Mist and Shadow

[Ultimatum]

The single most powerful force proven in the galaxy was that of organic will. The Force was definitely a close runner up, but the galaxy had seen changes that the Force could never cause. The Force was not the ultimate force in the galaxy, after all the greater universe apparently did not have the Force yet there were other beings outside of our galaxy. That was something that Ultimatum was interested in. All organics, across the entire universe, needed to be saved from their own ways.

Not too long ago Ultimatum had been berated for his belief that an advanced solution had to be found in order to keep the organics alive past the end of the universe. He had been given the idea that simply jumping into Hyperspace, Otherspace, or similar alternate dimensions would be sufficient. The Intelligence found those to be too flawed. Even should Hyperspace or Otherspace be safe to use to survive the end, it would be a question of survival within either reality for an extended time period. For that purpose the droid had created the concept for a device that was entirely self-sufficient. Once launched the craft would never need any outside resources of any type. Further it would need to be capable of continuing should all of reality disappear. It would be an ark for organics to live on until the next reality began or until organics could surpass the boundaries of time and the physical realm.

However, the technology needed to make the ship a reality was as of yet unknown and entirely theoretical. Therefore, he needed to spend resources researching the potentials and hopefully making the devices. In an organic society the droid could not expect to accomplish all this without their support. In order to gain the support of those he believed could help him he would need to get something in return. What then was the easiest to create, most valuable machine to the organics in the current galactic situation?

The answer was, fast food aside, weapons. The galaxy was in such a turmoil that conflict was inevitable on all fronts. No matter how many times a galactic power attempted to create an area of complete control, another power would attempt to take it from them. This galaxy was so chaotic, proof of the organics' destructive natures. Ultimatum had run potential simulations about other projects that could garner enough support to warrant full-scale work and focus... none had proven so prolific as weapons. Anything that could kill another organic reasonably easily would work apparently. The person who had tried to disillusion Ultimatum of his belief that the future was not yet secure, had also said that non-weapons were a potential route to bring to organics. While that being was far Ultimatum's superior, the droid disagreed. Organics loved to kill each other, they enjoyed making others suffer. There were no exceptions, their base nature was that of aggressiveness. Why else did Jedi attempt to hide their basic natures behind the masks of enlightenment? Why did the Sith so ruthlessly fall back into their primitive natures in order to gain power? They were imperfect, all of them. That was why they needed rescuing, they were incapable of saving themselves.

Ultimatum was not disillusioned, he did not see him as not needing them. As a matter of fact the droid knew that in order to survive he would need them. Artificial races needed organics to survive, even if the artificials could step beyond the limitations set by organics. However, artificials were potentially far more superior, though many would probably disagree with that assessment. The analyses pointed towards the fact that organics were an an inferior collection of beings. Nonetheless, Ultimatum needed them and more importantly he wanted them.

That was why he planned today to set out a new platform. To test a launcher that would change the battlefield, hopefully for the better. He would deliver a notice to the people of Mustafar, hoping to also attempt to put to rest most of the feelings of animosity that had been expressed during the recent near-rebellion that had occurred not too long ago. From there he would begin his work, testing the Extinguisher.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum took the twenty steps up to the podium with equal measures anxiousness and determination. Many of the people who would be listening to his speech would have been taking part in the riotous activities less than a month ago. Now they would be hearing a presentation from the very person they had been against. This would have to be handled very delicately and with all pervading seriousness. There was no place for humor at this time. The sense of awe that the droid had felt when thinking of stars or looking at the complexities of microorganisms was gone. At this time his mind was numbed from all emotion, a sensation that he was thankful for, it made it easier to step up before his enemies after such a dangerous time. The blackness of his mind was only rivaled by that of his datapad, turned off so that he would not be distracted by the notes he had written for himself to share with the listeners.

