Acquisition (HM Report Fiction), by Ood

Solari

03-08-2013 17:28:03

“Headmaster,” the Neti rumbled as he bowed his head in respect of the Office, if not the Holder thereof. A sideward glance showed a void on a high shelf, where once a Holocron sat, “So it is true then, he actually stole it?”

“He shall return it, once he is finished with it.” The vocal contraption stated in its metallic voice, “and I am not too worried, the two of us will indubitably still be alive when that time comes. He even made a joke about the matter, my old friend.”

“Oh?” The Neti’s powerchair moved to take up station before the desk.

“You two will outlive every student you instruct.” The gurgled voice of a Mon Calamari, accented with a slight static, projected from what served as the Headmaster’s mouth.

“Do you record everything?”

Solari remained silent.

Ood shrugged off the tangential train of thought. “It’s the blessing and the curse of our races; to almost never live long enough to feel the degenerating effects of age and natural deaths. Regardless, Headmaster, I came to bring you news of our acquisition efforts.”

The Shard moved into a more attentive position, moving aside several new regulations aimed at keeping the Mon Calamari Dark Jedi Master off Lyspair. Ood looked at one of the datapads he had on him.

“The efforts on Krayiss II have paid off incredibly sir. As we speak, our fleet is returning, carrying a select number recording devices, holofiches, datapads, primitive tablets, artwork, rare fauna and floral specimens. I even managed to talk the units into allowing us to break out several bas-reliefs from ancient structures. The maintenance droids are making indentations in the walls of the entryway here, so we can display them.”

“You’ve ensured nothing we collect will anger the Iron Throne?”

“Any ores, raw materials and lightsaber components - including any crystals - we discovered have been turned over to the representative of the Master-At-Arms planetside.”

“And it has been ensured these pieces will be of use to the latest addition to the faculty?”

“Wuntila personally requested atleast half of the items currently in transit.” The Neti took a moment to bring up more data. “Additionally, the Captain of the Pyralis informed us before departing that all had gone according to plan. The Pyralis, its escort and its precious cargo will arrive at Lyspair in approximately 64 hours, 46 minutes.”

“Excellent. What of the other worlds?” the Headmaster remarked as he made a small note on a pad near him.

“The Atrum Vorago is still orbiting Nfolgai. The overseer expects our archaeological, linguistical and xenobiological teams to finish up within the next standard week. They had some delays due to weather and send their apologies.

“Additionally, the preliminary teams on Rhelg and Khar Delba have informed us that their analyses are complete and that they have begun negotiations for the artefacts while awaiting the arrival of the Pyralis and the Atrum Vorago. Both vessels have orders to set out as soon as they have unloaded their cargo here and resupplied.”

Solari made another set of notes on his own datapad.

“The teams sent to Bhargebba and Ch’Hodos have indicated they have safely arrived and set up a processing centre, they will begin their investigations and analyses as soon as possible. Finally, the archiving, analysis and research departments are ready to start cataloguing and studying the new materials as soon as they’re unloaded.”

The Dark Sider finished, looked up at his Droidlike superior and smiled, “everything is going smoothly and according to our estimations. If all goes well, we shall be incorporating this new data into our courses before the Day of the Fox.”

“Excellent work, Ood. Keep monitoring the situation. We wouldn’t want anyone to get ideas and try to rob our fleet while in transit now would we?”

“Indeed not sir, the Paladin is standing by to jump in and aid our vessels if needed. The new generation encoded transponders are tracking the ships as we speak.”

“Good,” the Jedi turned back towards other pressing work - a student found guilty of cheating - before looking up again “You were a Jedi once were you not? Would you mind if I attempted to redeem you?”

“Go ahead; given enough millennia, you may well succeed.”

As he ordered the power chair to hover out of the room, the old Neti filed away a new observation. The laughter of a Shard, projected both through the Force and a high grade droid vocal box, sounded oddly diabolical, even if said Shard acted like a paragon of the Light Side of the Force…