[Shadow Tech Industries] Crystal Energy Cell

[Ice]

After having set up mining operations on the newly discovered resource rich planet. Ice had immediately set up mining operations all over the planet. While he planned to eventually strip the natural resources from the world, there was one location that he was by far more careful and selective with what he took. It was a particularly old cavern system. For some reason unknown to him, the place seemed to never be affected by the massive amounts of volcanic activity which always seemed to change the rest of the surface before too long.

What was inside was truly wondrous. Massive crystals two, three, sometimes 4 times as big as a man were everywhere here. He noticed he felt rather peculiar whenever he was inside the caves and around these particular crystals. It was eventually told to him that these formations were force crystals. He began to do extensive research on them as up till then, he didn't no anything about force crystals. It was during this researching phase that he discovered they could be used for all kinds of things. Most interesting to him was they could be used to channel "the force" that the Sith and Jedi go on so much about, to actually produce energy.

If the forcies were anything to believe, the force was near limitless power. His research had also turned up some interesting information on a particular civilization that used to use their own synthesized crystals to power their cities. If Ice could manage to develop the way to harness the powers of these particular crystals though, he should be able to make that other civilizations idea look like childs play in comparison. But how to do it... He personally, nor any of his engineering team had the technical expertise with the force to be able to pull off what he was wanting. Perhaps he could bring in some outside help for a few projects.

With that, he sent out messages to all the contacts he could think of. Most of them were his new Sith contacts he now had through the Red Ravens. But there were still others that he had met before. Ice then waited at Libertalia to see if any of them would be interested in working with him. He hoped the rich reward promised would entice them soon enough.

[SIZE=14.4444446563721px][member="Isley Verd"] | [member="Darth Arcanix"] | [member="Silara Vantai"] | [member="Alaina Moxla"][/SIZE]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Taeli Rae, known as Darth Arcanix now, was walking along the path to the Sith palace on Coruscant. She had been thinking about new ways to both grow her company, and expand her position within the Sith. A project had slowly been forming in her mind, but she was hesitant to start it. A beep from her datapad broke her out of her musings.

'Who would be sending me a message?' she thought, opening the datapad and scrolling to the new message. An eyebrow raised as she viewed an invitation to come help with a project on an obscure world, the Red Raven insignia showing it was from someone within the criminal organization that at least some of the One Sith were allied with. A promise of credits and a significant reward intrigued her, and the project itself was shrouded with secrecy. She sent a message to her master that she would be off planet for some time, then she made her way towards one of the public transports that would take her to an orbital station.

A few minutes of having to endure Life Day carols from some drunk aliens, Arcanix made her way to a non-descript shuttle and took off.

As she punched the provided coordinates in, she sent a message back to her mysterious contact.

I will be arriving shortly, and I hope to hear more details on just what you are seeking.

[member="Ice"] [member="Silara Vantai"] [member="Alaina Moxla"]

 

[Ice]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

Seeing who it was that was first to respond, Ice was intrigued. This was the woman that he had met in the Corporate Alliance. How very interesting, he thought to himself. Her comm link would beep another message quickly.

"Meet me on Libertalia space station at the end of the Corellian Run. You will be my guest, and I will answer any questions that I can before we get started. That is of course, if you choose to work with us.

Ice"

As the time drew near for her shuttle to be arriving, he made his way down to the docking area to await the arrival of interested persons.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Taeli was quite impressed by the large space station that was Libertalia. She had heard stories, even seen the advertisements for the station, but she had never thought she would be visiting the exotic station as a Lorrdian college student. Oh how things had changed, she mused as her shuttle came into land at the designated hanger, her host already waiting for. Getting out of the pilot seat of her shuttle, she made her way to the boarding ramp, straightening the navy blue synthsilk dress she wore and making sure her lightsaber was accessible but not showing.

Descending from the boarding ramp, she said, "Thank you for the invitation here, your space station lives up to all the advertisements. Perhaps Krayt Industries will need to rent office space here in the future. Regardless as that is for another time, I'm intrigued to learn the details of this project you hinted at and what exactly you're offering for my assistance."

