Asking Without Asking (Taeli)

[Ashin Varanin]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Aurora Industries operated from a number of major worlds. For the life of her, Ajira couldn’t remember which planet this was. She had a pilot and navigator to accommodate her potential senior moment, but even so, she felt ill at ease. Forgetting things always set her on edge. The older she got, the more her mind tended to turn against her; she’d been noting it since her late twenties, and across three bodies now. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Fortunately, the particulars of the meeting hadn’t escaped her. She’d met [member="Taeli Raaf"] a couple of times, once during the height of the Alliance’s efforts to assimilate Naboo, and once during consultations for the half-failed New Class Modernization Program. The first meeting hadn’t gone well, largely because Ajira’s function had been to oppose assimilation and Raaf had been there on behalf of the Alliance. The second meeting had been strange in its way. They’d both presented to the GADF panel, including flag officers. Raaf had spoken about Aurora’s new power generation technology, Sianium. Industry sources said Sianium could triple energy output at scales ranging from personal weaponry to capital ship reactors. That technology couldn’t be ignored.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Ajira, once upon a time and under another name, had ruled the Sith Empire, held the great Sith holocrons, been a Sith archivist, and read every classified file known to Sith-kind. She knew what Project Siantide was, and why Aurora had been working away on Togoria. She knew how Sianium probably worked; she had high hopes of finding some sort of alchemical exploit, should Sianium become common in Alliance territory. Lady Ajira Cardei of Theed Hangar had no reason to know any of that. Therefore this high-level sales meeting was about to become interesting in the extreme.[/SIZE]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Master Raaf, the representative from Theed Hanger will be here shortly," her Umbaran aide Uleema said. Taeli looked up from the development report on her desk, a report detailing the establishment of their secret research lab on Mygeeto for the Sianium project. Kyburne had been filling her in on the details as he began his experiments with combining their Sianium process with kyber crystals found on the world, but that could wait temporarily. This was a meeting she was looking forward to.

"When Lady Cardei arrives, have her brought up here," Taeli said, receiving a bow from Uleema and being left alone. She would gaze out her window over the vast number of lakes that dotted Erilnar's surface and the Aurora Industries campus. Lady [member="Ajira Cardei"] was an interesting figure, one Taeli actually enjoyed talking with and listening to. They had met only a few times, the Naboo ball that was rudely interrupted by a Sith attack, the New Class meeting for the Alliance military, and to discuss with a man running a new rendition of Nubia Star Drives different patents. Each time, Taeli had been impressed by her acumen and demeanor. So, it made her curious what she would want, to come out to the Centrality to see her.

It could be any number of things, but she was sure she would find out soon enough.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

The Centrality had always held a small place in Ajira's heart. As she ascended the Aurora building, a panoramic window displayed the trademark lakes of Erilnar, and memory flooded back. So much of memory was housed in the physical portion of a mind. Every time she switched bodies, the past faded a little more. She'd been here, though; she knew that much.

A similar view greeted her as an Umbaran aide led her into Raaf's office. Erilnar certainly had its charms. She blinked and refocused on the Jedi millionaire.

"Master Raaf, it's nice to see you again." To her mild surprise, she even meant it. She took a chair uninvited, across the desk from Raaf. "It's been a while since that business on Nubia. I kept thinking I would run into you again when our interests dovetailed."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

"It is a pleasure to see you as well, Lady Cardei," Taeli said. She also meant it, it was always nice to be dealing with someone who was successful and tenacious enough to get what they wanted. Even though she had opposed Naboo joining the GA, she and the Naboo certainly enjoyed a position of power within the planetary alliance. She would close down the report she had been reading to give her guest her undivided attention. It was only polite after all.

"That business about Nubia was... interesting to say the least," Taeli said, gaining an amused smile as she thought back on that meeting. The other participant had been rather... obstinate during the negotiations. "So, to what do I owe this unexpected but welcome pleasure? I would assume our interests are aligning if you came here yourself, and not one of your other representatives."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

"The powers that be felt that I should handle this discussion personally, yes." Unlike Raaf, Ajira was no CEO. She held the office of Director General, one of perhaps a dozen such posts within Theed Hangar.

