Silent as a Whisper

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

Aeten II, everyone knew about it.

Well at least they did if they had the resources and connections. Although perhaps it was laxer these days since Aeten II no longer sat under the umbrella of any major galactic power. So with only their own resources available to police the planet the people of Aeten II were likely less choosey about who landed. Not that it should have been a problem. From what the Rendili woman expected a member of the Sith's big wig council likely wouldn't just waltz around broadcasting his whereabouts and presence.

In actuality though she wasn't privy to how he had set about gaining access to one of the mining systems on the world home to stygium. For all she knew he might have threatened the overseers and miners into doing the work, maybe he used the force to persuade them to go about collecting the material, or perhaps he had even simply paid for the freedom to conduct a mining operation with a Sith digging crew. Regardless how the rights to mine the Stygium was acquired wasn't any of her business. Her business was to update the Sith Lord on the progress of the product he had requested of Rendili Stardrive to build.

Nonetheless, she had liberated a spare digger Rendili Stardrive had in storage. They weren't all in use for the company's construction work for now. They didn't have any major contracts for bunkers or the like really, after all were primarily a shipwright. As such with business to put a stealth dropship to fruition, Camellia strode to the overseer's quarters ahead of the mine whose coordinates she had been provided and was quick to enter inside. While Rendili had been within Sith territory for a long time, this was the first product unique to themselves the Sith had asked for, and if they were finally going to do business then the Rendili woman intended to bite.

 

[Shaddi]

The way he had gained the rights had been easy. With a little credits line thrown to the right official he had been given the day to mine what he needed and with quite a few freighters hovering in orbit and moving back and forth to be loaded up by the veritable army of Labor droids that he had also brought in with him. All around the mine were troops placed for security reasons even though he hadn't really wanted them but then again he wasn't going to deal with the headache of military personnel whine at him over having done this without any protection.

Sitting at a table in the overseer's quarters as he observed the labor droids he had brought with him to mine the Stygium. When [member="Camellia Swift"] entered the Quarters, Erebos gestured for her to sit down next to him as he then moved to interlock his fingers in front of his mask. "Tell me miss Swift, will Rendili star drive be able to provide the designs I asked for?" He said without turning his head to look at her, his voice deep and distorted thanks to the vocabulator in his mask.

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

If anything about her time under the Sith regime had been of interest to the Rendili woman as compared to her time working under the Republic, Camellia would have to admit the sheer presence a Sith gave off was far more intriguing than a Jedi. Jedi typically followed a similar fashion sense by that she meant. While Sith each had their own unique flare about their appearance that either made them more intimidating or more . . . .theatrical, which lent them an air of attention for when they wanted to capitalize on their presence actually. Darth Erebos was no exception. His helmet set atop his dark armor gave the feel of an alien menace looking down at those beneath its power. It was a feat of the Sith the owner of Rendili Stardrive respected actually even if their usual ideology was too violent for her.

The amount of work put into the mining operation was impressive, but then when a Sith Lord was involved it didn't surprise Camellia. So when the gesture to take a seat was offered to her, the Rendili woman took it with a polite nod as she crossed her legs and rested her hands on her lap. "The dropship design you requested is coming along ahead of schedule actually. Since we had to account for the Stygium Stealth Generators the dock teams have worked in the berthes so the skeleton of the hull is set. The majority of the work can finish when the Stygium generators themselves are installed. While that's going on the teams have worked on preparing the rest of the components. In a way it allowed us to discover more efficient ways to perform the process for the construction of smaller ships. Although along with your requested engine unit, we actually decided to incorporate some. . .special features. Would you like to hear more or do you want it as a surprise when the first unit is tested in your presence?"

 

[Shaddi]

He simply nodded to what [member="Camellia Swift"] said to him before he leaned back into the chair he sat on. "No I'm not in the mood for surprises right now Miss Swift. Also what were the weapons capabilities of the dropship? I I've forgotten the capabilities of the design and we might need to make some retrofits to it to make it just right." He said as he turned his head to make it seem as if he was looking at Camellia. "How are things on Rendili, Governor?" He then added with a hint of curiosity in his tone, even though it sounded quite inhuman coming from his mask's vocabulator.

