Executive Orders

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Ayden Cater"]

Lord Protector Cater-

I'm not one to treat favors between allies as a running balance of credit or debit, and if I'm remembering right I've never asked for anything in return for those satellites on the Mara, or the Shield, or my little part in Druckenwell. Didn't seem appropriate -- I know my duty, and like I said, I don't like to think of things as who owes what. But it's always been clear to me, even if the words never got said, that Omega would have my back if I needed it, and if I've got any chits to cash in, I need to ask for them now.

Don't ask me how, but I've been talked into taking a seat on the Council. Yeah, the Jedi Council. [member="Sarge Potteiger"] about flipped a lid when he found out, 'cause not many associate me with the Jedi. I washed out of Padawan training about ten years back, but I've had occasion to rethink my ways a little, get some angels on my shoulder. Wound up critiquing the Order's nonexistent asset security on a visit to the Grandmaster, and the rest is history.

When I say nonexistent, I mean I've been the one spearheading artifact containment, evacuating Tython's vaults and the academy itself, figuring out where people are going to go -- it's a mess, and I've already stepped in it with Alince to boot. I've even got a Council member I can't keep in the loop due to mental whammy. Vosra, if you were wondering.

I know you and I have never had much use for the Order, but these folks are counting on me to give them a fighting chance at survival, and keeping this clart out of Sith hands is a priority that we've been known to share, I reckon.

I want to build a vault or two, dead secret between me and the Grandmaster. Construction droids melted down kind of secret. I'd like your permission to build a secret vault on one of your class-D worlds, away from anything of yours, no need to bring trouble on the host.

Merrill

 

[Ayden Cater]

When one of the most decorated officers of the Protectorate asked for a favor, you listened. When the man responsible for keeping Druckenwell a Dead World asked for a favor, you got jumping. As soon as he finished reading the request, Ayden started launching a number of Omega-clearance queries; astrography data, construction droid orders, material acquisitions. If Jorus wanted to place a vault on a planet, then he needed a world that would be secure without drawing attention to it. He obviously thought as much himself, hence the request for placing the vault on a Class D world. But remote... they could better than remote.

Less than an hour later, Ayden sent a very simple message back to Jorus with an encrypted set of coordinates. He would know the encryption, and if not then he wasn't [member="Jorus Merrill"]. Ayden cleared his schedule and quietly left on an Inquisitor with a dozen pads of data. If Jorus was this serious about securing Jedi artifacts from the Sith, then Ayden would take no chances and treat it every bit as seriously. He owed Jorus that much.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Ayden Cater"]

The Gypsymoth chewed up the encrypt under protest and with help, and Jorus took a long look at the set of coordinates involved.

"Nice, Cater," he said to himself. "Very nice."

A quick set of hyperjumps at point-two-effective put him in the outskirts of the Athega system, not far from a HALCYON node and a handful of shieldships coming or going. The Protectorate was dabbling in stealth tech; there was half a chance he wouldn't detect the Lord Protector on approach, so he just sent in his clearance codes to keep patrols off his case, and floated there for a while. He meditated, as he was wont to do, by reclining his pilot's seat and chucking a baseball at the ceiling panel. The arc reached its apex a quarter inch from durasteel. Toss, catch. Toss, catch.

 

[Ayden Cater]

He wasn't surprised to find the Gypsymoth already at the edge of the system. There wasn't a man, woman, or third gendered species alive that could tear through hyperspace quite like Jorus could. That alone was enough to prove that the man in that beat-up freighter was Jorus. If you ever got to a meeting with Merrill and you were the first one there, it was either a trap or he was dead. Directing Jorus to dock at one of the stations that sat alongside the HALCYON hyperspace cannon, Ayden moved to dock with it as well. Better to talk about this in person as opposed to over comms, even in a remote, secure system like Nkllon.

When Jorus found his way to the office of the station's commanding officer, Ayden sat at the man's desk and had several pads laid out. "Captain Merrill. Or perhaps I should call you Master Merrill now? These are odd times we live in." Ayden chuckled in reference to the other man's new station. "One of these days you're going to have to tell me exactly how you got wrangled into this business with the Order. In the mean time, I think you've got other things in mind, like securing priceless Jedi artifacts? I assume you've got more than a request." There was a knowing glint in Ayden's eyes. The other thing he knew about Jorus; the man -always- had a plan.

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Ayden Cater"]


"Captain's fine. I'm not one for the forms." He snorted gently and took the seat across from Ayden. "I'm a Jedi Master who doesn't own a lightsabre or anything remotely resemblin' a robe. Keep meaning to pick one up but, like you say, priorities."

He tossed out a file as well. "Here's what I've got in mind. Subterranean, maybe two, three stages of biometric security, disc tumbler locks, nullification resin everywhere. Grandmaster's eyes only, though the Master of First Knowledge is going to be the one buildin' the sucker, and you'll know the world. There's some that say it should be open to Jedi Masters..."

