Development: Project Enigma (UCM)

[Mig Gred]

Location: Concord Specialized Technologies, Concord Dawn's Surface​

Activity: Five bounty hunting freighters being refitted, three bounty hunting freighters departing, classified vessels being prepared, preparing for arrival of guests.​

​

The small Concord Specialized Technologies was bustling as usual. Refitting bounty hunting vessels, getting droids ready for shipping out to customers, and preparing for an important meeting. This was the first time the company had attempted to create their own starship, let alone a warship. It was important that they make a good impression with the pair they had. Yeah, the Alor would probably like it, but the others? A Mandalorian, Aries Lerid and a C1 droid moved down the hall, discussing something.

"So you have tactics ready for the ships, correct? I mean, I've thought of some, but you were programmed for this."

"Of course I have tactics planned. Would I fail you at that one job?"

"Yes."

"Shut up."

"Just being honest. Anyway, we best be sure to be prepared for anyone who comes."

Outside, the Basilisk flew in to approach the small company's facility. Mig sat in the cockpit, looked at the hodge-podge working space. He had wondered why Aries wanted him to come see this thing he was planning so badly, and he apparently wasn't the only one the engineer called to view this... whatever it was. All he'd say was a new corvette. This did have the Alor intrigued though. This couldn't just any old corvette design, right? Not with the secrecy he had around it. Maybe this be interesting at least. The modified freighter soon landed, and Mig stepped out, waiting for someone to show up and explain what this corvette was.

[member="Yasha Cadera"] [member="Adenn Kyramud"] [member="Kaine Australis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Concord Dawn, however close it was to Mandalore, wasn’t a planet Yasha ventured to often. She spent more time in the borderlands, and the new planets entering the Clans, easing their entry or bringing aide where they needed it most.

Today she found herself in [member="Mig Gred"]’s bustling Technologies concern, summoned by an engineer. So, when it was due to engineering, she brought her pregnant mother [member="Aditya Fitz Kierke"] along for the trip.

“You’ll love it, Mama. We both know you will.” Yasha mentioned in Epicant. It was the language the two spoke perpetually to each other, smattering in some Mando’a for the benefit of others.

“Sure! Sure, I’ll love it, sweet pea… but this book is getting interesting.” Aditya sat with her feet propped up, a bag of crunch chips on her slightly growing belly and datapad in hand. A ‘History of the Reigns of the Mand’alor’e’ translated into Epicant sat upon the screen.

“Did you know…”

“Yeeesss. I know! I lived it! I was there!”

“You did not! You were ten years old!”

“Yes! Mama! I did! See that lil speck of beskar beside the Undying!? That was me.” Yasha pointed to a holoprojection appearing in the corner, and sighed for the umpteenth time. “Told you, I was a soldier.”

“You were a child.”

“… it was war.” Yasha walked off in the shuttle to sit beside her riduur [member="Kaine Australis"] with a burble, setting her unarmoured visor-wearing head on his shoulder.

“Can I… no. It’s good. We’re good. We’re all good…. good good good.” The shuttle was… smaller than Yasha enjoyed. Its’ engines rumbled through it. Yasha tapped her foot and drummed her left fingers on Kaine’s knee. “……… the shuttle was checked, right? Its’ landing gear was…”

“Aw my goddess’ nipples Yash! The shuttle’s fine! Stop being a scaredy voorpah and settle down! We’re going to land fine and see the whatever it is, and you’re going to have a god-danged libation strong enough to give you nerve. Gosh! Our kids better not be like her, sweetness.” Aditya rubbed her belly, and smiled over at [member="Adenn Kyramud"].

Yasha shrunk and muttered in barely audible Epicant, thrusting her arm around Kaine’s until the ship came to a landing. The Infernal was the first out, practically launching to stand beside Mig.

 

[Adenn Kyramud]

Aboard the shuttle was Adenn, he had been asked to come along and see whatever marvel it was that needed to be seen. He had readily agreed, both for the chance to see whatever it was, and also to spend time with [member="Aditya Fitz Kierke"]. Currently she was sitting, reading some story or another while bantering with [member="Yasha Cadera"], Adenn himself was leaning against the wall, off to the side, listening with a slight smile on his face. Sure, he might not understand Epicant, but his helmet translator did, and translated it for him.

