Watt is in a Name?

[Ayden Cater]

After the seizure of all Baktoid assets within the Protectorate, Ayden found himself in an interesting position. The Republic had forcibly decommissioned the Watts-class after the massacre at Druckenwell as a result of Alli Wren, one-time Director of Intelligence for the Republic and the owner of Baktoid, using a backdoor killswitch the entirety of Baktoid's product suite was called into line. With a potentially disastrous backdoor in their midst, the Republic had wisely pushed the ship line out of service for security reasons. So those ships went back to Baktoid for testing and analysis. So many ships, they couldn't all be processed over one world, so they were divided amongst several.

One such world was Corellia.

Since the ships were now the physical property of the Protectorate, they were his to do as he saw fit. And that meant disassembling them bolt by bolt. The Republic had made waves on Valen. The Protectorate had only been able to secure two of their generators while the Republic had apparently been granted free access to the schematics and necessary components. He didn't begrudge the Republic their victory on the planet, merely that the Protectorate's efforts in orbit hadn't been recognized. Now, however, he had his validation.

The first thing done to their pile of Watts was scrub, wipe, purge, and dip in acid every computer component before sending the mass off to a star for incineration. There would be no backdoor against the ships to be exploited. Most of the ships would simply be refitted for Protectorate service with the necessary military hardware. That meant tearing out old weapon systems and putting in up-to-date ones. Whoever had had the idea of using Hapan cannons within the Republic needed a good smack upside the head.

His next offense was to the general array of weapons put on the ship. Versatility was well and good; a few CEC designs were noted for their versatility and their freighters were all but legendary for it. However, for a military ship there needed to be a focus on the weapons to keep from wasting space. Not only did the Watts-class suffer, in his opinion, for a lack of focus in its armament, it suffered from a needless lack of armor. For a warship that lacked a hanger, the Watts-class was woefully armored. There was a lot wrong with the ship design, from his perspective. Much of that was probably the fault of the Senate - auction off manufacturing rights to the lowest bidder.

The refit process would be simple enough. The tricky part was the reverse engineering. Several Watts had been singled out for being virtually fresh off the assembly line as perfect candidates for reverse engineering to get a better understanding of how the ships had been built in the first place. Any misgivings he had about the overall design paled next to the fact that the Republic had been given and utilized an advanced generator and he intended to to figure out how to duplicate its success.

 

[Ayden Cater]

In the hidden Protectorate office beneath the surface, Ayden stood in front of a series of holoprojectors that were presently engaged in displaying a blue wire-frame of the Watts-class. He stood with a hand on his chin, thoughtfully stroking his jaw with his index finger while staring intensely at the wire-frame.

"I don't think staring at it will do you any good. Unless you're expecting your eyes to bleed out, in which case you might want to step closer to the projector." A male Corellian voice came from the speakers around the office before the figure of a man appeared next to the Watts. Barely a third as tall as Ayden, the holographic man was nevertheless well defined and shaped.

"Roland, you know that's not what I'm doing," Ayden said to the AI while he began to circle the ship. "While you're here though, I could certainly use you. I need to isolate every major subsystem on the ship; propulsion, navigation, weapons, life support. Put each of them on their own separate layer. Then I need the hull plating grouped and put on its own layer. Highlight all major areas of the ship. Let's see if I can't salvage this design."

The AI straightened up and placed its hands behind its back and nodded. In an instant the wire-frame was alive as parts were highlighted and grouped. "Work complete." Ayden tapped his fingers all together, activating the holographic trackers. Giving the wire-frame an experimental spin, Ayden quickly started throwing layers to the side, stripping the ship piece by piece until only the central power system remained.

"Gimme the estimated power consumption of the Watts-class compared to the Warden and Stalwart classes." Miniature wire frames of the two Protectorate cruisers appeared while the AI processed the request. He already had a fair estimate of how much mower power the Watts-class had at its disposal, but he liked to have hard numbers when designing. "The Watts-class possesses a power grid almost three hundred percent more powerful than the Warden class and almost six hundred percent more powerful than the Stalwart." That was impressive.

