The Traveling Gungan Salesman

[Ugohr Poof]

The past two years after the visit from a representative sent by the Gungan Rep Council have been tough for Ugohr. He taught economics to the prisoners, and he has now served three years in prison, with the second year being marked with a service trip to Asmeru. His original lightsaber is still being impounded by carceral authorities while he was approved for transfer to house arrest until the appeal proceedings are over. To Ugohr it was obvious that there were serious irregularities in his own trial, serious enough to warrant an appeal - he did kill Galdur Smok and a number of his conspirators, some of which when the tank round was fired, others in their wake, but they didn't have IFF tags, no more than the hostages did. However, despite his obvious guilt in manslaughter, his street cred in the Alliance's financial circles, which predate the crime, allowed him to peddle insurance on Sullust so long as he didn't leave Sullust and that he returned to his assigned home­ within a certain timeframe. That is, the Jedi Temple. He returned to another location on the planet, using a Schfein truck on loan from the Jedi Temple: the SCNN headquarters. He had a padawan for a chauffeur but somehow trusted the Aleena chauffeur while Ugohr was on duty. When he arrived at the lobby, he told the receptionist about the purpose of his visit.

"Mesa Ugohr Poof, mesa hair regarding yoursa insurance needs"

[member="Aneya Maev"]

 

[Aneya Maev]

The receptionist looked at the Gungan, raised her eyebrow, and replied, "Our CEO is not available at the moment. But please wait a moment, I'll contact Miss Maev."

The girl with hair almost as blonde as Aneya's had been working in the Main Headquarters of Sullust Central News Network for only a month now, but she was a promising young talent, even the CEO Xander Brand had noticed that. That's why she, unbeknownst to herself, already had a promotion coming.

"Miss Maev, I've got a Gungan here, he has something to do with insurance."

"Insurance? That's Xander's stuff," Aneya replied via the communications device. She had been in the main headquarters for a week now due to countless meetings with the whole company staff -- all three newspapers' editor-in-chiefs were present, as well as the CEO and his assistant. At the moment, though, Xander was away and all editor-in-chiefs were just minding their own business.

At least all of them had their own offices in the main headquarters so they had a place to stay.

"Well, Xander's not available at the moment. And I believe it's urgent."

"Alright, send him to my office."

[ [member="Ugohr Poof"] ]​

 

[Ugohr Poof]

The blonde-haired receptionist sent the Gungan on his way to [member="Aneya Maev"]'s office, alongside one of the security guards. Was he going to be led into some conference room where their every word could be recorded (like the last time he went to SCNN's headquarters)? Or was it another location entirely? His recollection of the premises is limited to the lobby and the conference room that kept records for everything their occupants used it for. Last time he went here, the SIS took over the content of the suitcase he brought with him. But now that there are no news for Ugohr to give, perhaps legal technicalities would be the reason why one would want to record, verbatim, the proceedings of one's negotiations pertaining to a transaction. And the layout of the place hasn't changed that much. It was a rather winding path through the complex, and, a while later, the security guard brought Ugohr to the office on the top floor. Yet he had some strange thoughts that he needed to clear up before the actual meeting begins: Will Aneya remember the old me? Will she realize that I am now a Jedi that goes around Sullust selling insurance? He knew that Jedi were often reluctant to take care of their personal finances, let alone sell financial products. Already he turned heads in the office for that very reason: no one in Alliance-land would suspect Jedi to be selling financial products, but the terms of his sentencing are pretty punitive as to exactly what Jedi business he can conduct while under house arrest. He vaguely remembers Aneya...

"There-sa no time for formalities. Mesa Ugohr Poof. Mesa asken about yoursa current insurance situation, whether yousa even have insurance policies"

 

[Aneya Maev]

"Wow," Aneya muttered, glancing at the slightly odd Gungan who'd stormed into her office and started speaking. She didn't think there was a need to hurry this much, but if the man really demanded it, she couldn't fight against it. "Take a seat, please, and then we can continue."

To be honest, Aneya was slightly, just slightly, out of her comfort zone. She had no idea what the current situation of the company was, but she did know they didn't have any insurance plans. So at least she could be certain about some things. Xander trusted the girl and she trusted herself.

The meeting wasn't going to be recorded. Firstly, because only conference centre rooms had recording systems installed, and secondly, because there was literally no need for that.