[member="Ice"]

 

[Ellie Mors]

Time. It was something the Sith did not have, nor could they control, and it was certainly what had been costing the Vahla most in her ventures towards Lordship among the Sith. While certainly no master of the force, or alchemy at that, she had dabbled far enough to accept the request made of her employer - [member="Ice"] . Had it been a request for her skill in the art of sorcery she would have been much more well-suited, but the list of names she'd scraped off from her sources were enough to bring her attention to this little party. Regardless she now sat deep in meditation within her starship while a small droid led the ship to its destination on auto-pilot. "Knowledge, it is what we thirst for, Silara. We may become .. yet." Were the words that were both whispered and screamed horribly through her meditative world. She would pull herself out once the time came, but for now she would wait out the ride until she'd arrive on the planet requested of her - which would likely be soon enough.

 

[Ice]

He gave Taeli a small bow in appreciation for her kind words. "Thanks very much. I would look forward to being able to host Krayt Industries here on Libertalia whenever you wish. But yes, that is a topic for another day perhaps. For now though..." He paused there as his comm was pinged an incoming message. "Excuse me for one moment please." He said graciously before pulling his comlink up to inspect what the communique had to say.

So it would seem another person was interested. "Good." He thought to himself. But what then surprised to see who it was that was coming to take him up on his offer. Why it was none other than [member="Silara Vantai"] , one of his own current employees and resident here on Libertalia. She really was full of surprises that one. So not just a simple singer with some high connections. "Interesting." He again thought to himself. Quickly, he sent off the command to give her ship clearance to land.

Turning back, to Teali, he wondered who else might be showing up to help out on this project. But nevertheless continued where he had left off. "My apologies. It appears we will have more help with this project possibly. The project itself is one that requires the talents of people who's abilities are beyond those of myself and my engineers. What I seek is a way to extract energy from force crystals that I have manage to procure through one of my mining operations. The only way I have determined this to be possible is by way of Sith Alchemy or Sith Sorcery. But as I am no Sith and not even force sensitive. I do not know which would be more applicable and/or more effective here." In point of fact, Ice was force sensitive, he was simply unaware of this fact and had always attributed his success in certain situations with skill and sometimes just dumb luck.

"So that is why I decided to contact those I could to offer this opportunity to. In exchange for your help, I am willing to pay you a great deal. Either 500,000 credits or a 1 bedroom villas valued at around a million credits each, in whichever biome you choose for starters. But I am also prepared to offer something I believe you force users would find more valuable. And that is your very own force crystal. From what I understand, they can be used in your lightsabers and even improve your own abilities within the force. Though again, I am not the expert in that field. So what say you to all this?" He stood back and waited, curious to see what she would think of the offer now that she had all the major details.

[member="Alaina Moxla"] | [member="Darth Arcanix"] | [member="Isley Verd"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Taeli considered the proposal, mulling it about in her head. Force crystals, from what she had read, could be augmented by a Force user to act as a perpetual energy source. She remembered one story she had read about a pair of Force crystals powering ion cannons that could rip through ships and planets, or at least that's what she read from historical documents.

She supposed what he was proposing was possible, and it would certainly prove to be an interesting experiment if nothing else.

"I'll help for the credits and promise of that crystal for my lightsaber," Taeli replied, not mentioning the other idea floating through her head. Force crystals were incredibly powerful and strong, and something made entirely out of the crystals could be useful. She would need to be patient though. "When can we expect the other person to arrive?"

[member="Ice"] [member="Silara Vantai"]

 

[Ice]

[member="Darth Arcanix"] | [member="Silara Vantai"] | [member="Alaina Moxla"] | [member="Isley Verd"]

With a nod, Ice replied, "Very well. Then we have a deal. As for the other person..." He stopped looking at his datapad and some information streaming across the screen. "She should be here any second now. Though we might have additional guests beyond her. Still early to tell just yet." While they waited, he thought of something else.

"Also I'd like to add, if you think of anything else that this project might be applicable for, I'd like to hear about it. Like I said, I'm not expert in the force. So some possibilities might never come to mind. However, I am always willing to listen to a new idea and possibly even work out new business arrangements for particularly good ideas. Just throwin' that out there." He meant every word. Almost nothing seemed to get him excited more than discovering new technology and creating new and interesting pieces of equipment.

