A Noblesse Oblige to Quality

[Gir Quee]

Gir glanced around the room, half-expecting someone to ask about the anti-concussion field generator. While weak versions of that device were relatively common, even in tramp freighters, the pinnacle of such technology as employed by Star's End were an altogether different story. That high end version of the device would deaden the terror of the Darkblade's hypervelocity cannon, though it wouldn't likely make the Nobelesse entirely invulnerable to projectile damage. If Gir had to guess, it would likely end up working like a normal energy shield against turbolaser bolts, first repelling and then finally breaking down under concentrated fire. But that's all that the Noblesse would need itself, as its own massive electromagnetic gun would likely be chewing apart the Darkblade at the same time.

 

[Tricia Kalamack]

Tricia looked at Camellia as she stood there and yawned. "And you have factored in the units correct?" Tricia narrowed her tri-colored silver eyes at her. "The sith have many ways to destroy a ship and not all have to be massive cannons. I could rip your ship apart given a meditation sphere something their emperor Arcis commanded. Their battle coordination can demoralize your entire fleet and make them hesitate." Now she wasn't the bored master who didn't care she was the one who had fought on Coruscant before there was a city. "Even an apprentice given enough distraction could use one of Vornskr's stealth ships, get aboard and sabotage it. Technological prowess fails in light of your human's tenacity to adapt and the sith have proven they can adapt. They took coruscant with ancient ships, then failed to make ground at Carida so they made new ships, stronger ships while the republic tossed and scrapped its powerhouses. The experimental reactors from Valen were a boon that allowed more weapons to be put in the ship and powered because of what was found. Both on the ground and in space. The mandalorians enter the fight and the sith develop a pistol able to match a tank shell." She leaned back lounging a little on a bed of force energy that was distorted.

 

[Caid Centurion]

Caid actually hated meetings like these...well...he just hated meetings. However, [member="Camellia Swift"] seemed to present a sound plan and actually covered most questions anybody could really have. Were there some technical specifics that someone with an educational degree in engineering might ask? Yes, without a doubt. However, Caid's main purpose and concern was ensuring that the projected capabilities were enough to fully accomplish the objectives of the Republic Fleet.

That's when someone he...recognized not at all began to speak about voodoo and adaptability. When [member="Tricia"] fell silent, Caid cleared his throat softly. "Are you giving logical feedback or just pontificating upon the capability of those wielding the ability to manipulate the Force?" Shifting his gaze back to Camellia, Caid more or less concluded his comments on the matter. "There is no feasible way to account for every possible advantage granted to those that can manipulate the galaxy's life force. The idea and goal here, if I'm not mistaken, is to bring Republic technology more in line with the technology of our enemies. The Sith, ladies and gentlemen, are the foe of today...these ships absolutely have to be the technology of tomorrow or we will constantly be playing catch-up."

Finally...his own question. "What you are describing is impressive, Captain Swift. I wonder about the power consumption should the vessel be forced into utilizing all of its massive resources at once." Typically...such an eventuality rarely occurred because precious few vessels were designed to operate as such for extended periods of time. "Specifically - what do your calculations show you is the maximum time the vessel will theoretically be able to operate at 100% load on its reactors?"

Or how long of an "oh shit" moment will commanding officers be afforded...

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Jaxon Wyatt"] [member="Tricia"] [member="Gir Quee"] [member="Taran Holt"] [member="Slate Estrada"] [member="Blackhot"] [member="Caid Centurion"]

Camellia herself was a little disappointed there were fewer points on the weapon system of the Linear Cannon as well as the Anti-Concussion Field, but at the same time she was rather pleased the question of power consumption had been brought up. It was a rather important topic to consider, so she was both happy to finally provide the details on that as well as have it out of the way. At the same time though she wasn't certain if she could answer the questions that Ms. Tricia was asking. They were very valid points. . . however. . . ."Master Tricia, i believe the answer to those problems fall upon the Jedi themselves. The Republic's Force users must be capable of Battle Meditation themselves to counter the Sith's. As for the stealth issue, they would be detected if they breached the hull, and there would be little chance of them entering the hanger with the shields up, and even if they did. . . . .we could employ sensors in the bay to determine weight to allow us to know when something lands that shouldn't be there perhaps if that answers your worry there. And as for tank shell pistols, Rendili Stardrive is a starship manufacturer. We do not have the technicians or facilities to develop firearms of that caliber and such would fall to another corporation's development teams."

