Private Dark Extractivism

[Alicia Drey]

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Dark Extractivism​

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Synopsis:

Okono Dukkha- an industrialist and Chairman of the Imperial Mining Guild- is set to nationalize Drey's Cortosis Mine on the planet Obredaan: a star system recently annexed by the Dark Empire. The acquisition of the rare and valuable resource of Cortosis, alongside the other minerals of Duranium and Titanium, make the mine an asset in the continued expansion and aggressive military efforts of the Empire that has seen rise to the conflict colloquially known to those within the Core systems as:

T h e C o r e W a r s.

However, not everything is as straight forward as it seems. The machinations of the Galactic Emperor (and his zealots within the New Sith Order) possess their own designs for the mine. As the war with the Galactic Alliance continues to take shape the internal politicks of the Dark Empire manifests itself to discuss who has the rights to this rare and valuable asset?
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Tags: Okono Dukkha
Location: Drey's Cortosis Mine, Obredaan.

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Located deep within the swamplands of Obredaan is one of the last remnants of the former weapons manufacturer known to some as Subach-Innes. Rebranded later as Emeritus Industries the corporation- then under the leadership of Circe Savan ( Onrai )- had owned several large veins of weapons grade Cortosis ore that the company had harvested for the manufacture and distribution of weapons to would-be clientele and customers across the Mid Rim and out into the Outer Rim Territories where the Old Sith Empire had once ruled from. Now, in the modern day, this particular mine (formerly of Subach-Innes and now known as Drey's Cortosis Mine) found itself under the control of a Board of Directors consisting of the following individuals, and their respective entities:

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Board of Director's of Drey's Cortosis Mine:​ Casteban Mecetti of Mecetti Nationalized Industries. (55%) Alicia Drey of Drey. (40%) Danger Arceneau of Arceneau Trading Company via it's subsidiary MaraTibX. (5%) Makai Dashiell of Salacia Consolidated. (Administrator and Advisor)

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The formation of the Imperial Mining Guild under chairman Okono Dukkha 's leadership presented a challenge to the internal and political discourse of the Dark Empire. Under the guidance of Chairman Dukkha all mineral resources were set to be nationalized and therefore consolidated by the Guild as part of their efforts to supply resources (such as the Cortosis, Duranium and Titanium mined here) to the Imperial War Machine in it's efforts to destroy the Galactic Alliance. Acquisition of the mine by the Guild would present access to weapon grade Cortosis which would give an opportunity to construct weaponry for the likes of the Dark Side Elite to be used against the New Jedi Order: the stalwart defenders of the Alliance who were primarily responsible for their recent pyrrhic victory at Coruscant.

Alongside the extraction of the Cortosis mineral deposits the Guild would also acquire access to the resource Duranium. This mineral is widely used in the construction of prison cells and cages. Titanium is also found and excavated at the mine which has seen use in the construction of Starfighters due to it's strength and low density. Therefore, now that the Empire had annexed the planet Obredaan and consolidated it's star system into it's borders, the nationalization and consolidation of it's natural resources seemed a straightforward affair. The efforts of the so called 'dark' Imperials took precedence over everything else and the supply of these valuable minerals was tantamount to utmost importance in the efforts of the Imperial Mining Guild and it's chairman.

Enter Alicia Drey and her request to meet with Chairman Dukkha to negotiate a settlement that would see the mine remain in the control of it's Board of Directors in an attempt to stop the Guild and it's efforts to takeover the mine. Not as straight forward as it first appeared.

In the present day the operations of the mine were funded and supplied for by it's majority shareholder in the form of Mecetti Nationalized Industries. The late Senator of Obulette, Casteban Mecetti , had negotiated a deal that would see 55% of the mines rights transferred too his company in exchange for ten million GSC during the Obredaan Peel. In the terms negotiated as part of the deal House Mecetti would fund the operations of the mine as well as supply it's workforce. To ensure maximum efficiency of the operation itself Makai Dashiell of Salacia Consolidated had been brought on to serve as administrator of the mine and to act in an advisory capacity to the board.