It was technology after all that allowed all species to master traveling the cosmos, cure many a sicknesses and overcome other debilitating injuries, study, analyze, and improve on old ideas. And so much more. Ice loved the technological field and all the wonders it had to offer. As such, he was always willing to pay good money or give valuable equipment in exchange for high quality talent and workmanship.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Well, you can do a lot with Force crystals in terms of adapting them for use in technology," Taeli replied guardedly. While she had met the man previously at the Corporate Alliance, she still didn't know him well enough to tell Ice about what she read about. Although, she was interested in perhaps working on other projects eventually, especially if this project panned out.

A change in the Force alerted Taeli that someone was getting closer, someone steeped in the dark side of the Force. Oh, this would be very interesting she felt.

"How many other arrivals are we expecting?" she asked.

[member="Ice"] [member="Silara Vantai"]

 

[Ice]

It was an interesting short response she offered. It was like saying much, but not actually saying anything at all. Which usually meant, she had an idea but didn't want to say. Although disappointed, he could understand. The tech industry was all about secrets and keeping what you know a well guarded secret. Perhaps in the future she would open up and work with with him. Her next question prompted him to look at his chrono to get a better idea on the time.

"Well, I was expecting two more people at least. But wasn't given confirmation on their attendance in truth. So we'll wait just a bit longer, and if nobody else shows up, we'll get to work and they can join us later if they do decide to show up."

[member="Darth Arcanix"] | [member="Silara Vantai"] | [member="Alaina Moxla"] | [member="Isley Verd"]

 

[Ice]

[member="Darth Arcanix"] | [member="Alaina Moxla"]

A few more minutes passed and still none of the other people he thought were coming ever showed up. With a small frown, he turned toward Taeli and gestured with his head for her to follow. "Come. If the others show up, they can be escorted to meet us." He then led her to the area that held the offices. After gaining access to a particular building. They walked into through a few security doors and it was then, Ice revealed what all the fuss was about.

Sitting on top of several tables were massive crystals.[SIZE=14.4444446563721px]Taeli would easily begin to sense the strong force presence emanating forth from the crystals. "This is what I have brought you and hopefully a couple others later to work on. Behold, a few of the force crystals from my mining operation."[/SIZE]

Spoiler

"Considering the rarity of these, we are being extremely selective in which crystals we actually bring back. We're actually hoping that as we take some out, others will grow in their place. But that is still something we are waiting to see. For now, the few crystals here (use the scale in the picture for size reference) should be more than enough for what STI currently has planned." He stopped their to look back at Taeli and see what she thought about it all. Finally, he simply asked. "So, what do you think?"

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Taeli slowly walked around the table, not giving an immediate answer. These crystals were pulsing with the Force, neither light or dark, but just raw Force energy. With the energy already contained within them, they could quiet possibly do the job now, but they would have no way to determine what the reactions would be or if the crystals would shatter from a current passing through them. Alchemy could strengthen the crystalline structures, and also increase the energies within to the point where they would keep recycling themselves. The tech that could be developed by these would be . . . interesting to say the least. And these would be perfect for . . . other things she had planned, but didn't need or want to reveal those plans to anyone currently.

"These will . . . work out quite nicely," she said, finally answering Ice. "They are literally pulsing with the Force, but I'm not sure in their current state if they would survive a power current going through them. The crystal structures can be delicate if not treated right and I don't think you want a Force Storm being unleashed in your development labs. Alchemy could strengthen their structure and amplify their power tenfold if done properly."

She cast a side long glance at her compatriot before asking, "Just what else are you intending with these crystals by the way? An energy source for generators can't be the only idea floating around in that calculating head of yours."

[member="Ice"]

 

[Ice]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

A mischievous grin flew up on his face. "Indeed, you can do a lot with Force crystals in terms of adapting them for use in technology." And then gave her a wink. He walked around another table across from her as he pondered her question. She was fishing for ideas. Yet she wasn't willing to share any herself. That simply would not do. He completely understood he desire to not divulge information. Corporate secrets after all could be a big issue depending on current situations. But if she wasn't willing to work with him, why should he divulge any more than he already had?

