Canada is basically Earth's Hoth (Development)

[Coren Starchaser]

There weren’t many things in the galaxy that Coren Starchaser disliked. It had starships, sandy beaches, tequila, pretty blondes, and good music. All of those things were great. Sure, it had Yuuzhan Vong, the Sith, the Jedi, and people who were convinced that digging up and spreading that arcane knowledge of past Force users, all complete with their follies and short comings was a smart move. For Coren? He saw that as a failure in the system. People didn’t backtrack Palpatine, because he was a tyrant and probably insane. But like everyone, the mythical and useless Darth Revan to the legend of Luke Skywalker, they were all dead.

It clearly meant that their teachings were all failures. Until someone was able to transcend the issue of death and keep their mental faculties and not download into a little cube, they were all failures. But really, that wasn’t the point and purpose here.

Coren was out in the Hoth System, after taking his ship, the first of two, because the prototype he was testing was not using all the advanced systems, not the hyperdrive or the top of the line IFF scrambler, right now he just had one that he was falsifying to shout that his ship was a Vitae Alliance vessel. Really, did they have enemies? Would people launch an assault to come find him if he was flying a ship claiming he was them?

Sure, the frame of this beta prototype was not going to look like the ShortFin, but she was going to provide Coren and his astromech with a lot of information on the vessel that he had designed and how to get the most bang for the buck. What he did have was a gutted YT-2400 frame with the Silk systems installed. The weapons loadout he was looking for was installed, and the was causing the YT-2400 to look more ugly than Revan’s mask. A class 1 hyperdrive, because his work on the Paladin Ship for Spark Finn was fine enough data for him to use to install the Calrissian on his own vessel.

The YT-2400 which was called something dumb, like Blue Horizon had arrived in the Hoth system from down the Ison Corridor. When he arrived in system, he deployed the Crybaby Decoys, a total of three. His ship had a reduced radar image due to the TibX engines and the starry sky paint, not quite nightshadow, but well, he didn’t need it.

“Alright, Arby, lets start logging data. IFF is transmitting, we’re responding to the Blue Horizon and we’re out of somewhere in Vitae space. Uhh…Vergresso or something, if anyone is asking. Lets take her through the motions.”

He’d flown the actual ShortFin about a dozen times, just to make sure the frame was working, but this was a development of her systems. Which means, yes, the frame was developed, and the systems were installed, but this frame was to keep his project a secret, while bringing her heart and life into something that could get real field experience. He didn’t want to burn the surprise tactic of that vessel by allowing her frame to be seen. Blue Horizon would do fine.

Besides, who was crazy enough to live on Hoth?

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The reason he had chosen a Corellian frame to put the systems on was because that was something he understood. He knew how Corellian ships worked, how they flew and what he could expect to put them through. When he got back in the ShortFin, he’d be plugged in, compliments of iBorg, but right now? He wanted to test the systems in a worry free environment. He knew what the power drain would take from the times he’d flown his Rassilon in combat, and he knew how the hyperdrive would respond.

The IFF, that was something he built on his own, but this one, it wasn’t anything to be scoffed at. People had been falsifying their transponders for millennia, it wasn’t anything that really needed a development thread. But the one that was being worked on by Underground slicers? That was something that was going to change the way smugglers and covert operatives used the skill.

As stated, Coren hated holocrons, and though this was going to be about his ship, he needed to speak his piece. He disliked the Force, he used it as a tool, used it to protect those that needed it, and to defeat the two major players in the galaxy. But passing on what he knew? Who would really need to know what he knew? Sure, pilots would, but they would rather be legends anyway, so developing the tech to push space flight beyond the bounds it already was in? That was what the Starchaser Patriarch was after.

He wanted to be known for pushing the bounds, or hell, he wanted to be known NOW for doing that. In the future? When his body was gone? Who cared. His body and knowledge would be gone. He had no need to be remembered. Dark? Sure. But so was life.