He shrugged with some eloquence.

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

"Yes well, I'm sure 'Master Apparine' has done much to inspire confidence in the Jedi, as have those that have followed in her footsteps." Ayden made sure to put extra, sarcastic emphasis on the traitorous Jedi's name. He had heard, of course, of the string of betrayals the Jedi Order had suffered. A grievous loss to the Order, both in manpower and in reputation. If such a highly respected Master could fall to the Dark Side, what did that say about the rest of the Order? Nothing good.

He took the pad and looked it over. High quantities of security, complicated in design and location. "I'm sure you know this sucker is going to have to be deep. Really deep. At least kilometer underground, if not more. Digging that deep could be a problem, especially with the limited time a trip out to the planet we would have." He pondered on which planet in the system would be best before activating a small holoprojector in the desk. "The second planet should suit your needs. Nkllon is a world whose history is filled with mining excavations, more than a thousand years to be exact. There are some deep ravines that should take you down to a depth where you won't get fried by just existing. I can arrange for a round-the-clock covering of whichever ravine you pick which should speed up the construction."

Ayden leaned back in his chair and gave his beard a thoughtful stroke. "I'm normally not one to pry, especially when its a favor to one of the most decorated officers to ever serve the Protectorate, but I have to ask; why come to me? Why the Protectorate? Surely there are numerous Republic worlds that would be equally suited to housing such a vault."

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Ayden Cater"]

"Fething Apparine. And this is why you don't let kids call themselves Masters." He pulled a small flask from his vest pocket, took a swig, offered it across the table. There were benefits to having lived with the owner of Whyren's.

"I like Nkllon, I like it as an option, I'm only worried about getting it done inside one forty-five day, well, day. Round-the-clock covering's great, it'll set my mind at ease, but ambient heat's still going to be a schutta. Maybe, what..." He rummaged through the files. "Maybe fifty hours after sunset for the surface to cool enough that construction droids won't slag themselves when they step outta the ship. These spots look good, you've got a point. Maybe a horizontal drill from the base of a ravine, that'd open up space for the vault and decontamination chambers, and sink a vertical shaft for actual access. Can't go wrong with vertical, monofilament, enclision grids, and..."

His eyes snagged on a line in a file, and for a moment he paused, caught between that and Ayden's last question.

"Because you're a known quantity to my enemies. You've gotten a Chancellor fired, a Senator dead by suicide, my sister once told me you backed out of Kayri because Varanin told you you were doing the Republic's dirty work. You can't stand the Republic, is the perception. The Jedi Council would never be stupid enough to put major holocrons in your turf, under your nose, with your knowledge." He grinned faintly. "Never in a million years."

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

Ayden chuckled at Jorus' description. He had certainly had an interesting relationship with the Republic, that was certain. "Still. The Protectorate was at Roche, fought alongside the Republic at Valen, and we were instrumental to holding the One Sith back at Carida. I can't imagine that none of the One Sith will think of our two states as allies." He looked at the pad Jorus had handed him. It was more of an outline than a true listing of defenses. Still, it gave enough insight that Ayden better understood Jorus' concerns with getting it done inside forty-five days.

"What about a freezer?" Ayden chimed suddenly, looking up at Jorus with a curious look. "Install eight industrial-strength chillers around the complex. Keep the vault inside a vacuum shell. In the event of a breech, you can detonate the vacuum shell. A temperature differential of that magnitude... I'd almost feel sorry for the poor bastard that tried to break in."

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Ayden Cater"]'s suggestion got a low whistle. "CryoBan. Brutal. I'd been pondering a self-destruct -- it would start at the top, of course. None of this outrun-the-explosions clart you see some Jedi try to pull. And since you mention cold..." His gaze flicked back to the pad, and he repressed a smile without much success. "But supporting points can be taken care of later. They're certainly a lower priority to the rest of the Council, if you take my meaning. Say what you will about Grayson, but I think she understands need-to-know. Along those lines, I fully expect that this sucker's going to get found and raided sooner or later -- too many Jedi defectors, sleeper agents, 'conscientious objectors' with other allegiances that let'em screw us over.

"You know I had to run a census? Like, figure out what the Order even owned, let alone who had it? I swear everyone and their Nek thinks artifacts aurek, besh and cresh belong to them personally. That they got a right to them. Now, that's the sort of thinking I expect from my little sister, but she's a Nightsister of Dathomir, y'know?"

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

"Well not everyone is as selfless as you or I." Ayden laughed at the irony. A man who had once held a conference and casually told Jedi Masters to cram a lump of lard up their exhaust vent was now in charge of cataloging and securing the Jedi's most valuable artifacts. And here he was asking for help from a man that had turned his back on the order centuries ago. Not that he expected Jorus to know that last tidbit. "Well, I don't see any reason construction on the vault can't begin as soon as the rotation permits. If you need any help with materials or what-have-you, you've got my com frequency."