After what seemed like a long thoughtful pause, he finally continued on. "Look. We are both company CEO's. I get it. Knowledge is power. However, I have already shown you one of my high priority projects. Not just told you about it, but actually shown you. It has has taken a rather large amount of faith on my part to let you in here to even look it this project much less help on it."

He let out a small sigh as he stared at the crystal before him for a moment. Then turning back to Taeli, he offered, "So how about this. I have already shown you one project. Your turn to share one with me. Then we can take it from there if we wish to keep being collaborators on any other projects? What say you?"

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Taeli considered the question for several long silent moments. If she helped him, and divulged the knowledge she had about what exactly these crystals were capable of, she knew it could potentially end up back in the hands of the Red Ravens. But, she needed to strengthen Krayt Industries and this project would certainly help build bridges beyond what she was working on already.

"Fine," she sighed, standing across the table from him and biting her lip. "Have you ever heard of a ship used during the Clone Wars called the Malevolence? Not many have because so many records were lost during the dark years, but while I was going through the records on Coruscant, I came across mention of it. Apparently, it was ship mounted with large ion pulse cannons that could rip through an entire task force of starships. Rumor had it, those cannons and the weapons on a sister ship called the Devastation were powered by just a pair of Force crystals each."

She started to pace as she allowed that to sink in.

"The technology to adapt the crystals for such a thing was lost and developing a superweapon like that is more trouble than its worth in this current climate, but these Force crystals once properly prepared could be used to create incredibly powerful weapons on top of the reactors you were planning. Happy now?"

While it wasn't divulging any current project she was working on, it did reveal at least one plan floating through her mind about what these crystals could be used for and something her company might very begin creating once the weapons division was created.

[member="Ice"]

 

[Ice]

"Hmm." He thought on her comments for a moment. "I've heard of the Death Star of course, and even cities being powered by less powerful crystals. But I have to admit I hadn't heard of those two ships. Still, I'm ecstatic to know this is in fact a viable idea in reality and not just on paper. For this was to be the purpose of these crystals. Well not strictly for weapons per se. But powerful ship reactors than could give a boost to all systems. Weapons, shields, engines. You name it."

"Unfortunately the supply of crystals is small, so I won't be mustering up vast fleets and armies all sporting force crystals anytime soon. But a small specialist attack group like how you are describing would and backed by force crystals would indeed be a force to be reckoned with."

He cast another glance around the crystals as his mind started scrolling through a myriad of applications for these crystals before refocusing on Taeli. "Well, you about ready to get started? And do you need anything specific to help you with the project?"

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Well it depends," she said slowly, knowing this next bit would be the off-putting part most likely. "If you want me to use Sith Alchemy to strengthen the crystals, it's going to require blood and a lot of it. I can use the dark side of the Force to empower the crystals just fine without it, but I would have no idea if the crystals could survive being put in a reactor without being strengthened by blood bonding. And I don't think either of us want to be standing anywhere near this thing if it shatters with that much power inside of it. It could make an anti-matter explosion look tame and it would probably suck away everyone's life force."

The one drawback with Sith Alchemy of this nature, she thought. You could do all sorts of things with it, but unless you have the basic life nector of beings, it wasn't going to do much to strengthen something. Sure, she could twist and empower the crystals with the dark side without it, but the blood would strengthen the crystal bonds, making them nigh-impossible to break. Even a lightsaber wouldn't be able to cut them easily.

"On the plus side," she continued, "the blood bonding would make these crystals nigh-impossible to break. Even a lightsaber would take multiple swings to cut through them, energy passing through them to power a reactor would be easy."

[member="Ice"]

 

[Ice]

In a twist that would more than likely be quite surprising to her, Ice simply thought for a moment and then blinked. "How many warm bodies do you need?" He replied nonchalantly as if they were discussing how many settings for dinner they would need. "I'd like all seven of these 3.5 meter crystals to have the same treatment."

Truthfully at first, he was slightly put off by the requirement. But then a couple options came to mind that had him about as bothered with the prospect of sacrificing some people as a butcher might feel about slaughtering chickens.

