Prince of Katarr
Lasan, Wild Space
Frontier Mining Property 46 "Rivertown", Vulptex Corporate Holdings
The settlement didn't bother with a proper name. It had probably been branded once, stamped with something optimistic like Prospect or Horizon's End, before reality hit the ambition out of it. Now it was just Rivertown, a duracrete smudge at the edge of Lasan's emptiness and lawlessness. Emptiness wasn't exactly Nej's style, but lawlessness was.
But this place, Rivertown- a stop on his long journey across the galaxy to find it, was lawless in the worst way: law had replaced by corporate security. It was a frontier mining property, a collective of various mining groups. Out here in Wild Space, there was no regulation for hours, wages, healthcare- all that pesky stuff that got in the way of business. Union boys and contracts. That's it. For the most part, lucrative and prosperous. Less taxes, more profit, less regulation, less inspections. Just work, mining at the most efficient and the most lucrative.
Unfortunately, that also meant the other end of that pesky bell curve-
Corporate greed cranked up with no oversight.
Rivertown- named for the single solitary river running through it, was one such instance. But it wasn't Nej's business. It was a stop, he was going to be here for a few hours at best. Refresh, refit, get some supplies and move on. His speeder came crackling to a slow crawl at the edge of town, dust stopping behind him as he let off the throttle. Long-range supply packs and netting hung on the outside of his speeder. The sun beat down on him, the mid-day heat of Lasan's drier biome getting to him.
Rivertown was a stop, a brief moment in Nej's long travel here on Lasan. He leaned back in his seat, approaching one of the many fueling stations. He parked his speeder, but decided that refitting and refueling could wait until after he got a drink. Water, first, then everything after. The cantina was closed until after shifts were done. He presumed it was like most mining towns- the bars and cantinas were staffed by miners themselves.
He poked into a storefront run by the company. Not Czerka. Lots of labels with something else- a red wolf of some kind. He had no idea, and didn't care to know. He took a deep breath, approaching the counter as his helmet faded back behind his neck, and he had to pull his hat to make sure it didn't get caught up in it. Nej wasn't here to do anything other than buy water.
"Got a water card?" The cashier asked gruffly.
Nej frowned and shook his head.
"Water card is fifteen credits. Rationing."
He sighed, placing the six bottles of water on the counter. Twelve credits for one bottle. The going rate in the Coruscant spaceport was three credits.
"Over-ration card?"
Nej shook his head. Fifteen more credits on the counter.
"Fifteen credits."
Nej sighed again. Another fifteen.
"Visitor ration card?"
Nej stood still.
"Fif-"
"Fifteen credits, yeah, I got it."
This place wreaked of corruption. The fact that he had to cough up that much for just some water- and not even a drink yet. He turned his head to the window, an old, broken down house near a tall grass field crumbling in the distance. Nej took a deep breath, placing his hands on his hips, waiting to be rung up. He heard a commotion outside- something about debt repayment and wage garnishment. Then a thud. A strike to the chest, if he had to guess. Then nothing more.
Nej had to remind himself it was one of many towns like this. He had no business here other than leaving and restocking, refueling and resting. All he had to do- was wait for the bar to open. Get a place to stay for the night, then bug out in the morning....
And avoid an ass-whooping by the three dozen plus corporate thugs here.