All too soon the journey to the top of the podium was past, a single step to the microphone. There were various reporters both from Mustafarian agencies and smaller galactic news stations. Camera droids floated in the air, focusing on Ultimatum as a vulture hungrily watched its dying prey. There were no questions at first, Ultimatum allowed the silence, as best as could be gotten with the sound of an erupting volcano nearby, to fill the time before he began. "Mustafarians, Ladies, and Gentlemen of the Press, I am here before you today to ask for your forgiveness. My motives, my works, have not been transparent and because of this what has been seen is without context. I have not come up here to attempt to explain away my actions. I have been told by many people, not the least of which was this Guide on the HoloNet, that I was stupid in my decision making."

"My allying with the Sith was not a matter of simple convenience. At first it was a matter of helping another person out for mutual benefit. I could have chosen a better person to help, but I didn't. That is my fault. As time went on the fact that I had aided the Sith appeared to be a bargaining chip in my mind, I had helped him before so I should be helping him now. I allowed myself to be drawn into his company, I did not deal with the weed when it was small. Again, this was my decision and my own fault. This last time we met, the time of the invasion was perhaps a movement of fate. A fortuitous moment in time for my saving, for if that had not occurred now I might still have been helping the Sith even now. I was there as the ruler of a planet, the Sith I was speaking with had plans of utilizing a trade system to bring money to various planets connected to ourselves, in so doing he intended on increasing his strength to allow for the invasion of another planet. Fortunately this concept was halted in its earliest stages by the invasion of our brave protectors, the Galactic Alliance military.

Speaking of the Galactic Alliance's forces, in the honor of the fallen on that word, casualties that I could have helped avoid if I had put my works to better use for the Alliance, I will be pushing a large section of my developmental capabilities to increasing the safety of their forces. To this end, I have completed work on a new battle platform that will allow for an unprecedented level of far-reaching effect. I shall hand this weapon over to the Alliance once testing has proven that it works as necessary. They shall use it as they see fit and I hope that it will be the beginning of my time making up for the mistakes I have made," Ultimatum took a moment to pull up his datapad and begin reading through the security notes before saying, "The weapon will be tested later this day. Later last evening an area one hundred kilometers square was cleared of all work forces in order to prepare for the testing. The weapon utilizes incredibly hazardous materials and I cannot stress enough the danger that this may pose to any person caught in the testing range. There are droid guardians around the edges of the area and they will use what force is necessary to keep people out. This is for your safety as well as the security of the project."

Pausing, the droid looked directly at the cameras. His face took on the appearance of one who stood repentant of all his actions previously, "I know that due to current events it must be difficult to trust me or any under my command. I have set up a section of the forces within the government to answer all questions you may, sensitive information aside. I don't expect many of you to trust me completely, I will ask nonetheless that you trust me in this: I will never let you down again. My loyalty lies squarely in the safety of organics and my goals shall never waver from that of protecting you from all dangers you may face. I am sorry, my time has been cut short, there will be another deliverance after the test with the information and findings. Please hold your questions until then. Thank you."

Before the first reporter could raise her hand, the holographic image of Ultimatum blinked out of existence. Ultimatum could not have made it to both the testing and the speech in person, he had to choose which one might require more of his expertise. The answer to that was obvious, if something went wrong with the machine he would need to be there to figure out how to repair and avoid the same problem in the future. He was seated in the Fate, Legion sat beside him while Loyalty was sitting in the row before them with AU-01 keeping her company. Ultimatum turned to Legion, who was watching the short speech over a datapad.

"How was it?"

Legion raised his hand and shook it side to side, "So-so, it seemed to be doing pretty well. I still say you should have focused the words about protecting the Mustafarians rather than making it sound like you are taking care of all organics."

Ultimatum raised an eyebrow and began, "But the latter is-"

Legion cut him off quickly, "Begging your pardon, you know that, I know that. The Mustafarians do not need to be aware of the broad spectrum you have in mind. Right now they need reassurance that their ruler is not some Sith friend who will turn on the Alliance, whose power was proven not so long ago. They need to know that you care for them and that you will not leave them to rot should another Sith come knocking."

"How can I say that without telling them everything? They cannot understand the full effect of what I wish to do. It is beyond any organic to fully comprehend the long-lasting results that I shall attempt to create." Ultimatum took on an exasperated tone.

