First Reply Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho

[Makai Dashiell]

PYDYR

Waves gently lapped the shore of Pydyr, a hilly, tropical ocean filled moon in the Outer Rim. Lush and vibrant, it was hard to believe the main orbit was a windy, frigid planet. A stark contrast to the beautiful conditions currently being experienced.

One would think the tropical conditions and perfect waves for surfing would have brought the half-Galan out to the planet for leisure. In truth, he had a mission to find and harvest seafah jewels to create the perfect engagement ring. A salt-and-pepper like stone, he had known thus far they were varying shades of gray and silver, no two quite alike. In a rough, unpolished form they looked much like fish dung, making collecting them a feat.

Makai had a feeling he was going to come back to the surface with a lot of fish crap.

Beyond the personal, he was looking to expand his holding company from ores and extractions to also gemstones. No interest in going into the jewelry business, but many gemstones were either insanely valuable once cut and polished or used in various bits of technology or tools throughout the galaxy. A little bit of diversification never hurt business.

Which is why while he would be diving below the waves as well, two droids were to be programed to sort between fish dung and gemstones. According to locals it was a difficult process. Once that process was unlocked, it would be easy enough to establish a base of operations and small mining colony to get things underway.

[ Sir, I am unsure if programming these two droids will be successful enough for a business venture. Research suggests a low level of success, hence the rarity of seafah jewels.]

“Go ahead and get preparations for a mining colony either way Thirty-Seven. If it comes down to it we’ll stick a lab rat from research and development on planet until we find an unlock that works.”

[Understood Sir. ]

Open to corpo types, maybe someone looking for some dev for their company to expand into mining or technology - could be a great dev thread. Or some fun exploration if you're looking for a gemstone for a lightsaber/witchy thing

 

[Lana Carde]

PYDER
PharmaTech
Makai Dashiell

Lana took a deep breath and immediately gave a faint scowl. "Ugh, this all just smells like rotten fish voodoo," the Zeltron gave a grumble, half annoyed at the scent of fish that came wafting from the low salt marsh tide pools that were thick with mud.

The Zeltron was on her first assignment in overseeing a joint venture with Pharmatech and MaraTibx in regard to the purification of the local tidelands and embarking on setting up a facility that will invest in procuring and enhancing local Pydyrian healing sticks. Part of this was utilizing the agricultural enhancing Morodin slime, as the secretion would enhance the promotion of growth and mutation in plant life it covered to create a new, more nutritious strain of flora.

The only issue was that Lana did not take into consideration the rugged terrain, and here she showed up in heels and a tight pencil skirt grey dress.

"Alright, let's get the biodome set up, and let me know when Dosek arrives. We will negotiate with the creation of the enhanced Pydyr sticks and regenerative clean up."

The faster she got this up and running, the sooner she could go back inside and away from the scent of fish.

"Woosaah," she told herself, the former Companion trying to ohhm her way into a calming state. This was her first real assignment and she could not blow it.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Pydyr | Lana Carde
​

Makai was working on a sandbar, figuring there had been no reason to charter a boat just yet. When he had spoke to most of the locals, they had used re-breathing equipment and free dived for many of the jewels, finding them in reefs and kelp forests where the fish tended to thrive.

At his feet, two crab-like droids. Makai had them personally commissioned for himself after he drew up what he thought would be best for harvesting such gemstones. If all went well, they could simply be reprogrammed to harvest other rare gemstones. If he was already focused on mining, precious and semi-precious gemstones were a no brainer.

Datapad on hand, droids were turned on. They had been programmed with various images and schematics of the fish dung and the seafah jewels. Makai was going to let them loose on a trial run and see what they brought up.

Domes started to glow with their internal lighting systems and little claws cracked before they disappeared into the ocean waves.

[ I hope nothing eats them Sir. ]

 

[Lana Carde]

PYDER
PharmaTech
Makai Dashiell

Part of the process of setting up the bio-dome was to ensure that it would work hand in hand with the natural environment without issue. As this one would be located near the ocean, they had to reinforce the biodome based on long-term corrosion due to the salinity of the water.

A consideration for maintenance had been made on perhaps enhancing the solarium plasteel project line with lamantium reinforcements to perhaps allow for minor self-repairing capabilities. It had been a pitch Lana had recommended to Myra during her interview.

Outside, various workers under MaraTibx and PharmaTech assisted in the survey of the marshlands to determine what purifying processes they would need to take. Alongside working with the Morodin farmers, they would need to ensure they were practicing sustainable methods of growing the base flora used in the Pydyrian healing sticks.

