Welcome to the New Age (ACA Aftermath Thread, Open to Business Owners)

[Barkt Melan]

Bothuwai Shipyards
0100 hours
14 Days after the death of Akala

Quiet. That was the only way Barkt could describe the hallways as he walked to his office. Many still hadn't come back from the events.... he didn't want to think about it. Force user gods and some madness akin to that. But he was back. And now he had a business to run. After fighting an insane creature capable of destroying the galaxy, that didn't seem so daunting.

"Good morning, sir." the voice of the Engineering Head called out. Turning his head, the bothan nodded. "Glad to see you up and about."

"Figured it was about time. Nallai's getting sick of me pacing around the flat." he smiled. "So, any new prototypes?"

"Not much. Lost staff in the rapture. Still need to fill the holes." he sighed. "Most of the other departments can automate. Production's almost all clankers, and reception's close."

"But you can't always do that in your area." Barkt added, his ear twitching for a moment. Droids were useful, but some things were better with living, breathing beings of flesh and bone. Or whatever some of the other species were made of.

"No, we could. I just don't like having robots do certain roles." the old man sighed, looking out at the planet. Besides, unemployment is at an all-time high. Those poor blighters need the jobs."

"Yeah, they do." the bothan leaned on the railing. "But how many of them have the droids replaced?"

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Surfaceside
Drev'stan
Government Square

The riots had lasted twenty minutes before the police had shut it down, violently. News Reporter Talia Rul'syk, the camera finally off, stared at the cloud of dust. The scene wasn't a happy one, and the demonstrators had been sent home violently. Still, they had shut it down before too much damage had been done. There was little to do but go back to the office and be glad she had a job. After all, this was the outcome of to many people without any means of support. Crime. Not a happy place to be.

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Other planets had similar reports of violence. Some reporters, in those few freelance news outlets that the Spynet didn't censor or couldn't catch, whispered about rebellion. Many remembered the bloody uprising that had led to Salem Norongachi's rise to power. Still others, in those few places where they could speak their mind, wished for the time when the Verdite government was in power, forgetting the problems that Salem had left behind. But one thing was for certain:

Something was changing.

Spoiler

[member="Enigma"] [member="Danger Arceneau"] [member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Jared Ovmar"] [member="Raziel"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Barkt Melan"]

Su- Well, Emeritus Industries had previously experienced some less than enjoyable times in the territories of what had at one point been the Confederacy of Independent Systems. However, the galaxy's economy was in shambles, and the last thing that CirceVanessa wanted to see happen was for the corporate power to fragment due to explosive inflation and unemployment. While the idea she had in question seemed sound enough, putting it into practice would determine just how stable the outcome from this would potentially be. Hence why she now released Emeritus' public notice throughout the Alliance's holonet.

ATTENTION,

If you are looking for work as a part of the economic crisis that has been forthcoming, Emeritus Industries will be opening up new factories within ACA territory very soon. We are looking for employees on all levels of the hierarchy to help staff and work at shipyards, factories, research facilities, and sales offices. If you are sincerely interested in work, please send your resume to future-employment@emeritus.pro. We will respond within twenty-four hours of your resume's receipt.

Regards,
Emeritus Industries

The locations for factories and shipyards themselves were likely going to be somewhat variable, depending on what sort of current situation there was in the ACA, but whatever the circumstance, if the return to business there would blunt the skyrocketing unemployment, she would gladly oblige.

Even if it meant returning to the belly of the beast.

 

[Corey's OOC]

Marek Starchaser did notice the people leaving. His sometimes lover, Alana Flag was out to try to find what was going on. He was trying to run the business with the absense of Ryan Farnes. That was a spot he couldn't fill with just anyone. Business was slowing, but at the same time, there were people drinking harder and risking more on the tables. It twas what happened during times of stress. With less employees, and more automated dealers and bartenders, it was hard giving the personal feeling, but at the time of the incident? People didn't rightly care.

Now that there a seeming return of people? They had the casino running smoothing, automated, but... certain spots couldn't be filled. And people were nervous. Mareks was a service industry. It was a bit easier to manage without an actual staff. And the biological employees were doing well working alongside automated products. It must be something [member="Gerion Ardik"] wanted, the rapture.

