Blood and Iron (Archangel)

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Callisto Scarlett"] [member="Madeline Kahoshi"]

Boldly the rebels rode and well...into a trap. The facility was vast, but now sadly ruined. Taking after its spiritual inspiration, Siobhan Kerrigan, the place was excessively large and grand. Inspirational slogans had been set up at one point, but were now mostly in ruins.
As they pushed in, overwhelming the droids which had been left to guard the approaches, the rebels found the factory was theirs...but not for long.

Suddenly, the Tarkinites swept in, unleashing a ferocious onslaught from all sides. Worse was to come though. As the Rebels turned at bay the shadows of the terrible Harvesters descended upon them. 'Kaydin' was one of the first to be 'abducted', along with many rebel leaders, leaving their forces disorganised and shattered.

The Tarkinites pushed forward triumphantly, aiming to end the rebellion at once!

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"], [member="Madeline Kahoshi"]


It was harvesting time. Much like its namesake, the factory was excessively large and grand. As bloated as the ego of a despot. This made it the perfect kill zone to entrap, surround and overwhelmn the rebels. Boldly they had ridden and well, now they found themselves facing the ferocious onslaught of heavily armed Tarkinite soldiers.


These were backed up by two squads of HRDs led by Callisto herself. They advanced implacably, mercilessly, cutting down any resistance they could find. Armed with a heavy repeating blaster Callisto scythed opponents, gunning those who were in the distance down and using her weapon as a club upon those who dared charge her. Blaster bolts bounced off her armour, even grenades did little to slow the advance of the terminatrices down.


Many rebels were simply knocked out by her, often after getting limbs broken or being kneecapped. After all, the priority lay in capturing them alive...which did not require them to be unspoilt. The rebels fought with the fanatical desperation of those who knew their cause was lost but refused to give ground, taking down many Tarkinites and even disabling some HRDs. Still, the outcome was not in doubt and, as if to herald their defeat, the Harvesters descended upon them. Their manifold eyes glowed a bright crimson, the claws that emerged from their tendrils gripped rebels in a powerful, unyielding grip. Once a rebel was grabbed the harvesters quickly took to flight and sped away, moving at a speed too fast for most rebels to track.


Some of their captives tried to resist in desperation, firing their guns at the tendrils or heads of the spider-like harvesters, one even managed to destroy a mechanical beast by exploding a thermal detonator, blowing himself up with it, as if deep down he knew that he might be facing a fate worse than death. However, by and large, resistance was futile. Blaster bolts peppered the walls, where faded, inspirational posters of a different, more stable age, were still hanging.


Bit by bit the Tarkinites cut the rebels down. Orders had been given to take prisoners, but after having fought a brutal civil war for so long a number of loyalists were not in the mood for that and instead gunned down surrendering rebels or savagely beat them. The HRDs let them unleash their illogical aggression, for the bounty was plentiful. Some of the severely wounded Tarkinite soldiers would be spirited away by 'medical' droids provided by Archangel...in the 'spirit of cooperation' and 'division of labour'.


Whilst in the thick of battle and after having broken the legs of a rebel leader and thus enabling his capture, Callisto received acknowledgement that 'Kaydin' had been captured. Maelion would be able to switch bodies again once she was at the base. The battle was won, an account would be made of the processing materiel, which would be sent to the camp Archangel was building. It went without saying that the Tarkinite commanders immediately reported their great victory to Tarkin in an effusive transmission, claiming as much credit as they could in the typical nature of glory-hounding organics. It left the machines indifferent, for soon they would be...upgraded as well.

 

[Madeline Kahoshi]

"Indeed, it's an interesting option. Which will provide the clone with plenty of self training in the process. And yes, that is something we must work to prevent. It makes me wonder how far her skills can be pushed." After all they did need the clones, and couldn't press too hard. Still Phaedra had only just learned of her gifts and exactly how special she was.

