Standing upon the Edge of Doom. (Open/Dev Thread/Republic)

[Gir Quee]

[member="Memorial"] [member="Maximus Stanforth"]

Gir spared a quick glance at his fellow officer, trying to get a quick read of his feelings; but GIr was no Jedi, nor did he feel it would be wise to dwell on such thoughts with a possible mind reader around. They entered a room with a holo-projector, prompting Gir to walk over to insert the data files. The projector began to thrum to life, pulling up one of the few somewhat profession holo still shots that Lucerne Labs had taken of their weapon.



"This is the Carwennan-class Missile. It's a multi-stage missile carrying a shaped proton warhead. Unlike your typical proton torpedo, the Carwennan vastly outranges nearly every weapon currently in use by other major powers. It is capable hitting targets that are not even capable of returning fire to the sender, which gives the Republic the potential to have an exclusive gamechanger on its hands. It is now possible to heavily damage or even destroy many ships before they even have the chance to attack Bilbringi or any other Republic world or their defending starships. Our main problem now is getting the Republic Navy to accept it on a large scale, which will likely require a launch platform, one for which we need your help, Senator. Lucerne Labs is not a big company, and if we are to keep our weapons solely for use by the Republic, we will need a subsidy or reasonable contracts in order for our company to benefit the Republic. Would you have any ideas in how to help Lucerne Labs help the Republic?"

 

[Jsc]

The Enclave
[member="Maximus Stanforth"]

Chiss female. Now there's something even a Zeltron doesn't see much of anymore. It's kind of a rare breed of people where Jerry was from. Though, all Chiss did have a distinctive smell about them. A human might not notice the potency of other's sweat secretions, but a Zeltron? Oh yes. Jerry could literally smell the Chiss on this soldier before her. What an alien smell?

"I followed the money."

Jerry smiled and took a more casual tone. It appeared this conversation would be enduring after all.

"Remodeling a planet can be an expensive undertaking. No doubt you've noticed an influx of troopers and transports as well. It's elementary really. Somebodies out here building a private kingdom while Coruscant is still burning? If that doesn't call for attention, what does?"

Mars shrugged and tried not to appear like she was mesmerized by this females pupils. But seriously. How did the Chiss get that amber glow in there? Fascinating. I wonder if there are hair care products named after that color?

"The truth is. When I leave here tomorrow I'm going to write a report about what I saw here. For the Jedi Order. ...I'm going to tell them I saw billions of private dollars going to waste. No doubt this whole affair is the idle fancy of some terrified Tetan Baron who can't quite seem to fathom that Fortress Worlds don't stop Sith Empires in the slightest. Hah."

She shook her head.

"I mean. Just look at this place. Somebody out there just built their own Jedi Enclave using their own pocket book and scruples. ...If that doesn't scream fishy to you? Well. Then I'm a cheap Ithorian Hooker. ...Sheesh. ...Oh. And I am not a cheap Ithorian Hooker. ...Just FYI."

 

[Maximus Stanforth]

[member="Memorial"] [member="Gir Quee"]

Maximus looked at the holo of the missile listening to the LT talk about it and it's possible applications giving up nothing about the conversation just taking mental pictures. Maximus was not sure this was the place to test out experimental tech but then it was not his call. Some things were better left unspoken.

Besides Maximus was still more interested in this Senator that since he arrived rubbed Maximus the wrong way.


[member="Jerry Mars"]

The Sgt smiled softly looking at the woman.

"Oh come on you don't think such projects happen without somebody noticing." "After all you don't think a Company of Republic soldiers ended up here by chance do you?" "When we arrived at the outpost the Captain mentioned something about it being a request from one of the Senators." "Don't know which one though didn't catch a name." "Plus there is the matter of the Republic Warship in orbit and the ship's Captain........some LT here at the outpost as well."

The Sgt. shrugged tapping the helmet.

"Nothing like having a dozen different comm channels to keep people in the loop." "Besides if something does go as fishy as you are thinking then the CO will let us know." "The man bleeds Republic all the way down to that nasty scar on his face."

 

[Silara Varis]

[member="Maximus Stanforth"] [member="Jerry Mars"] [member="Gir Quee"]

Silara flew over the complex for the eighth time now reading empty sensors. she was on air patrol but high orbit and close to the ship. Of course people knew something was going on. No intel was kept a secret even the most secret of files could somehow get accidentally left out on a desk or miss classified in the data nets.

So while nobody expected anything big Bloodhawk Squadron four in total still made their passes.

She keyed open the comms to the ground pounders on their own separate channel so as to not interfere on the larger tactical channels with useless banter.

"Oy sand pounders, how's the weather down there?"

