Fwurg

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana went looking for Quartermaster Nishra.

"Hello quartermaster,

As you might already know we will be escorting the empress soon. We still need a ship that is large enough to transport the empress and her followers but is still capable of transporting us into the slave rebellion without giving us to much attention. Do you have any advice on a type of ship that we should use? Could you arrange a suitable ship for us as soon as possible?"

[Quartermaster Nishra]

"The empress? What empress? I thought we were a Union, not an empire..."

The quartermaster shook her head.

"Sure, I'll get you a ship. How many people will you be travelling with?" she inquired "You probably want proper defences regardless... a fast navigation computer... How do you feel about armour plating - it makes for a rough ride, but it will keep you safe inside?"

[Ariana Danacia]

"We will need a ship that is fully equipped for the transport of at least 13 passengers. At least 5 of these passengers are nobles and will need luxury quarters. The ship needs to have enough storage space to store 25 cubic meters of luggage, most of this should be easily reachable from the luxury quarters.

We need to go into possibly unsafe territory so we will need protection from possible bandits but if we would take a complete military fleet we would draw far too much attention. We are trying to stay under the radar if possible.

I am not sure about the armor plating. We can not have a bumpy ride. The nobles will not accept this... There should be other defensive methods like shielding technology? Praetorian ships have high quality shielding, maybe we could get a small Praetorian cruiser?"

[Quartermaster Nishra]

"You are going to the slave rebellion, a nation where over eighty percent of the population lives below the poverty line and who's army retrofits rusty civilian vessels with mining lasers to expand its war-fleet.

How long do you think a luxury cruiser with high quality shielding is going to stay under the radar there?

I can get you a luxury vessel, I can even retrofit it with shielding and advanced engines, but it is going to stand out like an active lightsaber in a seedy bar. Or I can get you a ship which will stay under the radar, but her imperial hiney is going to have to have to accept that she'll have to choose between the ability to stretch her legs and her 25 cubic meters of luggage."

The quartermaster shook her head, causing her magenta fauxhawk to shake from side to side a bit.

[Ariana Danacia]

"I guess you are right, Maybe we should look at it from the other side. Is it possible to retrofit a older cargo vessel from the inside? Since it is a cargo vessel it should have enough room for a couple of luxury quarters. Give it some armor plating and it might work as well? That should work to stay under the radar?"

[Darones Rei]

Meanwhile Darones received the visitors in one of the conference rooms of the Jedi Temple, where he welcomed both with a short, formal bow.

"Duchess, Milady," He said greeting both the Lady Dewa Misaki and the other noblewoman that had come with her, "Welcome to the Jedi Temple. My name is Darones Rei and it is my, and my fellow padawan's, honor to escort her Imperial Majesty on the upcoming venture.

I have asked for your presence here so that we may discuss her imperial Majesty's requirements and wishes, such as the intended goals for this upcoming missions, and our expected contribution to achieve these goals besides providing security.

Let me just start with saying that while we strive to meet her imperial Majesty's wishes as best we can, I am afraid some concession will have to be made, especially concerning our manner of and the comfort during the journey itself."

[Lady Dewa Misaki (mask of Veolian Commonwealth)]

The woman took a moment to look over the Sundarian child in front of her.

"Her Imperial Majesty has made it clear that some discomfort was to be expected. Which, in this case, was meant as an indication that she will not see a lack of comfort as an issue. If the vessel itself lacks the proper facilities, she expects to have regular stops at eden worlds, preferably worlds with very little population but with a Type I atmosphere and native flora and fauna."

Both women sat down.

"Her Imperial Majesty hopes to find common ground with the Slave Rebellion, so we can set up a more permanent method of communications with them. She also hopes to gain insight into the needs of the Slave Rebellion for later, more economically oriented negotiations.

