Interview: Stelmari Oksasio on the X-ZFA12 negotiations and the Stelmari Exchange
Nannaras X - Hoiyori Colony
September 4th YC 120
Hoovand Lindus of ZANIE sits down with Stelmari Oksasio, the president of the Stelmari Exchange, to talk about the recent developments of House Yaken putting up an unsolicited bid on the X-ZFA12 landmass. Along with that, to provide Stelmari a chance to properly introduce himself to the wider public.
We go now to the transcript of the conversation the two shared.
[Hoovand]
“Tonight, I find myself sitting down across from the financial representative of the Raata Zaibatsu - Exchange President, Stelmari Oksasio. Stelmari, thank you for coming in.
[Stelmari]
“Happy to be here! What’s good Hoovand?”[Hoovand]
“Well I’d say everything is quite good.”[Stelmari]
“Would you say it’s as good as this water? I mean, damn this stuff is cold and refreshing, Mmm.”[Hoovand]
"That it is…Now, to start us off, could you explain the role of the Exchange in the Zaibatsu?”[Stelmari]
“Oh, certainly! We’re the one that get the money, and spend the money. Salvaged Fortunes needs some material? Boom, my boys grab it. The Mryskytuuli Regiment need some guns? We’re on the horn with contacts. The Ohrions got some surplus they want to get rid of? We sell it those that need it.”[Hoovand]
“And most recently, handling the negotiations with the Ishukone Corporation to purchase X-ZFA12?”[Stelmari]
“Yeah, we’re taking care of that for the Yakens. Well i understand they’re excited about the idea of purchasing this land, we do think they’re overvaluting the property and we’re currently looking into that for them.[Hoovand]
“Are you at liberty to say anything about the talks so far?”[Stelmari]
“Haven’t really started yet, my people are poking some contracts on the lower rung in an attempt to get our request up the chain of command.”[Hoovand]
“And who are these “people” you refer to?”[Stelmari]
“Brokers of the Exchange, personnel trained and hand picked by me to be some of the most ruthlessly effective and sharply dressed men and women you’d see on the sales floor. If there’s anyone I can delegate a task to, its these people.”[Hoovand]
“What pool were these individuals hand picked from?”[Stelmari]
“My old guard of the Stelmari Battalion - the mercenary outfit I was responsible for, before we became the Exchange.”[Hoovand]
“Can I ask about? This transition between mercenaries to merchants?”[Stelmari]
“Hoovand! Of course you can! Why the hell else would I be here if i didn’t want you asking questions?! What exactly do you want to know my good man?”[Hoovand]
“Well, I suppose we can start with why this rebranding happened.”[Stelmari]
“Because our business model changed. Instead of making our money trading bullets, we started trading goods. Not because we wanted to, but because we had to.”[Hoovand]
“How so?”[Stelmari]
“I guess I need to start at the beginning to better explain this. Just let me get another quick swig of this crisp refreshing water…Mmm - Alright so, back around the time CONCORD’s HQ got murked by the Elder Fleet and Tibus Heth dropped a big-ass ship in orbit of Caldari Prime. My outfit got hired by the Wiyrkomi Corporation to defend a mining colony on Pavannaka I. Guessing they were a little spooked at how vulnerable the place was after CONCORD’s militia act forced Black Rise to open up…My outfit didn’t have a starship to its name yet, so we got shipped out on Wiyrkomi vessels.”[Hoovand]
“What was it like there?”[Stelmari]
“Hot - Hot and dusty. Me and the lads hated the place. Underdeveloped shithole, but we were getting paid. All that mattered really…Except we never got paid.”[Hoovand]
“You were betrayed by your employers?”[Stelmari]
“Yep! All of a sudden the Wiyrkomi Corporation pulls out after a month being there. Taking their security, the metals dug up in storage and any essential administration staff. Overnight practically - My people, along with a bulk of the workers were left behind. Might i add, that these workers I’m referring to were actually Federal citizens that came over to the State looking for work.”[Hoovand]
“So what did you do?”[Stelmari]
“I took charge of the situation. My people looked for me for leadership and these poor S.O.Bs Wiyrkomi left behind were scared shitless without anyone to take care of them…So I took over the place - Sure, we may had to wipe out a Guristas platoon coming to look over what was left behind to get them to trust us. In the end however, they realized they were all good as dead if they didn’t hand control over to me.”[Hoovand]
“So this is when the transition to the Exchange came?”[Stelmari]
“Correct! See, if we were gonna survive, we needed supplies. We needed trade, and thankfully - we were sitting on what would get us that trade. I put those workers back to work, but not in the same way the Wiyrkomi had them. We dug up bulk, but I had them focus on digging up the gemstones down there. I got in touch with some contacts who would put me in touch with their contacts looking for raw materials. They’d send a shuttle over to get the goods and pay us - in food at first.”[Hoovand]
“And from that point, business just expanded?”[Stelmari]
“Pretty much, I wasn’t exactly bringing in ISK, payments mostly came in the form of planetary script. But the more minerals we traded, more traders set up shop and customers came to our little humble colony. What started out as a dumpy mining colony became a…Dumpy trading post.”[Hoovand]
“Fascinating, now unfortunately we are out of time. Stelmari, I thank you for talking with me today.[Stelmari]
“Hey! It was fun Hoovand!”