Given his extensive work with the Starfall and the reactor from Roche, as well as his hand in designing the Cira-class frigates, combined with his recent discussion with Ashin Varanin, Ayden wasn't intimidated by the reactor. He could safely utilize the reactor design with a new ship and avoid over-drawing from the reactor. Wouldn't do to make a new ship that blew up every time it tried to fire its weapons.

Though, another thought occurred to him. He could take the reactors and cannibalize them to miniaturize the capacitors in the Javelin systems. This would allow the weapon systems to have a faster rate of fire, which would give them a marked increase in combat performance. A near ten minute recycle time was nearly an eternity for capital ships. Skirmishes had been decided in less time than that.

So that was his choice; create a new line of ship that would have outstanding combat potential or upgrade the weapon systems in use in a majority of Protectorate ships, giving the entire navy a boost in combat.

 

[Ayden Cater]

Leaving behind the conundrum regarding the ultimate fate of the project, Ayden decided to tour one of the Watts that had been marked for general refit. These were ships that would ultimately be pushed out as command ships for high-profile admirals and exceptional captains. These ships would be turned around with minimal downtime. Since they weren't reconfiguring the power generators, it was simply a matter of tying off old relays and adding in new ones as needed.

Much like the Antilles and Indomitable before it, these ships would possess powerful Javelin hypervelocity cannons. Given the sophisticated and powerful reactor aboard the Watts, it was determined that the vessel could safely handle four heavy Javelin systems. However, there was concern that the stress of firing all four at once could potentially tear the ship apart. A compromise was reached with the creation of the LH-39. Rather than four full LH-71 Javelin cannons, the ships would be fitted with two LH-71s while the stress of the other two was bled off into six heavy LH-39 'Mini-Javelins'. A fifth as powerful, a fifth the cooldown, and half the size, the LH-39 would not produce near the same structural stress on the ship even if all five were fired simultaneously.

Forty-five batteries of turbolasers would provide the secondary weapon array for the ship. They would be arranged so as to allow the ship to fire in any direction. This wouldn't be sufficient to ward off larger heavy capital ships, but it would keep the ship safe from light capital ship harassment. Of course, any light capital ship that attempted to get close would suddenly find itself in trouble as it came under fire from one of fifty cluster missile pods. Softened up by the turbolasers, the sudden onslaught of concussion missiles would rapidly overwhelm the target shields and inflict sudden damage against its hull. Thirty flak cannons and thirty-five quad laser cannons rounded out the defenses to protect the ship from starfighter attacks.

The refitted Watts would lack a hanger much like the Republic version. The space was needed for the hypervelocity cannons. Instead of dedicated hangers, the ships were fitted with two pairs of Force cylinders to allow for station docking as well as docking with other ships and craft. Escape pods were pulled, restored, and replaced. The crew count was lowered considerably by the decision to place several Javelins on the ship as those technicians and gunners could be removed from the workforce. This meant that there were considerably more than enough escape pods, resulting in a higher probability of reaching one by the average crew member.

Survival was further increased due to the additional hull-plating placed across the ship. Again owing to a significantly reduced external turret count, the ship's hull rating was brought up to desired levels. The constant power draw from the Javelins did mean that the ship would not be receiving any manner of increase in agility. However, this wasn't a flaw persay given the design philosophy in the Protectorate navy. Rather than attempt to engage enemy ships one-on-one, the ships targeted the enemy as a group.

As the tug finished its flight around the exterior of the ship, Ayden knew which choice he was going to make.

 

[Ayden Cater]

"Roland, wake up. We've got work to do." Ayden came trotting into the design lab ahead of the lights flickering to life. He threw his jacket off and onto a table while warming up the holo-projectors. Beside him came the small form of Roland from an ever-ready projector in the room's corners.

