Beauty and the Mechanic

[Janick Beauchamp]

Not even the release and sale of the Utai Safe Bottles, whose alchemical enhancements were designed to store virtually any substance, except maybe highly radioactive ones, in a range of temperatures that goes well into the domain of molten metal, was enough to satisfy Janick's desire for alchemical recognition. The most complex item she alchemized thus far was a set of fatigues, or a beskad, whichever is the most complex, and yet she desired more. She knew there was one last ingredient she needed to be able to achieve her goal: learning mechu-deru. But her on Korriban has proven nearly fruitless on that count, even though it was a success on another count, and her search for people that could tutor her on that topic has been equally fruitless. To this end, she recalled on somebody she has met, on the same occasion she first brewed alchemized lum, which, however tenuous a lead, at this stage every lead was worth something to her eyes:

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Dear [member="Garith Darkhold"]:

Since we last met each other in that bar, where I alchemized lum, I feel I made sufficient alchemical progress to learn that one remaining item which I think holds me back from achieving what I want out of alchemy: alchemizing starship components. To this end, I wish to learn mechu-deru from you, if at all possible. Please let me know where we should meet each other, and when.

Janick Beauchamp
Owner, Utai Magic Circle

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[Garith Darkhold]

Garith thumbed over the recent received transmission from a young woman he had met named @Janick Beuchamp. The young woman had talent for Force Alchemy. Garith did not sample the lum but he had seen the effects. “Umm, well Miss Beuchamp. Lets see, shall we”, Garith started to type up a message.

Yo, Janick!,

I’m currently heading to the same bar I meet you at before. It will take me two days to get there. Once there I will be more than happy to speak about this in person.

Darkhold​

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

So [member="Garith Darkhold"] was asking Janick to come back to that bar where she first alchemized lum? Not that she would complain about it, just that the memory of that bar visit rang in her mind: here it became clear as day in her mind that she was different in her alchemical approach, where she realized that most people buying Utai Dry Pilsner or Utai Ottegan Mead would want to spring traps on alcoholic enemies, or to otherwise make people embarrassed by their alcoholism and compel them to seek treatment. With that said, prior to departure, she has to catch up to other alchemical items, like that one person who would use an alchemized safe and render it lightsaber-resistant, unfortunately exhausting the last of her reserves of blood by alchemizing those items. Oh well, I'm out of allowable venipunctures for the day, and I don't think it would be proper to get venipunctures done in a bar, she thought, while realizing that blood was key regardless of what item is alchemized. She wrote another datapad prior to departure from Utapau, where the Keshiri were pushed back recently.

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Dear Garith,

In two days back at that bar called Avalon we shall meet.

Janick

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[Garith Darkhold]

Garith read the next message from [member="Janick Beauchamp"]. Avalon it is.

Two days later

Dressed in the same besker’gam Garith sat towards the back in one of the booths. There was an opened bottle of Coreillian whiskey, a quarter of it drunken already. In his hand was a single glass.

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

Because of the hallucinations of the Kathol Rift, which made flight difficult no matter the direction taken, she spent both days getting lost in the Rift, forcing her to take frequent stops for fuel purposes, and also because she couldn't have her ship fitted with an Otherdrive just yet. Janick might have been a lady for whom hygiene is important, even if she was able to get a venipuncture done in a bar washroom, the disposal of the needles would have been very troublesome. Upon arriving at Avalon on Kal'shebbol, at the agreed-upon time and place, she would wholeheartedly recognize [member="Garith Darkhold"]'s beskar'gam once she entered the premises of the very bar where she first alchemized lum. And the gentleman started drinking long before I arrived, she thought, realizing that she was the one arriving a little later. Once she spotted Garith, she slowly approached him, oblivious to the other patrons of the bar, and also oblivious to the bar staff, even that Whiphid bartender that was on duty at the time and is on duty today:

"Hi Garith, I'm Janick; I'm willing to learn what I can about mechu-deru and electronic manipulation"

 

[Garith Darkhold]

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

Garith drank a lot. This was not something new and it was not a subject he had hidden from anyone. Though there were many aspects of his life he did not share with everyone. Like the fact of his true age or he is a full blooded Kashi. He had a good portion of his bottle polished off before Janick got there. That was ok because he was used to operating while being drunk. The true is he used the substance to cool his nerves and curb his hate and anger.

