To afford such vilipend material

[Gir Quee]

Salmakk bobbed his head up and down in understanding, "Most of my work with it necessitates the presence of the chitin to provide reinforcement, but I thank you nonetheless. I can at least do some basic materials testing to see how it will react to the various types of epoxies under consideration."

"My friends back on Lur are looking into biologically derived alternatives," said Wern, bending down to pick up a strand of discarded sea weed, "you never know what you will find when you go out looking."

That is certainly true. Gir leaned back. Still, this combination of biologically-based and conventional tech is untried and untested in the long-term. It may be best to stick with a more conventional material just in order to lower the risks of premature failure. Gir pulled out his nearby datapad to jot notes about making future inquiries about organic epoxies and to follow up on the Lab's research on alternative materials. It may not be mature technology now, but it could be viable in the future...

"Well brother," said Salmakk, "we don't really have much else to show you now. Do either of you need to talk to him?"

Azira shook her head. Gir knew that she probably did, but the bothan always seemed hesitant to talk to him when others were around. He would likely get a digital message from her later on in the Net. Gir turned his attention to Wern, but the lurrian seemed preoccupied with the piece of seaweed that he found. A genius when it come to the science behind it all, but not a being that easily fits into expected social norms...A lot like a certain duros engineer...But at least he has Azira to guide him...

"I thank you all for the effort and time that you have put into this project so far," said the blonde man, "if there is nothing else to discuss, I will cut the connection shortly. I look forward to seeing you all soon, and in person."

 

[Gir Quee]

The next days passed without incident as the Chevalier de Troy navigated up the last reaches of the Perlemian before taking several more jumps which culminated with the carrier entering the Hast system. Gir spent most of his time reading the incoming reports about the project's progress , as well as trying to decipher professional materials science publications on composite materials. While he was able to understand most of the concepts the ideas behind it, the more nuanced discussions as well as the complex geometry and math behind it was beyond him. As the carrier slipped into orbit over Hast, his comlink buzzed as the man prepared to go groundside for the first time in months.

"What is it Salmakk?"

"Wern is requesting emergency leave to go to Lur for several weeks."

Gir blinked, "What is his reasoning?"

"His aunt is expected to pass soon. He is planning on hitching a ride with one of our shuttles heading to the Lucerne Biological Systems headquarters; it's departing in three hours."

Gir sighed, half out of sympathy for Wern, and half out of annoyance on how it would delay the project. He knew that the lurrians were abnormally closely knit compared to the rest of the galaxy, with extended family members often living and growing up together communally in their ice caves. It probably was almost close to losing a parent or sibling. I wouldn't be humane if I denied him this, but his timing is terrible. We've just arrived, and the specimen is just on the brink of life. So what do we have to work with? His eyes fell upon his portable computer, whic still rested on his borrowed desk.

"How much of this can he remote work?"

The mon calamari hesitated, "Maybe a quarter to a third. He can do most of the genetic sequencing and modelling, but he won't be around to physically handle the specimens or work with the testing crew."

"Can the new guy do it?"

"The ithorian? He knows plants mostly," said Salmakk, "but I suppose some of the techniques are similar for."

"All right, tell Wern that I would like to have him to remote work as much possible, but that Llim and the rest of the team will handle as much as they can physically."

"Will do. So if Wern isn't going to be around to nurture and raise this wasp, what are we going to do with it?"

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir considered that thought very carefully. Their voyage to Ithull had taken enough time, money, and resources that he wanted to maximize the gain of the wasp to the fullest. But that was easier said than done. According to Wern, they only needed tissue and body fluid samples to clone the wasps. Most of those had been obtained and cyro-preserved. In addition, the 2-1B unit had excised small portions of its carapace to provide chitin samples. With those available, they could start immediate study and testing on a small scale. Wern mentioned something about keeping the wasp in captivity just in case they needed more samples. Yet Gir was not so certain that without Wern's immediate involvement that it could be done on Hast itself. The insect was exceptionally large and dangerous to keep around without the proper staff. If he wasn't going to euthanize the hapless creature, Gir felt that he had only one real option.