"I agree. It would be best that way, so the soul does not resist and is not harmed in the process." She said softly. Her mind still thinking ahead to problems they would no doubt encounter soon enough. "I suppose we will need to start with making our containment unit a lot smaller." Her brow furrowed for a moment as she thought upon that. "Depending on the size of machine we wish to power, one might need various sizes of the containment unit. If it is to be used like a battery."

[member="Moira Skaldi"] | [member="Maelion Liates"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Madeline Kahoshi"], [member="Maelion Liates"]


"Consensus. We shall require a smaller, modified consciousness trap. Perhaps a crystal, of variable size. Analogous to how we contain organic essence prior to implantatio into an HRD. Then we just need to interface it into the machine so that it can power it," Moira responded. The dinosaur people had used entechment rigs to violently tear out the souls of organics and then used them to power their weapons and machines.


The process had been very messy and painful. To a degree Moira wondered whether the xenos had made it deliberately sadistic. Machines were not cruel, just efficient at dispassionate slaughter to the point of genocide. "Our processing device is capable of bringing order to the chaos of an organic mind and constructing a droid brain. Several more entechment devices will have to be constructed, though the enteched war engines will never be the main unit of our army. Fortunately, the present state of chaos in this half of the Galaxy gives us ample opportunity to collect organic materiel."

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"]
[member="Madeline Kahoshi"]

The haul of prisoners had been great, over three hundred in total had been captured in the final battle, and had been dragged back to await their fate in the old prison camp.

One of those was ‘Kaydin’, who after a quick face change returned to the fold as an HRD. Maelion meanwhile had come down to join her comrades and arrived in time to hear their latest deliberations.

“Perhaps we could have several smaller containment units scattered throughout a large device, with a central unit controlling them. This would allow precision usage of those items without overstressing the enteched essences.”

It would take much trial and error…and many processed people…to get the balance right, but get it right they would.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Madeline Kahoshi"], [member="Maelion Liates"]


While the three principles discussed, clean-up was continuing in the capital city. Ms. Scarlett had stayed behind with a task force of HRDs in order to 'assist' the Tarkinite army and secret police in 'restoring order', 'keeping the peace' and purging 'dissidents'. The Rebellion had been crippled with the loss of most of its senior leaders, but it stood to reason that there were still plenty of fellow travellers, malcontents and dissidents left free. Moreover, many rebels must have escaped the net.


One might also consider the fact that the capital had been wrecked through months of fierce fighting. As a consequence, looting was common place as the instincts of organics took over. Order would have to be restored, punishment meted out, undesirables eliminated. It was time to separate the wheat from the chaff. Thus a reign of White Terror had been ushered in. After all the violence that had taken place, it was not surprising that many common Tarkinites used the chance to settle old scores. Common citizens would denounce their neighbours in order to show their loyalty and avoid being sent to the camps themselves. Rebels would be put on trial and ordered to confess their sins, perform self-criticism and name others.


Guided by the wise statesman Tarkin, the victorious commander and benevolent leader of the masses, the people of Eriadu could look towards a bright future. Now was the chance for Eriadu to rise from the ashes and reclaim its old glory. For this was only the first step towards creating an empire that would stand for a thousand years. Trucks commandeered by Archangel droids were soon being filled with those the regime considered undesirable. For Archangel did not believe in wasting good organic materiel. The entechment project would require hundreds upon hundreds of test subjects until they got the formula right. Fortunately, organics loved to breed, so it was unlikely they'd run out of subjects soon...

 

[Madeline Kahoshi]

"Crystals are an interesting prospect. It possibly would work well in this particular application." She said softly. Crystals after all had been quite versatile in their past uses, and it seemed reasonable to believe they could contain the consciousness of an organic.

Even Madeline's thoughts did wander to whether or not the xenos had intentionally made the device as sadistic as it was. "Agreed." She said to Moira, before turning to see Maelion join them.

A nod followed after Maelion had spoken. "Doing such could head off a few problems, like the essences being confused, or frightened by the others present in the machine. Simplifies things."

