Private Testing, Testing...

[Karl Von Strauss]

Testing, Testing…

​

Location: Halfway between Mon Cala and Pammant, Imperial Naval Testing Ground
Aboard: ICV Sable Monarch, Duchess II-class Heavy Star Destroyer

Karl Von Strauss stood in the hangar bay of the ICV Sable Monarch, although at first glance, you wouldn’t have recognized it as one. The usual complement of starfighters was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the entire bay had been transformed into a sea of consoles, relays, stacked energy cells, and a table with stale pastries and cold caf. Even the backup systems had backup systems. Every piece of equipment had a singular purpose: ensuring this test went off without a hitch.

At the center of it all, where fighters would normally launch from, hung the most conspicuous feature in the hangar. Suspended from a retractable platform was a massive, conical device bristling with experimental components. Thick bundles of cables and conduits snaked from its frame, running to the surrounding control stations. This was the Gravitic Harmonic Destabilizer, the latest marvel from the Imperial Confederation’s Advanced Weapons Department. Nearly ready. Almost.

Karl was in the middle of a conversation with a few engineers when the telltale scream of TIE fighters echoed through the hangar. Their repulsors hissing as they touched down. Out jumped two figures clad in the unmistakable armor of Imperial Knight-Captains. As they approached, they caught the tail end of an engineer’s report:

“...the GHD has been fully integrated into the control consoles. We just need the final piece, and then we can install the neutronium lens, sir.”

“Good,” Karl nodded. “Return to your stations. Run diagnostics again. Triple-check every relay, every coupling. I want this prototype to be ready.” He made a shooing gesture as the engineers scrambled away.

Turning to the new arrivals, Karl’s expression shifted into a smile as he extended his hand. “Captains Everoah, Jissard, it is a pleasure. I appreciate you both agreeing to assist with this demonstration. Before you ask, you can’t, this is all extremely confidential; you’ll be made aware right before the test.”

He shook their hands firmly before folding his arms behind his back. “We’re just waiting on the final component and our benefactress.” His gaze briefly flicked to the hangar entrance. “In the meantime, help yourselves to the refreshment table. I’ll make introductions once everyone’s arrived.”

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

Karl Von Strauss

Vanessa Vantai stepped forward through the doors of the hangar entrance. In her hand, carried next to her, was a transparent container, within which was a glistening, gleaming, and quite frankly abhorrent object, something that merely gazing upon could bring a man to sickness. With the confidence of one who had handled such a thing many times, even if fragments of a crystal star were not things she trifled with regularly, she sat the container down on the table in front of Karl.

"I would hope, my dear Exarch, that you perhaps consider starting the worship of Onrai sooner rather than later. To get our goddess to imbue the powers of her realm into something such as this is, to put it kindly, not an easy feat." Whether he knew that Vanessa ostensibly followed the faith of Vianism, or the worship of Onrai practiced on Seoul V, or even the more enigmatic Goddess worship of the long-dead Pius Dea that the Order of the Terrible Glare had once practiced, was unclear, but there were a great many truths he would be exposed to.

Yes, a great many truths. Perhaps the greatest truth of all about the 'off' woman who had done her best to be of aid to the Empire.

 

[Karl Von Strauss]

​

Testing, Testing…

Location: Halfway between Mon Cala and Pammant, Imperial Naval Testing Ground
Aboard: ICV Sable Monarch, Duchess II-class Heavy Star Destroyer

Karl watched as Vanessa entered the hangar, the final piece in tow.

He had seen many strange things in his life. Flesh restructured by Sith alchemy. Gravity bent like paper under subspace compression. Machines that shouldn't think, and yet did. But this, this object... twisted his stomach. Not from fear, nor even disgust, but from the primal recognition that what he was seeing should not be. He broke his gaze, only to find himself compelled to return to it a moment later. Curiosity, ever his weakness, overrode caution. Again, he glanced at it. Then again.

As she placed the container down on the table with the sort of reverent ease that betrayed familiarity, Karl finally raised his gaze to meet hers. Not to thank her. Not yet. But to study. To observe the eyes of a woman who could walk unburdened while carrying such a thing.

"I would hope, my dear Exarch, that you perhaps consider starting the worship of Onrai sooner rather than later..." she began.

"The problem with gods," he said quietly, "Is that they rarely make themselves available for peer review. And yet, results." He said, looking toward the container.

He stepped forward. The light in the hangar seemed to bend oddly near the object, like gravitational lensing at a galactic scale, shrunk into a vile, crystalline core. Karl examined the readouts beginning to flow across a nearby console, scanning the harmonic signature and temporal leakage around the case. He tapped through the data swiftly, his mind already jumping several steps ahead.

"You've delivered what no synthetic iteration could replicate," he said without looking up. "But I do not worship what I do not understand, Governor. Faith is not a currency I trade in. But I do respect power, so while I haven't begun to worship this Onrai, I have begun to respect them."

 

[Onrai]

Karl Von Strauss

"Onrai is accessible to all who show her reverence." She said. "And I think the results speak for themselves."

She looked over at the infernal device. It had come at a surprising level of risk to have direct access to the crystallizing star simply due to the physical properties of it, an aberrancy similar to her own. She raised an eyebrow at the Exarch, curious as to how he intended to do anything with the object without her. His issues were once more raised with the problem of not understanding things.

"You don't have to understand how gods work to worship them. Even they have trouble understanding how they work sometimes. Gods are also killable, if that means anything more to you."

At least the things she'd killed were.

 

[Karl Von Strauss]

​

Testing, Testing…

Location: Halfway between Mon Cala and Pammant, Imperial Naval Testing Ground
Aboard: ICV Sable Monarch, Duchess II-class Heavy Star Destroyer

"Then you may consider me reverent of her power," Karl said calmly, gesturing for the two Knight-Captains to approach. "But if gods can be slain, then what makes them gods? Worship? Powers beyond mortal comprehension?" He paused, then offered a courteous nod. "Forgive me. I did not mean to disregard your beliefs. If anything, the notion that even gods can die brings me a measure of comfort."

The distinct echo of armoured footsteps drew attention as the two Imperial Knight-Captains arrived. Their crimson armour caught the shine of the crystalline device on the table, casting sharp reflections across it. A fleeting unease passed between them as they glanced toward the crystal, uncertainty not easily hidden, even beneath discipline.

"These are Captains Everoah and Jissard," Karl continued, his tone composed but firm. "Both are veterans in squadron combat and exceptionally skilled in Force-meld coordination. Their units will be incorporated into today's testing parameters to observe how the device interacts with Force-sensitive operational patterns."

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

Karl Von Strauss

"They just are." She said. "And they die less easily than false gods."

Vanessa looked over at the two Imperial Knight captains. Her view of them seemed neutral, though she herself wondered if they could yet sense the aberrancy of this shard of a twisted star - or of her. "Are you certain they'll be able to survive the test of this device we're prototyping? Based on what you described, the potential to harm Force users is... exceptional. Anti-Force technology is also not something I've aggressively dabbled in, even if it is something I yet know better than most others." She concluded, keeping one eye focused on the shard. Containment was critical - or else she might yet be forced to do more ethereal things to ensure the safety of those present.