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[Kian Karr]

Jedi Shadow Enclave, Ossus

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Kian Karr didn't realize he was whistling as the turbolift dropped down into the darkness. He had woken up that morning with a tune from his childhood stuck in his head and for some reason he just couldn't get it out of his head. Shaking his head in amusement, Kian stepped off of the turbolift when it settled on the final floor of the Jedi Shadow Enclave. Stepping through the doorway, Kian found himself in the command center of the Jedi Shadows.

It wasn't a particularly large room and much of it was taken up by a round console in the center of the room and the various other instruments needed to keep the constant flow of information in order. Several droids shuffled about as they went about their preprogrammed duties. CG-50 stumbled toward him as he stepped into the room.

"Good evening, Sir." CG-50 said in his metallic voice. Kian smiled at his approach. He greatly liked the protocol droid, who was gifted to him by a talented padawan named Hephaestus.

"Hello CG-50." Kian said walking toward the console in the center of the room. "Have you prepared the call?" Kian asked.

"Yes sir. And, as per your instructions, it won't be traceable." CG-50 said, reaching out and hitting a button on the console. Within a few moments, a holoprojection sprang up from the side of the table, and he saw a young woman standing before him. Kian recognized her immediately.

"Koh-toh-ya." Kian said, greeting Lt. [member="Kayleigh Tyven"] in his native language. "I'm glad you agreed to speak with me."

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"Ms. Tyven? Your scheduled appointment? Shall I connect you?" Meredith was essentially Kayleigh's second in command. The woman was more than her administrative assistant, she was like a second mother to her. Kayleigh often confided her ideas and ran her proposals by the woman before anyone else, so she was privy to just about everything going on in the business. "Yes, thank you, Meredith."

As the woman proceeded with the arrangements, Kayleigh cleared the schematics and classified data from the screen behind her desk. Much of what she was working on was sensitive, classified data, and she was responsible for maintaining the required level of compliance associated with that data. She was sure Master Karr could relate, given his own position.

The projection illuminated, and Kayleigh smiled, "Thank you Meredith. Please close the door and hold any calls until further notice." Shifting her focus to [member="Kian Karr"], "Good afternoon, Master Jedi. Of course, any time. What is it that I can do for you today?"

 

[Kian Karr]

"Please, call me Kian." Kian said smiling beneath his mask. "I was hoping you might be able to help me with armaments." Kian said and nodded to CG-50, who in turn pressed a few commands into the console before him. Over the secure connection the schematics for the Jedi Shadow Robes were sent and Kian stepped back indicating the robes he was wearing.

"These robes were developed for the Shadows before my time here. They serve a good function, but the war with the One Sith rages on." Kian said, a touch of sadness entering his voice at that statement. Kian had been fighting the One Sith since his days as a padawan and he wished he could say he saw an end in sight for the war.

"I need armor that can provide greater protection for the Shadows when we, inevitably, find ourselves upon the battlefield." Kian turned and nodded toward CG-50 again, and he hit another key. The second transmission listed the sorts of things Kian was looking for. Armor that was flexible enough not to impede the Jedi too much, but that provided greater protection. It would need to be produced securely and secretively, and it would need to be able to be used with the masks that many of his Shadows liked to use.

"Do you think this is something you would be able to help us with?"

[member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"Very well, Kian." Kayleigh smiled as she nodded to [member="Kian Karr"]. The schematics appeared while the Kel Dor stepped back to display his attire. She observed them silently while listening to him continue. "True enough, I don't see the Sith giving up their quest for domination any time in the forseeable future. They are a persistent bunch, if nothing else."

The girl took a breath and looked over the required materials to make the new armor that the Jedi would be needing.

"Everything you're looking to do with the armor looks solid. We have a large number of classified R&D and manufacturing departments here, so you needn't worry about prying eyes."

She tapped her finger on her desk a few times in thought. "I'd be happy to take care of it for you." She smiled and nodded to the Jedi through the holoprojector. "You're welcome to come by tomorrow if you wish to inspect the compound and we can discuss the details further, as well as comprise a prototype for you to inspect before finalizing the production."

