AN :
if we hit 250 power stones in 24h, there will be an extra chapter ;)
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From marksmanship, equipment maintenance, explosive handling, coded communication, and combat exercises with a particular emphasis on urban warfare.
While training was ongoing, Sifo and Tan'ya began to look into ways to improve the arms and armor of the men.
...
As far as weapons went, blasters were powerful, common, and had defined infantry warfare for generations. A shot from a blaster would shred through wood, stone, duracrete and even most forms of durasteel, blasting apart any cover someone might try to hide behind.
In addition to that, the projectile burned as hot as the surface of the sun. In terms of force it was comparable to being struck by a bolt of lightning, and typically could fire automatically or semi automatically. All of this in a round that traveled five times faster than the speed of sound. There was a very good reason that kinetic weapons had long since been replaced by blasters.
The ubiquity of the blaster meant that any armor was measured in relation to how it handled a blaster round, which was almost always not very well.
The sheer power of the blaster made most kinds of durasteel armor useless, the plasma reaction would just burn through all but the thickest armours in an instant like they weren't even there.
Some forms of durasteel could reliably stop a blaster round, like cortosis or phrik, but they were extremely rare and expensive. Mandalorians were famed for wearing beskar steel into battle, effortlessly shrugging off blaster rounds, but placed a weird level of religious significance on the stuff. Tan'ya was forced to conclude that trying to buy enough blaster resistant durasteel to outfit ten thousand men would probably bankrupt the planet.
"That's why most people in our situation use plastoids." Sifo explained to her. "Laminated armor might not stop the kinetic energy of a blaster, but it will absorb much of the heat so someone who's shot doesn't also have their organs cooked. They'll be taken out of the fight, but they might survive. It's also a lot cheaper than any durasteel."
"What about other forms of kinetic energy? Like explosive shrapnel or heavy impacts from a bludgeon?"
"It's partially effective at stopping those." Sifo replied. "Not fantastic, but certainly better than nothing."
Tan'ya wasn't too impressed by his description of the stuff. "What about layered armor? Weave together multiple thin sheets of heat resistant ceramic or plastoid, and impact resistant durasteel, in multiple thin layers. Wouldn't that be more resilient?"
Sifo shook his head. "That's an old way of making armor, long outdated. Tibanna blasters might look like just a beam of light, but when viewed in a light resistant slow motion holo recording, you can see that the blast is actually a number of extremely small layers of hot plasma in close proximity.
Don't think of it as a single bolt, but a tightly packed cluster of bolts. Collectively one layer just smashes through the too thin plastoid, then the next just burns through the too thin durasteel, and so on and so forth. Woven armor fails to protect against heat like plastoid, and the kinetic energy like durasteel, meaning the wearer gets the protection of neither."
In the end, Tan'ya had to concede defeat, choosing high quality plastoids for her guard's armor. Having settled on armor and weapons of Serenno's growing armies, she and Sifo began the search for ships that would transport them.
Which, much to her chagrin, became a saga in and of itself. The Trade Federation had a number of programs that would allow Serenno to rent light cruisers, at a fairly cheap rate at that, but principally Tan'ya rejected it.
The whole goal was for Serenno to better manage its own defenses, not to become even more dependent on the Fed. The next obvious choice was the Corellian Engineering Corporation, who were both renowned manufacturers of ships with the largest shipyards in the Galaxy.
That was when the two of them bumped into a rather nasty discovery.
"I'm afraid none of our military ships are available for purchase." The CEC rep explained through the holocall. He was a managerial man in his late thirties with a smart set of formal robes and a smooth talking demeanor. "Though I would gladly recommend to you some light cruisers from our civilian range."
"I'm sorry, what?" Tan'ya interrupted. "What do you mean not available?"
"Serenno, according to what I'm reading, here has been officially recognised as a pirate hub, and under anti piracy sanctions, specifically Bill 307-NC, subsection 2, we are not allowed to sell any military ships to you either directly or through a licensed retailer."
Sifo sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I was worried this might be the case."
"We're not a pirate hub." Tan'ya bit out through grit teeth. "We're a pirate victim, if anything."
"According to what I'm reading here, your former head of state, Count Ramil, was put under sanctions about a decade ago for harboring abyssinian pirates."
"Ramil isn't in charge anymore, Count Dooku is." Sifo tried to explain. "The ships are to protect this world from pirates, not engage in it."
"Nevertheless the sanctions are still in place. If you want them removed, perhaps get into contact with your Senate representative? Until then, I'm sorry, but our civilian catalog is open to you."
Tan'ya hit the mute button then looked to Sifo. "Could we buy a civilian light cruiser and refit it for military purposes?"
"Technically we could, that's what most actual pirates do, but there's some problems with that. Firstly, it would still be illegal and if we get caught doing it the senate might come down on Serenno. Secondly, a civilian ship isn't exactly designed for battle, and there's only so much a refit can do. Thirdly, refitting a ship is almost as expensive as building a new one."
"So we'll be paying more, getting less for what we're paying, and face serious consequences if we're caught doing it?"
"I'm afraid so."
With a sigh, Tan'ya unmuted the holocall and thanked the rep for his time.
After that they got in contact with Kuati Driveyards and Moncal Starship Manufacturing, only to face the exact same problem with both of them. They spent hours reaching out to smaller and smaller starship sellers only to receive the same response again and again. It was when they got turned away by an absolutely tiny manufacturer called 'Theed Palace Space Vessel Engineering' that they gave up.
"Can we look on the Black Market?" Tan'ya looked at Sifo, only half joking.
"Before we resort to such desperate measures, let's at least try talking to your father first. He might be able to get Serenno off the sanctions list."
"That could take years." Tan'ya scoffed. "That's assuming Father even agrees to go to the senate, which he won't on sheer principle."
"If Serenno ever wants to truly control its own defenses, you're going to have to get those sanctions lifted, anyway." Sifo reasoned. "Until then let's see about getting our hands on some speeders for transport on world, and maybe start looking to see if some other planetary defense fleets would be willing to sell us some older, second hand ships. I can feel your frustration, don't worry there are other ways of doing this."
Tan'ya hoped he was right, but was still worried. This was her first major responsibility, and the last thing she wanted was to fail because of some out of date senate resolution.
With the task set before her, Tan'ya focussed everything on finding a work around. It took hours of trawling through senate regulations, but eventually she happened upon an idea. Surely other worlds had faced the same circumstances as Serenno's before? What did they do to get around it?
Eventually, Sifo left to take a meeting with her father, and Tan'ya was dismissed from the day. Even as she lay in bed that evening, the blue light of the compad screen reflected in her eyes, she kept working long into the night, as the pink rays of the dawn son began to poke through her curtains.
...
When struggling with something, Jedi were trained to meditate until they found a solution in the Force. Dooku found that his starship's bridge was as fine a place to mediate as any. His cape and chain were hung up by the door, and the curtains were drawn, only the flickering light of hyperspace illuminated the room.
He closed his eyes, and immediately something caught his attention. A voice was calling to Dooku through the force, one that could be heard in the Dark Side. The sith wanted to meet him again, but it was a meeting the Count wasn't sure he was ready to take.
He knew what it would be about. Sifo was a liability, he had to be removed. Dooku even agreed, the deed had to be done. Just… not then. At the time, Sifo was serving two roles for Dooku, one as Tan'ya's teacher and the other as military advisor to Serenno.
There were other people who could serve those roles, Dooku knew, but the issue was he actually trusted Sifo.
Or he did, until recently.
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