Year 7 Day 6sublight / Varn / Glythe Sector

Happy (belated) New Year! With all of the holidays lately, I've barely had time to get any serious work done. I got some building projects handled for ComBank, which went well, and I learned a lot. Foremost, have all of your bureaucracy and materials taken care of before it matters!

Now I'm back in what I'm coming to think of as the "home system", zipping around scanning empty space, looking for aggressive intruders. I'm not quite sure who or what I'm looking for, nor even if anyone is really intruding. This may be a drill that the Security Dept. has pulled, but I think somebody saw something out here. Something they shouldn't have seen.

So help me, if I round the limb of this planet and come face-to-face with a Star Destroyer, we'll learn the upward mechanical capabilities of a Gallofree transport really fast!

Here's hoping all this empty space is as empty as it looks. Trespassers, spies, and invaders are all bad for business.

Year 7 Day 14atmo-cruisin' / Varn / Glythe Sector

I'm touring around a volcanic ball of crap on the trusty ol' TFL Delivery, waiting for some of our contractors to wrap up construction on a power generator. We're pretty much here (though I can't tell you precisely where here is, for security reasons) just for the sole sake of staking a claim and keeping people out. Not that anyone would want to come to this Force-forsaken ash heap. Still, I suppose bureaucrats and bigwigs take comfort in apparent solidarity, no matter how cosmetic.

That's enough of the waxing political for one day!

I've got some guests on board. A fitness trainer (read: over-the-hill martial arts instructor); some kind of furball with an aptitude for hydrospanners; five loitering Wookiees; and a very, very overworked medic. Ever since the Wookiees discovered I installed djarik in the mess suite, it's been arms-out-of-sockets on a daily basis.

I bought a ship! Granted, it's just a simple Cloakshape fighter, but it does have a hyperdrive installed, which is sort of unusual for such an old model. Sadly, though I have the paperwork stating it's my ship, I've never laid eyes on it. I'm not even sure where it is, really! I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that it's all in one piece whenever I get around to collecting it. No hurry, though. So long as the CA keeps me in fine fashion with big ships like the Delivery, I don't even need a ship of my own. Maybe I can find a needy sucker out there to take the fighter of my hands at a modest (or, better yet, terrifically un-modest!) profit.

Only one or two more days in this waterless backwater. Then I can gather my crew, and head off to a more lucrative construction project in more civilized environs.

Year 7, Day 21Hyperspace

Well, I've wrapped up my third consecutive construction project, and now I'm ready for some personal time. It'll be a week before the construction crew gets the main cables laid and last circuits activated, so I'm taking a quick hyperspace vacation. I might as well see a part of the Galaxy I've never been to before!

I had my navicomputer randomly select a destination that was three days out from my current position, and it came back with the Essowyn system in the Trax sector. I have only the faintest idea of what to find in this sector, and I know nothing at all about Essowyn, except for how many planets are there. It seems like a pretty quiet place, though. Maybe a good place to relax and brush up on some management skills. The CA has plenty of people for grunt-work, but not a lot of people to call the shots. And if I'm going to keep doing these construction jobs, I really ought to know a little more about team organization.

My listings on the Galactic Market are... well... faring pretty poorly. The market's been in an unsettling state of flux, due to some rumors of new mass production technology making everything in the Galaxy a lot cheaper to produce. With a future of glutted supplies, demand is dropping in anticipation. And that's hitting me right in the bank account. Hard to make profits? Stang! It's hard to sell things at a loss these days! People just don't buy.

Now that I think about it, maybe I'll make this less of a working vacation, and concentrate on playing. There'll be work a-plenty in the months ahead.

Year 7, Day 36Super-secret location in Glythe

The vacation is done, the construction is done, and I feel like I've learned a lot. It hasn't been the mercantile adventure I expected, but there's some promise of that in the days to come. And I can't complain! Since joining up with the CA, I've traded over two million credits on the Galactic Market! Not to mention I'm currently in possession of three ships, with another two purchases very likely. I'll give those old clunkers a tune-up, some fresh paint, and sell 'em back to the public at a 7-10% profit! I hope. The Market is still somewhat... err... unpredictable.

