In search of the next story

[Sorel Crieff]

Progress was, at the end of the day, progress. Motives and agendas aside, most scientific discoveries had some positive impact on the galaxy at large.

So she set aside any prejudices and focused on the here and now. On what she was doing. Stygium was something she’d heard of but had never had a practical need to use.

“So how much stygium would it take to shield a ship? Or a droid? And how easy would it be to use the material?”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

"a small amount could be used to develop a cloak for a ship, some used for plating could be used for a droid or to give them their own cloaking device. You wouldn't need a lot just enough for the different sizes to work with reactors." She said it while going over more of the things that they had, providing the other jedi with the information when she brought it up she would be able to see for herself. The faciliy here was a place that they would be able to work with. "Though it really will all come down to what you are wanting to do with your droid or ship. The right systems and the right amount of crystals you could have a new stealth cloak."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel contemplated cloaking her ship. But she saw that more as a vanity than anything else. She didn’t really need a stealth vessel. But the idea of cloaking Kay was intriguing. He could be an advanced scout and avoid detection from standard means. She raised an eyebrow. It was certainly an option to consider.

Sorel knew ships and therefore by association engines. So she watched as Orihime explained the workings of the power transformer. In truth reactors were not something she tampered with. If they were broken she knew how to fix minor faults but more than once she’d simply had to replace the one on her ship.

But she understood the workings readily enough. Her only concern was what she would do if she installed it and then it broke down in hyperspace. Sometimes the old and trusted method was as good as any other.

“It looks impressive but beyond me I think. I tinker with ships, I can’t build one from scratch. Not yet, anyways.”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

"well constructing them as we want to do and want to develop a lot of things. I know some of the bigger and more impressive ships that have been getting worked on for the jedi order. Personal ships designed and customized to a number of jedi vessels so that they would be able to do a lot of their own things." She wasn't saying they were making massive fleets but custom ships for jedi masters, knights and some padawans who could use it and have access to basically their own temple and order within the galaxy themselves. Better engines, better protection and internal equipment that would give them all of the things that they need to work on it. Orihime was going and looking as some of the other designs being brought up with the computer. "They were working on ships here as well."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Ships had been roaming the stars for millennia yet they were constantly being improved. Faster hyperspace navigation, more comfort, bigger shields, bigger ships with less compromise on speed – the potential for progress was endless.

Yet Sorel liked her old craft. Maybe one day she’d go for a standard issue Jedi ship. Perhaps when she was a Master. But for now, the anonymity of her old vessel served her well. If fitted her like a glove. A well-worn glove, admittedly, but a most comfortable one. The idea of flying something bigger had its attractions – just not yet.

What stopped her saying ‘never’ were options like its own meditation chamber or a larger cargo bay or more berths. How it looked, how fast it went or how comfortable it was did not register on her list of needs. She simply saw a ship as a way of getting from A to B. Carrying more, or making her time on board more productive was a plus. But little else mattered.

But the facility’s breakthroughs were interesting, so she was keen to see what ships they might have come up with. “Tell me, anything of note? Any ships stand out?”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Hmm she was looking at the designs and some of the ships with a nod of her head. There was a few things that were standing out, designs and things that they were testing to really work on it. "They have the guns for ships which would allow jedi ships to disable ship crews and not kill them. A practical application of preserving life. There is meditation chambers that can double as amplification chambers for jedi's abilities to aid in letting them expand their abilities." She brought up a couple other things. "They have observation chambers for meditating and focusing the jedi's mind. Or there are designs here for barrier projectors. It would work as a skilled universal shield to protect from kinetic, energy and force attacks that are beig sent at ships or if they could make it larger scale planets. The main thing is the required crystals need to be large to create and power it."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel listened. All of the things seemed entirely sensible for Jedi to be developing. Disabling crews was a solid thing to design and would save many lives. As was the The meditation chamber was of particular interest. “So that chamber would help a Jedi meditate generally but I guess would be a real boon with something like Battle Meditation. But also it might help Padawans learn an ability quicker if it helped them focus the Force more easily.”