Anyway, back to the happy bit. He turned on the sound system, because, well, that was important and nice to have. Even the cupholders were nice, and he did have them installed in the Blue Horizon, he wasn’t going to be drinking and flying, but sometimes a slurpee was nice when you were blowing up enemy vessels and eliminating the Sith from the galaxy. For this test? It was a glitch-sample sound. Digital error sounds and samples from music all around the galaxy. Good stuff, didn’t get one bored because the songs always changed. But right now? He was working his way towards the planet. He wanted to test the sensors, and the first bit was finding some life forms on the planet.

He was going to be using this for close fire on any Underground or Omega missions, it was not going to be his daily driver, but the ship needed to be useful. “Alright, Arby, activating the sensors suite, doing sweeps for life forms, and readying missiles.” After making a few runs, he’d move her to the asteroids, for a bit of play with the stealth systems.

And then, he’d have to do some work on the updating for ShortFin, and get her ready for her maiden voyage, that trip would be the final touches and then she’d go back, get worked on and be ready for use.

The astromech started beeping, painting a few targets, some close to the Blue Horizon and some at range from the ship. Coren nodded as he engaged the combat protocol of the vessel and made his way to begin engaging, working from nearest to farthest.

One, two, three missiles.

Four more targets to go. And was one bigger than the rest?

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The weapons were working how he suspected and the Blue Horizon’s modified computer and power source outputs were running on par with what the baseline from the initial ShortFin tests were running. He wasn’t quite an engineer, but the work that he was doing with Silk engineers and the Dawn Treader engineers was helping him to learn a lot more. Plus he was doing research. It’d help with the Astro Academy, after all. And maybe some of these systems could be submitted as modules in Silk’s product line. What he needed to see is the radar profile he was giving out when he was engaging the sensors suite. Right on Hoth, though, he was just here to cause damage. There were a few other Wampa or whatever settlements and some ruins. The ruins would be a good test. He switched off the sensors system, something he was used to doing so he’d reduce a ship’s radar presence and pushed the repulsorlifts on for the Blue Horizon.

Ruins were fun to tear apart, and maybe he wouldn’t need to get too heavy in zero G. But he did know a few things that he wanted to do. “Alright Arby, make sure that I work on making internal bays for the weapons. Triple blasters and flextubes should be easy, but these composite beams, we’ll need to put in some wrench time on those.

“Also start logging we stopped the sensors system, we’ll start her back up when we get into space again. Just want to try something.” He switched off the flextubes, something he knew was going to become second nature once he could correctly log into the ship’s systems shutting down ones he wasn’t going to be using. It’d be easier when the ship thought as fast as he did. “I want to send this data out to the engineers too, once we get a clean break. I’ve suspecting this can be used for a few more projects.”

Doing better than the StealthX? Absolutely. Engine and radar absorbent materials were easy, but the sensors and weapons profiles? They weren’t fighting Vong anymore, they were fighting people with actual technology. Still, his ship sat on its repulsors, drifting side to side as he flipped on the composite beams. What was special about these were that they were mounted, but not in a complete turret. Similar to how the A-Wing fighters of old could rotate 60 degrees for greater fire control, the composite beams on the ShortFin were being given a full 25 degrees of circular motion, making them fairly effective forward facing turrets. And they’d work independently of one another, but that was going to need someone to man weapons, either an organic or droid.

Either would work.

But they were a beautiful piece of technology. And the carnage score, that was just something he couldn’t wait to dig into the Sith.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

And with the maneuvering offered by the repulsors, mixed with the small turretting capability of composite lasers, Coren felt like having a bit of fun. What he really needed to do was get on with the main event, but now? He just wanted to leave a mark. He spent nearly a half hour of controlled bursts on firing the composite beams. Still, he had carved something along the lines of “[member="Sage Bane"] says the Techno Union Sucks” on the side of the building. Sure, it wasn’t really mature, but neither was Sage.

Or the Techno Union.

Admiring his handiwork for a moment, smiling and shaking his head, he looked down at his slurpee. Blue raspberry, which he was convinced was a fake flavor, but he wasn’t going to complain, it was delicious. He should probably add one of those.