Reviewing her datapad, Lana began to outline more of her proposals while observing the build.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[ Do you know what these seafah jewels look like Sir? ]

"In the raw or once cut and polished?"

[ Both. ]

"Yes. I'm hoping the two droids are better at identifying them then most.Raw looks rather banal, which explains why they are confused for fish dung. Polished and cut is quite amazing, varied unlike other gemstones."

[ Sir, may I venture a suggestion? ]

"Of course Thirty-Seven."

[ Instead of a hit-and-miss approach with training the droids to harvest the gemstones, I suggest we harvest everything that could be fish manure or raw gemstones. Either way we win. The fish dung byproduct will be sold as fertilizer to agricultural worlds and no gemstones will be missed during the process. ]

Makai nodded. It made sense, a more blanket approach. Harvesting everything and moving from there, it would still be a slow-going process compared to other mining methods.

"We can do that, bring in the harvesting equipment. We will still have to train a droid brain or optical equipment to do some initial sorting. Perhaps we can obtain some data on the average weight of the fish dung and use a multi-layered approach, optical and weight."

[ I will order the appropriate materials and dispatch research and development. ]

"From what we learn here, research and development can get a head start with."

Lana Carde​

 

[Lana Carde]

PYDER
PharmaTech
Makai Dashiell

While MiraTibx had a Laminanium refinery to make the alloy based of researched Qellan technology, there was only so much available, and mass producing a version of Solarium Glasteel that could self-repair may not be feasible at this time. At most, it may be limited production for special orders, such as for star ships or areas that may see a high level of impact, such as asteroid bases, mining facilities, or bio-domes in harsh environments.

Another option was to also expand the use of Solid-State holograms for tools and other programmable matter. Lana had many ideas to propose that could potentially benefit MaraTibx's catalog. In the meantime, she had a saltwater marsh to clean up, oversee the construction of a biodome, and make sure the Morodin farmers we setting up their fields the way they needed.

Lana gave herself a sniff. Ugh. She smelled like fish.

Outside, construction continued. The biodome would not only cover the designated marshland, but also incorporate the fields around it. They had to pay special consideration to any migratory birds. The last thing they needed was for PETA and environmental crazies to come over to picket.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Sometimes one had to slug through a lot of schutta in order to find what they were truly looking for.

This case was no different.

Little crab-droid drones were working tirelessly, moving up the sandbar with their finds and dumping them for inspection before scuttling back underneath the waves. Despite wanting to go a different direction on Pydyr, Makai was pleased with the performance of the two little prototype droids.

Getting production of these on a wider scale for less difficult gemstones would be a priority. Something that could easily be done though after this task was said and done.

Small rotary tool in hand, Makai was cutting through what was brought to shore to see what was gemstone and what was not. So far the split was about forty gemstone, sixty petrified fish dung.

The take was better than some of what had been described by locals freediving. Makai could easily pick his own from this, but to make a profit harvesting everything was going to be the clear option.

Rotary tool set down, the half-Galan grabbed a small pick instead. He wanted to see what was below for himself. Test is own hand at trying to find the gemstones.

"Going for a swim Thirty-Seven. Continue to calibrate the droids as needed."

[ Be careful Sir. ]

 

[Lana Carde]

PYDER
PharmaTech
Makai Dashiell

Deciding it was best to now to discuss details with the Morodin farmers - she had to get a translator droid to assist with discussions - the young Zeltron stood up and carefully made her way through the construction site.

A mite bit difficult when one had high heels and the terrain was either sand, permacrete, or marsh. Ugh.

[ Ma'dam, it is best that perhaps you exchange your footwear for something more suitable. ] 4M-Y3, or Amy, was a Southern Systems Bazaar Business Protocol droid that they had assigned to Lana to assist with translations.

Lips pursed and then Lana gave a sigh. She had assumed this job would entail for her to work within buildings; not actual field work. It is why she did not dress properly for the occasion.

"Alright, where are some boots?" Lana sighed out, watching the construction continue on the Biodome.

[ Thank you for the advice, I have percured a suitable pair of wet boots or you. ]

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Kicking underneath the waves, the ocean was everything he preferred ; warm and clear, plenty of reefs, and overall tropical.

Along the reefs, rocky outcroppings dotted the sandy bottom. He took a moment to observe the movement of the fish, where and how they travelled. With the jewels looking like petrified fish dung, it only made the most logical sense to follow the schools making their way through the currents.

Diving deeper, he approached the first rocky outcropping, holding onto the rock as he observed any protuberances along the surface. The way things were shaping up, it was clear to see why the success rate in harvesting was so low.

Small pick went to work, wondering if there was some type of equipment that did mineral analysis to make the job go by even faster during the harvesting process.

