Deep Space

[Laira Darkhold]

It was not often Draco made a trip to Rendili. In fact, he had only ever visited the world once, and then it was only to help the Wrath of the Dark Lord with a secretive mining project. Draco had never learned nor asked where the phrik ore had been sent, and he didn't rightly care.

Taris was currently the only major shipyard ArmaTech operated. Concord Dawn and Concordia were still under construction, and Concord Dawn hadn't been intended to house very large vessels. In fact, other than the Argent-class, which were mad in small numbers by order, the largest vessel produced by ArmaTech was the Bes'drahr, an eight hundred and fifty meter assault ship built as a counter to the Wyyrlock and Dark Blade.

But, with the facilities on Taris being the only ones ArmaTech owned that could handle something as large as say, a Star Destroyer, ArmaTech's ability to produce new capital ships was hampered. Draco needed to expand his production capabilities, which brought him to Rendili.

Rendili Star Drive was known to be able to mass produce a large number of vessels, of varying sizes. Their CEO would be able to steer him in the right direction on how to expand his production capabilities.

The shuttle carrying the Mandalorian warlord swooped towards the drive yards where he would meet with the owner of the shipyard.

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

Knowing of Draco Vereen by his reputation, Camellia Swift was unsure of whether she had at any point done prior business with the Mandalorian man. Certainly not during her tenure with the Republic, but she couldn't recall having actually met him period. Mostly due to locking herself up on her homeworld and focusing on merely running her world peacefully. Well she wasn't about to turn the man down, not without reason anyway. And she had none. Besides, she was curious what it was that he had come to talk about. Perhaps it was a joint project, or maybe it was just for some of Rendili's expertise and equipment for something of his own. Whatever it was it had her interest, although she wasn't rushing to meet him herself.

After all, she had other matters to get through considering she was both the head of the company and the governor of Rendili as well. Although the former Arch-Provost did most of the actual work in running the planetary government. Which was who Camellia had actually sent to await Mr. Vereen's arrival in the hangar to bring him to her office. The woman was a completely capable aide and in reality Camellia gave every credit for running things, but considering how the planet's takeover went it was essentially necessary for her to carry the governor title to keep things complacent. In the meantime while she waited on the former Arch-Provost to bring the Mandalorian to her office, Camellia hurried to sign off on the production of the retrofitted bulk cruisers being put onto the market so she could set the datapad for it aside in preparation for the meeting with ArmaTech's owner.

She wanted to give him her full attention after all. Gaining a new friend in these days when she felt fairly isolated was a powerful support in such turbulent times.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Once the shuttle landed, the armored Mandalorian descended the ramp into the hangar of the drive yard around the inner rim world. The Mandalorian almost always wore his armor when meeting with outsiders, those he didn't consider family. It was his second skin, the helmet currently covering his face, his true face to outsiders. The visor gleamed as the warrior walked from the ramp, boots clicking against the hangar floor.

He was met by a woman wearing a suit, who greeted him warmly, but she was not who he had come to meet. She was a secretary or office clerk for the governor of Rendili. Much like Kuat, Rendili was controlled by its Star Drives, the primary economic powerhouse the planet relied on. It wasn't uncommon that the local mega-corporation controlled the government, but the fact that the One Sith had actually supported this government.

The Mandalorian's armored boots clicked against the hangar, a metallic ring echoing out with each step. Certainly the people of Rendili would be able to assist the Mandalorian in his endeavors. All he needed was to increase his company's ability to produce ships, something his corporate cities weren't set up to be able to do.

He was led down a hallway, only a few turns to get to the main corridor. Once in the main corridor, it wouldn't turn again, the office of the Governor would be at the end, as was traditional for the most important offices and rooms in a building. As the Mandalorian approached the doors were opened and he removed his helmet respectfully, waiting to be introduced to the CEO.