"Some of the other Directors General, and various officials within His Majesty's Office, were struck by my report on the New Class consultations. Your presentation on Sianium was especially interesting to them. A technology with three times the generation capacity of standard power sources? Miniaturized, no less? It's like loading a blaster with hypermatter." She smiled faintly. "Suffice it to say that we're looking to include your invention in several lines of elite personal transports and starfighters."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

"Ah I see," Taeli said, leaning back slightly in her chair. Sianium had been a major project for company, bringing something out of the annals of history into the present. Some might say it was... morally ambiguous, due to it requiring the eradication of organic matter to create. And not just in any way, but it required a species of organism to be blasted by turbolasers or some other catastrophic event and then irradiated. They had developed a way to artificially create the substance, but the places that still provided the most viable material were devastated worlds.

Still, it had become a cornerstone for the company as a power source, being used in their premiere blaster model and in many of their droids. With the report she had been reading prior to Cardei arriving, she had high hopes now of developing reactors that utilized Sianium and kyber crystals. All of that was stemming from the construction efforts in the Pluthan asteroids.

"And I'm guessing you're here to ask some questions about the substance and negotiate a mutually beneficial deal," Taeli said, giving Lady Cardei an understanding look. In that presentation, she had left how the substance was created out.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

Ajira shrugged. "Essentially, yes. Within reason. We understand the importance of a trade secret, especially when there's as much to be gained as you've found with Sianium. But 'new' is all too often synonymous with 'unproven.' We're looking for at least a rudimentary understanding of how Sianium functions and what liabilities we'd be assuming if we did build a new line around its capabilities. That's the end goal, ideally: another unique line. It's what we do."

And yes, Theed Hangar had branched out into small warships and large production runs of Naboo starfighters, as circumstances allowed or required, but the core business remained the same. Theed Hangar built elite personal transports, often in very small batches and for very distinguished clientele. Kings, queens, capitalists, philanthropists, and even the occasional benevolent dictator: Theed Hangar prided itself on providing unique subcapital vessels to the most discriminating customers in the galaxy. That went without saying.

"The current line of thinking is to build that line around Sianium, a proof of concept if you will. The kind of project that would catch the imagination of our usual customers in a way that's beneficial to both companies."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

"I would be happy to explain then, and I appreciate the discretion in how we go about creating the substance," Taeli said. Some part of her wanted to bristle at the unproven comment, but she tempered that down immediately. Lady Cardei had a point in that Aurora had yet to build something based around Sianium to power a ship. Weapons, droids, even capital ship emplacements, but they had yet to build the reactor needed for such. This would be new territory for both of them, and she was well aware of the clientele that Theed Hanger catered to. Wealthy clients that might be interested in Aurora if this proposed project played out as they hoped.

"As a student of history, I came across mentions of an old Republic energy project on Taris," Taeli explained. She was going to leave a few details out about the initial project, Cardei didn't need to know all the history. "Somehow they developed an energy source that could supposedly increase the energy generation and output of something tenfold. I thought that was hyperbole, but decided it was worth trying to investigate. Through our process, we were able to recreate the energy source of the old project and decided to honor it by naming our new substance Sianium. It might not be tenfold, but triple anything else on the market was good enough for me. It works much like traditional power cores and fuels, although it can be unstable so I wouldn't recommend letting it get hit by something like a blaster or cannon."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

"I see. The instability shouldn't be a problem: we've worked with volatile elite technologies before, and we have a variety of design protocols on the subject. For example, a ship's main reactor, using Sianium, would likely be cladded in a neuranium shell or something along those lines. Mandalorian Iron, perhaps: we have an arm's-length working relationship with a Mandalorian corporation. The idea is to protect the reactor from destabilization, and to suppress and channel the explosion in the event. If you can provide a sample, or data on the nature of the destabilization effect, our shipwrights would have a better idea of what form that protective layer would need to take."

She sat back and visibly looked for words.