"You know I don't sleep." The AI crossed its arms over its chest and looked at the flesh-and-blood Corellian with a look that could easily pass for annoyed. It was a gesture that the AI achieved with perfection despite not feeling truly annoyed.It was better than most other droids or artificial intelligence as a result of being based off sentient brain scans.

"Yeah, I know. You like to pretend your a deep, brooding, mysterious man. Come on. Load up Project 93200-B." Blue lights began to bath the room as projectors activated. Ahead of him came the rough wireframe of the Watts-class. "Layers are still isolated, right?"

"Yes sir." Roland lost his offended look and began to slip into more of a work attitude. Despite his remarks and attitude, Roland did legitimately get along with Ayden and enjoyed the work he was given.

"Excellent." Ayden grinned as he began stripping away everything from the Watts-class once again. This time he put aside the power systems and was left instead with the hull and structural frame of the ship. The first step was getting the structural integrity up to the standard demanded by CEC and the Protectorate. To that end he straightened and condensed the ship's profile. Too many joints on the ship's frame created weakpoints that could be exploited by enemy fire or snap the ship in two under the stress of its own weapon's fire.

The two wings were brought farther back, engaged, and angled downward. These could give the ship a better sensor and communications range. They were armored and shielded appropriately, so a casual hit would not spell disaster for the ship. Secondary arrays were mounted within the hull but these wouldn't have the same resolution and would only serve to help a ship limp into dock.

Two protrusions were created, one dorsal and one ventral. These two would function as bridges. In this fashion, the ship could lose one and still continue to function without an impairment to operations. The separate location but identical function meant that one ship might operate from one bridge while another with the other.

 

[Ayden Cater]

"Shall I lay over the current configuration for the Watts refits?" Roland asked while Ayden circled the projection. They had been at it for the better part of a day getting the ship's profile and frame right. A meal sat untouched and cold, brought in at some point by a service droid. This happened regularly enough to not worry anyone. Ayden was focused on his project. He'd eat on his own time.

"No." Ayden said while frowning. "Load up the Javelins first. Adjust for the altered structure." Long green lines appeared within the wireframe signifying where the Javelin cannons would rest. "Alright. Add in the turbolaser batteries." Red dots spattered across the hull while Ayden stroked his chin in thought. "Optimize the firing arcs for forward firepower while retaining broadside firepower."

Roland rolled his eyes even as the red lines signifying firing arcs began to move around. Some batteries were raised up onto platforms to allow for firing past other batteries. After a few minutes the lines stopped moving. The ship had the ability now to fire each and every one of its cannons at a target down range. Broadsides wouldn't have the power of the Javelin cannons but would have the capacity to fire roughly sixty percent of the turbolasers. It wouldn't make a Star Destroyer too nervous, but any cruisers would be in trouble. And that was before the missiles.

"Add in the cluster missile pods, fifteen to port and fifteen to starboard." Now any ships that attempted to get in close would be in serious trouble. The turbolasers would lay open a target's shield before the missiles destroyed weapons emplacements. This as a tactic that had proven very, very useful over Naboo.

"Change of plans then?" Roland knew that the Watts refits were scheduled to have fifty cluster missile pods, not thirty.

"Indeed. We're putting in some energy torpedoes. Ten forward heavy projectors and forty forward light projectors. We've got the power. Might as well use it." Purple dots began appearing as the AI placed the energy projectors at optimal locations. The ship would have the capacity to volley the energy torpedoes along with its Javelin cannons, adding to its already incredibly powerful forward firepower.

"Throw on the defense guns. Keep the flak and quad ratio and optimize it for total coverage." The ship would be vulnerable then to coordinated starfighter strikes, but that wasn't a large concern. The ship was meant to be a capital ship killer, so that is what its weapons were optimized for.