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

Able to close the drawer to her desk housing the datapad in time for her doors to open, Camellia was quick to stand from her chair and circumnavigate her desk so she could approach the mandalorian man as he was led inside. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Vereen, ArmaTech's achievements have been rather stunning to see over the last few years. I'm Camellia Swift, head of Rendili Stardrives and current Governor of Rendili. It doesn't have the same ring as Arch-Provost, but the Sith like to change things. I do hope you had a pleasant trip and that you were well received. My aide was actually the Arch-Provost prior to the Sith's dominion. I suppose it'd be hard to tell given she looks nothing like she used to. Still, she does good work and I'm honestly only in the position to ensure we're left in relative peace. You can understand why they'd be reserved leaving the former Arch-Provost who fully supported the Republic in charge rather than a businesswoman whose only concern should be the profit of her ventures."

Motioning for him to take a seat, the Rendili woman would hover over her desk as she pressed the inter comm unit and rang up her aide before she got too far. "If you would like a drink at all Mr. vereen please feel free to ask. We can have refreshments ready if you like. We do have some nice Naboo Brandy in stock for high status visitors such as yourself."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco nodded respectfully at the other woman who had been waiting for him in the room. ArmaTech was a bit more prolific in the galaxy than Rendili Star Drives, an order of magnitude larger in scale, but Rendili focused on other ventures. That specialization made them relevant. Smaller corporations just weren't able to compete in every field, and every company needed a niche, something that made them special, made them stand out.

For Rendili Star Drive, that was the ability to mass produce warships. "Good evening. I'm fine but thank you for the offer miss Swift." Draco said, waving off the offer of refreshments. There was no need for snacks and such right now, and Draco didn't feel much like drinking just yet, despite being notorious for enjoying more than the occasional drink.

"I don't think I've ever officially visited Rendili so, I wouldn't recognize the former Provost." The Mandalorian explained, taking a seat in one of the comfortable chairs that were available. "Well, if you are wondering why I'm reaching out all of a sudden, its because I found my current facilities lacking, unable to meet my demands." He smiled. Everyone liked to be told they were important. "And, of Drive Yards I actually like that I can treat with, Rendili is probably the best of my choices."

He needed facilities. Manpower he had in spades and in abundance, but he lacked the proper production facilities for a large project, such as producing a Star Destroyer.

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

At the offer of refreshments being turned down, Camellia released the comm unit and moved to settle down in her chair once more as she reached to lift up her desk's built in datapad that she mostly used to keep track of notes during meetings such as these and to bring up easy to access catalog information for references. "I meant more if you had ever seen pictures of the former Arch-Provost, but it's alright. She probably wouldn't like the attention anyway. I merely appreciate the opportunity to tease her now and then, as well as play the game of shock and awe with people. So let's just forget it and move on to business." Yes, business which Mr. Vereen seemed more than happy to get into as he opened up fairly quickly about requiring additional facilities because he lacked the necessary production capabilities himself.

It left it difficult for the Rendili woman to hold back a grin as she tapped on her datapad, bringing up a pair of specific items she could certainly recommend as she looked back to the mandalorian in front of her. "Well I do agree, we're a bit more approachable than Kuat Drive Yards who have essentially given up all matter of running themselves in favor of leaving all decisions to the Sith. I am a tad surprised you have been unable to acquire the facilities yourself. I was given to believe ArmaTech had strong ties to the Mandalorians who certainly have territory in abundance that would be ripe for utilizing. I suppose I can understand when things don't go as intended either, I certainly didn't see myself as I am now or that things would slow to a crawl in expansion. I believe we can help you if you can give me a clearer idea of what sort of facilities you require. Then I can determine what construction units I might organize and what designs I might show you for your consideration."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco smiled at the woman. "Abundance of territory is one thing. Building a shipyard is another. Right now ArmaTech controls one sizeable yards and shares orbit above Concordia with Mandal Hypernautics. While we can, and are, expanding the shipyards we operate, the majority of our facilities are mobile. I didn't design ArmaTech to require dozens of static production facilities, and so attempting to add fairly large, fairly widespread products to the product line takes time. And I'm an impatient man." If he had the patience for it, he could wait months for Concord Dawn and Concordia to step up construction, possibly fabricate new drydocks like ones he used.

But he didn't have the patience for that. He wanted to begin construction on the Sovereign as soon as possible so that he could deploy the first set at Alderaan in the coming months while the planet was being brought under the control of the Mandalorian Clans. And that provided the woman from Rendili an opportunity to make some money and do some networking.

