Business means get to work!

[Aleksandyr Gaillard]

Aleksandyr sat inside his headquarters, he was recently contracted by the Red Ravens to design them a new starship. A light cruiser to be precise. Unlike most shipwrights, the young CEO had no interest in making something 'typical', something 'cheap'. No, he wanted to make something to bring awe to the galaxy... To give Gaillard a new name.

"Sir, we've brought you the reports you asked for.", his assistant came over and provided him a datapad with accounts dating back to the Clone Wars.

One particular instance stood out... "Umbara?", the CEO snickered. "Pack my things! We're going to Umbara.", Alek announced. His assistant nodded and within a matter of hours his personal Galaxy-One transport had left Balmorra behind and well under way toward Umbara. He honestly had no idea how the world was affected, but one thing was clear: If he was to find what he was looking for it would be there.

UMBARA​

​

Aleksandyr's ship arrived on the 'Shadow World' as many spacers dubbed it. The Ghost Nebula prevented most light from every reaching the surface, there he found a gloomy world that seemed as dangerous as it was mysterious. He knew well enough to never cross an Umbaran, with several guards en tow he exited his starship that now landed on a derelict base. The military base was once used by the Umbaran Militia to fight off the Republic during the waning years of the Clone Wars. Although by the looks of it most was picked clean, a particular hanger seemed untouched...

"Let's get those blast doors open!", he ordered his men. A single slicer approached the panel and began working magic.

His assistant approached, "Are you sure you'll find what you're looking for, sir?", she asked. Truthfully it was a long shot.

"Well find out soon enough, won't we?", he smiled.

 

[Aleksandyr Gaillard]

The slicer was still working on getting that door open. Most of the guards were standing by quite idly. The air was bitter and smelled almost like sulfur, a few creatures were flying over head but for the most part there wasn't any trouble, except maybe by the smell. A few of them seem to have taken liking in his starship; beginning to hug the frame and by the looks of it began to nap.

"Bam!", the slicer said as the blast door opened. The area vibrated as the large door slowly opened, an audible alarm blared until a guard shot at it.

"Alright, let's get inside!" , he ordered. A Nova-One freighter approached the scene and landed, more employees: Engineers, labourers, and security joined them. Inside were several old Umbaran starfighters but none armed with what he was looking for.

"Sir, over here!", one of the personnel exclaimed.

In a corner was a gunpod. More specifically it was an electromagnetic plasma cannon. In the reports it was said to be powerful enough to erode an entire blast door, much like the one protecting it. If that's true then a weapon like this have deadly effect on anything unsheilded. Whether it be bio-tech or durasteel, of course some materials would be resistance or perhaps nigh impenetrable when faced against it. All the CEO knew is that this weapon would provide a much needed edge for his company and clients.

"Load it up on the Nova.", Aleksandyr chuckled.

They've acquired what they came for and now were well on their way. Once again aboard his starship, the two vessels left for Balmorra.

 

[Aleksandyr Gaillard]

BALMORRA​

​

Once again at the Gaillard Corporation home office and primary facilities, Aleksandyr headed down into a prototype testing laboratory where the company tested most of its products. Unlike ever before they haven't made something like this... It was quite spectacular. The CEO looked over the gunpod, it had repulsorlifts which made it easy to transport but firing seemed difficult. It likely had to be attached to something in order to fire properly. Looking to three of his engineers, "We need to trick the weapon into thinking it's attached to a starfighter, that way we can trigger it.", he stated. The engineers got the idea... With some wiring, a few days, and some hours of tinkering later they managed to hook the gunpod up to a dummy device and take it out to the test-range...

To be honest they weren't really on a test-range, they brought the weapon out to a small runway and planned on using one of his unfinished nova's as target practice. An expense but one the CEO madly felt was worth it. With the weapon aimed. "Fire!", he gestured his arm for them to attack. The gunpod fired a blue-white ball of energy towards the Nova, upon impact the unfinished starship was torn apart and destroyed in a fury. Much of it was disintegrated, others were severely burnt or torn apart. Clearly this weapon had very destructive tendencies.