"I believe we have met before. Mister Ugohr Poof, if I remember correctly," the woman started. "We currently don't have any insurances, but I hear your company has some really good plans, so I would be willing to hear out what you have to offer."

[ [member="Ugohr Poof"] ]​

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"If yousa no haven insurance, there-sa few things yousa need to take note of. All damage insurance policies wesa sell will cover da client for da full value of da items covered in issa. Oh and theysa all-inclusive policies. And, if mesa not mistaken, yousa have buildings and starships to ensure: each of disen items need to be covered individually"

Unlike many insurers, IGR only sold all-inclusive insurance policies. Risk assessment is one thing, but Ugohr wondered what amount of free publicity IGR would get from SCNN's insurance policies. If the premium is normally significant, they would get significant advertising space for the duration of the policy: [member="Aneya Maev"] knew it. While the starship part is pretty straightforward and assumed to incur the same risks as a rental ship of that value and make, what is less straightforward to Ugohr is the risk incurred by the buildings. Sure he has an idea of what the real estate hotspots of the galaxy are and the less hot locales, but he has little knowledge of the hazards befalling planets. Sullust has volcanic eruptions, and hence the premiums might be a little high, but Bestine and Elrood? New Dinbar may be at risk of flooding, yes, but he admittedly knew little of Bestine other than it was an Alliance planet, somewhere close to the Core.

"Mesa asken for una thing first: da value of what yousa need to get insured, that is, the company's real estate properties and the company's ships"

 

[Aneya Maev]

"Hmm," Aneya murmured softly, bringing her hand to her chin in a gesture of thinking. Xander would have been needed in this situation, that's for sure. She didn't know much about the company's worth at the moment, or of the real estate and the ships. She had seen some costs around the place, probably from some documents she'd received from the CEO.

She could barely remember them.

"Well, I believe the ships are worth about a million credits altogether. We don't have many ships and the ones we bought were pretty cheap, so I wouldn't say they'd be worth a lot."

She thought for a moment.

"Real estate is a little bit more difficult. Our Main Headquarters is about five million credits right now, the Coruscant HQ is about 2 millions," Aneya said. Really costly projects, she knew. But they were amazing offices and had some of the best communications and broadcasting systems around. Not all of the money for making the HQs had come from the company itself, though, but from different sponsorships.

"The problem is, I can't tell you the exact value of the other two headquarters. They are both estimated to be around 2 million credits, but I can't tell you the exact amount."

[ @Ugorh Poof ]​

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"Wesa have a collection of shipboard policies for una million total, and another collection of building policies. Please be patient as disen quote for da totality of goods being insured issa calculated"

Ugohr entered all these items in the quote calculator for what amounts to a bulk purchase: 5 million for the headquarters, 2 million apiece for the other three offices which, from the looks of it, carry similar risks. But Sullust being a volcanic planet, it is going to be more dangerous naturally than the other three. So the corporate headquarters would be exposed to premiums that are higher than the other three properties combined. Of course, the terms of the insurance policy would be printed individually but there would be one bill for the company's records, with the addendum that the bill will be paid under the form of free publicity. [member="Aneya Maev"] was a little uncomfortable having to do her boss' job while said boss is away for another business opportunity. The Gungan finally put all these calculations together and the premium seems to be par for the course: usually one has to budget about 3% of the total value per standard year to get comprehensive ship insurance and half that figure for real estate insurance: property tax bills are usually documents most insurers want to see when it comes to real estate insurance.

"For una total of 175,000 credits a year, yousa have insurance premiums without deductibles on yoursa real estate and yoursa ships. Wesa asken for una thing: wesa ask for free publicity on SCNN until yousa ask to have disen insurance policies terminated. That being said, how much free publicity will disen get usen? If wesa needen extra advertising space, how much will issa cost usen?"

 

[Aneya Maev]

Aneya didn't know much about insurance policies, but that did sound really good.

"Mmhm, sounds plausible," she commented on the price. She then smiled, turned her eyes to the small holopad in front of her and then clicked on a button which caused the holographic screen between her to turn on, showing the standard layout of a newspaper. She quickly turned to the third page and pointed on a yellow box the size of a quarter of a page in the bottom of the page.