"Who see, I'm working on a project, and while I wait for my own drydocks to be expanded, I am still in need of mobile stations. An immediate increase in my production capabilities, and then I will be able to get to work on my project." He was certain whoever ended up buying the use of the Sovereign would be appreciative, but until then, he needed to play things close to the vest. He couldn't have the design and intentions for its use leaking to those that might be jealous. "And Rendili has some of the largest yards that see the least dedicated military use. I was hoping to capitalize on that, and maybe provide you with a bit more business."

If he was lucky, he could convince the woman to put the drive systems together on Rendili and provide him with something else to start construction on the outer rim, with his fleet of Argent-class Manufacturing Dreadnoughts.

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

Well then, so the Mandalorian was asking for a temporary solution to his production problem. Essentially, offering to give Rendili Stardrive quite the sum of credits to offer such facilities for him until his own were in service. Though perhaps he might just hire them outright as well to aid in hastening his facilities construction. Either way Rendili stood to make credits without any real appearance of being taken advantage of. Unless whatever he was trying to develop competed with one of the areas they were trying to throw themselves in. Although from the sounds of it, what Mr. Vereen was looking to get into was on the large scale, something big. Right now Rendili wasn't interested in competing for the battlecruiser or heavy destroyer market. Pocket Destroyers felt more profitable in the market right now. ArmaTech certainly gave them a run in the frigate line, but in a different way.

Rendili after all, could mass produce the Hammerhead Cruisers that certainly outclassed any other mass produced warship in its caliber. Even if the lower scaled Mandalorian Cruisers Mr. Vereen's company was supposedly fond of outclassed them. It two factions fought using their ships, all it would take would be to determine how many ships would be destroyed against one another. To determine whether ArmaTech and Mandalorian Ships could destroy enough Rendili Mass produced products to make up for the fact they spent more time replacing their own damaged and destroyed vessels. . . . . .she did it again huh. Camellia did grin at herself this time, realizing she had slipped into wanting to see her ships pitted against quality work by others. Against an actually well trained force like the Mandalorians.

Putting her fantasies aside though, the Rendili woman activated her holoprojector as she selected a particular pair of items for ArmaTech's owner to gaze at. "Well Mr. Vereen I believe I can help you on several accounts. Rendili indeed has one of the largest shipyards in the galaxy as you clearly saw on your way over. We're still capable of handling SSD Class starships with our spaceframes. Should you require the production of an enormous vessel or even for the frames to dedicate themselves to a great number of designs instead we can handle it. If it's mobile stations you're looking for, we do have Deep Space Docks of the kind we once sold to the Mon Calamari to help build the ring everyone knows of today as well as the Mobile 220 Docks which, while smaller, can travel anywhere you want. Anything big you'd have to construct in sections with it of course."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The Mandalorian looked over the schematics of the two products the Rendili woman showed him. One was very small but would be able to be deployed to each of his Argent-class Manufacturing Dreadnoughts. That would allow him to build the Sovereign in pieces, and a single Argent-class could easily produce the raw materials and unconstructed parts for a full size Star Destroyer without much strain, certainly when supported by a pair of Lwekk-class Manufacturing ships to produce the smaller parts and components.

"The Mobile Two Twenty Docks would serve my purposes pretty well. At least for a rapid increase of my production capabilities. Truthfully, I've been considering having all the Argent-class Dreadnoughts supported by a station like this. You know, to ease the pressure off the static drydocks for the production of smaller ships." Rendili produced decent mid-sized vessels, though he wasn't sure about their Destroyers or the like. He hadn't seen them used. It was a shame actually that ships like the Centurion went unused by the Republic, but the Republic had always had a habit of stabbing itself to spite others.

"The Deep Space Docks I like though. I think I would purchase or lease some of both, but that doesn't solve all of my problems." The Mandalorian tapped his fingers on the chair's arm. "Lovely place you've built here, miss Swift." he said, rather absentmindedly. "But, while that helps, that doesn't solve my problem. What I could really use is an established shipyard to start construction on the main drive units. Once the six drives and the aft frame are put together I can ship them for completion." His people could oversee that level of construction, and that wouldn't reveal any secrets about the design. Well, it would reveal two secrets, but they weren't things that were intended to be confidential. The main schematics wouldn't be at risk, and none of the electronics or major components would be handled by outsiders, but it would allow him to throw the class into production immediately.

