Subach in Black

[Ashin Varanin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgnJDJN4VA

[member="Enigma"]

A shuttle touched down near Subach headquarters, on the jungle world of Belkadan. From it emerged a lone and unarmed woman in slightly shiny businesswear, the former CEO of Silk Holdings, currently a minor board member. Sidelined; she'd done good work for a time, they said, but lost her edge recently.

She offered the receptionist a brilliant smile. "My name is Selka Ventus. I'm here to see Circe Savan. I'll wait."

She turned on her stiletto heel, a feat in and of itself, and took a seat in reception. There was every chance Circe was offworld, but she knew that, and she was willing to wait. There were magazines. It would have to do.

 

[Onrai]

[member="Selka Ventus"]

A nod came from the secretary as she buzzed Circe, who arrived looking like she normally did. The woman in question who called upon her was one that she recognized - Selka Ventus, from Silk Holdings. They had done business in the galactic marketplace sometime before, regarding the Reclaimer, but now it was time to do business for something more interesting.

"Miss Ventus, I presume? Come into my office, please."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Enigma"] had never met Selka Ventus, not the real one at any rate. Since resigning as CEO, to all outward appearances, Selka Ventus dressed less mousily, was more direct with her opinions, came across as more comfortable with her body in general. The effects of having a weight lifted, people said. She wore black today, a short skirt and a heel-length coat, professional but a bit dramatic.

"Hello, Ms. Savan," she said, taking the seat across from Circe without invitation. "I'm hoping you can help me with a problem I'm having. The VIORA cannon."

 

[Onrai]

[member="Selka Ventus"]

"Do elaborate... From what I can tell, it's a rather exceptional ion pulse weapon, one my team of engineers is working on integrating into a new design. The weapon's various complexities are difficult to adequately deciphere, but I'm sure our team will get to it." She raised an eyebrow in further curiosity towards the Silk businesswoman. "You're certainly not looking to purchase this rare example from me, are you? I could never part with such an exceedingly valuable piece of technology."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Enigma"]

"I took exception to your last-second blanket bid, the one that secured the cannon as well as a large portion of the RRDI auction. It was in poor form and made you a good many enemies in that room." Selka's eyes narrowed fractionally. "Yes. I want to buy the VIORA cannon. I'm prepared to offer a fair price, twelve million credits."

 

[Onrai]

[member="Selka Ventus"]

"Not willing to sell it... I may have use for it in the near future. However, I would be glad to, for ten million credits, utilize the schematics and knowledge we have to build you one for your own use. If you have a ship or structure you'd like us to attach it to, we'll gladly do that for you. Being the majority owner of RRDI, I have access to the schematics of the VIORA, so making one for you would likely be no issue."

That did seem logical, after all. Though what Selka intended to use the VIORA for was... questionable.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Enigma"]

"That's acceptable. Full payment would only be delivered once it was evaluated and rated functional, of course. Standard procedure. A weapon like this..." Selka shrugged eloquently. Frankly, ten million was about as high as she was authorized to go; she was no longer CEO, and this project was bigger than her. Not the VIORA project, the project that needed the VIORA cannon.

"I'm told you have access to a specialized small-craft-scale weapon, something to do with kinetic energy. Can you tell me more? Something I couldn't get from a brochure, maybe?"

 

[Onrai]

[member="Selka Ventus"]

"I of course understand as such..." She paused, smiling. Work will begin immediately on it." She paused, turning around and reaching into a cabinet, pulling out a datachip and sliding it into the table's holoprojector. "The weapon you see before you right now is the Mace kinetic energy weapon. It does very little hull or shield damage, but has the capability to knock an enemy fighter around on the battlefield and send it flying aimlessly through space, spiraling out of control. I suppose you could use it to disrupt bombers on bombing runs, or send enemy interceptors into asteroids. Might even be useful intercepting incoming warheads too."

There were quite a few uses for such a weapon. Force forbid someone figured them all out.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Enigma"]

Selka's dark eyes flicked up to Circe, then resumed their fixation on the holo. "How does it work? Some kind of directional pressor beam, force field, some form of charge? Tell me about its rate of fire, range, radius of effect, power consumption, ammunition capacity."

 

[Onrai]

"The weapon in question fires very thin turadium sabots coated in shield plasma. The resulting projectile has significant kinetic potential, making it a nightmare to enemy fighters even if it does little damage. Fifteen hundred meter range, four hundred round per minute rate of fire. Radius of effect... Well the projectile only goes straight forward. Power consumption is moderate, around the same of most laser weapons. Ammunition capacity is nearly infinite considering how small the turadium sabots are."

She smiled, removing the chip and placing it back where it belonged. "What do you think?"

[member="Selka Ventus"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Enigma"]

"I see. Not quite what I was after, but my office may make some inquiries later. Associates of mine are working on a project of some magnitude. The VIORA cannon has a place in that project. You can understand, I think, that this project has significance for me. It would be...wise of you to produce the cannon as fast as possible."

She knew her diction didn't fit her image, but some things couldn't be helped.

 

[Onrai]

[member="Selka Ventus"]

"The cannon's completion time will be minimized, Miss Ventus, that I can assure you... But we of course have to take care and make sure that the weapon in question is properly assembled and survives a test fire. Obviously you getting a VIORA that failed to function as intended would be, to say the least, an unfortunate occurrence."

A fair point, though she was curious as to the particular attitude of the woman before her.