"Industry sources," she said carefully, "have suggested that you operate on Togoria, and that your efforts there might be relevant to what we're discussing. There are questions. Our ethics oversight committee asked me to ask you whether these suggestions have any basis in substance."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

"Certainly," Taeli replied. "My Chief Engineer that oversees our Sianium project, Orlen Jylik, will be able to provide you the necessary data on what happens with the Sianium when it becomes... volatile. He developed a hybrid cryogenic power core that takes the edge off the instability. Not completely, but some of it. Keeping it cool, while running at peak efficiency of course, is one way that the instability of the substance can be mitigated and used relatively safely."

And then Lady Cardei mentioned Togoria, and internally, Taeli cursed herself that they hadn't developed that cloaking shield yet. With the Nebulous device, they had tested the new idea at their Mygeeto facility, but Togoria was more... public than the other Sianium mining and refining facilities. It still wasn't designed to draw attention to itself, and had plenty of security, but the fact remained she would be stepping up their privacy routines even more. Still, she kept the smile on her face and would answer the unasked question.

"Our Togoria facility is tied to our work with Sianium, but it certainly is not our only one," she replied. "It was chosen for the relatively quiet locale... and unfortunate incidents that occurred there. It would seem the world has gotten quite the reputation as somewhere spacers do not like to travel to. Still, while it is one facility devoted to our work on Sianium, as I said we have others scattered around the galaxy."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

When Raaf alluded to the connection between planetary selection criteria and the Togorian genocide, Ajira found herself impressed by the Jedi's subtlety. Technically, she'd told Ajira the truth, but in such a way that Ajira would never have noticed it or understood the implications if not for her outside knowledge of Project Siantide. To tell the truth plainly and yet in such a way that it would be missed or misconstrued: that was a high art. Ajira had rarely bothered with such things, but she'd known masters of them, and precious few had been Jedi. Raaf might be a worthwhile ally or an actual threat, if she could spin like that.

Ajira opted to act as if the oblique reference had gone right over her head. "Yes, Togoria's the definition of isolated now, sadly enough. I find myself wondering when the Togorian diaspora will come home. It may take a while; I'm told the Sith have struck that planet more than once, for whatever reason. Have you encountered any serious security issues? I suppose what I'm asking is this: how secure is the supply of this material?" She chuckled. "We're not about to hit peak Sianium or some such, are we?"

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

"I wouldn't worry about the supply running out anytime soon," Taeli responded with her own chuckle. If Cardei had known exactly how Sianium was formed, she wouldn't be too worried about supply running out either. As long as the galaxy burned in the fires of war, new sources would always be readily available without even counting the 'synthetic' process that had developed with plant matter. Most people would miss the double meaning behind her words, and she no reason to believe Cardei wouldn't.

"We haven't encountered any serious security threats, but I'm certainly not looking for such vulnerabilities to exist," she continued. "Each facility, while located on far flung worlds, also play host to some of the most extensive security for any of our facilities. Our own security forces, augmented by droids and other materials the company produces." What she said next wouldn't really bother her much in sharing, it would just reinforce her desire for secure sites. No need to reveal that the technology had actually been finished, keep it theoretical. "We're even developing a cloaking field that would further obscure our facilities from detection. One might say I'm a little paranoid but I prefer security conscious."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

"Sounds like you've covered your bases."

She found herself reliving that laugh, that chuckle when Raaf mentioned the supply never running out. A grim joke, the kind Ajira might make in private - but a Jedi? Could it be that Ajira was wrong about Sianium's connection to Siantide? Or did Raaf herself not know the substance's source? Both options struck Ajira as unlikely. Which left... what? A Jedi who liked grim irony. Perhaps, in some sense, a kindred spirit.

"Personally, I feel paranoia is often completely warranted. Consider the incidence of unusual events in the past few years. Anyone can attack anything anywhere for any reason, or none at all. In such circumstances there's wisdom in setting up layers of obfuscation and protection and secrecy."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

"Yes, the galaxy does seem filled with very strange incidents, with more happening daily since the collapse of the Republic and One Sith Empire," Taeli agreed. Not a day went by where some random attack would occur, or some disaster or atrocity would be committed on some world or other. That wasn't even counting the galaxy-threatening events like what Akala or those Sith involved in the Omega War had caused. Taeli had found it best to just keep her head down and continue her work and experiments in relative secrecy. It was nice to be engaging with someone who agreed with such a philosophy as being extra cautious.