The protocol droid gave his superior a sharp look, "They don't want to know that stuff. They wouldn't care less if in three hundred years you planned on making another sun in the sky. The future is not as big a concern as the present. They want to know that they and their children are safe... now."

"Which is what this project is all about, these weapons will not only be given the Alliance. You know the plans, the UMF. When this is perfected, it will play a key role in conflicts across the galaxy. Old friend, this is merely a part of what is to come. Weapons to keep the organic happy and then real technological advancements to keep them safe. Surely you understand."

The droid shook his head as he replied comically, "Preaching to the choir sir, preaching to the choir." Ultimatum was impressed with that, Legion had been picking up the little terminology quite well for having only recently begun to focus on it.

A message came over the intercoms, "Landing in five minutes, light turbulence up ahead. Secure yourselves." With that Ultimatum and the rest moved to settle themselves in for the landing. It would soon be time.

 

[Ultimatum]

Despite the wind and small molten rocks flying at them, PU-01 landed the ship with exceptional skill. It was not particularly good weather for the test, the clouds were particularly thick and the air was full of pieces of small molten metal, thanks to the eruption of a nearby volcano. However, all this would not stop the proceedings. What better way to see if the platform could function under adverse conditions than this? The large quantity of metal would lead to difficulties with sensors, which would in turn make the targeting more interesting. If the platform could shoot accurately in these conditions then it would have proven its capabilities, very few other worlds could contain an environment more hostile to scanning and therefore aiming the missiles.

As Ultimatum and Legion stood to exit the craft, PU-02 spoke over the intercomm, "Sensors indicate the conditions are going to get worse, we will land the ship at the pad at the security outpost. Good luck sir." And with that Ultimatum and his friend stepped out of the old ship and watched as its doors closed and it began to rise up back into the darkness of the storm that was brewing. Ultimatum was not surprised that the storm was likely to get worse, though he would have preferred it not to get too rough. He had to tell himself that it was merely a better test for the capabilities of his prototype. He trusted his design to work near-perfectly, even in these conditions. Whatever happened, it would be most enlightening.

Legion spoke up at this point, "02 was right sir, the weather is picking up. We need to get to the observation post before it gets too much worse. Wouldn't want a ton of molten lava to fall upon us."

"That would put a damper on the day," Ultimatum replied with calm humor.

The two began running their way towards the station that was only a few minutes away. It became very apparent to Ultimatum that the storm was growing. The dust and ash swirled past them; what light from the volcanoes was beginning to disappear in the darkness of the gloom. Ultimatum switched his vision over to infrared, at least there he would be able to see the surroundings fairly well. No doubt his companion had done the same and they began to pick up their pace. The wind howled in the cavities of their metallic bodies and the roar of the eruption in the distance put a chill in Ultimatum's mind.

Out of the darkness and the heat a V-1 appeared, holding up her left hand the guard yelled out in an enhanced voice as as to be heard over the wind, "Halt! Identify yourselves or be detained." A moment later the cyborg fell back as a gust blasted the three individuals, "Blast this wind to hell."

Ultimatum allowed the guard to recollect herself before stepping closer. As his mental capacities came to a focused point he sent his thoughts through the networks of his droids. The V-1 walked closer, raising a hand instinctively to try and peer through the storm before raising the hand to a salute, "Pardon me, sirs. The station is this way, follow me." She thought to herself that there was no better excuse to get out of the weather than to escort the ruler.

The two droids stood silently before following the guard through the wind. Ultimatum felt the dust and little stones striking his metal skin, leaving dints and scrapes along its clean silvery surface. It was annoying and dangerous when the weather turned like this. Sudden and treacherous, these storms were a blight to the work forces of Mustafar and yet beautiful in their own right. If one caught a rare break in the clouds and saw the storms it would appear as if the surface were alive, the surface rippling and pulsating with life. Nonetheless, the storm was nothing to be caught out in, Tatooine had nothing like this.

When they reached the observatory, the V-1 stepped to the door and pushed the entry button before stepping aside for her superiors to enter first. Legion stepped in before Ultimatum, for no other reason than the younger droid happened to be standing in front. They found themselves in a tight airlock, filled with black dust and the environsuits of any easily a dozen workers who had escaped to the safety of the outpost when the storm had rolled in. The three beings waited while the air was filtered and cooled, the V-1 took off her helmet and outer armor while she waited. Legion held one of the suits in his hand, judging it before placing it back as the inner door opened.

