Defense and Offense

[Laira Darkhold]

Simple. This would be simple. We would go over the design smoothly, talk about its merits, its flaws as if it had any that weren't obvious to shield systems, and then we would test them, compiling sensor data on them to be sure our beliefs were true. In truth I wasn't sure about the new business relationships ArmaTech was developing but large corporations often helped out the smaller ones. Smaller companies found it easier to devote time and effort to research and development than larger companies. It wasn't that I didn't have the money to pour into a project or engineers to hire to work on it. I personally didn't have the time to oversee everything. Zreame had been excellent about easing my work load, but she had also undertaken a lot of work of her own to also be required to walk around doing minor work like this. Even still it was important to me that this project be completed without a hitch. Hence I had hired Isis Varida to assist in Zreame's absence. I didn't want to bog the pretty Cernun down while also asking an enormous favor from her like I had, so outsourcing a little of the work wasn't a big deal. The Idea had already been developed and now it was an issue of finalizing the design, adding the one system I wanted to, and testing it. The new relationship was not one I was particularly looking forward to given ArmaTech's treatment by the Republic, but if I was forced to, I would work alongside one of their up and coming corporations in order to achieve my own goals.

[member="Isis Varida"] [member="Sanya Val Lerium"]

 

[Isis Varida]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

The click click click of her lollipop as it tapped the back of her teeth came in the elevator. Damorian Manufacturing was well a great place to work but they were doing as needed. Renting their people out while working to establish a base to safely begin and resume production of their ships. Isis only looked the part of a stunning blue skinned azure goddess who could get her infinite pocket of hard candy she could suck on. She had her work cut out for her being well one of the newest employees of the company and working on their engineering teams. She rubbed her hands together before she was moving to get to the meeting and spoke finally. "Isis Varida from Damorian for Draco Vereen." She was waiting but had her datapad and equipment while popping her neck. The bodysuit leaving her forearms and head exposed but allowing for her to have everything else covered

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

Sanya entered the armatech building no idea where to go, other than a map sent to her upon request for a business meeting. all she knew is that they where looking into developing a new shield, but no information on what makes it special. although she wasn't going to turn down an opportunity that could benefit the company and experience.

she soon found herself to the room to where the meeting was to take place, she was anxious to find out what her role would be in the techs development. the door slid open and in the room was two people the rather large muscular man, [member="Draco Vereen"] and a slender woman who she didn't know by name. as the woman walked in she bowed to the two in the room. "good evening I'm Sanya Val Lerium, CEO of Inquisition industry's I'm here for the meeting."

[member="Isis Varida"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I nodded as each woman entered the room, waiting for them both to introduce themselves before giving them a brief introduction of my own. "I am Draco Vereen, CEO of ArmaTech Combat Systems. I am glad the both of you agreed to assist me." I said, standing and giving a slight, respectful bow of my own. "It is a pleasure to meet you both." I walked around from behind the desk and motioned for them to follow me into an adjacent workshop from the office. It was fairly cluttered and needed a good dusting, but most mechanics didn't really do the whole clean up after themselves, and I was no different in that aspect. The two women were an engineer and a business woman, both were experienced and skilled in ways I was not. That was why they were here.

"The project I have in mind is a modification and amplification of the existing Paragon-class Personal Shields, that have recently been expanded in production. As you may know they were the first personal shields to make use of Molecular Shielding and the second known to layer Particle and Ray shields together. We are working to make a more resilient, longer lasting version, and with a more reliable version. Its complex and simple at the same time. Simple goal, but without my chief engineer who is on sabaticle, I don't have the know how to make it do what I want." I said, picking up the Paragon-class on the work bench. We had practically infinite parts out here on concord dawn, attached to a city sized factory and a full city block dedicated to research and development, custom orders, and short term projects.

