dobson]

Inside, Dorthea cringed a little. Saro Nakaioma hadn't revealed anything that wasn't on typical news channels, but something about the man suggested that he was receiving information from other sources. Which meant there were other parties that were interested in the nature of this meeting. The good news seemed that she wasn't being arrested, so he wasn't interested in the bounty or a political hostage… yet, but a man this rich wouldn't need the credits. Instead, a man of Nakaioma's stature was more likely interested in information. Still, really she needed to start playing this safe right away. At least the man had been just barely forward enough in his introduction to offer her this much of a subtle warning. Something told Dorthea that if he wanted to, he could easily lull her into a false sense of trust before ambushing her with his suspicions. She needed to be smart here.

"Thank you, and I bet. I hope you don't mind if I take notes on your interior decoration style!" She laughed lightly, trying not to sound nervous. She then took the seat that was offered and she straightened out her uniform before speaking again, "Before I pitch my proposal to you, I do have to ask; what do you know so far about the situation between the Elysium Imperium and Damascus Station? And what is your stance, currently regarding this matter?"

If necessary, she could be in a position here to fill in the blanks for Mr. Nakaioma, but she also had to keep in mind that the information that she could offer could either be a band aid or a bargaining chip. She would listen carefully to his next response.

 

[Saro Nakaioma]

CORUSCANT
NAKAIOMA PLAZA

There was a noticeable shift in the room's atmosphere, as if unnerved by his words, Saro could see the woman sitting across from him begin to put up walls he'd seen many times in the past. For one reason or another, she didn't fully trust him, not that he blamed her, of course, if he had been in her position, a wanted criminal in his own homeland who needed to resort to outside assistance, he wouldn't have trusted himself either. Politely smiling to acknowledge Ms. Dobson's complimentary remark on the interior design of his home, his ever perceptive, dark eyes narrowed as she inquired on what he knew of the ongoing political situation in her neck of the woods.

Truth be told, the specifics of the skirmish between the Elysian monarch and Damascus Station were still somewhat murky to Saro, as even a man of his stature couldn't possibly know everything that went on in the galaxy. But he'd been told enough by his advisors- who sourced their information from back channels and friendly informants aboard Damascus and elsewhere in Elysian space- to know that perhaps there was something more to the state-proliferated story of King Valhoun's most trusted guard going rogue than said King would prefer the public to know. Whether or not those glorified rumors were true was frankly irrelevant, what mattered was that they existed.

"Well, as I said, Director Dobson, the NAKAIOMA Corporation's investments in Elysian space are small in comparison to our operations elsewhere, as such we are a great deal more flexible in our handling of this.. Sensitive political affair than we otherwise would be. If our customers aboard Damascus Station require our assistance we are more than able to provide it to them, for a price." Shifting in his seat, Saro sat forward as he continued with what he was saying,

"As for what I know, I would never be so bold as to suggest I was intimately familiar of the intricacies of another nation's political landscape. Yet, as I'm sure you'll know, we merchants- or the successful ones at least- tend to have friends. And my friends throughout this new Imperium have been telling me some particularly peculiar stories as of late. Something to do with your monarch and his wife, perhaps?" One brow arching on the man's expression as he finished speaking, Saro focused on the woman's expression to clock just exactly how she would respond to that insinuation of knowledge. Knowing again that it didn't matter if it was true or not, but that if it was out there, then she likely would have heard about it either way.

"Of course, I would be very willing to hear your side of the story for myself. State-affiliated news never quite tells the full tale, does it?"

Tag: Dorthea Dobson ​

 

[Dorthea Dobson]

Her eyes went hard and bored into Saro Nakaioma 's own eyes with laser focus as he spoke. She nodded stiffly as she took in every word and processed everything he offered to her very carefully. He outlined his basic knowledge of the conflict between Var-Sulis and the King, and asserted that his company's interests were in line with whoever stood to make him the most money. His comment about rendering assistance to his customers on Damascus and how he seemed to differentiate them from the elysium imperium suggested that he was aware that they were in fact, not one and the same. He was clearly fishing for information — in fact, he seemed rather forward about it, but that at least confirmed that he didn't know everything.

