Clearing The Slipway (TNO Dev)

[Lash]

The blue skinned Chiss were seldom seen in mass outside the ascendancy. The galaxy was no stranger to their kind but the elusive and mysterious race had kept to itself for the most part. Dealing with lesser races seldom ended well for one of the two groups involved. over the last thousand years the Chiss had become more known by the galaxy but only from the notoriety of specific individuals not as a whole. While Lash and his followers idolized the most famous of these, They were not the majority. Thrawn had painted a picture which to this day shadows anyone and everyone's idea and opinion about the Chiss race. There was no way around being compared tot he man, as great as he was, but in the end Chiss were seen as untrustworthy because the greatest of them served only himself in the end.

That is the way of the Chiss after all. Self was a word the Chiss associated with the Ascendancy. By serving the Ascendancy they served themselves. The Chiss were superior to the other races of the galaxy, they were more evolved and for the lesser ones to attempt to understand their ways was ludicrous. It would be like swine attempting to understand the jungle cat, They were just lesser beings. It was not their fault, they could not control the ineptness of their races, they were as they were.

 

[Lash]

Lash had discovered while he had been among the humans that individual members of the race could come near the intellect and evolutionary equal of the Chiss. These were few and seldom flawed in some way which resolved them to remain lesser beings. Foran Greth was one such human. His ideals were flawed but his mind was superior to most of his kind. He could see things in people, know their minds in a way. Lash had once wondered if the man was force sensitive but had never queried the man about it. The two had a fragile relationship based on mutual need, Lash needed him to achieve his ultimate goals, and he needed Lash and his engineers. Lash and his people aslo provided a tactical resource with Blue Steel Squadron. The battlegroup Lash and his people had taken from the long dead Galactic Empire. It was because of this and the mobile shipyard Lash had stolen with Greth's assistance that the Chiss had been allowed a place in the Imperium and now in The New Order.

 

[Lash]

Many of the Imperial's in the group did not trust the Chiss, most of all Lash. Lash understood it and knew it was just their lesser minds not being able to comprehend the situation. The Chiss were very loyal beings. Their loyalty to the Ascendancy was their primary loyalty. This was true of most Chiss but infighting was part of their way as well. The Chiss looked at loyalty as an ever-changing stream. They Ascendancy was the source, ever present and always strong. Their servitude and their loyalty to their family was a near second. Because of this infighting was present between houses and families at times. Each had their own ideas and agendas and each vied for more power and control than the other. This was done in the senate and on political fronts not at military fueled combat. The Chiss were a peaceful race unless provoked. Offensive actions were forbade in the Ascendancy. Only when the act of attacking first was dire and seen as the last resort to keep the Ascendancy safe would it be allowed, Thrawn had been outcast for that very reason. His attack on the Repubic forces in the unknown regions had set him on a road of his own conception. He saw the ascendancy and its atrophied military and knew only by gaining favor and support from the known regions powers could he breathe life back into the Chiss. The great enemy was coming and the senate had refused to listen to his words of warning.

 

[Lash]

So too was Lash on a self-induced exile from his beloved Ascendancy. Like Thrawn before him, he saw the weakness in the Ascendancy. The willingness to surrender to the Sith and the placement of a puppet master government on Csilla was too much for Lash and his people. Thier outspoke resistance to the Sith rule had branded them exile and forced them out of the Ascendancy. It had made them traitors in the eyes of the senate even if they were heroes to the people. Now after years of maneuvering and subservience to the humans, Lash and his people were building their strength. They were part of this New Order and as such looked at it as their home.

This made them loyal to a fault and until the day they were ready to return to their home in the unknown, return to the Ascendancy, they would be loyal to the New Order. This was how the humans misunderstood the Chiss, yes they were alien to them, and yes the Chiss were superior, but until the day they could return to the Ascendancy The New Order was home. They would serve The New Order as they would their own Ascendancy, and their service was the art of war. Designing and creating weapons, vehicles, starships was only part of their usefulness. Lash had a standing Chiss army of nearly three hundred thousand Chiss. All loyal to him, the Ascendancy, and The New Order. Only Greth knew of the full strength of the Chiss forces. They were the reserve Greth kept secret. His ace in the hole for the day he might need them.

 

[Lash]

Lash had accepted Greth as flawed and trusted the man as much as he could trust any inferior being, but it was a trust of necessity. The two knew each others secrets, they knew they stood on near equal footing, at least they did at the beginning. The New Order had grown strong in the years since he and his Chiss had joined. The balance of power had shifted in favor of the human and his kind. While Lash had the loyalty of the Chiss and a large majority of the Ragathians, the humans out numbered them now nearly ten to one. And unlike before where Lash had a larger fleet than Greths order, the Humans had new ships and now well out numbered his fleet as well.

His usefulness was what kept his people safe now. The steady stream of development and new tools for war was his advantage over them. Greth knew that the Chiss had tech held back just in case the Imperials changed their mind. The three Procursator destroyers among them. Greth and Blissex knew of the ships existence, but not where they currently were being stationed. As part of Blue Steel Squadron they were the reserve fleet for The New Order and under Lash's command. It was him after all who had built the ships and stolen them from the Imperial Remnant. They too kept him safe.

