Small Package, Same Lovable Shape!

[Camellia Swift]

Rendili products were prime starships after all, with a history behind them and with access still to one of the largest drydocks in the galaxy. Rendili Stardrive was a founding shipwright, Rendili was a founding world of the ancient Republic, and they survived to this day. Others had faltered over the course of time, annoyingly enough Kuat Drive Yards wasn't among them, but Rendili hadn't and it was clear it was because of their quality and constant attempt to build better, more powerful, and more efficient, starships. Camellia realized she had sat too long on the market. A new cruiser wasn't enough, but it was a nice start.

Still, with the time she had while waiting on the Shri-Tal engineering division to report back on expanding the shuttle bay into a hangar for a single squadron, Camellia Swift was going to forge ahead with the steam she had going. It was rare she had so much energy in a single sitting, so she was going to use it to the best of her ability. She was going to get started on that Corvette design approval as well.

 

[Camellia Swift]

From the looks of all the files she had been gathering along with the cruiser reports, most of the documents had one use or another, but none seemed to push the envelop more than anything they had designed already. The Protector class corvettes were on contract to the Jedi Order and were difficult to produce, but were by far the most powerful and versatile design among the bunch. The Praetorian was an all around simple single operations vessel, excelling at nothing but filling every role if needed. It was the perfect vessel to market along the Outer Rim and Mid Rim where a ship that could fill many roles was needed since specialized ships couldn't be counted on at the same or higher price for their uses.

The Core and Inner Rim had more wealth so they could afford more specialized units, but they weren't exactly in as much demand for ships. Especially with planetary defense forces being siphoned away. Although with the Sith it was understandable, leave no tools for the worlds they occupied to rebel with. The Republic made less sense not supporting it, but then it likely was an economic point as well, allowing them to spend more elsewhere. Either way it meant individual systems were less marketable in the Core and Inner Rim, though a few neutral systems existed in the free territories who were still prime business.

 

[Camellia Swift]

To meet all the requirements at hand the ship had to be focused enough in its role to appeal to fleets that could afford to specialize a ship to meet a need while capable of being versatile enough to catch the eyes of the systems further away from the center of the galactic map. For that end there were a number of schematics that worked, at least from what Rendili Stardrive's head could see of the blueprints cycling through her datapad. However, it was one of the designs on a piece of filmpalast on her desk from a stack of personal works from the various technicians Rendili employed that riveted her attention. All because of its shape alone too.

It made Camellia's face lift up in a tight grin as she struggled not to break out in tremendous laughter. What she had in front of her was too precious and it clearly showed the amount of loyalty and appreciation for Rendili's famous and historic starships that the engineer who submitted the work held. Perhaps it was the company's choices under her direction to revitalize their own old designs which inspired the work of the engineer in front of her, but regardless it was perfect.

 

[Camellia Swift]

Alerting the smaller construction berths of her decision, Rendili Stardrive's head leaned back in her chair with a pleased stretch as she signaled for her aide to take away the mess of documents aside for the schematics of the Starhammer and the new corvette she was ordering into production. In a way it was similar to the Vainglorious cruiser, but it would definitely have a stronger advertising appeal and a much greater amount of firepower attributed to it. In a way the Rendili woman was a little concerned over whether it would be as successful as she envisioned, but at the moment she was highly enthusiastic about the project and wasn't going to regret it regardless of the outcome.

After all, the shipwright was guaranteed a profit based off the results of the auction alone. If not for the corvette, then for the other ships that would be included in the bundle for certain. With the Starhammer among its list people would certainly clamber for it. That much was certain, so only the individual contract for the corvette was in question. Given its capabilities though, Camellia was rather confident in its ability to sell itself.

 

[Camellia Swift]

Boasting dual heavy turbolaser turrets on either side of the ship's head was almost enough on its own to warrant a contract, however, that was just the tip of the corvette's offensive abilities. Because the dorsal weapons turret was a battery of assault concussion missile launchers. The cluster of heavy warhead launchers providing incredible destructive power for the quite swift corvette. Then sporting four point defense cannons to defend itself against enemy missile and snubfighter attacks would round off the vessel's impressive list of weaponry. It was a truly overpowering example of firepower and an incredible attack craft.

Sadly though, dedicating space to an also lovely cargo capacity meant the corvette was without any form of starfighter support or additional shuttle transports. It did mean the ship was highly capable of acting as a blockade runner and transporting supplies to isolated regions behind enemy flotillas though. That was likely to be highly ideal in the new war climate pervading the galaxy.