[member="Maelion Liates"] | [member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Madeline Kahoshi"], [member="Maelion Liates"],


Moira had concluded that the Ssi-ruuk, whose name this writer can never quite remember, were pointlessly sadistic in many ways. "Consensus," she spoke, giving Madeline a nod. "It should sidestep the psychological issues that came up in the enteched machines utilised by the Ssi-Ruu. Based on files recovered from Gehenna, the Bando Gora Machine Cult was experimenting along similar lines. They were obviously incapable of carrying this out efficiently." These droids were such snobs.


"It will require a substantial mass of organics for experimentation until we have the correct formula, but Eriadu will not be...running out of undesirables any time soon. Further operations to acquire organic materiel will be carried out on Contruum, Dahomey, Rattatak and other third world planets."

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"] [member="Madeline Kahoshi"]

It was unlikely that the homicidal droid felt excitement, but she was eager to begin.
"We shall commence. I will process five organics. We will test out the containment fields we have in the processing machine. If we can contain and implant them into the crystal without rejection, we should be able to use them to power the devices the require."

She sent a message to the units guarding the holding cells. Five organics would be chosen, wounded or otherwise weakened specimens in order to preserve the best ones for later usage.
They would be led from the holding cells and be told they were going to be sent to a hospital for treatment. In reality, although processing solved all organic issues, it was not the treatment they expected!

 

[Madeline Kahoshi]

Madeline listened to the both Maelion and Moira. What could be counted as a scoff did escape Maddy's lips. "The Bando Gora were rather ineffective at a great many things. Such is the nature of cults like that. Though not without its uses."

Madeline gave a nod to Maelion. "Excellent." Some akin to excitement raced through the former Empress, but she made no outward expression of it.

Now it was a patient wait for the organics to be processed. Maddy keenly watched the process, as if trying to piece together exactly how it had happened to her. She'd yet to actually see it done to another. If anything it intrigued her. Such a strange thing to her to watch a 'soul' pulled from the body and stored in the containment units.

Soon enough it would come down to attempting to implant them into the crystals, to see if what they had planned could be possible. If truth be told, she expected an early failure. It was just the nature of their work, not for any flaw on their part. One did have to learn through their mistakes, even homicidal droids.

[member="Maelion Liates"] | [member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Madeline Kahoshi"], [member="Maelion Liates"]


It was time to experiment with a few organics and liberate them from their fleshy shackles. Presumably this was the sort of thing that counted as our homicidal droids having fun. Five imperfect organics were drawn from the holding cells and led towards the massive processing machine complex. Entechment was extremely painful, but since HRDs were efficient, not cruel, the organics would have been sedated first.


The organics would be hooked up to a rather complex looking series of machines, then, after their minds had been scanned to form the basis for a droid brain, the entechment machine, much like the entechment rigs of the xenos, would draw the essence out of their bodies and transplant it into the containment holding units. The superfluous organic body, deprived of soul, would die in the process. Once they had been stored in the containment module, they would have to be transplanted into crystals.


Perhaps the organic would survive it, perhaps not. Archangel's first experiments with HRDs created via entechment had been a failure. For instance, one of the first models had been an insane Eldorai who persisted in thinking that the elves were superior and that their absurd Goddess existed. It had taken months of work until they had come up with the right software to create an orderly droid mind. Madeline had been one of the first successful models. "Initiate the process," she spoke to one of the droid minions.


Mistakes would inevitably be made, but over time perfection would be achieved. "We acquired the wreck of a Shadow Droid on Dxun. The unit was badly damaged, but valuable data was gained and it will be a useful addition to the project. Unlike Umak Leth, we have been able to successfully duplicate and improve upon entechment," Moira added conversationally while they waited for the process to be completed. A Shadow Droid was an elite fighter piloted by a surgically implanted organic brain. When the brains became cybernetic hardware, they stripped the pilots of most of their organic weaknesses, but augmented their reflexes and skills beyond anything that had been known.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"] [member="Madeline Kahoshi"]

Droids were immune to pleas for mercy, and as each organic was fed into the machine Maelion turned off the sound from the chamber. The mewling cries and begging was disruptive. It irritated Maelion that the organics resolutely failed to grasp that they were undergoing a necessary process which would make the galaxy better. Couldn’t they realise that?!

