Hidden Vices

[Barkt Melan]

It's those little things that can kill you. The flash in the corner of your eye, the random ion trail coming from nothing, the smallest chink in your armor. The hardest part about stealth is those little things.

For once, he was going to accept his father's words as fact. The little things could, indeed, reveal a sneaky operative, but that wasn't Barkt's forte. No, he had bigger things in mind. Much bigger. He had spent the last few weeks studying every scanner he could find. Every means of detection. Not Stygium. He couldn't get that for the life of him. No, he needed something cheaper. And, if his father's notes were to be believed, not exactly foolproof once a crystal Grav Trap was involved. no, he needed something simpler. There were rumors of compounds that could do such a thing, but none that he could find. No, he would need to figure this out alone.

Well, not entirely. [member="Marek Starchaser"], Overseer o the Technate, was here as well. Hopefully, the Bothan didn't mess up too badly.

"Alright, Test 1, you are clear for takeoff." A quick roger from the hanger, and the first prototype was airborne. "Activate anything you need. I want a lock on him." A few responses later, a small glimmer appeared on the screen. Something was showing up. What it was, only time would tell.

 

[Corey's OOC]

Marek stepped up to the plate here, [member="Barkt Melan"] had a bit of a unique history with the ASA, but the Bothan knew what he was doing with blueprints, he gave him that. One of those characters that the Technate needed. And sure, for all outwardly appearances, Alana was running the Technate, but those who knew anything knew it was Marek who was turning the wheels. He didn't have galactic domination on the mind, but he did want to create a wonderfully strong think tank.

"I can grab it in the Force. That'll be something we need to think to counter." He said from behind the next-gen Bothan. Still, if enough of these were deployed, they'd be harder to catch, right? Or some stealth and some that were obviously taking the bait. There were ways for this to be used. But really, if they could get it working... that'd be something completely new for the galaxy. A Technate Special, as it were.

 

[Barkt Melan]

As [member="Marek Starchaser"] said that, Barkt couldn't help but sigh. How does one counter the Force? It went beyond technology, into the mystic unknown. Not something you could be rid of with a simple bit of tech. Or could you? It was an interesting prospect, but not one he had the money to try. Yet. He would look into that when he had the resources. Maybe some other time.

"Any ideas on how to amend that?" He asked, knowing full well that the Overseer was better equipped to answer that than the question. Even in the off chance that Barkt was farce-sensitive, he wouldn't really care. Starships and numbers were his magic. He didn't really want to understand the Force anymore than he needed to.

Still, the ship was locked onto now by the bridge. As a tractor beam locked onto the ship, the fighter was reeled into the hanger again to be readied form the next test. All in all, it had done well for the first time.

 

[Corey's OOC]

That was the trickiest bit. The Force. "Didn't mean to take away from this ship. The technology is wonderful. Are we hoping to use it on standard pilots, or market it towards the Force sensing ones?" That was if it was going on the public market.

Taking a chip from the bag he had, not wanting to smoke near a species that could go up in flames, he looks to the Bothan and offered one.

"There are a few options."

 

[Barkt Melan]

"The current model being tested is under construction for the Spynet." He would leave it at that. Really, that was the most he knew. They had asked for an updated version of the X-57, and he would give them one. Stealth Tech wasn't the easiest thing to design, but he had more to do for this ship. Much more. But that was a topic for another day. He needed to finish that up later.

"Alright, Folks, good run. Engennering, Tech, make whatever tweaks you want to the design and coating for the next test. Bridge, keep scanners active and be ready for anything. I don't want to be caught off-guard." As the affirmatives rang out, and others started to scramble, the Bothan accepted the chip [member="Marek Starchaser"].

"You mentioned there were options around the force. Any suggestions?"

 

[Corey's OOC]

The SpyNet, of course. That would make sense. Obviously, Marek wasn’t always thinking of implementation, just learning what could be done, and where to best put it. Which meant, selling it somewhere to someone who would buy it. “Yeah, I should’ve thought of that.” He nodded to the Next-Gen Bothan.

