The Delver Mined, the Mason Built (Grudge Zambrano)

[Ultimatum]

This would be interesting. It would be Ultimatum's first time working with one of the most famous of metals used in armor, Beskar. It was a most coveted material apparently, attempts to communicate diplomatically with the Mandalorians had all but failed. Between their natural want to protect what was theirs, there appeared to be a civil war going on in their territory, attempts to purchase temporary mining rights were impossible. Ultimatum was fine with that, after having learned of another planet that had the metal in it.

Ultimatum looked forward to the chance of working the metal, it was supposed to be one of the toughest ones. Definitely useful in the current plans that he had for LOOM and himself. He had decided to take the Fate and the Sovereignty to the planet, bringing [member="Grudge The Grutt"] as well, since he wanted some of the metal for a body of his. The organic would need something like that, at least Ultimatum assumed so. The armor they had planned would definitely enjoy a great upgrade from this sort of thing.

They would soon arrive above the planet, Ultimatum was in the Hangar with the crew of the Fate, the only one who was here was MU-01, the droid was helping move Grudge to the Hangar. When the organic was brought Ultimatum turned and smiled, "You ready? We will be preparing for launch soon."

[member="Zambrano the Hutt"]

 

[Grudge The Grutt]

Grudge had been found by on Rutan by [member="Ultimatum"], taken to his ship and restored to ..moderate health. How long the mutated abomination would last without necessary upgrades was anyone's guess. The Grutt had mentioned implementing the renounce metal, Beskar, into his armor to thwart the inevitable issue of light-saber wielders. The mere thought was now being forced into action, but before anything else, they would have to acquire it. Thus giving reason to their upcoming appearance on this particular. The Grutt was presented to Ultimatum, his own hover-chair used as opposed to the grav-sled he used to get from point A to B. "Ready? Geh-..Geha..? Gehaha! Ever the jokester, bo-...I meant..Ultimatum. I was reborn ready. Exactly how are things gonna be goin' down though? This a simple mining exposition? A run and gun thief operation? ....Will there be twi'lek?" He questioned, his would-be eyebrow raising alike half of his crooked grin.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum was glad to see that the organic was enthusiastic about this. The droid would have been a bit more apprehensive himself, while the galactic power that had owned the planet was dead there was the possibility that there were people left behind that remained strong. They would find out soon enough, if someone tried to stop them.

"It will be dependent on whether we meet any resistance. There is an old mine that appears to have gone out of business with the fall of the power that once owned this planet. There is no public information that shows the mine is still in use, but we should be watchful. The twi'leks I am unsure about. Maybe there is a cantina that could be found with a few of them." The droid assumed that the last part was a joke, with the track record of this organic was to joke around quite a bit. MU-01 moved the hover chair around a little so that it would not be hit by the closing door of the Fate. With that the ship's doors closed, and the vessel lifted off. PU-01 and 02 were in the pilot chairs and busy taking the ship to its destination. AU-01 was rotating the heavy chainguns that would deploy on the side of the ship when the doors opened during a battle, making sure that everything still functioned. MU-01 was keeping an eye on the information coming from [member="Grudge The Grutt"], wanting to make sure that he was not in any danger medically at the moment.

Ultimatum decided to explain something he had found, "While on the trip, I finished working on a basic device that will allow you to control droids that are made to accept specific signals. I had a few droids built for that purpose and they will be dropped off at the mine once we have secured it. You can experiment with the controls by controlling the mining droids we sent in. Sound good?"

[member="Zambrano the Hutt"]

 

[Grudge The Grutt]

Grudge stroked at what would be his beard. Brain Beard..you heard it here first, folks. "Ahh, Ultimatum. You've yet to disappoint me yet. I'd graciously be the test-rat for your device. I assume said droids will receive their commands mentally. If this succeeds, I'll definitely be using this for my body when ever it does meet reality. Know this before we embark on this ..mining adventure. Should opposition be present, I am only a brain. As such, if the odds no longer favor me, I will flee if kark'n necessary. I ain't about to about to die over some karkin' metal, ya' hear? With that being said," He began, coughing into his tendrils. "Let's begin as quickly as possible. I'm oozing with anticipation." The Grutt, with his new handy dandy chair, would find it easier to follow behind [member="Ultimatum"]'s lead where ever and when ever they chose to descend into the planet below.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum could empathize with the organic. The droid did not want to die for a barrel of metal, even if it were of very high value. He would be willing to sacrifice a body for it however. Maybe not this one, but perhaps one of the other bodies he had. Time would tell whether that were a necessary step. For now, get to the planet's surface and deploy the Overseers. That would at least give them a good idea of incoming enemies.

He pulled the metallic hat like device from a safety crate and handed it gently to [member="Grudge The Grutt"]. It was by no means pretty, however it was only the prototype to prove the working principle. The plan was to see if this would work and perhaps at some point expand the project, if it proved fruitful. "It should translate your mental commands into specific binary signals that will be understood by the droids attuned to it. The information from the droids should also return to you, allowing you to know if any of them are deactivated or accomplish a given task. My hope is to one day have an implant version so that you can control your droids no matter where you are. Though it will be determined on the effectiveness of this prototype."

The ship soon entered the atmosphere and when it reached a low enough altitude over the target landing zone Ultimatum opened a larger crate. Inside were a dozen of the Overseers. He pulled one out and activated as he threw it out the open side of the craft. This one had a camera so that he could see the area from a higher vantage point if necessary. They landed a few minutes later at the front of abandoned mine. The equipment left there seemed in fairly good condition, even if it was supposed to have been left for some time now. Perhaps there were others using it. "Be careful in there." At that moment the cargo ship landed, it was not very large, capable of containing a maximum of five tonnes of metal ore at any one time. It would need to head back to the Sovereignty in order to off-load, if such an option were available. The droids that Grudge would have control of were aboard that ship, a good three dozen droids, most would be mining while others were intended to operate the transport equipment.

