Fwurg

[Dana Lantria Asillion]

"I understand." Dana said. Her tone also hinting at disappointment, though she did hope the Marquise recognised she was honestly trying to come to an agreement.

With more confidence she continued.

"The ACA will start patrolling the sectors around 7 -4 for an outpost they are building in cooperation with the Hiocan Society in 6 -5. Unfortunately, 7 -3 has a number of restricted areas. ((OOC: I'm not entirely sure if the independant minor world is a thing yet as it's not on the wiki yet.)) So that sector may not be ideal. 6 -4 might be somewhat risky due to it's proximity to the Core Hegemony, but I'm confident the Union's proximity should scare them off. We would not have to pay for that patrol directly, so that would reduce costs.

The Bluethread Group can also obtain at wholesale, resulting in a price of 2.4 / . Putting the price of a station itself at 3900 .

Survey costs are a bit more troublesome to properly estimate at this time. The ACA is currently deciding if they should subsidize part of the survey costs. So it may fall below 1500 , though I can't say with how much with any amount of certainty."

[Marquise Iaat Tijārata]

((OOC: The independant minor worlds are not yet a thing, but if it is not a Major world, the fact that they're in a sector wouldn't be much of a problem, I think.))

"I see. If the military support is in place, and the are available at such price levels, I can understand the corporate interest in colonisation.

Dependeing on the investment and ownership structures we explore, there might be several difficulties with regard to our different cultures -- colonisation is not a purely corporate endeavour, so there will be matters of corporate, political and cultural nature to arrange. Yet I think this is a very promising topic to investigate further.

What kind of cooperation are you looking for in this?"

[Dana Lantria Asillion]

"The Bluethread Group is merely interested in the corporate aspects of space habitats. The political and cultural aspects are for the ACA to handle, not us.

Our deal with the ACA for the requires we have at least a fifty percent ownership of the station itself. And we aren't allowed to sell them on to third parties. I realise this complicates the matter, but I'm sure you understand a contract is a contract.

Under these conditions I'm not sure what kind of cooperation you are willing to accept."

[Marquise Iaat Tijārata]

"That depends on who owns the other fifty percent", the marquise replies with a sly smile.

"But I do not exactly understand how you can claim that the political and cultural aspects are for the ACA to handle. Surely, if you own seventy-five percent of the outpost, you carry at least some responsibility for the political situation?"

[Dana Lantria Asillion]

"That largely depends on what you call a 'political situation'." Dana explained.

"The ACA handles colonies the same as they do sub-factions. In fact legally speaking they are the same. They are basically given the freedom to handle things on their own terms, well partially at least. As owners we're allowed to put in a local government, the Bluethread Group would put a CEO and board of directors in place. After proper legal agreements pertaining to dividends and trade agreements have been made, we would give them free reign. As we have done with a few sub-factions on Stellaria and Serina. They would have to be the ones to deal with the ACA and other local matters from that point. And consequently they would hold responsibility.

The Bluethread Groups involvement would be similar to that of a shareholder of a company. Weather you call that political or not, is up for debate."

"If that hasn't answered your question, could you please explain what political situation you refer to? Are you referring to territorial matters or something else?"

[Marquise Iaat Tijārata]

The marquise's expression betrayed her surprise at the explanation.

"I'm afraid your answer only raises more questions, miss Asillion."

To mask her surprise, she took a sip of water while she mentally composed herself.

"So if I understand you correctly, and please do correct me if I misunderstand, you are effectively creating new political entities within the Astrian Colonial Authority. If you, as owners, are allowed to put in a local government what possible reason could you have to give your newly installed leader free reign?", the way she emphasized the word "allowed' was not in jest or sarcasm, but as if expressing the name of a very expensive commodity.

She continued with a steady voice.

"Isn't it much more profitable to keep control of these newly created territories firmly within your grasp? Surely the tax profits and influence you gain from such endavours is worth the effort of maintaining a military division of the Bluethread Group."

"Besides, if you installed a local government, and you are still a major owner of the territory, surely the ACA leadership is also aware of your stake in the management of the colony. So the ACA leadership wouldn't allow the Bluethread Group to let responsibility fall on a sockpuppet government. They would still come knocking on your door when things do not go according to their wishes, since you are effectively the one in charge."