"This is what we're going to give you for free. That is 1/4 of the third page in Sullust Daily. As well as that, you can get 1/8 of the last page of Sullust Entertainment and Sullust Business for free until the end of the insurance policy. If you ever wish to purchase additional space, we're alright with giving you 30% off of the standard advert pricing."

Aneya was usually not the one to handle advertisement business, but since she had control over all of her newspaper (and at the moment, since Xander wasn't present, over all other newspapers as well), she could give IGR Brokerage some offers like that.

"How does that sound to you?"

[ [member="Ugohr Poof"] ]​

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"Wesa not complainen: disen good advertising space"

Ugohr was not going to complain: that was a lot of space. And neither was Cathul, the Jedi to whom he sold his share in IGR when he was on remand on Chandrila. One-quarter of the third page on a major newspaper was no small feat. The Malastarian Council was initially angry but now that Cathul was just the owner with little actual in the day-to-day operation of the company, and also well-established among the Alliancist admiralty after receiving the Legion of Merit on Kaeshana, the fears of the Malastarians are now allayed. And the native Dugs accept that they could both live on Malastare once Ugohr was done serving his sentence. However, [member="Aneya Maev"] knew that the Sullust-based publications were the ones with the highest circulation among the SCNN offerings. And he now proceeds to print all the policies for her to give to Xander once Xander returns, as well as the resulting contract that would confirm the deal. With one provison that has to be mentioned before the contract could be concluded:

"Wesa reserve da right to ask for free space on other publications if yousa maken claims dat will result in yoursa premiums to increase"

 

[Aneya Maev]

"If the conditions change, our leadership will take a look at the matter and work out the new terms. But for sure, if the insurance increases, we give you more space," Aneya gave a brief answer. She didn't know what they would do exactly were the terms to change, so she left it for Xander to work out.

She had not calculated the cost of this agreement yet -- with a quarter of a page in Sullust Daily handed away for free to a company, and then the cost of the actual insurance, there had to be some extra expenses.

However, she knew Xander wanted to change the company's structure so that it would make more income, so there was no need in worrying at the moment.

"So have we reached an agreement?"

[ [member="Ugohr Poof"] ]​

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"Wesa have reached an agreement"

The Gungan knew that [member="Aneya Maev"] would have to review the terms of the contract so that she could justify the whole insurance deal to Xander, but as far as Ugohr and IGR were concerned, these were acceptable terms. Oh, sure, he did hit the print button once all the terms of this contract were made clear on the resulting document, and the wording was made as clear as was possible. But, for all his involvement in training inmates and, both before and after his 2-year stay in prison, Jedi, in economics, he wasn't accustomed to insurance-specific legalese in any way, shape or form. Sure, he would have loved to be taking some law course in business or in contract law, just that he didn't start online business school just yet. That, even if the employer paid 50% of the price and the Naboo Crown paid the other half of the bill. Hopefully Ameya and Xander would realize that it is going to be a worthwhile deal, he thought, while handing over the contract for Aneya to review.

 

[Aneya Maev]

Aneya stretched her hand out to take the contract.

After letting her eyes take a few quick glances over the document, she nodded, bit her lower lip, and then looked at the Gungan. "I would say these terms are great. However, I can not possibly sign this contract. Xander would have to do that."

She set the contract papers down.

"He will be back some time soon, but I'm afraid he won't be able to tackle the insurance just yet. It may take him some time to read over it and process it. Does it sound alright if we contact you whenever Xander is ready to sign it?"

Aneya only hoped the Gungan would be a reasonable person and wouldn't mind a little wait. Because everybody knew that Xander was an effective trendsetter and idea generator, but he had some difficulties with documentation.

One couldn't be good at everything, he used to tell everybody.

[ [member="Ugohr Poof"] ]​

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"Yes: yousa may contact usen at IGR once Xander issa ready to sign disen contract"

In which case Ugohr would be the one to send for once again: he negotiated the deal, and he understood that, sometimes, one wasn't at liberty to close a deal. Like [member="Aneya Maev"] in this case. Business seemed to come more naturally to him than combat by that point. Obviously she was but a middle woman to her boss, who has the authority to make the closure on the deal. This time around, the Gungan would be less and less of a brute. Hopefully by the time Xander actually returns to Sullust, Ugohr won't be trapped in one of those trips of his B2B traveling salesman job: he would hate to be off-world when he would have to follow up on another sale he started working on. He only wishes to get the work done, and be done with it.