In search of the next story

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel looked into the box Orihime had left. There were a number of samples in there, so Sorel took one. Even partially working, it was a step up from her current belt and if her friend or associates perfected a better version, she was sure she would know about it.”

Her attention was drawn back to Orihime, who seemed to be picking all the right boxes. Sorel’s were quite uninteresting, even if they had worked. The ones her friend had chosen at random were far better in terms of wide-reaching application. A device to see things like Force nexuses or at a more local level, seeing where Force sensitives were. But she knew that if such a device worked, she would immediately raise an objection about what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands.

“Hmmm…” she offered. “Great in theory. In the right hands.” She knew Orihime would understand what she meant.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Orihime looked at her and agreed with her for what they were doing. Sticking around when it provided a number of new thoughts. They could go deeper, they might be able to discover a way to get it to work but the ability to find force signatures.. could be dangerous. "It would help for some problems, if there is a darksider infiltrating a place you can search out and narrow down the force users but it is not something I can see being highly practical for everyone. ANother good use, finding dangerous groups on planets you might not be able to sense or see as opposed to stumbling around." She was getting some fo the information but leaving it there when they could move to see a few of the other boxes. "I wonder what else they might have here."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel agreed with all of the positives that Orihime listed. Her nodding head reinforced the fact. Nobody could disagree with the simple logic of the upside of the invention. But the downside remained and she was pragmatic enough to understand that the decision wasn’t hers to make. She would not decide if any of these inventions were pursued, nor would she take matters into her own hands and remove any. No one Jedi was as wise as all Jedi. A collective decision was called for and she would abide by and even defend that decision if she needed to.

But for now, she would look to see what else she could find. Upgrades for her ship? Or for her droids? These she could tinker with herself and would not rely on others to make viable. She was sure if she looked for long enough, she’d find something.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Orihime was looking at more of the things they had here, setting it all up with a light to illuminate another section of the wall when they were coming along to see parts of it. "these look interesting." She said it while looking over at more of it, the displays of small ships that were in their own area. It looked like there was a large hanger here where they had assembled it and touched the display. "Looks like for ships they were working on a more reactive type of cloaking. Seeking to infuse the force with the crystal in the hull so that the ship itself would scatter and disperse the ship on a sensor array. A stealth ship without all fo the large technology or a way to hide force users in a stealth ship."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel listened. The technology sounded fascinating and a much less challenging and resource intense solution to stealth cloaking.

“As much as that sounds interesting – and something I’d like to take a long look at to better understand how I might be able to integrate the technology into my own ship – I’m just as keen to take a look at the ships.”

She took a look at the display. “Is there an indication of where they are housed? I’d like to see what they’re capable of at the very least. Who knows, I may even end up with an idea for a new ship out of all of this.”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Looking at Sorel with a couple of thoughts about it... they should easily be able to find something or somewhere to use it. All of the ships had to be stored somewhere or they might be off world somewhere. Her hands going to the information. "There is not a lot, the ships themselves might not all be functional given they were meant for testing the hull or components but there is a hanger that the labs are attached to. We might be able to find ships and information there." She said it while looking over some more of it. There wasn't a lot but the hanger's could give more information. "These organic circuits and components to make jedi ships an entity to itself so that they could if a jedi was injured critically allow them to polit the ship and still help the order until they passed away. It seems like science run amok but organic ships are a thing they they usually need a pilot."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel waited eagerly for Orihime to find out where the ships were located. An underground hangar didn’t sound logical – but who knew how it might be connected to the surface. So she kept her hopes high until Orihime was able to confirm one way or another.

She followed Orihime’s actions as she searched for the hangar’s whereabouts but she initially drew a blank – albeit she was able to identify some significant work being undertaken with regards organic ships.

So Sorel took over the search, looking systematically through the floor plans until she identified an area large enough to be a hangar and if she read the schematics correctly, it was connected to the surface via a massive lift – which could easily transport ships to the surface.

