| Ambassador_Kruus | Date: Thursday, 30 May 13, 2:46 PM | Message # 1 |
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| "What the bloody hell does this thing do?"
A critical analysis and re-evaluation of artifacts of unknown or disputed usage.
Polymath Trade Baron Luneray Kruus, known for his work in the fields of Literature, History, Law, Art, Music, Political Science, Geology, Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Biology and a host of other fields of the Arts and Sciences is due to publish his latest work "What the bloody hell does this thing do?" an examination of mysterious items of technology.
The Kruus Institute, Cato Neimoidia – Publication due in 10 days – The Galaxy has many mysterious objects, often cluttering museums or even in junkyards, that have an extraordinary provenance. Turning his formidable mind upon the evaluation of many of these devices and relics, some well known some poorly understood or unheard of, Trade Baron Kruus endeavors to grapple with the psychology and disposition (if known) of the creators of these items. Having been given unrivaled access to Galactic Museums and reference collections (thanks to a letter of endorsement from the Supreme Chancellor as well as his own fame) he has selected a hundred of the most interesting items and put them into the flimplast print, with a holonet version available for reference.
Research on these ancient artifacts being regarded as "sacred" or "evil" by misguided religionists such as the Jedi Order and others has meant that the Jedi Order have traditionally prohibited or heavily censored access to the majority of non-Jedi academics to their store of ancient archaeotech. Luneray Kruus, in his Introduction chapter, addresses this issue:
"The Jedi Order, an innately insular sect founded tens of thousands of years ago and religion is innately fearful of challenging orthodoxy (involved in all cutting edge research) and thus have an innately flawed approach to the research and study of their own history and especially ancient artifacts that have been declared "evil" by unthinking sages of old. This flawed approach is no-where better demonstrated than in the Jedi Order actively discouraging research into the "Force", shrouding their descriptions of it in mystic nonsense despite it being a manifestly physical phenomena and thus may be explained by scientific scrutiny. An example of their obstinacy that lead me to cease utilizing the Jedi Archives as a resource after I was curtly told that a scroll discovered some years ago from Korriban that I wished to read was "tainted with evil".
Let us analyse this, the Jedi regard that a piece of raveled paper made from pulped cellulose and written upon in common ink was "evil" and so access to study it was prohibited without any real reason. It is time the Jedi Order realized that they need to come out from behind their mantle of religious monks and open up their practices to methodological research and scrutiny, or else the acrimony in the Galaxy toward them will only increase. Needless to say I did not return to the Jedi Archives again.
I find it most remarkable that the many intelligent Jedi and even the 'Iron Knights' as they are known show so little desire to explore their history and learn lessons from it to bring the Jedi into the modern era."
Thus without the standard source of such knowledge, Luneray wandered the Galaxy, meeting with ancient curators of almost forgotten libraries and visiting over four hundred museums and private collections, many of who permitted him to disassemble artifacts in exchange for a guarantee of a high fee if they were not reassembled. He also visited dozens of ancient monuments across the Galaxy and a holofilm of his travels is to be distributed along with the flimplast book.
Many items thought to be useless or junk the hard-working Trade Baron managed to resurrect at least partial functionality from. Initially a stumbling block with technological items was that modern power cells didn't fit, and that ancient circuitry while often functional is exceptionally fragile and intolerant to power provided at a different level or frequency than their original sources. The same is heavily applicable to older ships and speeders which require fuel formulations which either include compounds or blends no longer legal, available or to which there is no remaining evidence for how to produce. This lead Kruus to return to Cato Neimoidia and produce no less than two hundred varieties of fuel which synthesize these old chemicals in their effect, while not following the same exact ingredients as the older formulations. Also, thanks to a grant from a friend and benefactor, he was able to produce a stock of power cells based on modern technology but which fitted and provided the correct level of power (modern power-cells or fuel in ancient devices called what Kruus described as "destwuctive expwosions") these add to the list of Trade Baron Kruus' extensive stock of patents and inventions.
What mysteries and marvels were unlocked? Read on for a breakdown!
Chapter Listing
Prologue: Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from the Force.
Introduction and Methodology: Why I wrote this work and how.
1. Gigantic, but immobile.
Centerpoint Station other Artificial Celestial Phenomena including the Discovery of a Kathol Launch Gate in deep space in the Colonies Region and stumbling upon a Hutt Jump Gate in a junkyard on Caluula.
2. Weapons, but not just weapons.
Evidence of several weapons produced by ancient civilizations may actually contain more technology than it appears, discovery that several ancient devices examined were in fact weapons while some supposed weapons were not. Evidence Hyperspace Cannons may have had military uses.
3. Ancient Voyagers
Discovery that items were in fact spacraft. Including the salvage account of restoration of what was taken to be an old fuel tank orbiting Grizmallt in its Kuiper belt but which was in fact an Atomic Rocket from when interstellar travel was a distant prospect. A re-evaluation of the Foran Tutha Star Probe with a shocking revelation as to it's purpose. And more including the discovery of an intact early Tumble Hyperdrive, thought to be an artistic monument where it stood in the Coruscant Museum of Art.
