Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Design, I: The Opening Move [Ayden]

Lady Velori

Guest
L
The Vision, over Fondor.

She was this planet's true master, Velori mused to herself. Few knew it. But when it was a shipyard and she was in the business of building ships, she owned it. The technology budget belonged to her. And now she was going to wield her influence like a sword. True, she could develop everything she needed. She could design and order the creation of any class of vessel she wished. If she wanted a Super Star Destroyer, she could create that at a whim, using her Force powers and Nadia's processing power. What she could not do was command armies, deploy forces, steal things. That required outside help.

Ayden Cater.

He had been summoned to the conference room of the vessel and the enigmatic dark sider would wait for his presence aboard her mighty home. Until then, the crimson empress of design would wait for him, toying with a datapad holding a pair of schematics for him to give vague approval of. Not that she needed it, but if his forces were to use it then he should at least be apprised of the development, right?
 
Now this was a rare thing. Ayden knew how infrequently Velori could be persuaded to come out of her hole to interact with other members of functioning society, to say nothing of OmegaPyre. She was a recluse in the best of times, a shadow at worst. So when he received the invoice with an invitation to join her aboard her personal ship, Ayden was nothing less than intrigued. She had done enough to warrant Cira and Tegaea's trust in her, since they had appointed her as head of OmegaPyre's R&D department. Beyond that, he knew little of her. Her invitation wasn't much either, just a time and location.

Still, he was a curious man, and Ayden never passed up an opportunity to evaluate and assess the unknown. So he boarded a shuttle and flew by himself to the location provided by the invitation. Once there, he spotted a craft that could only have been her personal ship. It was a heavily accented voice, female. Decidedly not Velori. To his knowledge, Ayden didn't know of the reclusive lady keeping any sort of on-board company. Curiouser and curiouser. With his personal weapons secured, Ayden stepped off the shuttle and onto the deck. It was time to see what the Lady Velori deigned to need him for.
 

Lady Velori

Guest
L
"There you are, Cater," Velori deigned to say once he was aboard and secure. Ayden's first impressions of the stark vessel would have been exactly that. It did hide some considerable luxury, if he'd at all checked the plans to know that. The conference room was large, with high-backed chairs and a large conference table with a holoprojector built nicely into it.

Once he was settled, a droid arrived with a tray of tea. "Tea, Exarch Cater?" intoned the very exotic voice of the AI. "I prepared it myself." A droid placed a cup in front of Velori, already prepared exactly to her liking. She took a sip.

"No doubt you've seen the proposal for the Wraith-class design," Velori said, keying the ship's projection in the holoprojector. "I have but one snag. I do not have the ability to create stealth technology at this point. Stygium technology is lost. We do not have most of the materials available. TibannaX is a valid alternative for part of it, but we lack that resource. I require your help in acquiring various technologies, and perhaps a mind to back up the financial validity for Omega's spending. Do note that this stealth technology will be used in the Lady Protector's vessel, as well."
 
Ayden looked over the details presented on the holoscreen and nodded, taking a sip of the tea to mull over with. He set the cup down and laced his fingers together before speaking. "I've seen the design. It's certainly got the promise of being cutting edge. However, I'm afraid the only version I've taken a look at was barely more than skin over bones. Little in the way of systems and armament. Why don't we go over that to help give me an idea of exactly what we'll need to put this project together and make it a success."
 

Lady Velori

Guest
L
"That is because I currently lack the materials to make efficient stealth technology," Velori said, steepling her fingers together as she reclined back in her seat. "A good stealth vessel will utilise more than one stealth design and as such I feel that I need to research multiple different technologies in order to make it efficient. For this, I need your manpower in order to acquire. I need armies, Cater. Armies I do not command." She wanted to see how he reacted. "I need rare materials. Stygium. TibannaX. I have the answers, but the catalyst is out of my reach. Will you help me gather them?"
 
"Your proposal is bold, Lady Velori." Ayden spoke passively, letting tinges of his Corellian drawl carry through as he looked at the bare wireframe of her proposed craft. "This design is unlike anything that I've heard of in the past. Or to be more specific..." He raised his cup of tea to take a sip before continuing. "It's unlike anything I've seen succeed in the past. You're proposing putting together multiple pieces of experimental technology onto a craft no bigger than a frigate. The power requirements are rather beyond any power plant you'd find on a ship this size. The stygium cloak alone will require a vast amount of power. How do you intend on generating enough power to operate all these systems?"
 

Lady Velori

Guest
L
"That is because past designers were not blessed with the gift of Divination," Velori said, her tea raised to her lips. She was completely sure of her ability. And with good reason. She designed the X1s. She did more work on the Inimica than Mare. She had produced the Invicta - and all faster than the rest of the tech team combined.

