La Arditezza and Saverio da Carrara
14 May 2021Wulthus
Nothing is known about the Da Carrarans before their manumission. Their origins are a guess, and their path to freedom remains a mystery. The family's history counts merely two generations, and is closely tied to the independent imperial carrier "IS Prepotente", owned by now deceased Baron Lorenzo Appiani, where then enslaved Saverio's parents, Matteo and Eliza, served as crewmen. After their release from slavery, da Carrarans willingly continued to live and serve on board Lorenzo's starship. The only excuse they found to suspend their spacer lifestyles was when Eliza fell into an unexpected pregnancy. Ms. da Carrara, for her former master convenience, wanted her child to be born nowhere else, but on Lopez City in Arexack, the Prepotente’s home port.
Habitable worlds of Arexack system were not considered remarkable by any colonization standards. It’s minerals … scarce, It’s biosphere, regular. As the system lied in the outer edge of imperial space, it lacked any real strategic importance, too. It’s breathtaking vistas may ought to attract large scale tourism someday, however, lack of proper infrastructure halted such visions, indefinitely. So far, the best this world had to offer was it’s fertility. Unfortunately, food was plentiful in the galaxy. Perceptible lack of career prospects discouraged immigration, thus, system’s population topped at mere 6 million in the year of the recalled events. All those combined factors contributed to the system receiving minimal funding, and almost zero to no interest of Her Imperial Majesty and her Senators. Because of this, governance of the system was delegated to nobles of lesser stature, namely aforementioned Lorenzo.
Question was, how did baron Appiani managed to amass considerable wealth despite low taxation income and lackluster support of his patrons? The answer lied in the cargo holds of his flagship.“Prepotente” was no ordinary cargo configured carrier, but a fully rigged smuggling craft. Baron Lorenzo used his privileged position and relative obscurity of the world he governed to organize less than glamorous enterprise of his own. Several plantations he owned focused on cultivation of earth-origin plants known to contain peculiar psychoactive elements. His people then smuggled the goods trough Federal territory to be sold to the decadent crowd of its’ citizenry, ready to pay ludicrous sums for their high and misery.
Eliza carried the child successfully, giving birth to a healthy boy who they named Saverio. As soon as the youngster was old enough to speak, Da Carrarans continued their service on board the governor's ship, dragging him into their patron’s shady business. On board, he developed skills in pilotage, engineering, ship-handling, negotiation and diplomacy, also learning languages in the process. Saverio was well rewarded for his competence and ability to keep business matters private. He spent his newly come wealth purchasing titles to his surname, granting him an advancement within Imperial society. Soon, he had risen high enough to gain the privilege of bestowing aforementioned titles upon regular imperial citizenry.
Baron Appiani intended not to expand on his business, fearing that it might attract the unwanted attention of his superiors within the Senate. Saverio, however, was no politician, and his actions weren’t as carefully observed as actions of his patron. Unwilling to let the business opportunity pass, Saverio, against the advice of his parents, sought to organize matters independently of Lorenzo. However, to successfully operate within the gray area of both interstellar and domestic law he would require loyal and dedicated workforce, aiming higher than their next paycheck. Saverio intended to fix this issue by utilizing his newly earned privilege.
An announcement was made. Every Arexackan citizen of the empire, ready to swear fealty to Saverio Da Carrara, wound receive training, equipment and a title free of charge from the hands of their master. In return, his sovereign would ask for a fair percentage of their exploits, and participation in matters deemed essential for his business. Many joined, either tempted by the prospect of quick societal advancement and wealth, or simply lacking any other career choices on their home-world. The newly found militia was christened with the name “Arditezza”, or “La Arditezza”, depending on the second language spoken by the locals. With regards to the origin of it’s name, Saverio, on various occasions, would refer to the militia as “The bold ones”, or “The valiant ones”. The group would simply adopt the phrase as their official label.
To fully operate, his newly made enterprise required one more thing - legal background. Fortunately, Saverio had one more trick up his sleeve, specially prepared for that occasion. Agnella Carbone – gifted graduate of one of the most recognized imperial schools of law. Saverio met her in the hospital, in the early days of his career, while recovering from wounds after negotiations with one of the minor off-world cartels proved futile. Agnella knew very well who Saverio was, and in what activities his family dabbled in. Despite this, she accepted Da Carrara’s proposition, having financial troubles of her own. Over time, the two developed romantic feelings for each other, and their relationship was crowned with marriage. Saverio’s father, Matteo, never approved of the two getting together, and, as a sign of protest, didn’t attend the ceremony.