4. Holy Relics? Nonsense.
Debunking the reverence or fear paid to many ancient technological items or wares with a sequence of examples from the Jedi Order, Sith Empire and others. One such "Relic" described as a "Dark Sith Tome of Inestimable Evil" by the Jedi Archivist Jocasta Nu (who are at present attempting to litigate for the digital reader due to the "Grave Danger" it contained, despite the fact that it was found legally on a Kruus Institute Dig in the Ash Worlds). After over a hundred hours of work producing devices to bridge the gap between the holobook's memory and modern computers I discovered that the book was simply a sequence of treatise on the Theory of Universal Reference and other obscure physics; little evil there I fancy.
5. Alsakan and Pius Dea
A remarkable selection of devices uncovered in Museums across the Core who often have a glut of such items and little or no understanding of what they are. Alsakan finds included a pre-holo video disc of a battle from the Seventh Alsakan Conflict (amusingly thought to be a coaster rather than a data-disk due to it being composed of ceramic), A Hypercomm Device presumed to be an archaic power generator, a priceless eleven thousand year old hyperspace compass concealed in a molten pile of slag, and more.
The shocking fact was unearthed that an old museum piece thought to be an archaic holo display terminal (that had served as a coffee table in previous years) was a contingency device created in the dying years of the sect to track down ships taken by "heretics", it is a hyperwave transmitter that activated an automated beacon on any Cathedral ship within a parsec fitted with the corresponding beacon. Only the final class produced the "Torturer-class" (all but one confirmed neutralized, it enjoyed a limited production run of fifteen before the Pius Dea cult fell) means that it would've had limited utility. Other Pius Dea finds include but aren't limited to a primitive "portable" datapad (weight 10kg, 6 inch screen) presumed to be unsalvageable (but contained several documents on their Genocidal activities and religious tracts) and a scary encounter when what was identified as a Pius Dea fuel cell transpired to be a radioactive source with a timer that causes the source to be unshielded on deployment (these were thought to be a myth but this confirmation demonstrates the truth of the Alsakan accounts of the Pius Dea depositing radiological sources indiscriminately in non-human areas on human worlds and scattering them in virgin alien ecosystems).
6. "Of Men and Machines"; Ancient Computers and Automaton
Discovery of several unconventional and overlooked computerized devices (with varying degrees of intelligence) and three examples of automatons that were not recognized as such by archaeologists due to their unusual construction. Groundbreaking revelations on ancient dataslices of the earliest extant copies of "Of Men and Machines" provide of shocking evidence that the true author of Plaristes seminal work (after which the chapter is named) may have been an early AI device. Comparison of ten thousand year old digital technology shows Humans were technologically inferior to the average of civilized non-humans at the time.
7. Rakatan Genius
Examination of several Rakatan Artifacts with many new discoveries including a Rakatan Droid that due to its odd shape was venerated in a shrine on Selonia as a statue of a god. A partially intact Rakatan Starfighter discovered in a scrap shipment to Neimoidia which had a database 99% corrupted but from which a partial readout of a Rakatan Starcruiser was found. A Rakatan device thought to be a star-map transpired to have another data chip inside it, this was cracked in two but partial information on Rakatan production of a Hyperspace warping device and even a possible teleportation device were alluded to in the damaged files.
8. The Mysterious Gree and Kwa
Examination of several Gree and Kwa artifacts with some unusual secrets elucidated as well as the identification of the true purpose of many.
9. Jewels of Power
A theory is put forward that many of the "Talismans", "Jewels" and other items produced centuries ago with alleged magical powers represent an archaic reproduction of earlier technological mysteries.
10. Delightful Treats
Discovery by translation of Grafitti during the refurbishment of the Agricultural Corps HQ on Malastare that the building may have served as A Library Temple built by the Sith Empire thousands of years ago. Examination of newly unearthed blueprints of an Alsakan Sleeper Ship reveals the Invincible-class Dreadnaught Heavy Cruiser may take its shape from these truly ancient ships and explains their different appearance from that of other common Alsakan ships. A strange secret reveals questions about the origins of the Naboo Royal House of centuries past, claiming to descent the Royals of Grizmallt analysis of a fragment of the old King's robe revealed it was an armourweave fabric resistant to acid produced by Tapani nobility who resided on Vjun at the time Naboo was settled; is Naboo a Tapani-Vjunite offshot? It matters little, but it is revealing that he required acid environment protection on terrestrial Naboo. Also, the glittering stone paperweight on the desk of the Senator from Gravlex Med was discovered to be an ancient grenade that had calcified in gold bearing mud. Plus much much more.
Appendix I: On the cupidity of the average mind, why we turn things we don't understand into Magic.
Appendix II: An "out of context problem"? A discussion if the most ancient technologies produced by races drastically in advance of our own can ever be understood until our technology advances significantly.
Appendix III: A short discourse on the monopoly on use of the Lightsaber by the Jedi is harmful, debunking the claim they can only be made with force sensitive skills and citing the any industrial uses the technology could have for Galactic Civilization.
Luneray Kruus Jr.
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Diplomatic Consul to the Outer Rim Territories
Expansion and Incorporation Advisor
Message edited by Luneray_Kruus - Thursday, 30 May 13, 2:51 PM |
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