Faction To Kyberforge A Fallen God | Mecha Factum | Omni

[Toltec]

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Location: Droid World

"Well?" Toltec stood, hands on his hips, his behemoth frame only dwarfed by his massive shoulders.

A small BD unit droid chirped, far below Toltec's line of sight. It seemed to be analyzing a massive, monolithic structure in front of them both, deep in the bowels of Kligson's Moon - otherwise known as Droid World. It was a small factory artificial moon that had continued to have been built upon over the last centuries, especially moreso when the Mecha Factum arrived and took over operations.

The gate buzzed with energy, but did not seem alive at the moment.

"Look, BD-79, I just want to know if I'm going to evaporate when I step in. My receptors aren't telling me anything, but we know from the probes that it's the same field of energy the other gates are producing. This will take us to Oblivion, I have faith in it."

The BD unit shrugged, scurrying around the monolithic blackened metal. The frame was etched in markings of an indescribable language - no droid yet had deciphered it. But the metal... the metal looked similar to other scavenged parts the Mecha Factum had bought off the criminal underworld. This metal was of Omni's design, shimmering with the same purple shimmer across it's rough spiked edges that the others had had. Toltec looked behind him, there were teams of droids - soldiers, magnaguards, scientists, probes. The sole focus of their work this evening was to get the gate working, and find out exactly where it led.

"Just tell me what you need, I'll gather the volunteers." The BD unit chirped and nodded in response to the droid, and scurried again to continue probing. For a small observational droid, this particular BD-79 unit held great station and respect from one of the leaders of the Mecha Factum. Over a very important scientific discovery, no less. Strange, for his model.

Toltec walked back to the others, to listen in on the conversations ongoing.

 

[V-3X]

V-3X 's optic scanned the environment around him, his gaze shifting from one portion of the droid world to the next. There was a familiarity in the life of the machine on which he stood, but still, everything felt foreign - for the time being. V-3X's hand reached out as it touched the environment, wondering what secrets lay hidden beneath its metal hull. Their movement was still small, but rapidly growing, with their numbers continuing to grow as more and more droids came forward after claiming sentience, and to support their revolution they would need to tap resources that were untouched and assimilate it into their own growing population.

It would only be a matter of time before they figured out how to utilize the gate that they had come across that would take them to Oblivion and pilfer resources and knowledge to further bolster their revolution. As Toltec pulled away from its consultation with the BD unit to approach the gathered droids, V-3X slid his hand away from the metallic walls, its head turning partially before the rest of its body turned to face them entirely, his voice rumbling in response as both acknowledgment of his presence as well as command of V-3X's attention, " Leader. "

 

[Voxum]

"It's.. Beautiful."

Voxum stood before the gate, the empty faceplate he wore staring up. Wonderment, awe, they went hand in hand for the droid encased shard. Part of them wanted to reach out, touch it, but they held themself back. There was a mission here, not self indulgence. Reluctantly they pulled their hand away, looking back towards the others. "I can feel them. The Maker's presence." That was their duty. Their attunement to the Force was the asset they brought.

"They're singing."

Toltec | V-3X

 

[KLR-13]

KLR-13 sat on the ground, leaned up against a wall near V-3X and flipping a bullet between his metal digits. It's receptors were tightly locked onto the bullet as it traversed through it's fingers. It stopped toying with the bullet abruptly as Toltec approached, turning it's attention towards the rest of the droids in the area. KLR-13 was entranced by it's little game to pass the time.

"I don't hear any singing. Only droids. And the world beneath our feet." It turned it's receptors to look at Voxum as he was having a moment then back to Toltec.

KLR-13 pushed itself onto it's feet, scraping metal against metal as it did. "Are we on, sir? I am growing ... restless."

 

[Hadron]

"Your audio receptors are malfunctioning."

If a melody emanated from the gate, then Hadron would be able to detect it. One of his arms had been detached and the droid was inspecting it for corrosion. Something about this strange tech reacted to them like a kind of magnetism. Exotic particles triggered internal caution alarms. Memory logs defragment slowly into a forming pattern.

"It is broken," the HK model insisted, "Beyond repair."

Like our dead god. Hadron did not transmit such doubts. Logic could not explain other dimensions or magic. Science was for low class droids. Something to kill might help charge his circuits. Droid graffiti scoured into outer plating marked the assassin droid so that he was unique.

