Faction Leaguer's Lingo (RTL+Friends)

[Mya Jesel]

YUMFLA, SUSEFVI
RIMWARD TRADE LEAGUE MERCHANT-MARINE ACADEMY
CONTINUING EDUCATION CAMPUS
cough Hilal Vizsla cough

This was part of the job that Mya actually looked forward to. Not that it was actually her job, per se. As president and chairwoman of the council, she was incredibly busy, but she carved out time to teach these classes for non-traditional students at the merchant-marine academy. These weren't always official merchant-mariners, or future merchant-mariners, but that didn't make them less valuable.

In Mya's mind, they were even more important. The Outer Rim was sometimes a chaotic place and not everyone had the opportunities to pursue the education they wanted. And this is what it would take if the League was going to make an actual difference. Waiting for the next generation was just postponing problems. And non-traditional students had a wealth of experiences and maturities that would benefit the entire Outer Rim community.

So Mya made it a point to teach the free classes in beginning business basics. It said something that she would be the one to teach these classes. The League had high ideals, but they were also pragmatic. This would have the biggest local effect on bolstering the Outer Rim economy. Free job training, free education, and flexibility to adapt the unique circumstances that the many inhabitants of the Rim found themselves in.

Mya settled a datapad on the table at the front of the room and connected it to the holoprojector, where it would be transmitted to the terminals of the various students. She swung up onto the table and leaned forward, waving to each student as they walked in. "Hello everyone! Welcome, welcome! Come in and find a seat. We'll get started shortly with the business basics class. I'm so excited for all of you to be pursuing this opportunity and cannot wait to see what you develop and come up with. We'll be having a hands-on class this term, with our main focus being on the project of developing your own business to prepare you for launch."

They didn't know this yet, but she'd already petitioned the ORDC to have small business loans ready for all the students that finished, with very low-interest rates, so that when they were ready, the funding would also be available. That, she thought, would be their final exam surprise celebration.

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Current outfit

"Yes DVA I got my Holotablet." Hilal jogged from the spaceport, her faithful Droid companion running behind her a string of worried beeps reaching the young woman's ears.

"I'm fine," Hilal smiled at DVA adjusting her black bag over her shoulder. "I need to run if I want my leg to get stronger." She spent weeks rehabbing injuries she sustained at Tython. It was a long and painful journey to walk and use pick up things again but a Mandalorian always seeks new challenges so they can become stronger. To Hilal a broken arm and leg was just another obstacle she needed to overcome.

Besides Hex helped her get back up to speed, Hilal's best friend was busy with her new job but Hilal hoped to join her soon. For now, the young woman just arrived at Susefvi. Hilal wanted to expand her business and even open up new ones. As much as Hilal loved Bounty Hunting, she wanted more sources of income especially during times where she's out of commission due to injuries. The young woman arrived seeing Mya Jesel inside of the classroom. "Sorry I'm late ma'am!" Hilal chuckled nervously. "It's a jungle in space! I had to navigate past a wormhole and an asteroid field!"

In reality, Hilal overslept and missed a couple of hyperspace jumps in her frantic effort to get to the planet. Life can throw curveballs sometimes especially if it's your own doing.

 

[Mya Jesel]

Hilal Vizsla

"No worries," Mya answered, leaning on the desk to assess the students as they rolled in. "Space has its own hazards, which we will get into as part of the class. Wormholes and hyperspace jumps are only a small portion of them, and often get overlooked."

She paused for a moment, rapping her fingers idly on the desk, before pushing a button to activate the holoprojector. "Those will come later, however, when we do cost-benefit analysis of interplanetary expansion." She paused for a moment.

"That is a more advanced style of CBA, though, and we'll work on that after we master the more important parts of CBA." Her eyes swept the room for a moment. "You may all be business partners, or perhaps even competitors after the course comes to an end. That does not mean, however, that this class is a competition, nor will it be in the future. The League is dedicated to developing a healthy, thriving, and interconnected network of local businesses across the Outer Rim. All of you are crucial to that vision. We are collaborators, not competitors."

Another pause. "Does that make sense?"

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Current outfit

As soon as Mya started talking, Hilal immediately started scribbling on her Holopad. DVA jumped on to the table, his black photoreceptors flashing, he began to record the lecture that way Hilal could relisten to the lecture and catch what she missed. Hilal loved DVA for thinking three steps ahead of her, she was in a rush that she didn't even think about recording the lesson. The young woman frowned when Mya talked about "cost benefit analysis" and how they're related to Interplanetary expansion.

"Okay I guess it makes sense Miss Jessel," Hilal said raising an eyebrow and going over what she written. "But I don't really understand the dynamics of cost benefit analysis and Interplanetary expansion."

Hell, Hilal didn't even know what cost benefit analysis means.

Mya Jesel

 

[Mya Jesel]

Hilal Vizsla

"Please, just call me Mya," Mya answered, resting on the desk and nodding. "And that is an excellent question! It comes down to the fundamental purpose of a business, which has a wide variety of thoughts on the subject. And frankly, we could have an entire semester class on business philosophy, which we do have available, but the full discussion is far beyond our scope here."

She paused to take a sip of water, advancing the 3D projection to another perspective. "In the League, we view business as a way of providing for one's personal needs by providing a specialized service to the community. It is usually profitable, but not always. Let's break it down further. Businesses provide either needs or wants to the community. You all know what these are. What are some of the different ones you've had to decide between?"

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Current outfit

Hilal gave a small sigh. "Looks like I'll attending that class," she lamented who knew business was this complicated. Sure, Hilal ran a shop which made decent profits but there's a difference between making a profit in a small area of your home planet and making a profit on a galactic scale. "Well," Hilal rose her hand. "I run a parts and repair shop on Kestri. I sell old parts, build and modify weapons, armor, ships, you name it."

Hilal ran a hand through her right braid. "Give me a couple of scraps," Hilal said smiling. "And I can build you Blaster Rifle within five minutes. There are times where I have to decide if I should charge more for repairs than selling from the junkpile. Even when I clean it up and make things functional again, it doesn't pull in the profits compared to my build and repairs."

Mya Jesel

 

[Mya Jesel]

Hilal Vizsla

"Excellent," Mya agreed, leaning back on the table as Hilal spoke. "And that is the essence of the cost-benefit analysis."

She tapped her datapad and adjusted the displays, pulling up some numbers. "It is, ultimately, weighing the differences between the cost of doing some and the benefit of doing so. Not just the cost in credits, but also what economists call an opportunity cost."

Mya paused for any who wanted to take down notes on the terms. "The opportunity cost is the cost of what you cannot do by choosing to do something else. So not only are we considering the material costs, but the cost of labor."

She scribbled some notes down to create a formula. "Essentially, the basic formula is we start with the total amount of credits we could make, then we subtract the expenses, and that leads to the predicted profit."