I'm currently descending through the gorgeous atmosphere of a planet called {CENSORED!} in the {CENSORED!} system, where the CA is busily erecting its state-of-the-art headquarters. The sun is setting behind the skyline as I approach, and it's the most beautiful place I've seen since I've left Salliche. With this as our base of operations, I can't help but think we have prosperous days ahead!

Year 7, Day 42Rhukidalf Ruins, Rhukidalf / Amorris / Glythe Sector

One of the Galaxy's independent holoreports picked up a review I wrote while I was killing time on Rhukidalf!

Galactic Hotel Report - Rhukidalf This quaint backwater may be short on cosmopolitan amenities, but it lacks nothing in frosty panoramas. Lurking within only one light-minute of the Amorris sun, Rhukidalf has a split personality: one hemisphere deadly hot, the other deadly cold. However, Rhukidalf's rotation is such that one hemisphere constantly faces the sun, creating a barely hospitable twilight zone that encircles the globe. Most lifeforms will quickly find themselves dead, should they venture more than a few kilometers into the light or into the cold. It was in this narrow band of inhabitable tundra that I paid a visit to the Ruins Bed & Breakfast with my good chums Anto and Liran in tow. Visitors to Amorris are rare enough, but visitors to Rhukidalf are as rare as blonde hair on a Trandoshan. The staff of the RB&B competed with each other to serve us, snatching our luggage from each other, and racing to the console to assign us rooms. The inn had recently been acquired by the Corporate Alliance (full disclosure: Riley Moonrigger is a transport pilot with the Corporate Alliance), and the staff's eagerness and expert training were impeccable. At first it was an impressive sight, but as the tips starting ticking out of my creditpad I began to wish just one employee would see to our needs. Nonetheless, I have to say I prefer too much service to too little. Our rooms were neatly appointed, and the attention to guest comfort was apparent. The room even featured windows made of the same triply-insulated glasteel that is used on some deep-sublight freighters. There was no worry of going cold, no matter how hard to wind lashed the outside of the building. The bedspread, though synthetic and very crinkly-sounding, was extraordinarily warm, soft, and plush. Anto, being some exotic insect race that feeds infrequently, declined dinner, but Liran and I were famished after the obstacle course of hotel staff. We easily found our way to the central dining room, which was small in the fashion of all Bed & Breakfast establishments. Though it was small by restaurant standards, the dining area was more than big enough for Liran and myself, as the only diners in attendance. We were given the Presidential Table, which is theoretically reserved for visiting members of the Senate. We faced an enormous vista window, through which were visible thin slices of both the sunlit surface to the west, and the eastern deep shadows (which locals refer to as "the Allcold"). There were only two courses, due to the scarcity of fresh stock and our unexpected arrival. I began with a tossed salad of Glythan greens seasoned with a local mineral salt, while Liran dove straight into a double order of the Valrare steak entrée. He committed a slight faux pas by ordering the meat "well-done and over easy", contrary to the custom of getting it cooked rare. I suppose a simple Toydarian builder can't be expected to be up-to-date on every system's dietary quirks! We retired to our rooms with a promise that the chef would prepare a special breakfast before our departure in the morning, as well as some desserts to take with us in apology for the lack of sweets with dinner. Well sated, we tuned into a local rebroadcast of the syndicated holodrama Behind the Black Masque until turning in for the night. While I can't honestly recommend Rhukidalf as a holiday destination, if you really, really want to get away from it all, the Ruins Bed & Breakfast is the place to do it comfortably.

Year 7, Day 55Klorangrad, Varno / Varn / Glythe Sector

I'm trucking again.