She jabbed her finger at the viewing screen. “There. If the hangar is anywhere, it’s there. Before we go, we should go take a look.”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

That sounded perfect as she was looking at it, taking a few of the ideas themselves around here and onto the map she was making both on her datapad and in her head. he wanted to see what they would be abel to do. "It should be, we'll go and check it out. There is a lot of things down here and throughout all of the facility. We might not kow how large it is but we should easily be able to show off some of the bigger and more impressive things." She stuck with it and thinking of what they could bring bringing about some jedi for themselves here. A team or ten for the research prospects they would be able to do. Orihime was walking towards some of the doors to the hallways and here in the lower sections they should easily be able to find things. "These halls from the map should be secure as one of the only other ways down into here, so them being able to access ships from here would make sense."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel’s level of excitement picked up another notch. Crystals were a great love of hers. And after that it was droids and ships. More specifically her droids and her ship, but she was always tinkering when she could and looking for ways to improve or upgrade. And sometimes she just toyed for the sake of it. Almost like a hobby.

She knew that a team would come here soon to review each and every box for its contents and, based upon current technology, re-classify what was possible to improve and what should remain in the box it currently lived in. But the ships, she hoped, offered a wider opportunity for copying or working with. She doubted they’d find an off-the-shelf ship sitting there, waiting to be claimed. But things that had been added to drives, or that boosted the navi-comp, or improved the shielding? Now these things she wished, deep down, they would find.

So she kept only half a step behind Orihime as they walked down the hall and headed to the lower sections. “I know they’ve been here for centuries, but I can’t help wanting to rush! Irrational but true.”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

She was looking at Sorel and had a small grin of amusement on her face to go with her friend. Oh she could totally understand her as they were going by some small thing they had set up. No more boxes but it looked like different robes they had been trying to make to use in different environments compared to the standard. Just like now there were ones designed for cold weather and deserts with a water retention system that was showing it cleaned and processed all water in the body to give the jedi more if they needed it. Might not be the most ah wanted but she could see it as a worse case scenario or somethign that could be converted so that desert dwellers would be able to wear it.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

As they progressed along the corridors and found even more boxes, Sorel had to admit her attention was already on the ships they might find. She gave herself a small mental talking to. Not only was it greedy – a very un-Jedi like trait, it was also tempting fate. There may be no ships, or ones that had been so heavily experimented on that they were unusable – and their technology embedded to the point that it could not be readily accessed, let alone copied.

So she made a conscious effort to look at the boxes as they walked along. This area seemed to be devoted to clothing – and specifically Jedi robes. Most were climate related – for intense cold and heat – and if she were not the proud wearer of her special bracelet, she would be keen to see how these fared in the field.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Looking at Sorel as the girl seemed to think somehing when they were going through and the doors leading into the lower section was there. Orihime standing in the lift as it was going up towards the hanger and she spoke. "Oh I am so excited." Looking it all over with a few more thoughts until the hangers themselves were there, a massive space that she could see and you could feel the barest hints of the outside. there she could see pointing it out. "Is... is that a wall of ice?" She was looking at the area there while she stood there but she could see all of the ship around them..... and they were different. "These are cool." Maybe she was uncertain they looked like regular ships but most seemed to be partially built, some were bones where they were working to develop new frames, new plating, new parts themselves but few were completed except one of the larger ships inside that seemed to respond to them as she could feel it. In the force looking over at the golden hull of it.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Finally they reached a lift and despite an expectation they would go down, they actually went up. And the excitement was contagious. Finding special pills or Jedi robes was an achievement, but ships! That was adventure of an entirely different scale. For Sorel it went off the charts. But she held her enthusiasm in check – just in case she would be disappointed to find an empty space.

But she needn’t have bothered. The lift doors opened to a massive space and she saw so many ships. Her friend brought her attention to the fact that at least one of the walls was ice – the space was clearly carved out of a glacier. She didn’t feel the cold, but she sensed the frozen water – so different from durasteel.

Most of the ships were definitely work in progress and Sorel decided she would have to investigate them all before she left. But one ship caught her attention, and judging by Orihime’s gaze, hers too. It was large and the hull was golden. But that wasn’t what attracted her to it.

