The Intergalactic Financial Conglomerate
They have been called the most savvy business-beings in the universe. Able to shift the balance of power in an entire star-system with their credits, the Intergalactic Financial Conglomerate, or the IGFC for short, is a massive coalition of companies and corporations, all assembled under the banner of the IGFC. Their holdings and territories in constant flux alongside the galactic economy, they have been rumored to tip the balance of power in this galaxy and others with their clever business deals and cash-grabs. True, there is rarely a major transaction of funds undertaken by any party without the IGFC involved. With their long, spindly fingers in every pie, the IGFC Executive Board are devoted to both the expansion of their civilization and the acquisition of wealth and power, at (almost) any cost.
From Humble Origins...
The financial prowess of the IGFC Executive Board originates from their very own natural instincts. The Board is composed almost entirely of members of the Dramask species, a slender, nearly fragile race hailing from the planet designated Dramak III in the Middle Rim of the Milky Way Galaxy. In older times, the younger Dramask were locked in constant struggle for resources with each other. With survival at stake, they would hoard food, water, and shelter with their very lives. With physical confrontation between two Dramask largely frowned upon in their society, they would instead compete for such valuable commodities by brokering deals and trading goods. By the time their civilization had reached it's fourth century of existence, approximately 98% of the population belonged to a guild or corporation. With the advent of space travel, the species instead decided to band together under one banner, known as the Financial Conglomerate. When other races discovered both their valuable natural resources and their instinctive skill with numbers and money, they eagerly accepted the advice and minerals provided by the large-brained Dramask. Soon, they would manipulate entire sectors, coercing two planets into waging war with one another, for example, and supplying arms to both sides for even greater profit. With such power in their possession, it soon became clear: those cultures who allied with the FC experienced new golden ages and periods of great prosperity. Soon renamed the IntergalacticFinancial Conglomerate to reflect their new status, the massive money-making machine known popularly as the IGFC continues to grow to this day.
Profit, Profit, Profit
IGFC philosophy is quite easy to follow: profit is everything. No deal is unreachable, and no conditions are too unethical. A Dramask would sell you his own family if you threw in enough credits. Of course, they see nothing wrong with this; they are not unnaturally dubious. They simply think in different terms than most species regarding their priorities. While this has made them rather unsociable, and somewhat criticized for their business practices, they can't truly be considered evil (well, maybe a few). With their thinking centers unhampered by moral quandaries, they are able to achieve far more than, say, a human brain would be able to in financial terms. With so many of the IGFC focusing solely on their economical requirements, this leaves their organization a little lacking in some fields. When an IGFC member can't accomplish themselves, however, they'll just pay someone else to do it for them. This includes research, trading, entertaining, and fighting. They often license these tasks to other organizations or species entirely, especially when it comes to hard manual labor. For the more physically demanding tasks, IGFC members typically employ droids and other automata instead.
The IGFC's economical-centric practices and disregard for the needs of smaller, "less capable" organisms have, unfortunately, made them extremely bureaucratic. They are notorious for the amount of paperwork and protocol that has to be fulfilled in order to deal with them. It's undeniable; patience is truly required when interacting with a member of the IGFC. It's even said that the trademark statement "Please hold and we'll be right with you" has become an inside joke amongst it's members.
Resources and Capabilities
With their nigh-inexhaustible pool of funds to dip into, the Conglomerate have spared no expense when it comes to the defense of their trade routes. Strict laws make up the governments of the many systems under the IGFC's control, and they are all enforced by massive IGFC warships. Doubling as freighters for trade and more akin to a mobile space-station, a single IGFC Command Ship has the potential to blockade an entire planet. When threatened, they can unleash the massive turbolaser emplacements concealed beneath their duranium hulls, or let loose a massive swarm of automated combat star-fighters to eliminate their enemies. The core of the ship can be released from the outer ring, in order to land on a planet for trade or to collect resources. Tractor beams located around the outer ring have been rumored to be able to pull entire pirate cruisers to pieces. The FTL drive (Faster-Than-Light drive) located on-board the ships can take them across entire sectors within the span of a standard galactic day. Needless to say, the mere sight of one of these hulks in orbit can be enough to pacify entire planets.
The Conglomerate's nearly infinite array of products, from combat automata to video-screens, are produced in factories like these. Heavily fortified, with all designs kept secret to bamboozle corporate spies, the many Manufacturing Plants built across the galaxy are essential to the ever-growing economy of the IGFC.
It is noteworthy that because the IGFC is not a proper Civilization as branded by Galactic Law, and instead a business, they are not subject to the same restrictions and protocol as regular planetary governments, particularly the laws regarding the invasion of another sentient planet.
Chairman Dammix
Little has been seen of Chairman Dammix in the last few decades. Elected to the illustrious position of Chairman by the multitude of companies that make up the IGFC, he led a prolific, if somewhat secluded, life. He still occasionally appears in hologram form to broker business deals with friendly civilizations, or to intimidate IGFC's rivals. With an almost sinister intent, he continues to expand the reach of the IGFC across this galaxy and others. It is rumored that he has dabbled in the creation of the ever-growing "super-sentient" programs across some systems, which is said to be involved in the creation of meta-powered beings, particularly the ones from a relatively unknown planet called Earth...
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