"Bring it back to the lab.", he ordered. The crew took the weapon back to the laboratory.

 

[Aleksandyr Gaillard]

Another week of testing behind them and they finally began to get a basic understanding of how it worked. With the science they could begin an attempt to reverse engineer it but the results would likely be unpredictable. Looking over to one of his engineers, "ETA?", he asked on how long the woman thought it would take to properly detail the weapon's overall design.

"Two weeks, to two years. Who knows?", she responded. Such technology was unpredictable and they only had one original; so if they needed to make a prototype of their own version then assuring it does not get destroyed in the reverse engineering process would be priority.

Alek sighed at the fact, he knew it would take long but two years? He couldn't wait that long. "You have a month, maximum.", he said with determination. The engineer nodded. Was it out of respect or apathy? Who knew, the CEO was unpredictable and already his company was losing profits. That was likely the logic behind not wanting to wait so long but even Aleksandyr himself wasn't too sure anymore. Going over to his workspace he drank water out of a metallic cylinder and looked over details himself, he wasn't the best engineer but he had an eye for innovation and work arounds.

 

[Aleksandyr Gaillard]

Half a month passed and the engineers were nowhere closer to reverse engineering.

"Why aren't those the plans on my desk!", the CEO said in a fit of rage. Insomnia topped with pressure had resulted in walking time bomb, no one knew if he was just irritated or if something else was at stake. In the process one of his Chief Engineers quit the company forcing him to replace the man's position with a much younger engineer. In fact it was the woman from last time who he had asked about the ETA.

"Sir, I'm going to ask that you remain patient. My team is doing the best they can and now unless you want someone else to quit, I suggest you relax.", she scolded him on the matter.

Aleksandyr was about to lash back out in another pointless argument but then heeded her wisdom. There was no need for infighting, it was a company and no matter how impatient he had become it wouldn't matter how much he yelled if no one stuck around to actually finish the product. As if this was saving grace one of the engineers ran over to the two, nearly tripping over power cords on the way.

"We did it! We did it! We've done it!", he shouted as he swung a datapad around in his arms before presenting it to the Chief engineer. The engineer's face was ecstatic as he completed a life time achievement.

For Aleksandyr this was a blessing. For now, he allowed the two to discuss the details and after they were done talking the engineer walked off as the Chief Engineer turned to the CEO, her face reflected the fact that a world of pain was lifted off of her shoulders. It was the sight of relief, and it made Aleksandyr relieved too.

"We'll get to work on the first prototype, sir.", she smiled happily.

 

[Aleksandyr Gaillard]

Two more weeks passed and the month was already over, the month of the ETA's deadline when the CEO received good news.

"Engineering reported that the first prototype is ready.", his assistant mentioned over intercom.

"Good, tell them to prep a test run immediately. I'll be there when it's ready.", he responded as he went through various documents and other reports. Luck was on the CEO's side as their reverse engineering yielded a first prototype. How successful it would be remained unseen but Alek had high hopes. His team was well-regarded in their field and it was based off of proven technology; that in mind meant they had a pretty good chance of pulling off the weapon. Getting it on the scale they needed would require further testing, however.

Walking outside after a few hours and the team had the new weapon in place. It was nearly three times larger than the gunpod and most of it was exposed, rather than plated. It was also a fixed gun and required lots of work to set it in place. Already the weapon was charged.

"On your command, sir.", the Chief engineer said.

Aleksandyr inspected the weapon, from the side and back, only avoiding the front for obvious reasons. Giving a nod, "Fire when ready.", he gave the order. This time their target was a durasteel target set up. The wall of durasteel was as thick as it would be on a starship, meant to simulate armour plating. After a few seconds the weapon fired. A larger ball of blue-white plasma hurdled towards the armour and upon impact created a scene of destruction. When the vision cleared all that remained was a rather crisp piece of metal with several gaping holes. The effects were similar to that of an assault concussion missile.

"Excellent work.", he remarked as the engineering team already cheered at their success. Now to begin the final prototype.