V is for Vong

[Judah Dashiell]

Mon Cal (Dac) | Sirene Islands, Dashiell Family Home



Yawning, Judah sat down at his desk. Datapad flipped open and Judah started to navigate through his messages.HoloNet call would be made to the owner of RMIA, a company that seemed to be specializing in Vong Tech. Now he had little to zero interest in Vong technology but Salacia did seem to attract those who were interested in green technology and Vong at the same time.


Organic nature he supposed.


HoloNet began to connect to a one [member="Ardgal Raxis"]. Briefly Judah wondered if it was part of the Raxis clan that seemed to be roaming all over the 'verse.

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

Ardgal stood on the gangway that overlooked the biot growth chambers. They looked like massive vats of organic matter, some where churning with the life inside, some were bubbling, others had steam rolling off the surface or foam coating the top. It was a beautiful cacophony of colors ranging from flaming red to tender blue. The room was full of them, shaper crawled along the small yorki coral spaces between these vats inspecting them carefully. To some the smell would be like under-processed meat or some revolting combination of nitrates, flowers, and animal feces. To Ardgal, it smelt like progress.

The comm link on his wrist buzzed, he checked, it was a re-direct from his "office" he never really used at RMIA's main HQ on Rodia. He made a note to get rid of the place--or something. He quickly tapped it, an image of the brown-haired warrior dressed in his uniform rather than his phrik armor would appear. That was a pretty rare occasion, to say the least. He gave a pleasant nod when the line resolved and he could see the man on the other side, "This is Ardgal Raxis, to what do I owe this pleasure, sir?"

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Ardgal Raxis"]


At first, the uniform threw him off, thinking he had connected wrongly. Judah was dressed much more casually himself, a simple button down shirt rolled up to the sleeves. HoloNet connection wavered for a brief moment before it returned to normal. Judah shifted in his office chair, moving a second datapad around for notes. If he looked closely in the background, he swore there was some type of liquid in vats.


"Mr.Raxis, Judah Dashiell. Word has reached me you may be interested in a biofuel contract?"

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

A few of the shapers began to pull their creations from vats. The steaming goop of living bio-matter still clung to the various biot as they were examined. Some were plopped back into the vats without much addo, others were tweaked, altered, and formed to perfection. A small group were pulled out and gathered into other vats for recycling--that was to say to be chomped on by other biots and made into new junk. Fun stuff.

"An honor to meet you, Mister Dashiell," Ardgal said before waving away one of the Vong shapers like a pesky Vjunga beetle . "I'm rather unsatisfied with some of the prices this last quarter on fuel," unsatisfied was an understatement, "And my supplier's estimates for next quarter look even worse."

Especially if we are looking to expand in the next quarter instead of downsize, he added to himself, "Do you supply in the Outer Rim regularly or would that be an extra cost?"

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Ardgal Raxis"]


Brow lofted a little bit at the tanks. Odd to the outsider, he supposed if he knew what was going on or the mechanics of the operation it would make a great deal of sense.


"Fuel prices have been a little unstable. Blame the uncertainty over battles near the biggest hyperlanes. Not to mention machines of war normally don't care what fuel prices are. Spend now, tax the citizens later. Creates a bit of a problem for us doing business. No one wants to spend two arms and a leg on fuel. So I completely understand where you're coming from."


"Salacia mainly works in the Outer Rim, so its not a problem. If you're looking for a large fleet, it may be easier to buy or lease a facility to have it on hand at your door. Amazingly simple system to grow the algae in, refinement is a little more complicated but no more so than your standard, run of the mill fuel."

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

Ardgal gave a tight lipped and grim smile. He imagined that he too was to blame in part for the problem--that was, after all, part of being a mercenary. The irony was almost too much for him to bear.

"Yes, yes, its a tragedy how badly some of the wars have gotten out of hand," he said with sincerity. The warrior let his free hand wave through the air, "I am sure the fall of the Republic, One Sith, and Clans did little to help the local governments or your businesses either," he shook his head, "Such a shame.

Mostly the outer rim? Prefect," this was already shaping up to be a better and better all the time, "I am sure that is a very interesting process," he turned on his heel, "I am personally looking into some of the more biological aspects of my own work. The Yuuzan Vong can do incredible things with the living. Organic life is incredibly fascinating, wouldn't you agree?"

He was getting side tracked, "I believe this will work perfectly. Do you have bulk discounts or would it even out the same either way?"

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Ardgal Raxis"]


Judah resisted drifting into political talks about wars and Jedi versus Sith. Touchy subject and he planned on making a business deal, not debating the finer pieces of economics in relation to conflicts. Viewpoints weren't exactly important in a deal such as this, it was just fuel after all.


"To a point. I can't say I agree with Vong technology but I would also be lying if I didn't say I hadn't learned from them. It will be interesting to see what and who mixes technology and organics, although its more or less off the radar now."


Back to biofuel.


"We could build a dedicated facility for your use only. More cost effective than shipments if you're going to phase this out fleet wide. If you're looking on a smaller scale than fleet-wide, we could offer a bulk discount for regularly scheduled shipments."

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

"Oh I agree," he said, "It will be fascinating to see where we go with organic tech in the future. I believe that it is, after all, the future."

Tech that could heal itself, not harm the environment, and evolve was the beginning of something greater, and something stronger, he believed, than anything we knew before. For him, the greatest part was just being on the cusp of it.

He turned his attention back to the fuel, stroking his chin for a moment, "To tell you the truth, sir, I intend to use this on land vehicles; tanks, artillery units, Troop transports, landing ships, and loading vessels." he thought for a moment, "And of course, the ships to get us there. In that case, I suppose having an entire facility dedicated to that end would be better."

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Ardgal Raxis"]


"Now, I use facility on a broad scale. I'm not sure of your current location or holdings, but it can be retrofitted on existing materials or made into something grand. I suppose that might be some of the appeal of organic technology as well? We don't have to completely start from scratch on this project."


Judah shifted and leaned back in his office chair, getting more comfortable.


"The strain of algae used for this fuel can be grown in tubes in a field, on a building, inside a spacestation. Anywhere with light and enough carbon dioxide to keep 'em happy, which the tubes can inject if its not present. Refining will be a bit trickier, might require an outbuilding or a retrofitting an unused space for the process. You'll have to select some employees to be trained as well....or droids work."