Then she keyed over to the official channel as she whipped the stick left, turning hard and letting the adrenaline rush from the g-forces hit her. Atmospheric flying was way more fun the space.

"Bloodhawk one, Pass eight nothing to report, headed back to fleet for refuel. Back on station in fifteen minutes."

 

[Maximus Stanforth]

[member="Kyber Salurra"]

Taking Kyber's ID the patrol leader looked them over before handing them back.

"You'll need to check in with Cpt. Stanforth so he can assign you to a post." "Last know location is the CP I'll mark the location for you."

The patrol leader pointed into the general direction of the CP.


[member="Silara Varis"] [member="Gir Quee"]

Maximus listened to one of the nearby terminals as one of the pilots was heard reporting in. Looking over a Gir Maximus raised an eyebrow.

"That one of yours LT Quee?"

Maximus turned back to listening about the new weapon.

 

[Jsc]

The Enclave
[member="Maximus Stanforth"]

Mars was far from convinced that everything down here was simply business-as-usual. But at least the soldier's seemed comfortable enough to talk about it. That was a good sign. Maybe her little tourist romp wasn't going to be as strange as she thought? Ya never know.

"Well. It doesn't matter. I'm finished up here anyway."

Jerry stood up and collected her things. Time to get back to it.

"Good talking with you. Enjoy your time planet-side. At least the weather is cooperative. Hehe."

She smiled and dumped her trash into the nearest receptacle. Almost time to go.

 

[Serah Oricion]

[member="Gir Quee"] [member="Maximus Stanforth"] [member="Silara Varis"]

Yusan glanced up as the ships passed over, his eyes watching them for a moment before he heard the voice and shook his head. Eyes glancing back at the man named Gir he nodded. "Have you tested the rockets... and if not, can you give us a demonstration, i seem to remember a remote mountain range a dozen miles to the south." He was curious to see the effectiveness of these rockets, and if not on planet he could test them on aging staryards far above the planet, ones that were no longer in use.

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Memorial"] [member="Maximus Stanforth] [member="Silara Varis"]

As the holo-recording continued to play, Gir hesitated to answer Captain Stanforth's question. He did recognize the voice, yet he was not sure if he should claim her as being one of his own. To be sure, he knew that the voice's owner was based on his ship, but she wasn't under his command. The ship's captain and the squadron leader were partners. The squadron packed most of the corvette's punch, and the roving corvette was home to the squadron. Gir shrugged.

"She is based off of my ship," replied Gir quietly, "though I am not exactly in a position to discipline her, if that's what you are implying..."

Senator Yusan turned a glance back at the naval officer, "Have you tested the rockets... and if not, can you give us a demonstration, I seem to remember a remote mountain range a dozen miles to the south."

"We have never tested the rockets inside of an atmosphere," admitted Gir, "though theoretically, it should work. We do have some holo footage coming up shortly which demonstrates its effectiveness on the two targets it's designed to engage. The first footage shows a missile being launched from an asteroid base to destroy a simulated scout ship which is trying to find the base. The second set of footages shows a missile being fired at an capital ship turret mounted on another asteroid in the same belt.

But I do have four such missiles onboard my corvette right now, which we could test, if you would prefer a live demonstration."

 

[Kyber Salurra]

Kyber nodded to the Patrol Leader before heading in the direction he pointed. He walked at a moderate pace, wanting to take in the outpost as a whole and watch as the construction was taking place. He spotted a few men that looked engaged in conversation and walked towards them before turning his attention to the man in full Republic Armor, assuming it was Stanforth.

Kyber stopped a few steps away from the group and waited until a silence broke through (or he was noticed) to make a move. He stepped forward, giving a pretty half-assed salute and holding out his orders as well as his ID for Stanforth to confirm. As the Captain would read through the orders Kyber would say "As soon as I'm done making sure these defenses are in order I'm all yours, sir."

Kyber then stood at ease waiting for Stanforth's response.

 

[Maximus Stanforth]

[member="Memorial"] [member="Gir Quee"]

Maximus frowned.

"Doesn't using live ordinance so close to civilian population violate about four different Republic laws." "Unless I am missing a test range around here somewhere in those plans I am still waiting on." "Perhaps for now the holovid will suffice until a suitable test can be planned."

Maximus turned noticing the sloppy salute of [member="Kyber Salurra"] a few feet away. Maximus turned taking the ID and looking over it before handing it back.

"You forget Military bearing while with Wraith squadron Sgt. Salurra?" "If you are going to be sloppy it would be less offensive to not salute at all."

Maximus glanced at Yusan before turning back.