"You could say some factors of my past also influenced my perception of the galaxy," Taeli continued, shrugging. She didn't feel it necessary at this point to go into her background with the One Sith. "Did you have any other questions I can satisfy, Lady Cardei?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

"Between your assurances and the samples I believe you've given me enough to calm the ethics board. There's only one other matter, unrelated." Her head tilted. "Actually, two. It's occurred to me that you might have some useful insights on some intelligence I obtained recently. But official business first.

"I'm given to understand that Aurora Industries won a certain auction some years ago, and that since then you've developed your own variation on Otherspace technology. Recently, Naboo has had cause to look in that direction when it comes to security concerns. There was an incident with the Charon; I can't get into specifics. Suffice it to say, if Aurora happens to have any cartographic information or regional intelligence on the sectors surrounding Naboo, I've been authorized to pay a premium rate for it. We're not looking for, oh, resource scans; we're strictly interested in the distribution of the Charon presence in the Otherspace locations corresponding to our region. And if you happen to have vessels in the area, on the other side as it were, I've also been authorized to explore the possibility of a long-term contract."

Another faint smile. "More dealing in open secrets and so forth. If my analysts have guessed wrong about your Otherspace presence and capabilities, if you're not in a position to supply the information we need, so be it. But given your appreciation for out-of-the-way locales, and the fact that you're one of three known corporations with Otherdrive technology, I suspect my request isn't too far off base."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

She had to admit to herself some curiosity about what Lady Cardei might be talking about when she mentioned there were two additional matters she wanted to discuss. Part of that died when she explained she and the Naboo were interested in data from Otherspace and sought confirmation about whether Aurora had developed the capabilities to travel back and forth there. She debated with herself whether she should confirm that indeed Aurora Industries operated in Otherspace or not and whether they could procure information on the Charon. She concluded there wasn't too much harm in discussing the topic.

"Your analysts aren't wrong," Taeli finally said, considering her words carefully. "We keep our footprint in Otherspace to a minimum, so as to avoid undue attention from the hostile neighbors... but we regularly are traveling it. The ships we send there and the station we operate there are equipped with cloaking devices to avoid notice from the Charon, so obtaining the data your government is requesting would not be hard for us to provide. We like to keep an eye on Charon movements as best we can without attracting them."

She wasn't going to say this aloud of course, but she had thought long and hard about how to... permanently deal with the Charon. They were a menace, them and their death cult, and they were obstructing a potential auronium mine of resources and technological advances from being explored. It rather irked her to be honest.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

Ajira's eyebrows rose again. "Now that's fascinating. His Majesty's Office would love to examine whatever data you can provide. As I mentioned, I have quite a bit of latitude in setting a payment scale. I'd imagine a retainer to cover operational expenses, plus a case-by-case payment for specific information provided -- the presence or absence of Charon forces in certain regions. An additional pay schedule could apply to, say, a periodic sweep of the Otherspace region corresponding to the area immediately around Naboo. Whatever's feasible and secure at your end is of interest to us.

"I should mention the other question, before I forget. Naboo recently came into possession of secret Kiribian documents regarding Suravi Teigra's background and activities. It appears that Teigra was convinced that Sith interests had co-opted elements of the GADF command structure -- that a Sith faction had covertly arranged for the Alliance to go to Atrisia, for example. You're a Jedi; what's your feeling on the plausibility of her paranoia?"

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

"I'm sure an appropriate payment scale can be secured that is best for both of us," Taeli said, smiling. She wasn't really interested in credits per se... no she would be more interested in data and knowledge from Naboo's extensive scouting and sensor programs. That sort of information could be invaluable and it would be a fair trade, information for information. Still, they could sort out that sort of detail later. No, Lady Cardei's second question was of a much greater... maybe not concern to her, but it was definitely interesting.