"I will place a tracking beacon into it somewhere and release the wasp in the outer reaches of the system, probably the Oort Cloud. Keep it far enough away from us to keep people safe, but close enough that we can go back and retrieve it pretty quickly if necessary."

Concern crept into Salmakk's voice.

"I feel obligated to point out that we're not only taking a risk that this creature will survive out there, but that anyone else who stumbles upon it takes a risk that we may end up being liable for. They are not hurt by it, there is also the chance that they may try to take advantage of it. Of course, there are othe rlegal and political considerations that I think we should consider before we act on this."

"You have an alternate idea?"

"I don't," admitted the mon calamari, "I'm just saying that we should do a risk analysis and add some controls to mitigate the risks involved, even if it's something as simple as placing a few observation satellites around its new habitat."

"Brainstorm that with Azira and Llim, and let me know what you come up with. I do not think that the subject will last long up here in confinement. We need to act now, but I would be in favor of implementing those controls as soon as we're able to do so. Right now, I'm going to head out and work with the droid and some of the Deck crew to cobble together the tracking device."

"Understood."

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir ended the call and clipped the cylindrical comlink into the upper right hand pocket of his black jumpsuit. As he exited his room to head towards the lowest hangar, the blonde man's mind began to speculate about how to best devise a tracking beacon into the wasp. Dedicated devices for tracking ships and wildlife, but such pieces of technology wasn't something that they kept on hand on the Chevalier de Troy. I wonder if we could down to the surface and buy one....but that will take time...if we can even find one to purchase. He dismissed the thought as he rounded a corner close to the hangar bay. That's a low likelihood of occurence and high reward scenario. Better to focus on what we do have available...

The man strode into the hangar bay, noting that there were more onlookers and corporate security guards present than normal. Most of them crowded around the wasp's abdomen, just past the point where durasteel cables secured the creature's wings down to the deck. I wonder what's going on...He gently rested a hand on of the onlookers, whose words quickly caused the crowd to make a path for Gir. Gir walked forward to squad down next to the 2-1B droid, who appeared to be reconnecting a tube to the creature.

"Is everything all right?"

The gray-colored droid looked up at him with its bright photo-receptors.

"Affirmative," replied the droid, "I was administering a tube feeding to the subject. The subject has been more active than normal. We may need to change the sedative."

Gir slowly nodded. The droid's been pressing us on that for the last week...It makes sense that it could eventually build up a tolerance to its effects...but we do not know enough about these creatures that I feel comfortable experimenting with different drugs or dosages. So much about them are unknown to us...but we'll learn about them with time. Gir turned around to scan t he faces and uniforms of those were present. He quickly spotted a lanky man with shaggy brown hair.

"Reeves, I need you and your buddies to rig me a simple subspace transceiver that we can attach to this guy."

The man blinked, "We have a spare emergency transceivers In hangar B."

"Well, go grab one then," said Gir, "or have someone go grab it for you. We'll also need a power source for it and a container unit. 2-1B, I need to know where you would place a tracking device on this creature."

"Dorsal side of the thorax, just distal to the wings."

"Can you make us a cavity in the creature at the point about the size of my torso? I'd like to secure that beacon internally, if we can..."

The droid considered the request, "Such a procedure would be complicated, and runs the risk of infection for the subject. I would dissuade you from that possibility, if at all possible. But if you insist, I will need at least two hours to complete the task."

"Two hours?"

"I must safely arrange a gantry way to the top of the subject to reach it. I will then begin cutting into the carapace. I estimate that it will take be one hour to cut through the subject's exoskeleton with a fusion torch. It will take another half hour roughly to make a cavity in that area without a high risk of causing severe injury to the subject."

"Do you have an alternative idea that we could implement instead? Something a bit quicker?"

 

[Gir Quee]

The droid briefly considered the request before responding.

