Tabloid Czerka Corporation accused competitor of 'industrial sabotage'.

[Voren Dhur]

Czerka Corporation accused competitor of 'industrial sabotage'.​

Blackwell Technologies finds itself amid a PR disaster today as the Czerka Corporation alleges that it derained agents of the company after they attempted to install a data plague at one of its facilities.

The Czerka Corporation, who made the allegations against their competitor, confirmed that their security forces had detained 'a number of operatives we believe to be working for Blackwell Technologies'.

In a guarded statement, the galactic megacorporation said their security teams had arrested two 'hostile actors attempting to gain access to a secure location', which the Herald understands to have been the Czerka HQ.

Speaking to the Herald, a spokes-droid for the Czerka Corporation confirmed that a second set of so-called 'hostile actors' had attempted to install a data plague at one of the company's other facilities.

However, it would not confirm which facility this was.

They went on to confirm the Czerka Corporation 'had strong reasons to suspect the work of the Blackwell Technologies Corporation in what can only be described as an act of industrial sabotage'.

Blackwell has denied the allegations with CEO Newton Arden commenting, "Blackwell Technologies has not attempted to infiltrate any Czerka facilities or attempt any sabatoge. We do not believe in engaging in such acts. Our focus is on our customers first.".

Yet the accusations appear to have made waves in the market, with Czerka shares rallying, whilst Blackwells have taken a hit.

Investors have greeted the news that Czerkas security is 'up to the task' with optimism, causing a temporary rally in their stock price. Yet they have not reacted well to the allegations that Blackwell was behind the failed attack, with some investors signalling displeasure.

The use of a data plague, which Czerka Security had alleged, and subsequently confirmed after independent examiners at the Herald were allowed to examine a shard seized from one of the detained slicers, raised serious questions. Czerka Security played down fears of a data breach - but analysts have confirmed that had the attack been successful, the results would have been 'devastating' for the firm.

Meanwhile, the spokes-droid for Czerka refused to confirm the location of the detainees, merely stating that 'several beings' are currently 'in corporate custody'.

It is not fully understood if they are being held under more than one change, with insiders suggesting that casualties were sustained in the attack.

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OOC - @Panda_Hermit_98 @Arcangel in this thread and @Eccles @Zay in this thread, with @The Good Doctor commenting in the article.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc bristled at the news. Even if there was no concrete ‘evidence’, he knew this would tank Blackwell’s reputation if speculation and guesswork dominated the headlines. No, there needed to be something concrete. He was irritated at Newton, but he and the other board members could grill him later. First, there needed to be quick damage control.

He used a secure line, calling up Nor’baal, “Need to make this go away,” Emryc said in reference to the scandal, “Need some nobodies in your side of the galaxy to take credit for this and take the target off. Make sure they stay in the outer rim,” Considering that Nor’baal was using a sizeable chunk of Blackwell droids in his new Kessel operations, it was mutually beneficial for them get the corporation out of hot water, “Send a bogus invoice through CHD and I’ll transfer funds,” He had set up the distribution company for shady transactions with no paper trails for situations like these, after all. For all intents and purposes it would simply look like the Hutts distributed some merchandise through the company. Emryc despised having to pay for this, but he would lose a lot more if Blackwell’s reputation was torched.

After the conversation with Nor’baal was done, he dialed Julia Hipori, “We need to call a board meeting with Blackwell,” He said curtly. It wasn’t often that anger came across in his tone, but it was definitely there now.

@Nor'baal

 

[Newton]

It's not too often that Newton is embarrassed, but right now he is. His attempts on Czerka have failed and backfired. Newton denied the allegations but Blackwell is taking a hit. As the top man of Blackwell he's the top target, he knows he's going to be the target of blame, and will mentally prepare himself for it.

He can already imagine that the board members aren't going to be very happy either. And he has some powerful board members in Emryc and Julia who Newton will most likely be on their bad side. There is no way around it, Newton's ambitions led to this folly. The whole thing was ill-conceived, and there will most likely be consequences.

Newton is in his office now, attempting to figure out ways to do some damage control. He needs to reassure investors and the public. His secretary droid is busy answering a bunch of calls that keep coming in. Newton will for sure be dreading the next meeting with his board and other executives.

Newton would sigh, then he would look at his companion astromech droid M7 who is loyal to Newton no matter what, and then smile. No matter what, he has always his little buddy.

 

[Lissa Blackhand]

Lissa stared at the words, taking them in one at a time, each one only making the pit in her stomach heavier. This was beyond bad, she was basically screwed at this point if Vance named her, or was coerced into naming her. She could run, keep doing business and bounties, but then she'd have the constant threat of Czerka looming over her. She leaned back in her pilot's chair, staring out at the void, thinking. Even though she had much bigger things to worry about, she couldn't help but let her mind wander back to Teddy, big bulbous idiot that he was. It was strange how the way a person acted could seem so different in hindsight. What initially felt like annoying and creepy predatory behavior now felt vaguely disarming, maybe even charming. Was this how people didn't speak ill of the dead? Re-contextualizing previous behavior?

"Stop Lissa...he's dead, they're gone, put it out of your mind...like hell," She said vainly, trying to lock it all away. The damned bathtub wouldn't leave her alone, or the thought of Vance stuck in a Czerka prison. If they interrogate them, it would only be a matter of time before they gave her up. Even if they didn't...she was their partner for the job, it didn't feel right to just leave them out to dry like that. Ugh, Lissa, stop trying to justify it! You know what you have to do, even if you're reluctant to do it, you need to break them out, both to make sure they can't name you and because it's just who you are! No matter what Teddy might whisper in your ear, that won't change.

She looked at the tabloid one last time before removing it from her field of vision, kicking her legs forward and hitting the thrusters on her ship. There were plans to make...

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

Nor'baal scrunched up his face as he listened to Emrycs message. The garrulous Hutt was only partially sold on the idea that annoying the Czerka Corporation was an excellent idea - its reach was extensive.

But then again, so was Blackwells.

Emrycs position as a Blackwell Board member and shareholder was public knowledge, and the haste at which he had contacted the Hutt to cover this up was disconcerting. Was Blackwell on manoeuvres?

The Hutt had much to think about.

Kessel used a considerable number of Blackwell Droids, but droids could be replaced - and as far as he was aware, it was not possible for the company that made droids to 'take them over'. That would make them somewhat hard to sell; after all, who would want a droid that could be snatched off you at any moment?

He was confident that was an issue they could manage.

He was not confident that taking another public hit was a good idea, especially when the Hutts had recently fostered a deal to get them out of the public's eye after Kessel.

But annoying the Consortium was not a good move.

Especially now. He made up his mind.

"I will confirm, through backroom sources, that a minor rimward group will take the credit, claiming it was some 'anti corporate political statement'. Beyond that, I cannot get involved in a Corporate dispute of this magnitude, and will keep my fingerprints off of this. We will help confuse the situation and muddy the truth, direct the attention to a meaningless rim operator - but I don't want to get involved in a dispute between Blackwell and Czerka." he confirmed to the President.

The Hutts would gladly confirm that the 'detainees' had been from Hutts Space, contracted out, and furthermore, they would not comment on the 'nature' of who had hired those contractors - adding fuel to the Blackwell defence that they had not been involved - but that was where the Hutt involvement would stop.

Nor'baal would obfuscate the situation, but nothing further.