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| - Sometime an hour, maybe an hour and a half before dawn, Badiri had taken note of the birds awakening. Their various songs fill the grounds of Organa Park with a high, sometimes staccato, melody of thin whistles and watery calls. The light now is higher than it was when Badiri had arrived. Indeed, when he'd gotten here it was just after midnight, and the park was almost devoid of souls. Even thieves seem to prefer other venues, where security's watchful eye is easier to escape. Badiri sits comfortably in the grass beneath a rocky outcropping and the shelter of a large tree. It is a relatively private area, thirty something meters away from one of the park's trails. On the ground in front of him is a tan blanket and several dozen metallic and plastoid parts of varying sizes, most of them black or dark gray. His ears flit here and there to the singing of the harbingers of dawn, though he is so deep in his work that he barely seems to notice them at all. Being in the military, one gets used to seeing the light of all hours of the day - and this is one such time for Ti'Ilandria. Reviewing a few things on her datapad and with a steaming cup of caf in her hand, the woman finds herself walking away from the startport where she makes her home aboard the Violet Sky with the now Captain Raxis L'gyr. Stifling a yawn, then woman brings the cup up to her lips and sips at the warm drink before blinking and peering at it curiously. "I really should figure out why Raxis insists on this every single morning one of these days," she drawls to herself along with a subtle roll of her shoulders. pausing, the woman looks around, then veers off the path at this point, thumbing over her datapad, before stuffing it into her pocket. With a casual gait the woman walks along, idly glancing around as if curious if she will come across the Jedi by stumbling onto him literally or if he will leap out and startle her first. The thought being amusing, she starts chuckling before taking an absent sip of the caf again, blinking at the bitter taste of the steaming liquid. Like the immense majority of his people, Badiri is absolutely dismal in his skills with anything technical or mechanical. Fittingly, he is deeply absorbed in the Force, concentrating upon the work in front of him. This brings him a sense of Ti'ilandria's approach before he would be able to see her with his eyes. Those remain on what he's doing anyway, and continue to do so for several moments after the woman reaches a spot where she could see him. In his left hand, he cradles a small circuit board. His right hand delicately grips a pen-like stylus that seems entirely too little for his short but large fingers. A tiny spark jumps between the stylus and board before the Mashi's brow furrows, then relaxes again. With a sigh he leans back and finally looks up. His wide, amber gaze turns itself in the woman's direction as an expectant smile finds his muzzle. Tilting her head to the side, the technician slows her approach as soon as she notices the Jedi Master working, and what he is working with. The usually bouncing and vibrantly boisterous young woman does her best to quiet herself, even her thoughts as she just watches curiously instead. hazel eyes flick from one part to the next, making a quick inventory of what is laid out, and then what is assembled, before she looks to back to Badiri himself as he turns to look at her as well. Smile is met with a smile and Ty completes her approach. "Lovely morning to work, nice and peaceful," she notes with a nod, her gaze flicking over the latest circuit board installed, before back to the Mashi. "So, if'n ya' got a few moments while ya' work, I'd like to try and pick your brain. Gotten the clearance from Command to start researching our dear Battle Droid General from my perspective and see if there is something we can work on together to try an' defeat him. Or at least figure out how he works and why we can't defeat him." At this point whatever Badiri is putting together is not too easily recognizable. Aside from the black metal and plastoid, there is a rough chunk of pith, a number of wires, some copper, and a small power cell. As for the circuit board, it is unusually small - only seven centimeters long and a little over one centimeter wide. "Mother Nature has a great talent for making thought-conducive work places," Badiri smiles upon finally spotting Ti'ilandria. He nods to an empty spot in the lush but dewy grass, offering it to her for a seat. "This is about Siege?" he deduces, whiskers arching in a reflective expression. "Well, you certainly don't wait until a late hour to get started on the difficult projects. Your commanders must love your work ethic. My experiences with him are limited, but I will tell you what I can." "Well ... I kinda don't like nearly getting myself killed, it turns out," notes the young woman as she settles herself where Badiri indicates. "Go figure, I'm currently attached to living. At least until the wedding," she notes with a wave of her hand. "'Sides, work is interesting. Never seen anything like him before, piqued my curiosity, really." Drawing the cup to her lips, Ty pauses, peers at it again, then sets it aside once more. "There's a lot I realized I didn't know about him, an' you were right at Trandosha. Despite