Touring the Facility

[Rhodes]

Csilla​

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The One Sith-owned planet was an iced-over version of hell, or so the non-locals said. Snow and ice everywhere, freezing storms often sweeping over the planet. It had a few nice sights to see, but besides that, nobody really liked it there.​

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One of the few structures worth seeing on the planet was the science facility there formerly belonging to Kalor-Tech Industries. Killian had built it there during the One Sith's dominion of the planet, designing the sleek chrome building to produce some of the company's scientific wonders of project KRATOS.​

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However, once Killian gave the company to Ajihad (Janus), he immediately saw that the facility was a source of untapped potential. It was decently large, but it could be much larger. He commissioned millions upon millions of credits into its design, hoping for it to become one of the galaxy's premier labs. He would transfer ownership of the facility to the Paladin Supply company, using it to produce new gear for the Consortium.​

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Many months later, the facility was now completed. Janus himself was going to go tour it, including four Paladin bodyguards. One member of his detail was the new recruit [member="Casandrae Vau"]. According to Axel, she was pretty feisty at hand to hand combat. Maybe some time spent around Janus would do her good, getting her to associate more with other Consortium members.​

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The private company shuttle they were in was now landing in the the hangar bay, and they would be touring the facility soon enough.​

 

[Casandrae Vau]

"... So I said, yo mamma so fat, no way I could get from one side of her to another in twelve parsecs." The other Paladins gave off a heavy laugh at Cass punchline. She had a low-brow street humor that made long trips less dull, and made her a star with the regular members.

Cas fell silent once they did re-entry, still unused to the turbulence of space flight. She refused to undo her harness well until the vehicle had come to a complete stop. She was fascinated by all the white stuff outside, she'd never seen snow... or another planet's biome before. Thoughts about the 'white stuff' were set aside when they arrived, and Cas quickly got to work, shadowing Janus as a proper bodyguard. As usual, she kept the flare filter in her helmet at maximum, making her environment dimmer than it really was, but Cas knew the well lit facility would give her a headache.

Cas wasn't sure how to talk to Janus. She was never good around authority. So she just did her job, and would only speak when spoken to. She took a good look around the place, resisting the urge to nick alot of stuff just lying around. She wondered if she could get custom gear here.

[member="Janus"]

 

[Rhodes]

A woman in a white lab coat would greet them as they exited the ship. "My name is Alicia, I will be guiding you today Mr. Janus. If there is anything you might require, don't hesitate to stop me at any point in the tour. Anyways, follow me right this way to the metro please." The short woman's friendly tone would be a pleasant addition to Janus's day, as he had to deal with the unintellectual jokes of the Paladins for the past few hours. One could only handle so much of such unpleasantries before completely losing it, or so they say.​

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He would look around the hangar, impressed with its immense size. It sacrificed material quality for quantity, its walls made out of thousands of pounds of duracrete. Many ships were currently docked there, probably transport shuttles for those who lived elsewhere.​

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He would follow the woman to the bullet train, his security detail keeping pace with the masked man. They would step inside, and the massive train's doors would shut behind them. A red light would turn on, indicating for them to buckle up tight. One of Janus's white gloves would grip the overhead handle, just before the train shot off like a rocket. No doubt they would reach their destination in no time at all on at these speeds on the underground metro.​

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[member="Casandrae Vau"]​

 

[Casandrae Vau]

Cas followed and walked and followed and walked. As bodyguards full body armor was normal, but Cas was a bit creeped out by their employer's mask. And she was the nocturnal one here.

"So... this is where we'll be getting our stuff?" Cas asked the Alicia creature once on the train, keeping her weapon close once she was seated. She'd never been on an empty train before, one that ran so smoothly and quietly, and with interior carpeting no less. She couldn't help but recall the over-crowded, smelly deathtraps that shipped workings to and from their work stations back home. "...So what kind of things do you make here?"

[member="Janus"]

 

[Rhodes]

The short and excessively happy woman would turn to face the bodyguard, smile still upon her face. Seriously, she should have been working infomercials instead of tours. "Yes, this is where most of your gear comes from. We make practically everything here. Armor, weapons, droids, even ships. And speaking of your gear, we're arriving at the shipping center now..."​

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They would step out of the metro, entering a large chrome dome. This place was huge, bigger than the hangar even. Forklifts moved left and right, bringing large crates from one location to the next. The crates would be loaded onto to small freighters, the unmistakeable red cross symbol of the Consortium painted onto their sides. The ships would then take off through a decent-sized hole in the ceiling, which would be sealed by a particle shield every time it was not in use. Loud announcements would sound over the intercoms, giving the many workers in the facility directions on what had to be done. Supervisors strolled about, making sure everything was being done with efficiency. One could also see Advanced Security Protocol droids standing all around, ensuring no breaches in security occurred.​

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"This is where all of the Consortium's various companies ship out their supplies to the rest of the galaxy. One ship could go to the Paladin sanctuary on Ord Mantell, while the next could go to the First Order Capital on Dosuun. We go to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, from Duniya to Enigma Prime."​

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[member="Casandrae Vau"]​

 

[Casandrae Vau]

Once they got off the train Cas followed and listened, finding Alice to be quite strange. Was she a droid or a clone? Well, it didn't matter. The sight of the facility made a part of Cas sigh. She had only now seen so many things of high monetary value. If she could sell a single crate on the black market she'd be set... But the high illumination of the working area was making her start to feel nauseous again.