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

Watching as the man in front of her tapped his fingers against the chair, Camellia couldn't help but wonder what sort of game the Mandalorian was playing. She had no problem selling or leasing several of the mobile 220s to him, and given his support of One Sith aggression in the past they would have no complaints with her performing such a transaction with ArmaTech. The deep space docks were also an easy deal to make though transporting such large items might take time to organize as compared to the 220s. It was the fact that he brought up an established shipyard without just requesting the use of the one right before him.

So in turn she tapped her datapad as she had the holoprojector display the size of the yards over Rendili. The frame not as elegant as Kuat or Mon Cal's, but definitely big. "Well, we can mobilize the towing of a deep space dock wherever you need. They're easy to put together, quite modular. The 220s can be rolled out in the numbers you require and are quite excellent for repair work and the building of smaller classes of ships, which indeed would ease the strain on a larger facility so it could focus on. . . .larger endeavors." Before proceeding, the Croa woman stood and went to tap a panel on the wall, opening a slide away section of the edge of the room to reveal a well positioned viewport looking over the shipwright and the planet below it.

From there she merely stood, tail swaying as she tried to figure out what else the mandalorian wanted. "As for the drive units. We have plenty of open berths we could dedicate to construction here. We could even lease them for your crews to use for a fee and mention of course. If those don't suit you. . . . we do have locations on Humbarine, Voss, and Shri-Tal. . . .if the er, distance to Rendili, is too arduous? For your people's convenience."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Really, without knowing what it is I'm actually buidling out in the depths of the Outer Rim, you would open your home to my crews?" Draco raised an eyebrow. While he certainly appreciated the willingness and openness the young Rendili woman offering, and he was well aware there would be a credit amount attached to everything, there always was, most people would be curious about what it was they were being asked to put together.

"I'm sure the credits can be found for the lease of the Deep Space Docks and for the purchase of the Mobile Two Twenty docks. After all, it was ArmaTech who outfitted the Republic Empress's failed clone army. I don't know if my people have finished actually counting the payment that got made for that." He grinned, remembering a couple of vaults full of money and a number of projects funded solely on that money and not sold to outside governments.

The economics of the situation were sound, it wasn't like one of the larger arms manufacturers in the galaxy couldn't afford to purchase a few sub-contractors for a major project like the one he was undergoing. Already he had secured schematics from the Sith Triumvirate to work towards the creation of the Sovereign, and was working towards a technology swap with a certain One Sith Admiral. Now getting the facilities needed to push the ship into production was the last step, however the Mandalorian had some ideas.

He was sitting with a master shipwright, he could at least run a few things by her while he was here. "So, would you like to glance at the designs? Maybe offer a few pointers here or there?"

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

Ah Republic politics, that was one thing the Rendili woman didn't quite miss navigating in her attempts to curry favor to see the Republic Navy at one time field all her starships. Although she was thankful her experiences taught her how far behind Rendili Stardrive was in the starfighter market. It was one they seemed to have difficulty getting into for some odd reason. Still, it took every fiber of her being for Camellia to not grin like the cat she partially was at the shock on the Mandalorian's face. She was quite the charitable person, and she had said loved to shock and awe, but she wasn't necessarily that open minded to just letting his people in.

However, she didn't necessarily have to mention she was of the mind to possibly try and spy on what his crews were doing. She wasn't the type to copycat though, oh no no one ever had to fear that Rendili's corporate spies were feeding exact schematics of their work so that Rendili could rip them off with a clone of their own product. However, getting an eye on what another company was working on, to eye how they were approaching the market, and what sort of product they had to compete with, what sort of product they had to make a better, original, version of, was completely fair she felt. No blood, no shameless imitations, but real competition.

​"Oh so you have credits to spare then? I'm afraid to mention then that the price of leases has gone up twenty percent rather suddenly. Or it would if I were so heartless. I have no comment on the Republic's former chancellery, I didn't get to know her at all. But yes, I would open my yards to your crews. We would of course have to run security checks on whatever you bring into the berths and I would also like to keep proper track with a list from you of the crew members. This is for the safety of your project and people too since security can try and keep unauthorized personnel from attempting to sneak past our security under the belief they were disguised as one of yours." Purring as her tail flicked, her equivalent of a chuckle, Camellia couldn't help herself at the following request the man before her made.