Once that was said she would turn to Caid Centurion and begin her response to him as well. She had to think carefully on it, but in the end she certainly had an answer for him. "Running the ship on full power is not a problem. The majority of its weapons, and shields, can all be run without an issue. However, the main gun, the Linear Cannon, does have a long. . . . charging period, but we suspect the weapon to be many more times the strength of the HVG the One Sith's Darkblade utilizes so each shot is worth more, if less frequent. Another note to mention is that the shields, just like with an HVG, must drop for the round to be fire for less than a second. A common calculation on all ships and weapons with such technology so it isn't an issue. What is an issue is that while the Anti-Concussion field is up, the Linear Cannon would be unable to fire due to the magnetic molecular forces. Not to mention it is moot to have the field online when the shields are up since the Anti-Concussion Generator only strengthens the hull itself, so the shields would be pointless to have on at the same time and vice versa. It would be best to have the shields dropped and the field on when an HVG Round is about to hit, and then brought back online afterward. The field can also strengthen a hull against turbolaser fire as well so if the main shield fails it also conveniently acts as a secondary defense. The ship would still be able to utilize all other systems without issue. I would actually like to speak more about the Linear Cannon itself, and allow Mr. Quee to explain the Anti-Concussion Field more, these are the Noblesse class's major unique technologies."

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Camellia Swift"] [member="Caid Centurion"] [member="Tricia"]

Gir glanced around the motley assembly of soldiers, engineers, politicians, Jedi, and other various functionaries. He had expected more questions thus far given such a diverse group of people, though he supposed it was worth noting that perhaps the whole ship was very much still in a conceptual phase for many of them in their own mind. That certainly was the case for Gir, with the exception of a few certain systems, namely the linear accelerator and the anti-concussion field generator. He glanced around them. A bunch of the spacers and engineers here must know what an anti-concussion field generator is...but perhaps the others aren't really sure where to start? That is the hardest part, not knowing what you need to know. I suppose it could be important enough for even the conceptual part of the process for someone to take the initiative...

Noting the acute silence, Gir took the moment to stand up and walk over to Camellia's side, and almost immediately regretted it. But he pushed through his discomfort.


"Hello gentlebeings, I am Gir Quee," said the blonde man, "and I work for Lucerne Labs, a subcontractor on the Noblesse charged with providing the ship with a state of the art defense system to counter the One Sith's preoccupation with projectile weaponry, such as hypervelocity cannons. Lucerne Labs has recently made an upcharged version of the standard anti-concussion field that many of you can find on your own starships. Your garden variety of this technology typically protects against meteorites and other really small objects hurtling by in space at high velocities. What Lucerne Labs has done with its version is basically made one which is powerful enough to work against the projectiles of weapons like a hypervelocity cannons via a combination of simple brute force engineering in enlarging the system and some particle physics. I can't guarantee to be able to answer all of your questions about the LLT-4 Aegis Anti-Concussion Field Generator, but I will do my best. Does anyone have any questions about this piece of technology?"

 

[Caid Centurion]

((OOC: Sorry for the delay!))

Caid actually...did have more questions, but he preferred to present them in a sequential, logical format. There were many things to consider with a project of this scale, and he just wanted to be sure he had a very clear personal understanding of what Rendili had planned before he was summoned before the Senate to provide his own analysis of the program.

However, it seemed the subject shifted to the Anti-Concussion Field Generator. As a concept, Caid had no real questions about that particular piece of technology. In fact it wasn't so much the technology that he did have questions about. Thus far...everything was on paper, and he trusted minds much more well versed in weapons and systems engineering to iron out the kinks before moving to production. So that only left Caid to try and break it down to the terms someone that had spent little to no time on ships would and could understand. "Thank you, Captain Swift," Caid casually intoned to [member="Camellia Swift"].

