State of the Legion: Legion Family Reveals Vast Fortune
21 Dec 2021Extremofire
Article from "State of the Legion", internal Lavigny's Legion newsletter. 21 Dec, 3307. Legion Family Reveals Vast Fortune
The Lee House, an Imperial house aligned with the Legion, has released a statement approximating their wealth to exceed that of some historic corporations.
The Lee family revealed, as a part of their regular public audit of funds to the Imperial Treasury, that their total assets are estimated to be above 350 billion credits. This is far above the estimated value of the Ambrose Foundation, a large investment firm that famously was liquidated in its entirety by its host family in February, 3305. The Foundation was valued at 300 billion credits, and had numerous investors. Many Imperial corporations have lower value than this House alone.
NCN was able to interview Praetor Michael Brenton Lee, a prominent Legion figurehead and one of the largest contributors to the Lee family's wealth, this morning. Lee was upfront about the beginnings of this unprecedented value:
I have never been one to flaunt my money. But since my finances have become a matter of public record, spawning many rumours of its origin, I will set the record straight. I, unlike many in the Empire, earned my family's fortune. I was not born in to wealth, but I was merely the son of a citizen farmer and a mother who had to give up her family's wealth to be with him. Through their trials, I've learned to toil for everything we have.
When asked about the work done to achieve said fortune, Lee directly attributed the riches to the Pilot's Federation as a whole, who rewarded EDGE Fleet Legionnaires directly for their efforts.
Through the endless battles of the EDGE Fleet, we have saved countless billions of lives. As such, the Pilots Federation itself has seen fit to reward our efforts. This has lead to tremendous wealth within the fleet, wealth that is used to not only save the Empire, but our entire species. This funding was earned through grit, not given openly. My wealth reflects the sacrifices I have made, and will continue to make, for our glorious Empire.
The Pilot's Federation has an unknown asset value, but has incentivized pilots of any background to counter Thargoid threats through bounties. The EDGE Fleet, of which the Legion is a major purveyor, collectively has claimed hundreds of billions of credits in bounties from the Pilot's Federation. When asked what the Lee family intends to do with their newfound wealth, Lee stated that a large percentage of this wealth is intended to go directly to Legion funds.
I've been continuously donating funds to the OCOR and EDGE since before I stumbled across this wealth. This will not stop. I intend to donate two-thirds of our family's wealth to the same branches, as this will help us in our mission to maintain peace across our territories.
If Praetor Lee is to be believed in his intent, the funds that are to come from the Lee family could be enough to fund adding thirty fleet carriers equipped with two hundred Imperial cutters, and still have funds left over to fund senatorial bids for the entire Praetor Council and Centurion Forum. When pressed about this statement, Lee defended it by harkening to their humble beginnings once more.
My mother, who is the matriarch of our house, trusts my decision implicitly. Even with two-thirds tied up, she remains far richer than she ever was in nobility.
This news came to mostly positive reactions in the Legion, but some Imperial patrons questioned the Praetor's language. Particularly in Ancillia systems, some accused the Praetor of spinning a wild story. Miners in Narakapani organized a small peaceful protest in Aeneas this afternoon. We spoke with Lori Gallicia, one of the organizers of the protest.
Praetor Lee may have made his fortune fighting those bugs, but we earn our pay through "grit" too. I can sit in an asteroid field for sixteen hour shifts, but make less than a million credits. That's all most of us can do. He may not have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but we weren't born with one of those fancy guardian modules well within reach. We aren't fighters, and it seems the richer groups that be want to punish us for it. For many of us in the fields, it's not as easy as slapping some anti-bug guns on a Viper and hitting pay-dirt. Mining pays for the handicapped, the veterans, the less-fortunate... but just barely. These people wouldn't last a minute against an Interceptor. Where's our billions, if we're the ones getting the very ore that Imperial carriers are made of?
Craig O'Neill, vice president of the Imperial Corporation Ankou Blue, took to other news networks to challenge Praetor Lee.
He says he "earned" his fortune, but what does that mean? Did other Imperials not "earn" their fortune? Have we not "earned" our fortune through the countless investments Ankou Blue has made? Lee is discriminating against the rest of the Imperials who do their part for the Empire and their own families, flaunting his wealth despite saying he isn't.
Such inequity is an issue that spans across the entirety of inhabited space; the cost of goods varies wildly for materials, but often, bounty contracts pay hundreds times that of other income sources. It's become the subject of many economic debates today.
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