“Yes”, jumping into the subject he spoke. “first how much do you know about mechu-deru?”

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Not much, I'm afraid, other than it is used to manipulate mechanical constructs"

While, of course, she had an idea as to what to use mechu-deru for, actually doing it was another matter entirely. She heard about someone whom she knew could use and just use Drain Knowledge on her to get a foundational use of the power, but getting to that person would likely mean getting through layers of security she might not have clearance for, if that person is who she thinks it is. Then again, she has no idea how much [member="Garith Darkhold"] actually knows about it: even someone knowing mechu-deru at a beginner level is an improvement over what she knows now. Her idea is that she needs to know some engineering principles, be it electromechanics, electronics, materials science and computer science, to name the main areas she has in mind. How much she will actually learn, or not, about those topics, she may not realize it just yet. As for how to obtain the blood, if necessary? Perhaps she can find an evil-doer to rough up if it came to that, knowing she can't use her regular channels for that purpose.

"Any prerequisite knowledge required?"

 

[Garith Darkhold]

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]


Garith went to refill his glass. “There is prerequisites for you and me”, motioned, took a drink and began to speak again.
“We need the material, a forge, and the proper knowledge. The knowable part is tricky. My specialties lay else were then technology. I defiantly know my way around a forge and force imbuing. Teaching without knowledge of a skill is not out of the question. That is if the one doing the teaching understands a few things. The first thing is the force is all interconnected. One may lean to the light or the dark. Or they could remain somewhere in-between. If the teacher understands this and how the student wishes to comprehend the force, then they can be creative in guiding the student. So it will be tricky for me. I will have to try to imagine what you’re trying to imagine while trying to have some forethought how to share my experiences with you. To do this I will be using a Kashi skill. I’m sure you’ve heard of force valor, force fear, or even battle mediation. You may even heard of a skill that helps when navigating through hyperspace. This particular skill I’m speaking of is similar to this skill but yet is different. The skill I speak of is to inspire creativity, not fear or courage. It is a skill my people used often when teaching the Jedi, in the Jedi Order’s infancy. I may be assuming her so maybe I should ask. To what side of the force with this items you will be crafting? If it is darker in nature maybe we should not use the forge here. I will have to bring you elsewhere if that is the case.”

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"I'm definitely of the more dark-sided variety when it comes to alchemizing"

Force-valor, Instinctive Astrogation, battle meditation, Force-fear were all things she heard about, but could only use two of them. Inspiring creativity? The closest thing she heard about that could enhance creativity was Force-comprehension, but she instead associated the power to the ability to use one's brain more efficiently for other ends, although dark-siders would instead prefer to just use Drain Knowledge before using Force-comprehension. Plus most dark-siders she knew were more of the warrior variety, with limited desire to use mentalistic Force-powers of that nature. But [member="Garith Darkhold"]'s warning still rang in her head: If it is darker in nature, maybe we shouldn't use the forge here. I will have to being you elsewhere if that is the case.

"Given that we shouldn't use the forge here, please, lead the way"

 

[Garith Darkhold]

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

“Well then we should be leaving”, Garith stood up while grabbing his bottle. “We will be using my transport as where I’m taking you I just can’t tell you the coordinates. The faculty where will be going is a shared hidden workshop with a friend of mine. He is far less understanding then I. If you don’t know the location then he will be less cranky towards you. If he happens to be there just be respectful and whatever you do politely refuse his advances. He has a bad reputation of using woman”, Malice Dracula most likely would welcome one of Garith’s students to the lab. However he was still a Sith and would be fearful of betrayal. Garith nodded towards the door for Janick to follow.

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"All right"

So the co-operator is one that can abuse women? she thought, while taking a seat inside the transport. He'd better not be an Anzati vampire: after everything she heard about Anzati as it pertained to Force-users, Janick began to get more nervous as she got onboard the transport that [member="Garith Darkhold"] would use to get to the secret location. Then again Janick was a little raw in the world of sex, so she had little idea what kind of person would be attracted to her, even though she had a taste of it in this very bar. Perhaps once she arrives on location will she understand the need for secrecy. And also reflect on the stuff she crafted thus far: one alchemized beskad, one Sith sword made out of another material, as well as a myriad of food products. So exactly what she will learn there remains to be seen.