Something to ask Thirty-Seven, he would know about such things.

 

[Lana Carde]

With mud boots firmly in place, Lana let out a resigned sigh. This wasn't exactly the glamorous scenario she had envisioned for herself, but she couldn't deny the perks that came with being Myra Arceneau's personal assistant. The credits and benefits made it all worth it, even if it meant getting her hands dirty from time to time.

As she trudged through the marshy salt flats, Lana couldn't help but reflect on her research prior to joining Myra's team. She had known that the Arceneau Heiress was taking a more hands-on approach in overseeing the conglomerate's ventures through MaraTibx & Fuels. And as Myra's assistant, Lana was now tasked with navigating the intricacies of projects involving fuels, terraforming, mining, and various other subsidiaries.

Listening intently as the Morodin Farmer explained their plan, Lana noted the potential uses for the slime produced by their creatures. Not only could it enhance the raw ingredients for Pydyr healing sticks, but it could also be repurposed as fertilizer.

"Excellent," Lana nodded, her mind already racing with ideas. "Let's get started on creating those fertilizer blocks. We'll leverage them with the Bio-Dome for maximum efficiency."

Clearly, Makai Dashiell wasn't the only one thinking about fertilizer as a by product.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Kicking down deeper, Makai glided along the bottom of the sandy ocean floor, following the schools of fish near the rocky outcroppings. So far, the ocean was warm and peaceful, although he was sure there were apex predators in deeper water.

He paused near some vibrant reefs to harvest more of the plain-jane protuberances ; either fish dung or seafah jewels. It was going to be interesting to see how they were harvest on a larger scale, Makai was sure was onto something regarding mineral analysis.

Satisfied for the moment, Makai pushed himself off the ocean floor and up to the surface, popping up air side. Moving back to the sandbar, Makai came near Thirty-Seven with his net-bag of the mystery takings.

"Miss me Thirty-Seven?"

[ Terribly Sir. ]

"Funny. Thirty-Seven, how hard would it to be program a machine with mineral analysis of the seafah jewels? Would it be feasible in these elements?"

[ The only issue is time. Research and development would be able to complete such a task. Build a large, multi-level sorter that is based on mineral analysis, weight, and optical scanning. I predict only two percent of jewels would be lost as by-product in the sorting. ]

"Go ahead and put the order in to R&D for me."

 

[Lana Carde]

With those details in mind, Lana's next task was to oversee the construction of the biodome. After wrapping up her discussions with the farmers, she embarked on a survey of the biodome area.

Her first stop was the BioDome's Headquarters. This building would eventually house numerous offices, conference rooms, and meeting halls, along with other necessary amenities. It even boasted small hangar bays for shuttles and other spacecraft to land.

Connected to the Headquarters was the Biodome Starport. As these biodomes were often located far from major cities, they required their own starports. These facilities were set to be sizable, capable of accommodating over a hundred shuttles and numerous large transport ships. It will serve as vital hubs for ferrying workers to and from orbital stations daily. Arceneau Trade would provide free transport to and from the surface at regular intervals.

A significant portion of the biodome was to be dedicated to Research & Development Facilities and Agricultural Hectares. This specialized area was the largest division within the biodome's territory. It featured extensive hectares of land used for agriculture and bio-chemical cultivation of various botanicals and flora for the pydyr healing sticks ingredients. In this case, this was several hectares of salt marshland and seacoast that will be meticulously tended to by Ho'din, Ithorian, and Morodin horticulturalists, among other passionate individuals involved in the Eden Project.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[ Sir, I suggest we work with the planetary government in purchasing a large island to set up the equipment along with exclusive use a sector of the landing docks. ]

"Do you think they will agree to such terms? An entire sector of the landing docks for our use could be a stretch."

[ Credits talk Sir. The amount of credits paid for the use, plus our boost to the local economy will be beneficial. The employment of various locals alone will boost the surrounding villages. ]

"I suppose you're right Thirty-Seven."

[ Of course I am Sir. I have already scheduled a meeting with planetary officials for tomorrow morning. I have also alerted research and development and gone ahead and informed Vanir Technologies we will need a Dark Net system set up on planet. ]

"Guess I'm not swimming the rest of the afternoon. Looks like I'll be outlining a proposal for our business venture so you can look over and edit."

[ I advise you to get on that quickly Sir. Unless you want to stay awake until the wee hours of the morning, which I do not advise considering your sleeping schedule. ]

"Let's get to work then Thirty-Seven."

At least he could sit on the beach and work on his datapad for the proposal, enjoy the ocean waves and hot sun. A small consolation as Thirty-Seven would be over his shoulder, making small noises of disapproval.