Private The First of Many

[Darth Empyrean]

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The table was large, specially made and lifted into the building through once open balcony; now self contained in a room surrounded in holo panels. The world around it was eccentric, placing them dangerously close to a massive multicolored sun with arcs of jet flying from its gravitational hold with increasing furiosity; yet inside the room there was no noise, and ‘Chairman Harper’ as he’d come to be known sat at the head of the table with fingers steepled.

It was beautiful, and the beginning of something amazing. The Sith Lord turned banker smiled as he leaned back in the all too expensive seat, waiting for the others to join him - and as they would, an AI would greet them in the soft waif like tones of a woman with care in her demeanor, and a door would slide aside and break the illusion of the space for only a second before resealing itself once more.

When the many came, Dorian stood and smiled, brighter and wider than ever -

“Welcome, Gentleman. I’m glad to see you could all make it.”, he said with a gracious, inviting tone.

Today they decided the future of the Credit, and the future of the IGBC.

 

[Caulder Dune]

A droid floated silently into the room. It moved through the air with such an even steadiness one could be forgiven for thinking it was on a track. It came to a stop over an empty seat at the conference table, gradually lowering itself to about eye-level.

It was a black orb, nearly featureless. A silver line wrapped around its circumference, and a large red eye indicated which way was front. It remained hovering there quietly for a moment, before projecting a hologram into the seat below it.

Darth Adekos appeared before the assembled board of the Banking Clan, mired in that eerie, glowing blue light. Rendered in blue-scale as he was, he looked more or less like any other Umbaran male. It failed to pick up the ashy pallor of his skin, the cracks that ran along the surface of his face. The sinister redness to his eyes.

“It is a pleasure to attend, as always, Mr. Chairman,” said Adekos.

 

[Arken Lussk]

It was meetings like this that made him long for the days of his past, where he held no accountability or responsibility to anyone but himself. Just he and his own board of directors, finalizing their own plans, projects, and other tribulations that faced the fastest growing tech-startup in the galaxy. Now, the young man sat shoulder-to-shoulder with old, wizened businessmen and aristocrats cut from finer cloth than he. Their etiquette and mannerisms didn't fall on deaf ears, but Arken was far more comfortable with casual dealings.

A steaming cup of noodles was held in his hand, two wooden sticks pinching and twisting at them before being flung into his waiting mouth. His slurps were noisy, if not outright irritating and eye-catching.

He smiled at the rest of the men, nodding in polite greetings.

"A pleasure, truly!"

Darth Empyrean Caulder Dune

 

[Dak]

Darth Empyrean Caulder Dune Arken Lussk​

The DAC droid stands at his position around the table. With no need for comfort and rest, this was optimal over taking a seat. His stance is rigid, with his arms crossed behind his back and receptors shifting between the other guests as they speak. Dak had met most of these moguls before, the exception being the Umbaran joining them through holo-projection. Between their accomplishments and the inspiration some of them had unknowingly offered for his own concepts, the droid had immense respect for each of them.

As Arken speaks up and sips his food, Dak watches the younger Aegis Systems CEO with particular interest. Of those in this room, Mr. Lussk was the only person he had worked alongside – a personal endeavor, coincidental and unrelated to this business development. He held a special appreciation for the fact that a businessman could hold his own in the field.

“Mr. Harper,” Dak greets, returning his attention to the Chairman “once again; it is an honour to join you.”

 

[Nicademus Blith]

The future of the credit was in the balance. For too long the galaxy had been without a unified currency managed by a central bank. The credit had existed on the old servers a ghost of what it once was, used by billions but without a mind or body to guide it forward. It was time for that to change. Between these men, they had representation in almost every industry on the face of the galaxy. They could all speak for the interests of every industry.

Together, they could finally sieze and centralize the ancient IGBC infrastructure. They could finally reform the credit in their image. The power they would wield over galactic economics was immense, but the question was, how would they execute this. Of course they would need to acquire the old servers which the credit ran on, but what would they do once they had them?

