====== Inter-System Charter Company ======

<data faction !union_member>
Description [wiki] : Inter-System Charter Company is a Fringe World of the [[Union]]
Roles*           : Union member
Status [rule]      : Fringe World
Image [image::300] : ic:intersyssmall.png
Allegiance [ref]*  : Union
Base System [ref]  : Carcharoth System
Senator [ref]      : [[Yotoya Ascended]]
Leader [ref]       : [[Gloria Perfect]]
Jedi [ref]         : 
Type [rule]        : PC
User [ref::user]   : Caldoss
Logo             : transparent a bend gold and a bend sinister gold and a annulet #56A5EC and a roundel white and a ring #4E9258
Short Name       : Caldoss
</data>

The **Inter-System Charter Company** was founded by the //Steel// and //Ascended// Circles after the [[Caldoss]]i civilisation acquired hyperdrive technology and came into contact with other sentient races. The purpose of the organisation is nominally the promotion of trade, exploration and colonisation beyond the [[Carcharoth System]]. Informally, it also constitutes a civilisational monopoly on hyperdrive technology and inter-systems trade, to the exclusion of the unaffiliated Scavenger population on [[Caldoss-Wakuu]]. Although the organisation claims to speak on behalf of all Caldossi civilisation and has applied for [[Union]] membership, the cartels represent less than 20% of the total population. 

The Company is operated by a relatively small executive body of staffers recruited from the three participating cartels. These executive staffers are responsible for the day-to-day running of joint operations, such as inter-systems trade and foreign relations, Union Policy, hyperdrive traffic regulations and Scavenger Affairs. Their actions are guided by the decisions of the Three Circles Council, whose rulings must always be taken unanimously. The positions of Chief Executive, Treasurer and Executive Director for Security are rotated between the Cartel leaders. The current Chief Executive is [[Gloria Perfect]].



===== Participating Cartels =====
==== Ascended Circle ====
The **Ascended Circle** was founded some one hundred years after the Calamity by the survivors located on [[Ascension]], Caldoss' sole moon, for the purpose of maximising the profits involved in the provision of food and critical medical supplies to the survivors on the home world. This makes it the oldest cartel in Caldossi civilisation. Although it is the smallest cartel, it has maintained its influence over events on the home world for all this time, being the only steady supplier of food, uncontaminated water and medicine. The leaders of the cartel ruthlessly exploit any Caldossi not bearing the Ascended name, always acting in the defence of those living in opulence on their paradise home.

Today, the cartel's primary asset remains [[Ascension]], from which the cartel takes its name.  This moon remains the bread basket of Caldossi civilisation, and outsiders are not permitted access. A workforce is recruited from 'relatively civilised' Scavenger collaborators to work in Cartel-controlled factories on the home world, which turn the fruits of Ascension into useful produce. Additionally, the cartel lays claim to //Steel//-controlled facilities on [[Heston-Wakuu]], though it does not have anything to show for its efforts just yet. 

The Ascended are sceptical about [[Union]] membership, believing that outsiders may threaten their local monopoly. Their leader, CEO [[Cali Ascended]], believes that the Union is best used to free ride on the joint defensive arrangements, while contributing as little as possible to the whole. She is hostile to the idea of outsiders visiting either Ascention or Caldoss and worries that trading via the Holonet may undermine the Ascended monopolies. She cares little about the other Cartels' business with outsiders, so long as they do not threaten her own position. 

==== Steel Circle ====
The **Steel Circle** was not originally a business cartel. Historians claim that the Steel Circle grew out of the remnants of the pre-Calamity Caldossi government. While this may be true, the group failed to gain much traction until it jumped on the bandwagon of a massive worker revolt at Ascended planetside facilities, about 160 years post-Calamity. During the riots, the Steel Circle acquired both hyperdrive technology and a measure of legitimacy amongst the population on the homeworld. While it had always claimed to represent all civilised folk, membership of the Steel Circle was now opened to all Scavengers willing to work together for the common good, rebuilding the industries and habitats that had obviously once flourished on their homeworld. 