But with the return of people? He needed to figure something out. It was going to cause an issue with his company. He could return some jobs, but it was really cost efficient to replace the fry cooks lower skilled jobs with droids. As for the Haor-Chall Engineering he still worked with? He would need to ask [member="Sasha Santhe"] if there was anything he could do to help with that. And beyond that? [member="Danger Arceneau"] was always a holonet call away to help out.

He was aboard the Flow heading out to Abrion space, away from the Tion space, didn't need to bring Techno Union issues there. And he wanted to find the CEOs. Between Bothawui and the Hypori shipyards, most would be there. Hell, he could even talent hunt.

Women would become dancers for money, right?

 

[Onrai]

The first location in the ACA to receive any hint of Emeritus presence would be Hypori. News would begin to spread on the planet that Emeritus Industries had purchased two derelict factories, in preparation for refurbishment. Cargo ships were already on their way in order to prepare for the inevitable work that both locations would need in order to return to full operational capacity. The large cocktail of products would ensure that there would be plenty of work, as Emeritus pondered purchasing more than a mere two factories on the planet for production of goods.

Construction crews were hired by the dozens as rioters received both tools and their first paychecks, being swiftly put to work with little to no automated machinery to assist them. This was to give an excuse to hire more people than was needed - an artificial move, but certainly one that would bolster the support of the population while still allowing for ample levels of productivity. A further half-dozen factories on the foundry world would find themselves being purchased, with thousands of crudely-equipped workers having been given their first jobs since the economic anarchy had terrorized the system they knew and loved.

CirceVanessa was sickeningly empathic, after all. Good feelings always helped maintain loyalty amongst construction crews.

 

[Sasha Santhe]

Sasha sighed a little as her ship landed. [member="Marek Starchaser"] would be there and despite her best efforts she felt a small twinge of happiness at that. Marek was a strange sort, but had become one of her few true friends. Gerion Ardik perhaps being another although she would never admit it to him. Sith had few enough allies nevermind friends.

She had interests in the area, factories and facility rental along with orbitals at Hypori and medical facilities on Kamino. While Tion was her home she had to look out for all of her interests, including those in the ACA.

Hypori was the industrial powerhouse in the region having been developed by Santhe and company some time before. It was a simple matter to retire many of the droids currently operating the equipment and hire sentients in their place. Sasha ordered this, and to further the economic recovery also ordered the construction of more factories on the planet. This meant more crews to work construction and more crews to work in the facilities when they finally become operational. Public works would be good as well. A stadium for gravball and a further culture center along with a university sponsored by Santhe under the auspices of the local government. The university, outside of the initial construction boom, wouldn’t give a quick economic benefit but the long term benefits would be staggering.

Sasha Santhe was a philanthropist at heart, or at least thats what the people would think. The truth was a happy hypori with new state of the art facilities would help her. But Hypori was only a single planet in the ACA. There was more opportunities to exploit to the benefit of all.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Arceneau Trade by far that the biggest presence in the ACA than any other company; at last in terms of expansion and territory. While Santhe certainly held in its grasp the bulk of Hypori, Kaminio, and several other trade worlds, Arceneau Trade held in its hands the foot traffic that made trade and shipping possible.

There were well over two hundred trade stations within ACA space alone, and beyond that several thousand more in the adjoining territories this side of the 'Verse. That wasn't even including the warehouses, production facilities, manufacturing plant, fuel station, tibanna mines.... needless to say, Arceneau was a household name for more reasons than one.

Seeing that the bulk of its efforts had turned into humanitarian aid, this also brought forth a new method of expansion. First on the list were the cortosis and phrik mines. At the same time, Danger Arceneau was dealing with bringing Tatooine under control again.

If anything, Tatooine was hers.

Ain't no way she was letting it run wild without her overseeing it.

 

[Onrai]

Kamino was as well a location where Emeritus Industries was beginning to spread its operations. The Kaminoan facilities, having less droids immediately on hand, were more impacted initially, but their economic instability as of the current period of time was rather blunted by the fact that little amounts of droids were there to supplement.

