BARD PAPER: ICIS0002

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Dushgin & Delgado Corporation

by Paul Walker

In late 1130 when Virus reached Vras and infected the five SDB�s, two of the five destroyed themselves and the orbital facility. The other three destroyed parts of Dushgin�s moon warehouse by crashing. The surface facility fared much better. Its computer was down for minor repairs and the plant was unmanned when Virus arrived, so all the systems were untouched when Virus invaded the planet�s network. The destruction of the planet�s power grid; however, severely limited Dushgin�s production capability.

After Virus wiped itself out and the main cleanup/rescue operations were complete, Dushgir resumed the production of the 30-ton cargo tender it had been working on at the surface facility. Production was severely slowed because the only power source available was the tenders power plant.

It wasn�t until early 1132 that the 30-ton cargo tender was finished. The tender was sent to Dushgin�s moon to salvage what was left of the materials there. When the tender arrived at the moon, it discovered that there was much less damage than originally anticipated. Three J-1 Free Trader type ships were intact, left on planet awaiting final payment before delivery. Two J-1 Scout/Courier type ships (property of Delgado Trading, LIC, docked pending repainting and minor repairs) were found intact. The Jump drive parts warehouse had been destroyed, as had the main office building and parts of the electronics and maneuver parts warehouses as well. The J-1 ships were taken to the planet as were many of the parts and a few in-system cargo tenders. Dushgin lent the three J-1 ships to the Vras branch of Delgado Trading, LIC to add to the two they had repaired to help maintain a loose network of trade with Fuetz, and later (in 1139) with Schall. Much of the limited ability of the surface facility were committed to maintaining the small fleet of J-1 boats.

By 1143, the management of both Dushgin Starship and Delgado Trading began negotiations to merge the two companies, believing that they were all that was left of their respective megacorporations. After many problems in the negotiations, an agreement was finally reached in 1145. Under the provisions, Dushgin & Delgado Corp was born. Dushgin & Delgado busied itself with trade(interstellar/insystem/surface), maintenance of the fleet, and production of surface cargo transports.

By 1169 Dushgin & Delgado controlled much of the surface merchant traffic on Vras and all of the Interstellar trade. Vras was creeping back towards a prestellar technology level. Dushgin & Delgado had trade with TED�s on both Fuetz and Schall and operated a slight amount surface merchant traffic on both of those worlds.

As repair parts dwindled, Dushgin & Delgado lost the use of its two J-1 Scout/Couriers: the management was not willing to risk the crew without the ability to verify the safety of the J-Drives. These ships were added to the in-system fleet that serviced the three remaining J-1 vessels.

In 1189, Plans were drawn up to redesign Dushgin�s moon into a complete starship yard. The shipyard would build 50-200 ton ships, specializing in Traders and Couriers.

In late 1190, Dushgin & Delgado experienced another setback, one of the three remaining Free Traders misjumped. The crew was thrown many parsecs away and were it not for the skill of the engineer and astrogator, the ship & crew would have been lost. The crew was able to install a recovered J-2 drive into the ship, and, by removing some of the cargo to make room for fuel, the crew and ship returned safely . When the crew finally made it back to Vras in early 1191, they were given a hero�s welcome and given the rest of the year off with pay. Dushgin & Delgado Corp, however, wasted no time using this new Drive to make a profit. Trade was soon established with Vezinan TEDs, and Dushgin & Delgado Corp established a small amount of surface trade on Vezina.

Later in 1191, when the Hivers first arrived in the Vras system, they were met by the Dushgin & Delgado Corp donated in system Navy. Dushgin & Delgado Officials were in on the initial discussions with the Hiver, and sent many upcoming young students and employees to the Hiver tech schools in 1192. Dushgin & Delgado officials were instrumental in developing the trading missions sent out by the Dawn League, and even provided crewmembers for some of the ships at their own expense.

By 1202, Dushgin & Delgado runs the premier spacecraft facility on Aubaine; at the surface facility they design and build spacecraft, 10 to 100 tons, for civilians and governments. The facility for building 100 to 200 ton starships on Dushgin�s moon was completed in late 1194 and launched it�s first starships (100 ton J-2 couriers for the RC Mail Service) in mid 1199. Dushgin & Delgado also runs a number of smaller facilities designed to build 10 to 50 ton surface transports.

Dushgin & Delgado has many family ties to the Aubaine, Schall, Phoebus, and Vezina Councilmembers, and many of the Councilmembers hold seats on the parchment board (see below) of Dushgin & Delgado. The company�s involvement with the respective world governments existed even before the Hiver reconnected humans, so it was only natural that Dushgin & Delgado have a part in the formation of interstellar government.

CORPORATE STRATEGY

1. If it will endanger the lives of Dushgin & Delgado employees not directly involved, IT WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. If RC citizens are at risk, it better be a healthy profit. (This means dangerous, harmful drugs ("Anagathics and Psi-drugs aren�t dangerous, they�re beneficial") and illegal weapons supplying are taboo, although the company does have a secret weapons supply to the rebels on Spencer and Oraflamme, but that activity is politically motivated.)
2. If the employee(s) involved is caught, Dushgin & Delgado Corp will respond as strongly against his actions as when an official or board member engages in the activity.
3. With Dushgin & Delgado having so many ties to the RC government structure, this is rarely a problem. There are very few illegal activities that meet the criteria of #1 above.

Employees:
1. Without happy employees, you can�t be productive. Without productivity, you cannot make a profit.
2. An employee that is being treated fairly will be a happy productive employee. (Note: This is somewhat contradictory to the way employees are treated if they are involved in illegal activities.)

Profit:
1. Without profit a business cannot exist.
2. Without profit, there is no reason to exist.

