On Silver Necklaces They Strung

[Ultimatum]

It was once more time to work on LOOM's expansion. There was another world that was outside the influence of the galactic powers that struck Ultimatum as ideal for his intended purpose. There were many potential planets in the immediate vicinity of Mustafar but there was only one that had what he was looking for right now. Maramere.

A world with an an extremely uninteresting history, to the point that the before stated history was almost entirely forgotten. The largest note, and what made the planet so well known, was the fact that during the Clone Wars the Separatists had set up a stronghold on the planet for the sole purpose of containing the stores of Stygium crystals that they had acquired from Aetan II. Since then the world had become something of a coveted location for companies and galactic powers alike as those that controlled the world would have unparalleled access to the crystals. Ultimatum was of course interested in that aspect of the planet, but also in the fact that it was outside the influence of any power for the moment.

Thus he had pulled together what resources he had for the creation of a mining facility and a corresponding production foundry. The droid was already enroute to the world, planning on using the Sovereignty's scanners to locate any unowned or hidden caches of the material which he could get access to.

 

[Ultimatum]

It was time now, to move for the initial scans. The ship was in the system and energy receptions were already pointing towards definite areas that were taken by others. There would probably be some time spent roving the planet with the deepest scanner settings. There was much to work on, while the scanners searched for possible pockets, he would need to communicate with authorities on the surface to purchase land, and the ship would also need to begin manufacturing the equipment that would be used in the facilities that were to be constructed.

The droid was already hailing the planet by the time the Sovereignty had entered its airspace. As was to be expected of a planet so well known for its caches and therefore a popular destination for many different entrepreneurs there was a wait time for actually contacting the necessary people on the planet. Thus Ultimatum bided his time, keeping track of the readings from the ship. Once it had a seemingly acceptable plot discovered Ultimatum would save the information and then ask once he could about purchasing it. Five square kilometers seemed sufficient to the droid for the purpose of factory and extraction facility. It was probably a smaller space than what most were looking to buy when it came to this world.

 

[Ultimatum]

What stood as a government had finally taken the time to reach Ultimatum on his request. While waiting the droid had kept a close eye on the scans and believed that a portion remained unclaimed with a rather deep cache beneath the surface. Ultimatum wondered if perhaps the crystals had been laid so low to hide their presence from all but the strongest sensors for a reason. Had it been the act of a official looking to take advantage of the stockpile to make a personal fortune once the Confederacy had left? Or perhaps a safeguard in case the larger, more obvious collections were compromised.

Whatever the reason, the scanners had only just reached it and pointed towards the potential of it being a rather large pocket that would, hopefully, last a long time. Ultimatum was going through public records on the nearby land owners and the amount of land they each had. The droid was trying to decide how much land he could purchase and what shape would be the most efficient. By the time the organics had contacted him the AI had already completed calculations and was prepared with what information he believed would be necessary for the transaction.

 

[Ultimatum]

As it turned out, unsurprising to Ultimatum, there was a long line of individuals who wanted to purchase land on the world. Many of these could not afford the price of land and some were trying to use fake land purchases as cons for selling unwary people false land documents. They wanted confirmation of his credentials and capability of payment before they would allow the deal to be heard. Evidently they had had bad experiences in the past and wished to avoid such again. Understandable, if somewhat ill-timed.

It was not difficult to bring up various proofs of his condition as ruler of Mustafar under the current Alliance regime. Further he pulled a list of individuals of differing position within the current government to vouch for his claim. Then he needed to get hold of information on one of his banking systems. This was also not too difficult to accomplish, after all he had accumulated a definite fortune from his various endeavors. Some of the money would have been considered illegally gained, but that had been from a man who was already morally questionable. The droid felt no remorse for robbing his master, the man had been a monster hiding his true nature. Ultimatum did not care for monsters like him.

The government appreciated his quick reply, they apparently decided to take his information at face value, though Ultimatum was certain that they would go into more detailed research once the transaction was in motion. Ultimatum trusted that whoever they asked would tell the truth, after all no one except a bare few knew his history before becoming ruler.

 

[Ultimatum]

The conversations turned out to be heading well, the people understood very well what pain there was in maintaining a government on a world that had valuable materials. While Mustafar's resources were not regularly considered quite as rare as that of Maramere, it was a similarity that made it near enough that some semblance could be found. Ultimatum could have attempted to push that advantage to increase the potential of his acquiring the land, however he decided against it.

With the information they had been given, it appeared that they were more than willing to talk about what to purchase. That was a start and Ultimatum believed that it was the beginning of the fall that would quickly lead to him being able to purchase the land. There was a brief break to allow them a rest, no doubt to give them time to work through the parts of the deal that they were unsure about and to go through some of the contacts. The droid waited patiently, keeping his mind focused on the land and the potential that it would lead to. Once the facility was built then works could truly begin. But before that he needed these organics to give him access to the land.

