Metellos Exchange

"You stand at the intersection of scientific discovery and commerce!"

- Cipiter

The Metellos Exchange was an auction based on Metellos 3, a moon of the planet Metellos. It used scientific data to auction off the rights to newly discovered and often unexplored celestial objects for a profit. It was run by the Raff Syndicate which intentionally exaggerated the benefits of the data to encourage more competitive buying and, as a result, more profits. The market was run by Chev slaves owned by a Chevin named Nunk Plaarvin. The Chevin was removed from his position by the black marketeer Marn Hierogryph and his conning group, Cargryph Capital Management, in 3,963 BBY when they conned the system using the planet Italbos. After managing to trick Plaarvin into leaving Metellos 3, the auctioneer&mdash;one of Plaarvin's Chev slaves, Cipiter&mdash;was left to run the Metellos Exchange for the Raff Syndicate.

Concept
"On Metellos 3, the sky isn't the limit, it's the product!"

- Cipiter

The theory of the Metellos Exchange was devised by Cipiter, a Chev slave belonging to the Chevin Nunk Plaarvin. It was set up on Metellos 3, a moon of the planet Metellos, where telescopic devices were used to explore the galaxy and discover new astronomical bodies after the Great Sith War. The Metellos Exchange became the first of numerous "Planetary Futures Exchanges" with the co-operation of the Galactic Republic.

The Metellos Exchange worked on the fact that exploration into the Outer Rim was expensive and the explorers' investors would want to know what potential rewards lay in wait to pay for the expeditions. The astronomical data collected on Metellos 3 would be provided to the market and the claims to such things as mining rights and hyperspace transit agreements would be auctioned off. It was often the case that the planetary claims would be sold for millions of credits years before anybody actually visited the planet. This meant that the market would technically be trading futures contracts. The organization that ran the Metellos Exchange, the Raff Syndicate, had the data that was presented to the market embellished to encourage more competitive bids and ultimately more profits for the Syndicate taking its cut. To ensure they received the correct cut, the market was highly regulated by Raff Syndicate members inspecting the Metellos Exchange.

History
"Now, tell me again how we can actually profit from this debacle?"

- Nunk Plaarvin, to Cipiter

In 3,963 BBY, the flaws in this method of trading rights were exploited by the Snivvian black marketeer Marn Hierogryph and Cargryph Capital Management, Hierogryph's title for the group that had amassed on his previous exploits. One member of Cargryph Captial, Jarael, disguised herself as an explorer that had discovered Italbos before the owners of the claims to it, sold by the Metellos Exchange, had reached the planet. Her companion, the Mandalorian Rohlan Dyre, was also disguised but as a native of Italbos who was displeased by the prospect of being someone else's property. They interrupted the sale of claims to a planet in the Anoat sector, Bespin, to make themselves known. Hierogryph, under the guise of "Professor Gryphomarn" acted as an advocate in the matter and invalidated the claims on Italbos. Jarael then caused further outrage by claiming that the Metellos Exchange's mineral projections were much lower than reality. Cipiter, the auctioneer, was forced to halt proceedings until the next day.

Later, the manager of the Metellos Exchange, Nunk Plaarvin, saw through this ruse and ordered that Jarael and Dyre to be taken to the Negotiating Room. The disruption caused meant that Plaarvin would have to announce that Jarael's claim was correct and that Italbos was rich with minerals in order to make a profit to pay to the Raff Syndicate.

Knowing this, Hierogryph and his Jedi cohort, Zayne Carrick, brought Slyssk, a former member of the Raff Syndicate and the final member of Cargryph Capital, disguised as a Raff captain to confront Plaarvin in order to rescue Dyre and Jarael. Carrick first attacked the Sentinel droids guarding the Chevin to stop them from interfering. Hierogryph criticized Plaarvin, saying that the Chevin had fouled the Raff Syndicate's operation on Metellos 3. Slyysk entered under the guise of the Raff captain and repeated the Snivvian's assertation. Hierogryph reasoned that they knew Plaarvin could be making more money, with Slyssk interjecting that the Chevin could easily be conned and accusing him of skimming off profits. Employing Plaarvin's fear of angering the Raff Syndicate, the duo tricked the Ephant Mon into going to the recently decimated Jebble, where the Syndicate were supposedly waiting for him.

Falling for the con, Plaarvin departed, leaving Cipiter in charge of the Metellos Exchange by default. Luckily for Hierogryph and Carrick, Jarael and Dyre had managed to escape from the Negotiating Room where they had been subjected to intensified sunlight intended to burn them to death. In the end, Carrick revealed to the traders that the claims they had made about Italbos were false. However, the Metallos Exchange still insisted on buying the rights from Cargryph Capital.

Behind the scenes
The Metellos Exchange's first and only appearance has been in the Prophet Motive story-arc of the  Knights of the Old Republic comic series. The story arc was written by John Jackson Miller and penciled by Bong Dazo.

Miller created the Metellos Exchange to show readers places in the Star Wars story that they hadn't seen before. He was inspired for the concept by real-world economies and how he was fascinated by the decisions made to choose what to buy and sell. Miller had already devised the storyline for the issues before the financial crisis in late 2008 and found the release of the first issue in the arc around the same time ironically opportune.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 36: Prophet Motive, Part 1
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 37: Prophet Motive, Part 2