Nonetheless, Emeritus would be developing a location on one of the many floating platforms there as well. Circe's private genetic research would become modestly public, with a new goal - a hybrid construction method, meshed between inorganic and organic materials. She considered chiefly a mixture of yorik coral, adamithium, and perhaps crystals as a method of developing these... technorganic methods of creation. Such could be applied to anything, from ships to housing, and would likely have very interesting properties.

Perhaps such work could prove to be useful in the future, though CirceVanessa hardly had any idea as to where it could best come from.

 

[Corey's OOC]

There were a few people Marek really needed to get ahold of. Mainly his council, the people he knew he could trust, and make sure everyone was on the same page for the coming days and weeks. Who knew how all this was going to go. People lost jobs, some got filled, others were automated. And there were several businesses in Abrion space that he knew were given a bit of leeway, and several others that were always under scrutiny. What he really needed was @Raziel.

He was setting the situation where [member="Barkt Melan"] was and it wasn't looking good. He was ordering two of the liners that were between trips to come out and help ferry people around the Abrion sector in style, and hopefully bring most to the facility that was slowly going up on Hypori. And with getting people pretty loose, maybe he could put an end to the who issue of riots. Control their mind type of deal.

Checking the wrolds that were around he dialed up his SpyNet contact.

“So, we've got a situation out here. How fast can we get agents on the line, or on the ground? Looking at Hypori, Kamino, frak, go bother Danger over on Tatooine...” What other worlds was he feeling he needed to send scouts to? Make sure companies weren't putting kill switches, and that everyone knew how to evacuate in the inevitable destruction of all facilities.

Not having that fiasco again.

 

[Sasha Santhe]

Santhe Passenger and Freight was mobilized. Sasha knew that it couldn’t last but as a temporary measure was willing to create jobs by creating more positions. Normally there was two stewardess on flight, now there was four. Simple measures to create extra jobs for the short term. Hired as temps with promise of employment down the road, but the greatest job creator was her new factory.

The factory would be highly advanced creating the Aleph fighters engines for next generation fighters. More importantly it provided jobs through a redundancy system. Trash from the site was brought to a dump location on site which was then hauled by another person offsite. Other jobs were likewise doubled up on ensuring that more jobs were created. In addition roads had to be built leading to and from the factory, and a warehouse to store goods nextdoor. Sasha would have to make arrangements with the ACA government for monetary compensation in return for providing these jobs. Tax credits, or perhaps full on government sponsorship. That could wait though. In the interem she got to pose for the cameras and smile at the crowd and was soon becoming something of a local figure. She could have run for office….

As the Techno Union representative [member="Marek Starchaser"] would have to be informed of the developments here. Also a meeting would be in order to obtain tax credit and other benefits as befit a job creating company such as hers….

 

[Onrai]

At Hypori, work crews had been working for several hours, already getting a basic survey of the facilities done, clearing them of senseless rubble in preparation for the bringing in of molds, technical equipment, and other necessary resources required in order to return the facilities to an operation status, where new goods for Emeritus Industries could be manufactured there. Again, minimal automation was being utilized in order to get as many men and women jobs as would be needed - at least until the galaxy had stabilized and other sources of work would be available.

-

On Kamino, the purchase of the already relatively well-equipped laboratory proceeded without a hitch. The minor amount of Kaminoans out of work were swiftly hired and given positions working at the lab facilities, in preparation for the initialization of Emeritus' project to develop a specialized material, a hybrid of inorganic and organic material. They had been provided with samples of powdered crystal from the old Crystalsong stocks, as well as a modest supply of yorik coral and adamithium for their experiments.

One could only hope that, with both initial ventures, there would be a degree of progress beyond that which had originally been expected. The return to the former Confederacy would hopefully be trouble-free.

CirceVanessa supposed she would have to contact [member="Marek Starchaser"] about integrating in the Techno Union and getting contracts.

 

[Raziel]

Kline Stone, in his late forties and with top qualifications in engineering and many years experience working on reactor design and maintenance. Just another one of many names that now graced spynet's network of assets.