[member="Sanya Val Lerium"] [member="Isis Varida"]

 

[Isis Varida]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Sanya Val Lerium"]

Isis looked at the woman who entered and bowed her head in welcome before speaking to her. "I am Isis Varida an engineer at Damorian Manufacturing." And with the miracle of cloning several other things over several lifetimes but she was liking this body despite its limitations while she was taking a look at the shield. As Draco spoke she had a few ideas though making it smaller and stronger might be possible. If they could work on the power source... Oh she had some thoughts with the molecular shielding that would absorb the energy. "The molecular shielding absorbs the energy directed at it, if the power cell could be fitted with a capacitor to absorb the energy and use it to power the unit. You'd increase the length it was activated. We could work for a stronger power cell and more efficient consumption."

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

Sanya followed the two into the workshop, as she look around it seemed like the typical organized mess. laying on the table was the shield that they'd be working on. Sanya didn't know much about the technology other than it's pure energy. as the other woman spoke she mentioned about drawing energy, that she presumed would be taking hits it lead Sanya to an idea. "also what if we could get to power to recycle the energy that is under used, sure it wouldn't add much more life long term but that short duration could save a shot taken sooner." sanya still knew thisthis wasn't her field of expertise, but give her instructions and the tools she'd be able to work it.

[member="Isis Varida"] Ξ [member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"This is possible, the length and sustainability are both equally important in terms of resilience. We also wanted to make the unit more resilient over all to increase its effectiveness across more powerful attacks, such as laser cannons or small rockets. These deal great amounts of damage all at once and not much could be absorbed by comparison to fifty or sixty blaster bolts. Both ideas could be implemented if we can discover a way to do so. As for as a more efficient power source goes, we considered working with overcharged power cells, but we would prefer something more stable, less risky." I said, handing them the Paragon unit. That was an aspect we intended to change with the new design. There were a few people who would be interested in what we accomplished, assuming we did.

"We also had concerns involving the risk of critical overload. Seeing as the Paragon currently risks critical overload, we wanted to incorporate a failsafe to protect the wearer from that occurring in the new Module." That was also a serious concern. The current model had to be switched off on occasion, though in the field most people attached it to a Wrist Laser and burnt the spare energy off that way, but not everyone had that option. This new needed to provide a sure fire substitute to counter the one case of critical overload that had thus far occurred.

[member="Sanya Val Lerium"] [member="Isis Varida"]

 

[Isis Varida]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Sanya Val Lerium"]

Isis was watching it and looking over the shield. A wrist laser to burn off the excess energy was a smart idea of they could try an channel it into something else for the ones who couldn't use it. There was some working at the shield while she laid it out and spoke. "Madilon..." She said it absent mindedly for it but her thoughts were going towards making it smaller but stronger. "When we want to build smaller hyperdrives but still make them stronger Madilon is used. We could use the same idea and make the casing of the shield stronger with a spare diathium cell to control the run off. Their power capacity can last a long time and some tubing to cool it." She was thinking of some way to keep it from going critical or overheating to blow up. There were a few other ideas.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I mused quietly about the proposed solution. My face appeared to be pondering the option carefully, thinking it over. Madilon wasn't something I had heard of, but then again, I was a mechanic, not a scientist. "I haven't heard of that before, but I am no expert. Is it fairly common?" I asked the Liran engineer. It was a fair suggestion assuming we could get it in large enough quantities to fulfill the amount of shield systems we intended to produce, which granted wasn't many.

"Ostrine has been a favorite of mine for solving coolant problems. We could use a limited amount of Ionite to assist in preventing critical overload. We would have to shield it, but ArmaTech has been doing that for a while. This whole unit will likely be EMP shielded assuming we can without interferring with module's effectiveness." I said, to them, letting them ponder the conundrum. There were more possible solutions I am sure, but I don't know them, that is why I hired the two women in the first place. I hoped that they would be able to enlighten me and assist the engineers ArmaTech did employ in order to put the Exemplar into production. One step at a time, we still had a long way to go before we started tackling the other aspects of this project.