Over time, as the group grew in numbers, not only it had developed it’s own, complex ranking system and structure, but also their own ethics, culture and symbolism, giving it resemblance of a secret society, rather than a mercenary band. Even the pledge of allegiance, an initial requirement to join the militia evolved into a sophisticated ritual on itself. Lord Saverio, who by his own request, was not referred by the group by his honorifics, but per “Don”, would openly remark how he considered “La Arditezza” a part of the family.
Arditezza, despite their titles and associated decorum with them, operated like a common bread organized crime syndicate. Surprisingly, it’s members were regarded as folk heroes of Arexack. Credits individual Valente made were often significant enough not only to financially secure one’s family, but to be invested in local communities as well, improving standards of living. The ill gotten goods the organization acquired off-world ironically contributed to kick starting the dis-remembered world’s economy. In one of many public stunts the band would often pull, their fresh loot would get distributed among the populace, which also has proven to be an effective recruitment campaign.
Baron Appiani was never bothered by the actions of the militia, for two main reasons. Firstly, having to deal with limited funding from the Senate, he was glad to see other party taking law enforcement duties out of his officers’ shoulders. Secondly, as Saverio and Lorenzo still had good relations, more often than he wished, he would find services offered by the Arditezza very handy with regards to running his unofficial business... Things, however, started to sour when Saverio, encouraged by his success, decided to expand Arditezzas’ operations to the branch of his mentor.
Turns out, If there’s one thing that Lorenzo Appiani couldn’t stand, it would be competition. Baron was not willing to share market with anyone, and remained deaf to Saverio’s propositions regarding establishment of a cartel. As soon as his men confirmed that Da Carrara has indeed bought plantations planetside, he became furious. By his executive order, all property owned by Da Carrara family was to be seized, and their ships grounded for inspection. However, non of these came to fruition. With horror, he realized that a large portion of his administration, including law enforcement officers, were either in full support of his competitor, or worse, directly on his payroll, defiantly disobeying the dictate.
To make matters worse, the Baron did not give up, and his decision to press on gave birth of a colony-wide unrest, which eventually escalated into a war. The imperial media establishment were quick to christen the newborn conflict as civil war. This narrative, however, lacked in accuracy, as no ordinary citizens took part in the revolt. What Arexack witnessed was, in reality, something closer in resemblance to a gang war on a massive scale. It were the various other smaller crews and organizations, declaring their allegiance to either Appiani or Da Carrara, that clashed on streets of the colony in an effort to undermine, if not eliminate, their competitors.
War came to a quick halt when “IS Prepotente” suffered a catastrophic decompression. Fatalities included: Matteo da Carrara, Eliza da Carrara, and baron Lorenzo Appiani himself.
Naturally, conflicts, big and small, do happen within imperial space, and usually don’t bring much of Archenar’s attention. However, governor’s death is not something imperial ruling class could ignore that easily. With haste and in secrecy, troops were send in to restore order, and soon after, off-world authorities began to look into the events leading to what they believed to be the an open rebellion.
As more and more pieces of the story surfaced, Imperials made the decision to end their investigation without closure. Apparently, when in was discovered that the Governor appointed by the institution of Her Imperial Majesty, known for her radical views and ruthless approach to corruption, was indeed a crooked drug-lord, an incentive appeared to keep the complete story … uncovered. Investigators determined that the fatal decompression of “IS Prepotente” was caused by a bomb attack. Perpetrators, however, remain unknown to this day. No direct connection between the events on Arexack and house Da Carrara were found. However, several individual members of La Arditezza, proven to be involved in the turmoil, were either stripped of their titles, or trialed and sentenced.
As for Saverio da Carrara, he decided to leave his home system and seek fortune elsewhere. The house now runs many smaller enterprises, few of them dedicated to shipping, cruises, and agriculture. Some, however, suspect that the family has not cut off from it’s criminal past completely, and the enterprises they run serve solely as money laundering operation. Remnants of the Arditezza are also believed not to have disbanded, but scattered around the known universe, still operating in deep conspiracy.
As far as the public is concerned, axerackan plantations never produced a single gram of psychoactive substances.
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