[Summit] Allez-Vous En [Dunames]

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi had a brief moment between meetings, during which time she ate a protein bar, downed a cup of coffe, brushed her teeth, touched up her makeup, and received an update on the unfortunately-named crane crisis. "Good news," said Sioux as she poured Natasi another glass of water. "They found two more -- alive -- in the rubble. Updated figures are in your inbox." The highly-efficient Sioux Chambers nodded at the Moff's pocket communicator. "And no. The General hasn't called." She gave her employer a look that was part empathy, part reproach, and part amusement. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Not just now. You're an angel, Sioux," Natasi said with a heartfelt smile. "Thank you. Would you send Ms. Lopez in, please?"

Natasi stood to receive [member="Dunames Lopez"], extending her hand in greeting. "Ms. Lopez. Very nice to see you again. Please, make yourself comfortable." Natasi smoothed her skirt and resumed her own seat. "I'm glad we have this opportunity to discuss. I found your Civil Services Entrance Exam results during the time of my ... indisposition," she frowned, referring to her time in captivity with the Resistance. "Are you still interested in pursuing a career with the First Order Government and Diplomatic Corps?"

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"Moff Fortan, it is a pleasure to see you again. I'm sorry for what happened on Dosuun. I hope that the authorities in place will provide due assistance to those and ensure that such an incident will never occur again. I did implement a few aspects of the touristic master plan during your... indisposition, at minimal cost, when I was only provisionally serving as a tourism commissioner, so I'm confident the First Order Government and Diplomatic Corps will find my services to be satisfactory"

The successes of the Lipstick Express and of what is now called Lanteeb Beach are resounding: no longer did the First Order depend on Bespin to get tourism to them and to spread their ideas to the greater galaxy. That the dark side doesn't have to entail that we are to engage in bloody campaigns all the time. The dark side doesn't have to be about power trips, hard power or lightsaber-wielding maniacs. Ask Anastasia Volzhin, the First Order's newest supermodel, and she will tell interested parties that, more than Dulvoyinn, it was the One Sith's condescending attitude towards the non-Force-users that did her in as far as her relationship with the One Sith is concerned, because she is a NFU. Dulvoyinn was the trigger to get her and her business to First Order space. She decided to take her career elsewhere. Before Dunames entered the stage, the First Order had to rely on Bespin as their window to the greater galaxy; at the time, tourism was vulnerable.

"There is more than one way I could help advance the First Order, but most of the ways I can think of relate to transportation or trade on some level. Recently we found that we have had some difficulty in shipping damotite, hypermatter and bacta. It is critical, especially if the One Sith is defeated in the wake of Operation Blackout, that we solve these trade problems, since the main galactic supply of bacta is found in light-sided space. The one thing I have in mind at this time that isn't about transportation or trade concerns damotite, now that Lanteeb is ours: as far as damotite is concerned, we could manufacture some weapons with damotite as payload, ranging in size from the proverbial thermal detonator to heavy proton bombs, beyond it being an industrial solvent"

But weaponizing damotite could lead, if done on the scale of a heavy proton bomb, to superweapon status and hence were to be used as a last resort. Detonite or tritonal were the explosives of choice to her, ever since the TIE/rv Reaver bomber (its predecessor, the TIE/hb Heavy Bomber, was an industrial failure) and its associated Guernica ordnance launcher were released. JanFathal and Ringo Vinda defense fleets both include a few squadrons of TIE/rv bombers. Dunames could no more build a damotite bomb than she could wield a lightsaber.

[member="Natasi Fortan"]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi studied Dunames as she spoke, taking notes in her notepad as she did, and made appreciative noises like: "Hmm." and "Go on." to encourage her to continue. The woman had a ... unique way of speaking, which made it difficult to keep track. "Forgive me, Ms. Lopez," Natasi said after a moment of processing the information. "You are the Chief Executive of... Star Tours, was it?" she glanced down at her notes to confirm it. "And you're also a Commissioner in the First ORder, is that right?"

She leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table. "We try to avoid putting industrialists in positions where there is, either in appearance or in fact, the possibility to influence their business interests to the detriment of others," she said cautiously, her nose twitching slightly. "I see that there have been some changes in my absence," she said, jotting another note. "At any rate, I assume you have some sort of ideas to improve the First Order's transportation infrastructure." She raised her eyebrows inquisitively. "Let's hear what you have in mind."