"I would advise you to acquire a proper tracking device from a reputable veterinian or conservation organization. Some devices can be attached quickly with special rods and pins or adhesives. With the proper manuals, I estimate that I could attach such a device in about one half to one hour, with some variation depending on the quality of the device acquired."

"How long will you be able to keep the wasp sedated like this?"

"I can impair the wasp's sense of consciousness for an unlimited amount of time," said the 2-1B, "but the degree of consciousness that the subject may exhibit is highly variable. i can no longer guarantee the subject's safety or the subject damaging goods or peoples around the subject at this time."

"In other words, the sooner the wasp is free, the better?"

"Better is a term I am incapable of using in this context," said the droid, "I can only tell you that I expect the situation to become more volatile the longer it continues."

In other words, it's ill-advised to keep the wasp as is, but we do not have a good solution to tracking him. We'll have to go with a jury-rigged device until we can find a better one to attach to it. Using spikes and pins is out of the question, given the time that would be needed to fabricate them...We might be able to come up with an adhesive of some sort...His mind wandered to a small tube of liquid in the repair kit he kept on the Avalanche.

Gir turned to a Sluissi dressed in a gray utility vest as it slithered by him, "Do you know if we have Corellian Epoxy in stock?"

"We have some, sir, but I do not know how much," said the mechanic, "I can find out for you."

"Thank you, please do."

The sluissi continued on as his way, just as the first mechanic returned carrying the subspace transciever in his hands. Behind him, a hulking labor droid held a variety of parts in one hand,and a mechanic's tool kit in his other hand. That's a good start...

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir gestured at the labor droid.

"What have you all got there?"

"Ah...power cells, an electromagnetic shielding unit, and some materials to make a chassis for it," said the green-eyed man, "but I've got more people coming on the way with gear and materials for this, including the chief."

Gir had barely seen the chief mechanic, a larger man with salt and pepper hair and a soft-spoken mid rim accent, but the man's reputation proceeded him. He can find a way to make this work...but it would probably be best to give him a lot of leeway. As Gir contemplated on how to handle Salvarti's involvement with the project, he noticed that the slussi had returned with a metal can in each of his two of hands. A subdued smile engendered itself across his face as he read the mechanic's name tape.

"Thank you Sekae," said Gir, "you saved us time in bringing them to us."

"You're welcome," said the alien, "setting it down, but I'm just doing my job. My supervisor is saying that this is all we have done here, but the central supply department should have a few more gallons if you guys need it."

Gir nodded, "Thanks again."

The slussi slithered away as a conglomeration of mechanics, techs, and repair droids approached them. That must be the help he was talking about...As he peered over their faces, he noticed Salvarti in the back of the group. The chief mechanic's hands were constantly in motion as he described some procedure to a young duros. Gir stepped past an uneasy looking mechanic and through the group as he approached Salvarti. He waited for a pause in the older man's conversation before he stretched out a hand to him.

"Chief Salvarti, thank you for personally coming down," said Gir, shaking the man's hand, "this little project could really use your touch."

Salvarti slowly nodded, "It's an unusual one, though I enjoy a challenge, a hack-a-thon event like this from time to time. My boy was telling me that you want to rig a subspace transceiver that will transmit the wasp's location to us?"

Gir nodded, "Just a temporary measure until we can find a locator beacon...but it's one that's important nonetheless, as the 2-1B droid here tells me that we can't really keep it on t he ship anymore. I leave it up to you as to how you accomplish this, but I would request you attach it to the middle section of its body, just behind its wings, using the Corellian epoxy here. But if you have to use some auxiliary measures to keep it secured, I'll understand."

The mechanic nodded as he viewed the captive creature, "Probably not doing pretty well...pretty sick even. I'll do the best that I can to meet that goal...but I have to remind you, I usually work on machines, not creatures...this will be a first for me..."

"I understand..."