Her Imperial Majesty would be greatly helped if you could offer political insight when we are in negotiations. It will probably be difficult for her imperial majesty to gather information amongst the population"
Lady Dewa Misaki

[Darones Rei]

"Understood," Darones answered, "I'm sure that my fellow padawan and myself should be able to provide such insight, it can however not supersede the safety of the delegation since our first task is to provide the necessary protection to prevent an large political and diplomatic incident."

[Lady Dewa Misaki (mask of Veolian Commonwealth)]

"I do not intend to offend you, or your peers in any way, but I can not help but notice that you are but a child.", the lady said. "Is it the habit of the Jedi council to put the lives of children on the line?"

Lady Dewa Misaki

[Darones Rei]

"It is true that I have yet to come of age," Darones replied to Lady Dewa's question, "But nevertheless it has been the decision of the Jedi Council to appoint me and my fellow pawadan and it is not my place to question their choice. I will however say this, the Council would not have given us this assignment if they questioned our abilities to successfully perform this mission and gain a learning experience from it, how else are we to further our skills and training if their are no chances to test them in practice?

If you feel uncomfortable with the choice of the Jedi Council I would suggest that you seek an audience with Master Screetor, so that he may discuss this with you in person." Darones concluded. While he understood how it must look, he was a Jedi and sure that he would perform admirably.

[Lady Dewa Misaki (mask of Veolian Commonwealth)]

"That will not be necessary. I have faith in the judgement of the Jedi Council, and apologize for any offence I might have caused you.

Is there anything else about her imperial majesty's requirements or wishes you wish to discuss? Perhaps you have the specifications of the vessel we will be flying on?"
Lady Dewa Misaki

[Quartermaster Nishra]

The quartermaster nodded to Ariana "It would. I'll see it done, though there'll be a few compromises, I think we can fit most of it in. You can expect it ready and waiting for you when you are moving out and then you can inspect it. Just regular luxury quarters with lots of storage space or do you have any special wishes? And don't just give me a checklist, tell me in person, because I dislike doing paperwork."

[Ariana Danacia]

"I am not sure how luxury quarters are supposed to look like. Is it possible to implement them in a Veolian building style?

The only special things about the storage space that I know are that 5 cubic meters should be accessible at all times from the luxury quarters and about 2 cubic meters will be used to store weapons and armors and such.

We were told that the Veolian Empress is willing to adept to the living situation on the ship up to a certain level.

Is it possible to get schematics to share with the Veolian delegation? They might have left out specific requests."

[Quartermaster Nishra]

"I don't know much about Veolian architecture. I'll use Theelin as a baseline - we're both mammals of about the same size. And in a cargo vessel we can make all luggage accessible."

she shook her head

"Why would anyone need two cubic meters of weapons...

I can get you a schematic but since this'll need to be built, it'll not be available until about the time its done. If they left out specific requests, they're too late with it now regardless."

[Ariana Danacia]

"Thanks I will notify the others on the plan."

Ariana bows and leaves the room and moves to Darones.

"I have asked the Quartermaster to retrofit a older cargo vessel from the inside and add the necessary luxury quarters. She will make sure the ship gets some armor plating as well for protection.

There are no schematics on the ship yet since it is all drawn and constructed at this moment. I hope the Veolian delegation did not bring us extra requests and constraints since it might be too late now."

[Mercury]

((OOC: If there are no objections, I want to move this along to the actual arrival of the Empress and the departure of the group. Would everyone be okay with that?))

[Brend]

((OOC: Agreed. But give us some pre-launch roleplay time; I am sure there will be some issues to work out ^_^))

[Darones Rei]

Darones listened the Duchess her reasoning and the subsequent questions.

"I believe that all current question we had come up with have been answered, as far as our vessel is concerned I shall forward you a set of schematics as soon as the final arrangements have been made. I believe our current thoughts involve a retrofit of cargo-vessel, in which case we shall try to provide adequate accommodation for her Imperial Majesty, whilst also ensuring adequate protection.

Any further questions we might have, could be answered in a later point of time." With that Darones saluted his guests and left to check on Ariana's progress.