That led Dorthea to the probable conclusion that his knowledge on the dispute between Sulis and the King was likely cursory at best, and was only the tip of the iceberg that he wanted to uncover. He clearly had insight into the general tone of the inhabitants of Damascus and their position regarding the Imperium and their current affairs. Everything Dorthea would say today would shape his view of the Elysium-Damascus landscape.

Dorthea also took into account her own surface knowledge of the NAKAIOMA corporation. It was all but a confirmed rumour that NAKAIOMA was known for selling weapons and tech to both sides of any conflict. This, in and of itself always sounded worse than it actually was. In Dorthea's experience, whenever weapons contractors played two sides of a war, they knew that preserving a balance between both customers was precarious and circumspect, which meant they had to keep information from passing through themselves into each party's hands. In essence, a weapons contractor that played both sides was much the same as a doctor that takes an oath of confidentiality.

Dorthea considered that Saro could be looking to play both sides here, which, in the case of a military arms contractor, meant he could be trusted… to a limited extent. Whether or not he wanted to play both sides, she figured it wouldn't hurt to give him something of a run down of what has actually happened. "Well, before I can pitch my proposal, I feel like a preface is required so that you understand the very nature of what we are asking of you. You're right in that the King and the Head of Security had a nasty falling out, but that is only the tip of a larger iceberg. You could say that the events leading up to that confrontation go back quite a ways.

"Both Heath and Rex Valhoun have been showing signs of losing touch with their sensible roots for quite some time now. The first sign of this, in retrospect, was when Heath ordered the unconstitutional arrest of my father, Arken Dobson. Now, at the time, the action was actually celebrated by many people, myself included. But the concerning part about the arrest was that it was deeply unconstitutional, and overlooked by all. The fact that the king would defy a constitution that he, himself, had written, should have raised alarms at the time.

"Jump forward a couple years — and I won't get into tedious details — and Heath, later Rex, began to show signs of corruption. It started with small things, like acting on the advice of international adversaries, while simultaneously blindsiding his own cabinet of advisers, but things became apparent that he saw his own staff as the enemy when he began spending the Imperial Treasury like it was his own personal piggy bank and asking for forgiveness after the fact. On top of all this, he was beginning to neglect his responsibilities to the Imperium, and show total disregard for his wife.

"The subjects of the Elysium Imperium began to act on this behaviour of their own accord. Grand Admiral Burtch, for example, stepped down as the commander of the Imperial Navy and chose to focus entirely on smaller operations revolving around Damascus Station. He has since been helping the population there develop their own private defense force in case the Imperium becomes volatile"

"Loreena Arenais-Valhoun, the King's own wife, was forced to rename her company in such a way that rejected her mandalorian heritage. This was done to keep… certain outsiders from attempting to claim Anvil for their own. She then chose to put all of her focus into the operations on Damascus Station and help build the local defense force.

"The incident with Mr. Sulis, the Head of Security, was merely a result of all this. When the King began to show signs of disregard for his wife, Sulis began to take notice of Loreena's loneliness, and they started to get a little too close for Rex's comfort. The King continued to neglect certain duties as well, and was abusing his power, so Sulis took it upon himself to confront Rex on everything. The confrontation ended with Sulis nearly dead in the hospital, and a bounty on his head. I, myself, was forced to arrange for his transfer to Damascus Station, and see to his safety. Sulis is safe for now, but now there is a bounty on my head too.

"Now, as for Damascus Station itself, the population on board numbers over a billion, as I'm sure you are aware. This population is composed almost entirely of the refugees that were taken in during the formative years of the Elysium Imperium, and were initially drawn to the nomadic lifestyle of the Elysium Civillian Fleet. When they finally settled on the station, they did so with the belief that planets were too dangerous to live on with all the territorial conquests going on in the galaxy. When the Elysium Imperium began using military means of conquering worlds in a bid for territory, the people of Damascus began to become disgusted with the contradictory nature of the King's actions and they took this as a betrayal. With the help of Loreena, myself, and a couple of… strange prophets, we somehow have begun to form something called the Nomadic Peoples Coalition. It is in its infancy, as of right now, but it appeals to the nomadic roots of our people on Damascus Station, and gives us a new sense of identity. There is even a new religion that is tied to it, which seems to worship ships of all things, and it is alive and growing.