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian's eyes widened in shock at [member="Kayleigh Tyven"]'s answer.

"Tomorrow?" He said whistling and the noise came out of his mask with a burst of static. "THI works fast." Kian said nodding his head in approval. He was hoping for something quick. He didn't know when the next battle would break out between the Republic and the One Sith, but he wanted his people properly armored when it happened.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Kian said bowing at the waist and CG-50 cut the transmission. "Prep The Dorin Run." Kian said turning to the droid.

"Of course sir."

~ ~ ~​

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The next morning found Kian waiting patiently outside the office of [member="Kayleigh Tyven"] seated in a rather comfortable chair. As far as waiting rooms went, it was fairly nice. Kian sat back and closed his eyes beneath his goggles, allowing his mind and his senses to stretch outward. Kian had spent most of the day after Kayleigh and his discussion securing the funding necessary to pay for the expenses of the armament. That was probably why Kian had a headache.

Crossing his hands across his lap, Kian rested his head on the wall and waited patiently.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The doors to the main lobby opened and Kayleigh scurried through in a rather quickened pace, her eyes transfixed on the datapad she was reading. She had been in and out of the complex so many times she could have navigated it blind at this point. She pressed the 12 on the lift and turned back to the datapad. If anyone ever wanted to assassinate her, they'd find the job to be relatively easy. Once the girl was focused on reading something, it would take a substantial amount of energy to get her attention. Or just the sound of one person's voice in particular.

Kayleigh exited the lift and continued her brisk pace straight for her office, passing by [member="Kian Karr"] without even noticing him. "Ms. Tyven...Ms. Tyven..." Meredith looked to Kian and then, in her motherly voice, shouted, "Kayleigh!" The girl nearly dropped the datapad and looked back. "There is a...Kian Karr here to see you?" The girl looked over to the space where Kian was sitting, wholly embarrassed. "I'm so sorry. Wow. How rude. Please, Kian, come in." She waved for him to follow behind and held the door for him as he entered, before closing it behind them.

 

[Kian Karr]

"No need to apologize." Kian said rising and smiling broadly beneath his mask. Following [member="Kayleigh Tyven"] into her office, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement to find out how THI had made out with the design of the armor.

"I have to say," Kian said entering the office, "and I mean no offense by this, but you are awfully young to be head of a company." Kian said smiling at Kayleigh. "It is quite impressive." Kian said standing in front of her desk. He knew that THI was a new company on the scene, but Kian had done a good deal of digging before coming to them for the development of his armor. They had an impressive track record with the development of combat armor and arms.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Kayleigh offered a chair to [member="Kian Karr"] as she closed the door behind them.

Taking her own, she placed her hand on the fingerprint scanner next to her desk, unlocking the drawer to place the datapad in before closing it back up. The girl turned and leaned back a bit, placing her hand on the back of her neck as the Jedi made mention of her age relative to her position in the company. "Thank you, no offense taken. The company was not originally my own, so I cannot take the majority of the credit. This business belonged to my father back on Coruscant, before the Sith came." She ran her hand along the back of her head and through her hair. "I took control of the company, moved it to Tython. We could have remained operational in Coruscant, but that would mean being subjected to the Sith government. I wouldn't have my family's name on anything they use for their conquests."

She sighed, lifting up a photo of their old HQ that her father had built. "I do miss that place. But anyway, you didn't come all the way here to listen to me babble about the past. You came here to see your idea put to use. I only needed to drop this datapad off first. Come, the armor R&D division is in the sub-level of the facility. Your protoype is there now, the rest will be manufactured at our secure facility a few blocks away." She stood, opening her door. "The lift will take us to Sub-level A."

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian listened to [member="Kayleigh Tyven"]'s talk about THI and nodded along with her. He had been on Dorin when Coruscant fell....it had been troubling news then, but when he had gone to the planet to recover his apprentice, Varus Shatterstar, he had seen for himself the capital of the One Sith. Kian, and many others, wouldn't rest until Coruscant was back in Republic hands.