She was an utter sucker for getting a chance to see technology. The upcoming experimental shields she had Rendili pushing, the prefab modular base, the Railgun on the Noblesse. Anything with unique application she thrived from. "I'd be more than happy to look at whatever you like. I have a weak spot for intriguing devices.. . . .you know what they say about cats I guess."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Well, the Sovereign-class, that is what we are working on these days, isn't itself made of a large number of special parts." The Sovereign didn't have anything onboard that wasn't included somewhere else. Its weapons weren't experimental, its shields had been tried and proven on the Bes'drahr, and then perfected on the Alor-class. They were even deployed on ships like the Rekali-class and Roche-class all produced by Mandal Hypernautics. It was the current go to for the ships used by the United Clans as they continued to progress the perpetual arms race the ever changing galaxy found itself in.

The Mandalorian noticed the slight purring and the flick of the woman's tail. Many felinoid species existed in the galaxy, and this one was no different from those. Camellia Swift was just a successful businesswoman, which was rare for many aliens to accomplish, the vast majority of successful beings were human after all. "The Star Destroyer isn't comprised of experimental pieces. Everything being included into the design has been tried and tested in other schematics, no matter how short lived the class was."

Draco dug through one of the pouches on his belt and produced a small holoprojector that showed a small hologram of the Star Destroyer once activated. It didn't have lines of technical data with the display, but it showed the classic arrowhead construction, the small bridge tower that hugged the superstructure, the large ion drives. All things that had become synonymous with Star Destroyers over centuries of these traits constantly being reused in ships of that size and type. There were exceptions, but the classic style still existed. "You will note the ten primary weapons mounts. Those are all filled by Hypervelocity cannons of varying types. Both in dual and in quad repeating variants. Those primary weapons will give the ship its punching power, while its other weapons support those." The ship's weapon loadout was balanced, with a decent number of long range weapons, standard range weapons, and more anti-starfighter weapons than normal.

"Do you have any questions off the top of your head?" Draco liked having his ego stroked sometimes, even if it was being done by strangers. Everyone did sometimes, and he was no exception, but he did like impressing people with what he and his people could dredge up. It wouldn't be as prolific a design as many of Rendili's, but it would see decent level of production.

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

No special parts was fine by the tried and true design philosophy that the Rendili woman operated by. Although it depressed her to hear that the other classes it seemed like the Mandalorian had tried out the components of his grand design on hadn't been as successful. They undoubtedly had their place, as did some of Rendili's lesser used products. However, some of the anticipation Camellia had as her tail swayed from side to side disappeared when ArmaTech's owner brought out a holoprojector to reveal the general appearance of the design in he had been building up to. It wasn't quite that anything was wrong with it. . . . .it was just that damn triangular shape seemed to have become popularized.

Her disappointment in the aesthetic was twofold. One part simply being her general disdain for how boring ships ended up looking with so little variety to their hull design. The second was. . . well it was the fact the group that had made that damn triangle design so commonplace was none other than Kuat Drive Yards. Who throughout history had to be Rendili's biggest competitors. Ever since KDY had obliterated Core Galaxy Systems they had been a thorn in the side of Rendili Stardrive's work. In the days of the old republic Rendili had maintained topdog, but as soon as that damn Katana Fleet incident occurred and Kuat took the reigns during the Clone Wars their designs had always gotten the eye of the galaxy.

Not that Camellia was petty enough to look down on the ship in front of her for either reason. Internally though it gave her a migraine. "Quad Hypervelocity Guns sounds interesting. I can only imagine how devastating those are in effect. I'm assuming they have a faster fire rate, but possibly less range than the ones I've encountered on ships like the Darkblade?" Those ten primary weapon emplacements were certainly terrifying. Any ship caught in close range against this Sovereign class was simply asking to be punished for its foolishness. Although with kinetic weaponry the energy wasn't lost at range like with energy weapons. Though they were less accurate and had a lesser effect on shields, though far more against bare hull plating.

