Secrets and Sandwiches

[Ayden Cater]

To @[member="Jorus Merrill"]

I wanted to first offer my gratitude and praise for the P-15 Scanners and PZ-9 Sensors we recently acquired from Silk Holdings. They have exceeded our expectations and have already been put to use on Fondor. Within the year, I hope to get them on every major world within the Protectorate and on every world within three.

However thanks and praise are now why I am writing you. Before she disappeared, I know that former Lady Protector Cira was disappearing at regular intervals, but at the time I did not know why or how. Recently, I uncovered evidence to suggest that she was investigating sites of significant Force power and history. While others have maintained her demise, I believe otherwise. If you are agreeable to it, I would like for you to join me on Corellia so that we might discuss a number of business propositions I have for you.

With gratitude
Ayden Cater
Lord Protector of the Protectorate
Board Owner of Corellian Engineering Corporation

That was the missive that Ayden sent Jorus several days ago. He expected a long reply, as Jorus was a busy man. It didn't weigh on Ayden's patience one bit, as he busied himself with the usual drudgeries of being the Lord Protector. In his spare time, what little there was to be had, Ayden tinkered on a number of schematics and designs, hoping to having a few conceptually sound items to put before Jorus when the owner of Silk Holdings arrived.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

Never let it be said that Jorus Quentin Merrill did not appreciate a good sandwich. That, and he owed Cira a fethton. So when the outgoing majority shareholder of Silk found himself with this kind of message on his desk, he showed up personally, in the company of one of the two new Silk bosses, Selka Ventus.

"Evenin', Ayden," he said, taking one of the seats in front of the Lord Protector's desk. Oh, it had all been cleared and so forth, secretaries had talked to secretaries, my people had talked to your people, and so forth. "Came as soon as I could. I'm on the way out, see. Alna and I are lettin' go and headin' out to do our thing in Wild Space. Silk, its running, its shares, gonna be in the hands of some old friends of mine."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

The no-nonsense Firrerreo woman had, by all accounts, been with Jorus and Alna since the Vagrant Fleet days, had been injured when the Republic sank a third of Ahto City, and was fresh from a significant but unspecific business arrangement with Santhe/Sienar.

"Selka Ventus, co-CEO. My partner Aldiel D'Lessio and I will be keeping an eye on the Merrills' legacy from now on, and we'll be happy to work as closely with you as necessary, Lord Protector Cater."

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Jorus Merrill"] @[member="Selka Ventus"]

"Well I certainly wish the two of you the best of luck with your future endeavors." Ayden said with sincerity before reaching into his desk and pulling out a bottle of Corellian whiskey. "I suppose this as good an occasion as any to open this. Whyren's Reserve. 837. Good year, I'm told." He broke the seal and popped the top off before pouring three glasses. "To new horizons." Throwing his shot back and savoring the sweet burn, Ayden set his glass aside and turned his attention to the new head of Silk Holdings. "Miss Ventus. I'm certainly glad that we had this chance to meet. As it were, I'm actually looking for a development partner in a new venture. One that I think Silk Holdings is well suited for."

He leaned back a bit in his chair and procured a bracelet from one of the drawers of his desk. He was sure they would both instantly recognize it. "It was after the commission of these and the initially delivery that I got this idea. Cira had a keen interest in old archaeological sites, particularly when they dealt with old Force groups. Many times, such sites are situated on nexuses of raw Force power. However, finding such sites is a time-consuming process. Often we only find one after it's uncovered through damaging excavation work. So I thought to myself. What if we could find one such site without risking damage? What if we could find them from orbit in a few hours as opposed to weeks, months of ground-based scans?"