"I have in my possession the designs for an array ionization core that makes use of high-density cryogenic power cells. Three cores, three super-charged power cells. Essentially, running not to the imagined red lines of lesser technicians, but to the true red lines of a machine tweaked to perfection. I would not recommend using the stygium cloak under heavy maneuvering, of course, but the ability is there. It will be a considerably bulky machine, though. It is not designed for a troop transport. It is not meant to be a war vessel in the traditional sense. But for the elite commando teams of Omega Pyre, it will be a worthwhile investment."
 
"A dangerous plan. If the reactors are running that hard all the time, the ship could experience catastrophic failure during any sort of engagement." Ayden leaned back in his chair, eyes locked on the design. He was already getting into a mentality and line of thought that would be very familiar to the Lady Velori. Great designers had a habit of thinking alike. "If you're not careful, you could flood several decks with ionized plasma and radiation. You'd kill the crew faster than any enemy ship could." It was hardly biting criticism, as already Ayden was thinking of ways around that potential problem. "Unless... Unless you installed shunts to vent any excess plasma out of the ship. It'd light the ship up like a Christmas tree, but I think at that point, stealth is pretty low on the ship's options. Wouldn't you say?"
 

Lady Velori

Guest
L
"The plasma could theoretically be weaponised with a unique weapons array but as I understand the commanders of Omega Pyre are demanding an 'immediate solution' to their problem. This is as immediate as they will get. Waste vents are a reasonable addition, yes. We can vent them out at the wingtips for a little added theatrical flair, if you like the concept of flying on stellar wings to be aesthetically pleasing." She did not care for his judgement aside from the valid points within. She didn't so much care. It worked and it was valid and his opinion meant slightly more than the trash they fobbed upon her as a 'design team'.

She considered her options carefully. "Quad heavy laser cannons, dual warhead launchers plus a centre-line mass driver cannon appear to be the standard armaments, regardless. A small battle frigate with reasonable armaments. It will have plenty of speed over hull plating, as my designs tend to accentuate. If you notice, it uses components from the X1 Project, which has so far proven total success."
 
"Unique... Hm..." Ayden considered for a moment. It would be dangerous. Possibly suicidal. It would certainly take a special kind of crazy to consider using such a weapon. But then again, OmegaPyre seemed to attract crazy in droves. But that would be another time. In the meantime, Ayden turned his attention back to the lady. "Well it could be some time before we can get our operations out to Bespin, at least permanently. With these developments turning OmegaPyre into a proper government body, I imagine a lot of our assets are going to be tied up ensuring the systems have adequate protection."

"Still..." Ayden thoughtfully considered something, taking a sip of tea to mull his thoughts over some. Velori certainly had a way of making the Corelian think. "I can talk with Cira, see if we can procure a small shipment of TibannaX to start testing on." He was sure this wouldn't be a cheap purchase. Tibanna was common enough to bring its price down. He didn't know for sure what this TibannaX was, but it couldn't be a common isotope. He'd have to do some investigating to see if showed up in any substantial quantities on other gas giants.

"Now... Stygium... That's gonna be a whole different matter. You realize that there hasn't been a significant source of stygium in centuries, I'm sure." Ayden set the empty tea cup down and leaned forward. "That is going to be substantially more difficult to procure any appreciable amount for testing, let alone manufacturing a proper cloak. Before we allocate any resources to search for the proverbial needle in a haystack, I'm gonna need something more to go on. Galaxy's a large place, Lady Velori. Lot of different places we'd have to try and look."
 

Lady Velori

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The tech queen waved a hand, as if none of this was anything even remotely in her realm. And, truth told, it wasn't. "These are all your issues. I am not paid to concern myself with the quibbles of the Galaxy as it rotates. You pay me to deliver you weapons and technologies that the masses could only ever dream of. I will not meddle or interfere in any of these trifles." Why should she care? None of them mattered. In her world, in this little bubble she ensconced herself with, none of that even existed. It didn't need to.

However, that left Ayden's lingering problem of discovering the highly rare material. It was fortunate that he wondered where stygium lay, really. She would not come unprepared. She was Velori, both in name and power. The prophet. The messiah of sight beyond sight.

"Those mundane fools in the yards may not be blessed with Divination, Cater, but I am," Velori said as the holoprojector suddenly switched to the distant planet of Maramere, a world whose fog obscured the jewel hidden in its depths. "One vision, one purpose. This ship does not bear a mere name for the sake of a name. This is the planet that you want. I cannot offer more than that. If I had a sample I would create for you a detector, but no such thing is available. You can take whatever you need to scour the world, I am sure."
 

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