Ready Player One

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Spoiler: Obligatory Theme Setting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKsaGXRaYTM​

[ Corellia Digital ship Intervention in orbit of planet Druckenwell ]​

The Venator was an archaic design for a star destroyer, originating in the last days of the Old Republic.

The inclusion of two bridge towers had been driven by necessity. The port tower had handled all ship-based functions, primarily the navigation of the ship, overseeing operation of the reactor core, and fire control over the main batteries. The starboard tower had handled all squadron-based functions, primarily debarkation control and de-conflicting starfighter flight profiles with the firing arc of the ship's main batteries. By the time of the Declaration of a New Order, the two bridge tower design had merged into a single tower. Over time, modernization efforts improved efficiency to where a single bridge could handle the functions of what had been two entirely distinct crews.

The Intervention was not merely an archaic design, the ship itself was a piece of history. Recovered from the surface of the planet Boz Pity, this ship had been Jedi General Anakin Skywalker's flagship in the Fifth Fleet during the Clone Wars. While it wasn't the Sentinel, the ship of the same class helmed by Jedi General Sor-Jan Xantha during the war, the connection to his own past had been too much for the young Anzat to pass up when he had discovered the wreckage during Silver Jedi exploration of the Tingel Arm region.

Today, the Intervention looked nothing like a Venator for eight centuries past. Not internally anyway. Firemane, Sasori, and Lucerne Labs technology had modernized the ship's power and navigation systems. Corellia Digital software and hardware allowed the mainframe to run calculations in a third the time it would have taken the Clone Wars era computers.

The port tower continued to serve it's original function. That being, it controlled the ship. Though now those functions included management and oversight of the hangar bay.

The starboard tower? That had become the mobile headquarters of the Corellia Digital corporation, including observation decks and a lavish apartment for the company's chief executive. A commercial quality holovid theater had even been installed, allowing the ship to demonstrate the quality and flexibility of its streaming holovid service through hosted exhibitions.

After having socialized with the elite of the Confederacy at Stewjon, the young Anzat had decided to host one such exhibition in orbit of Druckenwell, a planet where Corellia Digital and the Confederacy had collided through political and economic chance.

The holovid theater was playing a stream of movies. Classics, such as Younglings of the Corn, Sithspawn from the Black Lagoon, and Silence of the Droids.

A pair of sock-clad feet slid over the smooth floor, as the corporate executive appeared wearing pajamas. The shirt was a size too big for him, with the sleeves extending past his hands, and was emblazoned with a faded Endormon Go graphic. The pajama pants were decorated with colorful graphics depicting different characters from the Endormon franchise.

While the HoloNet and Holoflix demonstration was going on, the boy had invited the apprentice that he had met on Stewjon for a hologame tournament.

It was strictly business. She had a friend who needed a new hologame. So Sor-Jan was going to demonstrate several different games for her to see what she... er, that is, her friend might like.

And what else went with hologames and pajamas? Pizza of course!

Honestly, he had no idea who to expect. He'd invited Srina, but told her that she could invite anyone from the Confederacy that she wanted. He'd heard about the Knights Obsidian. And something called Mando-Gora? Man-Boar-Hora? Something like that, but he had no idea what that was about.

He just hoped that whoever came liked Mandalorian, because Sor-Jan was not about to touch the Mandalorian pizza. Pineapple and nerf had their time and place, and his pizza was neither the time nor the place for those things to go together.

[member="Srina Talon"] | [member="Meritephia Lothaneos"] | [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]​

 

[Srina Talon]

The pale-skinned Sith Apprentice allowed the Ferocity to idle in the orbit of Druckenwell while she took a much smaller shuttle to meet with the Intervention. She was still unclear about what the miniature corporate mogul of Corellia Digital actually was, however, she knew what he wasn’t. Calling him a child was like calling an Echani a Thyrsian. He was free-spirited and mischievous in a way that reminded her of an old story, a fable, of a boy filled with vaguely questionable claims of greatness. She could almost picture him wearing an outfit made of autumn leaves and cobwebs. He was touched by an archetype of what seemed to be unending youth.

Youth, it seemed, did not mean that the pudgy-cheeked creature did not retain wisdom. Knowledge. It was simply touched with candid “lovely wonderful thoughts” that led him to appreciate the simple joys of the uncomplicated.

Honestly, the slender woman was a little envious. Her life had been filled with so many moments that changed her, shaped her, and in an instant, she’d become fully-grown. It was simply the way of it for Echani. Children were not children, they were merely smaller adults, who required lighter swords. Yet, here was a boy, who remained a boy, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Time was the most precious commodity in the universe. If her suspicions were true, this faux-child, was rich in more ways than one.

