Class & Style

[Jairus Starvald]

​

Storm 3, Naboo system​

[member="Ajira Cardei"]​

​

The planet reminded him a bit of Hoth and Dilonexa 26 within the Centrality.

Frigid and iced over, hallowy wind and snow everywhere. It wasn't exactly his first choice for a meeting, but it was the only reasonable choice. After all it would be difficult to inspect the progress of the construction by watching it from a distance, no, they had to be there in the flesh. To see it all enfold before them and possibly make minutiae changes if necessary.

A shuttle was currently carrying Lord Fa and three Vigor Troopers towards the surface-side of the moon.

Cardei and Fa had met once before, during the wedding of some small-ranked nobility on an Outer Rim world. A pleasant affair, at least until the some kind of creature stampeded out of the bathrooms and started eating people.

Lord Fa still was unsure how it got there in the first place.

The shuttle landed on one of the finished landing pads of the facility. Peacock feet ticked gently against the durasteel ramp and onto the duracrete.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

Storm 3, an obscure moon in the Naboo system, had been home to numerous penal colonies over the past four and a half millennia. The Grizmallt humans who'd settled Naboo, despite their descendants' reputation for rational pacifism, had come from a culture known for its taste in prison moons. Exile from civilization remained a severe penalty to the Naboo way of thinking. Even in the modern era, Storm 3 had known its share of convicts. Complicating the issue, however, were the planet's other inhabitants: the children, grandchildren, and distant descendants of past inmates. Most often, when Storm 3's penal inhabitants procreated, those children wound up in the Naboo welfare system, or with their parents after sentences ended. The system wasn't a perfect one, but it operated humanely enough. In some circumstances, though, especially during the Dark Age, a few children had remained on Storm 3. From them had grown up a sturdy settler population, occasionally stigmatized.

All that to say, the prisons weren't the only population centres on the chilly moon. Far from it.

This particular facility sprawled over the frozen ground at a lake's edge. Nearby, a clean but somewhat snowed-in town supported guards, ex-convicts who'd chosen to remain on Storm 3, and their families. The facility was minimum-security by most standards.

Ajira snugged the hood of her parka around her hair and stepped out onto the snowy platform. "Mister Fa?" she said above the wind. "I'm Ajira Cardei. Welcome to Storm Three."

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

A heavy coat was hanging off Lord Fa's frame, bigger than he was in fact and it was a wonder that it didn't cause him to fall over, every step he took.

​

"I will believe you.​

Snow makes seeing difficult.​

I am Tai Fa."​

​

"Thank you for the welcome here."​

​

From the depths of the deep hood a little peacock head looked out, grimacing just a bit as the wind bit into his eyes.

This was most definitely not a world where a Thirriken would thrive by choice or at least Lord Fa wouldn't. He took a few more steps towards Cardei, then looked behind her towards the facility. Which looked rather neat, if he said so himself, but it was not a real big surprise.

Fa Holdings knew their quality.

"Shall we go inside?"​

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

"Yes, thank you."

From various briefings, Ajira could look at the facility and spot the alterations, the additions. Fa Holdings had the expansion well under way, by all accounts, and lower-ranked inspectors had noted significant progress. This would be, however, the first executive-level overview of the expansion effort.

A blast door sealed behind them, cutting off the wind, and Ajira took down her hood. Warm air melted the snowflakes on her coat's fur trim. She considered doffing the coat entirely, then thought better of it. Other portions of the facility might still be open to the air, or undergoing the insulation process.

"Well, Mister Fa, my people speak highly of your work so far. Care to lead me through the tour?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

Lord Fa also pulled off his hood as the cold receded and left a more fresh breeze behind.

Thankfully, while he had not been directly overseeing this operation - seeing as other work had pulled most of his attention away, he managed to review it in detail a few days ago.

"This I can do, yes.​

I have reviewed the work done.​

If you'd follow me?"​

​

For a moment the Thirriken allowed himself to get a beat on where they were exactly. A datapad was revealed from the depths of his heavy coat, where a holographic map of the facility was projected in front of them. Locations still under construction were painted in a red hue, those that were currently in the open were blue and the ones that were completely finished -- such as this one -- were in a simple blue.

Lord Fa passed it over to Cardei.

