Chp-3: Love Dat Trash

Chp-3: Love Dat Trash

I was sat in my office, doing Very Important Work. I was brute force calculating the precise necessary trajectories needed to maximize potential profit and secure overwhelming victory.

"Kobe!"

The rubber ball missed wildly, bouncing throughout the room, forcing me to cowerbravely take cover behind my desk.

From my hiding place fortress steel, I heard the hiss of the doors to my office. Immediately, I jumped into my seat and flattened my uniform just in time for Darna to walk into my office. Clad in the stark grey uniform most imperial bureaucrats wear which contrasted nicely with her teal blue skin, she cut a sharp, professional figure. The type of office worker you know gets shit done. 

"Hello Darna, what hav-" Before I could greet her, my totally calculated high velocity projectile rebounded off a wall, smacked the top of my skull, and went flying right into Darna's waiting hand.

I withered under her glare as I rubbed the top of my head.

"I see you're working hard" she says in a clearly unamused tone.

"I was brute force calculating the precise necessary-"

"You were playing with a ball"

"I was playing with a ball"

A silence stretched between us, one that Las's memories told me were not unlike those suffered under his mothers wrath.

With a sigh, she placed a datapad on my desk. Taking the opportunity for what it is, I quickly engrossed myself in the numbers. Whatever makes her stop looking at me like a disappointment.

"The prospectors from Eckshi Mining have reported that the asteroid belts are filled not only with a bevy of dwarf planet sized asteroids, but there seem to be some fairly considerable possible resource deposits. They're asking to buy the rights to portions of the belt."

"Absolutely not. I'm willing to rent out portions of the belt for mining claims, but no permanent ownership"

Hopefully, this system would allow me to make some solid cash. Enough, and I could fund some new infrastructure. I was thinking of setting up a refinery/mining base on one of the super-asteroids, which could fund other expansions, which would fund other expansions, and so on and so forth. 

Then I realized something.

"Darna, why are you here in person? This could have been sent directly to my terminal"

She seemed to pause, like a deer caught in headlights. A clear nervousness in her body language told me that whatever she was about to say, it couldn't be good.

"...I just wanted to ask about your plans moving forward"

Odd, but I doubt this is the crux of the issue. "What about them?"

"...I wanted to know where you are going to source the…labor for your upcoming infrastructure projects."

Labor…oh! "Don't worry about it, I don't do that slavery shit."

My crude language seems to surprise her, almost as much as my declaration. "But wouldn't it be easier…?"

"First of all, slavery is for braindead social climbers who can't comprehend the real worth of sentient capital. Secondly, if I bring slaves into the system, that means slave labor businesses will start setting up shop, taking work from the locals. Not only will that inevitably invite more crime(the Hutt's terrify me, though I won't tell her that), but it's bound to get my office firebombed by protesters and my mailbox pumped chock full of anthrax! Also slavery is just bad for local businesses, including me, so…"

Darna just stands there, frozen in what must be complete awe of my incredible speechifying skills.

"...you don't support slavery…because it's bad for business?"

"And because I can comprehend the worth of sentient capital, yes."

She just stares at me in confusion. I sigh, wishing I had a whiteboard or something(investment idea? Don't know who would buy one with holograms around but maybe?).

"Okay, so think of it like this. People, that is sentients, produce value. They do this by getting an education, working a job, buying things, paying taxes. While cheap labor can produce shit real cheap, those slaves aren't producing as much value for the economy and society as they would if they were free, educated, and working better jobs. With more people engaging in the economy, more companies spring up, more inventors, more investments, more new technology, etc… This allows the society as a whole to grow. All slavery really does is produce cheap labor, and throws away all the potential those slaves might have. How many might become doctors, decorated war heroes, hyper-skilled scientists and inventors? How many of them might change the world? It's a waste I tell you, complete and utter waste. Not only that, but slaves are people, with emotions, a will to live, etc… that means that by enslaving people, I would be inviting their hatred onto myself. I'm trying to MINIMIZE the number of enemies I make, and slavery would mean a whole CASTE of people would hate my guts. That's not worth it to me, no siree."

Confusion and wide eyes. Does she not get it? "Ahh, whatever, you don't gotta get it. Anyways, while you're here, has Captain Veer sent any reports?"

The query seemed to rile her from within her mind, and she snapped straight back into secretary mode.

"Ah, yes sir. Captain Veer has already done scans of both remaining continents planet-side, along with both moons, and is currently in the process of scanning Minda 2. Apparently, the other continents are more diverse in regards to biomes, while both moons have some deep canyons that could hold both mining facilities or hidden defense hangars. Also, the wreckage of an old Republic Acclimator has been identified on Minda 3-A, though due to the precarious positioning of the wreck, the Captain thought it too dangerous to investigate."

An Acclamator? I slid my datapad over to me as Darna sent the files. Opening the scan results up, it took me a few seconds to find the Acclamator. Looking at it, it was certainly in a bad position. Dangling over a ravine, the only reason it hadn't fallen was because it hit the ravine at an angle, and the nose seemed to be stuck in the opposite wall, stopping it from sliding further. It would certainly be tough to recover, but it looked to be in decent shape. 

Scorch marks marred the hull, but otherwise there seemed to be few penetrations, and no missing pieces or armor panels. 

"Call up the Sector Office at Dubrillion, see if they can't send some heavy-duty tractor-tugs out here. If we can restore this thing, it'll make for a great cargo ship."

"Cargo? I was under the impression it was a troop transport."

"Was. The Greater Empire doesn't take well to Republic symbology. One of the reasons they phased out LAAT's. Using it as a troop transport might rub some fanatics the wrong way. Also, we don't need mass troop transport. Might as well make a profit on this"

God I love money.