Act 03: Work Opportunity

[Captain Larraq]

Mesen'loras Campaign
Act 03: Work Opportunity

It only took Larraq a few hours to make the jump to Ord Cestus. Less than an hour later and his shuttle had landed and his civilian model Oya'karir ground vehicle was unloaded and ready for him. It had been a long time since he had put Auron Helix to work. The company had fallen into disrepair as it struggled to research medical applications for local fungi. What he held in his pocket, however, could turn the tide for the company. Assuming of course that they were up to the task.

The drive was quick. Before too long he had made his way to the research facility and was greeted heartily by the staff and administrators. They knew that something important had had to of happened for the CEO of their parent company to make a personal visit, since he likely would have simply sent a holo-com had he intended to fire them all and liquidate the physical assets.

 

[Captain Larraq]

Happily shaking hands as they went, Larraq was escorted to the modest briefing room available to the scientists and a fresh pot of recaff was put on. The room was Spartan to say the least. A cheap, wooden table filled the room. Rickety, rusting chairs lined the table and cheap, superfluous paintings lined the walls.

Larraq made his way to the head of the table where a mug of recaff was already waiting for him. One by one, the room filled with the scientists and engineers that made the company run. Clearly, only the top scientists had been pulled into this meeting, but it was still far fewer men and woman than Larraq had anticipated. Only eight people had been brought in, not counting Larraq and the CEO of Auron Helix.

 

[Captain Larraq]

“I'd like to thank you all for your time.” Larraq said, beginning the meeting with a practiced formality. “And I know you're all curious about the sudden visit. I have a project in mind that could prove to drastically improve the standings of this company and provide a means for closer ties between her and Mandal Hypernautics.” He continued, watching the faces of those assembled before him for emotional cues.

“What you're about to see and hear is classified.” Larraq said needlessly, knowing that each of them had signed a nondisclosure agreement before entering the room. “Not a word of it leaves this room. I know you're aware of this, but I felt that it needed to be said.” He added as he continued to watch their faces, searching for any trace of malicious intent.

 

[Captain Larraq]

“What brings me here today, began of Wayland.” Larraq said, his hands dancing across a the dataslate in his hand. A small holoprojector had been placed on the table and bathed the room in pale light as it displayed images from Larraq's datapad for the assembled men and women to see. “A recent mining operation on the planet had uncovered a cache of ancient Imperial data. While most of the archive had been destroyed.” Larraq said, the image on the holoprojector switching from that of a massive hole in the ground to show a huge vault of computer mainframes, rocks and debris from some sort of cave-in crushing a vast majority of them. “A few precious mainframes remained intact.”

 

[Captain Larraq]

“And what was on those mainframes...” Began Larraq, pausing both for effect and to prepare the next image to be displayed. “Was trillions of terabytes of ancient Imperial documents. Chiefly, their collective documentation of Charon Biotechnology.” He finally said with emphasis on the importance of the matter. A collective intake of breath from those present at the meeting told Larraq that his audience was familiar enough with the species or the subject of Biotechnology in general to understand the sheer importance of the discovery. The holographic display switched to show several different images of immense living warships of Charon design, as well as numerous other, smaller, biological weapons-species of Charon creation.

 

[Captain Larraq]

Taking a deep breath, Larraq prepared himself for his next statement. He knew that is was both outlandish and ambitious. What he did not know, was how the collected scientists would view the idea. The sheer complexity of the project would typically have been considered impossible. But with Charon technology at their disposal, Larraq truly believed that they could accomplish wonders. “With further study and a bit of research, I believe that Auron Helix and Mandal Hypernautics will be able to work together to create a new line of biological starships.” He finally spat out. "What I need to know is... If provided with access to the Charon documents, are you up to the task?”

Silence filled the room as Larraq waited for a response and the assembled scientists struggled to grasp the reality of the situation. They were being asked to do the impossible, and they knew it. Larraq could see it in their eyes that each of them wanted to say that it was possible. They wanted to show confidence in their ability to their employer just as much as they wanted to believe that they were capable of such a task. But Larraq could already see that none of them truly believed that they were capable.

 

[Captain Larraq]

Larraq sighed loudly. “That's what I thought.” Larraq said at last. Whether capable of handling the project or not, these men had become so accustomed to failure that they had lost all confidence in themselves. “If you're not capable of handling this project yourselves, then I need you to tell me who is. This project needs to stay within Mandal Hypernautics and her subsidiaries. I can get you additional assets and resources and I can get you additional personnel. But you,” Larraq said, gesturing to the scientists assembled at the table. “Are the experts here. I need you to tell me what you need, and who I can bring on to help lead you through this project.”

 

[Captain Larraq]

One by one, the scientists turned to eachother and a low murmur filled the room as the discussed the matter. Various companies and races were brought up, a few named individuals were spoken of or discredited. In the end though, a consensus appeared to be reached. “The Qellan are probably our best bet.” One of them eventually said to Larraq, apparently speaking on behalf of the group. “Unlike the Arkanians and the Kaminoans, the Qellan are unaffiliated with any of the larger galactic governments. Their race boasts some of the best biotechnology specialists in the galaxy. If we're going to tackle this project, we're going to need a bio-engineer from Qella to lead it.”

 

[Captain Larraq]

Larraq nodded in agreement to the suggestion. While he was not particularly familiar with Qellans, he knew enough about Arkanians and Kaminoans to understand that an expert from the planet would be an invaluable asset to the project. “I can arrange that.” Larraq said confidently. “For now though, I want you all to familiarize yourself with the data I've brought for you and prepare the facility to put all of its resources into the project. Any additional supplies or equipment you need, send a request to my office and you'll have it by the time I've acquired a Qellan Bioengineer.” He continued as he gave a reassuring look to each of the scientist in the room. “For now though, unless any of you have any pressing issues or questions, this meeting is over.” Larraq said finally, giving a sweeping glance across the room as he made sure that each of them was good for the moment. Satisfied that there were no further questions, Larraq nodded to them and made his way from the room. He still had a lot of work to do before the project could be completed, and apparently he'd have to handle a great deal of it on Qella.