The Foundry; Part 2

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Maria Natalja"]

Nel ordered something simple, a salad of some sort that this restaurant served.

It wasn't for any sake of appearance, but simply because she had actually eaten not too long ago.

"Now." Nel said after allowing Maria to order as well. "Why don't we talk about business?"

That was why they were here after all. The two women had gotten to know one another, had spoken at length about modest thing and now it was time to speak of things to come. Nel was eager to get to that portion of their meeting, though she had enjoyed their conversation and intended on continuing after they had concluded their talks. At least, for a small amount of time. Unfortunately for Nel her time was rather limited now, and she had several more meetings to get to today.

 

[Ellya]

Nel ordered first. After that, as the waiter turned to Maria, the Jedi spoke, "I'd like whatever you suggest, please."

And now the real business talk began. The atmosphere of the place seemed to change in a moment. They had had a light conversation before, but now there was tension in the air. Maria knew her skills at such meetings were a little bit rusty, but she would try to do her best for the good of both her own and Nel's companies.

"Indeed, let's talk about business."

She didn't know the exact reason why Siechel Transystem was contacted -- if they looked for water supplies and charity work, then they were definitely the company to contact. However, she didn't know if they could provide what was needed.

Well, truth be told, she didn't have an exact overview of the project why they were even needed. So she couldn't make any judgments yet.

[ [member="Alric Kuhn"] ]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Maria Natalja"]

So that was the meat of it.

"Vanir Technologies is beginning a massive project." Perhaps the largest undertaking by any singular corporation in hundreds of years. "We intend to construct a shipyard of proportions equal to that of Kuat Drive Yards or Fondor."

That was a statement and a half. KDY was the galaxies largest shipyards no matter how you spun it. Their Drive Yards encapsulated an entire planet, ringing around Kuat and hooking into place almost too perfectly. The Shipyards around Kuat could produce an entire armada inside of a year, being capable of producing hundreds of Star Destroyers annually and smaller ships in the thousands. It was what Nel wanted for her new driveyards, what she thought would be best.

"The only issue is we'll not be constructing it around a planet, instead we'll be creating a station within the middle of space. Obviously, this will come with it's own problems. Chief among them is logistical supplies. Food and water." She smiled, knowing that Natalia would understand.

 

[Ellya]

"Alright," the blonde woman replied simply. She did understand why she was contacted and why her company was needed at that moment. For once, she felt like the Siechel Transystem could do better than transporting water to Tatooine.

"We are a little bit short of good transport ships at the moment. My secretary has been working on buying a few more of these. Once it's done, I can see no reason why not to help you," she added.

She smiled as she thought about it -- it was an amazing moment for both her and the company. To be needed by a huge coporation like Vanir Technologies was is definitely every small company's dream.

At that moment, her inspiration to continue as the CEO of Siechel Transystem rose a lot.

"I can see a few problems, though. Nothing critical. But our only current water reservoir is at Dac. It is made for smaller functions -- the water purifiers have limitations and I fear we have to create new outposts. That, however, will need time and money."

Now that they were talking about her company, she was a lot more talkative. Mainly because she knew a lot more about the matter.

[ [member="Alric Kuhn"] ]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Maria Natalja"]

"We'll pay you handsomely of course." That would have gone without saying really, Vanir Technologies was pouring it's entire capital into this project, and that money would trickle down to all of the corporations it contracted with during this time.

"As for ships..." Vanir made starships of all shapes and sizes, including transport freighters. "Contracting with Vanir means we'll be able to supply your company with ships at a cheaper rate. We produce a heavy freighter called the Gundark, it should be capable of moving any volume you require."

This deal wasn't just to benefit Vanir Technologies, or at least it wouldn't end that way.

Her corporation, as odd as it was to say that, would help half a dozen corporations grow with this endeavor. She would see the galaxies corporate entities grow alongside Vanir Technologies. The more companies there were the more she and Vanir Technologies would benefit.