 

[Ayden Cater]

While the first keels were laid for the christened Noble-class, Ayden sat in his office while reviewing his schematics and design notes from the Cira-class. Those two frigates had been the test bed for a number of technologies that had been refined and incorporated into later Corellian Engineering designs; automation, miniaturization of weapons and subsystems, titanium processing for hull plating. Once those hurdles had been overcome, other technological breakthroughs had been made. Capacitor technology allowed for the development of shipbound hypervelocity cannons. Brain scans had led to the development of true artificial intelligence. Crystals with the capacity to regulate energy flow had been discovered and processed. This ship, the Noble-class, was the culmination of all that work.

​For all the work that they had put into it, Ayden had a hard time accepting the idea of keeping this design for the Protectorate solely. The Republic had earned the right to the reactor design, after all. Their military had suffered for the forced decommissioning of the Watts-class, even if it had been for good reasons. They needed something to replace it. As woefully unprepared as they had been for the One Sith advance, it did not surprise Ayden that they had not yet managed to replace the Watts.

Rather than deal with the Senate directly, Ayden opted to send a message to the Jedi Grandmaster, [member="Kiskla Grayson"], and let her invite any she felt obligated to invite. He had only briefly met the woman once or twice in the past. This seemed an excellent chance to meet the newest Grandmaster and prepare something for the Republic. If they refused the gesture then that was on them. His conscience would be clear.

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

Kiskla had in fact met [member="Ayden Cater"] at length before, but under entirely different circumstances. And it was very much like a two-way mirror. She knew, he did not. That said, when the Lord Protector's message came through detailing an opportunity to advance the relationship between the two factions with something tangible, she responded cordially. Also including the Chief of Government elect, [member="Aurelia Saelari"]. With little opposition in running, she was basically secured -- and had a long history of involvement with The Republic to date.

As a Jedi, Kiskla was doing what she could not to make the mistakes Halcyon had made and make decisions on behalf of The Republic instead of for The Order. Having a senator involved would be most beneficial.

The message back to the Lord Protector was below

To: Ayden Cater
CC: Aurelia Saelari

We would be honoured to see what you're working on, in resurrecting old plans. Where is the ship secured presently, we can meet you there.

-Kiskla Grayson
Grandmaster of The Jedi Order.

 

[Aurelia Saelari]

[member="Ayden Cater"], [member="Kiskla Grayson"]

Aurelia Saelari received the message in silence. It had been her policy not to get angry about something without giving it a good 30 seconds of thought. To those watching it gave the appearance of a gathering thunderhead.

Finally, she narrowed her eyes. “So, they want us to go there to get and get a cut down version of the ship they took off us already? Well.”

Still, she decided to accept. If there was any chance of getting an honest deal here, Aurelia believed she was the one to get it. Besides, one couldn’t let the Jedi make decisions willy-nilly. That led to worse problems.

Instead, she composed a message to Kiskla.

Master Grayson, I will accompany you. Would you have room for a passenger, or should I find my own transport?
Senator Aurelia Saelari

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

Kiskla had room for another passenger, and informed [member="Aurelia Saelari"] of this. The message came with further instruction to meet within the Anaxes hangar of the main station. There, she would find the blonde Jedi near Crimson II -- performing the final flight checks before departure. Something that had been missed the last time Crimson II had bit the stars, and had resulted in a humiliating emergency banking on Ansion.

The Jedi wasn't wholly apprehensive about the trip -- she knew how to handle herself in multiple situations. Aurelia was unfamiliar to her on a personal level, though. The only time she'd ever seen the woman in action had been in response to Daella Apparine's request to have the Jedi Order surrender itself entirely, or be handed over by The Republic. Thankfully, Kiskla wasn't about to be closed in with a woman who had wanted to hand her over. At least Aurelia was one of the sensible ones.