The three stepped into the building and found the inside was deathly quiet compared to the racket they had just left. The gentle tinging of stone on metal betrayed the storm of razors that were being swept by the wind outside. The sound was distant and faint, leaving the noises of the organs of the station to be heard clear. The thrum of a number of air coolers, the steady beating of the internal power station, and the squawking beep of the scanners and instruments relaying so much information. The V-1 stepped to the right towards the small break room and the iced water contained within. A rare luxury on Mustafar, to have one's water iced. Ultimatum had decided to have them here as relief for those who stood for hours outside in the incessant heat.

The droid moved to the station overseer who saluted before speaking, "Sirs, good to have you here. We have accomplished the pre-experiment checks and have come up with no issues. The platform is ready to begin testing at your word." Another man, this one was a communications specialist by the looks of it, brought a datapad to the overseer before running back to his station, the overseer glanced at the pad and nodded thoughtfully before continuing, "The storm is putting up a lot of interference, but our communications and controls seem to be holding fine. We will await your go ahead to proceed with the initial testing." With a bow the overseer took a step backwards before turning and promptly walking away.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum turned his attention to reviewing the station before beginning the test. The droid walked ahead of Legion and the station overseer, moving up a set of steps onto a balcony that overlooked the entire work area of the station. A large transparisteel window allowed them to see the outside world, in all of its stormy wonder. There was nothing to be seen truly, though if the weather had been clear then they might have been able to view the platform in its powered down state. At this moment there were at least a dozen engineers out there in the storm finalizing the safety checks. The last thing anyone wanted was for the platform to fail and cause its payload to detonate right here.

The standard payload for this machine would be Baradium missiles, the sort used to level cities and turn planets to dust, but for the sake of safety and simplicity those had been left out. The current missiles loaded into the vessel were oversized concussion missiles. They were no where near as powerful yet would still give an idea as to how accurate the system could handle. Of course they could have constructed dud rounds with filler made to replicate the weight and similar variables of a standard missile, thus removing most of the danger of firing a live missile of this size, but that would negate a large part of the necessity for perfection. Should something go wrong with it while launching the safe shell then there would be little true fear of repercussions, by using a missile that could potentially blow up the area, everyone was far more cautious and therefore would attempt to do their best to avoid the potential of their death. It was a matter of psychology, manipulating the organic's self-preservation requirements to fit the goal that he had.

The first people that Ultimatum noticed was the security team's communication presence. There were a large number of outposts out around the perimeter of the testing site, and this was the center of their chain of command. There was the commander speaking with one of the communications personnel, the other one was likely on break given that he was nowhere to be seen. The communications equipment was alive with lights and the static sound of a transmission working imperfectly due to the storm. The commander looked rather frustrated and the junior officer appeared exasperated, it was probably something that the droid could help with, but his attention was called to another area.

The engineering team sent a message that was received by scientists who in turn brought the message to Ultimatum. The Isotope V reactor was online and functioning well below the safety threshold. At the moment, it appeared that the machine was capable of working easily. The droid turned to Legion asking while handing him the datapad with the initial readouts, "By this information, do you think it will work at full potential?"

The ex-protocol droid reviewed the data and waited a moment while its processors calculated the various data bits into a full equation and came to a conclusion. It was a rather difficult task, with the sheer amount of data that the droid had to handle. There was an understandable wait, Ultimatum had come to his conclusion merely because he had a far larger number of processors, while not quite a supercomputer the droid had the abilities that were very close. Someday, Ultimatum hoped that someday he could break the wall from simple super computers and AI's to the advancement of Hypercomputers. A whole new level of technological discovery could be opened if only that breach were traversed.

"The power levels indicate that the craft should be able to function beyond anticipated capacity, in fact the Molecular shielding should be able to run at all times rather than as a last resort. The shields will still need to be lowered to fire the rockets, but there should be no other moment of weakness in the defense. If these readings are correct, the shields should allow the other weaponry systems to be powered very easily under stress. Just need to see if it can work in these conditions. Then the testing can begin on the shield strength."

