Tabloid Breaking News! Sith Empire Nationalizes Refineries On Kril’Dor, Abafar

[The Storyteller]

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In an absolutely shocking turn of events, we are receiving reports out of Imperial Territory - suggesting that the Sith Empire has begun the process of nationalizing all Tibanna and fuel refining operations on the planets of Kril’Dor and Abafar. This move has come only shortly after the Consortium - as part of its expansive Anti-Sith war campaign - moved to effectively cut the Empire off from fuel supplies on Malastare and Peragus II, in addition to an ongoing blockade over Bespin which had brought Tibanna production to a grinding halt.

While the Empire still reels from the actions of President Thorne, it is believed that this move will help to alleviate the pressure that many within Imperial Territory are currently feeling and prevent economic collapse - by providing alternative methods of Tibanna and Rhydonium fuel.

We are receiving some reports of unrest on both Kril’Dor and Abafar in the wake of this decision, but recent tightening of information flowing in and out of Imperial territory has made it difficult for us to truly understand the situation on the ground.

 

[Victoria]

It seemed like there was a never-ending stream of news coming out about new developments in the war, though this piece in particular was intriguing. It seemed that the lightning-quick actions by President Thorne had been felt already and there must have been a decent amount of pressure building up to see something like this occur so soon. The Empire still maintained a vast supply of resources and shipping lanes, but with much trade access being cut and other actions behind the scenes, it seemed that there was an ounce of vulnerability lurking beneath the surface.

Of course, the Empire could still muster its mighty war fleets and the conflict was only just beginning, but the joyous news called for some collaboration between the ISC and the FWA. Yelling out to one of her staff, Victoria had a plan that she wanted to put into action before any further bad news came scrolling across her desk. "Get me on the line with Secretary Carrick's office (@Nefieslab) I have a proposal for him."

 

[Emryc Thorne]

“Mr. President,” His aide Aila rushed into the gym, “The Sith have nationalized the fuel refineries on Kril’Dor and Abafar.”

Emryc was in the middle of lifting weights, but he gently set the bar down. Aila had been his aide since he was 19 years old, and she was still flustered by the sight of him working out. She quickly averted her gaze.

The President pulled up his datapad, typing a few things, “I thought they might,” He said calmly, “We are going to slash fuel prices. The Imperials can keep their stockpile, but they will lose every bit of external galactic business. They won’t have any profit to pay their workers and their operations will collapse in no time.”

The Imperials couldn't afford to lower than prices more than he could without taking a massive loss on top of current debts, and keeping their current prices meant no one would buy from them. They would be forced to fund the factories and workers from their own internal financial pools which were already being depleted. Emryc was effectively creating a scenario where the hole in the Imperial boat was taking in water faster than they could dump out.

He didn’t say anything else before he laid back down and asked his droid spotter to step forth again.

 

[The Storyteller]

"Mr. President! Mr. President, a question!" called a Bothan reporter during the next available presidential presser; jam packed with reporters in the light of the ISC's drastic moves to attempt to throttle the Sith's economy. "You spoke to the Galactic Senate on the topic of sanctions some time ago, saying that, '[Sanctions on the Sith] cost economical crashes in the Core, it cost countless jobs, it resulted in finger pointing and animosity. And lo and behold, the Sith war machine has hardly slowed down'. End quote."

"Furthermore, Governor Lassiter was also on record in that meeting saying that, quote, 'The sanctions had no impact on the Sith war machine. They only caused an economic crisis on our own planets'. End quote." The Bothan looked up from his notes before asking his two-part question.

"How are these recent sanctions more effective at crippling the Sith war machine than before, and if so, why were these measures not enacted to the same degree after you personally supported the Galactic Senate measure to sanction the Sith?"

@Sreeya @LouJoVi

 

[Emryc Thorne]

“What is the point of that question?” Emryc quirked a brow, “The Corporate Sector wasn’t even a part of the Galactic Senate when the sanctions bill was introduced. The sanctions made back then were simply material goods and I still stand by my statement that it was largely useless. It causes the Sith pains, yes, but it will never bring them to a screeching halt."

Emryc wasn’t sure whether the reporter just had a low IQ or if he was asking questions to ask them, “These measures were not taken in the past because the ISC was not at war with the Sith…We had no qualms with the Sith back then and I voted for the sanctions as a show of good faith. Most of my governors voted agains it. Keep in mind, the sanctions were presented by the Free World Alliance. We made it very clear we were not going to go out of our way to hamstring the Sith and that was never the ISC’s stance. The first chance we had, we removed the sanctions,” He stared calmly at the camera for a few seconds, “Our recent blocks include previously off the table items such as Bacta, Kolto, fuel, boycott from the Corporate Sector, and we’ve also blocked critical access to Bespin’s tibanna gas. Our targets are strategic and specifically aimed at the war machine, when in the past the sanctions simply blocked material goods and exports. The two are entirely unrelated, so I suggest you review your notes more thoroughly.”

Emryc had to fight not to roll his eyes. He half expected the reporter to next be baffled at the fact that the ISC introduced a bill to remove all sweeping bills.