Shifting his gaze to the male that had spoken but Caid did not immediately recognize, he offered a shallow nod. "No questions on that piece of technology from myself. Your executive description is perfectly easy to understand." Transitioning his gaze once more from [member="Gir Quee"] back to Camellia, Caid remained silent. He did have questions about weapons systems now that the power consumption question was more or less answered, but he would wait to see if any others wished to inquire about the Anti-Concussion Field Generator.

 

[Tricia Kalamack]

Tricia looked at Camellia and held for the first time amusement on her face as she remained there in the air with her legs crossed. Her hands on her knees while she expanded out with her senses to the one she wanted to. Holding them as she focused letting the sigil on her neck glow with energy flowing into her body until assistants were still. "I could dominate the minds of these humans, shatter their will upon a sea of experience and time. Show them their greatest fears and make them attack their own people, sabotage their own ships, self destruct even if I press and my abilities of battle meditation are considered that of a child playing compared to the ones such as Dranok Lussk and Val'ryss. The only true way to counter battle meditation is to use your own but if another attacks you then it can overwhelm you. Arcis is strong enough with his peoples magics that he could empower with the darkside a small squad to be as strong as him or a unit to overpower everything in their path." She let her power recede while she brought one man over to her... "I desire a drink go and get it would you." Before he could speak she held up a hand and he stopped walking away from the direction of her finger.

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Jaxon Wyatt"] [member="Tricia"] [member="Gir Quee"] [member="Taran Holt"] [member="Slate Estrada"] [member="Blackhot"] [member="Caid Centurion"]

Gir Quee's explanation and description of the Anti-Concussion Field and its supporting systems and capabilities was spot on, leaving Camellia rather thankful that Lucrene Labs had sent him as their representative. She was less impressed with Master Tricia's input yet again. Once more she understood the sort of issue that the force master was raising, because it was certainly a threat and a worry, however, at the same time there was very little that Camellia could do about it. There wasn't exactly a technological solution to be applied to handle the threat of the One Sith's masters using Battle Meditation in combat to tip the scales. So what was she being asked to do?

Rendili Stardrive's CEO found herself sighing as she tried to restrain herself from complaining about it, but at the same time she knew she had to give an answer. "I understand your concern Master Tricia, but I must once more ask you what it is exactly you desire me to do about the situation. Is there some technological angle I am unaware of that can counter such abilities? Because I do not believe there is any nor would I have the knowledge or capacity to invent such a device. If you think we need to have the Republic's Jedi become more thoroughly trained so that they can counter this issue then we can try to raise the awareness of it with the Jedi Order. However, at this time if no one has any more questions on the Anti-Concussion Field or any input on Master Tricia's concern, then we will move on to describing the Linear Railgun Cannon."

 

[Caid Centurion]

Caid remained silent though his eyes did track between parties as they spoke. He had nothing to add to the conversation about the Force. This was a production meeting about designs for weapons systems. If there was a suggestion for an addition that might aid the Jedi, then perhaps they could have something to discuss. The stark reality was that a meditation chamber was not a massive architectural addition to a vessel. It just had to be added, and it could be done completely interior to the ship. Caid's awareness of this was only a result of his time spent crewing one of the Praxeum vessels amongst...many Jedi...day and night. Terrible.

Nodding his head to [member="Camellia Swift"], he indicated his readiness to proceed.

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Camellia Swift"] [member="Caid Centurion"] [member="Tricia"]

Now comfortably back in his seat among the other attendees, Gir glanced around the room, trying to read them. There was a certain silence after the Rendili president and Jedi Master spoke. But he guessed that was to be expected. There was always a certain tension between those who knew the Force and followed it, and the more common people who more often than not relied on technology. Yet the rare fusions between those two cultures met, it often made very awe-inspiring, and often terrible things: light sabers, fleets augmented by Battle Meditation, and even Sithspawn by a combination of genetic engineering and Sith magic. Gir often secretly wondered if there were was something like Jedi magic, which everyone just kept hushed about. Shrugging, the man from Hast raised his left hand.