She would steeple her fingers as though she was in thought about what Ajira had mentioned, framing her words before speaking them. She had known Suravi before she vanished because of the Directorate and her actions in her role as the last major leader of the Republic. The woman had a sense of... would she call it paranoia? No, maybe a zealous caution? That still didn't serve her justice, but that was beside the point. Being a higher ranking member of the NJO, she knew operation details in some cases. For Atrisia, she knew the main reason they went there was to find out why there was a large build-up of former One Sith assets in the system and to arrest those there for a number of crimes. She certainly hadn't seen the need to manipulate anyone to do so, and as far as she knew, she was the only infiltrator at such a high position to even attempt such an action... and she hadn't.

"I find it hard to believe any Sith faction could escape notice from as many Jedi that are in the Alliance," she started. "They would need to be quite clever, know ancient Sith spells and sorcery for concealment and maybe even invent a few of their own, and so on. They wouldn't want to attract undue attention to themselves. Manipulating such an apparatus as the GADF would require too many moving parts, too much exposure."

She certainly wasn't going to risk such an action to expose herself.

"No, I think we're simply dealing with a woman who was consumed by her paranoia of fighting against the One Sith and saw enemies everywhere she looked, whether real or imaginary," Taeli continued. "Those forces under Teigra's command even aided the Sith we went to Atrisia to arrest, so forgive me if I question her... certainty on the subject. Would it be possible? Sure, history shows Sith infiltrators have appeared before. But none of the key players in the GA were members of past Sith organizations as far as I'm aware, and I'm part of the Jedi's EduCorps. I'm constantly looking through and sorting the archives."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

"Hm." Ajira leaned back in her chair, frowning. "I'll defer to your expertise on the hows and whys of Sith abilities. I'm considered a sensitive myself, but I've always leaned towards other priorities; I don't have a frame of reference for the...spells you're talking about. But I believe I get the general idea: for that kind of expertise, it would have to be someone significant, noteworthy. A known face, and known faces tend to get noticed." She snorted. "Imagine Kaine Zambrano attempting infiltration. Or disguise."

She mulled over Taeli's comments for a moment longer. "I can't quite say you've put my mind at ease, but you make a strong case. My own impressions of Teigra bear it out. Since Naboo has had so much difficulty with Sith in recent years, though, we feel the prudent course is to be as certain as we can." A nod in Taeli's direction. "Consulting experts, for example. The issue we face, and it's a substantial one, is that Naboo has few resident Jedi apart from His Majesty. Oh, the various spiritual traditions are well-represented in Theed - Ithorian Priests, shamans from Kro Var, Tyia Thuwisten -- but for the most part, when Sith come calling, we can only hope the New Jedi Order happens to be nearby.

"Would you be willing to act as a consultation resource? It wouldn't entail much -- the occasional holocall with myself or someone else at the Palace."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

"At the very least someone skilled," Taeli agreed. "I would be perfectly happy to consult with yourself the government of Naboo, and you're right. Your world does seem to attract a lot of attention from dark siders oddly enough. Maybe it's something about striking at a world that has played such a pivotal role in galactic history, or maybe they just have a fascination with the home world of one of their great Sith Lords."

She had thought the woman was Force Sensitive, she had sensed that in their meetings, and it felt untapped. She would be strong in the Force if she went through training... but she doubted the woman before her would ever fit with Jedi doctrine. Not that Taeli minded as that meant one less Jedi to have to worry about later on down the road, but... there was something about Ajira that tugged at her curiosity.

"Have you or the Palace considered asking the New Jedi Order to establish an outpost of sorts there, keep a permanent presence on the planet given all the problems?" she asked. She turned thoughtful, or at least appeared to be. "Then again, if and that is a big if, there are infiltrators among the GA or NJO, you might be inviting wolves hiding among the nerfs. A well trained Sith in alchemy can use a technique to change their features to whatever they want for instance. Hmm maybe not the best solution until we know for sure the GA hasn't suffered any shadows slipping in."