The Arcona Contract Bureau, or A.C.B for short, is a new and unique service that allows the Dark Jedi of Arcona to help further the goals of the Shadow House by participating in mission-based tasks, referred to as "contracts". These can range from assassination and reconnaissance to VIP protection and everything in between. The Bureau is based out of the Sublevels of the Arcona Citadel and is run by the Bureau Commissioner who reports directly to the Master of the Arcona Arena as well as to the Quaestor and Aedile of House Arcona. The current Commissioner is Talos Omerta.
Arcona Contract Bureau History
A Brief on the Bureau
The organization that would become the Arcona Contract Bureau was founded in 34 ABY by Hapan nobleman Marick Del'Abbot as a sub-branch of the larger Arcona Arena, formed in the image of the now-disbanded Bounty Hunters Guild, of which Marick was a member. By offering members "contracts", which are completely voluntary special assignments, the Bureau assists members by giving them outlets in which to test their skills and prove their worth to the House, as well as helping the Shadow House in a number of ways, many of which would be politically unwise to reveal to the general public.
Bluntly put, the Contract Bureau acts as a clandestine "catch-all" service specializing in dealing with those who bear ill will towards House Arcona, though without the bureaucratic red tape that tie the hands of Arcona's other "non-Sensitive" agencies. This, combined with the lack of a tedious chain of command, allows the Bureau to handle any contract that comes its way with unprecedented efficiency.
Assassination, VIP protection, reconnaissance, retrieval/destruction of secure information, and deep cover contracts are all handled by the Bureau and doled out to interested members.
Standard Operating Procedure
- "Welcome to the Bureau"
- ―Commissioner's popular saying when assigning a contractor his first contract
The contracts handled by the ACB are not always assignments set forth by the Quaestor or Aedile, but rather those of outside parties. Indeed, 85% of Bureau contracts are originally submitted as tips by non-Force Sensitive allies of the House, whose own agendas and goals would be set back if Arcona lost control of the Dajorra System.
All tips are sent in via a series of drop boxes spread throughout Estle City or a heavily encrypted HoloMail account, only accessible by the Commissioner, for off-planet submissions. The identities of the senders are kept in the strictest confidence, though many do not even sign their tips or messages in the first place. A look at the Bureau's operating procedure is found below:
Step 1 - A tip is submitted to the Bureau Commissioner by either the drop box of HoloMail account.
Step 2 - The Commissioner reviews the tip and validates it by flagging the involved parties for observation.
Step 3 - If the tip is valid, then it becomes a contract and the Commissioner begins putting together the necessary materials for the contractor who will fulfill the contract.
Step 4 - The contract is then assigned to an interested contractor.
Step 5 - The contract is fulfilled and the contractor reports back to the Commissioner. The latter then files a successful mission/after-action report.
About Contracts
When a tip becomes a contract, the Commissioner must first the classify the contract in two ways; the type of contract and its class, or difficulty. Currently, there are five (5) types of contracts, though more may be added in the future, and four (4) classes of difficulty. A list of all available types and classes are listed below:
TYPE
The threats that House Arcona often encounters come in a wide variety and as a matter of course, so do the contracts offered by the Bureau. However, all contracts can be filed into one of the following types. On a official Contract Request Form, the type of contract is always listed in brackets ([]).
Type 1: [ASSASSINATION]
The elimination of a target individual or group ranging from political to personal, in a variety of methods including the normal sniper shot from afar to something completely unorthodox.
Hacking, stealing, or breaking into secure facilities to accomplish goals that include anything from retrieval of stolen data to the destruction of enemy installations .
Type 3: [RECON]
These types of contracts often require contractors to rely more on stealth than all-out violence, in order to scout enemy locations and gather information or research.
Type 4: [SECURITY]
Type 4 contracts can range from being added to a VIP's security detail, escorting valuable cargo, guarding important facilities and other various forms of protection.
Type 5: [UNDERCOVER]
Contracts of this nature require their contractors to go undercover with a hostile group or organization, with the mandate to bring it down from within.
CLASS
After a contract is classified into one of the five types, it is then given a difficulty rating by the Bureau Commissioner, which is known as the contract's class. Under Commissioner Del'Abbot, Brotherhood ranks were assigned to the classes of difficulty as a convenience to those Dark Jedi who would be requesting contracts. However, it should be noted that while it is recommended that a contractor sticks to the class that corresponds with his rank, he is under no obligation to do so and may request higher.
When filing for a contract, the class always comes after the type, the letter and word "class" separated by a hyphen.
A-CLASS
Beginner/Entry Level missions. Equivalent Brotherhood rank(s): Novice to Guardian
B-CLASS
Intermediate Level Missions. Equivalent Brotherhood rank(s): Guardian to Dark Jedi Knight
C-CLASS
Advanced Level Missions. Equivalent Brotherhood rank(s): Equite One to Equite Three
S-CLASS
High Risk Level Missions. Equivalent Brotherhood rank(s): Equite Four to Dark Prophet
Grading Scale
Keeping with the commonly held stereotype of Dark Jedi in general, nothing is ever as simple as it appears. The same holds true with the Arcona Contract Bureau; while completion of the contract is priority one, each contractor is also graded on his or her handling of the contract, resulting in an overall grade given to them by the Commissioner, often in the post-mission debriefing.
The goal behind grading each contractor is mainly to praise the areas they did well in (for example, the execution of the target) and also offer constructive criticism in the areas deemed lacking, providing ideas and advice on how they could improve. The types of grades are shown below:
Needs Work (NW)
The contract was completed but lacking in several areas; contractor could have possibly put the existence of the House in jepordy or may have come close to losing the target or having their cover/identity compromised.
Satisfactory (SAT)
The contract was completed and done well; contractor performed up to expectations and made only small, if any, errors.
Excellent (EX)
The contract was completed in a way that went beyond expectations; the contractor made no errors and conducted himself in a very professional manner that saw to a stellar completion of the contract.
Score Board
Within the Sublevels of the Citadel, where the Contract Bureau has its offices, there is a large holographic screen that constantly displays the amount of "reward points" of each Arconan who has taken out a contract from the Bureau. The amount of points awarded depend on both the Class (difficulty rating) of the contract and the Grade that the contractor received. The Bureau Commissioner is responsible for keeping the Score Board updated and is the only one with access to it. It should also be noted that the existence of the Score Board is merely an effort to boost camaraderie amongst House-mates and promote friendly rivalries.
Below is a list of the amount of points associated with each Class and Grade:
Class Points
A-Class = 2 points
B-Class = 4 points
C-Class = 6 points
S-Class = 8 points
Grade Points
Incomplete (I) = 2 points
Needs Work (NW) = 2 points
Satisfactory (SAT) = 4 points
Excellent (EX) = 6 points
Special Note
At the present time, the Arcona Contract Bureau does not have a set of rewards that the members may "cash" in their points for. However, it should be remeberered that the Commissioner makes bi-weekly reports to the Quaestor and Aedile about the status and efficiency rating of the Bureau. During these reports, he also provides the House leaders with a hardcopy list of the Score Board's rankings.
It has been confirmed that the Quaestor and Aedile take into account those who have worked for the Contract Bureau and the amount of points each member has when it comes time to reward their loyal vassals....
Trivia
- Talos Omerta is the author of the wiki page.
- The Arcona Contract Bureau is founded in the likeness of the Bounty Hunters Guild, or BHG. Many Arconans, including Wally (Marick) and Sashar Erinos Arconae, were members of the Guild before coming to the Dark Brotherhood.