Defense and Offense (Open to Republic Only)

[Laira Darkhold]

I stood up addressing the two men in front of me, “While the vehicle section of the facility is currently off line, I can show you something else I have been working on. It’s something special for our boys in the field.” I told them, leading them out of the comfortable building and towards a small section of the complex that had already been completed.

Upon entering the building I lead them into a workshop where two nearly identical personal energy shields sat on a table, placed there by several engineers who were hovering in the back of the room, waiting to see the reactions of those present. “These are the Icon-class and Paragon-class Personal Energy Shields, designed for rank and file troops of the line and elite Special Forces respectively. The Icon-class features a dual Particle and Ray shield, a step up from the normal personal energy shields while the Paragon-class uses a down-sized Molecular shielding, providing those equipped with one of the strongest forms of personal protection.” I said showing the apparatuses off to the senator and Grand Admiral. These would be implemented in mass, with regards to the Icon-class, and to select forces in regards to the Paragon-class.

[member="Gir Quee"]
[member="Jon Jon Nemo"]
[member="Shamus Walker"]

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Gir Quee"] [member="Jon Jon Nemo"]

After finally getting clearance to land Cpl Wes Walker made his way through a passage of always headed in the general vicinity of some of the more completed buildings. As he walked he surveying the area. He ducked into one building his armored boots echoing done the hall. He passed a door where he could have sworn he heard voices. Popping open the door his jaw dropped for a moment a curse screaming in his mind as he snapped to attention popping a crisp salute.

"Apologies for barging in Grand Admiral." "Cpl Shamus Wesley Walker."

He then acknowledged the Sgt Major and the other gentleman once the salute was returned by the Admiral. Since he had already barged in Wes waited until he was either ordered out or told to stand at ease. No since turning one blunder into two. He was already there may as well see it to the end.

 

[Gir Quee]

"At ease, corporal," replied Gir to [member="Shamus Walker"], turning his attention back to the shielding devices.

He eyed the devices curiously. Shielding technology was so common among starships that Gir didn't fully understand why they weren't more prevalent in the militaries of the galaxy. Salmakk had once told him that it was something to do with the power supply and that ever present spectre of cost, but there seemed to be plenty of armors around that did similar things and that he guessed were just as costly; that is, if the technology used in starships scaled down in cost linearly. But such engineering questions were beyond his grasp, though he could certainly understand and apply basic engineering concepts.

"How are these devices powered?" asked Gir, glancing at several of [member="Draco Vereen"]'s engineers.

 

[Jsc]

Meanwhile...

Megan jumped out of the ladies bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her. All finished.

"Ooo baby. Destroyed it! Haha. Slay that dragon girl. Whoosh."

She kicked the door and clasped her hands together. Oh yeah. That was how a real Jedi does bathroom breaks. Go big or go home, her sister used to say. Boom baby.

"Well now. Guess I have to deliver that letter to Senator what's-his-person? Nemo Jon Jon or something? I always forget alien names. Geez."

Rhymes had trouble remembering a lot of names. [member="Jon Jon Nemo"] was just the lucky one today. He was supposed to be a Gungan though. Should be easy to spot. ...Mmm. Probably?

"Ah yes. They were supposed to be with Draco over in another section of the complex. Tech and gizmos. Tanks and fireworks. That sort of thing. I should hurry to catch up."

The Bubblegum Bomb smiled to herself and quickly jogged out of the facility. She had a letter from the Senate to deliver today. Best not to wander. The others must be nearby somewhere. Just follow the smell of gun powder and explosions. Or, something like that.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I nodded to the trooper who entered, and smiled at Megan as she walked into the room. "How are you Megan, always good to see you," I said to her, smiling. Perfect, I could use a test dummy here in a minute, and hopefully the trooper wouldn't argue with what I was going to ask of him shortly. “Well Grand Admiral, Corporal.” I started, identifying them both for good measure, “They are powered of compact dual power cells, or any other power source such as the Hyperion Combat Power Pack, with which they are intended to be used alongside. The dual powercell provides the system with the energy necessary to power both shields, either simultaneously, or power can be diverted into a single shield type, in case your opponent is field only a single weapon type. The replaceable powercells are simple and easy to exchange, or the powerpack, which is much larger, allows the shield to recycle quickly.” I told the Grand Admiral, answering his question. “The real thing about these, is the Paragon-class. Precisely what its name says, it is the Paragon of personal energy shields, so long as you have a weapon connected to it or a battery pack to go with it.” I told them, trying to highlight the necessity of using the Paragon alongside another system for safety purposes. I picked up the Paragon-class holding it my hands and extending it towards the Grand Admiral for him to inspect closely.
[member="Megan Rhymes"] [member="Gir Quee"] [member="Shamus Walker"]

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Molecular... shielding?

The Gungan had never even heard of such a thing. The lanky politician made a mental note to have his protocol droid look that up for him at some point. In the meantime, in the interest of keeping the conversation going, the Gung merely nodded his head. "Dis is fascinating technology, Mister Vereen-sa," the lawyer boasted, clearly impressed.