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

Well the Rendili woman supposed she could understand why the Sith Lord would be wary of her mentioning a surprise like that. It probably sounded worse than it did, but nonetheless Camellia nodded at his request to explain things. Although she did pause when he also threw the question about how Rendili was doing under her watch. Not because she had anything to hide, but one could never be certain what sort of answer might just hold the key to putting a fury into someone. "Well the dropship will be armed with three dual turreted weapon systems. A forward mounted heavy laser cannon, a dorsal mounted heavy laser cannon, and a ventral fitted heavy blaster cannon to deal with infantry and light vehicles. The surprise I mentioned was actually the fact that we were going to equip two sets of plasma cutters on the ventral section of the hull. Just like the Katarn Class you might be familiar with, the intention is for the ship to be able to use the plasma cutters to gain entry to larger battleships for the team inside. Except rather than crash through the enemy shield like the Katarn, we were thinking of using pulse ion technology that would briefly open a gap for this stealth dropship to enter after making an unseen approach with the stygium generator and whisperthrust engines. . . . . . .as for Rendili well last month was when taxes and tariffs were collected. I am proud to say we made a better profit this year on a worldwide scale, but that is likely because without the Vong there are more mechanical vessels in for repairs. Not that there was a problem with the vong, just a byproduct of their unique technology. Aside from that, phrik sales have been down, though Dark Side alchemy is an incredible feat sir. Having seen it in action once, I can't rightly complain when alchemical items are made over a purchase of metal. The action holds respect from fellow Sith and creates a product with more than just durability traits. If anything I would say the Sith could use more dedicated Alchemists for their warmachine. Otherwise for Rendili, the yards have been working on a new Bulk Cruiser. Nothing more than a heavily armed freight slash transport. Not an especially impressive combat vessel."

 

[Shaddi]

Erebos nodded to what [member="Camellia Swift"] said. "Well that is good to hear and yes I think the ranks of our alchemists need to be bolstered." He said as he paused a little as he thought it over. "I think we should add another Ventral blaster cannon to be able to clear a better landing zone faster as well as a pair of torpedo tubes with only two torpedoes each, a cluster torpedo I think would do to clear a landing zone even faster and then the ventral blaster cannons would clean up whatever was left even faster. As for the surprises they make for quite the interesting idea... Did you mean to use a field disruptor to bypass the shields? Or make the technology from scratch?" He then asked as he looked towards the Mines as the overseer droids commanded the labor droids to do their jobs and were directing the work flow perfectly.

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

Seeing as the droids milling about the mine entrance were either carrying in more drilling equipment or dragging out a cart of the crystal ore, Camellia had to say the process seemed to be going swimmingly to collect the Stygium. And even though she was a tad nervous doing business with a Sith Lord for the first time in a while the Rendili woman couldn't help but enjoy the thrill of creating a unique product for yet another role. "We can likely mount a pair of torpedo tubes along the front of the dropship. We can very much fit them to cluster rockets and nano spread missiles as well since they have a tendency to blow up everything in an area. Very effective against light vehicles though the random nature means infantry tend to survive if in the right spot. We can add an additional ventral cannon too, towards the rear though perhaps? Since I think that's where the ship has the least coverage." Tapping her finger though, Camellia racked her brain as she tried to think whether she needed to put more effort into the project really.

However, her inner demon desiring only the best ships in Rendili's name won out as she sighed and responded to the primary question this time around. "Ground up, field disruptors are a commando's tool. You can arm your soldiers with them to bypass shields themselves if they enter zero g. However, they are unreliable on starships given their size. They were meant as a personnel tool, not a starship. The technology works in theory but I suspect eventually it'll fail and cause a disaster for the crew. I will put our reactor technicians on the job along with the team who developed the rail system for the Noblesse. I don't know if you've seen one in a Republic Fleet lately, the One Sith have used Vong ships over the Darkblade in a while and the Noblesse was a counter design to it. It has the most unique mass driver weapon, I'm very proud of it. So I believe the team could pull it off. A pulse ion weapon that would evaporate a shield in a given sphere for a brief time. It will be designed specifically for this breaching dropship, but I likely could expand it to create a far more devastating weapon down the line. The idea behind the weapon we've had concepts of was a cannon that didn't fire a bolt of ion energy, rather it would disperse it and distort the shield the dispersion collided with. It would be an extremely close range tool but a shield breaching weapon for a close ranged monster ship sounds appealing. . . . .and that has nothing to do with the dropship I'm sorry." Something like a very small scale and close range version of the Malevolence during the Clone Wars really she supposed. It'd only open a small bubble in a shield where a close ranged focused ship could level heavy turbolaser batteries at once. Maybe the Batlle Horn Class could be the testbed for that technology?