The government was pumping some money into contracts to boost the economy, but not enough. Unemployment and civil unrest were high. Abrion simply didn't have the will to carry out a socialist plan of borrowing heavily and spending out of trouble. If people couldn't make their own way, tough. They could always move to the Republic. The rich poor divide in Abrion was high, and there was no appetite for applying socialist values to help those left behind beyond token gestures.

Raziel slid the data pad back onto the table. Many companies were recruiting quickly, with new contracts came the opportunity to gather skilled, and desperate, labour. And with that came the opportunity for Spynet to get people on the inside. Well, more people on the inside, the network of informants was already extensive. A background level of corporate espionage was always acceptable, but spynet monitored the citizens and corporations of Abrion closely. A necessary loss of freedom to ensure security. Their enemies would use any means necessary to bring them down and spynet had to remain vigilant. And informed, just in case someone thought about cutting their budget and needed to be reminded of some personal secrets.

In all honesty, Raziel didn't take much interest in domestic matters, he was far more concerned with expanding his influence outside of their space. One Sith had expanded perilously close to their borders before the event, Fringe and omega were both skirmishing down their Western front. The Sun had collapsed and been replaced by another criminal organisation.

However, one name had gained his attention: Emeritus. They'd suddenly appeared out of Protectorate space and started hiring. Abrion believed in free trade, but companies based in the territory of a nation they made war with made the government nervous. On top of this they were selling several SI designs. That company had vanished out of ACA space, only to have designs - which included several in use by the ACA military - being sold by the Lord Protector. A direct link to the commander of their greatest enemies.

That was enough for Raziel, he instructed Spynet to issue a warning to the government's security services. Within an hour a security notice would be sent to all ACA departments. No purchases or contracts with Emeritus until they could be properly evaluated for threats. They'd be free to make private arrangements of course.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Enigma"]

Emeritus Industries,

It has come to the attention of the Hyporian Government that there appears to be a close link between you and the corporation Subach-Innes. Subach-Innes attempted to detonate factories on Hypori and potentially kill hundreds of civilians in doing so. We will not tolerate the presence of a potential collaborator of such a corporation. The money spent on purchasing the foundries and attempting to renovate them will be returned to you. All Emeritus assets will leave the Hypori system immediately. We will care for our own citizens without any assistance from your company. The foundries will instead be sold to the Santhe Corporation, which will then continue where Emeritus left off.

Do not attempt to conduct business on Hypori again.

Sincerely,

The Office of the Viceroy of Hypori

-----

See here for information on Hypori in the immediate wake of the apocalypse.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

First things first.

That was the clean up and reckoning that would take Mos Eisley. Up in space, the Arceneau Trade defensive fleet had already moved into position to ensure its continued security. If there was any planet down south of ACA territory with as much in place in terms of defensive countermeasures, Danger would like to have it pointed out.

Granted, this didn't mean that she wasn't up for making sure that everything precaution would be taken. Connections would ensure that defensive platforms would soon come to orbit around the arid planet.

Going a bit out there? Perhaps. But Danger took Tatooine seriously. To many it might be a hunk of sand and dirt; to her, it was home. It was neutral territory for ATC's main headquarters and the SSB Expo and Auctions.

She ain't got time to fool around.

Which is why having Ty'rel as a member had its perks. It was time to have a little chat with [member="Darell Irani"].

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Barkt Melan"] [member="Marek Starchaser"]

Taeli Rae, better known as Darth Arcanix among the One Sith, had been going through news reports across the galaxy following the massive event that had been dubbed the Netherworld event when she saw report after report of strife running rampant through the Abrion Corporate Alliance. High unemployment, rampant inflation, the government unwilling to take steps to fully stabilize the situation, on and on they went. Frowning, but sensing an opportunity she hadn't considered, she contacted her board of chief engineers.

After a few discussions, they were all in agreement that it might be a good idea to help the ACA people. It might be helping Krayt Industries interests as well, but Taeli legitimately wanted to help the ACA get back on its feet and regain control of some of their population. With that said, she ordered the dispatching of several Krayt Industries convoys into the sector to begin setting up facilities. She left strict orders for her engineers to employ local populations in the building and assembling of Krayt facilities, while also once complete, they would also employ those workers in building the ships and droids that Krayt Industries produced. The first stop would be Rishi, a world that had access to large power supplies and fuel resources. Always useful.