Ultimatum nodded, a basic conclusion based on the currently available information, it was unlikely that any more distinct prediction could be made until after the initial testing. Once conducted, it could give the droids a much better idea of what they were working with, if the various systems would need to be altered to allow for the power surges and overall durability of the subject. In this weather the test would be most enlightening, which would allow for a better collection of more extreme responses in these environs.

At that moment a security light went off and the chief of security looked up to the balcony and yelled out, "Sir, one of the outposts has gone dark. This might be a problem."

 

[Ultimatum]

The security commander looked down at his datapad with a tense appearance as he read a feed on the situation. "Confirmation. The outpost has been attacked, one survivor. He says about ten foot soldiers blew the post." The organic slowly walked up the steps to his commander, not wanting to seem over ambitious, especially with the current state of affairs.

Ultimatum accepted the outstretched datapad with the information on it. A written message, apparently typed out by a wounded guard who had been fortunate enough to be sent on a patrol rather than rest inside the outpost. He apparently explained that the outpost had been attacked and at least one the attackers had utilized some form of explosive launcher. The guard had not been able to tell which direction the enemies had headed, but he suggested that they might be heading in the direction of the command post.

"Thank you, have the guards on break begin a search of the area and send a team to the outpost to look for survivors. See if the scanners can break through this weather." Ultimatum turned to look out the window once more. There was no purpose in his going out into the storm, he would add nothing to the searches, he would just be another person in the way. The commander turned back and made a hasty retreat to his array before sending out the orders. The command center was quickly evolving from a hive of scientific activity to one of military preparation. Ultimatum could not feel it, but he knew that the sense of awe that had almost controlled the building had been entirely replaced by a tension.

Legion looked on passively, silently watching all that transpired. The droid was keeping his thoughts to himself, and that somewhat miffed Ultimatum. However, instead of getting alleviating the sudden stress onto his friend, he turned to the scientific head who was busying himself with finalizing the experiment's preparations. "How soon before the test fire may begin?"

The man answered after a moment's pause of looking over his various screens. "Everything is in order to begin now. Our engineers have already loaded the test shell." The droid ruler then turned back to the station overseer, who seemed to be caught up in the frenzy of the moment. Ultimatum allowed the man to continue his hysteria for a few seconds before speaking up.

"Overseer! If you have had quite enough, the station is still yours to command. We have an important experiment to conduct and the sooner it is accomplished the sooner we may turn our focus to the intruders." The organic turned on Ultimatum with an insane look for a moment before he realized what had been said. With a most apologetic appearance, he flustered for a moment and proceeded to the command console.

With a seemingly robotic motion, he typed in the password to arm the launcher on the metallic monstrosity that sat a few hundred meters away out in the storm. "Overseer to all posts, test firing will commence in ten seconds."

Ultimatum smiled as his internal clock began to count down the seconds. This was the true test, if it could launch the missile as far as it was supposed to then all would be proven worth it. Those attackers could hide in caves all they wanted, but they would be unable to deal with this if it worked.

 

[Ultimatum]

"Ten."

The droid ruler looked out the viewport, wishing that the weather had been clearer so that he could witness the launch in a more personal manner. But he was find with watching the various screens of data, creating a mental model of what was going on inside the machine. It would be most disappointing to the organics who might have been able to watch the test from their homes with the live feeds. The weather did not allow it unfortunately, so the population would be unaware of what was occurring.

"Nine."

The security chief was holding a conversation with the guard team that had been sent to the outpost to look for survivors. The chief quietly strode beside Ultimatum and notified the ruler, "The rescue team has found several bodies, no sign of survivors inside the wreckage. The building shows signs of high grade explosive attacks. They also say that there has been no sign of enemy movement along their path. Perhaps they are headed towards the test site?"

Ultimatum incredulously thought on this, before replying in a controlled manner, "It should be safe, if they were able to locate this area then they should als-

"Eight."

