Building, For the Em'pra!

[Jihta Heidjr’Oshan]

In many ways, Jihta was amazed the rest of her people had not already left their home planet for the wonders of the Galaxy. She sat in a pristine metal room with expertly manufactured furnishings while floating in space in a space station! It was very possibly the ultimate example of the triumphs of engineering, second only to faster than light technology, and no where did she feel more comfortable.

She did not know exactly why she had been called here, but given that she was the best weapons designer in Sampson's Designs she knew it probably involved making something to kill people. That was fine, she loved making death machines. Especially if it involved a new problem. Finding new ways to kill things was what she lived for.

Course she needed to know what to make, which required other people to tell her!

 

[Ginnie Dib]

@[member="Jihta Heidjr’Oshan"] would have to wait to see what it was they were supposed to make. Aditya Amadis came bounding in on the strength of her own glee, as always happy as a clam. The Epicanthix engineer was a flurry of mental activity, tapping away at a data pad as she pulled a chair out with her foot then plunked down.

"And then that goes there, and there goes there, and I think that's a song or something. . . Naw, that's Here to There. Nevermind! Hi! Hello!" She waved at Jihta and offered a gloved hand to shake. "Aditya Amadis. Any reason we're in here other than the raging intellect and potential to make really cool things?"

Death machines? This woman seemed like a ray of sunshine, bright and fresh. "What's your name? What do you do?"

 

[Jihta Heidjr’Oshan]

Blank white eyes looked at the strange new human. She smelled weird, even for a human, but these tall aliens all looked the same to her anyway. Her ears twitched at the strange language of the humans, Jihta not understanding any of it. A droid standing nearby began making chittering noises, and from the twitching of Jihta's ears, it seemed she was listening to it. After it stopped, she returned in the same language.

"Mistress Jihta has asked me to introduce her as Chief Engineer Jihta Heidjr’Oshan which is her name and title on her home world," the droid said. "She also says that she is the chief engineer for weapons for Sampson's Designs."

@[member="Aditya Amadis"]

 

[Ginnie Dib]

Aditya's head quirked to the side when the droid approached her and spoke. She laughed softly and glanced at @[member="Jihta Heidjr’Oshan"]. "Don't speak Common, eh? That's ok, droids are fun. Did you build this droid yourself? I like building droids fine, but my fave is diagnostics and scientific system operations on ships. I'm ah, not fancy titled like you are, but I'm a hard worker and smart as a button. If the button was filled with. . . nevermind about the button. Lose the effect in translation, anyway. I'm a Consultant."

She sat down and shifted in her chair, her lips pursed together. Chief Engineer for Weapons. So this was some kind of developmental mission for the Empire, then. The first thing that flashed in Aditya's mind was that she could use some of what she learned to help @[member="Kei Amadis"]' Army of Light. The second thing that flashed was a noble fear of the firing squad if she somehow got tangled in corporate espionage. No stranger to bits of trouble, she had yet to do anything massive or overtly bold.

"What sort of weapons are your favourite to design? Close Range, Mid Range, Distance Weaponry? Ship-based or personal?" Least she could do was figure out how best she could engineer with someone of such prestige.

 

[Cyrus Tregessar]

@[member="Jihta Heidjr’Oshan"] @[member="Aditya Amadis"]

In his seemingly ceaseless quest to reorganize the Navy of the Galactic Empire into one that could conquer the entire galaxy, Cyrus had so far been faced with hundreds of problems. From the insufferable egos of ship captains to critical engineering problems with the multiplex power relays of Star Destroyers, each demanded attention and care. Right now that attention was being placed on refitting the designs taken from Val'Ryss' failed Imperium. Specifically the Isard and Tarkin-class Star Destroyers. They had performed adequately in battle, but not well enough for Cyrus given their cost and size.

So he had been directed to make the acquaintance of a certain Asha'laider who was apparently an expert at this sort of thing. He entered the station flanked by a pair of Force Recon troopers acting as bodyguards and followed by a small army of assistants. In his hands he carried a tablet which detailed the plans he'd detailed to the best of his ability. Now to see if they could actually be made.

 

[Jihta Heidjr’Oshan]

"Mistress Jihta says that she favors any weapon that is capable of dealing death, however she seems to prefer them to be as large as possible," the protocol droid translated to Aditya.

Jihta looked at the old looking human as he entered, her nose wrinkling at the smell of age. Old humans smelled even worse than new humans, and they were bad enough. Humans might have created some of the most amazing death machines the young asha'ladier had ever seen, but she desperately wished they had developed a better deodorant than the weak stuff they all seemed to use. Well, almost all of them. While Jihta was still learning how to recognize the diffrent humans, she could tell this one was in the military. From the large colored bar on his chest, one of high rank.