She was sure that if she put her mind to it, there would be even more ways the chamber could be used. That was the thing about inventions – often their designated purpose was one thing and their practical use was something else entirely. Scientists and engineers solved a problem they perceived. End users saw the potential for the technology without the constraints of the designer’s thoughts.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

She was looking over all of it and with some improvements from what they were being able to make and her mother had made it could solve a number of these small technical issues. "The chamber could be used to help center the jedi within it and if we work in a few of the things that have been getting worked on. A padawan meditating within it should be able to focus their minds. Their ideas are like early models for the synthweave my mother developed, crystal circuits that are infused with the lightside of the force so they would be able to use it within the temples. They were working on ways to detect darksiders or ensure that they were not infiltrating the jedi. The lightside crystal could be used in doorways that would make darksiders uncomfortable to move through. No attacking but if there were infiltrators or spies. Given the era this likely could have been set up because of the Order of the Terrible Glare, darksiders masquerading as jedi and serving the crusaders." She went over more of it with a small look of interest. "There is a lot here that is fascinating."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel listened intently. The more she heard, the less she realised she understood. Synthweave, crystal circuits, doorway anti-Sith devices. There was so much Orihime understood that Sorel never would. But that was not something Sorel was upset about, or jealous. Rather, she was grateful there were Jedi like Orihime and Matsu that could develop these things and make the galaxy a safer place.

“I think I’d like a chamber like that on my ship one day. Both for my meditation and to help Padawan’s develop and strengthen their connection with the Force. To aid them learning new abilities.”

“I suspect there is a lot more to be found, the longer we look. Shall we keep moving?”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Orihime looked at her and nodded her head, there was a lot to discover and even more for everythign that they were going to be abel to work on and try to develop for themselves. She wanted to see more about it when she moved away from the information and set up a datapad to download all of it before she was looking at the small map they had to go by. "Oh there is a lot here, we have so much more to go and search around looking for it is going to be awesome." Orihime was walking around and seeing what else there might be when she had a few ideas. Some projects they were doing sounded like they could produce real results.... others on the other hand. "There are two other main sections, the experimental and the failed projects. From how the map looks they stored the things that they made but didn't really work out in the basement, the experimental ideas that didn't have the parts but were just theories however those got different teams and rooms dedicated to them."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

“Experimental sounds more promising. Things that almost worked are more likely to yield progress given the development of technology in general. Failed projects are worth a look no doubt, but not until we’ve had a good look at the near-misses first.”

Sorel took a last look at the area that they’d searched so far. “This trip has proven really interesting and I suspect it will get even more fascinating. Given some of the off the wall inventions we’ve seen, who knows what we might find in the basement.”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Hahaha Orihime was grinning to that as she was thinking about it. A way that they would be able to search around and experiments that were in the process of being thought about or being tested was a very important thing. Like with all of the things here in the facility they might be abel to develop more of it and advance the designs for themselves. Something large prepared to present it when she was getting information and leading the way as they were going through with the pathway tot he basement labs showing that they were attached to a mine and had stores of stygium that the teams would be abl to use. Letting it be used to gather more stygium from here that they could use for some of the other things like stealth polymer to give their stealth ships some of he best advantages possible. Orihime was going through it all and showing off the cannon as they passed the one level with bones on display of different creatures they were studying. More sections that went together until she nodded her head looking over things. "Looks like this is where they had the bones and creatures to study, we might not want to open it if they failed to release the creatures. It could be worse off and we have the lower labs to search."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

There was no doubting that being around Orihime and Matsu had whetted Sorel’s appetite for technology and more specifically its advancement. But she was also a pragmatists and figured she only had so many hours in the day. Perhaps when she was a Master and no longer learning new abilities and had fewer Padawans to train, there would be a day where she could re-prioritise her time.

But that was not now. So presently she focused on assisting the two individuals in any way she could whilst retaining her focus on her more traditional Jedi duties.

But she was amazed how much she’d picked up just being around them. Like being able to spot stygium by sight, or the tell-tale signs that the facility was attached to a mine. In part this was detective work and the rest was through regular exposure to aspects of scientific advancement.

Sorel took a passing interest in the row of skeletons. Some were obvious – like the Wampa and the Rancor. Others were harder to recognise and even an educated guess might be wide of the mark given one quadruped with large canines looked much like another unless you could see what comprised its skin. Of course a zoologist ought to be able to spot the clues – but her experience with such creatures tended to be linked to running from them, not examining them in a lab.

And the prospect of live samples was enough to keep on walking. “Yes, let’s search somewhere else!”

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Rubbing her hands together as they were going deeper and deeper to be prepared, Orihime had a look on her face before she was moving with all of other things a little deeper leading Sorel. The signs made it clear where they were going and there were some small break areas with older magazines that they would be able to look on. She moved to the door with a small look when she was opening the door to reveal a warehouse almost. Sections of it that they were able to see she wanted to explore but there wasn't much. The first things sticking out to her were the boxes of small gadgets and things with small containers of the information going with it. Orihime stuck around before she opened the door fully getting the lights on until moving up to see some other things on the walls that other jedi had been creating here.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

The unknown was exciting but also a worry. There was a chance they could find a whole lot of not very much. Things that the inventor knew exactly what they had in mind when developing – but due to it not functioning might be little more than guesswork for Orihime and Sorel to fathom.