The first Krayt convoy would arrive in the system, transmitting a message to both the security forces and the population.

Krayt Industries was prepared to hire anyone willing to work for the company . . . at the wages they had lost during the chaos, in exchange for helping build the first shipyards in ACA territory for them and also those who signed up would be retained as full-time employees of Krayt. Taeli herself would be arriving in the region to coordinate things herself.

 

[Raziel]

Raziel perused another report to grace his desk on Krayt. He skimmed the executive summary and some of the more pertinent points before heading for the conclusion:

Likely genuine business interests, but potential to be a One Sith cover for espionage.

He had a standing agreement with the Sith to share intelligence on the Protectorate, but he wouldn't put this move above them. After all, he wouldn't put it above himself. Raziel filled out a quick form, authorising level three operations.

"Proceed with planting seeds, get some readers in a room with upper level management as soon as possible."

The current situation in Abrion space was perfect for planting more assets to monitor corporate activity.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Danger Arceneau, the wickedest witch of the South and perhaps the most interesting woman that currently graced the galaxy with her capitalistic charm. To say that I was intrigued when she contacted my organization was to put it lightly, my predecessor had a lot of memories on her - most of them came back to lives saved on both accounts, how quaint.

Finally then a hologram would light up, bathing the room in the standard blue iridium light.

<< Miss. Arceneau, how can I be of service? >>

Straight to business, the galaxy was to fecked up for the pleasantries of the common day. Perhaps when the sector of Tatooine was secured we would go further into the lunching-scene.

In the meanwhile, a few small ships (mostly probes) of Eridium Industrial - a subsidiary of Ty’rel - entered the system itself. They seemed to be interested in something.

 

[Corey's OOC]

What he needed to do was see what was going on in the Abrion space. He wasn't in charge of the government, but he was still controlling the person in charge of the Techno Union, and that meant a lot. He sent his message to the Spynet and ran a hand through his hair as he was descending to the surface of Hypori. Looking to the hologram of the SpyNet rep that he had on speed dial, for when the true power in SpyNet was unavailable, Marek shrugged. “Y'know... send that off to @Raziel. He can get the right agents into each of the companies, just to listen, while I set up meetings.”

Right, that was the next step wasn't it? Emeritus was here, and he didn't know them. Not like he knew Santhe. He'd get to that, he was sure. Seeing [member="Sasha Santhe"] was always a nice feeling. As odd as that sounded. But he knew the company, they had the contract from before the fall, to arm the navy of the Abrion Sector. Then there was [member="Gerion Ardik"]. He'd have to reach out there as well. Right, so that was two meetings on Hypori he'd need to have.

Hopefully he could just frakking order some food and booze, kiss hands and shake babies and this whole thing would be over with.

Or was it the other way around?

Still, there were other reps he wanted to get ahold of. Putting in the frequency to get ahold of the Trade Queen. “Miz [member="Danger Arceneau"]. I want to check in on you. We're having a bit of a situation around Hypori and Kamino. Would like to make sure that Tatooine is taken care of? I don't have any doubt you've got the situation handled, but I would like to confirm before I handle other situations?” Because, y'know, logistics. If they started dropping tanks for frycooks again, Marek was just going to scream.

“And if you see [member="Darell Irani"], let me him I could use his assistance out this way, when you're through with him.” Because he wasn't quite sure Ty'rel had anything more central in the Abrion Sector, but he was also going to watch out for the holding company that contained Bright Star.

Right, where was his meetings? [member="Enigma"] would probably need something, but he figured he'd wait until Raziel had reported in. Sasha and Gerion could wait... And who was the new comer? He shook his head at the announcement of a convoy. “Unidentified convoy, you are entering Abrion space unannounced, please identify.” He really had no time for shenanigans (of course, if they were just cheeky and fun, that was fine. But not cruel and tragic, those weren't shenanigans at all... evil shenanigans). The One Sith, Marek wasn't going to assume anything, but if they were flooding out this way? It was just worst case scenario, he really had no idea who was behind [member="Darth Arcanix"] 's convoy.

