A Legion of Dreams

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Her robes comfortingly flowing around her, Amilthi walked along the corridor. The Silver Rest had grown to considerable proportions in the relatively short time since the Silver Jedi Order's arrival on the planet, sprung up as if magically from the seed of all the many boxes she had seen transported that day. It was a curious feeling that Amilthi had here, as if she had entered onto some greater galactic stage. While its design took much inspiration from the surrounding nature, it was still a work of high technology, and behind its elegance was hidden the complexity of a manifest fortress.

It was very different from the Praxeum on Eira Pechal she had been introduced to, which was likewise built into a forest, but was made in large part of the same materials as its surroundings, defenseless, and secure only by obscurity. Different were also its inhabitants, there were no children playing visibly about here and the whole arrangement seemed more orderly and less idle. That was not to say that the place was hectic and did not have an aura of tranquility of its own sort - but it was a different, more disciplined and less free-spirited kind.

Perhaps her feelings were quite fitting, for the journey she had embarked on might indeed have a larger impact on the galaxy than anything she had ever done. While studying Master Windu's techniques, as recorded in the great holocron in the Coruscant library that was no more, she had often puzzled over the concept of a shatterpoint as something that she could intellectually very well understand, but had no emotional understanding of. It was said to be a rare ability to apprehend them, one she clearly did not have - but perhaps one who did might have seen one in the future ahead of her now.

She was surprisingly calm in light of the consequences a misstep on this path could have, consequences invisible to most, for they would not be impactful events, but merely the tragedy of unrealised possibilities - a world quietly and unobtrusively worse than it could be, to a degree that Amilthi dreaded to contemplate in too great a depth.

It had been a matter of some research to find out who the person even was that she wished to speak to, and to discover how to meet her. But Amilthi had eventually succeeded in establishing that this was a Jedi matter and not a business inquiry, at least not of the usual sort, and the Silver Jedi themselves had been most hospitable, as they had been in the past, in allowing her to stay until such time as the master would come by the temple on her perennial journeys.

Amilthi entered the room in dim light, her hands folded in front of herself. A female figure, clad in dark colours, was sitting with her back to the door in a meditative position. Amilthi bowed politely despite the fact that she was not being looked at.

"Master Ike. Thank you for seeing me."

[member="Matsu Ike"]​

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Amilthi Camlenn"]

Matsu sat there allowing the force to flow throughout her body. THe tingling sensation down her arms and her legs that were covered. THe darker robes and material a thin skylar cloak that covered her exposed form. Sarashi over her chest, tight and compacted muscles clearly defined. Athletic build to her arms and legs that were covered in tattoo's, aurobesh runes, atrisian designs, different force sects from across the galaxy running from the wrists where they would be covered by her robes normally. To her neck wrapping around near her collarbone and down to her ankles much the same way. Her fingers and feet with tribal henna styled lines that were used to enter the realm beyond shadows from anywhere.

She was deeper in thought and stood there while bringing her force energies back to the moment and what she could sense behind her as the small hairs on the back of her neck prickled alerting her to someone being there. The jedi master was moving around quickly for a moment as she didn't need to look around but instead shifted quickly in her cloak using it more like a guide and twisted underneath so she was facing the doors and unclasped it rising up to stand. Small of body but her hair was a massive curtain around her shoulders. Black with oils and crystals bells strung within it so as she walked forward they jingled.

"Welcome."

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Amilthi didn’t have a determined conception of what she had expected [member="Matsu Ike"] to look like, but whatever it had been, reality didn’t match it. And yet it was not difficult to reconcile what she saw with what she knew of the woman. She was famous as a reclusive and eccentric artisan who came up with the most improbable materials and unusual and creative ways to apply them. The tattoos that covered much of the master's visible, and probably invisible, skin might well have a purpose beyond the symbolic or aesthetic. Who could know what the paint from which they were made contained, and what effects it could have on the body and, indeed, the mind.

But Amilthi was not here to educate herself about such personal improvements. She was thinking of something on altogether a different scale. She stood there, modestly resting in herself, her hands folded in front of her, but by no means timid.

"Master. In my short lifetime, I have seen one and a half generations of young men and women lost in one pointless war after the other. A new republic is forming again and I have no confidence in their ability to avoid yet another instance of this endless sequence of wars in the long term. Even Commenor, much as it tried, failed. In time, there will be bloodshed again. Unless, that is, they can be persuaded to send to war not their children, but altogether less lively creations." It was taking some time to get to the point, but Amilthi found this prelude necessary to give it more weight. "Perhaps they can be persuaded to build defence forces not of warm bodies, but of droids. But I don't think they have the industrial capacity, or necessarily even the technical understanding, to create such an army even if they will to do so could be instilled in them."

"You, on the other hand, are one of the most powerful engineers in the galaxy. And while I recognise that it would probably be a bit boring" - she smiled wryly - "it might be a shockingly easy way to save millions or billions of lives..."