She wondered what the tried systems were he had mentioned as well, but at the same time she had other questions to ask. "What function is the ship designed for within a fleet? How many support craft does it carry on its own? Are its crewing requirements manageable? And what is the internal layout that leads through the ship? I ask the last because I'm curious what builds up into the command tower since it. . . .has a thicker neck, albeit shorter, than old Imperial designs this reminds me of."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Nail on the head with that assessment, miss Swift. Yeah, the guns aren't as long range as the Dark Blade, but with excellent firing rates and more than a paltry firepower. Its long range weaponry is significant, though not as much as a dedicated ship like the Dark Blade." Still more than many, and many of its long range weapons didn't detract from the full firepower of the vessel. It wasn't exactly gun heavy, though it was well armed and dangerous in fire fights at close range.

"Hmm, lets see. Its role is that of a line ship. It is able to preform in the place of many roles if specialized ships are unavailable. It has stealth, interdictor, electronic warfare, close range, and long range capabilities, as well as having a decent number of attack craft." Draco smiled, pulling one of his legs to rest on his knee, getting comfortable on the chair within the woman's office. "It carries four squadrons of attack craft, three docking bays for mid sized freighters and the like, and a number of landing craft. Nothing spectacular in the way of its hangar complement, but it is a fair amount." The woman's questions weren't direct, though he could tell she was leaning towards asking about some of the systems within the Sovereign that made it work. "It's crew is comparable to the Mon Calamari ships of old, somewhere in the twelve thousand range for optimum efficiency. It also carries five thousand troops."

"Its internal layout is based around a pair of systems that will keep the Sovereign in service for the next century. The Sovereign's waste lines are tied to a Molecular Furnace and Solid Fuel Converter. Every ship has waste, and so the Sovereign's is recycled. All of it. The Molecular furnace is tied to a small manufacturing facility allowing the ship to produce repair parts, droids, vehicles, and the like. It can't carry a prefabricated base like many star destroyers, but it can build companies of droids, see to the maintenance of armor and weapons, produce ammunition, and replace broken or destroyed starfighters between engagements." That was something that Draco was particularly proud of. Scavenged from the Pellaeon MKII, the Molecular Furnace was upgraded, updated, and included with better production facilities. The idea had been tested in the Argent-class and then became one of Draco's favorite parts of the ship's design.

"That base is the superstructure. Because of the small production facility held within the hull, the superstructure had to accomodate and thus, the base of the command tower, which isn't where the bridge is, is a bit thicker to accomodate. The bridge itself is within the depths of the ship."

"Because of the dedicated sensor and electronic warfare systems within the ship, many of these were placed in the command tower, operated from crew pits and command salons within the tower. The ship has as much electronic warfare weaponry than the famed Jahaatir-class frigates made by Mandal Hypernautics, and well, the ship is designed to be able to replace those if necessary in a fleet." Larger ships were all about the conservation of combat roles. It was entirely possible for a fleet to consist of dozens of ships, each dedicated to a specific role, but the larger vessels like command ships and star destroyers, needed to fill the roles of multiple ships, otherwise the amount of support they would be forced to rely on would make them useless in real engagements.

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

A ship that size had stealth? Now that made the Rendili woman lift an eyebrow as she looked over the projection sitting above her desk while she tapped her fingers against the snow wood it was made of. The number of supporting starfighter squadrons did appear to be normal though as he mentioned it, seeing as it was the same number of ships the Noblesse class had a supporting hangar for. However, the Noblesse certainly didn't have so many unique features and was likely outgunned. Still, hearing that the Sovereign wasn't capable of the same long range capacity as the Darkblade, which in itself was outranged by the Noblesse, was something to take relief in as far as a competitor in the same tonnage went.

Still, the Noblesse would forever counter warships designed heavily around mass driver weaponry like hypervelocity guns so there was always a place for it if the Republic ever used it. Putting the thought aside though, Camellia was surprised it ran with a crew for a smaller sized vessel since it seemed a bit bigger than Mon Cal Star Cruisers did on average. Especially given the rather sophisticated systems the Mandalorian started rattling off. A molecular furnace and Fuel convertor weren't cheap to make, but they certainly could enable a ship to operate for longer without resupply that was for sure. "Well in regards to the Molecular furnace and the like it only matters so long as you have the raw material for it. If in addition to regular loads of consumables it can certainly enable a ship in theory to run forever without resupply, but it would have to be able to purchase or acquire resources for the furnace to exploit to enable its functions."