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Kiskla Grayson"], [member="Aurelia Saelari"]

Ayden had received the response and relayed his own. They would have a location and a time to arrive. For his part, Ayden had little to prepare for their arrival. The technology behind the Noble-class was well-researched and practiced. There was no true innovation in the design, simply a different philosophy and implementation. He had little idea of what other manner of development could be had, what other path he could have taken in its construction. It was a fine warship, but hardly groundbreaking.

Still, it would suit the Republic's needs just fine. And if not? Well, it would suit the Protectorate's needs all the same.

 

[Aurelia Saelari]

[member="Kiskla Grayson"], [member="Ayden Cater"]

As Aurelia boarded the corvette she encountered the Jedi Grandmaster. Bowing her head slightly, the soon-to-be-chief smiled even more slightly.
"Master Grayson, a pleasure, thank you for allowing me to use your craft."

Aurelia had seen many Jedi Grandmasters come and go, no less than seven, possibly nine depending on how one counted them. Still, this one seemed to neither be a wet hen, nor a frothing lunatic. Given time though, who knew what might happen....

As she settled into her seat for the journey to Protectorate space she glanced at the Jedi. "So what is the purpose of this meeting, Master Jedi? Is the Protector really just inviting us down there to see a ship, or do you suspect an ulterior motive?"
Aurelia suspected ulterior motives about most things, so this was more a question to judge Kiskla's savvy. How she answered would be more important than what she answered.

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

"The Protectorate isn't likely to design something just to flaunt." Kiskla replied, glancing briefly over her shoulder by way of salutations. It wasn’t because she was rude, she just preferred to spend as little time as possible delaying takeoff. There would be more than enough time during the travel to speculate. That said, well-prated movements were made by the Jedi as flight control chimed their updates through the dashboard, counting down until the thrusters could engage and they were good to green.

When the ship finally departed, a whole of less than ten minutes, the blonde turned to the Chief-elect. Having been a benefactor to [member="Ayden Cater"] before with the Kenobi Praxeums, two orbiting schools that were muay beneficial to The Jedi Order, she didn’t see reason for his betrayal. In fact, The Protectorate had always been The Republic’s most fortified allies during her tenure — there was one time someone had been labelled something nasty, but Jedi Master Tefka had rectified that. “They’re allies, and I suspect a mutual benefit from this. Their government is in no position to do anything to create friction between allegiances.” A small simper was offered at this notion — all those in the galaxy united against The One Sith couldn’t afford to turn on each other, when there was a much more viable thread on the horizon.

**

The location had been clear enough, and had been pre-determined in the automatic navi-copmuter. Despite Kiskla’s history with the stars, she relied heavily on GPS. She could feel the thrusters reversing on arrival, and the small Jedi cruiser made the descent to the designated landing pad.

After a few sways, jolts and shifts of the hydraulics and whatnot the little cruiser nestled comfortably.

“After you.” Kiskla gestured, moving to stand.



[member="Aurelia Saelari"] | [member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Aurelia Saelari]

[member="Kiskla Grayson"]

Aurelia snorted slightly. Kiskla could be as sanguine as she wanted, but the truth was that politicians rarely did things without several reasons. This trip for instance had several goals for Aurelia. The first was to meet the Grandmaster and Protector (again). However, she had other reasons too; to show herself after her victory, to investigate the tensions and issues in the Protectorate, even to gauge the character of the Grandmaster.

"I trust you are correct," she said.

Time passed, and soon they were settling down on the landing pad. Aurelia did not need to be invited twice. She strode down the ramp as though she owned it an headed to a waiting airspeeder which would take them to the Protector's office.

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Kiskla Grayson"], [member="Aurelia Saelari"]

Ayden sat within his office waiting for the Republic envoy. He wasn't worried about the envoy being upset, as every diplomatic courtesy was being observed. Interestingly, the Grandmaster had invited only one person of note besides a few aids; Aurelia Saelari. He raised an eyebrow to himself while he pulled up the most recent reports from the Republic. Why had she brought a Senator? He sat back and nodded to himself while he reviewed the inauguration address of the new Chief of Government. She had certainly had an interesting public servant career; Supreme Chancellor, senator, Chief of Government.