"You ready to try this out?"

[member="Zambrano the Hutt"]

 

[Grudge The Grutt]

Grudge, despite his grunt, felt like the prettiest princess being crowned Queen with an---oversized tiara when the prototype was placed onto his head. "This is ingenious, [member="Ultimatum"]. Should it not blow up and scatter me across the galaxy, I look forward to seeing the implanted version of this. It'll make commanding my forces all that much easier. The force is overrated sometimes, and I'd rather not be gasped for air everytime I tell an army to "Attack". He mused, despite being deadly serious. When the cargo ship, Grudge would lift in hover-chair, closing his eyes and aiming to transfer his thoughts to his donated bunch of droids. "Exit the ship. A portion of you begin mining, the others focus on transporting the ore back to the ship. Quickly. Get as much as the ship can carry!" The droids would spring into life, their collective bunch saluting with a "Roger, Roger!" ( OOC: I couldn't help myself lmao ) before marching off the ship. They approached the abandoned mine, taking up the left over equipment and beginning operation as instructed. That is, if this karkin' hat worked. Grudge would look to Ultimatum. "This is better than twi'lek twerking, my friend." He looked to the side. "Well..." He paused, returning back to Ultimatum. "I'm assuming you'll be using some of the beskar for your own projects. What did you have in mind?"

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum watched as the organic ordered the droids around, Ultimatum had a sub-routine that reported the commands to him. It was intended purely as a safety measure, it would also help for the eventual implant, so that he could tell if something went wrong at any point within the system. He wanted to be sure the system worked and that whatever errors that came up in this test would be found and quickly repaired. Back on Mustafar there were computers with the coding open and ready to be changed if needed.

The large droid looked around as he stepped off the craft. The Fate lifted off almost immediately thereafter, going into a general circling patter overhead. It took what information was sent in by the Overseers and then transmitted it to Ultimatum. He would keep track of any movements as far out as five kilometers. He planned on keeping an eye out, allowing [member="Grudge The Grutt"] to test out his abilities with the new devices. It was a good time to try such things, especially with the apparent peacefulness of the location. However, Ultimatum did not want to relax about security until he knew that this was secure against potential hostiles.

The question of what he wanted to do with the Beskar that he would get was an unanswered one in his mind. He could think of an automatic idea, but then that was unoriginal. After all, another body was entirely predictable. He could always build another body, it was an almost trivial task. Perhaps something more interesting, like a ship or a weapon. The problem with metal was that there was only so much that could be done with it. It was a rigid material that required work to manipulate. Organic materials were so amazing, capable of being stronger and more malleable. Beyond that they were renewable, they could be grown.

"I am uncertain, maybe a vehicle. Or a body."

 

[Grudge The Grutt]

The Grutt hummed to himself, spinning around on his royal throne ( hover chair ) and with his lovely tiara ( oversized prototype ). Periodically bursting out in laughing at the thought. "A new body? I see nothin' wrong with your current body. Demands a certain ...respect. Of course it will be inferior to my future 'body'..but nevertheless, commendable." He'd note, returning view back to the lot of droids under his control. Being but a brain, mutated to all hell, he found it easier to transmit his thoughts to the beings. He often looked back at [member="Ultimatum"], fearing his own mental capacity and rate by which he processed thoughts would be too much for the droids. However, he layed back in his chair, rubbing his tentacles together. "Question. My body..this..'brain'..processes thoughts at a rate I could never fathom when I was.....'whole'. Should I lose focus and begin to transmit thoughts beyond mere orders of 'go here' and 'do this'..will they malfunction?" He questioned, continuing to monitor the drone's operation of extracting the ore in a productive and timely manner.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum took a moment to think about that. The complexity of the organic mind was definitely beyond the full understanding of the droids. It would probably take a fully functional AI and a few brain scans in order to have a near complete understanding of what the thoughts were. After all the helmet was translating the impulses of chemical energy within the brain into the binary language of the droids for a near perfect translation of the commands. A difficult process made more so by the complexity of the beings involved. It would require more sophisticated and advanced technology in order to make the system efficient.

He theorized, "They should be able to understand complex orders, but giving them subjective orders they may not be able to understand. Emotions and higher thought levels are beyond their ability to comprehend. Keep it simple, maybe envision what you want them to do, visual thoughts will be easier to translate than simple words. As for the speed of your mind, I would not be too concerned. It should be able to keep up with most of what you are capable of. Though to be on the safe side I would say don't try and send too many orders at once, this is the prototype after all."


Unbeknownst to Ultimatum, beyond his drones' range, a large group was coming together. An alarm had been tripped at one of the old mines. Granted it was one of the mines that had not been in use for quite some time, and their government had collapsed meaning that they had no real power there. They no longer could enforce their will on others, at least not within the terms of legality. However, they had weapons and they had training. They didn't need the mine, they couldn't use it anyways. They didn't have the manpower to continue its operation, or to work the metal. But it was a matter of principle, if they allowed people to just come and mine as they pleased, then they would be admitting weakness and defeat. They could not very well do that. They had called in those that remained of the followers, and were preparing for battle. There was only one person there, and a lot of droids. One of them appeared to be a war droid of sorts, or so the cameras seemed to say. It would take time, but they would be ready soon and then begin their attack.

[member="Grudge The Grutt"]