"Sorry to interrupt Captain Swift, but before we move onto the cannon, would it be possible to include some sort of meditation chamber of our own on the Noblesse? I admit that I ask mostly out of ignorance of the ways of the Force, but perhaps our resident Jedi Master might be able to better enlighten us on that possibility?"

 

[Quietus]

There was no question of timeliness on the part of Lorelei Darke's arrival. As CEO of Kuat Drive Yards an the Sovereign of Kuat itself, it was publicly understood the woman to be perpetually busy. She arrived precisely when was opportune, between taking business on the go and keeping in touch with her contacts, this breather was all that suited her overloaded schedule.

Directed to the conference room, Lorelei strode in with the KDY Director of Operations DiVanca Leonardi and her personal Noghri bodyguard on her heels. The remaining retinue of Kuat royal guards were stationed just outside.

She said not a word as she swept in and took a seat nearby the young [member="Caid Centurion"] with DiVanca taking the seat at her other side. Accepting a datapad containing the meeting's itinerary, she quietly perused the list while the others remained engrossed in the current conversation. There was hardly any need for her to introduce herself: the GNN and local tabloids of every major Republic planet frequently plastered her image over anything pertaining to KDY, the Republican Fleet, and relative subjects.

Waiting for a break, Lorelei turned an impassive green gaze over the young lad seated to her left and leaned towards him, "You look familiar," she murmured under her breath, but did not allow the notion to linger long enough for rebuttal, "what's the current subject of discussion?"

 

[Caid Centurion]

Caid remained mostly silent on the subject brought up by [member="Gir Quee"]. Caid certainly had never engineered the creation of, well, any vessel period. What he knew was based out of training from experience and a handful of classes he'd been enrolled in as a condition of past and current employment. While his practical knowledge was considerable, he left the creation of starships to the minds of much better individuals. The only thing he knew was that...there was precedent. Unfortunately, that design was not of Rendili or KDY.

As if on mental cue, the red-haired beauty of [member="Lorelei Darke"] swept into the room, pulling his silver-green gaze to her lithe figure and that of her alluring Director of Operations briefly. Per typical, Caid's datapad demanded his attention. Silently, the Admiral pulled up the message as Lorelei and her associate settled into seats.

When the KDY CEO addressed him, however, Caid arched a curious brow and turned his attention her way. He didn't really know the woman, but he'd heard that statement before, but he preferred not to consider whether or not it had to do with his enigmatic father. "Meditation chambers, I think. Or maybe it's the Linear Railgun Cannon." Exhaling softly, Caid managed a very thin smile. "The conceptual nature of the conversation is diverse."

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Lorelei Darke"] [member="Jaxon Wyatt"] [member="Tricia"] [member="Gir Quee"] [member="Taran Holt"] [member="Slate Estrada"] [member="Blackhot"] [member="Caid Centurion"]

Camellia had to restrain a sigh at this point. She hadn't planned for things to become so muddled and distracted over the course of the proposal phase just because of something like a meditation chamber. It was such a footnote that it hardly mattered, and yet here they were debating it and worrying about it like it was the main focus of the discussion on hand. This was a project on technology! On weaponry and power that could be brought to bear with a true blue Republic warship. If the Jedi and Sith wanted to play the game of who had the better space magic fine by her, and she would try to help support such a pivotal force of the Republic, but did they really have to make such a big deal about their abilities when there was no way for someone like her to deal with it or understand.

At least a decent diversion appeared for just a slight moment while the others were talking still. Kuat Drive Yards' CEO had arrived. With a rather impressive and attention grabbing entourage. This was the first time Rendili Stardrive's CEO had had the chance to ever actually meet Lorelei Darke in person. In fact to speak to the other woman at all. Camellia had been rather hesitant to invite Rendili's historic competition to the meeting and involve them, however they were needed. Rendili Stardrive had the technology and the resources, but not the capacity to meet the quota the Republic would need. Kuat was needed to help for just the beginning. . . . . .and at the very least, history had shown they could work together. Both shipwrights had developed the Victory Initiative after all.