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"A welcome change from what these Gungans over at Battleon Town News, at the other end of the galaxy, accused us of doing when news of your indisposition arrived to them. Perhaps the Independent Sector may prove to be a better fit as far as my future with the First Order is concerned. Of course, that won't prevent me from contributing to the interests of the First Order, but I feel that I could serve the First Order's interests better by shipping bacta, hypermatter, damotite and, of course, passengers"

Dunames was thinking of Sullust Central News Network instead. After all, the documents to which Battleon Town News refers (SCNN only talked about a demilitarized zone between the First Order and the Galactic Alliance) were seized on Eriadu. That said, BTN operated out of Ringo Vinda, which was one of the hubs of Star Tours in light-sided space (Eriadu being the other) and part of the Taking Off on a Star Tour team was based on Ringo Vinda. Luckily Taking Off on a Star Tour kept quiet about the Eriadu papers, and most political topics in general other than travel regulations or war. To Taking Off on a Star Tour, however, travel regulations as applied to either passenger or spaceline were fair game, and the latest guest column by Jessica Med-Beq, who attended the prologue of the summit in Charzon's place, talks not only about the Maersk, the Jessica, what makes the Jessica different from contemporary landing gears and how the Maersk fits inside Star Tours' future plans, they also talk about how they could mystify Factory Judges in passenger service by cramming 30,000 people from Cartao to Hosnian Prime inside a Maersk when the Maersk was rated for 5,300 passengers.

"Sump and Lanteeb in particular has, let's face it, deficient bulk terminal infrastructure. Producing vast amounts of hypermatter and damotite respectively on a weekly basis won't do us much good since the bottlenecks are at the shipping level. And even if we weaponized damotite, Lanteeb has limited container and bulk capacity. You see, the main spaceports in First Order space are on Dosuun and Bespin, and the only planets where spaceport capacity isn't an industrial bottleneck, and on Lipsec spaceport capacity is only a minor bottleneck. But Verkuyl, Sump and Lanteeb are the three planets where spaceport capacity is actually a straitjacket on economic activity"

Sump produces hypermatter in orbit and the planet's hypermatter terminal is orbital; the Nuknogs complain that hypermatter production has ground to a halt because, while the planet could theoretically produce about a million tons of hypermatter a day, the planet's hypermatter terminal can only offload 50,000 tons of hypermatter a day. As for Lanteeb, the planet's spaceport capacity is about 7,000 tons/hour in bulk and the same in containers. But containers had to contain a bunch of different things, both import and export: ground vehicles, technology, droids, to name a few, and not just refined damotite.

[member="Natasi Fortan"]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi nodded thoughtfully, her eyes taking a thoughtful turn. "Yes, I've long thought it was time to increase the cargo capabilities of those worlds. It simply doesn't make sense to exist with a handicap if it can be remedied." Natasi jotted a few quick notes on her notepad. "If you have the kind of experience and knowledge with this as you seem to do," Natasi said, looking up from her notepad. "Then perhaps I should consult you on these matters. I can't pretend to be an expert on the manufacture and export of hypermatter. In fact, if you could prepare me a briefing on the application and use of hypermatter by the end of next week, that would be most appreciated."

The Moff sat back in her seat, crossing her legs. "At any rate. Do tell me how Star Tours fits into all this. Is it a touring company or a cargo-hauling one?"

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"Star Tours deals with both interstellar passenger transportation and cargo hauling. Lately we have expanded our bulk freight activities, of which hypermatter is our debut in this arena. As for hypermatter's uses, the main thing it is used for is as an hyperdrive fuel, especially shipboard, although sometimes it can be found in space stations, especially if said station has an hyperdrive. Verkuyl produces bacta, but bacta is best delivered containerized"

For groundside facilities, some substance akin to diesel would feed fusion generators rather than hypermatter. Methane, octane, diesel are common substances that are readily available on a wide variety of worlds which are also used just as widely and one of which, or a combination thereof, may simply be an alternative name for liquid tibanna. Liquid tibanna was used a lot more commonly for planetside power than hypermatter, and Bespin was the largest producer in First Order space. Now, Dunames is not an expert in power generation, no more than Jessica or Marcia were (these were ladies that she nevertheless had in mind at Ringovinda StarYards for posing for cosmetics even though Jessica clearly fitted Mandalorian cosmetic holoads better than other cosmetic holoads) or even Charzon, and it would do no good to pretend otherwise. But Dunames knew more about transportation than about power generation.

"The reason why Sump houses the First Order's primary hypermatter extraction facilities is that Nuknogs can work in environments that would be fatal to most other species and that hypermatter extraction can be hazardous, as is its refinement. All of that is done in orbit, as it was found that the toxic gases on the surface interferes with the refining process. This is why previous administrations of the First Order on Sump extensively negotiated with the Nuknogs before they could even greenlight the construction of hypermatter extractors. Once Sump's bulk hypermatter terminals are brought to its proper capacity, we will need to import a lot less hypermatter, and Sump won't be as impoverished"

950,000 extra tons of domestically-produced hypermatter a day is one thing, and it will make Nuknogs happier and especially capable of getting all the supplies they need on their world.

[member="Natasi Fortan"]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi continued taking notes. If what [member="Dunames Lopez"] said was true, then perhaps there might be some room in the budget for it, but Natasi wasn't about to set First Order policy on this basis alone. "Thank you, Ms. Lopez, that will do," said Natasi when she had finished talking about Sump. She was silent for a moment before straightening her shoulders.

