Ice to See You (Open to CIS)

[Kyyrk]

Location: Vylmiran Technological Industries Headquarters, Lobby​

Wearing: Simple Robes​

Tags: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] @Caeser Kenway​

​

War was coming. That much had already been foretold. He'd known it since Eshan. Which was the reason he was here. The reason he had summoned the greatest minds to Vylmira. His mind was one of the better in terms of war. And yet, he was not willing to put his faith in himself alone. And so Voph had sent out the summons. Urging them to come to Vylmira. For there was a secret he'd kept that he was ready to unveil. Were the circumstances different, he might have kept it for himself. But this threat could one day haunt the entirety of the Confederacy. It was his calling...his duty, to help defend her people.

He could sense the presence of two of his guests ahead in the lobby. The deWinter girl, and the Minister of War himself. A better response than even he could have anticipated. More would come, of that he had no doubt. But the Minister was here. If he was on board with this project, Voph had no doubt that it would be a success. As he stepped into the lobby, Voph spread his arms in greeting. "Minister. Miss deWinter. Welcome to Vylmira. I hope your journey was uneventful. Please, if you will come this way..." Voph stepped aside, gesturing to the hall he had come from. ​"I have invited others, they shall join us as they are able, or see fit. I have a conference room prepared..."

Voph turned to lead the way, falling in step beside Minister Kenway. He offered a hand in greeting as they walked. "I do believe this is our first official meeting in person, Minister. Voph Sitdrisa'yr. I'll spare you the titles, they are irrelevant to today's proceedings." He glanced at Scherezade for a moment, offering her a nod as they paused outside an elevator. "Miss deWinter, always a pleasure to see you after our adventures in the west. I am looking forward to seeing how your...ingenuity will mesh with the task at hand."

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Location: Vylmiran Technological Industries Headquarters, Lobby
Wearing: this
Tags: [member="Voph"] | [member="Caesar Kenway"]

War was coming. To some, this spelled dreadfulness. Headaches. Logistics. Innocents dying. Blood running down the street. Loss of resources. But to the Blood Hound, war was a celebration. There were few places she preferred to be at that were not a field of battle, and the sights of the dying and those in pain did not make her uncomfortable in the slightest. Perhaps that was part of why she'd created Whimsy. What had initially begun as a way in which she hoped to generate some income during a time in which she thought she had none, had become a massive company that alongside planning children's birthday parties, also dealt with uncommon means of mass destruction. Many people wrinkled their nose at her methods, but not a single one of them could claim they were ineffective. And with the expansion of her contacts thanks to her super-secret job with the Ministry of Secrets, the Crow was also finding more and more business avenues.

And still, the invitation to this summit had come as a surprise. Among the Confederacy, despite her actions, Scherezade was still not accustomed to being treated as chit less and less with every day. It seemed… Well, for the most part, things were moving in the right direction. And still this invite had taken her by surprise; she'd not expected to be personally invited by the Viceroy, even though they had worked together. Receiving that invite had gotten her so excited that she had tuned to her sister and asked for help in acquiring a proper dress attire for the event. Something that said business, but also enabled more than enough storage space for some of the weapons she always carried about her body. As Madalena had said, skin-tight still left you with places to hide knives, though this dress wasn't as tight as that.

The smile on her face as [member="Voph"] greeted her and the Minister of War was wide – and genuine. She followed quietly down the hall, not minding at all that she was a couple of steps behind them. By the elevator, she had to force herself to take the smile down as to not appear… Over enthusiastic?

"If we're skipping the titles, you can just call me Scherezade," she said though, the smile sneaking back for a flash. Turning to [member="Caesar Kenway"], she nodded to him as well, "I believe this is the first time we are meeting as well, Minister," Scherezade said to him, and added, "It's an honor."

Turning back to Voph, she nodded. "I'm excited to see what this is about," she said genuinely, "I'm sure I can make it mesh… Once I have a little more information."

 

[Caesar Kenway]

​

​

[SIZE=11pt]The Uniform | Glory to the Cunning | The Aviators[/SIZE]​

​

​

War had come. At least, it's Minister had. His uniform was a crisp set of dark greys and whites, with some gold and black mixed in, not to mention the medals, commendations, and the one-of-a-kind rank pin that covered his left breast. The blue badges by his Adams Apple, on the collar that fit him like a glove, accented by a gold trim, the same gold used for the buttons, cufflinks, pauldrons, and emblem of the CIS that adorned his coat in all their various places. He tightened the fresh, white gloves on his hands, adjusted his belt slightly, and brushed a few specks of dust off the cool, polished Songsteel buckle. He pushed the ceremonial dagger in properly, and put the leather strap over the crossguard, to keep it safely in place.