-o know that the droid has shielding against missiles. Move towards the test site and secure it, I shall have notify the workers there of your presence." The droid stood for a single moment, assessing the potential threat that the invaders posed to the experiment. They obviously would not be aware of the fact that the shield would only be lowered when the launcher was activated, that was a fact that Ultimatum had made certain only filtered down to the scientists and engineers that were directly on site. His close friends knew it as well, but they would never have betrayed his trust. Therefore it was logical that they would launch an attack and fire any missiles they had at the robot as soon as they had sight of it. Unless their timing was intentional the likelihood of them attacking at that perfect moment to actually effect the launch was incredibly low.

"Seven."

The alarm klaxon began loudly screaming as the sensors detected something. Ultimatum was not surprised when the information was passed through to him that the intruders had been found heading in the base's direction. What remained of the guards inside the building were sent out to defeat the enemy and hopefully buy time for the teams that had been sent out to return to aid in the defense. The Artificial Lord decided to call the Fate, "PU-01, 02 enemy forces are in the area. Return to the main base and help hold them back."

There was a short response sent in return, "PU-02 here, weather is getting worse-

"Six."

"-but we will give it a shot." As if to prove the droid's point, there was a loud crash from above as a particularly large boulder struck the top of the outpost. "Oh-two out."

Ultimatum shut off the connection before moving to the scientist's table. They appeared to be unfazed by the ruckus from the various sources outside. The droid watched as they continued mulling over the readings from the droid and finalized the sensors for the test. Soon they would be looking over the collected data from the missiles launch, checking the efficiency of the droid and identifying stress points. With that they would be able to find the particular weaknesses of the platform and hopefully negate many of them.

"Five."

Another message came in, this time from the Fate. "AU here, 02 is a little busy, it would appear that there are enemy contacts in the region of the test site. Don't know how long they have been there, but safe to bet that it has been long enough to prepare a strike."

Ultimatum nearly swore on the spot, fear rising in his metallic heart. Suddenly it seemed more likely that the enemy would accomplish some form of sabotage. He sent a message back hurriedly, "Fate, deal with that threat immediately!"

"Four."

"Oh-two here, won't make it in time for anything the-" She stopped mid-sentence and began speaking quickly to a listener off comms, "Oh-one, AA unit on the right. That one. Ten degrees. Back off, back off! A-ewe shoot him!" The comm cut out as PU-02 turned full attention to aiding PU-01 in piloting.

"Three."

The lord of Mustafar felt for a moment powerless to change the situation as his mind adjusted to the new information. Ultimatum came to a conclusion and spoke aloud, "Cease testing. End all testing."

Unfortunately the plethora of noises around the post drowned his voice so that few heard him. He increased his volume as he began moving towards the overseer.

"Two. Deactivate shields."

A tone indicated that the missile launcher was powering up and Ultimatum spoke out again, "Stop! Reactivate shields!"

The overseer was unaware of what Ultimatum was saying for a moment too long, finishing the countdown.

"One. Launch Test Missile."

There was a single moment before the button was pushed that Ultimatum switched to his digital form in order to stop the signal from being sent to the platform. However, as he moved to work, he received a notification of an explosion from near the launch site. This was followed by a physical rumbling that shook the building. The sound fit the signals of a missile launch.

He had been too late.

 

[Ultimatum]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaJHFxCYUjI​

There was no time to waste. Ultimatum knew that the very seconds may mean the difference between the impending catastrophe and saving the situation. The missile would be traveling far quicker as its internal propulsion took hold. He realized his folly, there was no need to have used live ammunition, that had been a choice of pride. He had wanted nothing more than to send a message to the Guide in the form of a signal of his new power. Now that power was potentially heading into one of the ruler's own cities. He should have at least put in a remote deactivation code, but no his ego had been too great to foresee this outcome. Perhaps the only smart decision Ultimatum had made was to avoid using either of the standard ammunition. A tungsten rod or baradium missile would have been powers worse than this. But that was little consolation at the moment. Any city on this world could be easily wiped out by the normal missile, with what would be normal ammunition it would only be a question of how much further the damage reached. Indeed, there was no time to be careful, to hold back. Now was the time for action. The artificial lord had failed in the test of thought, now it was the time for doing. Would he fail this too?

