Harnessing

[Taeli Raaf]

Mygeeto System, Northern hemisphere
Secret Aurora Industries research facility

"Coming into protected airspace, transmitting clearance codes," her pilot said, flicking several switches on his console. Taeli leaned back in her seat, listening to confirmation come through and the shuttle was cleared to land in Bay A-4. As they approached the location of their facility on Mygeeto, she reflected on the past few days. Connor had been silent ever since he left for Voss, a foolish decision but she had let him go. She was curious what he had encountered there, likely a trap she mused. Still, there had been no announcement of his death by the Silver Jedi, so either he hadn't arrived yet or something else had occurred.

Either way, she had other plans to attend to and she wanted to witness firsthand the breakthrough the researchers on Mygeeto had obtained. It was critical to developing a more stable and powerful version of Sianium, something that could power the Ascendant Project in the Pluthan Asteroids. While she knew her two lead scientists on this project didn't like each other, she had forced them to work together for the betterment of the project.

Mygeeto had been chosen because of the proliferation of crystals on the world, some of which were the fabled kyber crystals and other crystals tied to the Force. And now... they would harness them. The cloaking field around the mountain facility lowered, revealing the large Aurora facility in all its fortified glory. Soon enough, she thought, soon enough.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Her shuttle came in to land at the designated hanger bay, the cloaking shield going up behind. In the hanger bay, Chief Engineer Orlen Jylik was waiting for his boss to descend from her ship. Kyburne hadn't been able to pull himself away from the experiments he was running, something that Jylik thought was slightly disrespectful to Miss Raaf. The ramp began to lower, Taeli walking down it. Her dress was sweeping along the floor, the hooded cloak fastened around her shoulders trailing behind.

"Miss Raaf, we are honored by your presence here," Jylik said, bowing his head to Taeli. "Kyburne sends his apologies that he is unable to greet you upon your arrival. He is currently overseeing another experiment and couldn't be bothered to pull away."

"Very well," she said, gesturing for him to lead the way to the command center. She knew Jylik had been enthused when she ordered him to advance the Sianium program beyond what they had so far achieved. His work in the Iego system had resulted in several advancements in the process to create the substance. Streamlining, learning more about how to eliminate some of the instability, increasing the power output. They still needed to affect organic matter, but that part would always be present. Luckily, kyber crystals had an organic part to them so that left the idea open to use them in the Sianium process. Unfortunately for Jylik, that meant working with his rival Mor Kyburne who was in charge of advanced research on kyberite.

"Tell me on the progress," she said.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Our small scale tests have shown some promising signs, Miss Raaf," Jylik explained as they passed through the corridors of the facility. "We've been reluctant to engage in large scale tests as the needed crystals are rarer than the smaller ones, even though we have several of the required large crystals on reserve. However, Kyburne said he had a possible solution to that problem. Something to do with research done by some doctor named Erso from the days of the old Empire."

"I see," Taeli said, not saying anything else as they reached the command center of the lab. Kyburne was in deep conversation with one their scientists, but when he noticed Taeli and Jylik, he broke off the conversation to speak with them.

"Miss Raaf, my apologies for not being there to greet you on your arrival," the man said, bowing his head in respect. "I was in the middle of an experiment that required my complete attention. I do have good news on that front as the experiment was a success." Taeli quirked an eyebrow up to indicate he should explain. "Going through the notes assembled by Doctor Erso, we were able to replicate fusing two smaller kyber crystals into one large crystals. It would seem we can synthetically create larger crystals to fuel the reactor you desire, Miss Raaf."

"And the incorporation of the Sianium process would not be diluted by this?" she asked.

"All computer modeling suggests not, Miss Raaf," Jylik answered. "However... there have been complications with adapting the crystals."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"The crystals have been, for a better word, resisting our testing," Jylik answered. "Many of our researchers have reported headaches and..."

"And an obsession with the crystals, yes," Taeli said, not surprised at all. "The crystals are almost sentient in a way because they channel the Force and energy so well. The more we attempt our research, the more they will resist. It is in their nature to do so. Kyburne, you had figured out a way to reduce such interference yes?"

"Indeed, Miss Raaf," the thin man replied, bowing his head. "In the research I've been studying, the act of realigning the crystals along their... I believe they are called night alignments, we can use them more properly. We also have begun the process of faceting the crystals against occlusions as you suggested, and that process also seems to reduce their will to fight against our scientists. Between those and our fusion experiments, with your permission, I believe we can attempt a full scale testing of the process and the introduction of Jylik's Sianium enrichment process."