Grinning behind his helmet, Adenn simply watched as they spoke, until he took more notice of what Aditya had, mainly a bag of chips. Starting to plan something, he watched as Yasha went over to Kaine and lay her head on his shoulder. He then took notice that she was still freaking out about the shuttle ride. During this trip, and the little flight he'd had on the other planet with her, he noticed that she didn't like flying. But he wouldn't say anything, yet. When Aditya spoke once more, he turned his head to her and nodded. Their kids would be crazy, and thus couldn't be scared. That thought amused Adenn, and he chuckled lightly.

Then he walked over to Aditya, smiling behind his helmet. Standing next to her, Adenn gazed down to her belly, noticing that it was growing, then he thought of the 3 babies within it. Turning his gaze back to Aditya, he spoke then.
"Indeed darlin', they'll be great."

Smiling still, Adenn suddenly reached out a hand and grabbed some chips from the crunch chips bag. Tilting his helmet slightly back, he popped 2 chips into his mouth, before holding out another chip for Aditya. Smirking behind his helmet, Adenn turned his attention slightly to Yasha. He looked her over, noticed how she was still concerned, and sighed to himself. This would be a long flight. Shaking his head again, Adenn looked around but noticed there weren't any other free chairs open near him, so he did the next best thing. He sat down next to Aditya.

Scooting into a little space on her left, Adenn nudged her gently over a bit so he could sit slightly more comfortably. Then he put his right arm around her shoulders, squeezing gently while leaning his head against hers. Smiling behind his helmet, Adenn looked down at her datapad and noticed he couldn't read it. At least not naturally, his helmet helped him with that again, helpfully translating what was on the screen.
"Mind if I join you Aditya?" He squeezed her shoulders again. "Oh, what's this? History of the Reigns of Manda'lor'e. Interesting, though I wonder if Yasha really did all those things the book says she did." Chuckling lightly, Adenn Keldabe Kissed her with his helmet, grinning the whole while behind his helmet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whenever they landed, Adenn would help Aditya stand up before walking with her to the ramp, and ot the outside. There he'd give a nod to Mig as greeting, while looking around.

[member="Mig Gred"] [member="Yasha Cadera"] [member="Kaine Australis"] [member="Aditya Fitz Kierke"]

 

[Mig Gred]

Mig chuckled a bit as he saw [member="Yasha Cadera"] bolt out of her shuttle. He smiled and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. Your on the ground now." He then say [member="Kaine Australis"] , [member="Adenn Kyramud"] , and [member="Aditya Fitz Kierke"] walk up. He smiled and waved to them before speaking to them. "Su coy'gar everyone. Glad y'all could come to my little side of the Clans. Y'all wouldn't happen to know why Aries called us? All he told me was it's a new project he's been working on." After some had spoke, Aries and a C1 droid walked up to the landing area, and put on a smile, even though he was run as thin as could be. He had some grease stains on his cloths, clearly having just worked on something. He then began to speak to the group.

"Mand'alor, Alors, ma'am, welcome to Concord Specialized Technologies. I'm Aries Lerid, and this is C1-K0, one of our C1 tactical droids. I know you're all probably curious about why I called you here, and I think it's better to show you rather than tell you." The man then beckoned the group to follow him as he walked them into the facility. As they walked in, the first thing the passed a nice looking entry way before walking through another door into a hanger bay, where multiple freighters sat with various panels open and parts scattered around somewhat neatly.

"This company started to help modify starship, mostly things like freighter, for bounty hunting. It wasn't until we got a footing that we began to make our own systems. C1 droid, and Varactyl Dual Heavy Turbolasers in particular. Then we started working on custom jobs. Now, though, we finally have something that the entirety of the Clans could make use of." Aries finally led everyone to a blocked off area, typing in a code before opening the door, and waving everyone inside. In the hanger sat four ships. All had the same hull, though one appeared to be modified.

