The crown jewel of Clan Lok

[Cathul Thuku]

Clan Lok was still trying to expand but the one thing Clan Lok could bank on was that, if they ever became major, Azure would be the clan capital. Their finances dwarfed those of Azure's treasury but Cathul swore to use as little of the clan's funds towards the operation of the planet. Azure had to be, taxation-wise, as self-sufficient as possible, which meant that Under Mandalorian law Azure could not formally be Clan Lok's property and hence its treasury had to be considered separately from the clan's. Ugohr Poof, the owner of IGR Brokerage, fell from grace after what he did on Chandrila, he was no longer a general, nor was he active as a Jedi, much less a Jedi Brute. And yet he never actually betrayed the Alliance, not even after contributing more properties to the GAPDP than other stakeholders. Cathul would come unarmed, to the prison on Chandrila where Ugohr was held on remand. But before pre-trial proceedings began, he was simply on bail with his lightsabers as collateral. Ugohr would be pocketing a few hundred million but the money would be held in a blind trust before the judgment would be passed down. As Cathul finds her way to the prison, unarmed, unarmored... she refrains from using the Force for that visit.

"I am Dr. Cathul Thuku, I am here regarding Ugohr Poof"

"State the nature of your visit"

"It's regarding his real estate business"

"Let me check the protocol first"

 

[Ugohr Poof]

Ugohr was accused of manslaughter, among with a bunch of lesser crimes, but from which arose the manslaughter: reckless operation of an armored vehicle, and use of excessive force. Before the pretrial proceedings began, he was simply on bail with his lightsabers as collateral, and he did not make an attempt at escape, despite having had an opportunity to do such when Enduri Jaii negotiated the Turnkey Solution, nor did he make an attempt at conducting Jedi or military business. Now that the pretrial hearings are underway, Ugohr is on remand. Perhaps due to the gravity of the crimes being accused of on Chandrila. The guards still address him as general because it was the rank he last held, even though he was officially relieved of duty by virtue of being on remand. The security guard reviews the protocol, and his daily allowance for visits not related to pretrial proceedings would be exhausted by Cathul visiting.

"You have a visitor, General"

"What issa da nature of disen visit? More pretrial proceedings?"

"No, General. The visitor claims it's about your real estate business"

"Finally, a visitor dat no comen here for da grand jury or other pretrial business. Mesa hope dat disen visitor issa comen with bombad news"

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"Just make it quick, you have 15 minutes and we'll be using a room that is usually used for remanded prisoners to have their meetings with their lawyers"

"Security in these meetings?"

"Even though you seem to pose no real threat to Ugohr or to other prisoners, protocol dictates that two unarmed guards stand watch outside the room"

"That's acceptable to me"

Cathul was escorted by the unarmed guards (as is often the case in maximum-security prisons, even when dealing with prisoners detained there on remand) and she is brought to the maze of halls that this maximum-security prison is, where she is brought to Ugohr's cell. For the first time in years Cathul meets with that Gungan: she always thought of him as a rather loose gun regardless of what denomination he would ultimately take. The image she had of him was that "the best defense is a good offense", and minesweeping is an offensive operation as far as tactics are concerned. But all that Cathul knew about him since was on the holonews: he was one of the heroes of Coruscant, and even more so on Malastare: Chandrila was the end of the road for him. And both parties are nervous: Cathul was nervous to see Ugohr's reaction, and vice-versa with Ugohr with respect to Cathul, even though she never effected attempts at harming the guards.

 

[Ugohr Poof]

Ugohr didn't expect a white Twi'lek, let alone that one white Twi'lek he remembers having seen in person. Then again, his Force power no longer extended beyond the cell, if that. He was in a special cell designed for Force-users but the living conditions are still rather humane. And he couldn't help but ponder the implications of that on his real estate business. If that Twi'lek came for real estate, either she had some property to buy, to sell or to lease, at least in Ugohr's mind. But without access to the Holonet, and hence no access to the GMLS, there was nothing he could really do. All he ever did on bail was to close some real estate deals: appearing as a hologram on the last special episode of the Outer Rim House Hunter's Show, devising the Turnkey Solution with Jaii Builds. But he knew that she could have chosen an employee at any of the IGR locations across Alliance space, especially the Coruscant one.

"Yousa came here for real estate, and mesa in maxibig trouble for reasons dat have nothing to do with real estate. That's why mesa here"

"You're on the clock General"

"Yousa want to buy, sell or lease property?"

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"No Ugohr, I'm not here regarding buying, selling or leasing property. You said it so yourself that you were in maxibig trouble: Clan Lok will buy the remaining 85% of IGR"

That was the only thing Ugohr could still half-expect: equity transactions. He was the majority owner, for stuff involving equity, he had to be consulted: that's what Alliance business law says. Otherwise Privago held the day-to-day power. Cathul may have bought 15% for 5 million back in the day, but she had not realized that Clan Lok would have to fork a lot more money for buying the remaining 85%. The Alliance would probably be ambivalent about losing IGR to Mando hands: on the one hand, IGR is one of their main non-defense corporations, on the other hand, IGR's main owner was accused of many crimes for which he is awaiting trial and because of which he is on remand. But Alliance authorities have been highly reluctant to buy IGR because of Ugohr's crimes, and also because their experience with Mirai Confectionery left them hesitant to purchase other corporations. Beyond the need for transactions involving equity to be processed by the owners of the company being purchased, she knew comparatively little about Alliance business practices.