With each victim they had to make adjustments to better change or improve on their methods.
“Subject One has perished,” she said after the first attempt.
“Subject Two was briefly registered. Perished. Subject Three…perished. Subject Four…containment in crystal brief. Perished.”

And so it would continue until they had done everything necessary to trap the spirits.

 

[Madeline Kahoshi]

Stepping closer to the test subjects, Madeline cocked her head to the side curiously. The process, watching it now could only be considered as strange to her. She was watching first hand what happened to her own body, when her own wounds had been too great for medicine to heal. She had been dying, and this process saved her, and her intellect for all.

Madeline lifted a brow and glanced from the first and now dead subject, to Moira. "Shadow droids, now that is most intriguing." The thought of the possibilities that instantly rolled through her mind, brought a smile to the HRD's lips. "I would like to see the data as soon as possible. There could be some interesting cross over possibilities. Some data there might be useful for our current project. The idea of a sentient brain controlling a machine is ... fascinating." She said quietly, her attention turning back to their test subjects. "I would love the idea of tinkering with a force user, to see if transferring their essence, transfers their powers too. Or if a shard is still needed for a droid to successfully use the Force." After all, Maddy had been fascinated in a way by force users. It was something she barely had, and was most curious about. Even if it failed it would have been most interesting to her.

Her attention turned to the fifth test subject. Madeline stepped over, her eyes locked on his face as the process began again. She sighed quietly, knowing it was unlikely this one would work out much better than the last one. Flawless results couldn't be expected so soon.

[member="Maelion Liates"] | [member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Madeline Kahoshi"], [member="Maelion Liates"]


Moira tilted her head to the side, watching the display while it took place. Four test subjects had perished, it was unlikely that the fifth would do much better. It was a process of trial and error. In the end they would be successful and one step closer to perfection. Even if it meant sacrificing hundreds upon hundreds. After all, organics were not in danger of dying out...yet.


"I shall make the data available to you. The wreckage is currently being stored in Elysium. Conveniently we captured a Jedi during that mission, so feel free to research him. As I recall, an otherwise unremarkable Imperial warlord by the name of Trioculus was able to simulate 'Force powers' to a degree via technology," she glanced over towards Madeline. "Harnessing shards would be most useful for cause, if we can control them." The potential of a force-sensitive war droid was too great to ignore.


Meanwhile the fifth subject had been enteched. The machinery sprang to life and its soul was sucked into the crystal. The scanners registered life...for a few minutes longer than with the last subject. "Subject five...containment in crystal, registering signs of life. Perished. Bring us five new subjects." The process would continue, the data would be analysed, adjustments would be made to the device. Fortunately Eriadu had plenty of undesirables who had no place in the new regime.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"] [member="Madeline Kahoshi"]

And so, five new inmates were fetched. One of them fought, but was eventually pacified by means of a shock rod and a blow to the head. She went first.
“Subject six…contact established. Neutral traces integrated. Control…. No, perished.”
Maelion tilted her head to the side as the body fell down into the waiting maw of a nuclear furnace. She felt nothing.
“Adjust pathway programming by point six-six-four percent. Subject seven…contact established. Neutral traces integrated. Control…. Control established. Spirit integrated into crystal matrix. Proceed with Subject eight, monitor Subject 7’s progress and longevity.”

 

[Madeline Kahoshi]

Madeline was still watching the machines, glancing to the monitors from time to time to see the progress as they moved through each organic.

"Excellent." She said flatly. "And you captured a Jedi?" It wasn't really a question. More of restrained excitement. It was a new toy to play with after all. After all her human self did love to toy with Force users, in so many ways. "I am curious to see what can be done with him." The ebony haired HRD gave a nod, "Yes, I recall reading upon the case of Trioculus. Interesting and curious.... very curious. I would like to attempt to replicate such results." Though it did leave one small issue for her. "We will have to gather some shards for such a project, but it would be worth it."