"Of course." Kian said smiling and rising to follow her to the lift.

"I won't lie, I'm rather eager to see how the armor came out." Kian said clasping his hands behind his back. "My first experience of battle was the Invasion of Carida." Kian admitted as they walked. "I could have done with armor there." Kian said rubbing his hand along his ribs. He had cracked a few ribs that day and done some damage to his knee. He had seen on that battlefield the benefit good armor provided.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Kayleigh stepped into the lift and pressed the A floor. As the doors closed the girl turned to the Jedi, "I hope you are pleased with the results, Kian. A few of my engineers haven't left since they received their assignement yesterday afternoon. Hell, I would have stayed as well if I hadn't already been awake for 72 hours already." She cracked a smile and laughed softly, "It's times like these I wish I were a droid, at least then I wouldn't need sleep."

As the lift reached the sublevel of the facility and the doors slid open, the sprawling central floor opened to what was roughly 75 individual laboratories, all entirely sealed and closed behind blast doors. Windows did not exist on this level, and a number of security guards actively patrolled the corridors and lift entrance. "Most of the work done here is highly classified. I intend on keeping that which requires secrecy, a secret." Kayleigh greeted a number of the guards by name as she passed by, as she led Kian to laboratory A-637.

Scanning her ID badge, the door released. The room had been cleaned of materials, the workbench in the center of the room was empty, however hanging on the display manakin toward the rear of the room was the armor prototype that had been put together by the team. Kayleigh stood to the side to let Kian inspect.

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian smiled at [member="Kayleigh Tyven"] as she led him into the laboratories. He felt a pang of regret that the workers had spent the night there, but he quickly pushed it away. Having meet men and women who worked in laboratories like this before, he knew that many of them would have it no other way.

"I appreciate the work your engineers put in," Kian said walking toward the armor and glancing back at Kayleigh to add, "and the work you put in as well."

Stepping up to the armor, Kian first inspected it simply from a few feet away, looking to see how it appeared aesthetically. It had a good appearance. The demo was fitted in dark black and dark purple coloration. It would allow for stealth and concealment, at least in dark and night operations. Stepping closer Kian ran a hand over the material and lifted it slightly to feel the weight. It was certainly heavier than the robes Kian now wore, but he was expecting it to be heavier. It needed to be in order to pack more stopping power than the robes Kian wore.

"This is exactly what I had in mind." Kian said running his hand over the durasteel plating.

"Mind if I test it out?" Kian asked turning back for her and wondering if the armor would fit him. He wanted to try it on and see if it was flexible enough for a Jedi.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"All the credit for this one goes to them. I will be sure to let them know you appreciate their work. Sadly, as much as I enjoy the construction process, most of my time now is forced into meetings if I'm not with the R&D department, or carried away on some Republic mission with the Navy." Kayleigh laughed as she proposed a joke, "You'd think the Navy would understand I have a business to run as well."

The girl placed one hand on her hip, nodding to [member="Kian Karr"] as he approved of the armor thus far. "Absolutely! By all means, please test it. It would certainly be foolish to invite you all this way on such short notice just to have you look at it. I will step out so that you have some privacy."

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian smiled and nodded his head to [member="Kayleigh Tyven"] and then waited for her to leave the room. Once he was out, he disrobed and began the process of putting on the armor. It took him several moments to get it on and once he had he signaled for Kayleigh to come back in.

Kian began by walking around the room, moving his arms about stretching his legs as he went to feel how the armor flexed and bent. He was surprised by the amount of mobility. While it was certainly more restricting than the light robes Kian normally wore, it was also not nearly as restrictive as the armor he had worn in the past.

"I'm surprised to find it so maneuverable." Kian admitted to Kayleigh when she had come back into the room. "I had assumed, given the added weight and the durasteel plating it would be more restrictive."

Kian then began to jab his arms in a mock fight and unclipped his lightsaber. He left the blade inactivated, but he swung the hilt around in mock combat. Given the weight and the restricted movement, Kian noticed his movements were slowed, but it was not much of a perceptible change, and a few training sessions in the gear would likely clear that up quickly.