[member="Matsu Ike"]​

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Amilthi Camlenn"]

THe jedi master moved watching and turning to look at the other as she spoke. standing there as she flicked her finger and raised the lighting in the room to reveal several things that had been being worked on. ONe of them was moving around in the corner as the shadex wolf gave a look at them. IT was holding a weapon on its back and the shard within made the golden screen of the optical sensors glow in response for a moment. She stood there though while other projects were being worked on with robes and armor around the room. An offsite lab compared to what was hers, there were biot droids and the war droids they had crafted with lyber crystal weaved into their armor. THe nanny droid in an alcove that was set up for some fo the jedi who had children or to protect the daycare. With a look though she motioned over towards her workbench as she held a hand up and the hardlight holograms appeared to display it. "The idea has merit but it is also dangerous, the security measures of it can lead to problems. Fears and hatred even of the idea you want to put the defense of a planet into heartless and mindless machines that can be made to turn on or be controlled by another." Still there was nothing against it and she had different droids for this purpose they might even be able to make some new models to get out in the galaxy.

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Amilthi wondered where the master was going with the objection she had voiced. There was no indication what weight she attributed to it, whether it was an attempt to deter Amilthi from her pursuit, or merely a friendly warning of a potential obstacle. Then it occurred to her that perhaps there simply was no further meaning in it, that the master had simply pointed out the first consideration that had come to her mind without an ulterior agenda. It was a natural instinct of engineers to look for ways in which things could go wrong, and they would often voice them before an evaluation had been made as to the gravity of the issue, which they were then happy enough to discuss.

Amilthi thought for a moment before replying. "But couldn't one say the same of a sentient military? A droid brain can be hacked and its programming overridden, but so can the minds of men. I don't just mean through the Force. A charismatic speaker can sway them almost as a skilled slicer might repurpose a droid. Don't you think?" She spoke not to convince and persuade - it was a genuine exploration of the topic for her and she was open to being convinced otherwise. The answer seemed quite clear to her right now, and she knew a thing or two about both sides of the equation, but Master Ike perhaps had much deeper insight into the workings of droids and the extent to which they could be manipulated, or protected.

[member="Matsu Ike"]​

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Amilthi Camlenn"]

She grinned, thin and small but it was there at the counter which was well thought out. "It can." She said it and stood there though. "Droid and organic can be well dangerous which is why a mix of them is usually used." She held up a hand. "Usually, you want sometimes to have the cold logic that droids bring to a situation or their ability to compute risks but you also need the compassion of a human to weigh the risks. I know droids can sometimes play the long game, do an action on the grounds it has the best longest lasting goal. Human's though are able to look at what is happening now and see the benefits while planning or think of ways to help out in the future." She said it and wasn't really saying one was better then the other really both had their purposes and there was a reason why the jedi had both droids and themselves in temples and at meetings. You could get the figures and data while also letting things like imagination and innovation come into effect. She brought up some of the droids though. "So your idea, how can I help?"

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

"I take your point. Perhaps droids commanded by sentients are the way to go, not that there are no pitfalls here. Officers may become wasteful when they would be preserving only mere industrial products rather than more precious sentient lives. But I think that there can be little doubt that the small shift in areas or excellence, or even a small overall reduction in effectiveness, would be worth the millions of lives saved."

Master Ike was not a person of many words, but Amilthi could well imagine the kinds of considerations she was weighing in her minds, at was not altogether disinclined to enjoy herself by going down that rabbit hole and working on the puzzle. But she had to concede to herself that it would be a distraction from her fundamental purpose, and quite possibly a vain effort. For even if they reached a conclusion about what an optimal design would be, there was a good chance that nobody would be interested even in principle; or if they were, that they would not take her own word for it, for who was a lone Jedi knight to any of the leaders of the New Republic?

"In any event, to delve deeper into the question should perhaps be a matter for later deliberation, and not necessarily by us, though I am sure you would be a valuable advisor to the New Republic on this subject. If you were prepared to play this role, that alone would already be a great help in convincing them of the feasibility of the project, not to speak of the existence of your industrial capacities."

She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "If you have contacts in the political realm and were willing to expend some... social capital on nudging them in this direction, that, too, would certainly help. I myself am only one woman, though a Jedi, and I cannot even be certain the New Republic would currently consider me their citizen. But I will not ask anyone to do more than they feel is a good use of their time." Was Ralltiir, her place of birth, considered part of the Republic? She didn't know. And even if that was so, would local records have survived the past decade and could she be linked to them?

[member="Matsu Ike"]​

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Amilthi Camlenn"]

The jedi master raised an eyeb, she disliked politics and avoided getting involved in them so nudging someone with capital was not something she would do. She didn't even know if the New Republic was going to want what she had as they were quiet and sometimes seemed isolationist... sos he was moving and allowing the force to flow through her hands brought up what information she could across the screens. "We can hold off on the over all design but if you are going to make something that can be presented you have to have something that will show and make a statement. With all of the features and you can entice them to want to invest or buy. Half of selling a product is the presentation."