Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Schematics and Stuff

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
Chris sat at his desk in the Titan Industries Research and development subdivision.

In front of him was a computer, beside him was another desk, and in his hand was a small pen with the Titan Industries logo upon it. He fiddled with the pen, rolling it around in his fingers and playing with it in the oddest of ways.

This was often what office jobs were like.

Long periods of stretching boredom where nothing happened and there was nothing to do. Well, actually that wasn't true, there was plenty to do, it's just that Chris didn't want to actually do it. He was an office drone, a man without a cause. He simply worked for Titan Industries because they payed well and at the end of the day he got to go home and play Champions of the Cauldron.

It wasn't much more than that for him.

Suddenly, as Chris spun the pen around from his index finger onto his middle someone interrupted his intense thought session.
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
The man that interrupted him was named Nason, and engineer of some sort that Chris had become friends with while working here at Titan Industries. He was a very odd man, and to be entirely truthful Chris wasn't sure what he actually did here, but he seemed to be rather intelligent in his own right and Chris respected that.

Oddly though, everyone else seemed to hate him.

“Have you seen the schematics for the new HAF?”

Nason asked Chris with his usual monotone that denoted slight superior annoyance.

For a few seconds Chris wondered what the heck a HAF was, then he remembered that the name was an acronym for Heavy Assault Fighter. That was ridiculous, who actually came up with that name? No doubt some idiot behind a computer trying to make it sound cool.

In answer to Nason Chris began to shake his head. “No, I think I think ol' Frenty had them on his computer though.”

Slowly Chris stood up from his chair, lamenting that fact that he would actually have to do work now.
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
“Frent? I haven't heard from him in a while.”

Nason commented as he waited for Chris to get off his lazy ass. The taller of the two men shrugged, falling in line with Nason and moving him quickly towards the exit of the cubicle section of the office.

Frent's 'office' was located in the sub-basement of Titan Industries.

There had been an incident with Frent and one of the other employees. Due to a glitch in the system Frent became exceedingly angry at one of his co-workers which led to a bit of scuffle, that scuffle resulted in Frent being...exiled for a time. Of course the whole thing was terribly inconvenient for anyone who needed anything from Frent.

“Yeah, there was that whole thing.” Nason looked at Chris oddly. “Yeah you know, the yelling? I told you about this.”
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
Nason looked at Chris in thought for a few moments, then nodded, his expression blank.

“Oh.”

It wasn't really surprise, it was more an acknowledgment of remembrance. Chris nodded to his friend, then continued on in silence. The Titan Industries headquarters where Chris and Nason worked so diligently was without a doubt one of the most beautifully decorated buildings in the entire galaxy. For some odd reason their employer had payed no expense in making this building pretty, and Chris doubted that any other corporate headquarters was this good looking.

Eventually, they reached the turbo-lifts.

Chris reached over and pressed the down button, turning to Nason with a look of slight annoyance of his face. He still didn't really want to be doing work. “So...why do you need this? I thought you didn't do this kind of stuff?”
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
“No I do.”

Nason said without the slightest hint of annoyance or even anger.

“Oh.” Chris confirmed his understanding.

“My department designed the fuel tanks, I'm just making sure they operate correctly.”

Nason went on.

“Okay.” Yeah he got it now. “Yeah.”

Chris peered at his friend and slowly spoke again “Then why do you need the schematics?”

“To make sure everything is working properly.”

The engineer simply looked at Chris.

“Right. I got you.” He really didn't.

The Turbo-lift let out a loud ding as it arrived.
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
Both men stepped into the turbo-lift, Chris surveyed the buttons for a few moments, finding that he actively had to crouch down and survey them in order to find he one that was labeled for the sub basement.

It was a place that hardly anyone ever visited, and such the button wasn't really used or necessary. He was pretty sure if it wasn't for safety regulations there wouldn't have been a button at all, instead there would have been a simple set of stairs that went down into the sub-basement and then suddenly ended in a flat wall here Frent would just stand all day and do nothing.

“So...What makes this fighter different than the one hundred other this company has designed?” He couldn't help but ask the question, mostly because it was so glaring.

Titan Industries and its subsidiaries had designed a hundred fighters, probably more, and all of them were used at some point and time to do something with.
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
“This one has shields.”

Nason said simply.

“Ah.” Well that sounded handy. Though he was sure that there were some other fighters designed by the One Sith's manufactures that had shields. After all even Chris knew that shields on ships weren't all that uncommon. Especially in this day and age where Shield technology was rapidly evolving and becoming smaller and smaller.

