Faction Itera-n Nova (RTL, Spacer's Guild, Darkwire, Rebellion)

[Aeshi Tillian]

ITERA
MIDRIM
=======

The League was, to nobody's surprise, the Rimward Trade League. But is was also a trade league, and that meant their primary drive was commerce. Not strictly speaking, as the League was very ideological in its motivation and goals. That could not be helped. However, unlike other ideological governments, the League took a more practical approach in succeeding in its goals.

Credits were what made the galaxy spun and their lack had hampered the Outer Rim for centuries. The wealth of worlds had been stolen and exploited by cartels, corporations, and empires, leaving the workers destitute and the worlds ravaged. Itera was one such world in the Midrim. Ravaged and devastated by the Empire, now run by a government who puppeted their corporate sponsors and the Hutt cartels in the undercity. So, Aeshi had assembled an expedition. Not that they had the resources to lead a rebellion, nor the pull to prompt the Rebellion to stage a coup, but there were other forces that mattered more than military force.

At a base level, governments and rulers could thrive as long as their people permitted them to remain in power. It was the underlying axiom she took when it came to many of her other enterprises, but this was something the League had accepted as well. And most people's concerns were, frankly, more economic. Food cost money. Equipment and materials to make food cost money.

While the League was reluctant to provoke armed conflict, they were more than willing to throw their economic weight around. It wasn't enough to force the First Order to end their occupation of Terminus yet, but it was enough to start offering alternatives to people suffering under the grinding wheel of poverty and exploitation.

Merchant-mariners, free traders, trade company captains, she'd invited them all. Suarbian, Svivren, Pican and more. Merchants of five systems come together for a purpose. Not to buy out the world or their corporations, but to buy enough from the local people in the lower city to give them enough credits to start reconsidering their options and the idea to start developing more frequent trade ties.

Undoubtedly, the Hutts and the corporations would oppose them, but that was the joy of worlds ruled by credits. Spend enough and grease enough wheels and you can get away with anything. If not, well, she had two .48 caliber pistols hanging at her waist and fists made of durasteel. Those would clear out most problems. Otherwise, she had some cousins from the Suarbi Jetty District to back her up. Plus the other spacers.

"Hub control," Aeshi said into the comms as the beacon registered on her console. "This is the Requiem requesting docking."

"Request received, Requiem," the answer came back. "Purpose here?"

"Purchasing old scrap parts." Aeshi answered. "Looking to strip them down and refurbish them."

There was silence for a while and an affirmation came through, with a docking number down near the bottom of the hub. She leaned back and adjusted the controls of the ship and adjusted its course. Ahead of her, the massive domed city and its shields grew on the horizon. Flickers of the Dark Side sifted through her consciousness as she picked up some of the ancient experiments of Palpatine that roamed the ruined planet outside the dome.

Ships passed back and forth around her as they landed or departed from the world. Deft hands guided the Requiem around and through the ray shields and she felt the shift in the ship's motion as it swapped to repulsors and descended through the layers of the city. Behind her, she knew the other members of the ad hoc flotilla were making their own approaches. The light from the sky dimmed and then vanished as she passed through the gates differentiating between the two halves of the city.

They would rendezvous at the base of the Hub before dispersing in groups to track down whatever it was they were looking to purchase. She wanted parts and scrap to melt down and use for more ship refurbishments and she'd brought whiskey to trade, as well as credits to buy. Her first stop was to track down the sect of the Church of the Force and get a better lay of the land here.

With a hiss, the ship settled down onto its landing struts and Aeshi secured the breath-mask around her face as the boarding ramp lowered and she strolled down onto the dock. The smell of detritus, despair, and the polluted atmosphere seeping in from the vent exhausts. She couldn't help smile.

There was an opportunity here and the fires of hope would begin to kindle to life. Not one of war or battle, but one of building and restructuring. They would have to ensure their money actually stayed with the peoples, but that could be worked out.

 

[Ardon]

The pilot was not speaking aloud, but he was indeed speaking. To his ship. It was a fairly common thing for Ardon to do, given the ease of it. Talking was certainly the same for him as it might be for a standard organic. It was extremely robotic. Limited in tone. On the upside it provided him a great deal of advantages communicating with electronics, and calculations had been made drastically easier. But his voice was also pretty much impossible to hide, as while he spoke basic it was extremely akin to the way certain old droids might have spoken.

The "conversations" he had with his ship were more like questions and orders. Sensors, angles, routes, coordinates, turning, turrets, the ships functions told him what information they had, and he told them what to do with it. Today, he expected, would not be nearly as excitable as another encounter he'd had which got him trapped on a planet for a time. At least this time, he knew he wasn't going in alone.

"Ardon = seeking to purchase electronic parts + droids + fuel. Ardon = seeking to sell/trade sheet metals + credits." came his answer when asked his purpose. He was granted entrance, and the Angel descended to reach the docks. There was a lot to be done with electronics, and for him, keeping extra parts on board seemed like a very good idea. Naturally fuel was necessary, and droids were good for reselling, help, or depending on the droid even just a good talk.

If they were to help the planet, he figured it should be reasonable to work with them the same way they'd work with any other planet. Similar prices, similar trades. Naturally, while he was there he'd also be open to helping establish more consistent trades rather than just working like a traveling merchant.

