In a refreshingly transparent move, a coalition of fuel refiners has released a comprehensive business strategy guide detailing exactly how they successfully defended their market position against “unwanted economic diversification attempts.” The six-step program, tested recently on a fuel refining world, promises to help other established industries maintain their competitive advantages through what they describe as “perfectly normal market forces.”

A planet full of fuel production, dedicated for fuel production, made possible by fuel producers.¹

Step 1: Control a Critical Resource

The guide begins with the fundamentals: “First, establish dominance over something everyone needs,” explains the introduction. “Ideally, choose a resource that powers literally every ship in the galaxy. Food and water are also good options, but we find that controlling the means of interstellar travel really sends a message.”

The authors note that their test case involved a planet specializing in FTL and STL fuel production—products that coincidentally enable all trade, commerce, and basic transportation throughout colonized space. “The beauty of fuel,” the guide cheerfully explains, “is that without it, your competitors can’t even leave to find alternative suppliers.”

Step 2: Coordinate With Strategic Partners

“Never underestimate the power of like-minded business associates,” the guide advises in its second chapter. The case study describes how a prominent shipwright was persuaded to accept only fuel as payment for vessels, effectively converting every ship sale into a fuel transaction.

“This created a beautiful closed-loop economy,” the authors note with evident pride. “Competitors need ships to compete. Ships require fuel to purchase. We control the fuel. It’s just basic market efficiency.”

The guide recommends identifying other critical industries that can be leveraged into your ecosystem. “Logistics providers, manufacturers of fuel-adjacent products, and anyone else who might benefit from the status quo” are listed as ideal partners.

Step 3: Respond Decisively to Threats

The manual’s third chapter, titled “Market Defense Strategies,” outlines appropriate responses when outsiders attempt to “destabilize your carefully cultivated business environment.”

According to the case study, when manufacturing interests attempted to establish operations on the fuel refining world, the established refiners implemented what they term “selective supply chain interruptions.” This involved:

• Coordinated refusal to sell fuel to specified entities
• Price adjustments to Market Maker ceiling rates for FF and SF
• Shipwright embargoes preventing vessel purchases by “economically disruptive elements”
• Immigration restrictions and sanctions against new industrial operations

“Some critics used inflammatory terms like ‘cartel behavior’ and ’economic warfare,’” the guide acknowledges. “We prefer to think of it as ‘aggressively defending our business model’ or ‘free market self-regulation.’”

The authors note with satisfaction that fuel prices spiked dramatically during this period, “which really validated our concerns about market instability.”

Step 4: ???

The guide’s fourth chapter is mysteriously brief, consisting only of the word “Patience” centered on an otherwise blank page. When pressed for details, the authors noted that this section is “proprietary business methodology” and that “observers should draw their own conclusions about how economic pressure naturally leads to desired outcomes.”

Industry analysts suggest this chapter may refer to the period when manufacturing operations on the fuel world mysteriously became untenable, leading to their voluntary departure. The guide makes no specific claims about this coincidental timing.

Step 5: Profit!

Chapter five celebrates the successful conclusion of the case study. “At this stage, your market position should be stronger than ever,” the guide explains. “Competitors will have withdrawn, pricing will have returned to profitable-but-not-obviously-gouging levels, and everyone will have learned valuable lessons about challenging established industries.”

The fuel refiners’ coalition reports that their test planet maintained its Chamber of Global Commerce classification as a Fuel Refining world, with Manufacturing interests successfully redirected to “more appropriate venues.”

“The great thing about Step 5,” the guide notes, “is that ‘profit’ isn’t just financial. You also profit from increased market respect, deterrence of future challenges, and the warm feeling that comes from teaching the galaxy about the importance of staying in one’s lane.”

Step 6: Document Your Victory

The final chapter might be the guide’s most innovative: “Write the history as the winner.”

“Once you’ve successfully defended your market position, it’s critical to control the narrative,” the authors explain. “Frame your actions as defensive rather than aggressive. Emphasize the disruption caused by outside interests rather than your response to that disruption. Use terms like ‘stability,’ ’tradition,’ and ‘protecting jobs’ rather than ‘monopoly,’ ‘cartel,’ or ’economic coercion.’”

The guide recommends publishing detailed chronologies of events that carefully explain why every action was justified, necessary, and ultimately beneficial to all parties involved. “Including the parties you economically destroyed,” the guide helpfully adds.

“If possible, have the defeated parties acknowledge their defeat publicly,” suggests an appendix. “Nothing says ‘free market success story’ like your former competitors agreeing that trying to compete with you was a bad idea.”

The guide has received mixed reviews from the business community. The Castillo-Ito Mercantile Chamber of Commerce praised it as “a valuable resource for anyone operating in contested markets,” while several manufacturing trade associations declined to comment, citing concerns about “supply chain security.”

At press time, representatives from the fuel refiners’ coalition announced they were already working on a sequel guide: “How to Negotiate Peace Treaties After Economic Warfare (While Keeping Everything You Wanted).”

When asked whether this guide might be considered a manual for anti-competitive behavior, the authors seemed genuinely confused. “Anti-competitive? We competed and won,” responded one contributor. “That’s literally what competition means. If other industries wanted to operate on fuel refining worlds, they should have controlled all the fuel first.”

The guide is available for free distribution throughout the galaxy, though the authors note that physical copies can only be purchased using FTL fuel.