Machine Men with Machine Minds

[Caulder Dune]

SARVCHI
MC-SAR-000

Sarvchi was on the outskirts of the Unknown Regions. The world was part of the Chiss Ascendancy, but since the Chiss Ascendancy was a remarkably civilized secotr, Gerion no longer considered it to be part of the savage and strange Unknown Regions. In his dealings with the Chiss, he had erected a factory on the planet, wherein the bulk of Nerevar-Series Battle Droids were produced. Because Sarvchi was a remote planet not easily accessed by the rest of the galaxy, it also made a good spot for a research facility. Quietly, many of Hegemonic Automaton's most sensitive projects were removed from the basement of Hegemon Towers and to the new facility.

Many of the researchers present were Chiss, but many of the experts that had helped Hegemonic Automaton pioneer the J2 Droid brain had been bused in for a new project as well. An assortment of Geonosian and Verpine engineers, accompanied by Bith electronic engineer Fiin Aharo and the equally gifted Klos Rayat, a Givin male. Their expertise was also coupled with that of [member="Hannibal Oryen"], the prodigious Fondorian droid engineer behind virtually all of Hegemonic Automaton's products. There were some whispers in the headquarters that the reuniting of that particular team could only mean a new droid brain was in the works.

They were correct.

In the depths of Hegemonic Automaton's research facility, something of dastardly intent was being developed. The J3 Droid Brain would be of a limited production and unique to its own droid. Many of the galaxy's droids could wield melee weapons if prompted. Few, if any, could wield a lightsaber with real lethality. That would change here today, but not without assistance from other corporations. [member="Draco Vereen"] of ArmaTech Combat Systems would be present, as would [member="Count Morcus"], a wealthy investor who dealt in the sale of Lucrehulks.

Gerion checked his chronometer as he waited for one or both of the men to show up in the main entrance hall. It was sparsely decorated, save for a few painfully fake plants and some cushioned benches. One or two Chiss paintings adorned the walls, both abstract and rather frustrating to analyze.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Sarvchi is considerably out of the way from the rest of the galaxy, stuck out with the Chiss Ascendancy. While I had never been to this world, I had visited the Ascendancy once or twice, and ArmaTech had partnered with Hegemonic Automation before, and so, when Gerion Ardik offered a tour of his new facility, I was more than willing to make the trip out to meet him. I could only assume it was because he had a product in mind he either needed funding or further access to ArmaTech’s own product line. The Nerevar-Series Battle Droids had included some of our technology, so it was possible that this new product would as well, or was intended to be used alongside it in some significant way.

Upon arriving I was greeted and shown into the facility, coming in through the main entrance where Gerion waited for me, and presumably others to arrive so that he could ask for our assistance, capital, or resources to complete his little project.

The sparsely decorated room was stark contrast to the immaculately groomed and primped [member="Gerion Ardik"], Chairman of Hegemonic Automaton, and a brilliant businessman in his own right. “Good afternoon mister Ardik. I trust you have been well. How may ArmaTech help you today if I may ask?” I said approaching him, the sound of my boots clanking against the metallic floor.

 

[Taa Nul]

It was rare for the Count to come all the way over to this side of the galaxy these days. He'd only visited the Chiss Ascendancy two times to discuss trade contracts with Niruaun, and both had proven fruitful. But mere trade agreements were not the reason the Count had come to Sarvchi, he had come to do business with Mister Ardik, a brilliant businessman and a potential future corporate partner, if he could build their relationship up.

He arrived with the usual fanfare, his large Lambda-class Shuttle landing at the facility like a dainty butterfly as it's wings gently raised. The boarding ramp slowly extended as the main door opened up, and the Count, garbed in his usual fancy attire, strolled confidently down the ramp, followed by a pair of his loyal IG-100 Magnaguards. Relics of a bygone age, yet they still possessed incomparable fighting skills compared to a lot of other droids on the market, and he always liked showing them off. As he walked into the entrance hall, he smiled warmly. ''Ahh, Mr. Ardik, t'is good to see you once more. How are things here in the Ascendancy for you?''

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Draco Vereen"] | [member="Count Morcus"]

"Gentlemen." Gerion said first by way of greeting. "Things are profitable in the Ascendancy. Some of the more open-minded Chiss have purchased in bulk. The rest of them will follow suit as well soon enough, probably for fear of being left behind in the arms race."