But Sorel was an optimist as well as being pragmatic, so expected they would find some things they could recognise enough to understand their intended purpose.

They came across a large storage area. There was a lot of shelving and lots of boxes too. Most seem to be linked. One would contain items and the other documents that pertained to them. At least that reduced the guesswork. And Sorel expected the paperwork to identify why they didn’t work and that might give the Order’s scientists options on how to progress with the inventions.

Orihime flicked a switch and the room was flooded with light and Sorel realised just how big it was. It possibly covered the entire footprint of the facility – albeit underneath it.

As Orihime looked, Sorel did too. She checked to see if there was any specific order to the storage but there was none – at least none more so than the most recent inventions were closest to the entrance. But the coding appeared to give clues when she checked items against their paperwork. The codes were numbers, interspaced by dashes and finally two letters. The first two digits were numbers and seemed to denote the function, for example a weapon. Then its progress against completeness, which appeared to be a percentage, a year date and finally the lead on the project – which were the letters.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Orihime continued to look through it as Sorel was giving some ideas to the organization methods of the different containers to organize what they had in them. she wanted to see more of the inventions to get a strong method and strong idea before it was shelved. Maybe now with these notes as she was going over them and seeing some of the information and steps to the processes. There was a lot of note here to see what had been going on. "These records, they are..." she blew out a small line of air in emphasis for it. She wanted to see all of the details here when holding up a belt that had dozens of compartments and she was seeing the notes from their research of Bodo-Baas belt itself. "The information they have here should help with some of these. Like here, they were trying to make stronger versions of the jedi belt using dimensional shifting to compress equipment and bind it to a focusing crystal that the jedi could access to recall it. Have several of them in a compartment and you add storage space or inorganic objects so one jedi could carry thousands of kilo's of equipment. Or they could work on it in large containers themselves able to hold anything from equipment to vehicles."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

The colourful but largely odd looking items Sorel had picked up were not particularly practical or – from the notes – close to success. One was a mess tin that you could dial in a foodstuff and it would synthesise the contents in seconds.

Except all they’d been able to do is turn protein different colours. Apparently it tasted of chicken whatever it looked like.

A second was anti-grav socks that a Jedi could wear under boots and achieve levitation up to 100 metres. Except it had a habit of failing and plunging Jedi to significant injuries. And it also had two nasty side-effects – athlete’s foot and foot odour.

But Orihime’s find seemed far more useful and better advanced. “Is there more than one in the box?” she asked, hopefully.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

Orihime looked at her and some fo the other things. "They managed to make two compartments that the jedi could use but it doesn't seem like it was cost effective. Or as practical on the fly. From the notes they had to make sure everything was removed before shifting another stone so that it wouldn't break and lose the rest." Which could be good if you were by yourself and really only loaded each with the exact same things. If you changed up one of the compartments to have something else that you might not fully use then it could risk breaking or it could just damage the contents itself. So she saw the use but there was a lot going against it compared to just having some extra compartments. "It could work but if you needed to retrieve something and forgot which one it wa sit could prove time consuming in some situations."

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel listened and she seemed visibly and audibly disappointed. “That’s a shame. Of all the things we’ve seen, it’s the one that most excited me. I tend to travel light and often rue leaving things behind. The opportunity to carry more without weighing me down as an interesting opportunity. But it’s hardly the end of the galaxy.”

She continued to look around, picking up items and then dropping them back in their boxes once she read about them. She came across a section that seemed to contain various medicines. Pills to supress the need for sleep, others that changed skin colour to disguise the consumer, even one that allowed you to breathe under water. All had significant side effects and typically were unreliable in terms of how long their effects lasted.

[member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

She was looking at her and there was a box for it as she put it there. "Maybe, I mean this stuff was shelved because of small complications they couldn't think of a solution for.. which means looking at it with fresh eyes and a fresh team could greatly increase what we are able to do with it. Or even if we could complete it." She was looking at Sorel with a grin on her face and walking now as there was some other boxes as well as some pieces of equipment. One looked simple enough as she was going over it. "If we can get something like the compartments for our belts or maybe we can get some of these other things working." She looked at it and was reading it. "Like this, it was set up and they were working to try and make it able to track force energy. Finding the largest sources so a Jedi could seek out life in the galaxy as opposed to just randomly moving around. The larger the concentration like a planet or if they were dealing with an army that is moving and concealed in a ship. They could detect it. maybe force sensitive children before their other methods."