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[Sith Pyramid] The Pyramid of Production and Logistics


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SPHERE/PYRAMID OF PRODUCTION AND LOGISTICS

The quiet collective turning the cogs, greasing the wheels, and filing every minutiae of the Sith Empire, the Pyramid of Production and Logistics is responsible for managing the Empire’s economy, trade, taxes, nationalized industries, and a dozen other minor matters of state that other Pyramids can’t bother with. The least glorious of the Spheres of Influence, the Pyramid of Production and Logistics is arguably one of the most vital, ensuring that the Empire runs smoothly and efficiently.

 

LEADERSHIP: Darth Sensara runs the Sphere of Production and Logistics. An exiled chiss with a keen intellect and a talent for smoothing away problematic people, she commands the Pyramid much as a noble Aristocra from her homeworld might, even going so far as to refer to her closest advisors and servants as “brothers” and “sisters”. Anyone not snared by her wit and powers know the terms of endearment are hollow affectations.

 

ORGANIZATION: The Pyramid of Production and Logistics’ primary responsibility is the oversight of the Ministry of Logistics. While the Ministry can and does answer to other Councilors in certain cases, it is from Darth Sensara that its orders almost always flow. Further split into numerous agencies, divisions, and subdivisions, the bureaucratic network of the Ministry of Logistics works together to keep the Sith Empire running.

 

The Imperial Treasury Department

The purse of the empire, the ITD serves to dispense funds to other pyramids, invest as able to increase capital, set taxes, keep economic records, and maintain the various pay stations throughout the empire. See “Currency” section below.

 

The Imperial Office of Collections and Enforcement

The right arm of the Ministry, the Office is called in to deal with those who seek to skirt the system. Tax evaders, debt renegers, and contract breakers all gain the attention of the Office’s agents. See “Agents” and “Contract” sections below.

 

The Imperial Bureau of Citizenship

Often working closely with the officials of the Pyramid of Laws and Justice, the Bureau keeps accurate and up-to-date census data on all citizens and visitors within the empire. The Bureau is authorized to tap communications networks and private devices in the pursuit of its duties, and prides itself on knowing where every Sith citizen is at any time.

 

The Imperial Exploitation Agency

The Agency oversees the empire’s natural resources and non-monetary capital (most notably government-owned slaves). The right to license private companies to harvest imperial resources or develop government land makes the Agency a focal point for commercial enterprises, and rumors of bribery and corruption within the Agency are constant.

 

The Imperial Consortium of Industry

The Consortium manages all nationalized industries, including:

-Ship-building

-Military hardware manufacture

-Government construction projects

-Military shipping and supply lines

-Public Transportation

The ICI maintains the right to appropriate slave labor at minimum market price when required for government projects.

 

The Imperial Regulatory Board

Maintaining balance in the markets of the empire, the Board devises and implements regulatory legislation for any economic facet, including:

-Slave market

-Interplanetary trade

-Banking

 

AGENTS:

Lettermen - When bribes are plentiful, loyalties can shift, bias colors everything, and any technicality can be misinterpreted, the Imperial Office of Collections and Enforcement needs agents that can be impartial, loyal, technical, and unyielding. So, Darth Sensara implemented the Lettermen, an all droid branch of the Ministry of Finance.

 

Composed of military and assassin droids outfitted with special processors, the Lettermen are sent out into the field to deal with complex or dangerous enforcement tasks, usually the enforcement of a contract between Sith lords. Almost always deployed in groups, and armed to deal with reluctant and powerful individuals, the Lettermen stop at nothing to accomplish their goals. Capable of understanding every detail of a complicated legal situation and/or contract, and empowered with the authority to ensure the situation is satisfied to the last technicality, the droids run roughshod over opposition, regardless of rank or privilege. There is only the letter of the law to them. Unfortunately, this leads to numerous conflicts with law enforcement who see the droids as single-minded engines of destruction that don’t care what chaos they leave behind so long as the “situation” is resolved. Most assume Darth Sensara wants it this way, preferring to let the fear of interference from the Lettermen convince a reluctant signatory to honor their bargains. It’s also rumored the droids exist to spite the Pyramid of Laws and Justice when it interferes with the business of the Ministry of Logistics and Sensara’s personal projects.

 

The corp of droid enforcers is primarily composed of the newly upgraded HK-series, but modified droids of all kinds can be found in the ranks. One Letterman to achieve note was R6-3K “Reek”, a modified R6 model that threatened to destroy an Onderonian noble’s home with a homemade bomb created from the contents of the pantry if the noble didn’t grant the favor required of him by contract to another noble. Reek was officially reprimanded after the incident, and the Imperial Office of Collections and Enforcement assured the noble that Reek’s programming was adjusted afterwards.

 

Diyinita iw Rajus - As with any capitalist nation, debt to the government is an issue that must be dealt with. However, in the Sith Empire, one can’t declare bankruptcy. In the event an individual is deemed too far in debt to be able to climb back out, they receive a visit from the Diyinita iw Rajus.