“Alright, Arby, remind me to add a slurpee machine in the ShortFin.” Really, Corey was figuring no one was reading this anymore. Once that note was made, Coren shut down the composite lasers and moved the engines from repulsors back to primary drive units. That meant it was time to get air borne. He was pushing the Blue Horizon but only so much that the engines, the new ones that were mocking the ones from MaraTibX the ShortFin were going to be using, based on energy output, and pulled a few maneuvers to get the ship to stretch her legs, and see what kind of power output he’d be using. Switching some systems and on and off, just to get the secondary baseline, different from the first test of ShortFin, and probably going to need to do a third with the new vessel, once she rolled off the line, he was wanting to provide the Silk engineers with all the data they could use on future projects.

Finally, the ship started on its exit vector. Once they got into vacuum, phase two of the testing would occur, the parts that were really here to develop the experimental low-probability-of-radar-intercept sensors suite. For a ship this size he’d need all the help he could get.

A few jolts and the ship was in vacuum and the sound system started playing a song about some spider from a red planet and a spaceman who came to save another world using rock and roll.

Ironic.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

As much as he was all for sharing the data, he knew it would need to be protected. There was only one place safe enough for this data and Coren wanted a copy of that. “Alright Arby. Lets make sure that once we have the ship completed, we’re transferring all the data to the Dawn Treader, that includes what we’re doing here. I’ve put a lot of time into this vessel and I want to make sure we can recreate it if she goes belly up.” Or he and Silk started to not see eye to eye and he wanted to rebuild and modify the vessel.

Stygium was an idea, but this low-profile skin, that he was going to work on. Right now it was a matter of being all ‘I can say that I did this’ with the data of the ship. Sure, if it was captured, then it’d be able to be used by whoever, but until that point in time? He was going to make sure his Lykan Hypersport was a unique vessel with very few trails. Silk could take it, make something for the mass market, and the technology developed could be used by the Treader’s crew. Hell, he might even change out the system in the Tachyon Rising for the new one.

But right now? It was time to get into space. Hoth was a remote ice ball known for being nothing impressive. A small band of terrorists were chased out of here by the might of an Empire at one point, and that was it. It’d not amount to much else.

So that meant no buoys were out here. That wasn’t a problem. Coren brought his own. Getting the ship into a safe location, he made his way to the back of the ship, changing into one of the vacuum suits so he could work on launching the buoy. Making sure that the ship wasn’t going to launch all its atmo, he made his way to the buoy, one modified to contain the standard sensors suite of any ship looking for stealth or cloaked vessels, and one that could transmit back to its findings.

Blue Horizon wasn’t using the same skin the ShortFin was, but it was close enough. Turning the system online, Coren opened the cargo ramp and slowly moved so he could knock the activate probe into the vacuum. Sure, it was weird. He was standing in a ship and there was vacuum that’d drag him into zero-gravity right out there. Lets blame Star Wars’s crappy physics, okay?

And back to the cockpit, switching out of the vacuum suite and really wishing he had that slurpee machine.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Once he was back in the cockpit, he nodded. This was what the next test was all about. The whole reason for him coming out to Hoth. Lots of asteroids and only the most crazy individuals would live out in this system. He started powering up his engines and checked the systems. “Alright Arby, we’re going to be testing the scanners and the low probability of radar intercept. Keep an eye on the location of the probe, we’ll come back for it to download the data. We’ll fine tune it once we get back, but begin live action test number five.”

Coren rolled the Blue Horizon through a few maneuvers and started launching several small drones. Something for him to get a lock on and fire at, while checking where the ship’s sensors lay at. They’d get the ShortFin test done and work on the radar profile there. From here, though, it was just sensors. He knew that they had been worked on pretty seriously, and wanted to confirm the low chance of intercept.

Moving the Horizon out, he rolled the freighter and activated the sensors suite. Advanced and experimental. Time to get to work. “Working on locating the drones. We aren’t going to fire, its obvious using SLAM and firing will eliminate our chance for a slim radar profile. Will have to do some fancy flying to reestablish our stealth. But right now? Just keep it quite, and we’ll be able to open bay doors, fire warheads and probably stay quiet.”

He nodded as he thought about what he was saying. It made sense, outlined things for judges and showed he wasn’t fething crazy as a writer.

“Lock on drones two, one, three and four. Searching… And five.”