The droid refused to contemplate that, he would not stand for that missile to fall. He returned to his body and began shouting orders above the din, his voice becoming solid and mechanical, "Overseer, get Awe fighters into the air. Security team, begin satellite tracking. New objective: Destroy Missile. Science division, begin calculating trajectories. Fate follow that missile as best possible."

Without a further thought Ultimatum turned to leave. As if to accentuate the intensity of the moment, the storm increased in intensity. Exiting the large observatory, the artificial being sent a summons to his smaller craft the Forerunner. It would be some time yet before it arrived, but instead of waiting at the landing pad Ultimatum moved back indoors. The room was in near total silence, what orders had been given were enough for the moment and information on the screens was all that mattered.

The pop of static startled everyone as a transmission arrived, "Flight team here, heading in target location. You guys have missile tracking?"

One of the science team looked at his peers before clicking the comm to reply, "Flight team, that's a negative. Missile's moved into a thick bank of ash. We have no visuals from the satellite."

A moment passed, no doubt the pilot was throwing obscenities at the science team, but he sounded in control when the reply came, "Following missile, thermal trail in sight."

There passed a few moments before the science team began moving quickly, "Flight team, we have missile exiting bank at three degrees. Entering open space."

"I see it. Locking on." The beeping of the computer could be distinctly heard over the silence that pervaded the room.

"Locked on, firing one." The security team moved the data to a larger screen so that the occupants of the command post could watch as the rocket flew towards the missile. As it closed a sudden intake of breath could be heard.

A moment before it became apparent on the screen, the comms burst with another transmission, "Bad shot, bad shot. One is turning... turning... Break off!" The screen showed the three fighters suddenly break formation as the small rocket began flying back towards them, following the second fighter through her maneuvers.

Ultimatum felt the weight of the moment suddenly fall upon him, he nearly collapsed as he stumbled to a chair. That could not have happened on its own. Someone had tampered with the targeting computer, which meant that someone had been aware of his exact orders. The Guide was therefore capable of tapping his communications, which meant that he had probably known Ultimatum's plans for a long time. Everything had been set up, the Guide was merely following ever move on the droid's part with an equal counter. There had to be somebody on the inside funneling him the information, but who and how could he hope to find that person before the missile landed?

The next ten seconds were perhaps most harrowing for the pilots, whose acrobatic skill with their ships would put any stunt pilot to shame. It was as if the people were watching a lethal dance, the rocket following in the footsteps of the experienced dancers with the brusque movements of a neophyte. At last though, there was a misstep, one was struck on the wing by his own missile. Two and three followed their comrade's rapid descent to the hard ground, where fortunately he survived with many an injury rather than death.

Having almost entirely forgotten the missile, Ultimatum suddenly recalled the danger and turned to the science team, who apparently had never truly left their task. "Too late sir. Missile is in its final descent. Good news though, it would appear that it is to land in an uninhabited region, no good metal veins or lava flows for kilometers in any direction. " They reported preemptively.

For some reason, this did not lighten Ultimatum's black mood. Instead he felt dread rise within him as the scientists moved a timer counting down onto the big screen. The seconds remaining until impact. The end was nigh.

 

[Ultimatum]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_Ay_iDRAbc​

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The ticking of time slowed for the droid as he imagined the missile steadily slowing as it closed in on its doom. There was no stopping it now, the fighters had failed and while Ultimatum had attempted to turn one of the solar satellites into a beam weapon to blast the missile, but none had been in the proper position. Now the only consolation was that the missile was landing in a supposedly unpopulated area. There was no information aside that it held little of value and was therefore almost entirely abandoned.

There was complete silence in the command post, the various computers had been quieted as everyone watched in varying degrees of horror. Ultimatum knew not what he could do aside from wait and watch, yet that was exactly what he wanted to avoid. Inaction was the one thing he did not want at the moment. The artificial wished to scream out, to destroy worlds, to blow himself to kingdom come, yet he bottled these emotions away. With a flick of a digital switch all of those emotions ceased to exist, they vanished into thin air. Truthfully, and Ultimatum knew this, that method was merely a stalling tactic, the anger and frustration was still there, merely waiting to be awoken when the droid next set himself to the task.