 

[Shaddi]

Ereobs had to chuckle a little to himself as he heard [member="Camellia Swift"] ramble a little on. 'A kindred spirit when it comes to design huh?' He thought to himself as he then brought his hand to the chin of his mask as he also thought on the problem she had presented. "We could have the cannons mounted on the downwards facing sides of the ship, that way they could fire down on the ground to clear the landing zone along with shooting behind the ship if needed?" He said almost asking as he went over the designs in his head. "The idea for the cannon you've state also sounds quite interesting. If you manage to make it I think I'd like to propose a deal to Rendil stardrive an exclusive contract on those designs." He then added as he thought of the possibilities of the weapon she had just talked about.

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

Camellia simply nodded at the Sith Lord's remark over where the added blaster cannon should go while she left herself get lost in the ramifications of a potential new style of warship. It'd have flaws of course dedicating itself to close range combat, but then it'd fit in perfect with a fully specialized fleet. It went against her normal design ethics that any ship had to be able to operate good enough as a standalone, but specialised battlegroups were technically better fleets when headed by an experienced commander. They simply did more as a whole than apart. A versatile number of ships was just more consistent. It came down to a commander's preference.

"Of course, the Sith have ample rights to purchase any Rendili designs from the yards on Rendili and Humbarine. I do apologize the Voss and Shri-Tal yards still sell to the Republic given the war going on. I've attempted to establish communication lines to them to bring them in line, but the Silver Jedi have cut all contact with me and my agents since the Sith dominion. They refuse to even use the massive flagship they contracted me to design, a waste of the battle analysis computer I designed myself. Although I do admit it was flawed, the power requirements were ridiculous but it was the first attempt at such a device. The cannon position sounds fine. We can do the micropulse ion cannon beneath the main carriage and install the plasma cutters within the same area of the hull. We'll likely have to make it so the ventral hull can open up to deploy soldiers into the gap and extend a docking tube as an air seal. That isn't too problematic though in comparison to designing the micropulse emitter." Pulling out her datapad as she spoke, the Rendili woman would already prepare a document for her secretary to send orders to the R&D teams to get to work making the micropulse cannon for the dropship. The larger scale model could come later if even. Since the more she thought about it the Kuati V-200 Ion Cannon filled a similar role.

 

[Shaddi]

As he watched her go through her datapad he thought on the recent events of the sith. "It seems the factions are making businesses harder for everyone." He half mumbled to himself as he thought on the need to get the ship done sooner rather than later with the GA skirting their territory with their fleets.

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

Hearing that the Rendili woman wasn't actually sure how to comment on it, without being offensive that is. Only once people were at the very top did they notice some things. Those with power often abused it when the responsibility lay higher in the foodchain. However, once you became burdened with that responsibility you were often forced to address it no matter what sort of person one was before. Because only the foolish continued to ignore it and they often fell to ruin. "Call it the politics of the time. The One Sith waged a bloody war at their start and because of Sith history no matter what you change they are always going to be the antagonists of every other power. You are simply a symbol easily rallied against. Even if the galaxy truly believes in their hatred for the Sith, and they have good cause, those who would exploit that cause for the gain of territory, wealth, manpower, and the resources you hold so they may wage war on those they truly despise, exist. The Republic has suffered corruption and more in its time, and were it not for its nature of trying to do better I suspect the others around them would have attacked it already. For the most part though they stand as a bastion of light in the eyes of the common people, so those who would usurp them have no just cause when they try to uphold the same values. At least so long as Sith powers exist before everyone's eyes. Imagine if the One Sith crumbled though, whoever succeeded in toppling it would have the most renown to rally others to their banner, and the ability to say whatever they want of those who could not accomplish the deed. The politics in the galaxy currently surround the Fate of the One Sith's empire. Whatever future the One Sith pursue is meaningless if nothing changes now. The rest of the factions in the galaxy will revolve their politics and futures around it. Thusly if the One Sith were to destroy an enemy the galaxy would change, it matters not which. Just that the One Sith are the most influential in the galaxy. I don't think your enemies are aware of that. They're too busy bickering over which of them has the most right to be the one to defeat you. I will say though, even just watching from the sidelines as much as I have, the One Sith isn't as strong as it was a few years ago. I mean no offense by it my Lord, its simply an observation I wish to warn you of. In my opinion the One Sith are needed a while longer, perhaps to even rise above their former strength. Otherwise the Galaxy will turn into a brawl."