 

[Ultimatum]

An hour passed and Ultimatum admitted to himself that he was growing impatient. A simple transaction was all he wanted, an advanced form of barter. After all, using credits was effectively a barter system. Credits were little more than a piece of metal with special prints on it, or in most cases just a number on a viewscreen. The only value of a credit was that which somebody put in them. The metals that made up the credit were in fact very low in value, it was when one was given a special symbol. Thus a supposedly advanced monetary system was in fact a foolish bartering one. This was proven whenever a crisis occurred, credits suddenly became valueless as necessities became the mainstay of trading.

When he was about to turn his attention to preparing the vessels to begin offloading equipment, the organics once more called him. They had decided that they would allow the purchase to continue, asking for a fee that was well above what the land would have been worth, but far below the value of its contents. Ultimatum was all too willing to pay the price and the then get to work on building. He thanked the leaders for their time and business before closing the channel. It was now time to begin the construction of the facilities.

 

[Ultimatum]

There was a short interval during which materials and the like were moved to the planet, a somewhat tedious procedure that more often than not bored organics. As a droid Ultimatum did not feel weary and he did not lose any interest. In part this was because it was his mind that ran the entire operation, split out across thousands of droids he had to command and control their every action. It was not a monumental task for the AI as it had been built with this in mind.

Nonetheless, Ultimatum looked forward to the completion of the project, it would save him a fair bit of processing space and he would be able to turn his attention to utilizing the facility. It would come to fruition soon and the droid appreciated that. It was good to know that things will go alright, even if the galaxy is in such a chaotic state that peace is nigh impossible. He would try to change that, one step at a time.

 

[Ultimatum]

Now that he had the land, the materials ready to go, and a direct plan for the facility layout Ultimatum was enthusiastic for this. At last it would begin, first everything would be moved planetside. That task alone would take about a half hour, time well spent as the various workers would be pushed to their limits to finish the project, Ultimatum intended on testing the full extent of his newest follower's capabilities. The first in a line of artificial-organic hybrids. Using a combination of old Hyrbid models, their newer V-1 recreations, and a sizable droid force; the work would hopefully be finished quickly and efficiently.

Ultimatum stepped aboard one of the transports he would oversee the production and see the limits of his followers suits. He sent orders for the landing location, the facility itself would be above the hidden cache and Ultimatum hoped to have the foundry nearby. This was going to be an interesting test especially for the foundation construction and the mining layout.

 

[Ultimatum]

The ground at last was being prepared. The first machines were traveling over the area, breaking up the hardened dirt and pulling up what stones and roots were hidden within. Fortunately it was a plain area, however there were what remained of a number of long dead trees still in the area. It would have been significantly longer work should this have been located in a forest. It would not have stopped the droid of course, but it would have been a severe inconvenience.

Ultimatum took a moment to contemplate what could be said of the destruction he was taking to this world. The planet was being despoiled by these actions, first churning the earth so that it could be easily removed, to be replaced by 'unnatural' metal constructs that will stand out from the landscape like a great knife. The edge of which will pierce deep into the planet, lancing an ancient tumor and bringing forth its foulness. This sickness would be brought to the surface and used to create destruction for other worlds.

All together a very pessimistic view. A short sighted one at that. There was much worth in this venture and the destruction caused to a natural environment would lead, if in a somewhat circuitous manner, to the safe keeping of many more worlds. While no excuse, it was also true that this world was doomed to be plundered for its hidden wealth anyways, whether he take part in that hunt or not. The only difference that Ultimatum could make was what those resources were used for. By taking what he could, he hoped to make the galaxy a better place.

 

[Ultimatum]

There was little left to do now. The foundations of the complex were in place and the true construction was beginning. While the V-1s madly moved materials to the necessary groups, the more serene appearing Hybrid's stayed in one place, ordering their droids through mental control. It was a remarkably beautiful site. The artistic nature of perfection in progress. His calculations were based on the physical properties that the planet had shown, this facility was to be perfectly constructed to fit into the ecology of the world.

There was something of a joy for Ultimatum in making something that mathematically was perfect. He understood that theoretical perfection and practical perfection were two very different things, nonetheless the droid was far more inclined to work for something that could be perfect someday. He felt much more secure when that which was made was as close to what could be perfect as possible. When it came to this construction, the foundation was what had been most important. Now that it had been about put in place the following steps were fairly simple. In fact, the reason Ultimatum remained on planet was to firstly watch the V-1s work and to oversee the mining. It would be a long tunnel straight down, more akin to the ancient shaft technique rather than the more common cave mining.

Ultimatum turned his attention to the planned work to be done with the completed project, stygium crystals stood as an integral part of the future for LOOM. Covert operations would be the main principal behind Ultimatum's military purpose. The necessity for open combat would never completely disappear, insofar as working with organics, but his focus would be on the less visible areas. He had a military in construction, an army at his disposal but more importantly he needed a espionage network. The foundations were already in place, friendships in many places and a deep understanding of the HoloNet. With the current state, Ultimatum could do that which others could only dream of.

That was his destiny, if such beliefs were true, to create a system that would save organics as a whole. That was why he needed to do all of this. The cost of organic destruction would be balanced by the inevitable betterment of their society. Well, perhaps not their society, but an organic society that was more utopian than anything they could construct by themselves.