The Last Plot

[Boethiah]

Fate.

The fate of people, the fate of worlds, all at the mercy of the unknown. Yet it was fate that could also grant many boons and fate that which people blame when their minds are lost and left to wander. If all just for someone to carry our burdens. Burdens of grief, of war... And of death. At the hands of The Primeval many worlds have fallen short of their own glory and thus they paid the price in blood.

The March has been called. Warriors, crusaders, great champions of the Gods armed with fire and clad in steel answer that call.

So what now?

Bastion, Dubrillion, Echoy'la, Helska, Dantooine, Irn, Chiloon Rift, Telos, Mirial, Korriban, Dromund Kaas... The Marches did not stop there. Now the whole of the Mandalorian clans began to schism as the March turned to them. The fires of war continue to burn, growing brighter and crimson as it consumed the lives of innocents and the blood of fighting men.

Is this enough?

There must be something out there greater, more worthy of their strength -- of their mission to God. Divine retribution was granted to those who have already fallen and yet something was missing; a testament of their will. And the Host Lord too felt this ache and emptiness within the soul of her people. Their united cause needed something else, something more; something absolute.

Absolution.

Yes... She carried the burden of dead souls and knew their pain all too well. Taking their hunger, thirst, and pleas she could avenge the old and become reborn in the new.

[member="Vheissu Ireles"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

The Fleets of the Fringe had jumped out of Hyperspace just as planned, pre-planned vectors gave every ship in the fleet a specific purpose. One of the most important things a nation does when arriving in foreign territory was to secure it beyond doubts, and so the ships moved to lockdown the sector from outside interference and incursions.

This would be the first move to make; secure a place where they would be able to create a new home for their people.

The military ships were doing just that, fortifying the sector almost as a callback to the Byss-sector of old, but there were more than just the military who had come in, what were they doing?

Ships of Iron Crown Enterprises and Eridium Industrial were already busying itself with the construction of the foundations of future infrastructure, satellites would be pumped out for instant-communication between systems, proper hyperlanes would need to be established to interconnect the various worlds of the new dominion and a great orbital shipyards was being constructed, a ring around one of the moons of the designated capital world.

Leaving behind the Fringe Confederation’s territory meant that the old shipyards were now only secured and defended by the corporate fleet of Iron Crown and its parent company Saiba Group, it also meant that the construction of ships and its transportation would be increasingly more difficult to do. No, they would need shipyards in their new home-sector, if they wished to increase their hold here.

The Chrysalide, in the meanwhile, had parked itself in orbit over the capital world. A lush planet with forests, mountains and rolling hillsides, civilization had not yet made its mark on this world, a thing that pleased the Lord of the Fringe immensely. It would allow them to return to the roots of their being, to the more primal state of a warrior-culture.

‘Grand Admiral, how are we doing.’ he asked as he walked into the room, curiosity made apparent.

The various military personnel snapped into attention, before resuming a more relaxed posture when the Lord waved them of. He was in no need for courtesy and regulations, today was a day to remember, the first day of a new future for their people.

‘Excellent, sir. The surrounding systems have been pacified, patrols are rolling smoothly and we have not encountered any reasonable resistance yet.’ the border tensions with the Mandalorians meant that the Primeval was mostly focused on those borders, this portion of their empire was far away from their capital, Bastion.

Not that the Lord of the Fringe or his men knew that the Primeval claimed this portion of space, huge galactic imperia being what they are? There was a direct disconnected between factual information within the struggles of power, to make it more plain: Empires don’t really give away detailed map feeds to nations they don’t know.

 

[Arage Bao]

One could ask himself how capable the proud men and women of the Fringe were, and one only had to look at the Unknown Regions and the many adventures those warriors had experienced while being harassed by the darkness of night and the creeping threat of monsters under the cloak of shadows. They had stayed strong and vigilant, no matter the threat- from slugs with mind control abilities to men who could see into the future and plan a thousand steps in advance. No, they had seen through those threats and pushed forward to establish civilization and create a home for themselves, and it would not be any different in Wild Space and the top of the Tingel Arm.

But perhaps the better question would be about the construction efforts of the Fringe Remnant, the efforts and projected named a few moments ago were all great and big in their own right, no? Would they be able to pull such things off? And would the quality be comparable to the standard that was set in the Deep Core of the Galaxy.

Good questions, all of them.

For an answer it was important to note that both Iron Crown Enterprises and Eridium Industrial had a lot of experience with projects of the kind. ICE had established and constructed the great shipyards over Annaj, the Lwhekk Cluster and Rakata Beta, three major shipyards which had supplied the Lords of the Fringe with most of their Navy for the longest time.