Eventually personal shields would be a thing.

Chris looked at Nason expectantly, he knew that there had to be more to this ship, and he knew that eventually Nason would offer more information if only to ply his own logic onto the situation.

Nason liked logic.
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
The turbo-lift came to a speeding stop, suddenly ramming into the bottom of Titan Industries basements and plunging them into complete darkness.

Chris hated coming down here for that one reason. The Darkness that surrounded them was almost oppressing. Though he was not afraid of the dark, nor was he claustrophobic, there was something about the sub-basement that put him off. Most likely it was the fact that there was rumors about Yuuzhan Vong creatures down here, but who knew.

“The HAF is supposed to be a counter to all those interceptors that are going on the market. You know, the new Jedi ones seen at Manaan and the other ones the OP are now fielding.”

Nason interrupted Chris' thoughts with further explanation of what the ship was actually for.

Chris nodded, being the first to step into the hallway of the sub-basement. A light flickered on, making the hallway barely illuminated.
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
“How exactly does it do that?” Chris said trying to distract himself from thoughts of Vong monsters. “With shields?”

Nason didn't look at all phased by the darkness of the Sub-basement, he just kept in step with Chris and simply talked.

“It's a ship more designed to sit and wait rather than go chasing. It has heavy armor and very heavy shields defending both its front and back. The fuel tanks are hidden in its 'wings' and are pretty much indestructible. Think of it was a tank in the sky.”

Chris nodded at that.

It was an analogy that he could appreciate. Chris had done time in the Republic military before Coruscant had fallen, he had been apart of a tank crew on one of the minor border worlds against insurgents there. “Right.”
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
Chris agreed with his friend once more, though he clearly expected him to further explain his meaning.

“Instead of moving fast, it sits and waits for its target, taking a beating with its armor and shields until its ready to take out the target.”

Nason had a logical way of explaining things that simply seemed to click with Chris.

Of course it helped that Chris actually listened and took in Nasons point of view instead of trying to press his own all the time.

Perhaps that was why Chris was one of the few people that actually got a long with Nason instead of hating his guts outright. The taller man shrugged, and then took a corner into a slightly brighter lit section of the sub-basement. There at the end of the hall he found a door, Chris stepped up to it and knocked on it. “Frent, we need the schematics for the Heavy Assault Fighter.”
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
“So I assume the ship has some sort of cannon then.” Chris said as they waited for Frent to answer.

Tanks usually had cannons, multiple in fact, or rather one big cannon and then a couple dozen smaller ones. Mostly they were designed for hitting targets softer than them, break up infantry units and then push forward with support.

Chris knew that well, but he doubted that this Fighter was designed for the same purpose.

“A GN-Twin Blaster Cannon on a fast track mount.”

Nason answered causing Chris to look at him sideways.

“That's not exactly sta-” He was interrupted as the door in front of him was harshly pulled open, a grumpy looking ginger haired man staring at them.
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
Chris stared at his friend for a few moments, then cast a glance at Nason. It was clear to him that the robot of a man would not be saying anything, and it was also clear that Frent wasn't exactly in the mood to speak either.

Then again, working down here, Chris couldn't really blame him.

“Hey Frent. The plans for the new Heavy Assault Fighter, we need them.” Chris was entirely uncomfortable as one of the nearby lights began to flicker on and off, casting odd shadows across the hallway and draping Frent in an ominous light. Things were really rather creepy down here, Chris would have to talk with the manager about letting Frent come back upstairs.

Perhaps it would work out for the better.

“So? I don't have em'.”

Frent asked.
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
Chris gave Frent a bewildered look, Nason gave Chris and annoyed one, Frent sighed at them both.

“Oh.”

Nason said.

“Do you know who does?” Chris quickly asked before Nason and Frent began to speak to each other. The two got along well enough, until they began to play together in Champions of the Cauldron, then one of them inevitably got all riled up and things just went downhill. It was better to curb that now than have it devolve into talk of the game once more.

Frent shifted his gaze towards Chris.

“Flenser had them. Got em' from me yesterday.”

Chris gave an exasperated sigh. Of course Flenser had them, the man had an insatiable need to look at and study every single ship that came through Titan Industries. It was an obsession for him, and of course Flenser worked near the top of the building with the other nerds.

He sighed, then tapped Nason on the shoulder, waving to Frent. “Thanks man. See you around.”