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir dismissed himself from the deck crew's immediate presence, letting Chief Salvarti sweep into the orchestrate the project. Yet the blonde man lingered just to the side of the hangar's turbolift to watch them work. In a matter of minutes, Salvarti's people and machines fabricated and combined various parts into a mounting mass on top of a durasteel chassis. Some of the parts, such as the actual subspace transceiver and the powercell cluster, he could almost instantly recognize. Yet he didn't recognize as many of the parts, though he guessed that an oddly hexagonal piece of circuitry had been at one point part of a concussion missile's avionics. As their activity winded down, Salvarti began to inspect various parts of the machine, occasionally plugging in a datapad-like device that Gir guessed was a diagnostic device. The older man seemed satisfied as he waved over a multi-armed WED treadwell droid, which soon covered the device in sparks as it welded on various protective panels over the chassis. As that neared completion, Salvarti began to walk around the device, percussing on various panels with to ensure that the welding and internal structure was solid.

The chief gave a thumbs up of approval to an unseen figure. The device began to rise up into the air before drifting over the insect's wings. Someone has a good hand with the tractor beam projector...It gently descended to hover just above the middle of the creature's body, where the 2-1B droid and several of the crew's more spry members waited to attach the device. Several seconds passed as the trio finished some surface preparation work before the beacon came to rest on the creature's back. After some additional coats of corellian epoxy, the 2-1B droid and its organic assistants disembarked from the gantry. It'll probably need some time for the epoxy to cure...but it will take some time to jump into a good position to release it. The blonde man pulled out his cylindrical comlink.

"Captain Kurn, plot us a hyperspace jump to the nearest section of the Oort cloud. When the course has been double-checked, take us there."

"Understood sir. I take it that this isn't merely practice?"

"Negative. We'll be releasing the wasp into the wild at the destination," said Gir, "I'll be joining you in the CIC shortly to discuss just how we're going to do that..."

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir spared one last glance at their captive before he stepped into the turbolift. With the tap of a button, he suddenly found himself several floors up on the middle most deck of the carrier. The blonde man stepped into a relatively busy corridor and walked towards a pair of blast doors flanked by several Directorate marines manning a security checkpoint. He promptly inserted his code cylinder into the interface as the guards eyed him up and down. Satisfied that he was who he claimed he was, they opened up the doors that led into the Chevalier de Troy's Command Information Center. As he entered the room, his eyes immediately drifted towards the room's central holo-projector, where the navigator and Captain Kurn discussed several outlined courses. The navigator noticed Gir, straightened up, and made a murmuring noise that caused Kurn to spin about to face Gir as he approached.

"We've nearly decided our course," informed the man, "it's only a matter of discussing safety margins."

"Safety margins for whom? Us, or someone else?"

"Sir," said the navigator, "there is common galactic law about disposing of navigational hazards. While it may or may not apply here, I have plotted two courses. The nearest one takes us close to a navigational point sometimes used by freetraders using older maps. The other one is about five minutes slower, but it takes us to a more remote location."

"We'll take the second one," decided Gir, "we'll try not to make life more difficult for both us and them."

The navigator offered a curt nod before moving away from the projector to enact Gir's decision. Kurn tapped a button on the holo-projector, shutting it off. It died with a whine, taking with it much of the immediate area's light. Gir expected Kurn to say something, but the man seemed unusually quiet.

"Is something on your mind, captain?"

 

[Gir Quee]

The man offered a subdued grimace, "I was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of releasing one of these, put if I'm understanding this correctly, you intend to release more of these Colossus Wasps into this area?"

"Eventually," said Gir, "but that will take time, which is good, as we will need time to implement safeguards for the protection of both the wasps and those who encounter them, most likely in the form of automated signal beacons. But there will be other precautions of course...but we are getting ahead of ourselves. We have to first see that the wasp is capable of living out here in the wild before we can seriously start establishing a viable population base."

"This armor is that important then?"

Gir paused for a brief second, "Technology marches on. There's evidence that the mandalorians are using a new alloy that's generally superior to most materials out there. If their crusades continue to march towards into the rest of the galaxy, there will be both a need and demand for something to match it."

"So economics and politics."