When they arrived, escorted only by a pair of Protectorate soldiers in honor guard uniforms, Ayden rose from his desk and bowed. "Master Grayson. Chief Saelari; welcome to Corellia." As was his custom, Ayden had put out a bottle of Whyren's Reserve Corellian whiskey with a pair of glasses. "Thank you for coming to visit me on such relatively short notice. I'm sure you're curious as to why I asked for your presence." He tapped a console on his desk to activate several holoprojectors. In the center of the room came the wireframe of a ship. "This is why. Or part of why, rather. I present the Noble-class Star Defender."

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

Notice wasn't a luxury nations could afford -- that was understandable to many, especially those who operated on crunch time for the day-to-day. As they were escorted, snowy gaze drank in the details that were served to them from The Protectorate processions. The guards were stoic but rigid, and and the uniform detailing was ironed and pressed to the tightest degree. She'd always perceived The Protectorate as somewhat disorganized, simply because it was a collaboration of hired affairs; but if this had been a first impression she would have considered them quite official indeed. The pair of Republicans were drawn to the final destination, and the Lord Protector himself rose to stand in salutations. And this is the small moment where Kiskla would like to appreciate her age relative to her position -- how many young people got to be a position where they were associated in a restricted area with arguably two of the most important officials in the galaxy? High tides call for good surfers, and thankfully she could hang ten.

Blond waves slipped over her shoulders as she nodded her head in respectful greetings, unsure of whether or not she should proceed before the Chief of Government elect. Technically, it had been her to receive the invitation, so in her mind that gave her full reign to advance first. But not before the blue glow of the noble-class wireframes ignited the room.

Details. The ship looked very purpose-driven; not as curvy and visually arresting as the Kenobi Praxeums Mr. Cater had been responsible for.
"And the other part of the why?"

[member="Ayden Cater"] | [member="Aurelia Saelari"]​

 

[Aurelia Saelari]

[member="Ayden Cater"], [member="Kiskla Grayson"]

Aurelia would point out, having been Chief Minister of the Protectorate, that OP was far more than a collection of hirelings. For some reason, the notion that the Protectorate was still a mercenary state persisted, despite the fact that the Omega Protectorate had an articulated and complex government system.

Regardless, Aurelia entered. She refused the drink politely. Work and pleasure did not mix, especially when she had to keep her wits about her in this sort of meeting.

She looked at the wireframe and details of the Noble Class. Aurelia was no admiral, so she could not really tell if the ship was good or not technically. The Republic had a Chief of Military for this sort of thing. However, perhaps Kiskla could have more input on the specifications as she was presumably more used to war than Aurelia.

“It is very…impressive,” Aurelia said blandly. “I echo the Grandmaster, what is the other reason are we here for? I cannot judge much on the ship myself, but I believe that our military analysts would be pleased to take a look.”

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Kiskla Grayson"], [member="Aurelia Saelari"]

Ayden smiled and nodded. That was one thing about the official meetings; it was considerably harder to impress officials outright. Of course, it was quite possible that they did not have the technical expertise to fully comprehend the work of the Noble-class. That was fine, of course. When the analysts got to take a look at it, he knew they'd be pleased.

"Well, after Druckenwell I knew that the Republic was forced to retire the Watts-class because of Baktoid's use of backdoors. I only found out about this after I had Baktoid's Protectorate-based assets seized and I found that that included the decommissioned Watts." He turned and opened a small refrigerator in the desk and retrieved a bottle of water for Aurelia. "I can have tea brought in if you prefer."

"Once I realized what I had, I couldn't just let that technology go to waste. The Sith are extremely dangerous, learning and innovating after every engagement. I wasn't about to let the Republic's military suffer because of one woman's incompetence. So I began development on the Noble-class. Its design is more focused, a more intelligent weapon selection and placement. It's in every way better than the Watts-class, and I wanted to ensure that the Republic had every advantage it could have when it next encountered the One Sith."

