Watching the mesmeric blur of hyperspace for only a few moments, for people could rarely withstand such without courting insanity, Blackfire Prime considered the task before himself and, by association, his organization. The Sertar Sector was far out along the Outer Rim, largely ignored with poor, backwater planets, little-used trade routes and only a minimal Imperial presence. As such, it was the ideal place for Blackfire to finally deploy a deepdock and its accompanied defensive station, as well as to sink their roots in well and good.
Mobility had been, for quite some time, Blackfire's greatest asset, but also its greatest weakness. True, they could travel practically anywhere without worry of needing to defend static areas, but the ability to have their own repair yard that would double as a research station of sort as well as a development center would be truly invaluable. When it came to planets, some were valuable choices for an initial setup of prefabricated structures. Other were right out and some were in-between. Arorua was considered a valuable planet, largely because of the the low-tech indigenous populace and the vicious silan that might well provide a source of use to Blackfire, if captured. Brachi, home to gundarks, was a more viable option due to its lack of truly sentient lifeforms. Drayberia was another such world that was considered for similar reasons. Elom would have been perfect, especially with their native population and mining of Lommite; however, the Imperial control of the planet made it nearly impossible to set up an operation there. To balance this though, Ermi was a well-placed world with a population long-since eradicated by Xim, leaving resources untouched for quite some time. Florrum was a prime site to become linked with the pirates and undesirables on the world; both the CIS and the Republic had left a bad taste in the mouths of those present, and the Empire had no presence there.
Kejim had been seen a possible site, but without full verification. On Lamus, the human A'Mar were not likely to be allies, but could be subjugated due to their low technology. Of course, Ord Torrenze was quite impossible as its former status as an ordnance depot. Qalydon held a small Imperial garrison, one could assume, but it was unsure. Sondarr was a prime candidate for its remote location, as was Syngia. Tandgor would be perfect for its gemstones, a resource Blackfire could tap into, but Tervissis, a former Separatist world, was not apt due to its subjugation by the Empire, and Blackfire wished to stay well away from any worlds that held Separatist ties; not wishing to be involved.
For the time being though, Prime had several options to think on, and the travel to their destination sector would give them time to achieve what they needed to do.Added (02 Jan 2013, 1:40 PM)
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Ermi was the primary choice of operations for a number of Blackfire's vessels. The pair of KR-TB Doomtreader, Gaunt-1 and Gaunt-2, along with the pair of modified Barloz-class freighters Lure-1 and Lure-2 and a quartet of Flarestar-class shuttles were inbound for the long-abandoned world. Carried on board the cargo areas of all four ships were a number of small, prefabricated mining equipment as well as the droids necessary to operate a mining camp in relative quiet. In essence, Ermi was a 'fire-and-forget' mission wherein Blackfire could set up mining for a number of valuable resources, including gems, which could then be sold across the galaxy in a number of Blackfire-touched fronts and companies, ranging from the Inner Rim to the Outer Rim.
In the days and weeks following the advent and setup of Blackfire's initial operations on Ermi, other elements of the criminal organization would continue to expand throughout the Sertar Sector. The modified corvette Support-1 traveled to Drayberia, seeking any signs of sentience on the world, as well as scanning for any useful materials. That task alone, falling to a pocket carrier, would also take some time; a week at least.
The SS-54 transports were sent to the gemstone-producing world of Tandgor to see what could be gleaned from such. Sentience was likely on the planet, what with its reputation, but the very location of the world placed it off the beaten path and here, the odds of an actual defensive force seemed so small as to be almost humorous. Of course, the chances of an Imperial garrison on some worlds meant that the Empire did have a limited presence, but as long as nothing stirred that, then there was no true need to worry about the Imperials. Prime didn't plan to cross them, anyway.
For Blackfire Prime, his travel aboard the corvette Strike-1 took him to Florrum, where he planned to work personally to integrate his crew with the criminal aspects on the world.
Added (06 Jan 2013, 12:23 PM)
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Between the eight transports, there was enough space to get a covert little mining operation kicked off on the dead world. Based after some hunting and finding in a rather deep crevasse that promised rich veins of gold and aurodium. Rich, if not fortunately large enough to fund a permanent operation at their current site, but it would suffice. And so, the droids themselves were set to work under the command of an EV-series droid. Having warned the droid under strict orders to temper its sadism with 'good work ethic,' the Blackfire elements on the planet prepared for the departure. Of course, all the while, there were a few men who stayed with the ships to ensure the skies were watched and that nobody could simply sneak aboard the vessel.