The good intentions of the Steel Circle are hampered by a highly complicated and bureaucratic internal organisation as well as activist and strike-prone worker's collectives. The biggest testament to the Steel Circles' failure to rebuild the old society is the abandoned project on [[Chalybs-Wakuu]]. In order to retrieve (re)building materials, the Steel Circle attempted to colonise this hot planet near the [[Carcharoth Star]], but failed utterly to maintain the operation. Nowadays, only the broken remnants of automated machinery lie around a vast mining pit. Still, the Steel Circle maintains a more successful rare elements operation on [[Heston-Wakuu]], as well as research- and administrative centres on the home world. Its attempts to recruit more Scavengers and to regulate labour conditions inside Ascended-controlled industries have been rebuffed so far.

The President of the Steel Circle, [[Vinka Steel]], is relatively enthusiastic about [[Union]] membership, hoping to attract investment for the re-industrialisation and rebuilding of [[Caldoss-Wakuu]] and the expansion of off-world projects on [[Heston-Wakuu]], [[Geston-Wakuu]] and, ultimately, a return to [[Chalybs-Wakuu]] and mining gas from [[Traze-Wakuu]]. A pragmatist at heart, he does feel the (economic) benefits of membership must continue to outweigh the costs.


==== Perfect Circle ====

The **Perfect Circle** is the youngest cartel, and an even more recent member of the Inter-System Charter Company. Its origins lie in a tax revolt by disgruntled Ascended colonists on [[Pruela]], a pleasure moon located inside the [[Carcharoth Inner Asteroid Belt]]. This moon had been turned into an even more verdant place than Ascended by an expedition launched from Ascension about three-hundred and ten years after the Calamity. About 75 years ago, these colonists declared their independence from the Ascended and formed their own business cartel: the Perfect Circle, which was to dedicate itself to entertainment, tourism and wellness. The Mistress of the matriachy that rules Pruela is [[Gloria Perfect]]. She was elected by a majority of the vote in Cartel-wide elections which, though fair, do not include male suffrage. 

The sole asset of the Perfect Circle remains Pruela, and the cartel has no ambitions of expansion beyond their home. They //do// want to attract more visitors, so as to expand their own tourism business. Sharing the pleasures of their home - for a profit. The Holonet Relay Station orbits around this moon and the first Open Market has been positioned here as well, allowing the Inter-System Charter Company to pamper their guests. Unsurprisingly, the leaders of the Perfect Circle are among the most enthusiastic proponents of [[Union]] membership.

===== Carcharoth System ======

=== Carcharoth  ===

The unimaginatively named Carcharoth Star is a giant star in the Carcharoth System. 

{{ic:whitestar.png?200|}}

=== Carcharoth Inner Asteroid Belt ===

The Carcharoth Inner Asteroid Belt is the innermost Asteroid Belt in the Carcharoth System. 

{{ic:innerbelt.png?200|}}

=== Chalybs-Wakuu ===

Chalybs-Wakuu is a Medium Planet in the Carcharoth System. This world used to be a centre-point for Steel Circle off-world mining operations. Now, only the broken remnants of automated machinery lie around a vast mining pit. The cartel dreams of one day returning here, and using the rich metal deposits to rebuild the great city-planet of Caldoss-Wakuu. 

{{ic:chalybs-wakuu.png?200|}}
=== Chalybs-Tsuun ===

 First discovered and claimed by the Steel Circle, this small world is home to a small orbital station that facilitates mineral exploration. If it ever had an atmosphere like Chalybs-Wakuu, it has long since been siphoned off by the larger celestial bodies near it. 

{{ic:chalbys-tsuun.jpg?200|}}
=== Carcharoth Central Asteroid Belt ===

The Carcharoth Central Asteroid Belt is an Asteroid Belt in the Carcharoth System. It is positioned between the orbits of Chalybs-Wakuu and Caldoss-Wakuu. 