[member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] had passed her an invitation that she had in turn passed on to a few members of the Confederacy. He’d been so jubilant that the typically war-minded woman could not refuse. His large eyes, round face, and charming features left her completely defenseless. It was both annoying and endearing all at the same time. Sor-jan was lucky that she was looking to surprise [member="Darth Metus"] with a gift, likely in the form of a new console, or else he might have been exposed to her beskar-dense homemade desserts.

Her cupcakes had literally been classified as WMD’s when Muad Dib had stopped by the Well. They were so tough, and so heavy, that they seemed to magically have their own gravitational pull.

Srina was ushered from the shuttle into the interior of the Intervention and was basically left to her own devices, passing through the Holovid Theater, with silver eyes finally landing on the character of the hour. Unbidden humor touched her expression before she buried it beneath a soldier’s icy mask, swallowing the fact that his attire, while appropriate for the hour, was entirely cute ridiculous. “Have I arrived too late? It seems as if you might be ready to sleep.”

The diminutive woman slid out of the Confederate-Violet colored coat she wore atop of her clothing before she draped it around her arm. Her lightsaber was stashed securely inside one of many deep pockets, however, she didn’t think she would need it here. It was simply habit. She wore a power-blue hued traveling dress that she reserved for negotiation or more diplomatic ventures. The material was plain, not shimmersilk or anything fine, but it was proper enough that it duty called she could answer on a whim. “Thank you again for the invitation. You have an interesting piece of history here…”

 

[Lief]

Meri hadn't wanted to go.

Since her liberation from the Colluctari Nebula at the hands of [member="Darth Metus"] the young girl had tried to keep to herself. Sensitive eyes which had adapted to the darkness of the lands she had been raised within could not take too much of the strain found outside her room, and the introduction of so many new concepts and things to do had left her significantly overwhelmed.

Raised more as a mindless drone than a child, there remained so much she had never experienced. Which was precisely why her Grandfather had outright insisted that she attend the sleepover hosted by [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] ... a fellow child. She hadn't been around kids since leaving the Nebula. Much less children who were actually, well, children.

For days she had fought Isley on his decision, but in the end he had won over. A shuttle had brought her to Intervention and from there she was on her own. Anxiously clutching a little backpack of belongings which would ensure she'd have a clean set of clothes for the morning.

Chewing the inside of her lip, Meri nervously ventured down the hall toward where the others had begun to gather. Their host, and a white-haired woman were presently the only two she could see but even so she stared at them like a deer in headlights.

Already her eyes were beginning to hurt.

Mulling over the words she knew she had to speak, she fidgeted in place and waited for [member="Srina Talon"] to finish speaking. Then, with a shuddery exhale, she opened her mouth.

"M-Mister Verd sent me, Sir,"

Sir? He looked younger than she was, and yet as host he was the authoritative figure in the room. Far be it for her to throw that out of the window, the hell it would have brought her if she had forgotten her place back in the Nebula... She shivered, it didn't bear thinking about.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Look like he was ready to sleep?

"Huh?" the youngling uttered, his expression completely lost and confused for a moment until he realized she was commenting on his pajamas.

Did people really sleep in pajamas? The kids in Sor-Jan's youngling clan had almost all slept in just underwear or nothing. Pajamas were just comfortable to wear around the office. Or the Jedi Temple. Or the star destroyer.

Seriously, they were the go-to, all purpose, comfort clothing for every occasion.

And on that note, the boy perked up, both arms shooting up in the air -- sleeves flailing around as they were longer than his arms -- as he exclaimed, "Oh, no. I'm totally starting a new executive fashion trend!"

Were [member="Danger Arceneau"], [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], or [member="Judah Dashiell"] rocking PJs at their corporate board meetings? Probably not. But give Sor-Jan time. It would catch on eventually. Maybe.

Not to be dismayed by the statistical probabilities or realities... because, honestly, what kid ever let reality dictate their... well, reality?... Sor-Jan just plowed on as he said, "I call it: C-E-O! Comfiness..." he paused a moment to tuck his thumbs into the waistband of his pajama trousers to demonstrate that they were stretch-y. "...Elastic. Or bust."

Okay, so he needed to work on the 'O' in CEO a bit. "And, thanks!" the child chirped, twirling around as he shot an arm back into the arm as though to gesture and point at the ship around them. "This was General Skywalker's ship during the Clone Wars. Mine was the Sentinel, but it just kinda, like, disappears from the history books."

The arrival of yet-another-freeloader prompted the boy to twirl around yet again. Not that he lacked the energy for it. He'd likely been in the Kool-Aid. And it was sugar Kool-Aid at that. "Hi!" the Anzat offered brightly.

"I'm pretty sure I don't know who Mister Verd is, but you should totally check out the holo-arcade."

In fact, they should both check out the holo-arcade. So, arm swinging wildly to indicate that they should follow him, the boy said, "This way!"

[member="Srina Talon"] | [member="Meritephia Lothaneos"]​