So it wasn't that great unless the ship also carried digging equipment and was fighting where they could reasonably expect enough time unharassed to go about harnessing raw resources for the molecular furnace. Which then by itself would take longer than average and use up more resources than average to make the same product. Though without the need for any specialists, engineers, or technicians. In that capacity it certainly was a huge benefit and did save time overall, but in actual efficiency it was a risk in the Croa woman's eyes.

It was smart to have the actual bridge well protected when that finally came up. Although Camellia supposed she was a more nostalgic woman who felt a belonging to the more honorable and adventurous era. She rather liked having the bridge on the outer hull of the ship, to give the captain a real view of space before them. Perhaps it was a bygone time for such whimsical ideals, but a golden age for starships and space travel could always be right around the corner. "Well I hope the hull is thicker around the tower regardless. It wouldn't be pretty for those systems to be damaged because the enemy was aiming for the command bridge. Also I would be hesitant to say a large destroyer would replace a frigate line. It certainly is a ship I wouldn't bet against seeing fielded. Its an impressive vessel and likely will see use."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Nah. Every ship produces waste. Seventeen thousand people produce quite a bit of waste product in just existing. Albeit, mining equipment would increase its production capabilities. Even as it is, the average crew produces thirty plus tons of waste per day. With the molecular furnace, rather than dumping that into the void of space, we get to make use of it. Think of a Star Destroyer being used domestically as a peacekeeping vessel. It would be able to preform an attack on a planet, and leave a garrison of combat droids it produced during the battle and short term occupation. The destroyer's actual complement wouldn't need to be decreased as the droids it produced could be used for garrison attacks." And with the added benefit of being able to produce upgrades to troop equipment to fit local environments, ammunition, weapons, even produce additional starfighters to escort the destroyer into battle. While the molecular furnace didn't have direct combat benefits, its long term benefits were enormous, allowing the vessel to stand alone.

"Additionally, the vessel is able to produce rations from these systems if necessary, though it has eighteen years of consumables in its cargo hold. She's meant for extended operation and we've taken steps to ensure that. The first of these vessels won't have to dock for resupply until long after the One Sith empire is just a memory." Eighteen years, assuming the vessel doesn't have time to work on its own supplies. Its waste management systems can be diverted into Solid Fuel Converters, keeping the vessel operational.

"Its actually a fairly small molecular furnace. Only able to hold about fifty tons of material at a time, but yes the hull is double plated, and the facilities there are defended by a turadium casing." Lots of defenses for important, nearly vital systems. It was a warship however and it was known the vessel would take damage in combat. Larraq was the only one he knew of that had been able to rout a fairly large fleet on reputation alone, well, reputation and poor enemy tactics.

"As for its stealth systems, those are limited. Without going all out for a full stealth package including a visual cloak a sensor mask and drive bafflers is the next logical step down. The Sensor mask works for a ship this large, but only at longer ranges. Standard range sensor sweeps can pick up a star destroyer, it just happens." Even some cloaked star destroyers couldn't hide at standard ranges, it was just too much ship to completely hide, too large a sensor signature, too much of a gravitic impulse to hide from sensor sweeps. "But at long ranges, the ships is able to coast along unnoticed. Good for long range recon before entering a system fully."

"And you'd be surprised. So many admirals don't like to operate vessels made by others. I've never had issue with the concept, but so many others do." He actually hadn't tried to sell it just yet, though he suspected a certain Sith Lord would approach him as soon as the class began seeing deployment, however the Mandalorians also didn't have a line destroyer, but made up for this by having three of the most powerful cruisers that existed.