Making sure to offer a bow to the new arrival while she could, Cam focused once more on how to handle the matter of the Jedi Master's request. Hadn't there been a ship the Republic had made with a meditation chamber already? "I don't think it would be a problem to add a room for a Jedi to rest and meditate in for the manner you request. I do believe the specifications would escape me, but I recall the Republic once had a vessel that had such a chamber once before. I do not think it would be problematic to ask their representative for the schematic of the compartment. If there is nothing else though I would like to move onto the cannon. I actually have a demonstration of it planned for everyone's viewing pleasure so I would hope we could get through a basic description of its capabilities first. I'm happy that Kuat's representative could make it in time for this part of the proposal, I hope your trip was well and my correspondence conveyed what I was hoping you could assist the project with?"

 

[Quietus]

"There are meditation chamber specifications in the KDY databanks," Lorelei spoke up with a subtle glance to the D.O. on her right who nodded and pulled out a datapad of her own from a briefcase, "it's hardly a revelation of ingenuity or groundbreaking technology - I don't suggest wasting anymore time worrying about it at this point. As for your correspondence, Miss Swift, Kuat is prepared to take on your request. We'll discuss it in greater detail later."

"For now, the cannon has the floor."

 

[Caid Centurion]

Caid didn't see that he had much to say here. [member="Camellia Swift"] had, effectively, asked to shift the subject of discussion to the Linear Railgun Cannon, and it did not appear that course of action was opposed by any present. Clearing his throat slightly, Caid added his assent to the decision. "I do think we are all eager to proceed on that notion, Captain."

[member="Lorelei Darke"] | [member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir nodded in understanding as the design discussion moved forward. He had only heard rumors about meditation chambers, but satisfied that the topic was already well understood by at least some of those present, he set aside his own reservations to listen about the cannon. That was a topic he was far more interested in, if only because he was more knowledgeable about it rather than the mystic powers of various force-users.

[member="Caid Centurion"] | [member="Camellia Swift"] | [member="Lorelei Darke"]

 

[Tricia Kalamack]

Tricia yawned while she floated up laying in the air. "I am ready to proceed forward as well it is interesting." She just waited there while barely glances to the other people there. She wanted to bring up they had plenty of information but ignored the nagging. These were children who moved differently then the ones she was used to while laying now. She gave another yawn though to her small show.

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Lorelei Darke"] [member="Jaxon Wyatt"] [member="Tricia"] [member="Gir Quee"] [member="Taran Holt"] [member="Slate Estrada"] [member="Blackhot"] [member="Caid Centurion"]

Camellia offered a nod of thanks to Kuat Drive Yards CEO for the other woman's aid in putting an end to the rather roundabout discussion over the meditation chamber to please the mystical section of the audience. There wasn't anything wrong with the addition of the area for a force user to wield their powers effectively, but at the same time it didn't really appear to require much technical difficultly to factor so she would rather spend the time working on the explanation of the linear cannon or other such advanced system aspects. Rendili Stardrive's CEO also fully intended to spend some time going over the details of the proposal for Kuat Drive Yards aid in the early production of the first few warships when she got the chance to do so and Lorelei Darke was willing. "Rendili offers its deepest thanks then Miss Darke. That makes things so much simpler. I hope we can touch base on the details again for our cooperative efforts before the presentation is through, I feel it would at least be important for Mr. Centurion and Lucerne Labs representative to hear it as well later."

