Mechanics Incarnate

I couldn't really explain why I was here. My sole reason for being here in this technical lab was because my master, Dranok Lussk, had ordered it. He wanted me to be around the crew working on this major project when he wasn't around. Part of it was for safety reasons and the other part was for engineering and programming support. I wasn't the best at either, but my limited knowledge would hopefully serve me well. The Master came around from time to time to talk to the other engineers, but I was usually busy at work with the rest of the team.

Today was creating the initial programming. Malfunctions and rampancy were always major safety hazards when utilizing such an advanced artificial intelligence. It was even more advanced than my own, being a T-series Tactical Droid and all. Since it was a shipborne AI built for combat support purposes, I lent the team access to my memory core and thought analysis banks. Within in them contained an override function that would allow manual access from a programmer. The programming codes and files were pretty simple, just with a little encryption to keep the core from out of the wrong hands. This new AI would no doubt have even more safegaurds than just a basic firewall, but this basis was a major breakthrough early in the game.


Now we had enough basic programming and safeguards to begin construction of the first prototype AI core. Master Lussk and the team heads agreed to make it six meters tall and three meters wide, which wasn't too big. Actually, it was about perfectly sized to fit snugly in the middle of a capital ship right next to the proper generator. I helped with the construction, which was actually quite easy. Since it wasn't very large, we had a simple time retrofitting it into a new Tulak Hord-class Star Destroyer.

The heavy lifting of materials was quite easy, my mechanical limbs hefting them up with ease. Plain sheet durasteel covered the outer edges of the main core constructed of mainframes, circuitry, and programming cores all patched together with a covering. Wires were hooked throughout the floors and walls.

I didn't really mind the heavy lifting. Putting all of the cords together was a little more difficult, but some of the organics showed me how to do things. I almost ended up connecting a fuel hydraulic cable to a technical equivalent of a blender. It was amazing that I didn't end up destroying the entire ship, but we somehow managed to complete the wiring and electrical integration despite my utter failures at electrical engineering.


And so my dissection began. A few hours prior to my being laid across a table a hooked up to a computer, Master Lussk and some of the other team members suggested using my own programming to serve as the basis for the tactical analysis programming. The hatch atop my metallic cranium was flipped open, multiple cords connecting me to the AI core. It felt a little strange, all that data swimming around in my head with an almost faster adaption rate than even I had. However, adaption was useless without basic tactical knowledge.

The programmers next to me tapped away on their consoles, quietly conversing with each other as my files were copied. From my end, I shut down my external vision and peered inside to observe my own memory and file banks. I could see them copying the tactical data which I had stored, sending over capabilities of adaption processing and combat memory storage concepts to the AI. I was surely glad that this AI unit would be on the same side as I was. This thing would be terrifying to fight against, and even this was just a component added to a capital ship with some of the best crewmen in the galaxy.


And the AI was finishing soon. The main things needed were some malicious software screens and wiping protocol installed. From my latest technical dissection in retrieving tactical programming and adaption software, the programmers also duplicated my minimal firewalls. It wasn't much, just enough to keep anyone but experienced programmers or software developers from picking through my internal files and tampering with my core harddrive.

I sat and watched the computer-type people tamper with the base files. They spoke of setting up an automatic quarantine extension which would track and counter all hacking attempts, enclosing the signals so they couldn't move or infect any more system databases while it transmitted a signal to the technicians aboard whichever capital ship it was on.


The last days of the project were nearing. The first real prototype was installed on the Tulak Hord-class Star Destroyer we'd be operating out of. Its name was the Broadsword, a very fitting on considering its trademark wedge shape similar to that of a sword. But other than that, it was notable in its service for fielding the first of these AIs that were to be distributed across the Imperial Navy, an occasion deserving recognition.

I accompanied the team on board the vessel, it was time for the first test. Master Lussk and the rest of the team were on the bridge, so I had no firsthand knowledge in what they did. However, I was in the hangar bay preparing for the first of the tests. As I wasn't integrated into the Broadsword's central droid mainframe, I wasn't included in this test. Rather, I was just here for support and first person observation while the rest of the team watched through HoloCams.

Minutes later, a chinking noise sounded out. The TIE fighters hooked to their racks began to file down the assembly bay into their preparation slots. The droid crews that I was observing began to move from their clustered groups, heading over to the fighters to double check their weapon loadouts and ensure no mechanical problems were afoot. Yet, this wasn't the biggest thing happening at the time. A sudden lurch downwards in gravity threw the ship downwards, many of the droids tumbling to the ground and scattering tools across the bay.

A quick look out of the ventral hangar bay and stars were flying upwards, signifying that the starship was losing altitude and plummeting towards Dromund Kaas. Lights began flickering on and off and even some of the fighters fell loose from their racks, crashing downwards onto the hull of the hangar bay. My magnetic grips on the bottom of my feet locked me to the hull, barely saving me from dropping forward to smash into another droid.

And then suddenly it was over. The gravity came back, the altitude rose, and the lights stopped flickering on and off.


I wasn't present for the final test that happened days before this moment. Me, Master Lussk, and the rest of the team grouped together in celebration upon completing a project that took over a third of a standard year. By the Gods that took quite a while, at least the intergalactic politics were calm during this period of time. I was glad to have been a part of this project and the experience was quite invaluable. The Empire would see new glory days at this modern marvel.

It seems I was also worthy for this endeavor.