[member="Isis Varida"] [member="Sanya Val Lerium"]

 

[Isis Varida]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Sanya Val Lerium"]

"There is some on Mayferria in the outer rim just outside the unknown regions. They also have ionite in their mines which could help things out." She was thinking about it and sitting there with a small grin on her face know steepling her fingers together. "I have done some work out there before and know the territory." She was watching it all more waiting for input from Sanya to see if she had any ideas and lef the floor open to her. "Though I am just an engineer, I am sure Inquisition Industries has some ideas."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"We can have it looked into fairly easy. From my understanding Mayferria is still neutral, at least for now. If you have a small supply we can begin testing with that would be most helpful. ArmaTech has some stores of Ostrine and Ionite for you to use as needed. I would suspect using them for this phase would be fine as testing and modifying a small number of Paragon units shouldn't require more than a few Kilograms." I answered, making way for the Inquistion Industries CEO to chime in when convenient.

I looked over the unit and pondered for a moment. EMP shielding might interfere with the shield's operation, but we would find out. Isis had already proven to be very intelligent and knowledgeable since arriving, so perhaps we could move into new territory. I decided it was about time to bring up ArmaTech's other curiosity about defense tech. "Having led the industry in defense, we have recently been thinking about incorporating a type of offense in this shield model. Something like the exterior becoming electrically charged and shocking conductive objects that struck the shield rather than having the power it absorbs cycle into power cells. Perhaps this could be an optional mode?" I asked, unsure how such a system could be implemented.

[member="Isis Varida"] [member="Sanya Val Lerium"]

 

[Isis Varida]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Sanya Val Lerium"]

A weapon built into the shield could be a hard thing but it might be possible to do. She was thinking about a few things. "We might be able to with some work, something in the knee of a suit of armor. Base it on the old imperial design but instead of a power cell it could arc off some fo the energy towards a target with an ionic disruptor. Would have a shielding unit that could short out other shielding units." She was rubbing some of her hands together while she moved a few things around and got out another lollipop unwrapping it with her tongue quickly before she was tapping it against the back of her teeth.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I nodded to the Liran woman. An Ionic disruptor wouldn't be incredibly far off from what we had been planning, but what we had been planning would be capable of covering the entire shield. "Our engineers had suggested altering the energy flow of the absorbed power into a shunt that would electrify the exterior shielding making it effectively like wearing an electrostaff, which we believed could be very useful. Alternatively an Ionic Disruption field or blast combined with the shield system isn't bad. We should play with both ideas, see what comes of what. I think we could manage the Ionic Disruptor with some work. Perhaps working off Individual field disruptors, but I am not sure. I feel like weapons that are meant to counter shields will disrupt the shield itself. If it works it works though." I said. The lollipop obsessed Liran would certainly have to pull more of the weight for this project if she wanted to incorporate those, as the engineers I had on staff had been stumped with the original idea, much less this, "But, miss Varida, if you have any idea how to do so, please let the engineers know, they aren't as good as you, which is why I asked you here in the first place."

[member="Isis Varida"]

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

Sanya was quite fascinated by the conversation with ideas and a rough design handed to the engineers she followed them into crafting the device. layer upon layers, bit by bit the device slowly built up with the materials given to her. the engineer telling her what to do even though she was ten steps ahead of them. everything slowly slotted into place and all fixed together. upon almost completing the prototype a case for the device had been finished. the process took about four hours but it was almost done, just bits of soldering and the case tightened before putting in power cells and testing.

each slight modification time the design written in details on a copy of the schematic. with the labor done Sanya was eager to test it. with the knowledge of how to make these she was contemplating crafting her own version but suited for droids, obviously though with the help of the Draco.

as she placed in the power cells into the shield the small lights on the back lit up signifying it was power. walking into the workshop she was last in she put it onto the workbench infront of Draco. "done, what you think of it?"

[member="Draco Vereen"] Ξ [member="Isis Varida"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I looked over the device and let the other engineers chat about it and show me sensor data they had collected from it while the representatives for Inquisition Industries built it, or assisted in its construction, depending on who you asked and about what 'aspect' of the device. I wasn't really too considered about that part. I was more focused on finishing the product and getting it on the market. Overall the data looked promising, using a shunt to redirect the influx of energy into the device outwardly in an electrical field around the shield. It looked like the electrical field acted basically like a large contact stunner covering the shield that electrified objects that struck it. Could be fairly painful to vibroblades that struck the energy field.