Not to say the kind of tech they came in touch with. The Rakata had been the first to create the Hyperdrives and traveled the stars, at least after their mysterious predecessors, and the shipyards of the smaller Infinite Empire was only an underlining of this fact.

But perhaps the most important was their experience with the shipyards of Eriadu and Sluis Van. After the conquest of the worlds, Iron Crown Enterprises had taken over the yards and analyzed both of them as much as possible, the Sluis Van Shipyards were one of the very best in the Outer Rim Territories, but slow as the Sluissi found the process of building ships to be akin to an art.

Which brought us to Eridium Industrial, a construction and mining corporation with the Saiba Group as its parent company. Their experience had come from the various Baktoid Shipyards that it had once maintained and repaired, then there was the efforts of building a great shipyard over Mon Eron and the stewardship over the Bilbringi Shipyards.

Suffice to say, both companies held a lot of experience between the two of them. But then an observant person might ask a more pointed question, such as where they were getting all the resources for the creation of the mighty works. Because even in an ore-rich environment… you need something to create something, right?

 

[Arage Bao]

The Varanin was one of the many heavily modified Lwhekk Aleph-class Manufacturing Ship the Fringe Remnant had taken with them from the old Fringe territories to their new sectors that they would call their home, outsiders would probably assume it was some kind of cruel joke or an insult, but the truth could not be any further from that.

It was a tribute to a woman who had dedicated a significant portion of her life towards the creation of civilization of the Unknown Regions. Some might have renamed the Chrysalide into the Varanin, trying to stroke her metaphorical pride, but all of them knew she had enough of that already and that she would see the joke in it.

In one of the hangar bays of the Varanin two engineers were currently working on repairing a salvage slash reconnaissance droid. It was a part of a swarm of droids that would be send out to find the biggest concentrations of ore and minerals on one of the planets that had been designated as a resource-abundant target for heavy mining.

‘Ya know.’ Rodger suddenly said, filling a silence that had only been interrupted by the hinges and haws of the malfunctioning droid beforehand.

Douglas didn’t look up from his work, continuing to try and make sense of the malfunctions that seemed to pop up randomly whenever they weren’t looking at it.

‘Ya know.’ this time Rodger repeated himself a little louder, to get the attention of his co-engineer, Rodger was a stubborn man and would not be deterred from speaking his mind this time.

There was something that had been nagging on him in the back of his head and he needed to address it right now.

In response Douglas finally sighed and looked up from his work.

‘Yes, Rodgy. What is it?’

A frown clouded Rodgers’ expression, he had never really liked that nickname, but in the end he shrugged and continued to speak his mind. Wasn’t every day that Douglas actually decided to listen to what he was saying, no?

‘Well…’ Rodgy took his time to figure out exactly how to pronounce his confusion, but eventually had to settle on a more straight-forward approach, vocabulary wasn’t ever his big selling point. Which was why he was a noble engineer and not a politician, like his scumbag brother. ‘How the feth are we doing all of this? Where are we getting all the resources?’

Douglas settled back in his fold-up chair and pondered that question, he was more careful with his wordings, older and wiser perhaps?

Would be a reasonable assumption.

 

[Arage Bao]

What do you know about our Lord of the Fringe? About the Ovmar and his exploits? Do you know how he came to be in the Fringe? How he worked himself up towards his position of power? Do you know the sacrifices that he had to make and the blood he has spilled?

Those questions were pondered and then finally voiced out loud by Douglas, by now they had moved sceneries and returned to their little workshop in the folds of the Varanin. Douglas had gotten himself an old pipe, a comfortable chair and a bit of whiskey for the both of them, some stories needed as much background as possible. Some stories… they needed the atmosphere of the scenery working for them, to really be understood by the onlookers.

Rodgers made it immediately clear that he knew almost nothing about the origin stories, you couldn’t expect a simple mechanic and engineer to know the deep-riddled innate balances when it came to a man as Ovmar.

And Rodgy had never really tried anyway, so he simply shrugged and gestured Douglas to tell him.

We ain’t got the time for the entire story, laddy. That would take entirely too much time and wouldn’t really benefit your question either way, but the only thing ya gotta ask yourself is, why did the Lord of the Fringe- Jacobs’ pupil and rising star in the Fringe… decide to lay a stake on 244Core? Become its Governor and Lord?

Why not Bakura? One of the most lush and beautiful of planets that the Fringe Confederation had to offer? Why a barren rock that only corporations held interest in to stripmine and leave behind with nothing more to gain from?

Well. You said it yourself, boss. The resources, right?

Yeah, but he didn’t need those resources, back then he wasn’t even interested in the whole corporate sphere. So why would he do it back then?