"So now, the hard work has begun where the Nomadic Peoples Coalition must acquire and sequester resources for our own protection. We need ships, technology, weapons, and most strangely enough, commodity infrastructure.

"The tech purchases can be simple enough, and later today I will send you a formal request for a contract, but the commodities bit is a tricky business…" she trailed off and pulled out her datapad. She keyed a ready icon and it began projecting a holographic image of commodity prices for different precious metals. She then continued to speak, "As you are likely aware, Anvil had unprecedented reserves of Beskar Ore. it was incredible, and was unlike anything ever seen before. Beskar is also insanely valuable, and can be traded as a commodity, much like gold or platinum.

"Except, there is one major problem. Some groups of mandalorians — not all, mind you, but some — believe that Beskar is a mineral that should belong solely to those of mandalorian heritage. They make it incredibly difficult to trade Beskar openly, since if you do, you can paint a target on your back for even possessing the stuff. So for a while, we only mined what we needed and left the rest in the ground for safe keeping.

"Then, I can't get into certain details, but we discovered evidence that certain mandalorian groups were angry about our possession of Beskar steel, and some were even going so far as to de-legitimize our Queen's previous mandalorian heritage so they could come and claim it.

"So our queen took immediate action. The first thing she did was order the strip-mining of all Beskar on the planet Anvil. This was an incredible undertaking and was immensely successful. The official story, of course, is that mining contractors were driven by false positive market forces and over mined the beskar reserves. But the truth is, that is simply not the case.

"Now, we possess more Beskar than we can store. Seriously. No joke. We have so much that we wouldn't even be able to hold it inside of Damascus if we changed the whole place into a bloody storage facility. We literally have literal mountains of Beskar rocks just… floating in space throughout Elysium space on interplanetary orbits. We have the clusters tracked, of course, but as you can guess, this is simply no way to store the most arguably valuable metal in the galaxy. We need storage and infrastructure, and… well, your company has both."

She then keyed her datapad to show just the beskar price, "the reason this should interest you is something you will appreciate. This is the current exchange price on beskar in the open market. Not that we would want to, but if we were to open our beskar up to the galactic commodities exchange, the price would do this"

The numbers next to the beskar row suddenly dropped to astronomically low values; values that were so that a standard economist would say were impossible to achieve in a million years. Clearly, the volume of Beskar steel that was in the possession of Damascus Station was incredible.

"As you can imagine," Dorthea pressed on, "if a single company or person had even one percent of our beskar stock at their disposal, they could do incredible things to their revenue stream. We are offering you ten percent if you help us establish storage depots across the galaxy to help manage this hoard."

She let the holoimage of the projected commodity price hang there between them.

 

[Saro Nakaioma]

CORUSCANT
NAKAIOMA PLAZA

Well.. That had been quite a lot to take in. Throughout Ms. Dobson's detailed retelling of events which- even though Saro reasoned were likely influenced by bias- were clearly thorough, the man had maintained his neutral expression. But as she continued, and the mention of her dealings with the Mandalorians was made, it became increasingly hard for even Saro Nakaioma himself to keep his elevated interest from appearing. While appreciative of the current conflict's background being explained first, the mention of what Damascus Station's director had described as 'literal mountains of beskar' had more or less thrown all of his other concerns out of the window.

The projection depicting the galactic beskar price had only intensified his feelings on the matter. Like a single-minded predator, his business instincts could for the moment focus only on what was in-front of him, despite the pride he often boasted about his ability to take all factors into account when dealing with someone. In this case it was simply too large of a prize to ignore, although even now he was eventually able to knock himself out of the pseudo-trance he had fallen under with a slim hit of reality from the back of his mind. To start; he was only receiving ten percent of this colossal sum, and while this was still more than acceptable, he would soon have to consider what sort of trouble this course of action might attract, recalling what Ms. Dobson had noted about the disapproval of the Mandalorians.