I've returned to the home world of the Trade Federation, where the Corporate Alliance's old offices are. I'm lumbering groundward in a bulk freighter to pick up some raw materials for ComBank. This thing handles like a bantha. It's a shocking comparison to the performance of either the YT-2000 freighter or the Cloakshape fighter I was just playing around in. Both are my ships, and both are stationed in orbit over Varn. I'll probably sell the fighter (once I can consolidate some more of them in the same location; people will pay more for complete squadrons!) but that YT is so fast, it seems like I'd have to be stupid to get rid of it. True, it has about as much effective cargo space as a pair of pants, but... the speed! Oh, the speed!....

It really makes me appreciate how slow these bulk freighters are.

Year 7, Day 68Varn / Glythe sector

My transport duties have been put on hold while the bulk freighter we have on loan is used for a higher priority job. I've been flying sensor patrols in the Varn system in my zippy YT-2000, looking out for inbound traffic. So far, nobody out of the ordinary has made an appearance, which is just fine by me! Although Varn is the one open system in the Glythe sector, I'd prefer to not see any visitors from, say, Eidola.

I've got a fine Drop Ship Transport prepped for sale on the Galactic Market! The standard-issue DST from Kuat has a depressingly Imperial color scheme (gray on gray! blech!) which I've tried to improve with some gleaming white hull ceramics. I'm hoping somebody out there has use for a good looking personnel transport.

Gotta get back to the controls. I'm about to pass between the orbits of Marthril and Varno. It's not dangerous, but it can be a tricky gravity well to traverse on a straight line.

Year 7, Day 99hyperspace

Wow, I haven't written much in a while now! Time flies when you're having fun, they say. Though who would think preparing for war with the Galactic Empire is fun, I dunno.

If you've been living in a cave on Dagobah, you might not be up on current events. The long and short of it is this: the Emperor made an offer to the Trade Federation, asking the TF to cede governmental powers and join the Empire as the official trade administration; the Viceroy refused, providing ample & respectful arguments to support continued Trade Federation sovreignty; the Emperor took it as an insult, and immediately declared the TF "Galactic Enemy #1".

Since the Corporate Alliance is incorporated with the TF, I was personally pulled into events WAY bigger than anything I ever wanted to see. Now I'm running supplies all over the place, while the Trade Federation establishes treaties with the Rebel Alliance and its supporters.

I have a bad feeling about this.

In good news, I sold my Drop Ship Transport for... well, let's just say it's the kind of profit that keeps me warm on these long hyperjumps. Just in time, too. The last thing I want right now is to be accused of being in possession of "Imperial property", even though it was just a stock Kuat design. Ugh, there I go again. This war is the only thing any of us can think about any more.....

Year 7, Day 119Epidemi / Glythe sector

I've just spent a very long time joined in a security effort to root out minions of the Galactic Empire.

Rather than risk resources and reputation on a direct conflict, Vodo has resorted to subterfuge and the establishment of covert bunkers in Trade Federation space. The TF bigwigs were wise to this move, though, and had a massive reconnaissance force deployed to detect any Imperial activity.

Although I saw literally nothing—except for a few fighters passing on the opposite side of the system, once—there have been rumors of sweeping successes for the Trade Federation! I just hope this ends soon. Maybe the Empire will decide to call off these hostile land grabs, if the price gets too high. Even the Imperial coffers must have a limit on how many losses they can absorb.

Otherwise, I've been spending my spare time (what little there is of it these days!) upgrading the Corporate Alliance holocasters, linking our identification badges directly into the company data dumps over the Holonet. I never realized I had this knack for tinkering when I was working for my father. Maybe I just didn't have enough cool things to disassemble, with the limited tech on his Action III.

Sales are... well, sales are practically dead. I've got an X-34 landspeeder on the market. I got it detailed, and had a new paint job put on it, but I'm worried these old speeders just aren't as in demand, now that the XP-38's are out. We'll see.

Year 7, Day 133hyperspace

Turns out, I know how to sell an X-34 landspeeder just fine. The thing was off the market quickly, and I made a tidy profit, even after turning over my share to the CA.

Of course now there's a whole new Sarlacc pit opened up: the Galactic Market has upgraded their network, vastly increasing the availability of goods. Sure, that sounds nice, but it has also caused a dramatic price drop across the board. Anybody who had anything in inventory when the network went online is almost guaranteed a loss.