"The mess hall, perhaps?​

Here nearby and now finished.
To start it off with."

​

From there, they could possibly visit the security control room that handled most of the security systems of the facility. Of course, this wasn't state-of-the-art like a super-max facility would have been, but there was enough to see anyway. Camera systems, lock mechanisms, the sort.​

Lord Fa also pulled off his hood as the cold receded and left a more fresh breeze behind.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

Ajira accepted the datapad and examined the colour-coded layout. The legend seemed clear enough. Mentally, she compared it to the original facility, whose floor plan she'd reviewed en route. The new layout quadrupled floor space, but only doubled ground coverage; the original bearing walls were still more than sound enough to support vertical additions.

"The mess hall sounds like a good place to start, yes," she said. "I look forward to seeing how the plans translate into the feel of the place. We were aiming for openness, both in terms of sightlines for cameras and inmates and in terms of reducing claustrophobia or fear of unsafe contact. In essence, we were hoping for a space that doesn't cram inmates together in a risky way. Then, of course, there's always the possibility of using this facility to house other populations, perhaps in very large numbers. I don't mind telling you that we're hoping to list this location as a potential refugee processing centre. The technical specifications remain the same, of course, but the added space is crucial in case we need to adjust the aesthetics."

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

Lord Fa nodded and then gestured with his wing for them to start walking.

"I can see here why.​

Rehabilitation, yes.​

Better solution."​

They walked further and she would notice that as much as it was possible the hallways were open, wide and spacious. They were bright, too, and as a result of the space it would be safer for inmates to move. In the sense that the security personnel would not be easily cornered at all. The mess hall itself was similarly expanded and constructed in such a fashion to allow light, to allow enough space, so the people did not feel crowded.

It was a psychological effect, as Lord Fa understood it.

"Darkness and shadows.​

Make for quite bad companions.
If you wish to heal."

"That which was broken."


The food was also pretty good.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

"Precisely, Mister Fa. Naboo, especially under King Marcello, values rehabilitation within reason. This is meant to be the sort of facility where lessons can be learned. For example, not long ago I happened to be present for the arrest of a Jedi. He was charged with uttering threats and public brawling, if you can believe it -- all standard Jedi behaviour. It's amazing how certain cultures' norms and values need retraining to fit a society like this one. A facility like this allows for that sort of retraining. Nothing onerous or imposed, of course: just a peaceful place where people can learn how to be peaceful."

They moved to the cell area, if cell was the right word. Although the rooms weren't especially large, they looked relatively comfortable, well-lit, with rounded corners and good chairs at the desks. "I see you've done a masterful job of replicating the older cells," she said. "It's heartening to see a jail make such use of bookshelves. When the prison library reopens, it's going to be one of the system's best off Naboo itself. The hope is that the culture of openness will lead to better disclosure. We plan to house, for example, potential collaborators, enemy-affiliated or well-connected detainees, and intelligence assets here."

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

It was not unlike the Jedi to bluster and bloviate, when they figured they had the higher moral ground. For some reason it brought out the worst in them - when they thought they were in the right and figured that there was little they couldn't do while they were 'right'.

Very curious behavior.

But Lord Fa was a gentlebeing of the highest sort and so simply listened, followed by inclining his head in acknowledgement of the sharing of her puzzlement.

What followed next made him slightly suspicious about her motives.

Yet, Tai refused to think too much about it, this one was simply a client. If he started digging at every little secret openly displayed, he would be a very busy peacock indeed.

I hope you find luck.
The control room next perhaps?
Very advanced, yes.​

There was still much to see.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

They moved to the control room, which held numerous video and holocam screens, as well as analysis droids that could watch multiple monitors simultaneously. Sophisticated lifeform scanner data would be projected in a comprehensive three-dimensional wireframe, moment by moment. Scanners that good, like any high-grade lifeform scanners, could see through personal stealth devices and all kinds of infiltration and exfiltration technology. Minimum-security or not, this facility would be able to monitor health, safety, and position in real time, both for inmates and for staff.

"Absolutely satisfactory, Mister Fa. Well done indeed. You've brought this project along at a rapid pace, but thoroughly. Keep this up and Fa Holdings will have a good shot at future procurement bids."