As he had commented several times before, Chiss were a commendable species. Landed elite, reverence of order, and so forth. There was also something about blue skin, jet black hair, and red eyes on a humanoid woman that tickled his fancy. Not that it was especially relevant to why he was here or what would soon be discussed.

"As for the purpose of this visit, it would be better to show you. Follow me, please."

Gerion indicated the men should follow him and led them through the entrance hall. There were two large hallways on their left and right, leading to break rooms, offices, refreshers, and other miscellaneous facilities. Nothing of real interest. Directly ahead of them were a set of heavy blastdoors and a slot for keycards. Gerion produced his from his pocket and slid it through. After a few moments, the doors rumbled open. By appearances that had been the only security to get the door open, but in fact Gerion had been subjected to multiple, subtle scans to confirm his identity. Predictably, there were cameras in the lighting fixtures. Behind the doors was a spacious turbolift, apparently the only entrance to the lower levels where the real business was conducted.

He stepped inside first, inputting some sort of complex code to bring him to the corresponding floor. Even in as remote a locale as Sarvchi, security was still a priority. Rebel Scum had a tendency to slaughter innocent people, so they could very well strike here if they ever found out about the place. "Are either of you familiar with the old Czerka droid brain? It was an inferior model. Hit the market back when Hegemonic Automaton was still Cestus Cybernetics."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I nodded to the new arrival and followed [member="Gerion Ardik"] into the spacious turbolift and stood just behind him as he started speaking, listening carefully to what he had to say. "I can't say I am too familiar with Droid Brains. I normally just buy the ones I need from you. And I hadn't hit the scene yet back then." I said, wondering what all he had planned. With a fairly wealthy investor like [member="Count Morcus"] who traded in large bulk cruisers and battleships, and myself who dealt arms and armor across a good portion of the galaxy, both invited to a relatively secret facility with loads of built in security measures and no doubt a small army of Hegemonic droids, so whatever it was would be expensive and useful. And knowing the master of the white flowing locks, it would look really nice as well.

"But I can assume it was some form of advanced droid brain from a while back. I am guessing you are updating it or modifying it for a new line of droids?" I said, clearing my throat once I was done. Chiss space didn't agree with me, I didn't enjoy the cold, and it bothered my sinuses a bit. "This is certainly a very nice little facility you stuck out here in the unknown Regions though." Glancing through the sparsely decorated place put focus on the work and projects being done instead of needless architecture and artwork. Sometimes there was a benefit to plain and simple.

 

[Taa Nul]

The Count kept closed to the group, followed by his security entourage. ''Ahh, yes. I'm familiar with the model. It was supposedly the ''future'' in cutting edge computing. Bit of an overstatement. I'm assuming you've gone and made something far better this time around?'', the Count said with a grin, chuckling softly. His twin Magnaguards towered behind him as they strolled through the facility, quietly making a note of the security arrangements.

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Draco Vereen"] | [member="Count Morcus"]

"With respect, Count, we already did make a better droid brain." Gerion replied. "The J2 far surpasses the model Czerka churned out. Then Czerka was picked apart- a richly deserved fate. It continues to be the most advanced on the market."

Granted, he had not been part of this company when the J2 was developed. Gerion had only heard of the event. Apparently Hannibal Oryen gathered the aforementioned team, gave a long-winded speech on how much he despised Czerka and their shoddy attempt to move in on "his" market, and thus set to work on the J2. Nothing incited determination in the hearts of men quite like outrage and pride. The doors slowly sealed and the turbolift rumbled noisily as it began its descent. Several floors would be passed before they reached their destination.

J2 Droid Brains utilized Gabonna memory crystals. So did CZ-HKDs. But the CZ-HKD was, at its heart, a work of utter mediocrity. It utilized expensive parts, but it lacked style. In addition to the Gobonna memory crystals, the J2 utilized an intricate system of microsynapse- artificial channels that replicated the manner in which organic brains worked. It was this system what made Hegemonic Automaton's the most advanced on the market, a system that was constantly being updated and improved upon. CZ-HKDs technically had an important piece in the puzzle of making the perfect droid brain, but their methods had been terribly flawed.