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Enough blood to fill a tub large enough to fit a crystal so that we can coat each surface of the crystals," she replied immediately. She was surprised that Ice was rather uncaring about what she had just requested, but then he was a member of the Red Ravens. Must have seen and heard other just as brutal things, maybe even done some himself.

"I would say it might take ten bodies initially, but you might want to have several others brought as well," she continued. "And have them watch the process. The fear and despair they would be feeling as they watched their number being reduced one at a time to the knife would allow me to harness that as more dark side energy and imbue the crystals with it. Heartless, yes. Effective, extremely."

[member="Ice"]

 

[Ice]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

Ice immediately pulled up his datapad and issued a few commands through it. "Shouldn't be a problem. Libertalia houses some prisoners on death row. And while normally we throw them into the gladiatorial games here for the amusement and gambling opportunities of our guests, I think this is a more worth while use of them. For science!" He said in an exclamatory way with a slightly evil grin. "As for your request that they watch. Whatever you need to be more effective is fine with me in regards the subjects being brought in. In fact they should be in here in about 10 minutes."

He wondered if killing almost a dozen people in order to cast some of her magic onto a crystal that wasn't to be hers bothered her at all. Course she was going to get a force crystal for her lightsaber as promised of course. But still. Then again, perhaps she simply viewed it as academically as he did. After all, these men were to die anyway. And now instead of being torn apart by some wild animal, or being forced to kill each other, they would simply be executed. Other than the being forced to watch bit, it all seemed more humane in a way. And then at least their worthless lives would actually benefit society as they made it possible to create huge amounts of sustainable energy.

That thought almost caused him to laugh as he knew full well the crystals wouldn't be used to power cities like some ancient civilizations. No. Ice had far grander plans for these marvels of nature. It had occurred to him that perhaps he should share this technology with the CA. But then that would rub out his advantage. He already knew he could only field so many ships. He was determined to ensure he had the best. That brought to mind his Sith counterpart he. What if she wanted to work with him further on this technology? Would he trust her? Trust? Not for an instant. Trust...the word had always made him apprehensive. Like fine wine, the aftereffects on him had not usually been good. So he felt he had given up trusting. Though not necessarily the wine.

Then again, she had proven to be only truthful thus far. Perhaps he could form a tenuous alliance with her? Or was it all just a trick to lull Ice into her confidence so she could stab him in the back and take everything. He sighed inwardly. Why did Sith have to be so worrisome? Worrying about everything and everyone got to be exhausting after a while.

"So other then the "volunteers" and the large tub, anything else you'll require?" He wanted to make sure she was completely equipped with the best of what she needed.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"A very sharp knife," she replied, thinking about if there was anything else she needed currently. As it was only a strengthening and empowering ritual, no she didn't believe so. "And that is it, for now anyways."

As they waited for the prisoners to arrive, Taeli had to wonder about her host. He gave off the appearance of someone who could be open with information, but in reality she still didn't know much about his true intentions. She was getting a trust issue vibe from him, but then she couldn't blame him for not trusting her. She was a Sith after all, and Sith were known for playing the double-cross when things like this were on the line.

Killing the prisoners was just necessary, she didn't really care about their lives in as so much as that they would be furthering a more important goal. Those who didn't have power were doomed to serve the needs of those that did, as her master had told her, but Taeli was of a slightly different mind. This whole process was an academic exercise for her, to show that she had taken her master's alchemy lessons to heart and put them to good use.

Glancing over at her host, she thought that here was a man that understood sacrifices must be made for the sake of progress, something she was sure their fellow CEOs in the CA didn't fully comprehend. This project couldn't be shared with them she felt, it would be a bit of an eyebrow raiser if they discovered just what exactly was being done here. She would be interested in helping further with project, but the problem was that she was sure he didn't trust her enough to see anything further developed after she finished her work. That would need to change, she felt, as a tenuous alliance between the two might just be a powerful thing that she could use to help Krayt Industries, even if only a little.

"So since I'm doing all of the dirty work, perhaps you would like to share some details on just what these crystals are going into," she asked tentatively. "It's a very interesting project and I would like to help more, maybe even work on some joint company projects if this pans out."

[member="Ice"]