He had absolutely no idea what molecular shielding would do, but it certainly sounded impressive.

Nodding at the entrance of the corporal, and then the Jedi, the Gung found himself lost in thought a moment. Turning toward the Grand Admiral, the Gungan decided to follow that line of thought, "Admiral Quee-sa, this no doubt has mui, mui utility for your forces." There, put the ball out in the military's court. See if that net any kind of better explanation as to how this would be useful.

What was impressive was the continued insight to how vast ArmaTech was in terms of research and development, not to mention manufacturing capabilities. Armor, fiber and textile development, vehicular design and production... Nemo was definitely looking into this stock.

Quietly of course. Otherwise he'd be appearing to create a conflict of interest when dealing with appropriations for military contracts, which his opponents might seize on during the re-election campaign.

Perhaps a mutual fund, into which the accounts of the Nemo Foundation were in trust. Or even his shares from the firm on Cyrillia, which were managed for him. Yes, either of those might suit...

[member="Draco Vereen"] | [member="Gir Quee"] | [member="Shamus Walker"] | [member="Megan Rhymes"]​

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Gir Quee"] [member="Megan Rhymes"] [member="Draco Vereen"]

Wes relaxed to the at ease position when acknowledge by the Admiral and began listening to the speech being given out about some prototype shields being briefed to the Admiral. When his name............well rank was mentioned in the speech Wes took a cautious step or two forward to get a better look at what was on the table. As the Admiral was handed when of the prototypes a thousand questions flooded his mind. How much damage could they take, how much did they way, how much light would they reflect, how much sound did activating or deactivating them make. To a sniper trying to hide deep behind enemy lines in some cases these were questions that were not minor details but potential major flaws in it's application that could give away his position and potential get him killed.

For the moment though he simply waited, listened, and watched for an opening to ask these questions should they go unanswered.

 

[Jsc]

"Hello Draco. Busy as always. Hehe."

She smiled and appoarched the happy crowd. They were looking at shield generators. Good. That gave the perfect opportunity to make her delivery unnoticed. Rhymes walked up to [member="Jon Jon Nemo"] and presented him a letter. Well. More like a thin Thinkpad encased in recodexed Transparasteel, but whatever. A letter was a letter.

"Senator Nemo-sa. I am Jedi Padawan Rhymes of the Ossus Academy. Currently acting as a courier today. I have a letter for you from the Senate. I believe it is from Secretary Nami Baroonda of Enchala and Carpesh. The details are encased within. Please sign here please."

She held out another holopad for his X. Delivery completed. She had no idea what could be inside the letter. Maybe a steamy Senate love letter? Oh my? How scandalous. She couldn't help but giggle,

"Thank you Senator. Enjoy your afternoon. Force be with you."

[member="Draco Vereen"] |​

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

A Jedi? Here?

The Gungan's eye stalks widened slightly as the girl announced that she was a Jedi, the lawyer accepting the letter before bowing appreciatively toward Padawan [member="Megan Rhymes"]. "Meesa thank you, Jedi Rhymes-ah," the Gung noted simply, taking another moment to inspect the document and then pass the datapad off to his droid aide.

Senate business requiring a courier was obviously important, but the Gungan wasn't so pompous or rude as to read it here when they were in the midst of discussing the technology that ArmaTech was developing.

And selling. The senator couldn't get lost in the techno-speak and lose sight of this. Everything was basically window shopping for the Republic military. A military that Cyrillia would be helping to flip the bill for.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

“Stick around Megan, I have need of a lightsaber and a deft wielder of such a weapon for a test run. Besides I wanted to know how the armor was treating you.” I told the young padawan girl as she turned to leave. Fixing the shield to my belt, I activated it giving it a second or two to power on and full charge. “Alright, hit me with your Lightsaber, I promise nothing bad will happen.” I told her, demonstrating the effectiveness of the energy shield.

Attached to my belt it was easy to see that it didn’t weigh any more than standard personal shield generators, and though it gave off a light hum, it was not loud or noisy. A small blue haze appeared over me, hugging close to my body where the shield was, protecting me from harm. “I have it set to increase the power of the Molecular shield with no power to the Particle shields, so nothing is gonna get through. Just try and impale me through the chest for five seconds or so.” I instructed, offering her a reassuring smile and nodding to Gir and the trooper. “You’re next buddy,” I told the soldier, hoping he understood I wanted him to shoot me with a blaster weapon, specifically the E-Web situated in the back of the room with the engineers.

[member="Megan Rhymes"] [member="Shamus Walker"] [member="Jon Jon Nemo"] [member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Jsc]

Megan smiled to [member="Jon Jon Nemo"] and seemed a bit surprised by [member="Draco Vereen"]'s offer. Ah. Energy shields. Of course. Well? If they work, they work. If not. She'd just aim for the collar bone. Can't go around killing Draco already. That wouldn't be nice.

Rhymes unleashed her blue lightsaber and nodded to all present to stand back. Swords were nothing to gawk at.

"Okay Draco. I'll slash for your collar bone and hold the blade against the shielding to test it. But let's not get cocky. I'd rather not cut you in half. Hehe."

