Material Mining

[Onrai]

@Ra'a'mah

Lehon. A world where the once-powerful species known as the Rakata had thrived. How unfortunate that they were still a barbarous and primitive people nowadays. Within the system was one of the untapped resources of the galaxy, the wreckage of an ancient superweapon once capable of producing massed amounts of starships and Starfighters, fueled by the fires of a burning sun.

The Star Forge.

But thousands of years ago, the Star Forge had been destroyed by the redeemed Jedi Knight known as Revan. All that was left were twisted scraps of metal that had formed a ring around an otherwise bleak and desolate world, rife with the touch of the Dark Side. And she would be the first to exploit this. A fleet of mining ships had entered the system, along with transports containing the basic material for the construction of stations on the ring - stations that would function as the starting point for its eventual mining away.

Now all Vanessa had to do was wait for her associate - who she hoped would arrive any minute now.

 

[Riamah]

Ra was a scholar, businesswoman, assassin and sith all wrapped up into one package. There were other aspects of her of course, but those were the major ones. When a request was made to go in search of an ancient artifact that would produce mass ships and fighters, she was certainly interested.

The ancient world of Lehon and its treasure awaited her and the companion picked to go on this expedition. Not at all opposed to working with new people, Vanessa was new to her. Not normally being one to stay in sith space, this was hardly surprising though. In fact when she had been within the Empire, she had only met a handful of other sith personally. Her life had taken her away from their holdings, but she maintained connections.

It was through these connections she learned of this and reached out to accompany Vanessa. A meeting was arranged and now they just had to get started.

Climbing off her shuttle, she looked for Vanessa.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

"Ah, you must be Ra." Vanessa and Ra were in the docking bay for one of the ships, and the blonde smiled as she moved towards the stealthy Sith. "A pleasure to have you here to help with this grandiose accomplishment." She said. "We stand on the cusp of successfully being the first to mine the ruined wreckage of the Star Forge for its metal." She looked out the docking bay, smile on her face. "It could not be better than this."

She knew Ra was a darksider, though how strong she was still floated in the air. "Particularly given your predilections for a certain side of the Force."

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Riamah]

"Ra'a'mah Numare, but everybody calls me Ra. Makes things much easier to remember."

Extending a hand in greeting and introduction, Ra gave Vanessa a professional smile. Not one that reached her eyes, but not unfriendly by any means.

"Glad I lend a hand to help. It'll be an interesting change for me. Being a businesswoman can sometimes be rather boring. But it pays the bills and I get to travel. It's nice not being tied down to one location."

When Vanessa mentioned the fact Ra was sith, she just nodded. She wasn't an evil person in her nature and rarely used the Force, just followed the code. Ra didn't care about the alignment of others or the great war between light and dark. That didn't mean she couldn't be harsh though, that wasn't her focus though.

"Hope I didn't need to bring any droids for this."

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

Vanessa took the offered hand and shook it. "Business is admittedly business, and the Unknown Regions have some of the best business opportunities if you know where to look." She smiled. "Fortunately, I once had a very extensive presence out here. There's a lot one can exploit in the void - a lot of profit that can be made depending on whether or not anything is found that could benefit someone."

She looked outside at the landscape of the ring, several hundred meters thick and extending around the entirety of the planet - not to mention the other chunks floating in the Lehon system. "This creation was a powerful Dark Side factory, using the darkness and leeching millennia off the lifespan of the system's star to produce an infinite fleet of warships for the Infinite Empire. The very material itself is infused with darkness, and it is this particular quantity that makes me want to mine the material, to use it in the construction and development of a new generation of Sith warships that have almost as powerful a Dark Side presence as their operators." She considered the possibilities that such a material could use - though it apparently was no more durable than durasteel, and would have to be used sparingly in her construction projects.

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Riamah]

She needed to be careful who she did business with. If it was learned she was working with a sith, it would raise questions with others. This should be a one off deal and it would end once completed with nothing to worry about. The prospect of business interested her though, so as long as Ra kept it quiet, she might be able to continue with more. Time would tell on that count though.

"What happened to your presence out here?"

As Ra thought about it, her presence was all over, but not within sith territory at all. As a merchant, she had freedom to come and go, striking up trade agreements with various factions.

She listened to what Vanessa said about the Star Forge and nodded. It needed to take power from stars to keep up production. Not the best or worst in her mind.

"Where does the material originate from?"