"Greetings gentlemen. Shall we get to work?" Nicademus said, not wanting to delay things further.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Dorian adjusted his tie as he slowly slid his chair back from the table and stood. The sun that glowed in its dichotomy of orange and blue strobed as he did, accenting his position as the Director. With the authority of a demagogue, Harper motioned at the table and a large holographic display of their newly drafted logo appeared.​

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“Gentleman-”, he said with a smile.​

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“Welcome to the InterGalactic Banking Clan.”​

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He couldn’t help but have some joy at this, that through his concerted effort the newly founded intergalactic banking clan would witness its resurrection at the fingertips of the Board. With this pride in mind, he tapped on the table with a slight haptic feedback to his actions, and the logo changed from that to a small map of the core worlds.​

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“Upon recommendation from Caulder Doon -”, he said motioning to the holographic display of Darth Adekos.​

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“- I believe it is prudent for us to find our first focus on developing the Core Worlds.”​

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“Mr. Doon, could you explain your plan.”​

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Caulder Dune │ Arken Lussk │ Dak │ Nicademus Blith │ John Locke (If you want to join)​

 

[Caulder Dune]

There was a brief pause before Caulder Doon started speaking. He had been staring at Arken Lussk, watching with a mix of horror and disgust as he slurped. Slurped like a wild animal. Noodles, of all things. He blinked a few times in rapid succession and returned to his senses.

"Ah, yes. Of course, Director." Absolutely asinine. Someone should scold that man. Not him, of course. He had better things to do.

The hologram of Darth Adekos adjusted his collar, and explained rightly. "The Silver Jedi and the Confederacy have done a remarkable job of stabilizing the Outer Rim - commerce between that region and the Core has never been safer. The issues surrounding trade are now of a more subtle nature - local exchange rates, largely."

It was chaos, largely. The buying power of a Credit on Kubundi was wildly out of line with the buying power on, say, Metellos. And once you factor in the differences between individual regions on those planets, it only got worse. What the galaxy needed was not just another bank, but an institution dedicated to ironing out these little differences, cleaning up the mess.

The InterGalactic Banking Clan could be that institution. Alongside its traditional duties, of course.

"If we can promise the Core Worlds a reliable committee, a forum through which they can more efficiently standardize the exchange of goods and materials with the Outer Rim, then it is my belief they will be happy to contribute to our cause. And once the Core Worlds are on board, the Outer Rim Territories will be inclined to follow."

 

[Darth Empyrean]

“All credits in the galaxy eventually finds its way to the Core -”, he said with a smile, nodding in agreement.​

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The truth of the matter saw almost eighty percent of the galactic credits were sourced from the Core; meaning control of the Core, meant control of the credit. Even if Adekos didn’t know it - which Maliphant was sure he did - taking dominion over the trade of the most profitable planets was a King’s move were there ever one on the galactic markets. It reassured Maliphant that the Board had… some intelligent members.​

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His glance to Arken stole some of that air from his winds, however.​

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“Would you have any specific planets in mind, at least go to begin with?”, the Director motioned to Adekos.​

 

[Caulder Dune]

"Metellos, Coruscant, Corulag, Kuat," said Caulder, with a sort of rote boredom to his voice. Like he were listing off the items on a shopping list. "The usual suspects; the ones desperate for raw materials and agricultural products."

These were neutral worlds as well. Apparently the Galactic Republic was back in the game. Agreements could still be struck with those individual planets, but it would be better to start outside of that sphere.

Caulder scratched the side of his nose, frowning contemplatively. "Although I'm told Coruscant is currently undergoing a wave of nationalism. Could be troublesome."

 

[Dak]

Caulder Dune Darth Empyrean Arken Lussk Nicademus Blith
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Dak was perhaps the only one at the table intimately familiar with the changes taking place on the planet. He was certain these men could see the rising Imperium's sphere of influence stretching farther across the ecumenopolis with each passing day, but only the droid watched from the side of the newly proclaimed Lord-Imperator.

Despite this, he chooses to remain silent on the subject. His personal opinions would be of no value here and, truthfully, he had very few. It had not been the Imperium's ideology that secured the DAC's loyalty, but rather the House that leads it. Still, Dak's receptors glance between the others reactively, knowing they were likely aware of his affiliation.

The planets presented by Mr. Doon were ones the droid was familiar with, and he nods along in silent agreement at each of their mentions.

 

[Arken Lussk]

A fat, stupid grin stretched across his expression with glee. As if he'd been entirely in on the joke and was struggling to contain the laughter, daring to disrupt the little meeting of theirs. Slowly, his composure began to solidify, with the tone of slurping beginning to wane as he reached the bottom of the cup. Arken almost flashed an apologetic look to the thing before he passed it to Victor. The droid had appeared from somewhere in the darkness behind him.

The young man shooed him away promptly.

"Rise of nationalism or not, they will be desperate for stability. I've heard that numerous terrorist attacks have torn the world asunder. Very many dead, and very many angry at their response." He cracked his fingers, leaning back into his chair. "As far how to standardize this currency, I propose we simply create the new Credit. Quantum supercomputing for the blockchain, all verifiable through a distributed ledger architecture."