 

[Lash]

As such now Lash was over the research and development for Greth and the New Order. He served as Chief Engineer for the state run corporation, The Imperium Forge Works, and built the technology which now brought in credits and defended Greth and his people. Lash had designed many products for the Imperium, as the New Order had been called previously, and now was unveiling a revolutionary new technology to the MOff and his advisors.

The group of humand had joined Lash and his engineers for a brunch on the veranda of the centers for science and industry building on Rothana. LAsh had stationed many of his people here to work with the humans on basic technology. The more advanced items were kept in a secret location off world where only the Chiss had access to the items. Here was where Lash and his people first presented the tech they created to Greth and The New Order.

 

[Lash]

Lash looked out at the officers of The New Order, they all watched him as he neared the central podium in the lecture hall. They had been assembled today for the presentation on a new line cruiser for the fleet. Greth sat in the front of the group along with Blissex and the colonel he has meet during the Harrower incident. Lash turned on the hologram and then began his presentation.

"Welcome loyal officers of the New Order. Today marks a grand day in what will be the future of the Order. As many of you know My people have begun a systematic exploration of the orbital ring around this world. nearly eighty percent of it has been closed off and abandon over the centuries and with it technology and projects left unfinished and abandon. In the two months since my people have been mapping the ring we have successfully repaired and recommissioned five ship building facilities. IN one of these we found the hulls of six cruisers which had been laid down sometime during the height of the former New Order and abandon after its defeat." Lash paused for a moment for the audience to catch up. Humans were slow like that and he did not want to over tax their mental development. he brought up a new image of a very familiar looking warship. "Ladies and gentlemen I give you the first six vessels in the new Invincible-class."

 

[Lash]

the vessel was immediately recognizable yet much different than its predecessor. The long hull and the shape od the prow and aft engine bank could not be mistaken. What everyone was looking at was the ancient Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruisers from the old republic days. The vessel was however much different. It was a new ship from the frame up. State of the art technology had gone into the design. New technology and systems filled the ship. The once crew hungry ship snow was up to standard on automation and crew capacity needs. The systems were state of the art and up to modern standards. The hull was clad in a new form of armor which at first did not seem anything special but it was.

"The main improvement to the ship other than its astetic is the new MENERA armor." said Lash as he changed the hologram once again. The hull of the ship magnified to an image of the armor plate. Then it too changed to show a side angle break down of the armor.

"The armor is a hybrid Active/reactive system. It utilizes active ablative current and coating to make the two individual plates stronger and acts as a reactive plating by having the two plates sandwich an inert layer of slilcar. This allows the top plate to have some degree of malleability to weapons strikes. The action of the silicar compression giving the top layer of ablative armor room to bend makes the thickness of the plating seem much thicker than it really is." said lash at the now very interested TNO military officers.

 

[Lash]

Lash paused and let the officers speak to each other for a moment before moving on. He changed the hologram once again to show the ship as a whole. Its gray hull was lined with weapons blisters amidships and two large sensor dishes were mounted on the dorsal and ventral hull aft of the weapons. The engine sections looked far better armored than the predecessor dreadnaughts and the engined were new and state of the art variants of older Nubian technology.

"The new Invincible-class if also equipped with advanced thermal and molecular shielding. This makes the ship very durable and a formidable escort for the Orders larger capital vessels. They can take a beating that might otherwise be put to one of our destroyers." said Lash. He started the image rotating so the ship could be seen from every angle. "This new ship based on the old Dreadnaught cruisers we located, in the abandon sections of the orbital ring, will serve as the first main line cruiser produced for The New Order Ecscusivly but the IFW. It is well suited for multi-role operation with a full squadron of attack craft and room for three freighters in the lower hold." said Lash zooming in on a ventral view of the ship. The hanger no positioned on the ventral prow section of the hull magnified for the attendees to see.

 

[Joran Greth]

Moff Greth stayed after the rest of the officers had left. He had matters to discuss with the Chiss and he did not want anyone else present for the chat. He watched the last of the Imperial offcers leave and dismissed his aids leaving him alone in the room with the Chiss.

"Admiral Lash, I have a matter of great importance to discuss with you." said Greth looking the blue skinned man directly in the eyes. He too knew how to watch a person while not looking at them. the body, even the body of a race as cold and mechanical as the Chiss could tell you much. The Chiss man nodded and waited for Greth to continue.

"Lash, I know you and the others are do not trust one another. I would like that to stay the way of things. They need you to keep them in check. I need you to watch them as you are for any sign of disloyalty." Said Greth as he walked across the floor. I would also like for you to bring the Intrepid out of the dark. It is time for the rest of the fleet to meet our new flagship." said Lash knowing the Chiss would agree. He was proud of the chip they had created from the ancient sith dreadnaught. The Chiss officer loved his secrets but he also loved showing off how much better he was than everyone else. That was how Greth had him hooked. It was how he would survive if the Chiss and his people ever changed sides. Greth and the Chiss discussed the plan Greth had for the world of Kamino and the part Lash would play in it. Greth left the CHiss to begin preparations for departure and the Chiss left for where ever he had the ships of Blue Steel hidden.