The presence of a corporation operating within and for the benefit of the Galactic Alliance presented more of a reason for the Imperial Mining Guild to nationalize the mine as soon as possible. Depriving an Alliance entity of it's resources was just common sense and good practice. The fact that the annexation of Obredaan presented an opportunity to essentially stop the supply of Cortosis, Duranium and Titanium to the Empire's competitors was a serendipitous benefit of the latest conquest. It also raised questions. If it benefited the Dark Empire to nationalize this mine and acquire it's resources- thereby depriving it's enemies of the mine's minerals- why would should the Guild and it's Chairman listen to the pleas of a woman whose company was based far away within the clutches of the Tion Cluster?

Alicia would endeavour to provide the answers to that question, and more, when the two sides met to negotiate.

To facilitate this negotiation a meeting had been arranged expeditiously and was set to be held within the mine itself. As part of it's efforts to maintain the workforce operating the mine Salacia Consolidated had recommended the opening of a bar and cantina for the local denizens to use for rest, relaxation and entertainment. For today this place had been rearranged to host the meeting between Alicia Drey and Okono Dukkha to negotiate a settlement.

A landing zone had been opened for the Chairman and Director to arrive planet side. Upon arrival they were then escorted into the mine to begin their meeting to discuss their future.

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Darth Ayra traversed the path leading to the mine via a Class Five Protected Transport. It occurred too her as the swamplands below flitted by that this was likely one of the last transports from House Mecetti and it's operations here on Obredaan. By days end their presence here was likely to be done with on a permanent basis for Ayra could see no possible future for her partners from Obulette. The zealotry and triad practices of the 'dark' Imperials of Carlac was something not to be trifled with lightly. But the loss of Casteban Mecetti at a recent battle between the Dark Empire, Galactic Alliance and Mandalorian Protectors presented an avenue of negotiation with her opponent today.

It depended on the type of person this Chairman was of the Imperial Mining Guild. Darth Ayra did not know much about Chairman Dukkha other than the basics. He was Togruta which loaned insight into his possible origins at Shili. They were also in their 50s and curiously a former Lieutenant inside the Imperial Navy. This revealed to Ayra that her opponent was a man with sympathies to the Dark Empire's cause, which among the other reasons to nationalize her mine, presented Ayra with a difficult negotiation that by it's end could result in the loss of her operations here on Obredaan which was ironic considering her place in the New Sith Order and subsequent participation in the campaigns on Tython and most recently at Galactic Centre.

As the transport landed Darth Ayra summarised that the only reason why Chairman Dukkha was set to meet with her today was because of her place within the Dark Empire. Disembarking from the prism shaped transport Ayra paused to survey the mine itself. Several vessels of varying design and class were present at the designated landing zones. Hundreds of people were in line waiting to board the ships which suggested to Ayra that there was a mass panic to abandon the mine and their posts now that Obredaan had fallen into the hands of Emperor Fossk and his dark legions.

Behind her the class-five was beginning to load crates of Cortosis, Duranium and Titanium recently excavated under the supervision of Salacia Consolidated. Walking away from the transport Darth Ayra decided to leave them to their work and entered the bar to wait for Dukkha's arrival.

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[Okono Dukkha]

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As the shuttle descended to Obredaan the Chairman once again poured over the briefing. The Star Destroyer that had brought the Imperial Mining Guild to Obredaan hung languid in orbit, an aging beast from the New Imperial Order serving now in the defense of the heartlands of the Empire's revivifiers. A strange testament to the necessity of the Mining Guild's mission and their promise to the Emperor that the new warships built at Cademimu V would be made from the finest of Imperial alloys, something the ISD fading from Dukkha's sight was not.