In addition to the board of directors, Dushgin & Delgado also has a board of advisors comprised of government and civilian leaders, as well as leaders of other corporations (no competitors and usually people Dushgin & Delgado wants to influence). The board of advisors, also known as the Parchment Board, gets no vote in corporate policies. The board of directors, however, respects the advise they get from the Parchment Board (they don�t necessarily follow it, but they respect it). The members of this board are not paid directly; however, in addition to the annual meetings of this board, Dushgin & Delgado pays for each of the members to go on a one week vacation together with the board of directors. Members of this board are chosen each year at the first board of directors meeting. Inclusion to this board has been limited to 100 members, but has on occasion been stretched over the limit. The vacation this board attends is seen as a status symbol on many RC worlds.

The day to day operations of the company are run by the president and vice-presidents. An organizational chart is available upon request.

While the stockholders (or their heirs) are still listed as the company�s owners, the board of directors has all the rights associated with ownership. Practically speaking, The Ruling Five are the owners of Dusgin & Delgado.

Competition:
Dushgin & Delgado Shipbuilding (55%):
• Dushgin & Delgado Shipbuilding has little in the way of competition. Most of the other shipyards are so backlogged building larger ships for the RC Government that Dushgin & Delgado has carved itself a nice little niche in the Spacecraft and small starship market. The small companies that are in direct competition with Dushgin & Delgado are usually not large enough to be much competition and usually handle the backlog from Dushgin & Delgado. When a small shipyard does begin to threaten Dushgin & Delgado, they are usually driven out of business by Dushgin & Delgado�s aggressive price slashing. Dushgin & Delgado then gobbles up the facility, hires the employees back and resumes operations. When the RC discontinues building larger ships with such furvor, Dushgin & Delgado expect the competition to increase, but they hope to have a solid niche carved into the market by then.

Dushgin & Delgado Trading(40%):
• Dushgin & Delgado Trading has carved itself a niche as the prime mail carrier for the RC. There are very few other trading companies that provide any direct competition to Dushgin & Delgado. Transstar is the only company with enough power to compete with Dushgin & Delgado; however, in the booming economy of the Reformation Coalition, both companies have more than enough business to keep them busy. Corporate rivalry exists more on a political level than a competitive level; however, the competitive rivalry is growing though. Most of the other competition to Dushgin & Delgado comes from the Free Traders that make the RC a regular port of call. The quantity of these traders is so small, that Dushgin & Delgado actually makes money on their visits to most worlds. The goods delivered by the traders are offloaded at the starport and moved by Dushgin & Delgado surface transports. Dushgin & Delgado has a marginal surface fleet/insystem fleet on most of the worlds of the RC and these transfers of materials from free traders at the starport to its final destination is highly profitable for Dushgin & Delgado. By the same token, the surface and insystem transfers that other companies handle are usually transfers of Dushgin & Delgado shipped goods. Either way Dushgin & Delgado makes money on most everything shipped in the RC whether interstellar or insystem or surface. (Note: Dushgin & Delgado rents large garages at most planets auction facilities and most of the items bought at auction are moved by Dushgin & Delgado transports).

Diversification(5%):
• Dushgin & Delgado has begun to diversify into other industries. Primarily, Dushgin & Delgado is moving into banking, entertainment, and pharmaceuticals. Dushgin & Delgado�s interests are small, but growth in each industry is steady.

Hostage

A member of the Board of Directors has been kidnapped by Guild/terrorist/or other criminal group. They threaten to kill the member if not paid a ransom. Dushgin & Delgado needs a reliable group of Freelancers to rescue her.

Rescue

A Dushgin & Delgado ship exploring new trade opportunities in the Wilds is overdue and persumed lost. Dushgin & Delgado requires a Freelancer group to find out why the ship dissapered, and if possible punish those responsible. It could be the standard Virus/TED/Guild villian or the ship may have simply broken down and needs the players to get spare parts for it. Or it may have misjumped and no trace of it will ever be found.

Investigation

A dedicated reporter believes that the Dushgin & Delgaso Board of Directors is providing funding for Human Supremist terrorists that have been attacking Schalli. She wants the players to help her break into the corporate headquarters on Aubaine, find evidence supporting her claim, and expose Dushgin & Delgado.

Annoying Passanger

A member of the Board of Directors needs reliable transportation to a nearby planet, to close a deal. The next ship won't leave for another week, and that isn't soon enough. The Director would annoy the crew with his questions about everything. But if the crew deals with the Director politely and they manage to impress him/her they might walk away with an subcontract to carry freight for Dushgin & Delgado, which could lead to all sorts of other adventures.

Corporate Rival

A rival corporation has been resisting Dushgin & Delgado's attempts to take over its territory. A new corporate executive dealt with this by hiring thugs to kill the head of the rival corporation. This worked fairly well, in fact so well that the local authorities investigated. The executive fled the area, but the local media has gotten a hold of the story and Dushgin & Delgado's name has been besmirched, the Board of Directors wants the executive found and brought to justice. This will show that Dushgin & Delgado doesn't support his actions.

Stolen Merchandise

The PCs are hired to be guards for a valuable shipment and while they are guarding the merchandise, it is stolen. The PCs are threatened with breach of contract (or something similar) if they do not recover the merchandise.

Rebel

The PCs either stumble onto or are introduced to Dushgin & Delgado�s secret supply line to the rebels on Spencer and Oraflamme. They may be hired to help, or they may have already been hired to uncover the supply line. When they inform their superiors (if they inform) they will have trouble getting action done because of the relationship between the RC government and the Dushgin & Delgado leaders. (Note: The more vehemently the PCs fight Dushgin & Delgado, the more vehemently Dushgin & Delgado will fight to silence the players. D&D will not lose this one.)