 

[Garith Darkhold]

They were under way.

The course was plotted. Garith did not say out loud where they were heading. He had said exactly why. It was of a number of solid reasons. One that being was to protect his student. They was heading towards the part of space people referred to as the Cloak of the Sith. Vast parts of the cloak were so dangerous you’re unable to fly through it. You had to know safe space lines in order to travel through it to your desired destination. The planet they were heading to was Roon, hopefully she would not recognize it. There was an element of risk for Garith by brining @Janick Beuchamp there. Hopefully she would not betray this trust he was giving her.


It was a couple hors trip. There were amenities on the ship. The interior was refurbished to more of an apartment. There was a smaller cargo area because of this but one could easily live on this ship. There were a total of six cabins. One full bathroom sonic shower included. The kitchen was actually nice. Not many people took the time to know this but Garith was quite the amateur chief. There living room seemed pretty comfortable as well.


The Coreillain transport landed and the ramp descended. Upon exciting out of the ship, Garith looked out over the coast line. Well he had to look down to see the ocean waves hitting the high rock wall that was the shore line. The air was tangible filled with the scent of the ocean and the moisture upon the skin. Before going any further…

“So we’re almost there. You ready to head to the lab? By going there you should know. Not too many people know of this location. I have only brought one of my children here. Just knowing the location could put you in danger from those who wish mine or Malice’s secrets. I urge you also to remember that neither I nor Malice has the patience for betrayal. We always deal with it in the most extreme case possible to detour any future betrayals. We’ve both have not trained any Sith for a very long time. The combined Sith alchemical knowledge of the place I’m about to show you could make you a target of the younger generations of the Sith. Did you wish to still continue?”

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

She thought long and hard about the risks associated with the dark alchemical arts she would be learning, but also the risks of possessing knowledge of the location. Since I'm already on the GE's radar, I heard rumors that the Galactic Empire is planning to enter an alliance with the Sith Empire on the news, I'd accept the risks associated with learning the dark arts I'm about to learn provided said rumors are substantiated, even though the main party having any beef with me is the GE, especially after Bothawui. Also, while I could become a target to the younger generations of Sith there's only a limited subset that could potentially make an effective use of alchemical arts: today's Sith seem to favor other means to power, and mostly stick to lightsabers with Force-lightning. I know effective use of alchemy requires some brains on the alchemist's part, but for some reason I feel as if the dark side places limiters on one's intellect unless they make cognition-intensive use of it, she thought, while she realizes that she is sinking deeper towards the dark side because of alchemy. Janick is aware that cognition-intensive uses of the Force often makes intense demands on the user's intellectual capabilities; while she is capable of handling it, she knew the same could not be said of every dark-sider out there. With that said, she would now answer [member="Garith Darkhold"]'s question:

"Although I have my reservations, I still wish to proceed"

 

[Garith Darkhold]

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

Garith nodded in understanding. Well from his own perspective he had an understanding. “Well then”, Garith walked over to the ledge. “If you would come stand over here please. We just can’t walk to the entrance. I will lift us both up with telekinetic flight and lower us down to the ledge. Upon a lower ledge is a cave entrance that has been hidden with a force illusion to appear as just another cliff wall.”

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

"Here we go..."

Any Force-user with a jetpack or a broomstick would be able to find it. But it would take such flying implements to get there for an acolyte whose skill in telekinetic flight might be a little lacking. Now that Janick stood where [member="Garith Darkhold"] is, awaiting telekinetic flight down the ledge, knowing that the way out would likely also involve telekinetic flight, she regrets not having a broomstick on hand. Once that is done, she found herself flying down the ledge, alongside her would-be trainer, being headed for what would otherwise look like yet another segment of a cliff wall.

 

[Garith Darkhold]

Once they landed safely Garith let go of [member="Janick Beauchamp"]. He did not say anything and then stepped through what looked like a normal rock wall. On the other side he looked around the slinder cave entrance, then over to his left.