Mig's jaw was wide open, amazed by the fact that the small company could produce such a vessel. The ships looked sleek, and powerful. With what Aries said, the plan was that these wouldn't be the only ones either. This was a production warship. He looked over at his vod before the engineer began to speak again.

"This is Project Enigma. We've been working on these girls for some time. That one there, is the first of the class. The Enigma. As you can see, we've used her to test a few idea too. Added weapons, more powerful engines, and ablative armor. The other three are the next three in the Enigma-class line. We class them as fast attack corvettes, and think it's pretty clear why. Standard, they're armed with a pair of Varactyl Dual Heavy Turbolaser, 2 universal launch tubes, and two quad laser turrets. They trade their armor of speed, and have powerful engines. Power can even be routed from the turbolasers to add to the ships speed and maneuverability." C1-J0 then began to speak.

"And some tactics have already been worked on to use them."

"Yes, that too."

Mig smiled a bit, looking over the ships. "Well, they're definitely quite beautiful vessels. I'm sure they'll serve well."

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“Sure, baby maker.” Aditya passed [member="Adenn Kyramud"] the chips, smirking up at him in a way, which much to Yasha’s eternal mystification, was almost… soft.

She’d never seen her mother happy, until now. Aditya shifted to let Adenn sit, then nuzzled in against his side while she read her book. Catching sight of his chin, the elder Epicanthix sighed and rubbed her growing belly.

“Knowing my coward of a daughter?” Aditya glared at Yasha curled up in [member="Kaine Australis"]’ arms, and shook her head with a disgusted sigh. “You know what? She did everything in this book and more. Fething needs therapy. Mental failure, just like her father. Keep her away from cliffs.”

The ship jittered, and Yasha tried to fend off a whimper. Kept firm in her husband’s arms, Yasha shut her eyes and focused on Kaine’s breathing. Tried to match it. Her body deflated, and for a while Yasha calmed.

Then the landing gear deployed, and Yasha’s fear was back. How disgusting, to have fear.

“Sorry, Mig… sweet… sweet ground.” Standing as straight as her usually impeccable posture could manage, Yasha whistled low as [member="Mig Gred"] patted her on the shoulder. “But! I brought my mother! She’s… she’s an engineering marvel.”

“Ooohhhh trust me, honey pie, I ain’t got a single clue why we took that tin can to Concord Dawn any more than my pansy daughter. So y’all gon’ tell me, before I run out’a this bag of crunchies.” Aditya’s Mando’a was as drawl-filled as ever, as she waddled up to the others.

“I’m impressed… thanks, c’yare.” Yasha leaned down and nodded, brushing a quick kiss on Kaine’s cheek. Once Aries came forward, Yasha was all business, her stern face kind but serious.

“Awwww my sweet, glorious happy days… Aries, my lad? Bless you.” Aditya walked forward, immediately bringing out her scanner and taking a closer look without asking.

“Sweetie punkin, what’s the metallurgic make up of the ablative armour? How many torpedoes can the ammo bay hold? What sort of couplings do you use on the engines, to get power from the reactor core? The re-route. How long does it take? Do you phase it through multiple polarities, so it can’t be scanned as readily by the enemy?” Full in engineering mode, Aditya was in heaven.

Her daughter, on the other hand, was standing statuesque and taking the Enigma in with every sense she had.

“Lerid… this is… I’m impressed.”

 

[Adenn Kyramud]

Smiling slightly behind his helmet, Adenn simply watched as [member="Yasha Cadera"] and [member="Kaine Australis"] hugged for the duration of the flight. It was rather sweet, even if the reason behind it not so much, which was Yashas fear of flying. He squeezed Adityas shoulders closer though as she passed him some more chips.
"Baby maker? If I remember correctly, you helped with that too." Adenn poked her side gently, smirking behind his helmet. Though when Aditya spoke about Yasha being a failure, Adenn merely shook his head, but didn't say anything yet.