"Sweet... so can we go place some orders or pick up some gear now? My helmet's lenses are giving me a headache." Cas decided to take the initiative and nip her problem in the bud, looking at the crate of helmet accessories being prepped for loading. She looked at Alice and Janus, wondering if she could have early Christmas.

[member="Janus"]

 

[Rhodes]

Alicia would take the helmet from [member="Casandrae Vau"], a look of mild disgust on her face. It was an old armor piece, and the tech was extremely outdated. That, and she really didn't like such things that represented warfare. She preferred the comforts of her home and lab to the unpleasantries of the battlefield.​

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"Yes, we can update the visor with a more polarized version, as well as give you a newer HUD. As for the new equipment, you can place an order on your company datapad. Once it had been processed, we'll have it sent to you right away. That's assuming the request is approved, of course."​

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She would shuffle them onto a large metal platform covered by a dome of pristine glass. In the center of the platform was a touchscreen computer terminal, along with a metal keycard slot and identity scanner next to it. She would slide in her company card, and let the scanner process and verify her identity. The light blinked green, and the terminal would power on. She'd press a few virtual button, then press the green checkmark in the bottom corner.​

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The platform would suddenly but slowly begin to lift off the floor. The repulsorlifts below allowed them to float into the air, drifting towards a huge metal circle on the floor. Alicia would grin, addressing the small group. "Now, it's time for you to see the real facility. Hold on tight!"​

 

[Casandrae Vau]

Cas as Kreiga took back her helmet and a lens that would fit it. She'd have to replace it herself, somewhere else, with dimmer lighting. Like say, a bathroom stall. "Thanks. I'll replace the lens myself... for medical reasons."

She followed behind to a platform, watching Alice fiddle with a control panel. Cas picked up quickly that this was a mode of movement and grabbed the rail tightly. She continued to wonder what more secrets the facility had.

[member="Janus"]

 

[Rhodes]

Alicia was taken aback by surprise when the bounty hunter took her helmet back. Hadn't she just asked to have it updated? A slightly hurt expression would cross her face before continuing the tour.​

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The hovercraft floated over until it was directly above the large circle in the floor. It looked like the little shield normally protecting a camera lense when it wasn't taking a picture, the thing that made the signature click noise every time you took a photo. A large railing surrounded it, making sure everyone knew it was a restricted access zone. They would hover over the very center of it, and a big red siren light would turn on on the nearby wall. A loud cautionary honking warning sound would echo off the walls, indicating that people should take a step back. Of course, nobody stopped to watch the process happen. They had all seen it happen many times before, and most would give it only an uninterested sideways glance before carrying on.​

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The metal disc would begin to slide open, just enough for the hovercraft to slide through. The size of the disc indicated that other, much larger ships came up through here on occasion. They would descend through the hole, and what what they would see next would take away the breath of everyone onboard, including Janus.​

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What they saw, for all intents and purposes, was a city. It was an enormous circular incision, perhaps half a kilometer wide, that extended what looked to be over a mile into the planet's crust. The walls were lined with glass windows, reminding one of an inside-facing office building. They could see people working through the clear panels. Some were working on droids, others were laboring over a petri dish. People of all sorts doing many different things were all over the place, working on every sort of research job imaginable.​

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There were occasional landing docks lining the walls, showing how the workers got to their jobs each morning. If one looked below, they would see hundreds of pads similar to the one they were floating on drifting about, landing on different landing platforms as they journeyed around. A massive fountain jetted up from the depths of the structure, changing color every few seconds.​

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A breathtaking sight indeed.​

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[member="Casandrae Vau"]​

 

[Casandrae Vau]

Cas demonstrated quite the knack with tools, when she popped the lenses out of the crusader helmet and installed the new golden one, a good fit though she'd need to make a hermetic seal once back in her room. She set the flare filter to maximum, setting her in a comfortable darkness. She gave Alice a thumbs up and tossed the old one to a nearby worker droid, who was now confused as to what to do with it.

When they descended on the platform and saw the massive complex, Cas sighed. It almost reminded her of home, of where her family worked- but this was so much better by any standard. They had these moving, floating platforms and even had room for a fountain. She could cram her whole neighborhood down here. She silently wished she could get her family out of Coruscant and work here... but then she'd have to come clean. Maybe later. She wasn't sure how they'd take an impostor.

Cas remarked on the fountain's presence in an otherwise utilitarian facility "...You sure you're not running a resort down here?"

[member="Janus"]

 

[Rhodes]

Alicia smiled at the bounty hunter's comment. She shared her sentiments, it was pretty amazing for a science facility. Most would go their entire lifetimes without seeing a structure of this size, an underground one none the less. "No, most certainly not a resort. Though once we get adequate funding, we will build a housing district down here so the workers don't have to fly here every morning. With enough expansion, this could could soon become a city."​

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They would drift down a little longer, seeing all sort of extraordinary things. One time they saw a small shuttle being floated up to the surface, another time they saw a large wooden crate being carried down into the depths of the facility. The words "Project ARES" were stenciled onto the side in red. They would also see a piece of pristine Beskar'gam being stowed into an armory, a beautiful and high-tech piece of armor if they had ever seen one.​

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They would be shaken out of their trance by Alicia's next words. ​"These are the main highlights of the facility. Is there anything in particular you still needs to see, or would that be all?"​

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Janus would nod to her, his deep rich voice sending shivers down the bodyguards' backs. "Indeed, I have an appointment in about an hour. I believe it is time to depart, I have what I need."​

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[member="Casandrae Vau"]​