In other words, it almost sounded too good to be true.

Clearing his throat as he moved slightly in his chair, Saro's gaze returned to Dorthea, having shifted to an indeterminate place elsewhere in the room over the course of her explanation. He had to think about this with a clear head, and couldn't allow himself to be distracted with greed. Brows furrowing slightly as he retrieved everything else the woman had told him that was unrelated to beskar. The Nomadic People's Coalition, the unconstitutional arrest of Dorthea's father, and the confirmation of the rumors he had heard previously. It certainly did seem like a volatile combination, not to mention his own suspicions of the Elysian monarchy's soundness of mind had similarly been vindicated. He wasn't too sure where to start; what to address first, and so he simply made the jump to do what he did best.

"Thank you for your explanation of the situation. It's always best to get your information close to the source." He took in a breath through his nostrils as his eyes flickered to the holoprojection in-between them once more. "Strip mining beskar.. Quite a risky decision, I must say." But a potentially profitable one. "I'm certain we can arrange for this beskar to be transported and stored safely." Without even knowing the quantity of the rock, Saro spoke with confidence and certainty, any objection to this- if there was any at all- from the Board would be shut down swiftly, and the sheer value of the material meant the logistics of it's transport and storage would require little consideration whatsoever. "Although, with the beskar safely stored and in our shared possession, it won't surprise you to know that I would also require some assurances that it wouldn't be sold in vast amounts at the same time. For the sake of profit, it's in our- or at the very least my- best interests to keep the price high."

The last thing he needed was to get his hands on the motherload just for it's value to take a nosedive, after all.

Tag: Dorthea Dobson ​

 

[Dorthea Dobson]

Saro Nakaioma 's eyes seemed to glaze over into some kind of trance as Dorthea exposed the hoards of Beskar in their possession. Part of her wanted to feel pride at having affected such a powerful man in such a way, but she couldn't. Instead, she felt… jealous. Not in such a way that affected the esteem she held for him, but in a way that panged regret deep inside. Over the years, the beskar reserves on Anvil had caused her more headaches and stress than any other economic asset on Damascus Station. Now, she was just… handing over the rights to a glutinous hoard of the most valuable military material in the galaxy and he got to experience the elation that she was denied. She did her best to squash these feelings quickly, though. They were petty and immature, and offered no benefit to the situation.

"I'm glad I could help you see things more clearly," she responded to his statement of gratitude for her explanation of Elysium history. There was always more, of course. There just weren't enough hours in a day to break down every struggle and betrayal they had experienced in the past few years. But the goal was to start leaving those things behind and face newer, more fruitful challenges. Today was one of many steps towards this goal, and it was going very well so far.

What also interested Dorthea was the fact that he didn't bother haggling the percentage of his share of the beskar. She had actually low-balled him thinking that he would come back with a counter offer. The meeting wasn't over yet, of course, but usually businessmen were quick to counter the offer right away. Although, Dorthea indulged herself in some humour, ten percent of something of infinite value is still technically "infinity".

"Strip mining beskar.. Quite a risky decision, I must say." But a potentially profitable one. "I'm certain we can arrange for this beskar to be transported and stored safely."

"Although, with the beskar safely stored and in our shared possession, it won't surprise you to know that I would also require some assurances that it wouldn't be sold in vast amounts at the same time. For the sake of profit, it's in our- or at the very least my- best interests to keep the price high."

"I think we can agree on both of those points, Mr. Nakaioma," she said, referring to the points he made regarding the risk of strip mining the planet Anvil and the matter of driving the price of beskar down, "in fact, those two points go hand-in-hand in this case; we took a huge risk to mine all the beskar off Anvil, and we need to eventually see a return on that investment. The endeavour of removing that much beskar from a planet so quickly was indeed an expensive one, and it was done as a means of damage control to keep the mandalorians out of our hair for a while. If we were to suddenly drive the commodity price of beskar down, our financial 'glass house' would shatter. Which is why, not only do we have an interest in keeping the price of beskar from dropping, but we have a plan to increase it, manifold"

She then keyed another ready icon on her datapad and another projection appeared.