 

[Camellia Swift]

Still, there were other things Camellia wasn't too happy about the design. Admittedly she confessed that her concerns were mostly a result of her unfamiliarity with promoting corvette class starships. It was the only class beyond starfighters she couldn't attempt to plug the company's reactors into the ship to boost its power output. Which actually was the only reason she was feeling forced to include the missile launcher battery aboard the ship as a warhead didn't require a powerplant for energy like a turbolaser or ion cannon did. Rendili Stardrive couldn't even utilize an isotope-5 reactor either if she wanted its production value to be higher. If it was a limited product then there would be fewer sales.

Plus she was sick of seeing fleets with just limited production items winning the day. No one could field a navy with just limited and unique starship designs. If they did then they wouldn't have the ships to defend their territory in the fullest. Certainly a mainstay fleet could be made up of numerous specialty ships for the sake of having a powerhouse, but then other sectors were left weak if they didn't have quality products to throw at patrolling their borders and major spacelanes. To that end more than anything Rendili Stardrive would provide only the very best in mass produced warships in order to show galactic governments the light in matters.

 

[Camellia Swift]

To make the new corvette design even a tiny bit more appealing the head of Rendili Stardrive knew it needed just one other angle. or to make a certain aspect of the project even better. For that purpose, Camellia was quick to alert the staff of the construction berthes to replace the sensor array of the original design. Instead it would pack a passive sensor array instead. This way the ship would be capable of scanning for enemy flotillas without being detected itself. Thus the ship would become an even better blockade runner by being capable of avoiding hostile presences and not just outrunning or outgunning them.

The ship was an ideal siege breaker for sure. With the concept of being marketed as being unstoppable by navies of oppression inflicting suffering on a planet's populace, it would certainly become popular among the morally high people, while its innate firepower made it ideal for battlegroups. The angle was good enough to make the founding shipwright's current leader laugh to herself as she spun in her chair imagining the groups competing viciously for a contract.

 

[Camellia Swift]

Between all that and its innate design and shape, Camellia had no doubts that the marketing for the Hammerhead Corvette would sell just as well as the Hammerhead Cruiser that Rendili Stardrive was currently producing quite actively still. After all, the cruiser was by far the most powerful mass produced frigate on the market. Plus it was a historically iconic figure from the days before the Mandalorian Wars, through the Jedi Civil War, and even in service during the Great Galactic War. By sharing the same shape, the Katana class corvette, named for the famous Rendili Fleet in history, would undoubtedly catch the eye of potential buyers throughout the galaxy.

The naming of Katana Class was a tough one though. People might get caught up in the fleet's failure rather than its history. After all, it was sabotaged by Palpatine to prevent the Republic from having a military capable of combatting the Confederacy of Independent Systems when the Clone Wars began. The goal may not have been to sabotage Rendili personally, but its effect certainly cost the company people's faith back then and allowed Kuat Drive Yards to enter the market with their own iconic products. Hopefully the new Katana image would erase that lowpoint in the shipwright's past and write a new profitable future for them instead.

 

[Camellia Swift]

At least production of the new corvettes wouldn't take long at all. Compared to the Cruisers the corvettes could practically roll off the line at a rapid pace so long as the line stayed profitable. There was no doubt there'd be business at least to recoup initial costs for the company though, the auction would see to that and certainly would appeal to specific clientele at the very least if Rendili Stardrive needed to turn to such types for sales on the design. Still, there was no point worrying about the future. Rather, it was more important to throw herself into the fray and work tirelessly to ensure the auction was properly prepared and that all products were ready for the sales they would make.

Since they would already begin advertisement on the Starhammers, attaching accompanying messages for the Katana class would be a simple task. Bundling products at the same time certainly made things more efficient, although perhaps people would get caught up in one over the other and sales could be hurt by their own incredible works. Which hopefully wouldn't happen since the Starhammer and Katana filled different roles and thus would likely be bought based on a client's needs.

 

[Camellia Swift]

As time drew near for the auction though, Camellia just felt herself getting more and more excited. Not even at the idea of the profits that Rendili Stardrive stood to make on their new designs. Instead she simply wanted to see the reactions of the prospective buyers who saw the work her Rendili Stardrive put into reality for them. She wanted to see their acknowledgement of her technicians efforts, her engineers ingenuity, and the skill of her dock teams and the quality of their philosophy. Especially since she sought to make the public nod to the fact that wars could not be won by select excellent craft. They had to be built on a foundation of vessels with the quality and ability to be fielded to open up the opportunities to use their special unique warships.

The Katana class didn't look like it would disappoint her in the slightest, but only time would tell.