"The CEO of the time, Tyri Lsu, invented a way to synthesize Gabonna Memory Crystals. When the company went under, I dispatched several agents to acquire the information and then destroy it. Their methods were brutish, primal, and inefficient. It would not function as well as a real Gabonna crystal. Not without improvement."

The turbolift ground to a halt and the doors parted to reveal a large, circular chamber. The center was dominated by a large glasteel tube and the rest by whirring databanks and computer stations that technicians (largely Verpine and Geonosians) regularly moved to and from. In one corner of the room, a scraggly looking man in a disheveled labcoat was having an avid discussion with a Bith and a Givin over a holographic display. Within the tube itself, one large, translucent green Gabonna memory crystal sat on a pedestal. Robotic arms attached to the sides of the tube moved in intricate, precise motions- etching into the crystal with lasers.

"Hegemonic Automaton improved the methods to replicate the structures of Gabonna some time ago. We have sub-rosa production facilities of those on Ord Cestus in order to keep up with demands for our droids." Gerion explained, leading his guests forward for a better view of the etching process. "But then Dr. Oryen suggested to me that we should, perhaps, consider modifying Gabonna rather than replicating it. A painstaking process, but so far our tests have returned positive results. Whatever droid utilizes it will not lack for skill in whatever it is programmed in, though it will never see mass-production."

The robotic limbs eventually finished their work, folding up into the sides of the tube. A retrieval hatch hissed open on the opposite side. "Previously, fluid lightsaber combat was considered beyond the reach of most droids. I believe that with these modified crystals and a more intricate system of micro-synapse... Well, I'm sure you can imagine what will occur, once we've figured out how to effectively program them."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Lightsaber wielding droids could be terrifying if implemented correctly. Given that we were here discussing a Droid Brain, I could only assume that this was going to be a multistage project, and seeing as we were out here in the Unknown Regions, I could draw the assumption that the project was well underway and was only working on simple, minor details at this point. Gerion mentioned stripping Czerka for its parts and building off their advancements and working on their systems, making them more applicable and more useful. "Well, what is the hold up about the programming?" I asked inquisitively. "I've encountered one or two counter-Jedi droids and they seemed to have it down pat enough to put up a struggle against me and my big war droid." It wasn't that I thought those droids were overly dangerous. In fact they weren't really, and perhaps that was the big deal, trying to make them worth buying, but I had one deactivated in my possession.

"Some sects of the Sith have been working on it for a while, granted not much progress has been made, but there is some. I haven't exaimined the programming itself because that isn't my strong suit, but from what I have seen, the thing works." I said, pulling up a picture of the droid I had stolen from the Sith Assassins. I left out how I had come about possessing the droid. From what I understood, Hegemonic got along well with the One Sith, and they didn't need to worry about obtaining things through the proper channels. All they needed to know was I had something for them to use as a base line and that I was willing to part with it.

[member="Gerion Ardik"] [member="Count Morcus"]

 

[Taa Nul]

The Count raised an eyebrow. Lightsaber wielding battle droids? He'd once tried to pursue this line of research but lacked any real success. ''Lightsaber wielding droids......fascinating, to say the least. You are sure these new droid brains could be up to the task of replicating the blade work of a Jedi or Sith?'', he said with a tone of curiosity. ''If so, I have a large collection of training holograms and holovids of every single known lightsaber form.......perhaps I could donate them to you if it might speed your development of this project.'', the Count said eagerly. The answer to his needs had finally presented itself.....it was just a matter of time before he had access to the perfect assassin droids he desired.

[member="Draco Vereen"]
[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Draco Vereen"] | [member="Count Morcus"]

"Lightsabers are difficult weapons to program into droids. I have not had the pleasure of wielding one myself, but the heavy weight of the hilt coupled with the weightlessness of the blade make for strange variables, I'm told. Without the proper algorithms, even a normally adept combat droid could mistakenly slice itself to pieces."

There were an assortment of TA4 chunks, cleanly severed by a lightsaber, somewhere in the wastes of Raxus Prime to prove that point.