When they got down, Adenn shook his head to [member="Mig Gred"]'s question, he had no clue why he was here, just that he was supposed to be here. When the two people came, well one and a droid, Adenn looked them over. It seemed they were willing to get dirty a bit, good, things like that were needed. When the man motioned for them to follow, Adenn did so, but stuck near Aditya, aiming to keep an eye on her.

Then they arrived at the ship shortly thereafter, and Adenn was thoroughly impressed. The ships looked impressive, and if what the man said was true, then he too could get some. A grin formed on his lips, and then he laughed as [member="Aditya Fitz Kierke"] immediately went into engineering mode. Shaking his head reufully, Adenn turned his attention to Aries.
"Aries was it?" He took a step forward and offered a hand to shake. "I must say, I do like the design. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated, as well as my clan and I getting some. How much do they cost, because I'd like to get some of these ships."

[member="Yasha Cadera"] [member="Aditya Fitz Kierke"] [member="Mig Gred"] [member="Kaine Australis"]

 

[Mig Gred]

Aries chuckled at all of [member="Aditya Fitz Kierke"] 's enthusiasm as he looked over the Enigma. "Not metal. That armors a carbon-mix with epoxy holding it together. Light-weight, durable, and able to provide a couple of hits worth of protection. As for the ammo bay, depends on the payload. I'd say a standard load is 10 torpedoes, missiles, or bombs can be loaded in each. The couplings are an in-house design we've used on a few custom jobs, and the reroute is designed to be quick. Only takes a second or two to fully reroute, but do to the speed of the reroute we can't currently stealth it. we've tried, but size constraints held us back. Maybe for a MKII." He then heard [member="Yasha Cadera"] , and smiled. He also nodded at [member="Adenn Kyramud"], pulling out a data pad for him.

"Thank you, Mand'alor. I'm happy that you approve. Alor Kyramud, this should tell you everything, or you can just look at the price for non-modified units, learn the capabilities yourself." Mig raised an eyebrow when he heard this.

"Are you saying you have something else to show us?" The tactical droid then spoke up.

"Well it'd be a shame no to show off the maneuverability and firepower when the moon gives us a great place to set up a test course."

"He's right. If you any of you want to see what these birds can do, we can take the Enigma and one of her sister ships up for a little test."

[member="Kaine Australis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“Oh, I freely did. Made a life worth resurrecting for, you did.” Aditya laughed at Adenn’s poke to her side, glancing over at her daughter and [member="Kaine Australis"] cuddled together against fear. How could her only child be afraid of flying? The engineer balked. She had to cure Yasha of this pathetic trauma, before it embarrassed her any further.

Mandalorians never forgot, and if Yasha was going to be so obviously afraid, it could cost her. No, Aditya knew… she had to make Yasha fearless. How else could her baby girl survive?

“So the carbon ceramic base would allow more flexibility without the brittle nature of even a decent alloy’s welds. You’re printing piece by piece, right? And your manufacturing facilities, they have enough oomph to produce more than two of these puppies? Tell ya what, impress me enough and I might let you use the Jade Cradle, part of my ship building concern. I’m interested… yes, you can stand by me, Aries.” Aditya grinned as she nattered on, goaded not only by the technology in front of them, but the pride in [member="Adenn Kyramud"]. “They’d do Clan Mortui well, babe. And hey! Y'all even got the head tilt of Australis Acceptance. Auspicious day, indeed. Very well… oooo did you say payload specific? Well now, you’re makin’ me want to cook up some condensed-form weaponry for those cannons, Aries. You lot checked out the research from… oh, Yash? You still got Baiko’s research? My old slave, she was my right hand, continued my work after I…”

“Mama.” Yasha’s voice threaded with ice.

“… Yash freed her… but let’s not get antsy, Baiko continued some of my research on phase modulation. If’n it’s still on my Myrmadinas, I might give y’all a hand if’n you want one. Even if it’s for some friendly tech-swapping.”

“Yes, Mama. Baiko’s research is still among her personal effects. And I will echo Alor Kyramud. What sort of investment do you need to produce more of these Enigmas?” This was where her mother should have been all these years. Knee-deep in another engineering project, a lover who adored her at her side. The more Aditya spoke, the more Yasha receded.