 

[Ellya]

"Hmm, Gundark, you say..." the woman said as she nodded her head in a supportive manner. Oddly, she had even heard of them. Either her secretary had noticed them and had an eye on them for a while or she had somehow managed to hear somebody else buying them. Of course, she had never actually purchased a single product from Vanir Technologies, so her knowledge of what they produced was lacking.

However, she believed a high-tier company like they were wouldn't produce something crappy anyway.

She had to think for a moment. What the woman was proposing seemed to be both helpful for Siechel Transystem and rather important to Nel's own company as well. They would both benefit, which was the essential factor in the chance of Maria agreeing to work on the project.

"I see your project is rather massive, so I will have to talk these things through with my scientists -- how much water will we need to transport, how many other outposts we have to set up and how much it will all cost. I am going to assume it will take months of preparation and equally as much to set everything up."

But if the creation of a shipyard was a massive long-time project, then time didn't seem to be a question.

"When are you intending to actually start building the shipyard?" she asked out of curiosity.

[ [member="Alric Kuhn"] ]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Maria Natalja"]

"Three months." That was a strict schedule, but it was an important one.

"Initial construction will be made my droids, once the skeletal structure is in place things will progress forwards." Nel did a quick calculation off the top of her head, coming to a small number. "Four and a Half months is when organics should begin to work on site."

That was an impressive amount of time, but with the contracts that Vanir had now put in place and with the amount of droids they had bought it was right on the money.

Of course Nel knew that it would be difficult, but so much groundwork had already been put down by Alric Kuhn that it would be impossible not to move forward. The four seedships were already processing and refining entire asteroid belts and most of her corporate fleet was beginning to assemble.

Things were moving quickly.

 

[Ellya]

Wow, that was going a lot faster than she had thought.

The statement left her speechless, but she did nod, a motion of understanding. She, along with her science team had to start doing a lot of work to find the best planets where to set their outposts up, they would have to sign contracts and ask for permissions, find areas for their outposts, do a ton of more research.

Alright, she thought, we can do this. The project was a once in a lifetime thing and it didn't matter if they would have to spend sleepless nights on that. She didn't even care if returning to the Jedi Order would be postponed.

"We will be in a hurry," she had to admit. "But... we'll have to manage."

She took a deep breath. As soon as she would leave the restaurant -- if they did indeed agree on terms and sign a contract -- she would start working hard on setting up new outposts and reservoirs. It would be difficult as now she had to manage on her own, but there was also no reason for her to be afraid that she wouldn't manage.

[ [member="Alric Kuhn"] ]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Maria Natalja"]

Nel gave a nod.

The project would move quickly, but the chance for growth, the opportunities derived from it would see some companies bloom over night. She was almost entirely sure that Maria's company would grow as a result of this, that she had helped in some way. Of course it was with an ulterior motive, getting the Foundry built, but a project such as this didn't just benefit Vanir Technologies, it benefited hundreds, if not thousands of companies.

The economy would grow as a result, and Nel would make sure of it.

"We'll let the lawyers iron out the details." Nel made the joke, though there was a truth to it. "For now, let's just enjoy our meal."

The first contract signed, or as good as signed. Maria wanted this as much as Nel. it would benefit both companies and allow them to expand. For Nel, the Foundry represented something larger than Vanir, represented something larger than herself. It was a project that in the end was meant to benefit independent corporations as a whole. She wanted Governments to have less control, to have less sway in how business was done.

The Foundry would allow that.

 

[Ellya]

"Agreed," the woman said. She could feel like the project would benefit practically anybody. Some more, some less. But it was definitely something which would affect absolutely everybody. The contract would most likely mean Siechel Transystem would gain some more popularity and therefore work to do. For such a project, she believed they already had to expand and set up new locations.

Which was definitely a good thing.

The outposts would not be taken down after the shipyard was done, it would be a waste of time and resources. So in general, it was a project that served a great purpose for the small company.

Feeling relief inside, Maria took a sip of her water and looked out of the window.

Hope was a word which had guided her whole life before. Now another simple word had taken its place as her fundamental life philosophy -- possibility. A simple word, if we think about it.

But the meaning behind it is what matters.

[ [member="Alric Kuhn"] ]