He left his droid on the ship, bringing with him a datapad to keep track of all deals he made and what he had on board. He left his rifle on board, but he actually was wearing armor, though his helmet he left on board. And brought with him two pistols at his sides. He headed towards the hub taking in a breath as he aimed to rendezvous with the rest.

Aeshi Tillian

 

[Riley Reese]

The sun didn't shine down here in the under city, but it did rain. Neon lights, the glow of speeders and dim street lights were all that illuminated this underground world. A cloaked figure wove their way through the mass of beings living or partying their lives away in this despite of a city. Cybernetic eyes shined out from beneath the cloak, pupils glowing like green fire in a sea of black. The cloaked woman wore a set of personalized armor that blended fairly well with her cybernetics. Down here in the under city, no one gave a second thought about such an appearance. For starters, Itera was a planet of cyborgs. Secondly, the under city was run by criminal organizations, so cloaked armored mercenaries or thugs were pretty standard.

Despite the controlled anarchy in the under city, and being ruled by Hutts, Riley felt pretty at ease. She had always felt self conscious with all her cybernetic replacements. Here, however, she felt....normal. A strange feeling indeed for how her life had been not so long ago. Even some of her old habits paid off around here. Her hand rested gently on her blaster as she passed a group of thugs from two different Hutt factions squaring off with one another. Sometimes....maybe most of the time, those habits were good.

Itera wasn't all bad, despite its reputation, there were still bastions of hope and relief amongst all the choas. The Church of the Force was one of them. This place has stood for hundreds of years offering hope and relief to the desperate. A sacred place that not even small gangs or the Hutt cartels would dare desecrate. Thousands made their way through here every day, whether to find peace or a hand out. Some people even became devout followers and carried their lessons to every end of the under city, going as far as making small places of worship so people didn't have to travel as far. Riley wasn't exactly sure when it happened, but not long after she first arrived on Itera, she began to visit this place daily.

Just like the day before and the one before that, Riley climbed the steps to the temple. Like the day before and the one before that, it was crowded. Regardless, she found her usual spot near a pillar and knelt down on her knees before sitting on her calves. She pulled back her hood and closed her eyes. Slowing her breathing down to steady breathes she focused on the force around her. The first thing she noticed was the strong scent of incense and candles, a welcome relief to the smells outside. She let out a slow breath and let go of the stresses of life for a moment.

Aeshi Tillian A ARS VAMI Ardon

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

A ARS VAMI Riley Reese Ardon

Aeshi stepped out of the turbolift and pushes herself through the crowd surging between the base of the hub and the undercity. Neon lights flickered in the gloom and rain streaked down the sides of the structure.

She double checked the seals on her breath mask and stood, aside, hands resting lightly on her belt as she watched the folks flow back and forth.

Aeshi moved through the crowd until she could claim a spot next to the wall, not far from the lift. Street vendors hawked their wares with cybernetic enhanced voices, and pushed samples towards her. She waved most of them away but inspected some of them and purchased some takeout food from the scraggliest looking of them, overpaying and refusing change, with gestures that it would be rude of them to return any of the credits.

It was something she’d picked up from the Imyni. Hospitality and gift giving were of the utmost value to them, as was generosity, and as much as she knew it was bad business, there were times she couldn’t help herself.

She snacked on the takeout until she saw the others arrive. She gave a sharp, loud whistle and waved them over. “Here! I grabbed some food for us too.” When they arrived, she handed out some of the food she’d picked up. “So, what are people looking for?”

 

[Ardon]

Getting through crowds was honestly not that much of an issue, getting through crowds while being aware of any possible removed items was a little more troublesome. Though, he imagined having blasters and armor on made him a little less of a target, it didn't mean he was going to be careless about things.

For the most part, everything was fine. If a little hectic. He didn't purchase anything yet, and was still getting a feel for things first. Fortunately, it seemed at least one thing was taken care of as he saw Aeshi Tillian after hearing a sharp whistle. He gave a quick wave back and quickly made his way to her. As he got closer and was able to actually accept the food, and hear her, he was able to respond. "Ardon = grateful. Ardon = seeking to purchase electronic parts + droids + fuel. Ardon = seeking to sell/trade sheet metals + credits." he repeated what he had said before essentially word for word before taking a bite of the food, "Ardon = Getting accustom to location before: attempting purchaes + trades + sales."

Always at least some comfort having relatives around. There were definitely times where being alone caused issues. It certainly helped having a droid on board, but that was not exactly the same. And sometimes trouble could rise up, and when that happened you really wanted help from a person you knew more than another droid.

He looked back up, "You = Successful in your own attempts?"

Riley Reese A ARS VAMI

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

Riley Reese Ardon A ARS VAMI

Aeshi just gave a nod of her head and lifted a chin as Ardon said thanks. She bit into her own food, some sort of meat wrapped in some sort of pastry. She had no intention of asking what it was, though. "Electronics, droids, and fuel are good." She said after a moment, assessing the crowds that surged past them.

It was a key component of tramp trading. Know the market. A fundamental rule of any form of business, but it was much more important in this line of work than more staid ones.

Markets changed. Worlds were different, cultures different. They needed an instinct for what goods were around on any planet. Get a pulse for how people acted, what they wanted, and how much they wanted it. That was always the key.

And if it didn't match, the best you could do was convince someone that they wanted what you had. She tapped her chin thoughtfully and then shrugged. "Not successful, yet. Just getting started."

She stuffed the rest of the food in her mouth and forced it down, wiping her hands on the sleeves of her jacket. "But I'm ready to start looking."