As she finished her thanks, a projection would appear over the table as Camellia's technicians got the holo-projector running for her finally. Above the gathered audience would appear the design of the Noblesse, spinning slowly, before falling apart and reforming in smaller dimensions to the top right corner of the holographic display, in the center place taking precedence was what appeared to be a rather odd sideways U shaped device that once had ran along the length of the vessel. Even it would come apart into sections, though it would not collapse, merely open up as the display began to thoroughly traverse the design it was displaying. "This is the experimental Rendili Railgun, also being dubbed the Linear Accelerator Cannon. Unlike regular Hypervelocity Guns which are coilguns, which accelerate their rounds through electric conductors every length of the device, the Railgun this weapon operates by accelerating along the barrel until it hits right angles and then is given the same magnetic boost, which significantly increases in the crux of the design at the rear of the vessel, before the round travels down the remaining length of the gun and is launched here. It effectively fires a projectile at greater velocities than a coilgun, but has a longer firing time and reload capacity. There is also the issue of the weapon itself needing maintenance every so often as the rails are worn down after repeated firing. For that reason the railgun has been constructed with many smaller rails, increasing the production time and the cost of construction, but reducing the difficulty and cost of repairing them later. Maintenance shafts run just along the hull of the Noblesse as well, where engineers and technicians can easily enter into a damaged area of the rails to replace them quickly and easily. It can also be brought into dock if the ship ever suffers severe enough damage past the point onboard teams can handle. However, considering the nature of the Railgun design being specific to the Noblesse class itself, that nature of the weapon means it would need to be brought to Rendili or our other shipyards over Humbarine if sufficient stress wears down the ship. Anything aside from that other yards can dock it in their berths for repairs. The only downsides from this weapon are its slower rate of fire, though its power and velocity compensates for this I believe, and that it also faces forward strictly and can not be operated while the magnetic fields of the Rampart Concucsion Field Generator are active."

 

[Caid Centurion]

Caid listened intently to [member="Camellia Swift"] as she began dissecting the workings of the Railgun. For the most part, nothing she said was out of the ordinary or counter to basic intuition. However, there was a small section of her monologues that he...was curious about. Naturally, anything that was so complicated as to have limited individuals capable of affecting repairs was something of a problem for any ship-of-the-line.

When the Captain had finished speaking, Caid cleared his throat slightly and leaned forward to air a concern in his deep, velvet tone. "Captain. With regards to maintenance... How much additional training time do you expect Republic Navy personnel will have to undergo to be certified to operate this weapon's system, and what level of damage, specifically, will they be certified to repair? I can appreciate that the design is constructed such that the burden of the cost is upfront to limit repair cost, but that seems to be much more of a benefit for Rendili...which will absorb all major repair efforts. Whilst, the Republic will have to foot the bill for training a swath of technicians and officers to both operate and conduct maintenance on not only the new vessel class but the vast amount of new technology it makes use of. Sorry to take us from technology to money...but money makes everything else possible, and I'm somewhat beholden to a number of politicians that just love to remind me of that fact."

In truth, Caid should have stopped trying to pretend like the burden of command was not infinitely more about balancing a budget and being...politically savvy in the execution of tactical priorities than it was about prowess in battle. He yearned for the days before the Republic, before legitimate government service. It was an entirely new animal.

[member="Gir Quee"] | [member="Lorelei Darke"]

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir listened to the talk about the weapon with interest. Many companies, including Lucerne Labs, had recently taken an interest in redeveloping the old standby of space combat, projectile cannons. Massive cannons like the Linear Accelerator Cannon also tended involve large investments by its maker, which often meant that they were fairly high tech. Given Captain Swift's discourse on the matter, it seemed clear to Gir that the weapon itself was becoming fairly well developed already if it was a mere concept, but the amount of detail suggested that it was more likely in its final stages of design, if it wasn't already in production.

Her comment about the weapon's use alongside that with the Aegis Anti-Concussion Field generator brought a sage nod from him. But that was to be expected, as the same issue was a given with the weapon's use with either deflector or particle shields. Thankfully, like those same defensive systems, the local anti-concussion field around the cannon's exit could be briefly lowered in the span of nano-seconds to allow the projectile to leave the vessel before quickly rising up again to protect that section of the Noblesse. It would merely be a matter of synchronization, which would be one for the computer programmers to deal with.

[member="Caid Centurion"] | [member="Camellia Swift"]