“Well, there is a world that has a small Force repelling lizard… though I’m not sure if the Mandos are going to share that… If not, I can do some research, tear apart some holocrons to see if we can make that happen. Othrewise, we’ll need to make it so the location is worried on anything else but the ships. If that makes sense?”

Now the man was speaking tactics, that was going to go well, sure.

[member="Barkt Melan"]

 

[Barkt Melan]

"Keeping a lizard alive inside a starfighter would take some work." The Bothan commented, thinking. "It would probably be easier to see if we can find out why it does that, and then try and replicate it with technology." Maybe it would make sense. Maybe not. For all he knew, it was ludicrous. But perhaps, with the right people, it could work.

"If the point is to hide the ship, then a means of distraction could work. But without the time to plan it, relying on that could be tricky. May have trouble relying on that in the field." As he spoke, the Bridge began buzzing as they readied for a second flight.
[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Marek was nodding. Leaving a lizard in the ship would be… tricky. “I’d recommend talking to the Knights. They’re all the mystics we need. I’ve got a few contacts I can put feelers out to, if you’d like. Organize a field trip to…” He snapped his fingers twice. “Myrkr, and see what we can chase down?” He wasn’t going. Marek hated those damned things.

“The other option would be a change in tactics. Reverting to real space outside their field of vision and making the way in slowly? I know its not a hit and run tactic, but doing that, or dropping from a ship designed to muck with the systems? A sort of electronic warfare transport?” It was an idea.

Marek liked this Bothan.

[member="Barkt Melan"]

 

[Barkt Melan]

"I'd love to know how it works, and if it's repeatable. But do we need to sent the Knights out? There are people who, I believe, do that kind of thing for a living." He thought he had seen that a while ago. Still, if the Knights wanted to, they could. "Perhaps we could have them capture some for us to study. No need to anger the mandalorians with our presence."

As [member="Marek Starchaser"] mentioned electronic warfare, a small smile crept onto his face. "Perhaps. Again, though, if you're ambushed, the transport may not be there, and relying on that would endanger the pilot." He liked the idea, and of course his mind would now try to fit as much sensor-jamming equipment and the like onto one ship that he could.

"Launch." The control spoke. Returning his attention to the scanners, he watched as an Ion trail appeared at launch, disappearing moments later as the ship began to move away. It was gone. The coat was working. "Bridge to Testflight, do you copy?"

"I copy, Bridge. Can you see me?"

"Negative, Testflight." Cheers echoed through the bridge as Barkt approached the man in charge of the primary scanners.

"Set the Aleph Frequency to 639 on the ultraviolet scanner." Slowly, a small trail began to form as the ship moved. "It's traceable, but unlikely to be found. You'd need to know the exact setting on the right scanner." Looking back to Marek, he asked, "So what do you think?"

 

[Corey's OOC]

Sending the Knights out, definitely. That would be something he’d have to network up. Really, his job, since Alana was managing the office of Overseer, was to get his hands dirty and link people to who they needed to meet. That was smart, and a good position. Plus, kept him out of an office, and he wasn’t in the ‘in-the-public’ representative of the government. It was nice.
“I’ll make a few calls about the lizards, see what we can do. We’ll need one or more of the Knights that are tech wizards to do some of the work.” That really wasn’t him, at all.

He nodded to [member="Barkt Melan"]. This Bothan didn’t seem to bother him, and his method of thinking was smart. “You bring up good points.” Really, Marek wasn’t a soldier, he was a businessman.

Watching the bridge work, and work the scanners, he was reaching out with the Force. There weren’t people here to find that ship, but with the Force he could. Filling those with Knights that could knock the Force back, that would be smart. But they needed to work with all pilots and save their lives. “You bring a lot of new and interesting work. I like it.” He nodded.

“How long before these would go into production?”