Turning his piercing gaze back to the datapad in his hands, he once again familiarized himself with the players in the new game that among the economic agents of the Empire only he was willing to play. That game was the complete nationalization of the Imperial economy. The Empire, long predating the Civil War and well into the days of Sith rule of the previous century, had been a corporatist state. Enterprising industrialists and dedicated entrepreneurs worked with the central government, the likes of Darth Prospero, Darth Avernus, Gat Tambor, and the rest of the Empire's ever-shifting cadre of men who could wield industry for war. But ultimately it was profit that drove them, no matter the loyalty feigned to high powers and superior lords. The Chairman was seeing it all over again with the current heads of the Trade Federation that dogged him at every turn with false assurances and fake loyalty to the Empire as they profited from both sides of the Core Wars. Thus Dukkha had become a champion of the Imperial nationalization effort. To structure the economy as anything but a top-down tool for the Emperor and his designs alone may well have been heresy, ideologically of course for the Chairman was not a religious man.

He knew where the old players stood and what the old game entailed, but the Drey Cortosis Mine was a wild card. By all rights it should have been trivial for the Empire to secure the mine through force, just as they had with every existing Imperial mine on their return to Obredaan. But they Drey mine was not opened or operated by the Empire, and its glaring issue was part of the greater headache the Guild had been suffering known as Warlordism.

With the collapse of the Empire, the Mining Guild had been crippled. For years successive Chairmen had remained neutral to political conflicts and completely at the mercy of military conflicts. When, upon his ascension to the Chair, Dukkha had verbosely aligned his organization with Ignacious Korvan the fallout had been immense. Enraged warlords had seized or dismantled mines and refineries, sometimes with force, sometimes with policy, but always at a loss to the greater cause of the Empire. Nobody truly benefitted in the aftermath. Still to this day the Chairman was dealing with decision. It was not one he regretted, but its challenges were everywhere as the Guild attempted to claw its way back into the good graces of the Imperial warlords (backed of course by the Dark Empire's might) while avoiding making any more enemies from across the divided nation. The Drey business teetered very near to the edge of that possibility.

The Drey Cortosis Mine was owned and operated by a set of interests deeply intertwined, politically, financially, and familially, with the Empire of the Lost. The strongest Imperial rump state along side the Dark Empire. The Lost occupied a vast swath of space on the far side of the late united Empire, and had thus far been a constant source of disappointment for the Chairman, second only perhaps to the resurgent Mandalorians. Resource rich worlds like Rhen Var, Jabiim, and worst of all Kessel, were under the control of the rival empire, a behemoth that the Dark Empire could not afford to war with just yet.

Thus the negotiations had been agreed to out of unfortunate necessity. Cortosis was of a value the Dark Empire could hardly discount as the war against the Alliance developed into an uphill battle. Fearing the Empire of the Lost, the Guild's board of directors had played with the idea of waiting until the Sith Order had weakened them further. Footage of the war on Tion had promised good tidings in that regard, but they had quickly realized that time was on no one's side in waiting for such things to happen. Already Jedi and Mandalorian terrorists were raiding the Empire, already had the GADF proven its strength. The IMG needed the complete control and operability of Obredaan... yesterday.

As the Guild shuttle landed, Dukkha departed quickly for the meeting, flanked by senior aides and trailed by a retinue of Stormtroopers, the eyes were on him in the port. Fear was a tool that the boys in white utilized well, but Dukkha himself feared the repercussions of letting all the resources on the dock around him slip through his imminent grasp. There was nothing they could do to stop the steady stream of hasty laborers until negotiations had been finalized in his favor. Those strong young men would look wonderful deep in his mines, he thought.

A squad of armed guardsmen approached determinedly through the crowd, bearing the only faces within that were not surprised to see him. The two parties stopped before each other. There was enmity, certainly, but there was also an unspoken bond of professionalism. No one was here to waste time, for no one here had time to waste.

"Inform Lady Drey of my arrival, and escort us to the meeting room."

 

[Alicia Drey]

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Tags: Okono Dukkha

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Upon the Chairman's arrival he was greeted by men wearing the uniforms of House Mecetti. The ruling caste of the planet Obulette, and represented on the Galactic Alliance Federal Assembly by the late Casteban Mecetti , it was certainly ironic that an industrialist whose mission was to nationalize all mining operations to facilitate resources for the construction of ships, vehicles or weapons made to destroy the Alliance was now under their protection in Drey's Cortosis Mine.