"Looks like it is what we are looking for. Good use of Ostrine coolant wiring. Madilion energy cells. Electric converter and adjusted power conversion set. I'd like to see it in use if at all possible. We can set up a testing area in the firing range in a moment." I waved over at two of the engineers to go ahead of us and set up a test range for the shield system. "Thank you for your work on this project miss Sanya and miss Isis. Hopefully this is what we need."

[member="Sanya Val Lerium"] [member="Isis Varida"]

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

Sanya nodded her head. "it's no problem, infact it's given me insight of how to build this kind of thing and I will take this knowledge on hopefully into my own work. I got to admit I was a little cautious at the beginning but I'm glad I attended." although she was cuoris of what they would test it against first. blaster or swords?

as the test was getting set up Sanya followed them to the firing range in help to set the device up. calabrations would surly be needed to get it's correct proximity of the target, making sure there is an adequate gap between the shield and what the user would need. with a few tweaks the blueish purple shield was now ready to start physical tests.

[member="Draco Vereen"] Ξ [member="Isis Varida"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I looked over the actually device now. It looked good. And the purplish blue energy field that it projected was distinctly different from the blue of the Paragon-class. Other than the coloration, it didn't look much different. The model appeared the same aesthetically and its internal parts were more or less the same as the other two with minor additions and miniaturization made to the major components to accommodate a stronger projector for each type and a higher voltage power cells to power the shield for longer than the last model.

"Alright I want to see the offensive power mode in action first before I put this thing on and you shoot at me miss Sanya." I said, nodding to an engineer who brought me a pair of thick rubber insulated gloves and a long metal rod. "Well, lets see if you did good." I said as I struck the shield. The crackling energy surged around the metal pipe and delivered a pretty powerful volt into the rubber gloves i was wearing. Not enough to sear through but enough to melt the point of contact. The electric resistant lining protected me from the shock but not the heat and I quickly pulled the gloves of and stuck my finger in my mouth, "Ah, crap. Well, it works." I said a little sarcastic.

[member="Sanya Val Lerium"]

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

Sanya giggled "I take that as a yes. don't worry if you hurt your self too much I'm sure I have the capacity to fix you up." as she picked up the blaster checking safety on and ammo in she looked at Draco. "so is this the part where I get to shoot you or would you like to have the dummy shot first?" the question was rhetorical as she handed him the blaster rifle, with ammo in and soft on. after all only one thing in here would survive a shot to the head and it wasn't even alive.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I pulled my burnt finger out of my mouth and noticed it was going to blister up from the small burn on my finger. "Yeah, I'll be alright. I know a little healing." I didn't bother with that yet though. I had other things to worry about. I picked up and put on the shield projecting unit, attaching it to my belt and checking to make sure everything appeared to be in working order. Once I was satisfied I powered up the system and let the shield project itself around me. "Alright, go ready that E-Web. That little rifle isn't really much of a test for something like this." I said to her, pointing at the E-Web that had been set up. "If it works like its supposed to then a few blasts from that. If not, well, we will have to trust in your work." Given the pep talk, I still prepared myself to use to Tutaminis should the prototype fail. I was confident, not stupid. "Go ahead. Let her rip."

[member="Sanya Val Lerium"]

 

[Isis Varida]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Sanya Val Lerium"]

Isis was looking at what they had done and she was watching the testing. The idea of shooting at Draco though had some benefits as her arms crossed over her chest. "This should be fun to see." She looked over towards the E-web and at Sanya while walking over to be near her. Datapad and scanners going as she brought some of it up to record the data in case it failed or if it succeeded they should be able to replicate and make more of it. "I think we will be ready to begin, hopefully we don't have to explain why there is a body of a ceo on the floor." Her hand held a piece of hard candy though while she was watching it.