Taeli noticed the slight narrowing of Jylik's eyes as Kyburne spoke. Good, he could use the competition.

"You have my permission to proceed, Kyburne," she said.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Taeli stood on the observation deck, overlooking the chamber where the test would occur. If successful... then they would have an incredible power supply, far beyond anything Sianium currently yielded. The thought came to her that using smaller crystals, treated in the same way, could very well power a new generation of infantry-grade weapons for example. Something to consider in the future, but for today, she was more interested in seeing a product that be used to fuel their Ascendant-class ships.

Jylik was standing next to her, a loo of displeasure on his face as they watched Kyburne position the fused crystal into place.

"His fixation on the crystals is troubling," he said. "He won't stop researching them. He has trouble sleeping, and his obsession is starting to carry over into other aspects of our research here."

Taeli remained silent, letting Jylik express himself freely. It was the second time Jylik had mentioned his concern about research into kyber crystals in as many days, and Taeli was wondering if maybe Jylik was also being effected by the crystals, by insisting they didn't need such testing. Certainly was possible. Down below, Kyburne gave the thumbs up to them and she nodded once he and his team reached a safe distance. They had come a long way in developing the Sianium enrichment process from Gyr's original designs, with Jylik being able to simulate both effects of stimulating the particles and bombarding them with his refined enrichment accelerator.

The machine whirred to life, cascading amounts of particles bombarding the kyber crystal in the center of the room while it was constantly struck by an energy stream designed to charge the crystal lattice of the crystal. Taeli watched in grim satisfaction, as while the others couldn't feel it, the crystal's organic components were altered by the treatment it was receiving and lattice shifted minutely in the Force. She knew, even before the machine came to a stop, the test had been a success.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"We're reading enormous amounts of energy coming from the crystal," an engineer in the observation deck stated. "Far beyond predicted levels!"

The crew began policies to siphon off the excess energies to containment units, engineers and scientists running back and forth in their efforts. Taeli stepped closer to the observation glass, watching Kyburne and his protected researchers approaching the crystal with sensors and other equipment to study it better. Once again, they had underestimated just how much power could be found in the Force and now... now the real work would begin. The siphoning mechanisms were the precursors to the energy reactor that these altered crystals would form the heart of. In a way... it really was creating a star with a heart of kyber.

"Well?" she asked over the intercom. Jylik was silent.

"Readings are stabilizing, the process seems to have enhanced the crystals already vast ability to generate energy," Kyburne was saying. "The lattice has shifted, and we're reading from the organic components of the crystal an increased ability to channel energy. A concentrated beam or sphere of energy being cycled through the crystal should produce the desired, possible beyond the desired, energy output for our designs."

"Congratulations are in order, Doctors," she said, addressing both Jylik and Kyburne. "Now that we have this heart for our reactors, the time has come to put them to use. Order a supply of crystals from below and from Enigma Prime will be transported here, both large and small, and I expect to see equal results in the final products."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Taeli had left after that, leaving her two scientists to work as she had other matters to attend to elsewhere in the galaxy. She had also left them explicit instructions that she did not want them fighting each other as the project was more important than their personal squabbles. Jylik was grinding his teeth because Kyburne had received such glowing praise from Taeli because of his design for the reactor. It was his work on the refinement process that was able to get them this far. Sianium was still the future, not this kyber crystal nonense. What irritated him even more was how effective the whole thing would be.

Kyburne had drawn up designs for a reactor, with what he was calling a Siber Crystal at the heart, that would have multiple containment units to shift excess energy into, much like the testing chamber was like. Once that was done, one could tie different systems into the containment units to feed off the energy stored there while the main reactor could be used to power other things. There was a projected amount of energy produced that Kyburne was not worried about any power draw issues or systems not having enough power to sustain themselves.

The shipment from Enigma Prime and the secret Aurora harvesting on Mygeeto had resulted in a small cache of Siber Crystals (Jylik ground his teeth in annoyance again at the thought) both large and small. Kyburne was also curious about adapting the crystals for a power cell for smaller technology, like droids or weapons. Again, Jylik was feeling some envy as he truly felt his Sianium project was being shunted aside for this new technology.

He needed something else... once they were done here, he had an idea he might pursue.