However, for the time being, the respite allowed Ultimatum a brief moment of clarity. He tuned to the Fate, sending a query, "Fate, have you the location of the missile? Are you still following?"

Once more the feminine voice of PU spoke over the comm, "As best we can, the missile is far faster than us. If we get a clear shot then you can count us trying to take it down."

With a sigh, Ultimatum commanded, "Forget it, make certain you are outside the blast zone when it hits. Do not follow the missile."

"Understood, returning to the outpost."

The captain guard moved to the droid's side, reporting, "We have five bodies of the attackers, the storm covered the enemy's retreat. Apologies sir."

Ultimatum waved his hand as he thought about the situation. The enemy not only had someone inside at a high enough level so as to betray vital information, they also had access to military grade weapons, as well as access to his weapons. They had been able to enact an almost perfect strike against him, with only a few casualties and the rest escaping. Truly this was an enlightening day, though not in the way he had hoped it would be. He had hoped that this day would end with the proving of a new technological advancement that would change the battlefield, rather than this failure on all accounts to protect himself and his work. It seemed that the Guide had proven his mastery of the situation, leaving the droid alive was a greater insult than trying to kill him.

The guard stalked away, probably to have his underlings prepare the dead allies for proper burial. Meanwhile, Ultimatum once more turned to the timer, a puny twenty seconds remain when a blast of static over the comms broke the silence with various exclamations of pain from the recipients. While the organics' ears rung deafeningly from the sound, Ultimatum listened to the voice that came over the array. Before he truly began the artificial lord noticed something on the radar. Taking the initiative, he switched the screen to the array and found that the missile was being trailed, whatever it was the ship was catching up fast.

The message was pre-recorded, the voice of the second pilot was determined and unemotional, "This is Secondary Awe Pilot K. Logan. I send this message to notify all command of my intentions and that I have thought through this course of action. First pilot Timothy is being brought back to base for medical attention by Third Awe. I have volunteered to complete the mission. I have increased speed to Flank in order to catch up with the target and will have to maintain the speed until the mission is completed. Because of this, I will be unable to utilize any of my standard weapons, I have therefore opened my Mag-landing gear. Once attached to the rocket, I will dive into the surface. Because the missile will be landing prematurely, there should be a smaller explosion and hopefully fewer causalities. I request my..." The pilots voice broke for the first time as the emotions seemed to break through, but quickly disappeared as she mastered herself and continued, "I request that my remains are cremated in whatever fashion is deemed proper and that my ashes and what remains of my belongs are sent to my brother on Dantooine. I have recorded a message for him personally, it should be on my datapad if the mail was sent through. I would be most appreciative if the message was kept confidential for my brother only. Please pass on my thanks to everyone at Control and the Sovereignty, the droids included. A text list of particular people should be on my datapad, please split between them on eighth of my current savings and turn the rest over to my brother. Tell Timothy it wasn't his fault. This message, along with the text messages inside my datapad back at base, is to act as my final will and testament. Voice Signature: Golden Scarf. This is Secondary Awe Pilot K. Logan, signing off."

As the message played, some of the others in the room overcame their deafness and was able to catch the hind end of the speech. Ultimatum did not answer any question as he watched the blip on the radar catch up with the missile. The two came into contact and at first the combined being began a slow curve towards the surface, but the angle became steeper and steeper as the pilot tried to force the missile to hit as early as possible.

At the last moment Ultimatum could not help but look away, knowing that it was cowardice to do so. Cowering from the reality that another organic had paid the price for his mistake. His mistakes had consequences, as a ruler his commands were felt by millions of machines and organics. There was no excuse, not even ignorance, that Ultimatum could accept at this moment. He had well and truly failed the people beneath him. His overconfidence, his ego, his destructive mind, they all had cost him little. But those organics and artificial that followed him, it had cost them much.

Without a word, the droid left the compound and waited outside in the storm for the Forerunner to arrive. He had a body to collect, and he needed time to sort himself out.