Arken frowned. "Though it would be pretty decentralized. Hard for us to maintain control of unless we just mine and generate it ourselves."

Caulder Dune | Darth Empyrean | Nicademus Blith | Dak

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Dorian cocked a brow to Arken’s sudden input - and for the first time since his arrival, wasn’t immediately disgusted by his presence. He nodded, considered what he said as he leaned back in his own chair and eventually spoke;​

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“It certainly sounds like a step in the right direction in terms of reintroducing Standard Galactic Credits to the galaxy.”, Dorian offered with a light tap on the table.​

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“Caulder, if Chairmen Lussk and Dak can worry about the details of the blockchain back end - would you be willing to work on currency exchanges between those planets and the IGBC?”​

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Caulder Dune │ Dak │ Arken Lussk │ Nicademus Blith​

 

[Caulder Dune]

Arken took to speaking instead of slurping. A welcome change of pace, and there was some substance to his speech. Good. If there hadn't been, Adekos would have excused himself and gone back into cryo-stasis.

But now Dorian mentioned the one named Dak, and Caulder couldn't help but regard the droid with a lofted eyebrow. Was this machine truly here on its own accord, and not merely the servant of another? Intriguing. The last droids he had seen obtain political and economic power turned out to have the some of the most odious personalities he had ever encountered.

Hopefully this one did better.

"Of course, Mr. Chairman," he said returning his attention to Dorian.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

“Thank you, Mr. Doon.”, Dorian said with a rapacious smile.​

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“Now, another thing to note - I would like make a declaration for those present.”, Maliphant said with a quiet stance.​

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He had brought Adekos out of cryosleep for more than just tea time and bonding of planet’s trades, but it would take time to bring that out of the ex-Sith Emperor. No, for now he needed to entrust him with power, show both him and the Board that he was capable of so much more; Maliphant wanted to trust him to help lead the InterGalactic Banking Clan.​

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“I’ve decided to use my authority as Director to declare the first Deputy Director amongst us - and that would be Caulder Doon. Would you be willing, please listen to him with the same authority as you would I - and please, work with Deputy Director Doon in anything he request; beginning foremost with the consolidation of trade regulations in the Core.”​

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With that, Dorian offered a gentle clap - while the synthetic sounds of clapping came from the overhead AI. Cybele chimed in soon after -​

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“Congratulations, Caulder. I wish you luck!”, she said in artificial waif like tones.​

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Nicademus Blith │ Dak │ Arken Lussk │ Caulder Dune │ John Locke​

 

[Caulder Dune]

Ah. This was not unexpected, but Adekos - or Caulder, rather - had anticipated the appointment at a later date. Dorian offered a gentle clap, as did his PA system. Caulder repressed a grimace. He never did like applause. "Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am honored, of course."

It had been his plan to simply rest on his laurels and let everyone else do the heavy lifting. Now he could do just that, but with the added responsibility of juggling oversight. Which would doubtlessly cause no shortage of resentment.

Fortunately, Darth Adekos was more than well acquainted with the delicate art of being universally despised.

"In this case, Mr. Lussk... Ah," Caulder paused, apparently considering whether he should call a droid 'mister.' "...Dak. I will be appointing an assistant to observe the development of the blockchain infrastructure. It is not a formal posting or a supervisor; simply keep it informed of your progress."

Darth Empyrean | Dak | Nicademus Blith | Arken Lussk​

 

[Dak]

Darth Empyrean Caulder Dune Arken Lussk ​

Re-modelling the Galactic Credit into a blockchain currency immediately piques the droid's interest. With a bit more animation, his head shifts between the men and hologram as they briefly discuss the concept. Perhaps unknown to them, Dak had recently concluded a special project of his that dabbled into quantum processing. He was eager to explore other applications of the technology.

As for this Mr. Dune being granted the position of Deputy Director - it mattered little to him. The droid was simply relieved the responsibilities were not his own, not that he suspected they would ever be. Dak was well aware that a droid would hold minimal regard in such an institution, at least to those outside of this room. As far as he was concerned, this new super-pact was an opportunity to expand his horizons. He would offer himself as a tool for the IGBC, provide insight when necessary, and in return increase the methods available to him for research and development. These men were better suited for the business end anyway.

"Congratulations, Deputy Director," Dak says with a slight bow of his head. "I accept the appointment of an observer for this project," he answers, pretending to have a choice in the matter "and am willing to begin immediately."