what I did, and why I did it, it was a foolish thing ta' do. An knowin' me, I'll do it again. So I best be prepared for next time," she states with another roll of her shoulders. There is one last glance at whatever it is that Badiri is building, then the young woman nearly forcibly tries to push it from her mind. It is not her business, so she is going to not ask about it. A chuckle rumbles softly from Badiri's chest, and his black whiskers rise further. He can sense the woman wrestling with her curiosity, not to mention the amusing nature of her words. "It's a lightsaber," he whispers with a wink, setting the pieces down where she can see them. He takes a moment to rearrange several of the parts until the basic shape of the weapon, albeit flat, can be made out. In the center is a blank space several centimeters long, large enough for several focusing crystals. "Siege is a formidable enemy," Badiri comments as he's positioning the parts. "For one thing, his armor is resistant to plasma. Lightsabers and blasters both have a very hard time penetrating it. I am of the personal opinion that the Republic should look at their history books for some lessons on how to effectively engage droid armies in general. Perhaps something learned there might help us with Siege himself." "Oh, it is a place I'll be looking to," notes Ti'Ilandria with a nod. "Talia served the Republic during the Clone Wars, I'll speak to her, as well," she notes as an idle point for herself. The young woman crosses her left hand over her chest, so that her elbow can rest in her hand while the right hand brushes idly across her chin as she things. "Interesting armor. You would think that if one went to such trouble for that, they likely shielded him against EMP attacks as well," says the technician. "I mean, /I/ would have." Hazel eyes dip down to look at the lightsaber being constructed and Ty's head tilts in the opposite direction that it had been as she looks at it, studies it curiously. "Fascinating," she notes, though mostly to herself. "Simple, and effective in design, not to mention efficient," she offers, before turning her attention back to Badiri. "The key is, with Siege, at least a two-pronged attack, one to remove the armor, and then a focused attack from there. But more study, obviously, needs to be done. I'll look into reviewing droid battle tactics, as much as it pains me to say that." "We've had a lot of years to perfect the design of our lightsabers," Badiri points out. "Thousands of years, in fact. The earliest ones actually required a separate power pack that the Jedi wore on his hip or back. It was tethered to the hilt by a power cable. Quite inconvenient!" His voice sounds almost amused as he recounts the history. "Nobody likes to kill those with whom they can relate, Ti'ilandria. Nobody who believes in the ideals of the Republic Defense Force likes killing living sentients, but underneath their armor and inside their ships, every Imperial Stormtrooper and fighter pilot is one." He pulls his lightsaber from his belt, the functioning one, and lays it on the ground beside the new one he's building, "Every time I strike someone down with this, I feel their heart stop and experience a little taste of their death. I do not enjoy it, and I would not do it if I could at all avoid it. "We are all called to our various purposes in life. Perhaps your affection and appreciation for autonomous machines is what will make you the person best qualified to undo General Siege, when the time comes." "That remains to be seen," offers Ty as she lifts up a finger and waggles it playfully at Badiri with a smile. "I am uncertain as to my own path through the week, let alone through the long distant, or perhaps not so distant, always changing future," notes the technician with an even more broad smile as she spreads her arms slightly wide and wiggles her fingers playfully. Another glance at the lightsaber under construction, and the one alreay completed and Ty gives a nod. "Good thing you Jedi developed the more efficient power cells. I'm sure the first thing aimed for was that umbilical," she drawls before twisting her lips as she considers. "No, I don't like to kill. I understand that sometimes it is beyond our power to choose, so to speak, that the choice was made for us, as it were. It never makes the thought or idea any easier though, does it?" she asks, before shaking her head. Badiri smiles mildly at Ti'ilandria's thoughts regarding the future. Even as a Jedi with the ability to see the future, he concurs with her. His expression turns more serious, then, as he shakes his head at her last question. "It does not. Take strength in the recollection that by ending one existence, you are saving many. And be content that it is not easy to kill, for when killing becomes easy, you have truly crossed the line into being a killer." It seems like such an obvious statement, but the way Badiri says it would bring reflection that the idea might bear more thinking. As silence has a moment to descend between them, Badiri looks down at his work on the lightsaber, then abruptly, "Ah!" He points at the silicon piece he'd been working on when she arrived, "I realize what I was doing wrong now." With a soft laugh he picks up the part again, along with the stylus.
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