Yasha stole this from her mother. If she hadn’t constantly wanted to be with Daddy, Aditya would have succeeded in taking the little child to Atrisia. Panatha. Anywhere but Mandalore, when the nuclear explosion triggered the volcanic ash which killed Aditya.

“Oh, honey pie, I can help you with the re-route. My first serious research considerations have always been on fuel and engine capacity, won’t take more than a couple of weeks to hash somethin’ out. Maybe run a few trials between here and Er’kit.”

Kaine whispered in Yasha’s ear, and a flood of relief stole across the Infernal’s features. Even now, with a pristine new technological marvel to trial, he was attempting to make her life easier.

“Thank you, c’yare.” She squeezed his hand, as the Droid, that danged Droid spoke up of a potential live trial.

“Test course…” Face neutral, Yasha attempted to hide the sinking sensation in her vital organs. Aditya glanced over, then back to the ship. “… of course. That’s a brilliant idea. Prepare the ships, [member="Mig Gred"], let’s do it.”

“Well gawd, I ain’t steppin’ my child on that ship until I get a look at the engines and the grav-boosters. Yash, you stay here a minute baby girl. Mama’s gotta check out the engineers’ work before I let you on. Dang near only one of us who ain’t indispensable. Oy! Lover punkin! Give the mother of your impending trio a hand, will ya?!” Whether permission was given or not, Aditya pushed through and walked straight into the ship, to check as many vital systems as she could.

Watching her mother go, Yasha pursed her lips and clapped her hands together.

“She… she does that. Force of nature, Aditya… What sort of course are you setting up? Tactical and maneuverability?”

 

[Adenn Kyramud]

"Glad to hear it," Adenn responded to [member="Aditya Fitz Kierke"]. "and I'm glad to have made it worth it for you." Smiling, he pulled her in for a hug, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Adenn was offered the data pad, he readily accepted it. Nodding in thanks, Adenn immediately began reading it over while listening to what the man said. His reading was interrupted when it was offered that they could test fly it. At that, a massive grin spread across his face and he nodded vigorously, smiling.
"If that's the case, then I do most definitely wish to pilot one. Please and thank you." Adenn chuckled lightly, but it evidently showed his enthusiasm for the test flight.

Then Aditya was going on about some technical mumbo jumbo that Adenn wouldn't ever be able to understand. But when she said they'd do well for Clan Mortui, Adenn nodded his head. Then he smirked to himself as she called him babe, that was a new one. Then he immersed himself back into the data pad, partially listening in to what she and [member="Yasha Cadera"] were discussing. Something about an ex-slave and when Aditya died. So, the norm really for weird conversations.

Adenn took notice of Yashas discomfort, and her attempt to hide it. Grimacing slightly, he tried to reel in his excitement for her, but succeeded only slightly. Then Aditya had a wonderful idea, make sure the ship was in tip top condition before letting Yasha on. It was actually something responsible, perhaps he was having a good effect on her, thought Adenn to himself amusedly. But then Aditya was calling for him to help her, and Adenn gladly obliged. Pocketing the data pad in a pouch, Adenn followed after Aditya into the ship.

He walked quickly enough that he could catch up to her, and once properly out of sight, give her a hug. Not bothering to sneak, Adenn merely walked quickly enough to catch up to her. Once he did, he wrapped his arms around her from behind, enveloping her in a bear hug. Laughing slightly in amusement, Adenn spoke.
"Hello beautiful. You're rather excited for this ship aren't you? It almost makes me jealous, and of a ship." Adenn chuckled again, letting go of Aditya and standing fully then. Wrapping an arm around Adityas shoulders, he'd keep walking with her if she was walking. "So, what are we checking first c'yare? Engines, cockpit, or just wandering to find something of interest. Not sure how much use I'll be, but I'll be glad to help in any way." Adenn removed his arm from her shoulders then, and instead offered his hand to hold. Then he'd keep walking, smiling beneath his helmet.

[member="Yasha Cadera"] [member="Mig Gred"] [member="Kaine Australis"]