Squib Games
fig 1. view toward the city center from the Denon-Ardru Mutual Complex.
- Intent: Flesh out the lore of Ardru and Darkwire.
- Image Credit: AI-generated from author's prompt.
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Darkwire | SQUIB GAMES
fig 2. view toward the city center
- City Name: New Dal
- Classification: Urban Center
- Location: Ardru
- Affiliation: Galactic Alliance; Denon-Ardru Mutual
- Population: Moderate.
- Demographics: Majority human, with a diverse cross-section of near-human and alien species typical of Alliance worlds.
- Wealth: Low. Economic disparity is grossly disproportionate within New Dal, with the Denon-Ardru Mutual mining consortium holding an overwhelming amount of economic power. Denon-Ardru Mutual is the largest landholder, the largest employer, and represents the largest economic contributor. This sets the economic conditions in which wages are suppressed and there are few economic opportunities beyond working for the mining company.
- Stability: Medium. Ardru benefits from the stability of the Galactic Alliance, though there was significant dissatisfaction with workers rights and the economic situation that New Dal had become associated with protests and a rise in extremism.
- Freedom & Oppression: While the Galactic Alliance has succeeded in severing direct control of planets by corporations, the economic influence of the mining consortium has ensued that systematic structures remained in place locally for wage suppression, voter suppression, and workers rights suppression. Economic advantages were awarded to the mining consortium at the expense of the populace, such as in the instance of New Dal's city council making the unilateral decision to privatize the city's spaceport, awarding the contract to Denon-Ardru Mutual, who them immediately closed the spaceport for all but its private, commercial usage.
- Description: New Dal, named for the prosperous economic city of Dal on Rondai-2 in the Core, was started by Denon-Ardru Mutual before the Gulag Plague as a small mining town. It was during the course of the Four Hundred Years Darkness that the town became a point of urbanization and development, emerging as a proper city by the time of the Clockwork Rebellion. Controlled by an elected city council, the mining consortium remained the power player behind the shadows, with a revolving door in which company leaders were put in government positions before leaving office and returning to promoted positions within the company. There was a significant economic divide that was visible, with the city center being prosperous and associated with the elite, while the areas toward the outskirts of the city were ghettos laiden with the mining consortium's trash, a fact which attracted the Squib Reclamation Fleet to establish a presence on the planet as well.
fig 3. Denon-Ardru Mutual Employee Housing District.
- City Center. A sliver of Denon or Coruscant, a pocket of modern conveniences, upscale shops, and prestigious businesses that cater to the elite. Only one-percent of New Dal's population can afford the extravagances associated with the city center, which is often used as a backdrop for the mining consortium to wine and dine potential clients or customers.
- Denon-Ardru Mutual Plaza. From the time of the city's founding, this houses both the mining consortium's business offices as well as the offices for the administration of the city. In the wake of the Galactic Senate's break-up of corporate control of planets, these entities are now separate, but in name only.
- Spaceport (Private Access Only). Once the connection between New Dal and the wider galaxy, a recent decision by the New Dal City Council transferred ownership of the spaceport to the Denon-Ardru Mutual corporation, which has closed it off to all but its own commercial use. Select government officials are, of course, welcome to lease usage of the conveniently located spaceport from the company, for a fee.
- WKLA Subspace Radio Tower. A HoloNet news organization operating toward the outskirts, with any number of challenges in staying in operation as one of critics of the Denon-Ardru Mutual corporation. Squib Wireless recently moved into part of the building.
- Denon-Ardru Employee Housing District. As a mining town founded by the Denon-Ardru Mutual company, the original neighborhoods were constructed to house the mine workers and their families. Today, these neighborhoods form the ghettos that surround the city center, marking a clear ring of separation between the "haves" and the "have nots."
- Squib Reclamation. A salvage yard located on the outskirts of New Dal, which has recently opened several docking bays in order to provide an alternative or makeshift spaceport for the people of New Dal to use, in light of the privatization of the city's official spaceport.
fig 4. outskirts of the city.
Low. As a planet located in Galactic Alliance space, there were organized law enforcement agencies operated by the city and the planet itself came under the protection of the Alliance Defense Forces. There were no unique or special measures in place for the city's defenses. It was not the capital of Ardru, nor did it house any military posts or facilities.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The Denon-Ardru Mutual mining operation dates back to before the Clone Wars. New Dal was one of several outposts that represented little more than a few employee housing units dropped in the dirt adjacent to where the company was conducting active mining. Over time, the surrounding mines proved prosperous and, while many such mining towns shuttered when their mines closed, this became a permanent settlement for the company. Seeking to inspire or convey a feeling of economic promise, it was named New Dal in reference to the city on Rondai-2. Despite that, it remained an insignificant, small town while the company bled it dry of resources and pocketed the credits for itself.
The Gulag Plague started the new chapter for the city. Initially decimating the population, over the course of the Four Hundred Years Darkness, population increased as surrounding communities converged on New Dal, building it up over those centuries to resemble the city it is today. Despite this, it remained under the direct control of the Denon-Ardru Mutual corporation until recent acts by the Galactic Senate severed direct control of planets by companies. However, while true in law, the economic power that the mining company wields over New Dal has merely pushed that corporate control to the shadows. The elected city council are all former employees of the company and recent elections have seen a "revolving door" between the city government and the company form.
The closure of the city's spaceport has been a tipping point for the populace. Whereas the Denon-Ardru Mutual corporation has long been shielded against protests by being the largest landowner and employer for the city, the privatization of the spaceport and the corporation's closure of it for all but its own use has prompted a wave of protests. This has reignited movement to allow workers to unionize and threats of strikes against the mining operation.
In the wake of that unrest, Darkwire has established a presence in the slums. Championining the cause of workers against the corporations while waging its own war in the shadows against the corporate authorities and the government that enables them to continue to profit off the people that the Alliance gives lip service to protecting.
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