 

[Shaddi]

When Erebos heard that he stood and seemed to be about to smack [member="Camellia Swift"] over the head as he clenched his fists tight enough to make the leather his gloves were made of make a loud sound. Then however his shoulders began to rise and fall in quick succession before he burst out laughing, holding his left hand over his face and his right over his stomach as he laughed almost insanely. "But isn't that what makes all of this so fun?! The others will only bicker amongst themselves while the one sith regains their strength and grows even stronger. We've come this far without even having the most advanced military or navy, once we come up to the cutting edge of technology. Can you Imagine how those bickering idiots of the other factions will react once we grow twice in size and territory?" He then said as he crossed his arms and seemed to calm down quite a bit.

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

Truly when she had spoken she had hoped her observations weren't taken as offense, the One Sith wasn't anywhere near weak after all. However, the infighting definitely had taken a toll. Still, when the Sith Lord in front of her rose suddenly the Rendili woman could do no more than flinch. Her body tensing up as she held herself from rising herself clearly showing her fear. Camellia knew she had no power of her own. What power she had was borrowed authority and finances which meant little in the face of personal strength. However, when Darth Erebos' posture instead turned to one of humor, and a wicked and terrible laugh burst throughout the room, she found herself torn between being on edge and laughing herself.

He was definitely insane, but was it the good kind or merely the fun kind she wondered? It certainly wasn't the bad kind, the fool's brand of insanity that led to one being dangerous yet simple. So in the inevitable end, Camellia grinned. A toothy grin showing her fangs while her tail swayed anxiously behind her. "Ah, I was right you're a weird one. It makes me wonder if that's contagious." Because in sad honesty, the Sith Lord was completely right. "Even with all the problems mentioned you're right. They will bicker, or rather if they do its only perfect for the Sith. Togoria was a good show. It proved even while the Sith have had strife they can still claim victory. Should the Sith continue such displays of strength against the likes of the Alliance who are likely chomping at the bit, there is little doubt that you'd reclaim all lost strength as old and new faces flock to your banner while your enemies merely crumble. After all, all eyes look to the Alliance as being more sturdy than the Republic for the moment. If even they cannot overcome the Sith, then confidence will break and worlds will look to curry to you rather than resist and fall after earning your ire."

 

[Shaddi]

"I feel that if they do continue to bicker amongst themselves like that we can infiltrate their organizations and make them begin to fight one another. Have them whittle away what strength they have left against each other while we come in, swarming like locust in a field and mop up the rest." He then said as he leaned against a console while his body posture clearly told he was smiling widely underneath his mask. "You are an interesting one [member="Camellia Swift"], I'll tell you that. I wish to let you know that while we are in private you can tell me your honest opinions but if there are others around do not challenge my authority or question the sith or the dark council, I'm saying this for your own protection."