Chris knew that was likely a lie, but hopefully Frent would make it back upstairs eventually.
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
The two men walked in silence through the flickering darkness for a few moments until Chris spoke again, not wanting to get eaten by a Yuuzhan Vong creature who thought them to be silent prey. “So the GN cannons, they were picked because of their rapid fire?”

He may have been a desk jockey, but he knew his work well enough.

The ship was designed to shoot fast fighters out of the sky, to take down anything that might come near them and push the limits of what fast-tracking targeting systems could actually do. Chris suspected that was so Titan didn't have to build a faster Engine, something that would undoubtedly be more expensive than simply designing new software and turret mounts.

Oddly the two men seemed to be walking faster than before.

“Yes.”

Nason said simply in answer to him.
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
Chris scratched the back of his head as they waited for the turbo-lift to come back down.

So Nason was working on the fuel tank for this ship, Frent was dwelling in the sub basement, Flenser was jerking it to some concept designs of the Assault Fighter, and he was simply looking to get back to his desk so he could dream about Zeltrons for the rest of the day.

No doubt Rouis was off gallivanting with the execs.

Chris often wondered how she had taken so well to the corporate world. They had all started off on the same level of employment, but she had skyrocketed much faster than the rest of them. Shaking his head the taller of the two men stepped into the turbo-lift. “You ever get to fly any of the ships?”
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
“No.”

Was the only answer that Chris received.

The turbo-lift shot up, giving that unsettling feeling in his stomach that made him think of having to go to the bathroom. He wondered for a brief moment if such a feeling was universal, or if he was strange in some way.

Ultimately he decided not to ask Nason, thinking that no good would come of it in the end.

The turbo-lift passed beyond where they had started, shifting over the massive Titan Industries logo that was plastered on the side of the building like some great gaudy billboard. Chris watched it pass, his eyes falling on the black lettering ending in a dash beneath the words.

“Do you...” Chris paused for a minute. “Do you ever think we might be working for the bad guys?”
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
Nason gave Chris a strange look.

Of course Titan Industries was just another corporation, like Kuat Drive Yards or Tenloss or even Rendili, but it was a corporation that primarily served the Sith and its allies. One had to wonder eventually if they were working for the bad guys.

“No.”

Nason so helpfully answered.

“We work for people who will pay us.”

Chris looked at his friend just as the turbo-lift came to a halt, nodding slightly. Then another thought crept into his head. “Wait...How much do you actually make?”
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
The engineer didn't answer Chris, instead he simply looked away from him and walked through the open doors of the turbo-lift. Chris stood in place for a few moments, frowning slightly, then walked after Nason. He assumed that the Engineer made more than him, but how much more?

Eventually he shrugged, deciding that it didn't matter.

Though Nason made more money than him, he probably also did a substantially more amount of work. He figured out how to integrate the fuel tank into a ship that was supposed to be a tank, sitting with heavy shielding and armoring with advanced targeting computers and a fast track cannon in order to shoot down interceptors.

It was essentially a mobile anti-air turret, not something it took a genius to figure out.

Chris shrugged.

All he did everyday was sit at his desk and browse Neddit.
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
The two men walked down the hall, passing the art department secretary and moving towards where Flenser worked. They didn't have a conversation this time, both men preferring to stay in silence.

Eventually they found their way to Flensers office.

Predictably they found the other man sitting over his desk, a holographic design of the Heavy Assault Fighter rendered in 3D above his desk. Chris walked into the office first, his face a mask of boredom and a slight hint of elation. After Nason got the plans he could go back to his desk and think about less important things.

Much better than this wandering around.

“Flenser. Nason needs the plans for the Heavy Assault Fighter.” Chris jerked his thumb over towards Nason who quickly followed him into the office.
 

Alric Kuhn

Handsome K'lor'slug
“HMMMM?”

Flenser enunciated loudly as he acknowledged Chris and Nasons entry.

The pair just stared.

“Oh.”

He sounded regretful as he realized what Chris had asked, almost as if he were sad that he wouldn't be able to stare at the holographic display any longer. Chris only let out a sigh of relief. Nason walked over towards the desk and held out a hand. Pitifully, as if a punished child Flenser removed the datacard from the holo-display device, petting it slightly as he handed it over to Nason.

Flenser had always liked ships.

Like a lot.

Chris studied him for a moment, then nodded. “Well...See you on Champions tonight.”

That was all he said before Nason turned away from Flenser and walked back towards Chris. The two men left Flenser's office and headed back towards the Turbo-lift, their fast pace leading them into the lift just as the doors were closing.

Chris smiled. “What a bronzie.”

Nason chuckled.

“Totes.”
 

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