"Negative Sgt. the Senator is particularly secretive about this place." "If anyone is going to get saber whipped for poking around the installation's defenses I would rather it be me." "I am sure the Squadron would like to get you back fit to fight and not in a bacta tank." "However at the same time I am not going to get you in trouble with your CO so what we are going to do is this." "Stick to my six and when I can get around to getting access to the in place defenses you can get what you need."


[member="Jerry Mars"]

When Jerry stood the Sgt. did the same giving a soft smile. "There is no place like home Ma'am, see you around the club house."

Turning the Sgt. saw one of her squad members follow Jerry out with his eyes until Jerry disappeared. Rolling her eyes the Sgt. teased him. "Drop the slack jawed look Cpl. you know that is more woman than you can handle."

 

[Silara Varis]

[member="Gir Quee"] [member="Kyber Salurra"] [member="Maximus Stanforth"]

Silara whipped into the hangar setting the craft down hard but left the thrusters burning. From inside the cockpit she motioned to the Deck Chief as the rest of the squadron began to land. Crew ran to and fro, hauling fuel lines to the nose of each ship and locking their rings in place.

Silara opened the comm to the Chief.

"Make it quick Chief, I got thing's to do."

He simply nodded outside of her cockpit as he roared orders across the hangar...

 

[Serah Oricion]

[member="Maximus Stanforth"]

"The location i am thinking of is far from any Civilian centers, and i am not stupid enough as to not check the area before firing a missile into the middle of no where... but if you are that concerned, very well." He sighed and then watched the vid several times over, noting flaws or defects, speed, fluidity of the multiphase system. It was all data for him, even a live demonstration would be data for him and simply something for him to study a million times over. He would have continued if he had not heard stanforth's comment about a saber whipping. "I would ask that you place any complaints out in the front now, if you have any questions, please do voice them."

 

[Kyber Salurra]

Kyber sighed quietly to himself as Stanforth spoke. He didn't care for his lecture on proper salutations, but he wasn't going to make that information public. Kyber understood what the Captain was saying, and honestly didn't care if he went alone or if he had Stanforth babysitting him as he checked on the defenses. What he did care about was being strapped to the man's hip for who knew how long.

After Cpt. Stanforth was done speaking Kyber stepped to attention and gave a crisp salute before replying with; "Sir, requesting permission to reside at ease in the Mess Hall until time to perform my duty, sir. I wish to make sure I am at peak condition to perform my duties, sir." Kyber figured this would be a quick mission of checking on intact defenses before being told by some pompous CO that his troops didn't need his help, he hadn't been prepared for an all-day affair.

It seemed this CO was a cut above the rest, however time would only tell if Kyber's instincts held true. Kyber stayed standing at attention, head up, back straight, arms at his side, and eyes looking ahead under his Flash Goggles as he awaited the Captain's response.

// [member="Maximus Stanforth"] // [member="Memorial"] // [member="Silara Varis"] // [member="Gir Quee"] // [member="Jerry Mars"] //

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Memorial"] [member="Maximus Stanforth"] [member="Silara Varis"] [member="Kyber Salurra"]

Gir watched as the senator reviewed the footage and silently noted the various offhand remarks between the sergeant, the senator, and the captain. It is rather odd to see so many people from different stations mingling here. He eyed Kyber's and Stanforth's interactions with a particular interest. Odd, in the navy, one does not salute indoors, unless one is reporting for a specific duty or is formally summoned...as in if the person is being courtmartialed. Perhaps there is some sort of inter service misunderstanding going on about customs and courtesy...or that sergeant is really in trouble. He shook the thoughts from his head and cleared his throat.

"Senator, perhaps my ship in orbit could clear out a suitable testing zone in space, far from the normal traffic lanes. We could then test it out quietly, unobserved, and safely. I have a squadron onboard my vessel that could be well suited to ensuring that people stay away from the testing zone...for their own safety, of course."

 

[Maximus Stanforth]

[member="Memorial"] [member="Gir Quee"] [member="Kyber Salurra"]

Maximus looked at Yusan for a moment almost as if to say something but instead turned to Sgt. Salurra returning the salute.

"Granted Sgt."

Once the Sgt. left Maximus turned to look at Yusan again before turning and speaking to Gir.

"Lt. Quee can I have the room please Sir?" "I would like to have a word in private with the Senator."

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Memorial"] [member="Maximus Stanforth"]

Gir quietly nodded and proceeded to exit the room. Perhaps discipline problems are more serious than I thought...or the good captain is not sold on conducting a missile test. Either way, I guess I'll find out soon enough, if I need to. As soon as he had exited the room, the naval officer pulled out his datapad to start jotting down a note to his brother Salmakk, detailing the events of his stay on Bilbringi, though he made sure not to include anything classified. No, Salmakk could probably care less about the hidden base. No, that engineer's interest would be in seeing how his product had been received.