"Mm, I think that her Imperial Majesty will be most pleased" after Ariana explained her arrangement for a vessel. "I have promised to forward the schematics as soon as they are available, and I've heard nothing about any other requests concerning our vessel, but frankly I did not ask if there where any more."

((OOC: I'm otherwise okay with continuing with the storyline ;)))

[Shaedys]

Shaedys entered the conference room, making a small bow before everyone.

"Good day, I believe there is still a vacancy that might be filled on this mission? I believe I am suitable to fill this and would like to help in the escort of her imperial majesty. If permitted I will fit fine in any human sustaining quarters." He said, not completely sure it was the proper procedure to join a mission. This mission sounded appealing though, as most of the preparations had already been made.

[Ariana Danacia]

"Welcome.

I was actually expecting Khalash Shiaraz Azara-ka back here by now... I guess he must have been recalled to his homeworld and the Jedi Counsel forgot to tell us. So they send you here to replace him?

My name is Ariana Danacia, it is nice to meet you. Who are you?"

[Shaedys]

Shaedys suddenly realised he hadn't properly introduced himself yet and felt a sudden rush of embarrassment.

"I am Shaedys, Jedi padawan from the Astai Republic. I'm filling in for Khalash Shiaraz Azara-ka because he couldn't make it. I apologise for any inconveniences caused by this. I believe I have been filled in on the mission appropriately and if the cargo ship has room for me in lieu of Khalash Shiaraz Azara-ka then there should be no problems."

[Darones Rei]

"You are most welcome to join us Sheadys," Darones said, "My name is Darones Rei. Most of the preparation have indeed been made and i'm sure that our ship should offer more then enough space to take you along."

[Quartermaster Nishra]

"Your vessel is awaiting in Bay 8. - Quartermaster Nishra"

The message was short but powerful and soon the Jedi found themselves heading towards the cargo bay where there ship was awaiting.

Outside it appeared like an old bucket of rust and when entering it almost seemed it was no different, but the actual cargo bay had been converted to contain several luxury quarters, retrofitted inside the container rooms.

Despite its old appearance, the ship had an excellent set of engines, the hull had been reinforced with solid armour plating, hidden beneath the rust, and featured several weapon systems and redundant shielding. It would be able to outrun and out-gun most vessels in its class, in fact, so it was clear the Jedi had spared no expense outfitting this ship as best as possible while making it still look like a rusty old cargo ship.

[Empress Saret Neferti]

Upon being forwarded the location of departure, the empress and her retinue proceeded to the indicated location. Of course, this entailed some logistics, as her imperial majesty's luggage is of a volume of 25 cubic meters.

The empress' arrival was indicated by two hooded women entering the hangar, and having a long and detailed look around. When they seemed satisfied, one of them went back, while the other stayed at the other end of the hangar.

Next, a veritable train of servants used hover-carts to deposit around 15 large crates and boxes, some of them sized roughly a cubic meter, others seemed to be two cubic meters, either stacked, or side-by-side. Together with the train, two veolian women entered the hangar, clearly overseeing the luggage handlers.

Finally, the empress herself entered the hangar, flanked by a hooded woman, and followed immediately by a twi'lek and a human, two more veolian women, and two more hooded women.

She moved towards the luggage, which has been deposited at the empty end of the hangar. The four hooded women were clearly bodyguards, and behaved as such. Darones recognized Lady Dewa Misaki, and the woman accompanying her when they met earlier. The jedi couldn't really make out the exact status of the twi'lek and the human; they were dressed expensively, and appeared to be held in high esteem by the veolian noblewomen.

Much to the Jedi's surprise, the group remained at the other end of the hangar and displayed no intention of actually moving to the ship.

[Ariana Danacia]

"Darones, our guests have arrived. I guess they are waiting for a large cruiser... Can you ask them to come to the ship so we can show them the inside of the ship. It might look rusty from the outside but the inside has been remodeled to fit our needs."