As Ayden stood, he paused and looked down at another pad. "As you do seem to have a knack for figuring out how to store materials in adverse conditions, I was wondering if you had any suggestions for holding material according to these specifications. It's a conundrum I've been trying to solve for weeks and been coming up short. So far, short of a foot of turadium, I can't find an adequate material. Perhaps you know of something better." A tit for a tat; insurance against any madness that might plague Ayden's mind.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Ayden Cater"]

"I'll take you up on that, for the materials. The fewer Jedi fingerprints this has, the better, and I ain't as flush with easy capital as I once was." His grin was all tooth. "Even after turning in Yusan Fenn for that bombwork on Nar Shaddaa -- five million creds. But reimbursement ain't here nor there. Let's see what you've got."

He pored over the file for a couple of minutes, scratched at the beginnings of a beard, checked the time -- feth, it had gotten late, at least by his reckoning. Had they really been at this so long?

"This is an awful lot of heat. Nkllon-surface kind of deal and then some. Star surfaces are what, ten thousand, planet cores around five...yeah, here we are. This is a stupid amount of heat. Honest to feth, my first thought is to treat it like an antimatter system -- redundant force fields like mad, stuff never touches the wall. Ardanium might do it, and I mean might -- the stuff gets stronger with radiation. I heard tell that Silk was developing a quantum crystalline refrigerator with Tenloss. Just throwing this out there, but a high-temp superconductor with some amazing radiators attached might do the trick, depending how long-term this needs to be. If it's short-term, like a barrel, that might be worth lookin' into." He restrained a grimace. "Or there's the Mandalorians."

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

Ayden nodded in consideration. Ardanium was not something he had considered. A magnetic containment field was something already in the works, but Ayden liked having back-ups. If the shield failed, he needed a material that wouldn't instantly slag. "It's going to be a fairly long-term issue. The Mandalorians won't part with that much beskar without a planet's worth of riches. Ardanium might be the best bet." He was talking as much to himself as he was to Jorus at this point. "Ideally, it wouldn't ever have to be tested, but that's just not possible. We'd have to run tests to make sure the tank doesn't explode-"

For a moment, Ayden just stood there and seemed to quietly consider something. After a time, he looked up and shook his head. "It's a start, and that's good enough for me." He turned and looked at Jorus with a grateful expression. "Thank you, Jorus. If you ever find yourself with a few free days, there's a project I think you'd be interested in."

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Ayden Cater"]

"Wish I could," said Jorus with a grimace. "I'm playing catchup here, tryin' to take the Order from zero to secure overnight, and I know for a fact I won't get it done in time. Nobody's done...anything. Well, except talking. They're really good at talking." He ground the heels of his palms into his eye sockets. "I can't even begin to express my frustration. The Council's like a revolving door, Vosra's got a seat but the Dark Lord's right hand sees what he sees, so Council-only security ain't an option, the Senate's a joke, the only worthwhile people in the whole joint are the Chancellor and the Grandmaster. The Republic's dying. Not that I'll mourn it, except who knows what comes next. If it goes under, if things get that bad, you know I'll come back an' help you protect the Core."

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

"The Republic..." Ayden chuckled and nodded his head. "I've had my own analysts making predictions about the collapse of the Republic. You'd have thought they would be better prepared to fight the Sith. As I hear it, the Jedi Order is plagued with desertions left and right. Daella Apparine, it seems, made quite the festering wound when she left. And not all the Jedi thought she was in the wrong." He shook his head before looking back to Jorus.

"But that's why I'm undertaking this project. Because I can see the writing on the wall too, and I'm not gonna wait for the Sith to come knocking on the Protectorate's door with their ideas of terror and subjugation. Trust me when I say that this project is quite unlike anything else out there." Ayden reached for a datapad and punched in a quick code before setting it back down. "If you're that pressed for time now, it's not a concern. This is not a project that will be done in days. Whenever you find yourself with the time, I encourage you to give me a call. Getting there is gonna be no small feat, even for you. And I think the project could stand to have a fresh set of eyes on it, before we get too far done."

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Ayden Cater"]

"I think I'm cluing in on the order of magnitude we're talkin' here. If you're aiming for remote -- well, I'd say I could toss a few coordinates your way, but sounds like you've got that covered. I, ah -- Alna and I once beat up a Brodo Asogan exgal. I know breach points." Which was about as plain a way to say 'I have an innate strategic advantage over everyone and everything' as he could think of. Breaches in the galactic-edge hyperspace disturbance were rare, incredibly difficult to detect even at close range, basically unknown.

"If your project's portable, I could take it through for ya. Out to the black."