He let the question hang in the air before dropping the proposal. "I want to make a ship that could do that. I want to develop a ship that could be used to locate powerful Force Nexuses. As Silk Holdings is one of the foremost experts on thaissen crystal sensors, I figured you were the place to start."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

Ventus shared a long glance with Jorus. "Ambitious," she said, and knocked back the last of her Whyren's Reserve. "Very. We stumbled on thaissen crystal technology almost by accident, courtesy of a prototype taken from the Sith Empire research facility at Styx. The crystals are only found in the Circarpous system. We've been able to purchase enough for our existing models, both for you and for other clients, but at this point we're not sure what size of crystal would be required to build a Force detector with a range of a kilometre, let alone a starship sensor array. I'd hazard a guess that we'd need a flawless crystal of several tons, encased in state-of-the-art lightmeters. No thaissen crystal that size has ever been found. We'd need three things, off the top of my head. A network of starships with advanced sensors, a really top-notch geological sensor program, and unfettered access to the Circarpous system.

"My suggestion is to approach the Republic and ask for crystallographic prospecting rights on the planet Mimban. Specify that you would share any Kaiburr crystal fragments you found, as your payment. Let them assume that Kaiburr crystal is your goal. Virtually nobody knows what a thaissen crystal is anyway, apart from a curio."

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Selka Ventus"]

Ayden turned to Jorus and grinned. "I -like- her." There was obvious approval in his voice as he turned back to Selka. "As far as a network of starships, I believe I can help there." Ayden pushed his sleeve back, exposing a PZ-9 resting snugly against a wrist-console. A moment late and the shutters closed, plunging the office into darkness a heartbeat before a number of holographic projectors blinked to life. Over the desk appeared a large schematic of a Watcher-class corvette. Ayden was sure that the gesture's secondary meaning had not gone unnoticed by Jorus, as it was a relatively detailed schematic.

"These ships are amongst the fastest ships in the Protectorate Navy, armed with some of the most advanced sensors we could cram into it." Again, there was an unmistakable air of approval and pride in his voice as he slowly manipulated the hologram and turned it for their ease of viewing. "Link them together with a geological sensor program and I'm sure they'd help immensely. They're rated for atmospheric entry, landing, and take-off without trouble." He let the hologram go for them to inspect personally before moving on. "Access to the Circarpous system shouldn't be an issue. I ought to be able to arrange a meeting with the Supreme Chancellor to discuss the matter. With any luck, I can get us access in a week. As far as geological scanning programs... I'm afraid we won't be much help there. Most of our programs and equipment are either handheld or planetary installations."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

"The sensors that we built for, well, a client, for galactic-edge and companion-galaxy long-term exploration -- the hardware is proprietary to them, but the crystallographic sensor programming was something we contracted out, and we retained the rights. We put that programming in our Alndys-class exploration ships, and in the Pathfinder-class retroactively. The standard fee is per-ship, but we'll pencil in a discount, and for a project this size, it'll be something of a footnote on the invoice anyway. We'll make it available to you as soon as you like."

 

[Ayden Cater]

@[member="Jorus Merrill"] @[member="Selka Ventus"]

"I appreciate that." Ayden wondered idly why more people could arrange quick and efficient meetings like this. It was always 'I have to see you -now-' or 'I have an idea but I want your substantial input for no reason'. Or they tried to barge in and just expected him to be available. This was a refreshing change of pace. "I ought to be able to have the software retrofit done to a number of corvettes before the operation is ready to proceed to the planet." He paused and appeared pensive for a moment before he broke out into a chuckle. "I'm not sure what to do with myself here. Most negotiations are filled with empty posturing and senseless arguments. I'm not used to things going this smoothly."

At that moment, the refreshments he had ordered came in and provided a welcome distraction. "Ah. Please, help yourselves." Ayden took a sandwich from the top and took a happy bite. He turned back to Jorus and asked, "So any direction in particular for you, Jorus? What's out there in Wild Space for you?"

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Ayden Cater"]

"Well, at Silk we don't much go for posturing. Or arguments. Though I did have to shoot Corek's business partner in the face the other day." Jorus nibbled his sandwich. "As for Wild Space, well, I've got a bit of a dream. We've always done a lot of business in the Rishi Maze...what I want to do is drive a reliable lane from the Maze to Firefist, and from there to Companions Cresh, Dorn, Esk, Forn, and Grek. Yeah. I call it the Great River, bit of a Luke Skywalker reference, can't go wrong. Probably take me the rest of my life, on and off."