Spoiler: Datapad holodisplay image

Three ship designs appeared and rotated around, stacked vertically.

Dorthea continued to speak, "when we started forming the Nomadic Peoples Coalition, some of the engineers from the Elysium Imperium left and committed themselves to Damascus Station projects. They took some Elysium designs with them, and are working on ways to improve their capabilities as we speak. With the amount of beskar in both our possessions, we have the ability to build our entire navy out of it with lots to spare.

"You see," Dorthea explained, "we don't just mine the beskar. Damascus Station is made to refine it, and manufacture it rather efficiently. You could say that is the station's primary function. So we don't need to expose our supply to outside parties until we have saleable, usable products on hand. The release of beskar-made goods without public knowledge of our supply will create a false-positive market force, driving the price of beskar way up, based on the belief that we are somehow purchasing mass quantities of the stuff for our manufacturing. Does that answer satisfy your concerns?"

 

[Saro Nakaioma]

CORUSCANT
NAKAIOMA PLAZA

So she intended to construct a fleet of beskar warships? While he had yet to see the practical applications of such a design; as given the material's ordinarily expensive acquisition none of his subsidiaries had ever even bothered to experiment with the idea; he was able to see why the concept might be enticing. If nothing else it was most certainly a unique way of driving market prices down, and he himself may have even been tricked by it's false-positive effect if he hadn't been in the loop. But he was, and he had been quick to notice Dorthea's mention that her people would still have plenty of beskar to spare once their ships were completed; he could use that.

Though content with simply receiving the offer to begin with, knowing that while one of the few non-state entities in the galaxy that could cope with the enormity of her request, NAKAIOMA was far from the only one Ms. Dobson could have taken her mountains of beskar to, Saro decided to press the limits of their meeting, to see just how much of the lucrative rock his trade partner would be willing to part with. It wasn't as if credits were a problem in this transaction, after all. Typically expensive, he suspected that the woman's difficulty in even finding a place to store the material- as well as the potential threat it's Mandalorian claimants presented could drive the price down. He wouldn't ask for much more, at the very least, he knew not to push too far.

"It most certainly does. I must say that it is most definitely a unique idea, but one that I could see working. If someone in the galaxy is building entire ships from the stuff, then sure some will consider you might be a hidden stockpile.. But most will assume you're simply mad, and will rush to acquire as much as they can before the price rises too much- subsequently driving said price up in doing so. I will add, however, that if you have such a large quantity- Mountains, as you described, then perhaps we could arrange a slightly higher percentage on our end? I didn't want to appear rude, given that you approached us with such a lucrative deal, but we are doing the majority of the heavy-lifting from this point forward."

Watching as the holoprojection on his desk depicted three of the to-be beskar starships, he pretended to consider what his proposal would be- though he'd already made up his mind. "How does a quarter sound? Twenty five percent, I can even throw in a notable discount for future NAKAIOMA contracts. While I admit it's quite an increase, with the revelation of your plan to drive the market value of beskar even higher than it already is, I'm certain you won't be able to notice the difference in the proverbial ocean of credits you will undoubtedly find your people swimming in once we begin to sell this inventory." He paused, leaning forward in his seat. "Would that be acceptable, Director Dobson?"

Tag: Dorthea Dobson ​

 

[Dorthea Dobson]

Ah, there is is, Dorthea thought to herself. She barely contained her smile, and even felt the corners of her mouth pull up before she stopped it. She was pleased to see that Saro Nakaioma wasn't a pushover and seemed to gather his wits quickly. It was often a mistake to make huge deals like this with fools, and he was clearly not a fool. In truth, 25 percent was the perfect number — ok, well, actually, according to Dorothea's more precise calculations, 22.94 percent was the perfect number when everything was accounted for, but only a moron would haggle for a 2.06 percent difference in a negotiation like this. And she had been prepared for an offer at 33.3 percent, but that would have been harsh on her projected margins. If that was going to be where Mr. Nakaioma wanted to settle, she would have negotiated for more from him in return to balance out the ledger and increase her margins. At that point, she'd be looking into stock options and board memberships on both sides, and other things too. At 25 percent, Damascus Station still stood to make phenomenal returns with room for error, and 25 percent would give NAKAIOMA a massive profit margin too — according to her math anyways. It was never good to do deals with people that weren't making enough money for themselves.