The ride to Vylmira had been unpleasant at best. His ride had been plagued with constant holocalls, and endless amounts of documents to sign, designs to finalize, weapon blueprints to look over, the usual. He had travelled all the way from the far reaches of Confederate Space, to the West, where they had recently been expanding their territory. The flight had been long, considering he had to leave his personal Star Destroyer half way through the flight in favour of a shuttle, as the Destroyer would not reach Vylmira in time. He had also lacked any quarters or beds to sleep on to pass the time, no entertainment, just a bland, boring ride.

But when that platform lowered, an the hiss of depressurisation filled his ears, he knew he had found salvation. Salvation in he form of something interesting to spice up his otherwise bland past few days. His boots tapped on the cold steel of the shuttle's ramp, as he pushed his aviators onto his face to compensate against the daylight sun. Then his boots touched the ground of Vylmira, the cooler air from the tropical planet taking over the artificial warmth of the shuttle's heaters. He walked the distance to the Lobby of the Vylmiran Technological Industries Headquarters, and entered. He gave the receptionist his name, and showed his Confederacy of Independent Systems Defense Force ID Card and his Galactic ID Card.

Taking off his aviators, and sliding them into the left pocket of his trousers. He sat put his ID cards back into his wallet, which then took place in his right trouser pocket, as he began his calm and authoritative gait. He halted just infront of a row of seats, and sat down, clasping his hands together, resting his elbows on the armrests. Waiting a few minutes before the esteemed host made his entrance.

Whether out of habit, or out of pure curiosity, he was observing every little detail about Voph Sitdrisa'yr, the member of the Viceroyalty who represented Vylmira. Before he knew it, he was on his feet, and walking side by side with Viceroy Voph, if that was even the correct title, he did suppose that the Miraluka had a more planet-specific title for his position. The Minister, not taking his eyes off the path ahead, moved his hand up, and firmly shook the hand of the Blind Leader. He then moved his hand up, and pushed it under the opposite upper arm, crossing his arms, waiting outside the elevator. He turned to face his company.

"Ah yes, unless I am mistaken aswell, this is definitely my first time officially meeting the both of you. A true pleasure, I have heard of your various exploits, Miss deWinter. And the same of yours, Voph, if you don't mind me calling you that. I would also like to point out that I have received your letter, and I'll be taking the appropriate action as soon as my duties allow. But, if we're dispensing with the titles, you can call me Alex, or Caesar. Alex was my father's name, if you were wondering. But, I must ask, what is the purpose of this meeting? I received a rather urgent message for something this calm."

Never one to speak first, the Minister naturally waited till everybody else had spoken their piece before he piped up. But the moment was over sooner than it had began, and there was nothing left to say.

 

[Kyyrk]

Location: Vylmiran Technological Industries Headquarters, Lobby​

Wearing: Simple Robes​

Tags: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Caesar Kenway"]​

​

"I said I would spare you MY titles, I said nothing about your own, Miss deWinter." Voph gestured to the elevator behind him seconds before the doors opened. "And with all due respect, Minister, I assure you that you have only begun to scratch the surface of my exploits." Voph waited until his guests had entered the elevator, then stepped inside himself. Once the doors had closed, Voph folded his hands behind his back, and turned to look at his two guests. "I want it understood that what I am about to show you is to be held in utmost secrecy. I have discovered something that can give us an edge. Something that I intend to share with the Silver Jedi when the time is right. You will understand why."

Seconds later, the door of the elevator opened, and Voph led the way down the hall. They were under the planet's surface now, surrounded by stark white halls reminiscent of Kamino. "We were all there, when hell rained down from the sky. To a lesser extent in your case, Minister. Miss deWinter and I felt the effects of the Star Destroyer more keenly." Even though he didn't say it by name, they all knew what he spoke of. Eshan. "As I'm sure we're all aware, either by experience or by report, the destroyer was brought down by an unknown species, who I discovered after the fact was also present to a much less destructive degree in the skirmish on Commenor."

Voph pushed the doors at the end of the hall open, revealing a small conference room, the far side of the room glass windows looking over a lab of some sort. Voph stepped around the table, and folded his hands behind his back once again, looking down at the table in the middle of the room. An...alien. Whatever it was, laid there, surrounded by techs performing an autopsy. "While I have every faith in the CDF, there are some things that pose too much of a threat to leave unchecked. So I kept what data I could. Bodies, tissue samples, the works. If these things ever come back....We need to be prepared for the worst."