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

Well she supposed that made the furnace much more useful, although the Rendili woman didn't want to think about additional rations being made from the crew's waste. No matter how viable and hygienic the food may be she would likely feel nauseous if she were to be told her food was converted from someone's. . . .excrement. It was, however, much more appealing to hear about the composition of the destroyer's armor plating. Double coating was a decent idea, and turadium was a wonderful choice. Sometimes nothing beat good old durasteel, but some metals just worked better depending on a ship's purpose. Well, desh-terethium was essentially necessary for most starfighters considering its lightweight and highly flexible nature. Well if one wanted an agile fighter, for something heavier Quadnium Steel was a good consideration instead.

As for the rest, well the stealth systems seemed reasonable. It wasn't crazy like the infamous Night Hammer, er Knight Hammer, that one time Imperial Admiral Daala commanded. An entire Super Star Destroyer coated in black matte stealth paint and running baffled engines and sensor screens was downright insane. The old empire had credits to throw around and then some. Camellia had to wonder how the galactic superpower at the time thought they were going to get away without people rebelling like they did when they had to have been taxing them to death to afford such ridiculous ships. At least the ships to deal with in the modern time were far more sensible at least in size.

"Oh I know what you mean Mr. Vereen, the One Sith have scoffed at using Rendili's services but are happy to reprimand us for not throwing free ships to the cause of our own volition. If they came with a request it'd be different. Kuat receives similar treatment, but they all but handed themselves to the Sith to do as they please with the yards there. Otherwise they use their own constructs, at least when they weren't using the Vong or Titan Industries designs." Sighing as she tapped her finger on her desk, Camellia leaned back and couldn't honestly think of anything wrong with the Sovereign as she lingered on the only question she could bring to mind. "What powerplant supply's energy to the ship?"

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"It seems that only the United Clans enjoys a meshing of shipwrights. Mandal Hypernautics forms the core of the fleet for sure, but our commanders enjoy the options of MandalTech, MandalMotors, ArmaTech, and Clan Rekali Incorporated, all of which are often represented in a balanced fleet when we go to war." One Sith used Titan almost exclusively for years, nearly a decade before the corporation separated itself from the Sith. Now they were on a kick about using designs that were exclusive to the order. Draco understood the sentiment, but then he looked at the Mandalorian fleet and the Mandalorian Empire which had borrowed a number of teachings. Ijaat Akun had pioneered the creation of Euk'gar and taught a few of the secrets of it's forging to others, though the old smith kept the true master forging techniques to himself and a few pupils.

Draco clicked the holoprojector and deactivated the little display of the Sovereign. With the yards leased and a few of the mobile docks being purchased to move out and support the Argent-class dreadnoughts. Draco was one to prefer keeping everything in house, but he was smart enough to know getting to use a sadly underused shipyard didn't hurt his operation. If anything the drive yards would be put to good use. Both the Rendili woman and the Mandalorian would make a pretty profit off this particular project.

"Well, if you have any thoughts about the design, I'd love to hear them. I know you must be busy, running a planet and all, so I don't want to keep you too long." He was aware of the hassles of governing a planet, Alderaan being one that he put quite a bit of effort into for Faith's sake, but it was still more than the average handful and consumed quite a bit of time.

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

Oh the head of Rendili Stardrive knew well that the Mandalorians had, for the most part, pulled themselves together into a coherent group. However, Camellia was also quite aware they were definitely struggling to find a direction. The whispers of a group splitting off from the united clans leadership was evidence of that. In all honesty though, the Rendili woman wanted the Mandalorians to find an identity and a purpose to move behind as one. They would be the most powerful force in the galaxy then and more than most realized she wanted to see what they could accomplish. What would the galaxy's turmoil look like if the Mandalorians truly moved with one banner, one goal, and crushed those in their way. In a way she didn't want it to happen because she wanted to support them either, which was what many would likely find strange.

No she would love to be part of the opposition to test the ability of her products against theirs.

As the holoprojector deactivated in front of her, the Rendili woman sighed and resisted the urge to stretch in her chair. Instead she swiped across her datapad as she began putting together the necessary orders in order to mobilize the 220s and the deep space docks for ArmaTech's owner. "The only real thoughts I might add would be to be wary. The design is impressive, but you might consider increasing its power supply to open up more doors to other idea you may come up with. I would be cautious as well, the ship is well rounded but it is indeed a tad flashy. It'll draw attention where it shows up. Though that may be your idea as well."