"But because IGR is rooted inside Alliance territory, I will promise as much: I will not move the headquarters off Malastare. I know about the contributions IGR made towards the GAPDP, and it contributed more property towards it than all other Alliance-friendly corporations combined"

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"How much moolah does Clan Lok offer for 85% of mesa business?"

Auctioning off would be selling short, especially since people had little interest in buying such a corporation on the auction block. He knew that he couldn't run IGR from a maximum security prison, but the financial holonews would be all over him if he didn't sell now. And a backlash among Alliance financial circles, so far away from the Jedi, who are mostly devoid of corporate property. That even when the Alliance fell behind the Silver Jedi in corporate ownership: the latter dominated the roster of Jedi-owned corporations, and Ugohr was the one person Alliance citizens readily associated with Jedi-owned corporations (Ajira, of Theed Palace Space Vessel Engineering Corps fame, was technically not a Jedi, and yet held 5% equity in the corporation) and because he did so in an area where FUs were usually reluctant to operate in, even those who are untrained. Ugohr may have had committed major crimes, but none of them were economic in nature.

"Mesa hope dat yousa taken good care of issa: Jedi not technically forbidden from ownin corporations, but many people think issa da case"

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"For 1 billion credits, Clan Lok would take IGR off your hands. As I previously said, IGR would maintain its headquarters on Malastare and maintain all current locations"

1 billion credits was no small sum of money to Clan Lok. It was still a minor clan and there was not enough money on all of Azure to pay for that. Clan Lok's budget was about 4-5 billion or so, and the financial media, Mandalorian or Alliance, would all be over it in an instant, especially since the world of real estate was rife with corporations that had few locations outside their headquarters world. But the viewership of financial media is often a particular segment: those who worked in banking or in other areas of finance, public or corporate, were those who had most interest in financial news, and other space wizards in general would not. Sure some astropolitical outlets interested the military but only so far as martial matters were concerned: the economy was of little concern to the Jedi. For the Alliance's best-known service industry to change hands to non-Alliance ownership was a thing, maybe a blip to the radar of some people, but to both Cathul and Ugohr, it was a rather big deal. The Gungan would pocket 1 billion credits, probably less than that net because that income was taxed.

"Add to that a location on Azure. Clan Lok would be most pleased to use the services of IGR to rebuild Azure"

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"There-sa only una way for mesa to deposit yoursa money"

IGR became exponentially larger ever since they started out on Malastare, with locations all across Alliance space, and even out in the Kathol Outback. Now was the time to get away from the light-sided faction land. Jedi may technically be allowed to run, let alone own corporations, but many have interpreted the ownership of corporations to be forbidden by Jedi under the no-attachment rule. Ugohr has always wanted more Jedi to own corporations, so that their own operations would be borne of corporate money rather than from public funding, and thus access resources that are inaccessible to the Federation as a faction that would be of use to better serve those they swore to protect. The Silver Jedi are mostly funded via corporate funding, however, and that wasn't a secret to neither Cathul nor Ugohr. And more often than not, Jedi required way more equipment and money than they actually got to actually accomplish what they have to do - ask your average Jedi healer.

"A blind trust"

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"You may now consider IGR Brokerage to be Clan Lok property. The formal memorandum of understanding will be sent to you alongside your lawyer"

Cathul knew that lawyers came in many shapes and forms, depending on their areas of practice. Even though the formal contract usually called for the services of business and corporate lawyers when businesses do make use of legal services for contracts, and there's even that niche of business law that dealt with the very kind of thing she was doing to Ugohr, that is, mergers and acquisitions, a criminal defense lawyer could still act as a notary in Ugohr's name. And, for some reason, she always understood it as legal issues surrounding the purchase of a company located outside the territory of the buyer to be handled in the seller's jurisdiction. So perhaps a colleague of Ugohr's lawyer would be able to draft a formal memorandum of understanding for Clan Lok to purchase the real estate brokerage company, with the understanding that no locations will be closed, and the headquarters will not be moved. But the sollicitation was implicit because of Ugohr's crimes despite his having nothing to do with real estate.

"One more minute" the guard informs the two of Ugohr and Cathul.

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"Mesa not know who hisen colleagues are. Yousa assumen dat mesa lawyer know other lawyers doen dat sort of things yousa describe. But yousa must also open a location on Chandrila"

As Cathul was brought away from Ugohr's cell and back into the main entrance of the prison where she had her equipment held. From this point onward IGR was no longer considered Ugohr's property, let alone Alliance property. But would Cathul's pledge of keeping all operations in Alliance territory intact hold any water to the eyes of the Alliance, and especially the Alliance's media? Ugohr was, in practical terms, left with no choice: he couldn't run IGR from jail because running a corporation from jail would require a liaison or two that will constantly visit him, and exhaust his monthly allowance of visits very early. That is just no way to close business deals especially since he built his business in complete respect of the law. No tax evasion, none of those things people usually associate to realtors when it came to criminal activities. He was a Jedi, although not for long, but in hindsight yes, he might feel guilty over the crimes he committed, but the outcome could have been worse than a few hostile and noncombatant casualties.