And he'd have to get ahold of [member="Barkt Melan"], hopefully the Bothan had tricks up his sleeve.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Barkt Melan"]

After the broadcast, a few Krayt engineers went surface side and set up a small hiring station, guarded by KDI-02x Arachnid droids. A trickle of people at first started coming into the station, but eventually a line had formed and people were signing up to work for Krayt Industries. Once they were hired, a shuttle would take them up into space and work would begin. A lone ship dropped out of hyperspace just as the ACA man asked for identity and purpose in the region.

Taeli smiled as she activated the hailing channel of her personal ship.

"This is Darth Arcanix of the One Sith and head of Krayt Industries," she said. "Our purpose in Abrion space is to simply expand our business and help employ your people. By all means, sir, you may watch our activities and make sure we are not trying anything underhanded that would damage the Abrion Corporate Alliance. That is not my intent, and I will freely say there is another convoy heading to Hypori as well to help employ people there if the Viceroy agrees. If you still doubt me, contact [member="Danger Arceneau"]. She knows me."

Closing the channel until a reply came, her datapad beeped that they would need another hiring station surface side because of the influx in people. Green-lighting it, she looked out to where her convoy was sitting patiently fr the go ahead to begin construction efforts.

Elsewhere, at the edge of the Hypori system, another Krayt convoy, this one designated with establishing a new droid facility had emerged and waited. The head of the convoy sent a transmission to the planetary government, seeking permission from the current Viceroy [member="Gerion Ardik"] to establish themselves there. If yes, they would begin hiring and construction. If not, they would simply go to another system in the region and begin building there. Krayt was not here to cause incident, merely help the situation be resolved and make the sector prosperous again.

 

[H3xle]

Phade stepped through the door at a quick walk. He had been contacted by a superior in his network about an imminent attack on a local business asset. He discarded the name from his memory as soon as his credentials passed him into the building. For this type of job, he wouldn't need or care about the who he was protecting, he needed to know who was aggressing. He slid into a seat at a computer console and booted it up. He looked around for a moment, then removed his right glove off, showing a completely artificial forearm and hand. A number of tools were inset into the arm and hand at various points, though the one he wanted was dead center of the back of his hand. A data spike extended from his hand, and he plugged it into the omni-port beside the holo-keyboard. He closed his eyes and let his mind melt into the connection

The exterior world faded from his mind, and was replaced with a three dimensional interface of the local computer intra-net. Somewhere in here, the vandals were monitoring the company. They likely had already planned the strike, but he was looking for the digital fingerprint that would lead him to the group responsible. He filtered out the truly secure portions of the network. The spiders in the network would have been alerted to a breach in any of the R&D or payroll sectors, and intel on the group was that they were here for political reasons, not for espionage. He focused in on the personnel division, always one of the least secure because every employee had some access to it and the peons in charge of the department rarely had the paranoia needed for real security.

There! In the code, he noticed a connection spliced into the scheduling subroutine. He followed the line and gained access to a network centered on a physical location roughly three kilometers away from this site. He disconnected from the network and started towards the door. Now the real work could begin.

@Raziel

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Darell Irani"]

Well this was the first time she would make any kind of contact with Darell Irani. It was a curious curio, considering that the bulk of her interaction was with Jared Ovmar.

She would wonder how Mister Irani would differ from the Sith Lord. A narrowing came to her eyes; how curious. Nonetheless, that smile would widen and she would present to him the most cordial of greetings.

"Mistah Irani... at last we finally meet." she began, that soft twang rolling her vowels with a turn of her pale pink tongue. "Unfortunate it could not be in better circumstances, but as my daddy said, when one gets dealt lemons, best to make lemonade -- " a quirk of her lip would turn into a smirk, "With a healthy dose of whiskey."

Her chin rose, all sultry business as usual on the outside; completely wrecked on the inside. She needed work to get her mind off of things. Off of Alric's betrayal. It was a cut that went the deepest, one that still bled with the threat of festering into something more. Something dark.

A small beep would bring forth a message. It was from [member="Marek Starchaser"]. She'll respond shortly. However, along with that was the curious attention to the small Ty'rel fleet that appeared in orbit.

"I've an inkling to talk business... but it appears you already read my mind.."