A small organization of non-Force users clad in all black armor, bearing shock staffs alongside an armory of weapons, the Diyinita iw Rajus are typically recruited from law enforcement and military veterans too injured or feeble to continue their work. The deal the order offers is simple. In exchange for the cybernetic enhancements and replacements necessary to continue to fight, they swear their lives to the service of the order’s Sith masters. As time passes and bit by bit their organic bodies fail, they’re replaced with mechanical parts crafted for them by Sith alchemists looking for subjects to experiment on, while the pieces that remain are enhanced and warped by sorcery. For the majority of the knightly warriors, their armor is their body by the end.

 

Being such a small order, they often need to partner with local law enforcement, bounty hunters, military personnel, or Lettermen to track and apprehend targets. Just as often though, the mysterious killers are enough for the task, and the mere rumor of one in the area is enough to make most lock their doors or take a vacation. Armed to the teeth with the latest weaponry, even a sith lord thinks twice when two or three of the knights of greed begin the chase. When a Diyinita gets a target, they always take them alive, and the debtor is whisked back to Ministry headquarters where their alchemist and sorcerer patrons complete their true work while the subject’s possessions are repossessed. In dark rooms deep beneath the sterile offices of the Ministry, the Sith perform unspeakable experiments and rituals upon the unfortunates. No one knows what truly happens to the debtors lost in those hidden rooms. Some claim they’re turned into Sithspawn, others swear that their souls are siphoned and stored in hidden vaults, and still others claim that they’re tortured and brainwashed into becoming the next generation of the Diyinita iw Rajus. The question has been raised more than once as to the actual purpose of the order’s existence, many claiming that the apprehension of debtors should be left to local law enforcement and not some strange collection of warriors. Darth Sensara has never adequately answered these concerns, and the silence from the Sith Councilwoman has only served to increase the public’s fear of these debt collectors.

 

Beyond their work of tracking and arresting debtors, the Diyinita iw Rajus and their Sith masters act as the true administration of the Imperial Office of Collections and Enforcement, only answering to the Minister of Logistics and Darth Sensara herself. The group keeps out of the public eye otherwise, and whole sections of their headquarters are deemed off-limits even to their own employees. Those who work late hours claim to hear screams and manic laughter echoing through the vents, and several accountants have mysteriously quit without warning and are never seen again.

 

 

CONTRACTS:

In an empire where the belief that power equals freedom is not only encouraged but enforced, something beyond the pressure to conform was required to keep the passionate, ambitious Sith lords in check. To a group that would zealously kill their leaders for weakness and sacrifice their lessers for gain, a chain was needed that would play off their desire for power while taming their more anarchist impulses. That chain was contracts.

The Sith Empire takes contracts between two individuals very seriously. Beyond verbal agreements, the responsibilities of fealty, or the burdens of employment, the written and witnessed contract is a sacred cornerstone of Sith civilized culture. Beginning as a practice between the highest ranking Sith Councilors, the use of contracts trickled down the social ladder, and has begun to even pervade the lower classes.

 

Simply put, a contract is a written agreement signed usually by two individuals and witnessed by a third party. Typically the Imperial Office of Collections and Enforcement assumes this role, but any powerful entity can stand in, such as another Sith lord or master. In the most extreme of cases, the Dark King himself has presided over the signing of a contract. The third party receives a fee or service for their part, and is responsible for the enforcement of the contract should one side default, joining forces with the cheated signatory. The more aristocratic Sith immediately saw the stability embracing the simple system would entail, hamstringing the violent and unrefined “lesser” Sith lacking education or culture who thought brute Force power and a saber entitled them to whatever they wanted, and they have been its staunchest supporters.

 

Most contracts are simple things, such as the promise of aid in the event of an attack, or the agreement to trade given certain circumstances. However, the higher class Sith favor more complex contracts as a way of channeling their ambitious nature without resorting to lightsaber decapitation. The negotiation of a contract between two such Sith can take minutes or days as clauses and stipulations turn the document into a maze of hidden meanings and pitfalls. The cleverest contract drafters pride themselves on their ability to combine seemingly unrelated minutia into a stranglehold on the other signatory, tricking them into debt or outright servitude while avoiding any obligation on their part.

 

To break a contract is taboo, and earns the attention of the third party along with distrust and disdain from Sith society as a whole. Bounties are put on contract breakers, bolstered with considerable rewards from the Imperial Office of Collections and Enforcement, ensuring the fugitive can trust no one. With Lettermen on their trail and opportunistic hands on every side, contract breakers are either captured or flee Sith space completely.

 

CURRENCY:

With the expansion of the Sith Empire and the fall of Coruscant and the Galactic Alliance, the credit was deemed too unreliable to be used as the premier currency of the Sith Empire. So, two other currencies were introduced.