Finally, Kian dove to the floor, rolling and coming up with his hilt in a jab. Then he spun again slashing as if attacking an enemy. Finally he stopped and clipped the hilt back to his utility belt. Turning toward Kayleigh, he wished she could see the smile on his face.

"Your people do good work!" Kian said bowing his head. "It is exactly what I was looking for."

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Upon re-entering, she was pleased that [member="Kian Karr"] found the armor to be suitable to his needs, and that the prototype fit. "The armor will certainly be more restrictive than your typical Jedi attire, but with some time I am certain you will find it to be like a second skin." The small figured blonde cracked a smile as she watched the Jedi maneuver about the room, pretending to be what she could only assume was slaying Sith, which by her was fantastic. "The joints are typically the most difficult task in the process. Ensuring that they are both flexible and equally as protective is a very involved task, often times requiring several revisions before getting just right."

The girl nodded her head to his approval and compliment. "Thank you, Kian. They are a fantastic group of engineers. I will be sure to relay your praise in full. You are more than welcome to take the prototype armor with you if you'd like. Is there any changes you wish to make before finalizing the piece? Production of each set will take roughly 6-10 hours by hand. I am assuming that these are not going to be mass produced, if only available to your particular organization within the Jedi? For smaller productions I prefer to have things done by hand. QA is always better when done that way."

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian nodded in agreement and pulled a datacard from his pocket and handed it over to [member="Kayleigh Tyven"].

"No, your team did excellent work." Kian reiterated as he handed over the datacard. "This datacard contains the information for contacting CG-50 at our base of operations. He'll be able to handle the transfer of funds to pay for the armor." Kian said smiling broadly beneath his mask and continued to move about a bit as he spoke, still testing the armor.

"Right off the bat, I'd like to see the creation of a dozen sets of armor. That should be enough for outfit the most experienced Jedi Shadows.....the ones that will likely see combat soon." Kian said, finally turning back so that he was standing in front of Lt. Tyven.

"Any other Shadows will make personalized requests. CG-50 will be able to give you details on the species, weight, height and other information you might need of our agents when the time comes."

"Is there anything you need of me?" Kian asked clasping his hands behind his back.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The human girl smiled happily as she accepted the datacard from [member="Kian Karr"].

"Thank you, Kian. I will be sure that Meredith adds the information to our database. I trust her to maintain our finances as she used to back on Coruscant." As the pair exited the lab, she flipped the light off, closing the door behind them and re-activating the security lock. "A dozen armor sets should be ready within a week. Will you be sending an envoy to pickup the armor, or do you prefer that they be shipped someplace else?"

Kayleigh walked with Kian back to the lift, pressing the L to begin their return to the main lobby. "I hope the armor serves your organization well in the upcoming battles. I understand the Sith employ terrible creatures and other weapons in their attempt to exterminate your order. It seems there will never be peace until one side has dominated the other. I can only hope that side is at least in favor of The Republic."

As the lift rose she extended her hand, "I suspect that is all, it is always a pleasure to provide assistance to the Jedi. I am happy to assist with anything you come to need in the future, Kian. My office is always open to you."

 

[Kian Karr]

"I'll send an envoy, her name is Soli Baris." Kian said laughing lightly. "Don't be fooled by her appearance and youth, she will handle the transaction securely." Kian said entering the lift.

Kian nodded at her words. He had seen the beasts that the Sith had used in person, as well as the sithspawn armies they brought to the war. Then he paused for a moment at the young soldier's words. It seemed as long as the Republic was safe, she didn't mind who won the struggle between Sith and Jedi. He wasn't surprised by this. It was rare for non-force users to understand the differences between the two groups. They were just strange magicians with different philosophies to many. It was why it was so important that the Jedi do all they could to gain the support of the people.

"Yes, that is all, but I won't hesitate to contact you again if the need arises." Kian said taking [member="Kayleigh Tyven"]'s hand. "The Republic needs people it can rely on, and I suspect you and your people fit that bill." He released her hand and bowed politiely at her before turning to leave.

"May the force be with you, Kayleigh."