{{ic:draiv_belt.png?200|}}
=== Caldoss-Wakuu ===
Caldoss-Wakuu is the ruined homeworld of the Caldossi in the Carcharoth System. The name literally means 'Caldoss-Planet', and the locals usually dispense with the hyphen and refer to it simply as Caldoss. Much of the world now lies in ruins, with tribes collectively (and derogatorily) referred to as the Scavengers sifting through the ruins above- and below ground, looking for useful technology in what was once a densely populated Ecumenopolis. The technology they find is traded for food and useful goods with representatives of the off-world Cartels, the Steel, Ascended and Perfect Circles. Each of these cartels also main a presence on the world, mostly for the purpose of processing raw materials using the local labour.

Over four hundred years ago, the planet suffered some kind of cataclysmic disaster, which is referred to by the people in the system as 'the Calamity'. The exact nature of the Calamity is unknown, and it is the subject of much speculation among the Caldossi people, with each faction offering competing explanations. Some suspect that some kind of war with outsiders may have occurred, others blames environmental mismanagement by the preceding Caldossi civilisation, and some of the survivors living on the planet blame the people of Ascension for having set the whole thing up, so that they might profit from the sale of food and medicines to the people below.

Regardless of the cause, the degraded atmosophere is now classified as Type II, due to a rampant greenhouse effect and the presence of poisonous contaminants. Outsiders and Circle representatives always wear breathing masks when going planetside. 

{{ic:caldoss-wakuu.jpg?200|}}

{{ic:caldoss.jpg?200|}}
=== Ascension ===
 Ascension, formally known as Caldoss-Tsuun, is the sole moon of the Caldossi homeworld. It is the exclusive property of the Ascended Circle, and outsiders are not permitted access. Most Scavengers regard the inhabitants of this unspoilt paradise with jealousy. 

{{ic:ascension.png?200|}}
=== Heston-Wakuu ===

 Heston-Wakuu is a Small Planet in the Carcharoth System. Heston and Geston are double planets, of which Heston is the most coveted by the cartels. Despite its dense, highly poisonous atmosphere and constant volcanic activity, the Ascended Circle and the Steel Circle maintain competing claims on this world. Because of these differences, the planet remains mostly uninhabited. Representatives of both Circles maintain a presence on the world, attempting to deny the other cartel opportunities for expansion in the lucrative market for rare earths. 
	 
{{ic:heston.jpg?200|}}
=== Geston-Wakuu ===
Geston-Wakuu is a Small Planet in the Carcharoth System. Heston and Geston are double planets. Of the double planets, Geston is considered to be the 'weaker' one in Scavenger mythology. Even though its stature is only slightly smaller, the gravitational forces of a double orbit are slowly pulling the planet apart, leaving parts of the mantle exposed. The minerals that have come to the surface as the result of these forces are, as of yet, unexploited. 

{{ic:geston2.png?200|}}

=== Carcharoth Outer Asteroid Belt ===

The Carcharoth Central Asteroid Belt is an Asteroid Belt in the Carcharoth System. It is positioned between the orbits of Heston-Wakuu/Geston-Wakuu and Traze-Wakuu. Though mainly barren rock it is noted for the pleasure moon of Pruela, which occupies the same orbit. 
	
{{ic:outerbelt.png?200|}}

=== Pruela ===
 Pruela, formally known as Pruela-Tsuun, is a moon that was turned into the most verdant place in the system by an expedition from Ascension. About 75 years ago, the inhabitants declared their independence from the Ascended and formed their own business cartel: the Perfect Circle. The Holonet Relay Station orbits around this moon, and the first Open Market has been positioned here as well, allowing the Inter-System Charter Company to pamper their guests. 

{{ic:pruela.png?200|}}

=== Traze-Wakuu ===
Traze-Wakuu is a Brown Dwarf in the Carcharoth System.

{{ic:traze.jpg?200|}}