 

The first currency, the common currency, is the Sith crown. Acting as a more direct replacement for credits, the crown can either be collected and spent using chips like credits, or spent as hard currency. 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 crown coins are minted by the Imperial Treasury Department and distributed into the economy. The coins are composed of a specific chromium alloy and stamped with the face of the Dark King on one side, with the Imperial symbol on the other, ringed with the Code of the Sith inscribed in High Sith. The coins are redeemable for the Empire’s chromium reserves, allowing them to hold their value even as the tempestuous galaxy fluctuates and teeters towards economic collapse. Credits may be exchanged for crowns at any imperial pay station, but the exchange rate puts the credit at a reduced value and the trader at a disadvantage. Most traders who do business with the Sith Empire prefer to use crowns in Sith space and exchange them for credits elsewhere.

 

The second currency, the mark, is more unusual and typically the domain of Sith lords and the aristocracy. The mark is a representation of a boon owed to the holder. Each lord and order customizes their own mark, but the most common design is a gold coin bearing the sigil of the lord or order it originates from. Anyone who holds a mark can redeem it for a favor, including exemption from a punishment or law, money, military assistance, private knowledge, etc. As such, marks are extremely valuable and not dispensed often. The exact magnitude of the favor varies, but a Sith can deny a mark or barter for a smaller favor if the boon asked is too extreme. The holder of the mark can appeal this to the Imperial Office of Collections and Enforcement, a judge, or a higher ranking lord to settle the matter. Most Sith prefer not to let outside parties get involved though and solve the matter between themselves. In the event a lord or order refuses to honor a mark even after arbitration, they suffer heavy fines, are permanently banned from being allowed to use marks themselves, and are usually dropped in rank and privilege. They're unofficially blacklisted by Sith society as well, making it impossible to attain any kind of influence or assistance without a direct pardon from the Dark King.

 

LOCATIONS:

 

Abaddon Station - Situated on a collection of asteroids deep in Onderon system space, far from any planet, Abaddon Station serves as the primary hub for the Imperial Consortium of Industry. Honeycombed with tunnels, factory complexes, and shipyards, the industrial complex churns out Sith weapons of war. Firearms, armor, explosives, and new ships of the line are assembled in the hellish forges and labyrinthine depths to feed the Empire’s need to expand. With slaves composing 97% of the Station’s 9000+ population, and far from any would-be activists, the Station’s working conditions are inhumane even in the mildest sections. What’s worse (for the slaves) is the Station’s dedication to their health. Vitamin infused nutrient paste, constant medical care, and precision schedules guarantees that every slave is worked to their breaking point but never beyond, and are kept alive for decades before finally dropping on the line and getting some peace. Sleep is instant with the electro-stimulant implants each slave receives so that their rest breaks are as efficient as possible. A normal slave will work to the point of exhaustion, be unceremoniously dropped into a deep slumber via implant, have nutrient paste fed directly into their stomachs while they sleep, only to wake up and start the cycle all over again. Most slaves mentally surrender long before their bodies give out, becoming husks that only exist to work.

 

Abaddon Station employs normal slaves bought on the open market, but it's also very common for criminals turned slaves as punishment to be sent to Abaddon Station, the factory complex doubling as a pseudo penal colony. Rebellions are relatively rare, and usually put down quickly thanks to the implants, the Station's extensive lock down measures, and the military-grade droids and soldiers that serve as security. Punishment, be it for rebellion or inefficiency, is carried out with the same clinical perfection as the labor itself. Slaves are kept in states of pain for hours on end, always hovering at the threshold of passing out but never permitted unconsciousness. The tortures are done in such a way as to never seriously damage the body, so the slave can return to work immediately once their discipline is over.

 

No matter how bad things are on Abaddon Station, the slaves know it can always get worse.

 

The Caliginous Vault - While the Pyramid of Mysteries holds the greatest and darkest secrets of the Dark King and his empire, it is the task of the Imperial Treasury Department and the Pyramid of Production and Logistics to secure his wealth. Their answer to this responsibility was the Caliginous Vault. An artificial cavern cut miles below the surface of Onderon, accessible only by elevator, the Vault is a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers, secured with mechanical traps and sorcerous defenses. Rooms filled with ingots of chromium, chests of nova crystals, and crates of gold hide behind locked, unmarked doors. Sith spawn and undead monsters patrol the corridors, and keeping watch over it all are the Bulwark Trinity, a Sith Trinity tasked specifically with guarding the Vault against all intruders and guiding those with legitimate reason through the dangerous halls to the wealth inside. Outside of them, only the Dark King himself knows the proper incantations, release codes, and circuitous routes necessary to bypass the Caliginous Vault’s defenses. Chosen specifically for a lack of interest in politics and temporal power, the Bulwark Trinity receives resources and materials for whatever dark research they desire in exchange for their loyal service. Occasionally, a powerful prisoner sentenced to execution is released into the Vault to test its security, with the promise that if they make it to one of the treasure rooms that they’ll receive their life as a reward. It’s unknown if this promise is legitimate or a cruel joke, as none have ever made it all the way through.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Exodus
Spacing, ease of reader's digest
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