Gerion accepted the photograph and looked it over. He had never seen a droid with this particular appearance in-person, largely because it used the same design aesthetic that had gone out of style thousands of years ago. Apparently this had more modern programming and internal components if it had given Vereen a run for his money. Gerion had no actually seen Draco engage in any combat, but he was a Mandalorian and a live one at that, so it stood to reason he had some skill. "I'm not familiar with it, I'm afraid." Gerion said after a moment, returning the photo to Draco. "Though even if the programming is mediocre, it can serve as a launching point."

As for the good Count Morcus' concerns, Gerion had plenty of assurances. "Replication? Perhaps. What I envision will far surpass the normal combative abilities of typical Jedi and their Sith counterparts. Hegemonic Automaton would certainly be beholden to you if granted access to such media. Of course, with such an expansive database of knowledge and an advanced processor comes heightened risks of personality simulation."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

As someone who barely used Lightsabers myself, I didn’t have a lot in the way of knowledge about how to use one. I could, I understood the basics of all the classic forms, and I knew a decent amount about Form Five, but I wasn’t a master with the traditional Jedi weapon. I stuck to swords, maces, axes, and cestus instead. And as far as understanding the complexities of a droid brain or programming, well, those things were beyond me entirely, so it would be best if I left those details to someone that knew about them.

“Well, I keep the thing on my ship if you would like to go through it. It has some EMP damage, but it is in working order.” I said when Gerion addressed me and the droid I had spoken about. In truth, it hadn’t been the most challenging droid. I was often prepared for a multitude of things, and modular weapons components was something that ArmaTech included in most things, so I had Ion Blasters at the time, and this little thing wasn’t very resistant to that. “I also have some other tech you might be interested in. Components to make electronics resistant to EMP and Ion weaponry, though I should emphasize the word resistant, as well as my own small library of fights and training recordings. There are a couple of sith lords in there with varying styles of combat.” I said in response to the count’s offer. His may be more extensive than mine, but I was hoping that mine would be more based in real life combat, not just training tapes.

[member="Gerion Ardik"] [member="Count Morcus"]

 

[Taa Nul]

The Count pondered briefly before speaking. ''Personality is a possible issue, yes, though I've found that pre-programming the droid with a more reliable personality before-hand can circumnavigate the usual problems. Instilling a sense of loyalty and honor into it's CPU upon creation will mostly prevent the development of unreliable personality traits. And would sentience really be a bad thing, I wonder? A thinking droid could prove to be extremely efficient on the battlefield, provided such sentience can be reigned in with adequate protocols.'', he said with a sage nod.

[member="Draco Vereen"]
[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Draco Vereen"] | [member="Count Morcus"]

Technically speaking, most Hegemonic Automaton droids were already immunized to Ionic and Electromagnetic damage by way of an Ionization Buffer. That said, it could never hurt to install redundancies, just in case. Hegemonic Automaton did not get where it was today by being stingy with their countermeasures. "These components certainly sound useful. I would be happy to purchase them from you as needed. As for the training recordings, anything and everything will help. Between the two of you, production will probably begin ahead of schedule."

This, naturally, depended on how clear the recordings were and how receiving the J3 Droid brain would be to flash-memories. The "memory flash" technique was somewhat controversial in the galaxy. One of the most noted side affects of the memory flash style of learning was insanity. Fortunately, this was mostly derived from inheriting the general memories of the progenitor. Friends. Family. Social events. Bowel movements. Embarrassing moments. The psychological trauma that could occur when a sapient creature realized it was an exact copy of another and that its vivid memories were nothing more than... Residue.

But these wouldn't be memories and these wouldn't be sapient creatures. These would be droids, remembering the battles of organics it had never come into contact with or training files from the Jedi and the Sith. Perhaps they would take on some traits from Vereen (or even Morcus if he was present in any of the recordings) and any featured instructors the droid arbitrarily decided to identify with. Gerion did not suspect traditional insanity would be an issue. Just the usual droid quirk problem, only multiplied substantially thanks to perfected technology.

"All droids think, Count Morcus." Gerion corrected. "The issue is primarily that thoughts of how are superseded by thoughts of why. Traditional failsafes, as you've described, that prevent droids from developing varied sapience do not work completely on our droid brains. They only delay them. It can't be said how quickly these droids will develop autonomy, but it will be quickly. I would recommend memory-wiping them after every combat engagement."