"Keeping the territory under your own rule would make things much easier, and compound the income and influence from these territories instead of fracturing it out to installed leaders that will turn against you at the drop of a hat."

She closed her barrage of questions with another sip, while looking expectantly at her conversational partner.

[Dana Lantria Asillion]

Dana laughed as the Marquise finished her barrage of questions. Taking a sip of water she started speaking again.

"I'm sorry. I suppose I should have explained further. First of all, I should probably let you know that if the Bluethread Group, or anyone in the ACA actually, tried to create a military they would be executed for high treason by the ACA. Law enforcement and private security firms are severely restricted in the kinds of armaments they are allowed to own. It's really restricted to small arms. Nothing capable of stopping pirates. Or any army, for that matter."

She spoke matter-of-factly. She took a sip of water, then continued.

"Aside from that, if we would maintain control we would be considered the sub-faction government. Sub-faction governments aren't allowed to make a profit. Any surplus in a sub-factions bookkeeping goes straight into the ACA's coffers.

The reason the management of the sub-faction doesn't go against us is because we still hold the power to shut them down economically. Unlike the ACA, the sub-factions cannot stop us by force. Besides, not interfering any further in politics has safeguarded the Bluethread Group from being put under restrictions by the ACA."

Then it seemed Dana just got an idea.

"Marquise, I seem to remember a file crossing my desk, about the Veolian Commonwealth needing . Perhaps this is exactly the opportunity we have been looking for."

[Marquise Iaat Tijārata]

"I see.", the marquise replied to Dana's explanation, though her tone indicated that she still had her doubts about the whole situation.

"Yes, your are right, there is an increased demand in . This is in part due to aggressive repurposing of older facilities by my House, and in part due to the strong growth of the population of Mirda. We are currently wasting 120 and 72 each , but we lack the funds to correct this situation at the moment. To be honest -- as businesswomen amongs each other -- this happened mainly due to a misestimation of the costs of repurposing the old facilities.

Since, at this moment, we mostly lack the funds to do something about the shortage we have opened a request to other Union members. This covers us in case accusations are made that we deliberately shorted on , and as an added benefit allowed us to poll the Union market for . We expect that the Adii Nasla settlement will eventually start producing a good amount of , at which time we hopefully have the funds to capitalize on the development."

She took a sip of water.

"The production of is indeed an interesting opportunity. Though as far as I know they can not be produced in Outposts, nor in Space Habitats...", she left the sentence hanging.

[Dana Lantria Asillion]

"That is true." Dana replied truthfully.

"To be completely honest the idea just popped into my head, but looking at these numbers again makes me realise that trading 100 for 265 is not that beneficial to you."

Dana took another sip of her water.

"In any case, may I ask what kind of cooperation you have in mind for a space habitat? Or would you prefer an outpost?"

[Marquise Iaat Tijārata]

"I had hoped to look into establishing outposts and space habitats to generate raw materials and products both our worlds lack, and of which there are only one or two providers. Things like , , and . But I'm afraid that our wildly different policies with respect to outpost governance will prevent us from cooperation.

As you know, I do not represent a corporate entity, but a noble House. It is not possible for us to seperate business from politics, as any deal we agree to will reflect on our political dealings as well. I see no way to reconcile your policy of non-involvement in politics with our way of doing things. Unless of course the Bluethread Group is interested in investing in joint ventures in Veolian territories?"

[Dana Lantria Asillion]

Dana was quiet for a moment. Then she sighed.

"I'm afraid you are right, we are probably not going to reach an agreement. We do not have the means to invest in large projects at this time, due to our other obligations. And thus I believe it might be wise to end here.

I must admit it was nice to negotiate with someone who knows the value of their goods and the positions of the negotiators. It's been a while since I actually enjoyed negotiations, despite the fact we were not able to get an agreement."

She smiled at the last sentence.

[Marquise Iaat Tijārata]

"It is unfortunate, but a reality of trading. Even if both parties want to establish a cooperation the opportunity must still present itself."

"I too have enjoyed these negotiations.", the marquise smiled back, "We should do it again sometime.", she added with a happy intonation.

The marquise stands up to walk Dana back to the hovercar.