"I'd like to talk about you, now," said the Moff, sitting back against the seat and crossing her legs primly. "Where do you see yourself in service to the First Order?" She clasped her hands together in front of her abdomen and studied Lopez.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"Clearly my role in the future of the First Order lies in the timely shipping of critical goods - and people - to the First Order economy, more than any real political role. After our capture of Lanteeb I have realized that very few companies were willing to ship damotite off-world: now that Lanteeb is ours, and that the damotite industries are now state-owned, some cut of the damotite hauling business should also accompany Lanteeb's entry in the Beaches of the Dark Side series of vacation packages"

Dubrillion, Kothlis are also purported to be part of the series, but the negotiations with respect to Kothlis appear to have fallen apart, and Dulvoyinn, which was originally supposed to be featured in it, is no longer viable after what happened on Dulvoyinn. And yet as an industrial solvent damotite was still used by industries that had precise tolerances for hygiene. But somehow damotite could be used as either a poison or a drug, depending on the species.

[member="Natasi Fortan"]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"Beaches of the Dark Side?" Natasi echoed, her eyebrow arching dubiously. "Ms. Lopez, I hope you will not find it vulgar in me to suggest that you dig a little deeper where it regards the types of public statements and advertisements are made vis a vis the First Order. For instance, I'm not sure it would be entirely proper to refer to any part of any world, to a potential visitor, resident, or investor, as related to the Dark Side in a public way." She pressed her thumbs together anxiously. "We must present the broadest form of appeal possible. But, I suppose, you have thought of all this and focus-tested it to within an inch of its life. No?"

The Moff twitched and played with her thumbs. "I'm sorry, what is damotite, now? And what does it do, exactly?"

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"Please forgive me about using the internal code used for the project, which is to offer vacation packages in beach resorts in dark-sided territory, with its motto Life is a beach. Vacation packages on the beaches of Lanteeb, and in the future, other worlds in dark-sided territory"

Even if said beach worlds belonged to other factions. The Zenithian Imperium, also a dark-sided faction, had Kothlis which would be interesting to Star Tours, but also Dubrillion in Mandalorian Empire territory whom, to Star Tours, is regarded as dark-sided turf. But clearly the main beach worlds served by Star Tours were in light-sided territory: Dulvoyinn, Naboo, Elrood, Mon Calamari and soon-to-be Baroonda.

"Since you mentioned damotite, it has two main industrial uses: as an industrial solvent, and as a refining agent for plasma. Refined damotite is toxic, which can make it usable as rat poison or as a chemical weapon, even though damotite is mostly used as an industrial solvent/clenaser. Lanteeb is the main producer of damotite in the galaxy. We want to show Lanteebans that the First Order is the answer for them in the long run, we need to ensure not only law and order, but also their economic well-being: part of that requires proper off-world shipment channels for damotite, which, like Sump, has insufficient spaceport capacity"

[member="Natasi Fortan"]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi chewed the inside of her cheek and stared at [member="Dunames Lopez"] for a few moments before sitting forward on her seat. "Very well, you have given me a great deal of food for thought. You want more spaceports, basically everywhere in the First Order. This, I think, can be achieved with limited fuss, it will just take some time to get it together." She capped her pen and set it down on the table next to her notepad, then leaned over and peered across the table at Lopez. "Is that the long-and-short of it?"

With all said and done, Natasi wanted to open the floor for her guest to bring up any other matter of concern she might have. "Is there anything else you'd like to discuss while we're in the room? I open the floor to you to discuss any topic of conversation you like. I'm all ears." She leaned forward attentively and uncapped her pen once again, poised to take notes.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"Pretty much. That has been most satisfactory, Moff Fortan, there is no other concern I wish to bring up that I didn't already"

She knew that what sank the Primeval economically was that they claim to be business-friendly, and had very little red tape, but they were bottlenecked mostly by shipping: Dunames may not have had that much knowledge of macroeconomics but she knew that a bottleneck arises on a macro-level due to market inefficiencies. She also knew that the First Order needed proper throughput to actually achieve what the summit intended to achieve, if they wanted to avoid the Primeval's fate. And that steps actually needed to be undertaken for the FO to differentiate themselves from the Sith factions, and that doesn't stop at the economic.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi stood and offered a handshake. "Very well, then. Thank you so much for taking the time." She withdrew a business card from her handbag and offered it across the table. "My direct office line, if you should ever require it. I hope I can count on you for advice when it comes to what infrastucture projects we'll be working on. You seem to know more about it than almost anyone I know." She smiled politely across at [member="Dunames Lopez"] and then stood.

"Well, if there's nothing else, I ought to return to my suite and see what's the latest on the crane cr-- collapse," she amended herself almost too late. Forcing a smile, she gathered her things and retreated from the meeting.

End.