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

"Of course my lord, I meant no disrespect to you or the council with my words anyway. If anything any offense was directed to those who abandoned the One Sith's cause. I honestly am of the mind to see the galaxy fight a while longer. War is profit in many ways, both for business. . . .and again for galactic powers. However you can twist it you can gain something. Territory, resources, the support of the mass. More." Watching the Sith move about the room, the Rendili woman tapped her fingers against the desk as the Sith Lord's remark about infiltration raised a good idea. "Speaking of infiltrating your enemies organizations sir. With the stealth aspects of the new dropship. You might consider . . . . ordering the Sith Assassins to be more proactive. Deploy them within the Alliance to incite displeasure with the government, or to kill key figures to prop up Sith supporters in local authority on their border worlds prior to attacking them. A stealthed ship could easily make it through their patrols and defense networks and could be an operative's hidden base of operations in enemy territory. Perhaps an encrypted long range holonet transceiver could be applied to the design so that the ship could be used for such and the Assassins could keep in contact with the main Sith body?"

 

[Shaddi]

"Hm interesting idea, the assassins could do with some work after all. We have to have them get sharper and operations are good for that." He said as he moved to sit down once more as he had observed the operation outside better and done a gesture to the overlord droid to tell him he had gotten tired of waiting and as such the operation was kicked into high gear, at least were the labor droids were concerned. "I think we should make the drop ships also hyperspace capable along with the encrypted long range holo transceiver, perhaps something to scramble the signal as well?" He said as he tapped the side of his mask a little.

[member="Camellia Swift"]

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

"I had every intention of them being hyperspace capable from the start Lord Erebos. It would be an oddity if they were to exit a hangar within site of the enemy and then disappear afterwards. A signal jamming device might be a tad too conspicuous, but we could implement some equipment to mix signal through other frequencies. It would require the operatives to get ahold of it though. Sneaking into a local media station shouldn't be too difficult for the Sith Assassins though correct? They ought to have the skill to sneak in and gain access to the frequency so the dropship can piggyback it to avoid detection. Still, it wouldn't be too problematic if they didn't do such. Even if someone did notice an encrypted frequency it would take a while for most slicers to decrypt it." the Rendili woman eyed the droids moving about at a much quicker pace as it seemed like the Sith Lord had given them an order. Camellia wasn't too keen a believer in droids, too easily used by an enemy. Plant a listening device on one unawares and how was anyone going to notice. Or if they even reprogrammed one there wasn't much one could do to notice. The Force wasn't that sort of power, having met enough Jedi and Sith and watched them be fooled by machines in the past, the Rendili woman could safely say she felt validated by her preference for living workers and security.

 

[Shaddi]

Looking at [member="Camellia Swift"] and nodding to her, Erebos then noticed the tinge of disapproval in her expression towards the droids. "I take it you do not approve of droids, miss Swift?" He asked in curiosity as he placed his leg over the other and leaned back into his chair while he waited for her reply before replying in turn with. "Granted I, myself, have little fondness for them but at the current stage of my experiments in sith alchemy on organics and biology has yet to yield a suitable replacement for droids when it comes to a work force. Besides I've grown tired of hearing organics whine and complain when I ask for an increase in work pace while droids simply change themselves out to recharge and then get back to work." He then said in an almost venomous tone as he looked towards were a droid was listening to a human overseer that was directing it's drop off locations for the stygium.

 

[Camellia Swift]

[member="Darth Erebos"]

Camellia knew she shouldn't be surprised when a Jedi or Sith could tell what was going through her mind like practiced veterans. The force was very good at reading emotions, it probably was what made trying to fight them so hard when they could sense bloodlust, intent, and presence. It was also what likely made droids effective assassins against them. "I have nothing against droids, I just highly prefer people. A droid can be hacked, reprogrammed, and easily used without your notice while it goes blissfully about its chores with a listening device or explosive snuck on it. It's the same reason why I use actual gunners rather than fully computer run shipboard guns. I think people's siwtch to that nowadays was foolish. It may be old fashioned to reference the Clone and Galactic Civil Wars, but they used gunners as well and I think people nowadays are getting too hyped up on electronics and slicers are too stupid. THey try the most illogical things, but still while they don't achieve their wanted results they can interfere in the correct use of things. Better to use people who aren't "hackable" than to rely on machines in my opinion. Still, I'll use them when they are the most efficient or the most suited to a job. Especially if its a safety measure."

 

[Shaddi]

Erebos nodded to [member="Camellia Swift"]. "That is true that people can't be hacked as you say but they can be bought too." He then said as he had gone through one to many of such incidents during his time in the one sith.