“Is it me, or does the ship know we’re here?”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

She looked at the ship and at Sorel as they were moving and she could not see much of it. "I think it is alive but maybe... I don't know." Orihime was sticking around it as the ship itself was there before them and she could feel it more in the force. "It is a strange thread though." She wanted to look at it with a small look on her face as the golden exterior of the ship presented itself to them with the door opening as it was large. "It is like the size of a small frigate." She was looking down the length of it and it mostly seemed to fit in the hanger itself before she touched the ship feeling it and gasped. "I think it is still alive." She wasn't certain fully but was wanting to see about it before heading inside with Sorel.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel didn’t know why she knew, or even how she knew, but the feeling would not go away. The ship was aware of them. If it approved of them or not, she was unsure – she couldn’t say for sure it was sentient – but it was alive not in the sense of a plant, but something capable of comprehending their presence and, she suspected, reacting to them.

It was a large ship and despite the obvious unnerving sensation, she felt comfortable with it. Perhaps because it was here, in the Jedi hangar.

And she was so engrossed in her thoughts that she jumped at Orihime’s next words. She glanced at her friend, who had her hand on the hull, as if touching some giant creature. “At the risk of being eaten, I think we should go inside.”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

The ship wasn't going to eat them.... Orihime looked at Sorel with a raised eyebrow wnating her to confirm her thought that was in her head and she wasn't going to say it.... Because a ship eating people didn't make sense.... Now she was looking at the ship then at Sorel. "Oh.... I don't think it can eat us... I don't think... we should be careful it might be hungry." The ship had been here for centuries... longer, they didn't really have a clear indication when she was moving over into the ship seeing the interior of it as the force was flowing under the metal of it like blood lines and you could feel it there. Like nerves that reacted when she touched it with the lights and sounds of the ship itself groaning as they moved through the hallways. She had a lot of things to see but there wasn't some of the dangers here. The ship felt warm and almost inviting.... just like something would if it was going to try and eat you.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel saw the raised eyebrow. “It was a joke. At least mostly. I mean, a sentient ship is one thing and I’ve heard of them, although I never expected to ever see one, let alone go inside one. But a part of me wants to be wary. Who knows what the ship is capable of? Maybe they found it as opposed to designed it? Maybe it was the reason they all disappeared? Not likely, but worth considering until we know more about the ship.”

Sorel was at least pleased to feel the Force flowing through the ship. That confirmed the concept of it being living – and furthermore there was no dark aura manifesting itself.

Sorel headed through the ship. There was a reassuring feeling as she walked, like being at an Academy and surrounded by Knights and Masters. It was no doubt the presence of the Force that was calming.

“So far, so good,” she said to Orihime.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Looking at Sorel as they were going, Orihime's thoughts drifted to what she knew and what was in the records. Ships like this they were not common but she knew that the jedi themselves had encountered such things before. Ship was one such being that was in the void and maybe it had been encountered previously and no one knew what it was. Extragalactic beings were not uncommon to find nor was the chance as she was walking that the ship they had discovered here was more. It could be in many ways that they made it based off of something and have added to it. The warm feelings of the force itself would certainly explain if something like the jedi merging or infusing themselves like Callista Ming with the ship happened. She was looking at more of it and you could feel it as the interior fo the ship seemed to be more malleable with the doors adjusting and opening for them as the tables and console height adjusted and she raised an eyebrow. "I am not going crazy right, the ship is changing to make things better for us." She was curious about it when they walked around more with showing different things like a map of the ship itself.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

“I admit to hearing of ships that were living, or sentient or similar. Something in the back of my mind says one of the Skywalkers – but which one I’m less sure. But anyway, I remember reading once that a ship was literally grown for him to use.” She looked pensive. “At least that’s what I remember. Vaguely.”

And then she paid attention to what Orihime was saying. And as they progressed she was aware that lighting changed, doors opened and closed, temperatures adjusted and even controls moved to be a perfect match for what they needed. It was both odd and comforting. Spooky and interesting.

“You’re not crazy. Or if you are, so am I. It’s a strange sensation and I’m not entirely sure it’s one I like just yet. I suspect it has to grow on you – no pun intended.”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Grow on you... Orihime looked at her as she raised her eyebrow at the terrible joke when they were standing in a ship that was growing things to make it comfortable for them. She was moving through and the interior hull of the ship was rather nice. She could work with it and feel it almost like a pulse when they were going forward. It was something else when she entered what looked like the bridge of the ship showing the consoles and there was a basin there with jelly... something that she could feel and there was a sound from the ship itself as she thought she show movement but was unsure. The bridge of the ship shifted to show them the hanger and the other ships all around with with different displays appearing.