Madeline watched the fifth subject closely as it was transferred into the crystal. And soon enough the organic faded away into oblivion. Adjustments were going to have to be made. And so Maelion made a slight one. "Subject eight, transfer to crystal complete. Control established. Registered briefly. Perished. Continue with subject nine."

[member="Maelion Liates"] | [member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Maelion Liates"], [member="Madeline Kahoshi"], [member="Valiens Nantaris"]


One more subject had perished, but fortunately they had plenty of those. Adjustments were made, new subjects enteched into the crystals. By trial and error, they would succeed. Even if it took a long time and required thousands of organics to die. "Subject nine, transfer to crystal complete. Control established. Monitor progess and longevity."


Subject seven had been successfully integrated into the crystal, but as Moira watched, she found that things were going awry again. "Subject seven, life signs erratic. Brain wave activity exceeding test parametres by thirteen point eight per cent. Hypothesis: subject is going insane," she said calmly...impassively. After all, it was just an organic and they were gaining valuable insights. Phaedra would play an important role in ensuring the success of the project by calmning the enteched organics.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"] [member="Madeline Kahoshi"]

“Do not purge Subject Seven yet. Examine and study brain activity. Note effects of instability and allow it to perish.”
It was cruel, but Maelion did not perceive it as such. No, it was an interesting experiment. Would the imprisoned spirit become subdued, would it continue its futile struggle, or would it eventually expire from the breakdown?

“Increasing mental uptake buffers by seven percent. Subject Nine, transfer to crystal complete. Control established. Applying mental pacification. Subject responding. Dream state established, indoctrination beginning.”

They had worked on a means of controlling the spirits trapped. Mainly, they would project ‘normal’ images of their lives. In battle the spirits would imagine they were in combat piloting their craft and obeying their orders. They would not consciously know they were a crystal in a war machine.

“Subject Nine…resistance increasing. Applying advanced indoctrination program. Applying program ‘dream’.” Subject Nine would ‘wake up’ inside the machine thinking everything was a dream and go about its artificial existence never realising it was trapped. It was like the Matrix, but with crystals.

 

[Madeline Kahoshi]

Madeline stepped over, watching the monitors on Subject Seven. Her eyes locked on the screen as the soul seemed to be losing its grasp on sanity as it came to terms with being trapped within the crystal. It was most intriguing to her to watch the brain wave activity as it resisted more and more against its containment. "Brain wave activity on Subject Seven reaching the extremes of what the human mind can handle. Death should result shortly." She said unfeelingly.

For a moment she glanced to Subject Nine's monitors, watching for a moment as it was pressed into the Dream state. With the harsh beeping of alarms on Subject Seven, her attention returned to it. Madeline shook her head as the monitors finally went dead. "Subject Seven has expired." A shame, in her eyes. But she still didn't expect success so soon. Nothing ever came that easily when it came to pioneering a new field like this.

With that she looked back to Nine, hoping for better results.

[member="Maelion Liates"] | [member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Madeline Kahoshi"], [member="Maelion Liates"],

Another subject was dead. Truly a pity, for it had been an interesting object of study. Fortunately they had many more. The monitor showed that Subject Nine...might actually be a success. It was heartwarming to see one of their organic captives finally serve an actual purpose in its otherwise trivial life.


"Subject Nine, resistance is ebbing away. Brain waves are within reasonable parametres. The subject is accepting the programme. Monitor for signs of regression," she spoke...with the closest approximation of excitement a homicidal droid could feel. The dream programme was taking effect, the subject was being captured in the Matrix. This was a process that would be further refined as time went by. Undoubtedly it was convenient that the processing machine could also scan an organic's brain, enabling the simulation to come up with a plausible matrix tailored to a subject rather than a random, generic one. Discrepancies would undoubtedly come up, but they could be ironed out.