“Nuutra an nutkashi ki akima”, the elder said back to slumber my friend in the ancient high sith dialect to a stone construct that had started to come to life. It was the second ward placed on the entrance and they still had a few more to go.

Garith looked over to Janick. “He does not have a name. Malice never gave him one. He only recognizes a few people and commands only work with those people. I would suggest you stick close behind me until we get to my portion of the base. Malice is more paranoid then I am.”

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

While, of course, Ancient High Sith is all the rage in today's dark-sided circles, she was out of the loop on that one: she regretted not using her trip to Korriban to learn it, but at the time she wanted to learn something else altogether. Plus back then she felt that using Ancient High Sith would be making her get too close to the very Sith she believes are monsters for comfort. Yet, she followed [member="Garith Darkhold"] closely, knowing that this place is unfamiliar to her, and that her guide was more familiar with the lay of the land. And she could realize that security was tight: there were a lot of wards placed on the entrance, so she might not want to get in there again. She was not going to do espionage in Sith-land just yet, but that gave her a good idea of what Sith compounds are like if the ORC had her spy in that manner. Upon learning that there are areas earmarked for him, Janick gets more curious about when they will get there, knowing that he must have good reason to proceed that way and that might be best for her not to know.

"How long will it take to get to that portion of the base?"

 

[Garith Darkhold]

“We have not even got to the base yet”, they were still walking down a cave tunnel that if Garith extended his arms he would touch both sides of the wall at the same time. If he raised a hand he would touch the ceiling. If this was an entrance to the Alchemy Lab it was not how they got all the tool and material down here. Was their another entrance or did they have some other method?

“Like I said I and Malice are two paranoid old men”, he did not elaborate upon that any further. He just kept on walking. There were several places where he stopped. Each time he said something in the Ancient High Sith Language. It was apparent he was temporally disarming alchemical wards each time. It was not apparent however what type of wards they were.

If [member="Janick Beauchamp"] was keeping track of time on her cronometer (if she had one) it was close to a half an hour they had been walking down this tunnel. That is until the tunnel they were traveling in ended. It had opened up into opened cave area. It was maybe a 10 x 12 area if you pulled out a measuring stick and took the time to measure it. From appearances it was a dead end. There were just rock walls. Garith mentioned another word in the Sith dialect he was mentioning before. To their side the rock shifted. Blocks of rock at a time shifted opening a door to a metallic door.

Garith stepped forward. The terbo lift doors opened and he stepped into it. “You coming”, he asked while holding the door open. Once she stepped inside the terbo lift he would release the doors and the lift would begin to move. Inside the lift was no buttons. It must have sensors and only traveled from point A to point B and back when needed.

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

With each additional alchemical ward, Janick gets a better idea of just how much security there is in that place. Might want to use it as some bunker should push comes to shove, she thought, while spending half an hour in that cave corridor and arriving at some turbolift that had no buttons. In her mind, a button-less turbolift would only need to connect two areas, activated by unidirectional motion sensors mounted in the cab's door frame. So she began to suspect that the base was at the other end, or at least part of it, upon stepping inside the doors of the turbolift, which closed right after she entered. I have the impression of entering inside the command-and-control center of the Sith Empire's military on Bastion, she thought, while reflecting on the high number of security measures in place, while at the same time having only a limited array of security measure types in the facility. Once the turbolift trip ends, she mutters to herself, but still within earshot of [member="Garith Darkhold"]:

"Now I have an idea of what to expect in terms of security in sensitive command-and-control facilities"

 

[Garith Darkhold]

[member="Janick Beauchamp"]

“These wards you see are not all typical security you could find in a Sith facility”, he continued their discussion as the turbo lift moved downward. “The main security you’ll find would me mundane and technology based. Not every Sith uses Alchemy as it is normally a closely guarded skills Masters only train their most loyal. I say most loyal loosely as it is often Sith betray each other. It is quicker and easier to use tech and peons to stand guard. It takes time and great resources to set up proper alchemical wards. The mystery and power behind them make them deadly. How many would suspect part of a rock wall to be a rock humanoid construct that wishes to crush them?”

The lift was getting close to reaching the end. They were traveling a ways down and the complex spans down far under the ocean floor.