Including me! I have a squadron of hyper-capable Cloakshape fighters that I've been trying to consolidate in a single location, so I can give them the "new paint job & sell high" treatment. Now, I'll be lucky to break even, even if I give them the hottest design in the Galaxy, and offer free shipping. I should have had these ships done and sold weeks—even months ago! But I got burned by my transporter. Burned bad, it turns out.

On the up-side, the Corporate Alliance has orders flying in, asking us to construct Commerce Centers all over the place. People want access to the Galactic Market's network, and we can give it to them. So maybe I'm not doing great, but the team is.

And that's good enough for me.

Year 7, Day 138hyperspace... again!

Well, there have been some unusual shifts in the chain of command lately. There have been transfers to other companies, sabbaticals, the establishment of a President Pro Tem, and—perhaps oddest of all—my promotion to Director of Logistics.

I didn't even get a chance to mention it here, but I think I spent all of two weeks as Deputy Director.

The new workload is fairly daunting, but there's lots of advice from various quarters. Lots of advice. Perhaps a little too much. In some areas, it's gone from daunting to dazing. I have a feeling that if I'm going to run this nerf herd, I'm going to have to establish some of my own practices.

While I adjust, I've managed to "sneak off" for a job of personal interest. I'm finally going to get my Cloakshape fighters collected! Nearly four and a half months after purchasing the first one, I'll finally have my squadron in one place. It will be a long, slow trip, but one I'm really looking forward to.

I'm hoping all the time by myself will help give me time and perspective on how to keep the Corporate Alliance's Logistics department running smoothly.

Year 7, Day 189Amorris orbit / Glythe sector

Has it really been over fifty days since my last update? I had no idea organizing Logistics would be so time-consuming! Despite the predictable delays and learning curve, it's been a good experience. I feel confident about the direction the Corporate Alliance is taking under my... um... direction!

We've initiated a galaxy-wide project constructing CA-controlled Commerce Centers everywhere. Well, not everywhere. There are thousands of charted, habitable planets, and dozens of cities on many of them. Still, we're establishing a strong presence as one of the galaxy's premier trading companies. As much as I enjoy transporting goods and taking on construction contracts, it will be nice to get back to the core goals of the Corporate Alliance.

What's good for the CA has proven to be disastrous for me. The expanded accessibility of the Galactic Market has dropped prices remarkably. So even though I finally have my shiny squad of Cloakshape fighters collected (not to mention the even-shinier squadron of N-1 fighters!) I'm having one hell of a time selling them without taking a loss. I might have to just let them go at whatever price I can, try not to choke on the deficit, and start over with my budget calibrated to the new supply and demand model.

Not a fun prospect.

In cheerier news, we've had a great crop of recruits recently. Some real enthusiastic, bright-eyed guys. It's hard to believe I was one of those eager young recruits not so long ago!

Year 7, Day 242hypering through Glythe sector

Another 50 days? I would feel bad for not recording more here, except that I've been so busy!

We've had a fantastic few weeks. There have been additional commerce centers constructed, a major urban development was laid down on the planet Gallyrn, and we've attracted several clients from outside of the CIS. Money coming in, lots of hard work, and good things on the horizon.

The Techno Union, despite their reticence and isolationism, are on the cusp of producing a new heavy freighter, which I think will be a huge boon to the CA. Heck, the W-23 Star Hauler is so impressive, I'm seriously considering buying one for myself! (I know they're expensive, but it would be an investment that would pay for itself.)

In other news, I managed to gain legal ownership of a poor city in the nether neighborhood of the galaxy. Out in Trax sector, Teniel Djo and her Eidola pirates had free reign over the impoverished residents of Halifax City. I can only presume they were used as slaves for various indecent activities. For whatever reason, the deed for the city was put up for sale, and I managed to snatch it up. Someday soon I'll travel out to meet those poor people face to face, and see what I can do to improve their situation.

And, if it turns out they're hard workers, maybe I'll benefit from their improved lifestyles as well.