 

[Coren Starchaser]

“Alright Arby, restarting sensors. Move the drones, and have them run a random pattern.” Coren nodded as he flipped a switch, the experimental sensors were down. He flew the ship closer to the asteroids, the drones were going to go in there. He knew that this was important. Get somewhere with a lot of bogeys. Make sure the radar was strong enough to track actual targets and still be kept under the radar as it were. Low chances, right? As long as people didn’t fething godmod Coren he’d be fine.

Besides that? It was a matter of knowing there was a probability of him getting pinged, and with it being Corey as a writer, that happened. Arby beeped at Coren, the drones were in new positions, around the asteroids. And blaming Star Wars physics as the asteroids were going to be crashing into one another, and not entering orbits and avoiding one another like the Sol System’s asteroids that were past Mars.

“Activating the suite again.” Coren took the Horizon through some rolls, avoiding asteroids and moving between others, combat flight as the sensors suite got to work. It was starting to ping the probes. Four, Five, One, Two, Three. Simple. It was working as it would to be an outward radar. Working as well as it could. And better than most.

Advanced and experimental.

Things could get to it, but this was to give it the fine tune to speak into an area, paint its targets, and fire missiles before enemies knew what were hitting it.

Sneak Attack, with a 20 from stealth.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

It wasn’t like he was developing Terminators. “Alright, Arby. For science’s sake, lets move those one more time. Sensors are off.” As anyone who knew a damn about science understood once was chance, twice was luck, but if you could replicate something three times, you had enough data to make safe assumptions. Once you got the baseline then it was simple to make the tweaks needed to improve the system. And once that was improved? He’d be adding it to the real ShortFin and running tests on the full system. But first, he needed a few things done. The IFF needed to be fine tuned, the Calrissian hyperdrive was already installed in the space frame, and the slurpee machine was ordered.

Well, as long as Arby was doing what needed to do.

And that was be Coren’s assistant. Good work for a droid, wasn’t it? So long as it didn’t go Skynet on him. But he had his Power Nine always on his hip, and it was an astrodroid, how crazy could it really get? What, tase him? Please.

Another set of beeps and the ships were in the new position. Well, drones. But who used backspace anymore? Coren made sure that the freighter was in a new location and that the systems were all burning hot. He nodded to the droid.

“And we’ll hunt one more.”

 

[Coren Starchaser]

And that was exactly what he’d do. The sensors system came online and that was good. He was able to find all five in relatively short time. It was getting glitched from the asteroids but not any more than he was expecting. Standard really, but they were getting the probes. And that was good. He nodded and smiled as he logged the data. Arby was storing it in its own memory banks and as soon as they got free of this no-named Space Canada place, he’d be getting the copy transmitted to the Dawn Treader and Silk Holdings.

“Located all the probes. Test Three of today is complete. Alright Arby, call them back.” He wans’t about to abandon technology this far out into no where. Once the probes were back, Coren changed gears. The Blue Horizon was moving out of the asteroids with the probes in tow, they were going to meet out by the sensor buoy and then they’d be pulled into the ship, all together. From there, Coren would make a few jumps until he got back to the Silk facility he was working out of. Really a simple gig.

“I think we did alright, Arby.” He said, the ship pulling clear of the asteroids and Coren engaged an automatic course to head to the buoy, and slow down. As it was moving, he donned his gear and made his way back to the cargo hold.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Simple now, was to finish the thread up. Coren had pulled the probes and the sensor buoy in. Arby had gotten out to start going to work with the data collected and Coren plotted a serious of jumps. He was excited for the new ship. Once things got back in line, Spark wasn’t in the Sith hands, his new ship was ready and the galaxy was finally targeting the Sith with some sort of unity, life could go back to normal. He was a soldier, and he’d be in the war, but he also had the Blood Trail to work on.

It’d been something he was working on and the Event Horizon was doing her best to break the gravity wells and make it so the ship could get through, then a fleet could move. Refugees or trade ships. Probably military soon enough, once it was discovered. It wouldn’t take long for life to return to normal, and with the ShortFin he’d be able to cause a whole lot of chaos while assisting the war against the Sith.

But first, it was time to get home, tear through the data, analyze and modify the LPRI sensors suite and install it on the actual ShortFin, and get her out for a test flight. Ah, starships, so much better than holocrons.

Or Revan’s mask.


End.