She took a sword stance and cut for his collar. Pressing against the particle shield with a dedicated might. Megan Rhymes had the physical strength of a rampaging Rancor but she didn't need to actually present that now. Best to just put on a good show. Leave the super powers at home.

*Bzzzzzzzzzz

It certainly looked like it was working too.

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir gingerly inspected the device. The man was admittedly something of a technophile, but he tried to never lose sight that it mattered most to its end-users, the soldiers like [member="Shamus Walker"] and [member="Draco Vereen"] who fought in the harsh battles, often against force-gifted foes such as the Sith. He was sure the technology would have a utility against such opponents, even if it was unlikely that he would use such a device from the bridge of a starship. the man quietly placed the device back on the table, far more interested in how this testing was going to go, especially when it involved lightsabers.

[member="Jon Jon Nemo"] | [member="Megan Rhymes"]

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Gir Quee"] @ Jon Jon Nemo [member="Megan Rhymes"]

Wes looked at Draco for a moment wondering what he was up to. Sure tech needed to be tested but on himself and against a Jedi weapon. Wes kept his mouth shut as practically every single one of his questions were answered all at once. As he watched the demonstration he admired what it had to offer but knew if he deployed as a sniper he would not be able to use it unless the mission went to bantha poodoo.

When the strike was made Wes hesitated only long enough to make sure Draco was not injured before sliding off towards the crew weapon in tha back of the room. He checked it and rechecked it making sure everything was in order before locking and loading but leaving it pointed in a safe direction awaiting Draco's ready order.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Megan preformed exactly as I had hoped, as did the shield, holding out until she removed her blade from across my shoulder. She had been careful to not hurt me just in case the shield hadn't worked as I had wanted it to. "As you can see it provides some, granted limited protection from Lightsaber Strikes. Give me one second," I popped the hot powercells from the shield and swapped in a new pair. "Because it siphons energy from the damage it takes, it has to have somewhere to put the energy. Its most effective with a battery pack held at half charge going in. Half charge is more than enough for most of a battle and has plenty space to store the used power, or you can link it to a weapon and boost that weapon's capabilities. Be careful with that though as too much will melt the weapon. Alright, Let me have it. Ten bolts to the chest, corporal." I told the trooper, giving a wink to Megan.

[member="Shamus Walker"]

 

[Surge]

The first day of the rest of his life. He, #24601, was called to attend a meeting about energy shields. He knows what energy is and he knows what shields are, but he didn't know about energy shields. Anyhow, the matter was energy related and he had been called. All that was left was to heed it.

He came upon the door and willed it to open. It was opening just as he walked in front of it, but his interference caused it to pause and start shifting left and right inside of its track. This kept happening until he realized that he was causing this and stopped trying to command it. The door than slid open and he stepped across the threshold. He was wearing his now-usual black attire.

He skipped his gaze from face to face no matter how long anyone stared. He wanted to see who was all here before he could find how to settle in. He lastly settled upon [member="Gir Quee"]'s face. Walking over to him, and seeing the soldier pointing a large gun at another man, he said to him, "Grand Admiral Gir Quee. Why did you bring me to witness an execution? I thought this was an energy shield demonstration?"


[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Shamus Walker"] [member="Megan Rhymes"] [member="Jon Jon Nemo"]

 

[Gir Quee]

"It's not an execution," said Gir bluntly to [member="Veldar Tor'Vaas"].

If it had been any other person, Gir probably wouldn't have been so straightforward. But the man did not want to potentially confuse the energy being by accidentally leading him to the wrong conclusion by leaving any gray areas.

"This jedi and these troopers are showing how a certain device can protect oneself with energy against other energy," replied the Grand Admiral, "Master Chief [member="Draco Vereen"] might even let you test yourself against its nature. There is a possibility that you will face something similar on the battlefield against your own enemies..."

Hopefully that isn't too confusing for him to follow...

 

[Jsc]

Megan was impressed with the shield design. Lightsabers usually cut through just about anything. Seeing such a practical technology made her wonder if she should invest in a new toolkit herself.

Then the energy being arrived and her Force Senses went bonkers. If Rhymes had been xenophobic before? Today she was speechless. Thank goodness it appeared to be friendly, if only naive.

"Well. This is different." Megan wondered aloud. She'd skip introductions.

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Gir Quee"] [member="Jon Jon Nemo"] [member="Megan Rhymes"] [member="Veldar Tor'Vaas"]

Wes looked over at the engineers present exchanging a few notes making sure he had his math right. Wes was a one shot one kill sniper. Crew weapons were not his specialty and Draco had been very specific about what he wanted. Once he was sure Wes aimed center mass on Draco firing the requested 10 bolts before letting off of the trigger quickly unloading the weapon and clearing it safe before stepping out from behind it.

Stepping closer to Draco Wes looked over the man like a hawk praying the shield held up and the man was not injured from the test. In the back of his mind Wes wondered why there were not medics standing by if Draco had intended to test the prototype out. It occurred to Wes it may have been a spare of the moment decision which only made him feel even more ill at ease.