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

“All I will say is that it came to a swift and unfortunate end.” She responded. “Rule of thumb. if Rave Merrill antagonizes you, death and destruction of everything you own will soon follow.” She said, sighing. To Ra’s latter question, she gave a frank response. “I don’t honestly know. All I do know is that the alloys’ preliminary capabilities are comparable to durasteel - but there’s something else about it.” She said. “Something Dark. Something rife with the blood of millions.” She pondered for a bit.

“What do you know about the Rakata?”

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Riamah]

A simple, brief, but informative answer was provided and Ra made a mental note to avoid interacting with Rave Merrill. It wouldn't be too difficult for her since she either operated in the shadows, like now or presented a business façade. The honest answer she got from Vanessa was actually a little refreshing. Dealing with sith one often came across those that weren't so honest or open.

"Seems like it's going to be good to use. Something like alchemy maybe then?"

With a sense of curiosity, she looked at Vanessa. Not with any real interest in the woman, but in the answer. When asked about the Rakata. She shrugged and shook her head.

"Almost nothing actually. My interest in history isn't in people or races, but with knowledge in the Force."

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

@Ra'a'mah

"Perhaps it's pre-alchemized. I don't honestly know." She responded. "Until we can mine some of it, we can't determine exactly what benefits or detriments this material may or may not have." She thought for a moment - how much should she tell? The whole story was probably best. "The Rakata were a species that once controlled the galaxy, driving off such ancient races as the Kwa, the Gree, and the Celestials. They utilized a wide variety of Dark Side technology - technology that only worked with the Dark Side. This was their downfall - they ended up losing a connection to the Force somehow and found themselves suffering from an inability to use their own technology. Their slaves revolted, and everything went to hell for them. Their creations, like the Star Forge, have been used by Darksiders who came after them - until some noble and righteous Jedi decides to destroy them, leaving Sith like us to pick up the pieces." She sighed, wishing she had been able to see this construct in its full glory.

"Some of this material will be going on my new flagship."

 

[Riamah]

"Pre-alchemized? Now that sounds quite interesting."

Only knowing little more ​than the basics of that skill, it wasn't something Ra had needed to use on her own. Nobody else knew that she could do such a thing and that was fine. It kept the odd people from knocking at her door wanting items enhanced by alchemy.

Listening to what Vanessa said about the Rakata, she nodded.

"Certainly a race to be worried about if they were still around."

Ra had no interest in having a ship of her own like what Vanessa wanted for herself. Her role in the merchant fleet, didn't bring her a battle cruiser or anything, but a huge ship for ​the moving of goods. Not great with armament, it was far from helpless.

"Sounds like a plan. Do you know how much you're going to need?"

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

“It’s the closest thing I can describe it with.” She said. “It emanates Dark aside energy and is particularly durable from what I can tell. Fortunately the Rakatans fethed off to the Unknown Regions long ago. I have no idea as to whether or not they were capable of regaining their Force potential, but I would assume not. Besides, the galaxy would be better prepared for them now rather than later.”

She looked over the landscape. “A lot, but it will barely scratch the reserves here. This ring is several hundred meters thick and surrounds the entire planet. Not to mention the other chunks floating around the system. I don’t see limited availability being a problem any time soon.”

At least, so she hoped. When she began to mass produce ships out of the material, things would likely be different.

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Riamah]

Not the kind of person to have expressed any true interest in ships, materials or what the make up of items were, Ra just kind of made a guttural noise akin to a grunt. It wasn't fully a grunt though and she was a little curious. Knowledge in almost any form perked her instincts to learn and she had a wide area of that. Not an expert in anything though.

"If we ourselves can't recreate something like this that they did millennia ago, what makes you think we would have a chance to stand against them now?"

Time progressed all across the galaxy and it wouldn't have slowed these Rakata down if they were still around somewhere.

Nodding at what was pointed out about the amount of material, she had no doubt it would be enough for the initial ship Vanessa wanted to create.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

@Ra'a'mah

"Because their slaves were the ones who overthrew them. Besides, none of their weapons compared to even what the Galactic Empire was working on hundreds of years ago." She said. "They had mind-prisons, which can in theory be duplicated. They had Force-using hyperdrives that were fast, yet incapable of going to more than a few systems. Mechu-deru we can replicate, as can their droids. The temples can as well. The Star Maps are unique pieces of technology, and we likely cannot replicate those - nor do we have a sufficient understanding of the processes involved to rebuild it. There were rumors that it could rebuild itself, but those rumors are in my opinion unfounded." She sighed.

A KM2 mining droid entered into the chamber, Four legs scuttling as it brought forth a piece of the practically pure metal held between its laser cutters. "Let's take a look at the work of the ancients."