Morcus could, theoretically, just let droid run without memory wiping it. The machine would learn swiftly from battle after battle and become more skilled in combat than when it had been originally manufactured. But they could also potentially learn disdain towards its master and sympathies towards his enemies. Gerion did not like needless risks, not when his allegiances weren't to 'pleasant' entities. Perhaps the Count was in service of more righteous causes that didn't need to worry about moralistic turncoats. Especially lightsaber-wielding automated turncoats.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Recordings in High Definition. Brought from my personal helmet with three sixty degree recording capabilities, and the inclusion of fused quarts crystalline lining couldn’t hurt anything if Hegemonic wanted to include the technology I had managed to develop. It had been good enough that ATC had thought to make something from the technology.

“Certainly. I am having them and the confiscated droid brought to your people from my ship immediately. Hegemonic Automaton has always been a good partner for ArmaTech with resource sharing, I see no need for that to stop.”

Partnering the vast majority of ArmaTech’s droid production with Hegemonic Automaton would have great benefits so long as we remained allies. He got whatever useful information or technology I could provide, I got the use of some of his droid brains and modifications he had commissioned his company to produce. Win-win as far as I was concerned.

The Count’s concerns were warranted. I myself had a pair of droids, I had purposefully not memory wiped in order to give them a personality, and that could be dangerous on large scale, but regular memory wipes seemed to work.

“I leave the programming to you and your specialists Mister Ardik. However I would ask that we come together again for a chassis to put these brains into. I happen to have a great deal of phrik at my disposal.”

[member="Gerion Ardik"] [member="Count Morcus"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

Phrik was lightweight, durable, and most important, resistant to lightsabers. Hegemonic Automaton was not a prolific mining company, and so access to the material was limited. Gerion's efforts were mostly focused on procuring the self-healing laminanium for use in TA4s. Although it was self-healing, there was not much to make it resistant to lightsabers. TA4s were geared more towards slaying Yuuzhan-Vong and other uppity martial artists than Jedi, unless they happened to have a lightsaber resistant weapon on their person. The droid Gerion had in mind would wield a total of four lightsabers. That in itself, coupled with extensive training, would make it difficult for Force Users to kill. Now that Mister Vereen had phrik at his disposal... Well, unless the droid powered itself by enteching the souls of the innocent, there was not much more to be done to make it more terrifying.

Hopefully one would never be deployed against him. "I'd be foolish to pass up on such an arrangement." Gerion replied. ArmaTech and armor went hand-in-hand. They were the design experts here. "If you have enough phrik to begin the initial production run and prototyping, I believe Hegemonic Automaton can handle the acquiring of additional phrik for orders extending past that."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I nodded to the white haired man. His long tenure controlling one of the most prominent droid manufacturing companies made him an expert in designing droids. He wanted a Lightsaber wielding Droid, and we had supplied him with hours of training and combat recordings, granted the recordings of me had very little to do with Lightsabers, but those of Vrag, Raziel, Zhol Kash, and others would be helpful if nothing else. The Guardian Droid supplied a baseline for which the expert programmers of Hegemonic Automaton, this Hannibal Oryen, they would be able to design the beast they wished to make. The thought of a Phrik Armored, Lightsaber wielding, EMP resistant droid made me smile wryly. Someone was going to hate us for these droids, and the thought of someone out there in the galaxy loosing sleep because of us, made me a little excitable.

Inclusion of rare and altered crystals into the mind of a droid, among many other intricate details I was unaware of. All of these things, and the continuance of Hegemonic and ArmaTech's partnership, they deserved some celebration. "How about we crack open a bottle of Alderaanian Wine, pre-vongified of course, and celebrate to your successes Mister Ardik. Someone out there in the galaxy is going to hate you, very, very soon and I think that deserves a toast."

I seriously doubted anyone would be stupid enough to attempt to attack the man responsible for producing Jedi slaying droids without a significant force, and even then it probably wouldn't end well. Obviously one or two Jedi would basically be doing a suicide mission, and Ardik struck me as a natural cockroach. Someone who would not be caught and pinned down easily for anyone to be able to take their frustrations out on him. There would just be a number of happy customers, and quite a few very angry people who would have to fight these monsters.

[member="Gerion Ardik"]