Are you telling me that Jared Ovmar knew the Fringe would fall and that he specifically secured the world of 244Core under his leadership to prepare for that?

Of course not, that would be ridiculous. Ovmar is a meticulous planner, not some kind of God-Sorcerer of Rhand to the extreme. No, what I am saying is that Jared Ovmar, Lord of the Fringe, is a man with a plan. He sees the big picture, sees the players and the trends, then he acts accordingly.

***​

---------------​

Their voices trailed off as the memories of the old engineer took over and relieved the glories of ancient past. They went back to O’reen and the other victories that the Fringe had managed to win, the civilizations they had discovered and protected. Those were the good times.​

---------------​

***​

 

[Arage Bao]

Unknown Regions
244Core

‘Is everything ready, Sam?’ Jared asked over the datapad he had been reviewing a few moments ago.

Sam, the new aide he had hired a few weeks ago, looked up and nodded fervently. The lad was still a greenhorn for all intents and purposes, eager to please, not exactly the most aspiring of people in the killer-territory of the Fringe.

But the boy was loyal and that was enough for Jared.

It still felt strange to sit in the chair, a couple of days ago he put forward a claim on 244Core and managed to keep it. No other Sith Lords who decided to challenge him, no other contenders of any kind, it seemed that people were content with letting him have the little dustball of 244Core. People here did not seem to care about the possible worth the planet had, in sheer terms of minerals, ores and other material.

Of course he would need to send tribute for Varanin and her small council, but that was nothing he hadn’t expected when he had first thought up this little daring plan of him.

‘Good, then let’s commence our plans, shall we?’

In the grand scheme of things 244Core has been mined for many a century, yet no corporation has ever been able to make even a dent into the reserves of the planet. But there is new technology out there, ways to crack planets and do other unreasonable things to get what they needed.

Not that Ovmar would sign off on cracking 244Core, that is crazy talk.

But an organized effort directed from Fringe-level? That wasn’t the same as a single large company trying it, Jared was reasonable sure that with the things he was planning right now they could strip-mine 244Core clean in a matter of maybe fifteen years.

It was on that day that man, who would one day become a Sith Lord in his own right and the Lord of the Fringe, signed the papers that would ensure that his ventures would always have the resources they needed.

Capitalism was a beautiful thing.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Kelavine System[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Taloraan[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6666666666667px][member="Elias Truden"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The Taloraan reserves of Tibanna was a valuable and worthwhile commodity to possess as a nation, but the Fringe Confederation was no longer an entity to consider keenly. There were still patrols here and there, keeping up appearances for the sake of them, but most of it was now planet-level security, ships and navies supported by the system governments themselves. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Overarching protection was no longer in the games, which had been the reason why Taloraan hadn’t been protective to the degree of the past. Evacuation procedures being what they were, they had been able to ship out most of the reserves, while the Rebels had been busy to feth shet up.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But the refineries had been build by the Fringe Military themselves, Iron Crown had set them up and operated them only with the sanction and funding of the Confederation. But the Confederation was no more and if Darell Irani was anything? It was seeing an opportunity when it arrived.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Two months after the attack and destruction of the Tibanna Refineries, a corporate fleet arrived at the edge of the Kelavine System. It was a mixture of Eridium Industrial construction ships, Saiba Group engineers and Iron Crown experts, of course protected heavily by a combative fleet fielded by all three of the companies.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The Unknown Regions were a terrible and dangerous place these days, few knew how to traverse it and even fewer had done so. Iron Crown possessed one of the most complete navigational data in the Galaxy, because of its close association with the Confederation, Merrill possessed another level of expertise. [/SIZE]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Kelavine System[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Taloraan City[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Taloraan wasn’t a regular gas giant, it had civilization on it, people working and trying to make something out of their lives. In that regard the attack of the Rebels by Merrill had been a setback to them, because however the Rebels viewed the Confederation, however the people of Taloraan viewed the Fringe Confederation… those refineries had been operated not only by Iron Crown Personnel. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]It had provided the denizens of the planet with a profitable income, economical… well perhaps prosperity was not the word that should be looked for right now. But to a degree it had given them opportunities to use those repositories of gas and turn a slight profit, the gas went to the Fringe and the Army, but the money paid had gone to two sides.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The first order of business was to survey the amount of damage done by the Rebels, small probes and drones were sent off towards the location of the former refineries, see if anything was operational or if they had managed to destroy all of those.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]In the meanwhile Darell Irani personally left the fleet and his shuttle would approach Taloraan City itself. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]They would need to have a good talk on what Taloraan would do next, how the relationship would run and what the possibilities were.[/SIZE]