Gir faintly smiled in turn, "That was the premise that drove Matthew Lucerne to found this company...though I would probably replace politics with compatible ideology. Unfortunately, money, power, and politics will likely always be intertwined to some degree."

"That doesn't mean I'm going to comfortable with following that trend if we risk the lives of innocents."

"We can do nothing, not even travel the hyperlanes, without the risks of our actions potentially harming someone," mused Gir, "but we can take the actions necessary to minimize the harm to others, while maximizing the benefit that we can bestow on others."

A voice rose up from one of the room's stations.

"We're reverting sir."

The Chevalier de Troy surged into realspace just ahead of a cloud of widely spaced asteroids. The blonde man watched as Kurn took control of the situation. Within minutes, the hangar's internal tractor beam projectors launched the newly freed colossus wasp into space. The holo-cam footage didn't look too good at first, with the wasp flexing its somewhat atropied wings before it managed to limp to one of the nearby asteroids. The creature seemed content to slowly nibble at the rock's crust, which brought some relief to Gir. Perhaps it'll be better able to recover some of its strength here...The man glanced at Captain Kurn as he typed in commands to his own console.

"The beacon locator is working fine," announced Kurn.

Gir nodded, "Take us back to Hast then, captain."

 

[Gir Quee]

One week later...

Lucerne Labs Shipyard, Ibtisam City, Hast

Unlike many shipyards, Lucerne Labs's shipyards hid under thick layers of water. Gir walked under the transparisteel tube towards the main facility module. A few fish darted past him, but Gir's eyes eyes rested on a nearly completed Delphin Frigate in its hydrostatic bubble. Soon, they'll be ready to float that ship to the surface...He cast one glance at its hull before he passed through a set of blast doors into the main building. Salmakk rose up from a chair near the entrance.

"It is good to see you again."

"And you as well brother," said the blonde man, "I was pleasantly surprised by the progress you've made in fabricating the armor."

The mon calamari shrug as he began to guide Gir deeper into the facility, "Most of the modelling work was already done via computer simulations. It was merely us adjusting our manufacturing processes to match what we estimated they would be in the simulation."

"I feel that falls into the category of things easier said that done."

"In some instances, I suppose," said Salmakk, inserting a code cylinder into a door lock, "but metallurgy, or I should say, materials science is a well established craft. We know the base principles fairly well, as do many civilizations and societies that are below galactic standard technology."

"You're being modest," observed Gir.

"I'm being honest. We have not accomplished anything truly revolutionary from a material's property standpoint. There are materials out that are harder, stronger, more heat dispersive, and you name it. But I do think that we have come up with a competitive product for the market at a cost that will generally be less than many of our competitor's in credits and weight, and with a slight edge in performance."

"Give the traditional matrix armor makers a run for their money."

"That is the plan."

The two walked through the door into a rectangular room where a bothan female was adjusting a gray-green cuirass on a mannequin. She adjusted its straps before experimentally tugging at it the body armor. Since it didn't move, she rose up to face Gir and Salmakk.

"Gir."

"Azira."

"We are ready for the demonstration," said Azira, "though I would suggest standing behind that pane of ceraglass over there for your protection."

 

[Gir Quee]

Salmakk and Gir walked behind a ceraglass pane that stretched across half of the room while Azira donned a pair of safety glasses and ear protection. The mon calamari beckoned for him to sit down in of egg-shaped chairs. He sank down into it, immediately recalling some of the pecularites of mon calamari furniture. Gir glanced around for his own hearing protection, before he realized that the box-like object in front of him was an industrial grade Disruption Bubble Generator. He turned his upwards to Azira, who now held a what appeared to be large blaster pistol. She waited to get Salmakk's attention before she thrust it out in a two-handed grip pointed at the test armor. She squeezed the trigger several times, emitting bright ruby bolts which lanced into the armor. Gir turned his eyes to the armor itself. There appeared to be wide areas of carbon scorching, though he could distinctly see darker areas where the bolts had obviously connected. He thought he saw a faint sliver of silver in one of the impact areas, but he couldn't be certain. I've have to take a look at it when she's done shooting...