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Location: Vylmiran Technological Industries Headquarters, Lobby
Wearing: this
Tags: [member="Voph"] | [member="Caesar Kenway"]

Scherzade remained quiet as the Minister spoke, a pleasant expression remaining on her face. To Voph she said nothing either; there really was no issue with calling her just Scherezade. This whole proper stuff was new territory for her; even among the Knights Obsidian and the Ministry of Science she preferred first name basis (even if the name was made up most of the time) over other things. But she wasn't in a place where she got to make the rules, and so there was nothing left but to jus flow with what her higher ups decreed.

The three arrived at a different floor, and Scherezade resumed to follow the two other men, her glowing green eyes looking around with unhidden curiosity. She offered Voph a little sly smile as he mentioned the events of Eshan. It was true, she had not been there – her sister had been, using her own body. But Later, much later, Scherezade and Madalena had given each other memories. Scherezade knew of every breath her sister had taken on that planet. The two were still bickering over who'd get to keep the temporary Queen of Eshan title, as now that they were two separate entities it was clear that something of that caliber was something Scherezade would do, and Madalena was still the sum of the parts Scherezade had built her at the time. It was… Complicated.

And now in the room…

Scherezade's breath caught in her throat for a second. "The worm-things?" she asked, the surprise all too evident on her face. Ignoring the table entirely, she walked to the window that overlooked the laboratory. Yes.

Turning around to Voph, she bit her lower lip for a moment. "What have you discovered?" she asked, and then added, "and may I request access to that lab? I would like to ride that thing's blood."

 

[Caesar Kenway]

​

[SIZE=11pt]The Uniform | Glory to the Cunning | The Aviators[/SIZE]​

The Minister stepped out of the elevator last, ever a gentleman. His uniform shoes tapping on the hard ground. The conversation in the elevator meant mostly little to him, when compared with his curiosity with the whole reason he had received urgent summons from a Confederate Viceroy. Now he was being told that it is highly confidential information? Yet he would share it with an allied nation before his own Vicelord?

When the doors at the end of the hallway opened, and they all walked into the conference room. It all looked fairly ordinary for a secret meeting discussing something secret that'd give them an edge. To him, it all seemed like another meeting with an aspiring scientist or leader seeking to further elevate themselves in the Confederate Hierarchy by being the Founder and Lead of some obscure project or operation that was named with numbers. A scenario he found usually went in nobody's favour, except the Lord's of Time who took every chance to drain precious seconds from limited life spans. The project either failed within the month, or was outright denied. This alone was enough to darken the Minister's view of the day.

Then he saw the giant glass window on the other side of the room. Nothing too interesting, just an unusual sight for a conference room which he assumed was meant to set a mood of seriousness. He followed his host around the table, and looked out the window. His expression did not change from that of a resting Rancor. His head tilted, and his eyes looked up and down the alien. He then reverted his gaze to his host, his day certainly brightened, possibly peaking his curiosity.

"Is it... safe? If I read the reports correctly... weren't these... things... responsible for bringing down an entire building? And indestructible? How do we know it's dead, and not just faking it for the sake of an easy escape? Do we have a way to bring it down if it does miraculously come back to life, and start tearing down this entire building?"

Doubt spread across the man's face, not at his host, but at the fact that they were all safe behind a glass window.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Voph"]​

 

[Kyyrk]

Location: Vylmiran Technological Industries Headquarters, Lobby​

Wearing: Simple Robes​

Tags: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Caesar Kenway"]​

​

Voph smiled at the Minister's hesitation. "Nothing can be gained, if nothing will be risked." He idly pointed to either side of the room below where two large suits of armor stood, holding rifles that could only be described as cannons. "We are quite sure it's dead. No vital signs of any kind, and none of them have come back. Even after five months. Well...none came back unintentionally." Voph turned to look at the Minister for a moment, before gesturing to the table, silently offering his guests a seat. "I take the security of my men very seriously. Hence the repurposing of the Octarchy Covenant Task Force as an anti-Xeno force, assuming they are not acting on behalf of Vylmira or the CDF."

Voph stepped towards the door as it opened, and a protocol droid stepped through, carrying a tray with two datapads on it. Voph took the pair, and the droid trundled out of the room. He offered one to Scherezade, and the other to Kenway. "The beasts are certainly hard to kill, but they're not impervious. Not in the slightest. Just....a very well evolved species. We've been assessing their tolerance to certain effects, and documenting the results in an effort to prepare weapons effective against them."

