Private Gaining altitude

[Vemric Keldra]

It had been months since Vemric could get some leave from the Requiem to return to the surface for some down time. Although Mrs. Rhass would argue that his down time still lacked actual relaxing time, as in recent months he had not only been promoted to Councillor of Commerce to the Council of Naboo, but he was funding his Ward's education to boot. His housekeeper was wringing her hands in concern and voicing subtleties, but she dared not force anything as of yet.

Mila was due for some down time from the Academy as well - Vemric knew as he kept schedule of all his investments. Dinner would not be a one-sided affair at least. He was interested to hear what she had learnt. Very interested. He did not tolerate poor investments - especially not ones with bounties on their heads. So far trouble has not found them - mostly thanks to the enormous armada stationed in the sector. Another regicide would not be tolerated - not if the Grand Marshal had anything to say about it.

Vemric was finally at home, awaiting the arrival of his Ward. It would be a time to reflect on her progress....to hear her vision for the future. The kitchen was instructed to prepare the best foods from her home planets. Vemric was a private man, yes, but not entirely hearltess. He had more humanity than he cared to show to the outer world.

Mila Uhlesifa

 

[Mila Uhlesifa]

Mila had been rescued from the Hutts, given a place to live and on top of that, an education and an opportunity for work. She couldn’t fathom how lucky she was to have met Vemric Keldra when she did. She threw herself into her studies, speeding through her meals in order to get back to learning physics, aerodynamics and the like. She had been borrowing books and other means of study from the archives and looking into the history of applied science in warfare. Her grades had started out abysmal, but grew exponentially from day one, and she kept Her biweekly grade report and kept them chronologically otganized so that he might see her progress next time he dropped by.

She came in fifteen-twenty minutes after he did, and smiled broadly upon seeing him. “Vemric, Sir, it’s good to see you again. How are you?”

She wore her usual short sleeved shirt and pants, both form-fitting but modest, and carried a small bag on her right thigh, attached by a belt and leg strap, and it carried all of her instruments and tools for her mathematics and measurements. Her Lekku were wrapped around either side of her head and rested on her chest.

 

[Vemric Keldra]

He was enjoying a good glass of wine in the lounge while listening to some good orchestral music, when Mila made her appearance, greeting him with a smile. The corner of his mouth twitched in the ghost of a smile.
"It is good to be home." he said. "Come, sit. Dinner will be ready shortly. How are you faring?" he asked. It did do his soul good to be off the Requiem for a while. To be able to shift his attention to other things that also required it. To get a respite from making sure his personnel performed to his standards to keep the sector safe.

He took a good look at her. She did look exceptionally better than the day he met her. More full of life.
"Is everything at the Academy still to your liking? Are you learning enough?" he inquired. He had to know that she was at least treated well and that his money was well spent - that she was learning what she wanted to learn and not feeling that she was wasting her time. He did care about those under his protection and would see them receive all of the best - he had the resources for it, after all.

Mila Uhlesifa

 

[Mila Uhlesifa]

Mila, while definitely a lot better than she was when she was found, was still a very meek person, and obeyed the order to sit. But she didn’t drop her smile, it was one of a person who was much happier after a long time of strife, not to be surprising. She sat down where he had gestured for her to and made sure to keep her posture straight, Vemric’s standards having been very strict, but nothing she couldn’t do. “I’m doing just fine, The Academy is great! I’ve been learning quite a lot. Especially on physics, chemistry and basic engineering. My grades were... well, abysmal at first, but I’m glad to say that they’re now no less than 90% or the occasional 85%. I also have a number of extra projects to turn in for extra credit. I hope that you’re satisfied with my progress so far. Oh, I actually have the Grade Reports if you want to review them.”

She was a little nervous, a little worried that she hadn’t done enough, or could have done more. She was quietly hoping that she had, and that he’d be pleased, or at least satisfied, with what she had done so far.

 

[Vemric Keldra]

Vemric listened as she told him of her education. When she had finished he held out his hand.
"I'd like to see them, yes." he said before taking another sip of his wine.

He scanned over her reports. He had to admit that she did surprise him these last months. She improved tremendously. Not just with her education, but in general. She had a smile on her face now, which is strides better than the day he rescued her from the clutches of the bounty hunter. From what he could see, she had definitely gained some confidence.

He did know, however, that if you only gave praise to someone, they eventually slacked in their journey to excellence.
"I am satisfied, yes. But the fact that you are getting 90% for certain subjects, tells me that you get them all up there and even better. This 85 can easily be 90." he said, lifting an eyebrow before looking back at her. She truly did show aptitude in applied sciences. It wouldn't be too long before she would be able to apply for service on a ship or at a great research institute. With her grades as they were, her possibilities were truly endless.

Mila Uhlesifa

 

[Mila Uhlesifa]

She listened carefully. And she was relieved that he was satisfied with what she had done, and even though he brought up that her 85 was not up to standard her relief didn’t fade, she knew that he was a tough man with strict and high expectations. She didn’t expect to meet them overnight, but she’d sure as hell try. So she nodded her acknowledgment and said, “yes, it could. I have started working on some projects for extra credit in order to bring low grades up. I also hope that they might prove to be useful or at least plausible in the future. I actually wanted to run one of them by you, if you wouldn’t mind.”

She ate her food, as always minding her manners and making sure to do it quietly. “I’ll bring the grade up, I promise.”

 

[Vemric Keldra]

Mila agreed with him, which was good. One can always improve. She went on to explain that she had been working on some projects and that she wanted to run one by him.
"Of course. It is good to hear that you are attempting some projects. Please, tell me." he said. She really had improved immensely since her liberation.

Just then, a servant came to tell them that the food was ready.
"Tell me over dinner." he said, motioning for her to head to the dining room. He was quite curious as to what it was she was planning. It could very well be her ticket into engineering.

Mila Uhlesifa

 

[Mila Uhlesifa]

She was glad he’d be willing to listen to her, she wanted to know exactly how useful her ideas could be, and where she could improve on her design choices or where she should not go. She was told to tell him over dinner and she nodded and said happily “yes sir!”

She sat down at her usual place, a couple seats down from the head of the table, so she could talk without shouting while not being close enough to the head to be considered important. She ate the food cooked, and thanked the people who brought it out to them, she was mindful of her manners as always. Knees together and back straight, but not so perfect as to make her seem like someone who grew up doing this.

“So the biggest project is supposed to be a weapon, or its design at least, and takes a lot of inspiration from old, and I mean very very old weapons. The idea is a bit of a mesh between the live ammunition weapons that used metal projectiles and an orbital kinetic bombardment system. The kinetic bombardment is basically just dropping’s something heavy from high enough to get an explosively destructive result. I was reading through some of the history records and found Project Thunderfall, which is both appropriate and very cool. Anyway, the system was an orbiting satellite, with several six meter long, point three meter thick tungsten rods shaped like primitive arrows to cut back on reentry friction. They would hit the ground at Mach 10, one Mach being the equivalent to the speed of sound. Now this idea is very old, and not quite what I had come up with but was definitely the main inspiration.”

“The second thing that inspired the idea was the old metal projectile guns that used an explosive agent to release their ammunition. The idea is that we take very dense metal, probably repurposed scrap metal, and load them into long barreled cannons, that contain an explosion proof chamber where an explosion will send the metal projectile towards an enemy ship at high velocity. Their shields, the ones for deflecting solid objects are meant to deal with asteroids moving at low velocities relative to the ship. So the momentum and force behind the projectile is, more likely than not, going to overpower the shields and strike the ship’s hull, and likely pierce it.

 

[Mila Uhlesifa]

Vemric Keldra