She set down the blaster on a nearby table and pulled out another weapon, which appeared to be slugthrower carbine of some sort. She tapped a button on the table, which caused the mannequin to rotate to present the undamaged backplate of the cuirass to Azira. The bothan readied her weapon and tapped the trigger. Judging from the recoil, Gir could tell that she was firing a heavy projectile at at least moderate velocity. His eyes darted to the armor, where he could see a clear impact crater from the shot, but it seemed clear to Gir that it had not penetrated the armor itself. Azira fired several more times in rapid succession, with seeming similar effects at a quick glance. But upon a closer look, Gir could tell that the armor itself was deforming across the entire plate, not just at the areas of immediate impact. That must be something to do with how the material tranfers kinetic energy across the trimantium matrix...Azira set down the weapon and removed her glasses, signalling to the two of them that the demonstration was complete. Gir quickly joined the bothan in inspecting the mannequin and the damaged armor.

"What am I looking at?"

"A simple medium armor design," said the bothan, "roughly similar to the breastplate in form and function to those used by the Republic's clone troopers. As you can see here, the ceramic portion abraded the projectile before the trimantium matrix caught it in its strands."

"What's with this weird warping around these impact craters here?"

"It's not entirely structural warping from the direct impacts," explained the bothan, "it's also a product of vibrations. We haven't been able to narrow it down completely, but many shots hitting it in the same area seems to sometimes cause a harmonic vibration that causes Chimera to implode across a shear plane perpendicular to the impact. We're experimenting with slight variants in our binding agents, the chitin fibers and corellian epoxy, to see if we temper that effect somewhat. I'm not sure how effective we'll be in that."

 

[Gir Quee]

"You can only push science so far, I guess."

"You mean our understanding and application of science," smirked the bothan.

"That," said Gir, walking over to view the other side of the plate.

Matrix armor was noted for its exceptional durability to energy weapons. At a casual glance, Chimera Composite didn't seem much different from its predecessors in that respect to Gir. The carbon scouring seems thick, but the actual armor itself doesn't seem too badly damaged...He ran his fingers down the plate, noting how the armor was more deformed closer to the impact areas and gradually leveled off the further away one went from those craters. A slight but noticeable difference...that must be something to do with the thermal expansion and conductivity properties of the materials...He looked up at Azira.

"What would this look like if you had hit the same side with both weapons?"

"You're talking about complementary actions, I assume?"

Gir nodded in affirmation, causing her fur to ripple down in a wave down from her neck.

"It's highly dependent on the weapons involved, particularly their strength. If you have a high impact weapon that can cause the vibrations and couple it with a fast firing blaster, you might see a minor improvement in stripping the armor away, with slugthrower exposing metallic portions of the armor to the blaster which could melt it. In reducing the metallic structure of the armor, the slugthrower would then be effective at cracking down the armor at that area since it would loose a great deal of tensile strength. But like I said, that's situational, and the ability to take advantage of that would require a degree of coordination and accuracy that it would generally be impractical except in the cases of stationary targets and weapons. Battlefields, in your experience, tend to be dynamic enough that such precise accuracy tends to be difficult?"

Gir nodded again, "Except in ambushes and other surprise attacks....but I suppose there are other possibilities where this could occur."

"The amount of effort put into that would be far more than simply trying to slag it away with rapid fire," said the bothan, "it would certainly get the job of defeating the armor done quicker. Though I suppose it's something to consider if you're being very conscientious of your ammunition usage."

"You don't consider it a concern then?"

"Not particularly. Things like that are generally true for most heterogeneous materials."

"So what is the next step?" said Gir, turning around to face Salmakk.

"Lucerne Biological Systems has just shipped us their first batch of cloned colossus Wasps," said Salmakk, "once they mature in the Oort Belt, we'll be able to make the first production batch. Their population numbers are our current bottleneck, but once we establish muliple populations, ideally the prodution bottleneck should drift to our trimantium suppliers..."