 

[Riamah]

"Even an initiate can beat a master, Vanessa. So along those lines, it makes sense in a way. Same for the Empire of old. Beaten by a pack of sub optimal rebels. You don't need to have better technology, but better brains. If they do live on and they were to make a return...it could prove catastrophic to us."

Listening to what they did have, some strengths and weaknesses of each, Ra nodded.

"I would like to learn more about these star maps. In my business having a one up like that would be nice. As for droids, well I have those in plenty."

Not interested in learning more about the hyperdrives or mind traps, she kept silent on those. She had very little use for either of them. Turning when one of the mining droids enter, she nodded when Vanessa mentioned seeing what it offered.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

"The chances are particularly unlikely." She said. "But again, I feel confident of our odds against any resurgent Rakatans." Vanessa walked over to a laboratory table, the mining droid soon following afterwards as it placed the large chunk of ore on the table. "Now... let's examine what we can find in this... that's odd." She motioned for Ra to come over with her to the table.

"According to this, the metal in question contains numerous rare materials, strange forms of metal that would never ordinarily be formed. I'm also personally sensing the Dark Side in this metal. It confirms my thoughts - this was alchemized.'

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Riamah]

Of course it was unlikely any of the Rakata survived. Since Ra hadn't heard of them, it made sense. However, not having heard of them, did not fully explode the possibility. There were many unknowns in the galaxy and this race was just another one of them.

She followed Vanessa to the table and looked down at the metal in front of them. How Vanessa could tell just by looking at it that it contained rare materials and odd metals, she didn't know, but wasn't one to question it.

Holding her hand above the metal, Ra reached out with the Force to also feel it. It was not a skill she was an expert at, but she did know alchemy and could tell if an item had been influenced or not. Nodding at the touch, she withdrew her hand and looked at her fellow sith.

"Yes, but how and why?"

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

@Ra'a'mah

"I've learned that samples of alchemized metal more often than not have the molecular bond of... well, something that's impossible. There are certain ways that the base elements we know of go together. Bronzium, for example - it follows a standard means of being manufactured. Copper base with tin and other metals. There's a way chemically that the metal atoms bond together according to the natural laws of the universe. What alchemy does is twist the metal in ways that it's not supposed to go together. With the power of the Dark Side being within the object, such an unnatural form can be maintained indefinitely. And I can assure you that the way this material goes together defies nature."

She considered how best to maintain this. "We're going to need several Sith around, more than likely, to maintain the material's in-built darkness upon reforging it." She pondered. "I'm not sure if this can be smelted down and remade without losing... something." She said. "We might actually have to get segments of the metal and billet it out."

 

[Riamah]

"I see. Having done a little alchemy myself, it's certainly nothing I'm an expert at. Mainly just enhancing and adding certain aspects to the items I want alchemized."

Listening to what Vanessa said about needing other sith around, Ra grew slightly uncomfortable. Not being a part of the empire offically, the more that came to know her, might draw unwanted attention to her. Yes, she was part of the assassins, but that was all. Falling under the broad umbrella of the empire in that aspect, she held no allegiance to the empire itself.

"We can already smelt down a small portion, make something with and see if it does lose that aspect."

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

"I wish I had your confidence." She said, the mining droid taking the metal and placing it within a small-scale smelter. The door to the smelter closed as the droid walked away, Vanessa watching as the material was slowly melted down and forged into basic metal ingots. "Well... I guess we'll see what we have to do in a bit." She eyed the first ingot as it cooled, being rolled out as it fell into a pile. "Looks normal to me. And I still feel that innate darkness within it. Remarkable." Vanessa waited for the first ingot to cool before grabbing it, using tutaminis to ensure that her hands were not burned by the still heavily heated piece of metal.

"It's light, strong, full of darkness... I think we have a winner." She responded.

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Riamah]

She couldn't help but smile a little when Vanessa said she wished she could have some of her confidence. It wasn't that she was confident exactly, but it was how she carried herself. It was confident, but not egotistical or megalomaniac. Very much unlike many sith around.

Following where Vanessa watched as a small portion of the metal was melted into an ingot and picked up by her when it had cooled down a little. Giving the other woman a bit of an odd look at the use of the Force, Ra shook her head. There were tools for that sort of thing that could have been used.

A much more logical person, Ra rarely used the Force in an active manner. She would rather use a mundane method to accomplish something than use the Force. So to witness it so casually used in her opinion was a bit of a surprise. Not making a comment on this though, she waited to hear what Vanessa had to say.

When the answer came, she was please that smile returned.

"See, I figured it was going to stay. It wasn't exposed to Force Light. That was have destroyed the alchemy done to it."

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]