However, Dorthea quickly realized a small mistake in her pitch, as she left out a minor detail. "Well, you are certainly providing most of the infrastructure, but I should clarify that we will be providing some of the storage resources ourselves. Specifically, we will be providing additional security once the Nomadic Peoples Coalition has developed its military capabilities more. We are aware that NAKAIOMA has security contracting services available, but we will also want a hand in this too. Our Navis Sacra Religion practitioners are very keen on preserving the materials that we will be building our 'Angels' out of, as they call them. There's talk of an order of 'Holy Knights' forming as some sort of caste within the religion, and they will have a hand in protecting the depots when they are ready."

"But other than that, your assessment is correct: for the storage part of this operation, you are certainly pulling most of the weight. We are still keen on recouping our losses from strip mining the planet so quickly, but you should have an adequate percentage to reflect your commitment. Therefore, 25% is reasonable, and workable, and you will be granted that.

"We are also prepared to offer you commercial real estate on Damascus Station if you like. The reason for this is because Damascus Station has the rare expertise and equipment that is required to refine and work the beskar steel into saleable products. Owning real estate on Damascus Station will give you easy access to those capabilities. This might be handy since, as of right now, you officially own more beskar than most mandalorian clans. The main deal is not contingent on this, but the Nomadic Peoples Coalition would like to start this partnership in good faith, if you are interested."

 

[Saro Nakaioma]

CORUSCANT
NAKAIOMA PLAZA

"Clarification is again much appreciated." Saro replied with a nod, feeling that their brief- but immensely productive meeting- would soon be coming to an end. Twenty five percent was more than enough given the sheer amount of beskar they were discussing, after all, and it would be more than enough of a victory to bring to the board. Overall, the beskar itself wasn't what Saro would champion, as while personally enticed by the relative ease of the deal and the profit that could be made, the Atrisian's real aim was to sell himself yet again as the corporation's guiding hand. Truth be told, ever since the Mawites had penetrated Alliance space; creating that god awful 'corridor' there had been an increasing amount of spite building towards him within the board over his perceived 'inability' to create a workaround to the problem, as if even he could influence galactic geopolitics to that extent.

But with this deal, he could ensure a notable percentage of those profits would go straight to the pockets of his detractors and that every stockholder was made well aware of his achievement. Personally securing literal mountains of beskar in a short meeting.. Even his finest public relations people couldn't come up with a story this good. Admittedly, however, Saro was somewhat bewildered by Ms. Dobson's remarks on the existence of Navis Sacra, it had stirred a memory from the report he'd received of his corporation's participation in Damascus Station's expo, and how his staff he been pestered by strange 'cult-like' individuals gathering around the naval technology they had on display. Though the thought of having men who worshipped ships as if they were gods protecting depots constructed by NAKAIOMA alongside his own forces made him uneasy, he supposed that was the cost of doing business, and with a deal like this one, it was enough for him to push any concerns to the side for now.

Besides, it wasn't as if he hadn't done business with cultists in the past.

"A more solidified presence on Damascus Station would most certainly prove useful, we would be interested in this offer." The CEO said without much hesitation in response to the woman's additional proposition. While Saro was almost certain his subsidiaries had property on the station already, with images of Bantha Burger or ESASHI coming to mind, they were numerous, small-scale establishments that catered to the station's inhabitants in more daily needs and wants as opposed to heavy industry, and as such lacked the beskar-refining infrastructure Dorthea mentioned. Besides, the company had little presence in that part of the Outer Rim, and having additional administrational capacity would set up a foundation for future expansion. So this, like the beskar itself was a 'no-brainer' as Saro had once heard his assistant say.

"Will that be everything, Director Dobson? If so, my people will contact yours and preparations can begin at your earliest convenience."

Tag: Dorthea Dobson ​