On Drayberia, the Blackfire forces that monitored the lifesigns of the world found nothing to directly indicate civilization. It didn't preclude an underground civilization, or perhaps the smallest of colonies, but by and large Drayberia was a forested and temperate world. It would serve a purpose as well, once a team was dropped off to investigate further, and for the time being, Support-1 would go almost within the atmosphere to conduct better scans of the world and to allow the crew on board to shuttle to the ground and whatnot.
Tandgor would prove to be more of an obstacle. Appearing as company vessels for the front company 'Gemstones & Stuff,' did not endear them well to the existing mining companies on Tandgor. However, the world was large enough and direct mining was not so profitable that a large number of miners fought over the claims. Rather, it was the chance that a large outside company might try to come and sweep up all their profits that made the inhabitants distrust the folks of 'Gemstones & Stuff' offhand, so work would have to be done to try and patch that from the get-go.
Added (10 Jan 2013, 2:44 PM)
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And then it was done, the mining operation setup was complete, and the droids would work well enough under the control of their supervisor to stockpile the valuable ores in a different location from that which was being mined; an obvious safety issue when it came to having a stash. Overall, it meant that Ermi would be a standalone work site that could remain anonymous throughout the overall usage of the mining process; an independent world with no real life that could be easily protected and mined. Obviously, the small operation in place would net profits but over time it could be expanded to something that mined larger and faster.
Drayberia's investigation on the ground pro0ved rather fruitful. With little aside from the indigenous wildlife, the world would provide an excellent spot for a Blackfire planetary complex. While in its initial stages, the world would likely require some prefabricated above-ground housing, it would serve until the initial excavations were dug and the ground work on the underground facility was started. It helped as well that in the mountainous region in the northwest existed a number of natural cavern formations; initial groundbreaking could occur therein.
Added (13 Jan 2013, 10:39 PM)
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Ermi was, more or less, complete as an operation in its beginning phase. It would, over time and if all went well, grow. For now though, Blackfire had a legitimate sale in terms of valuable ores that could be sold through one or more of the mining front companies they had pawns operating for them. This left the crews of the shuttles free to make runs to spots along the Outer Rim to purchase small portions of mining equipment, as a number of prospectors were wont to do. The purchases themselves were not suspicious by any means, and done from a dozen or more worlds left no real trail behind as they finally conglomerated back on Drayberia. With initial setup on tent-styled housing erected, the long phase now was to hollow out and brace up the deep natural cavern formations. In itself, a planetary base, in hindsight, would actually be a detriment rather than a boon. However, a false front even in this regard could serve to throw people off Blackfire's trail. As well, it could serve as a meeting place and if discovered, there was no real fear of loss as Drayberia itself was an expendable asset. And so, work would begin, slowly of course, but it would begin.
The mining front of Gemstones & Stuff on Tandgor had settled in. A number of credits had exchanged hands and now they'd come to fit in in part with the rest of the miners. Of course, this meant bribing certain miners away and a few acts of beatings had to be given, but while a few smaller enemies were made, Gemstones & Stuff did now have its niche. It would be from here that the eventual plan to expand and dominate the extraction from the world would continue. Blackfire, of course, was better equipped for certain regards and subjugation of a lightly-armed mining populace on a world was just up their alley if it came to it.
Added (19 Jan 2013, 2:20 PM)
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Florrum was a tough nut to crack. As it were, walking into a world populated by 'known' criminal-tending species such as Weequay, Nikto and
Dug, among others meant that criminal competition would be high. As a
newcomer and minority to the world, Blackfire simply didn't have the
pull or assets to make a major power play, at least not yet. However,
this was where making friends came in, or if not friends, at least
allies who would back them and if that failed, potential enemies who saw
Blackfire as a tool to be utilized against other enemies in exchange for either credits or ships. Overall, it was a vicious circle
of lack of trust, even with the so-called 'honor among thieves' code.
For the time being, Prime had settled for putting a few agents on-world to get a feel for the local political climate. Learning which criminal syndicates were in control of what areas allowed Blackfire to either cater to those gangs or to seek friendships among others who might be more useful. It was a phase of sitting and watching while everyone felt each other out, and it was a phase Prime was planning on staying in until Blackfire's assets were once again gathered in one spot.