Weirder still was how House Mecetti- a politically aligned group to the Galactic Alliance- had become the majority stakeholder of the mine and had been represented (by Casteban) on it's Board of Directors which consisted of an agricultural company based within the Tion Cluster and other entities that, at least on paper, should have nothing to do with each other and yet were clearly in business together on the planet Obredaan.

Just what exactly was going on here?

"Welcome to Drey's Mine, Chairman Dukkha," Alicia said from her seat as Okono was led into the bar and cantina. "Please take a seat." Averting her gaze from the Torgruta Alicia said to the Mecetti guards: "Thank you. You may leave now."

As the guards left the room Alicia made sure to check that nobody else was inside the room with her powers in the Force. Turning her gaze back to the Chairman Alicia then smiled to him and said: "Congratulations on the acquisition of the Obredaan system. My Master will be pleased. The Cortosis and other minerals here should serve to make fine weapons in our shared vision to destroy the Galactic Alliance and their decadent Jedi."

"While you may have been told that my name is Alicia Drey it is, actually, Darth Ayra. I serve the Sith'ari and his goal to create a Galactic Empire in the New Sith Order. This mine, and it's operations, serve as part of my work within the Tion Cluster on behalf of Emperor Fossk. Your efforts to nationalize all mining operations on Obredaan, which would undoubtedly include this mine, would jeopardize my work and therefore affect the scheme that I am working on the behalf of my Master."

"I have expedited a meeting between the two of us so that the operations of this mine can continue as planned without the interference or nationalization efforts of the Guild. The loss of this mine would be catastrophic to my work and therefore I must insist that this mine remain under the purview of myself and the other Directors who have purchased stock here."

The first salvo had been fired in this tense negotiation. As Okono wrestled with what Alicia said she drew a cigarette from her breast pocket and lifted it to her lips. Soon afters an aroma filled the room as Alicia took turns to smoke her cigarette.

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[Okono Dukkha]

Alicia Drey
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Escorted into the bar, Okono immediately noted the quaint choice. It was unbecoming of an Imperial magistrate to negotiate over drinks, if that was what Drey had concieved of attempting, but so too did he note that the facilities they were in were far from Imperial. It was, unfortunately, the way of the Mining Guild to be acquainted with backwater worlds, and their extensive efforts to establish a new seat of power on Nyriaan had shown the worst of what savage and disgusting realms laid dormant under the nose of the refined Imperial society.

The Chairman took his seat opposite the woman, and both parties dismissed their entourages out of civility, the Mecetti guards and Stormtroopers filing out. Everywhere else in the galaxy save for this place they were at war. The necessity of a peaceful outcome for the negotiations was underlined by the tension the two groups took with them from the room. The clock ticked between Dukkha and Drey.

Immediately, Drey was forthcoming with the truth of the situation, to which Dukkha was initially taken back, surprised, but quite grateful to hear things as they were for once. The Chairman pondered for a moment, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table.

"I appreciate your candidness, Darth. There are not many of the Emperor's Sith who concern themselves truly with the endeavors of the Empire, fewer still who are willing to open the playing field to those beneath your rank, such as I."

The Chairman straightened up. His sharp features and huge montrals may not have carried the noble weight here as they had on Shili, but the Togruta gentleman was nonetheless cut imposingly.

"It is not my intention to derail plans laid by the Emperor himself nor to interfere with the machinations of the Sith. You have given me the courtesy of truth in this matter, however, and I ought to return it. Unfortunately at this turn the best I can give you is a warning. The Empire requires total centrality if we are to avoid the same shortcomings as had befallen the regime that followed the death of Emperor Fel. Too many interests of the self, and of the enemy, have been allowed to fester in our state. It is the wish of the Emperor and the design of the Grand Vizier to see not just resource extraction nationalized, but the entire economy. As a Sith Lord in service of the Empire you are well poised to navigate such a change, but your business partners are not. It may be some time yet until affairs are in order, but I will forewarn you: business interests found working with the Galactic Alliance will be expunged and assets will be forfeit to the state. Be that Mecetti, Trade Federation, or Drey. I tell you this because I believe it would be beneficial for you to get out whilst you are ahead."