Finally, Voph settled into his own chair, turning to look at the Minister. "I called you here today to offer my findings, as well as the materials needed to conduct your own tests, should you so chose. I have developed a document, which you now hold, that contains all of my notes, findings, procedures for containment, the works." Voph clasped his hands in front of him. "And, by your approval, we are able and willing to begin exploring Phase Two of what the men have dubbed, "Project Marauder." Cloning the beasts is easy. But I believe we can do more. Improve them. Turn them against the Marauders. Fight fire with fire."

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Location: Vylmiran Technological Industries Headquarters, Lobby
Wearing: this
Tags: [member="Voph"] | [member="Caesar Kenway"]

Scherezade said nothing as the Minister of War referred to the safety of having the samples in the lab. She was doing her best to hide a tiny smile; if one of those things decided to come back to life? Dressed in proper attire for the meeting or not, she'd jump into that lab and smash things while fighting it without a moment's hesitation. She wanted to fight those worms. Wanted to see if she could tear them somehow apart. Had wanted that the moment Madalena had given her the memories of Eshan. Nothing was indestructible. Sometimes you just needed to hit it with everything you had and then some to kill it.

She was almost disappointed when Voph assured them it was safe.

Taking a seat, there was little she could do but nod. Her request to go down there and get close to the samples had been neither approved nor denied yet. She had to be patient about it; whining would not get here where she wanted to be.

"How do you intend to train or control them?" she asked after Voph spoke of wanting to upgrade them, of making them stronger and better. She… Naturally, had a few ideas. But it was unlikely that others would be excited over the prospect of having wyrm-riders.

 

[Caesar Kenway]

​

[SIZE=11pt]The Uniform[/SIZE] | Glory to the Cunning | The Aviators​

​

The Minister paid very close attention to where Voph's gaze went, and what his words meant. He followed his gaze over to, using terminology from his time in the Naval Academy years ago, what appeared to be giant-ass robots with giant-ass guns. He then followed the gesture, and sat down in a chair, resting his arms on the aptly named arm-rests. He then took the datapad offered to him, and began to skim through the information listed, dragging it down at a brisk speed. He stopped a few times, making it rather obvious he had found some rather interesting information. He made sure to pay extra-close attention to the procedures for containment, and the Viceroy's personal notes.

He kept reading the tablet as the Viceroy talked, looking up occasionally and briefly to pay full attention to Voph's words. He then muttered a few colourful curses under his breath as he read over some of the creature's major strengths. He then put the tablet down at the mention of his approval. His hand rested on it, keeping it from tipping off the arm-rest. He didn't need to think to know what he was going to ask the man, a clear indicator him at how many times he'd been in this situation before, and denied projects that otherwise would've been cleared, save for the cost that their supposed director's envisioned, many of whom, would ask for large amounts, about double the maximum they would need, only to spend three quarters of what they were allocated on cheap wine and super-market soup and pizza.

"So, Voph. I'm more than willing to give you my approval, the project seems sound and, for the most part, safe. But before I approve of it, where do you estimate your budget being? I will not allow you to pay extreme funding out of your own pocket for something this ambitious and beneficial to the Confederacy. On that note, I expect you would prefer custom made facilities in a barren or uninhabited area of a planet, to in the heart of a city?"

[member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Voph"]​

 

[Kyyrk]

Location: Vylmiran Technological Industries Headquarters, Meeting Room, sub-level 4​

Wearing: Simple Robes​

Tags: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Caesar Kenway"]​

​

Voph turned to Scherezade, gesturing with a single pointed finger. "That, we're at a dead end on. Theories abound, but until we can get live samples to test with, theories are all we have. Hence Project Marauder phase two. The cloning and modifying we have ninety-five percent confidence in. But controlling and taming the beasts is something that we cannot fully explore in a theoretical sense. But, additionally, we would need the go-ahead for a project such as this, in the event that something goes wrong. Speaking frankly, you both should know as well as I that nothing is ever fool proof."

Voph turned back to Caeser. "The reason I need your approval is not to move forward with our own project. It's to move forward with yours. Vylmira has learned everything we wish to learn from these beasts. The purpose of this meeting is not to gain your approval to continue playing with the toys we've found. Something on this scale would belong to the Confederacy. Not Vylmira. I offer my men and my resources to help make Project Marauder a reality. If you want an army of brutes, it will be your burden to bear."