Rabbit chatter filled the air again as she spoke, the tones decidedly rude even through a language barrier. "Mistress Jihta asks if you are the one that wants a new weapon built, and kindly asks that if so you arrive a perhaps a bit sooner next time. Respectfully of course"

@[member="Cyrus Tregessar"] @[member="Aditya Amadis"]

 

[Cyrus Tregessar]

Cyrus raised a single eyebrow at the response of the small alien. Outwardly he appeared wryly amused, as if the rudeness of the small Asha'laider before him was only as insulting as the frank statements of a child. Inwardly, he felt the rage swirl up, and fought for a second to keep it down. There were more important things to do then teach this pathetic creature how to respect its betters, and with that thought in mind and the fury temporarily dispelled, he continued, ignoring the remark.

"I am the one in question. I was made to understand you are something of an expert in the field. Assuming that is the case, please lead on, so we can get to business. I have several plans for review, and not a lot of time."

Talk about a bad first impression. Hopefully things got better, or Cyrus would have a few choice words for the Emperor about his so-called 'experts.'

@[member="Jihta Heidjr’Oshan"] @[member="Aditya Amadis"]

 

[Jihta Heidjr’Oshan]

@[member="Cyrus Tregessar"] @[member="Aditya Amadis"]

Jumping up Jihat snatched the datapad from the navy human's hand and began scrolling through the data. It was difficult to see with the white contacts, but her eyes were roaming the information given as she quickly moved through it all making notes as she went. The entire time she was visualizing the designs in her head, watching the power flow, seeing the weapons firing as each system besides the weapons drew their own power along the lines. Quickly she started seeing errors in the design, small ones that would not noticeably stand out but to an asha'ladier were almost painfully obvious. Any one might not matter, but combined they could easily cause the entire ship to fail.

Holding the datapad up in the air she began speaking again her chittering even faster than normal. The protocol droid struggled to keep up. "Mistress Jihta says that the over all design is sound, but there are numerous power routing and space allocation errors. I apologize sir, but honestly much of what she is saying is above me, but I do gather that there is a high possibility of power systems overloading in certain areas during an intense battle. Oh, and she also mentions specifically how these tri-barrel designs could have their maximum output increased by 3.512% over all with a few minor changes. As well as some minor changes that would allow for better range, coverage, and power consumption on the other weapons."

Once she was finished, Jihta handed the pad to the engineer human. Weapons were Jihta's strong specialty, the other concerns she would leave to someone else. One thing all asha'ladier were taught growing up, was to leave other fields up to those field's experts. An asha'ladier that tried to accomplish too much, was an asha'ladier that accomplished nothing.

 

[Ginnie Dib]

What had Aditya been doing while @[member="Jihta Heidjr’Oshan"] insulted the Official Admiral Looking Officialness Guy @[member="Cyrus Tregessar"]? Trying to pick up her tablet. Having dropped it behind her chair, it skittered just out of reach. She craned her neck and back, reaching with both hands to no avail. So, she grabbed onto the edge of her chair and reached again, leaning nearly out of it to grab the device.

What? Expect her to get up and grab it? One part willpower, one part wanting to not disturb the delicate balance of the Builder of Death Machines and the surly looking officially official guy, Aditya Amadis made one . . . last. . . . grab!

"Victory!" She yelled, holding the device aloft. Blinking at both of the organic occupants, she smiled. ". . . is what we'll be chanting, when we get these machines built. . . hi." Getting up and dusting off, she offered her hand to @[member="Cyrus Tregessar"]. "Aditya Amadis, Imperial Shipworks. Nice day for a . . . weapon plan. Whatcha need me f-- power system overloads! I can handle that! Power dynamics and fuel economy are specialities of mine. . . if . . you'd. . . . if you'll . . . ah. . . Jihta can I . . . can I see th-how do you get a device away from a bunny?"

 

[Cyrus Tregessar]

You generally expected engineers to be somewhat eccentric. Especially the really talented ones. After all, when you can talk with a machine better than another person, there has to be something upstairs wired a bit differently. But Cyrus still expected a modicum of etiquette in any business situation, especially one involving weapons and the future of the Galactic Empire. So far he had been rather disappointed in that regard. At least the asha'laider seemed to know what it (she?) was talking about. He retrieved his datapad from the alien and without acknowledging the other engineer had the pad project a large holographic display in the center of the room.

Spoiler

"These are some of the standard designs in use on the various warships we have. Turbolasers, Ion Cannons, Quad Lasers and so on. They're all effective enough, of course, but they give us no edge over our enemies. The battle we fought with the Fringe proved to me that we need something new. You've highlighted some of the problems with the plans i had drawn up, but let me elaborate on hat exactly I Have in mind."

Cyrus pressed a button, and the image changed. The displayed emplacement was on the same scale as the dual heavy turbolaser from earlier, but had three barrels instead of only two.

Spoiler

"The basic goal behind the weapon is to increase both the range and power of the basic turbolaser. This will of course reduce it's rate of fire and increase it's power draw, so it could only be mounted on a dedicated battleship. Fortunately the Isard-class is a perfect hull for such a project."

The image changed again as he finished speaking.

Spoiler

[

"Same idea, different design. You're welcome to present alternatives if you come up with any during the project."

@Jihta Heidjr’Oshan @Aditya Amadis