"I know there is some mistrust of foreign corporations after the Baktoid incident and I'm prepared to have Republic technicians stationed over Corellia to monitor and engage the Noble's computer systems to ensure no backdoors are placed. Alternatively I would be open to helping Kuat Drive Yards take over production for the Republic's use of the Noble-class."

He took a drink of his whiskey before continuing. "The other half of what I asked for a meeting is to begin talks for more coordinated relations between our two states. As you said in your speech, Chief Saelari, we need to stand together now more than ever in our efforts to bring lasting peace to the galaxy. Not just against the One Sith, but against other powers that would seek to disrupt all that we have worked hard to achieve. I'd like to discuss the possibility of training exercises, joint operations, perhaps even the possibility of Jedi throughout Protectorate space."

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

The story behind the development was almost more attractive than the ship itself. While Ayden spoke, Kiskla's gaze directed to [member="Aurelia Saelari"] more than once to determine any tells from the woman's stoic visage. The generosity of their allies was most impressive-- considering the access to the cruiser named after Ben could have been kept to themselves.

Exchanging capitol as well as assets seemed like quite the web to weave. To this point the OP and Republic operated as separate entities to the mutual benefit if each. Insertions of random protectorate bodies could lead to some interesting spoil--- the Jedi could only imagine the unions that would be formed and how payrolls would be handled. To this sentiment, she scratched her elbow as it was truly not her place to offer any sort if commentary to the structure the two titans would operate.

The ship though, she could talk about. Not out of unparalleled knowledge-- hardly, she was getting more and more rusty with her own flight capabilities-- but because she did have some understanding. And it was named after her friend, after all. Oh nevermind, [member="Ayden Cater"] mentioned Jedi.

"There was a convocation of Jedi aboard Merrill's sigma station a while back -- your protectorate representatives insisted The Order's presence unnecessary in Protectorate space.

However, on my behalf the Jedi will go wherever needed-- so long as I'm not sending them into a territory of friendly fire."

 

[Aurelia Saelari]

[member="Kiskla Grayson"], [member="Ayden Cater"]

Aurelia was roused from her thoughts by the last proposal.
"I too wonder the wisdom of sending the Jedi into Protectorate space. We are spread thin enough as it is, and I understand the Protectorate favours more...dissenting...voices when it comes to the Force. Either way, it seems slightly unnecessary to have Jedi be in your territory."

"Either way, the Noble Class seems, from my limited perspective, a good ship. I will have to confer with the Grand Admiral, naturally. However, should it check out, I see no reason not to allow it to be offered to KDY to produce on our behalf."

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Aurelia Saelari"] [member="Kiskla Grayson"]

Ayden smiled cordially and shook his head. "You misunderstand me. I'm not asking for Jedi to come patrol the Protectorate, nor would I be so bold as to demand it. At last check, Grandmaster, I set policy for the Protectorate. I am not aware of making any statements at the summit in regards to whether the Jedi would or would not be allowed in Protectorate space. The point I'm looking to make is that the Protectorate is looking to contribute more to this... alliance, if you would. We've sat back and dealt with problems more as they came up, but if the One Sith have their way, that methodology will no longer suffice.

I know there are those within the Republic that would call me a heartless dictator, a man with far too much power for any one person. However, I'd like to think better of myself and the Protectorate. The Protectorate is stable, flourishing. Our war with the Corporate Authority goes well and the planets within our borders are, for the most part, enjoying a time of peace and prosperity that they have not enjoyed for centuries." He tilted the glass back and emptied it of its contents before setting it down on the desk. "We can stand together and help one another in these dark and trying times or we can sit back and be overrun one by one. I'm not a nihilist, but if I had to go down I'd rather go down swinging."