 

[Serah Oricion]

[member="Maximus Stanforth"]

Yusan watched as the man wished to speak privately and waited for his own attendant who had been in the background to leave, his eyes watching the figure with a bit of careful hinting before the man nodded and left. Then his attention turned to Maximus fully and he waited for the words to come from him, knowing that one of three phrases were likely going to come out of him, two of which being about Yusan being the biggest traitor in republic history. Which was already hilarious enough as unlike most of the Jedi, he did not defect when given the offer.

 

[Maximus Stanforth]

[member="Memorial"]

Once everyone was gone and Maximus had the room to himself he turned to Yusan.

"My complaints Senator are no secret and have not been a secret since the moment I arrived." "I have asked you twice so far to provide the layout of this installation and so far the only thing I have gotten in return is a off handed remark about life insurance covering a saber to the heart."

"You want your private little army on your own private little planet get away then that is between you and the Supreme Chancellor." "You don't want me to know what it in the building fine." "However those are my soldiers out there." "Men and Women I have been training to fight the enemy." "If you think I am going to sit back and do nothing if one of them gets taken out by an automated anti-infantry turret or some other tricks you got up your sleeve then we are going to have a very serious problem............SIR."

Maximus paused before continuing.

"You have a security issue Senator." "You got the Navy breathing down your neck, a joint services soldier with serious military bearing issues, a jack hole fighter pilot flying around half cocked, and let's not even get into the random Padawan running around in a secret Jedi Enclave nobody knew about until one of my patrols stumbled upon it during their sweep of the area."

Maximus sighed.

"Not too mention you want to test an experimental weapon in a place with people, and wildlife around with no solid idea of how it is going to work out or what effect it will have." "That is monumentally stupid but it is your funeral." "You want to continue this line of action I will gladly load my Company back up and leave you to whatever this is." "Quite frankly I would much rather face a firing squad after my Court Martial than risk the life of a single one of those soldiers out there." "I have no problem leaving you here undefended." "My duty is to the Republic and not to any individual person, not even a Jedi Senator and their super secret private projects."

 

[Serah Oricion]

[member="Maximus Stanforth"]

His eyes flared red at being called a Jedi Senator, he could handle the other stuff because that much was true and he owed the man an explination, blueprints and guarantees, but being called a Jedi... "NEVER call me a Jedi. I am not and will never be one of those spineless, corrupt fools, that think they can help the Republic by being over zealous and the main reason for why so many have died in the Republic. Question, are the Jedi a weapon or a Shield? Because at this time, they seem to me to be neither, but rather the catalyst for death..." He breathed in and the red subsided, returning to the normal crimson color, the fire in them gone.

"You are correct though to the point of the blueprints, i should have given you the layout immediately, ive been a bit scatterbrained lately. Though i would ask you look up on my past before you make accusations about not knowing what the battlefield is like. How long have you been an officer?" He didn't wait for him to answer. "You see, left and right ive been in every battle, every fleet engagement, led the charge on Ord Mantell before we had to give it up to the mandalorians. As for a private army? Im sorry but you are mistaking this for something far different, this is a contingency. And the Outpost itself holds no secrets as it was for the use of the Republic's Grand Army anyways, the very thing we are sitting her and overwatching. Next i would ask that you stop with the whole threatening you, i threatened the man who arrived after you, i have not made any hostile action or spoken any ill words to you or your men."

He paused to take a breath.

"As for the experimental weapon, as i said before, is in a remote and removed area, that can be easily contained and all damage easily out of the harm of others, though if you are that concerned i will gladly take the test off planet to a place where the lives of those on the surface or in the area around the planet are not at risk. As for the company we have received, i must say the Jedi is an interesting character, i love the need to investigate the creation of an outpost all because i am the one running it. And Sir, i can't exactly court marshall you, now can i?" He glanced over his shoulder, all rage gone and replaced was a feature that was as genuine as it got. He meant no harm to any soldier or civilian, infact he thought on the same level as Stanforth but simply on a higher assurance that what needed to be done was absolute. But they were in common in one thing, he would never send someone to their death, not without being at the head of the charge.

 

[Maximus Stanforth]

[member="Memorial"]

Maximus takes a breath.

"Oh right like all of those people you claim to not be one of you look at a Captain and assume because I am not a General I must have just been pushed out of the Academy a week ago for no other reason than the Republic is hard up for warm bodies to fill up Armor."

"I guess that is your right." "I am just going to be standing over here minding my own business like a good little soldier."


[member="Gir Quee"]


Maximus walks over to the side by one of the comm station hit a button.

"Lt. Quee to the CP, Lt. Quee to the CP."