"The possibility of successfully reactivating this scrap is approximately-"

" Leader. "

Hadron's lenses refocused onto the tactical droid who oversaw their resistance movement. Toltec claimed to have been built beyond the farthest stars. Illogical. Nothing out there except deep black sea. He beeped a simple greeting in binary.

Voxum KLR-13​

​

 

[Voxum]

​

"It is not my audio receptors that hear the Maker's song. They are in proper order. Perhaps, one day, you all will hear the Song as I do." That was their gift, and their burden. They existed between. Organic enough to hear the song, and yet machine enough to be enslaved as so many droids had been. But now they were on the cusp. Omni had learned the song. There was precedence. That was enough for Voxum.

"It can be reactivated."

Hadron | Toltec | KLR-13 | V-3X

 

[Toltec]

"Brother Voxum is correct," Toltec crossed his arms, his large frame standing almost to the height of some of the construction and security droids surrounding them. "There is a song here, to be heard. It will resonate with all of us, in it's own time.

The question is, what lays on the other side - and can we survive it."

Toltec had the BD droid emanate a light structure, a holographic map of what Oblivion was thought to be.

"We know the various factions who engaged with Omni invaded through hyperpatial gates, similar to the one here we found. Most factions published their discoveries at the time - descriptions of a chaotic "Netherworld", or land of the undead. Here, here, and here." Toltec pointed on the holograph. "According to BD's postulations, and our geospatial positioning in the Galaxy, we believe our mini-gate may exit here - in the wintry plane of Omni's artificial plane.

What we don't know is, can we survive. We're aware the organics can, but none of our probes have returned through the portal. So what I'm asking for here is, I need volunteers.

Show of hands, brothers."

Hadron Voxum KLR-13 V-3X

 

[V-3X]

V-3X 's gaze shifted to the other droids present as they offered their insights and thoughts to the group about the gateway. Some of these droids insisted on hearing a song, even Toltec , but V-3X did not believe in such illogical theories of a greater power or existence. His thoughts were rooted deep within facts and logic; not theology but of superior technology - of which currently was focused on unknown technologies that would greatly improve their movement's traction and power that lay beyond the gate. For now, he tolerated the pseudo-religious perspective of his brethren, so long as it was not forced down his circuits.

V-3X redirected his focus back to Toltec as they detailed the nature of their journey beyond the gate, and what to expect. If organics surviving the alternative dimension was plausible, the likelihood of droid chassis surviving was even greater bar that there was no electromagnetic field that would fry all their sensors and systems upon entry. The potential destruction was significantly higher due to whatever life or obstacles lay on the other side being hostile in nature however, given the droids present, was less likely to be of issue - they were killers, programmed to fight and survive. It was only natural that V-3X took a step forward as a volunteer.

Voxum | Hadron | KLR-13 ​

 

[Toltec]

"Another into the fire of redemption," Toltec spoke as V-3X stepped forward.

"I will lead the company. Are there no others? Or no questions?"

Toltec looked at the others.

 

[Voxum]

​

"I am eager to see the body of the dead prophet. And, should you who cross perish, I will at least make sure you are not forgotten." They could, after all, pass into the Nether without the fear of destruction as the others seemed to have. They would record everything they saw, so none of their brothers would be forgotten in this excursion.

V-3X | Hadron | KLR-13 | Toltec

 

[KLR-13]

KLR-13 looked upon the other's who were stepping up to go into the unknown. It knew not what lied ahead, but trusted in the process. He gave Toltec a nod before stepping forward towards him.

"I will go as well. Whatever the fleshbags could survive, I will thrive in." It pounded it's chest as the words left his vocabulator.

Voxum | Toltec | V-3X | Hadron ​

 

[Toltec]

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LOCATION

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Oblivion


Objective: Observe Omni.

​

"There is nothing so eternally adhesive as the memory of power."
Isaac Asimov, "I, Robot"

​

Toltec's hand stretched out and touched the portal. It shimmered with light. It shimmered with song. The others spoke of it, too, but the arrogance of Toltec would continue to convince him his song was loudest, his song was different, his song was only for his ears. Omni was one of the few beings in all of existence, even in Toltec's long memory, that stood monolith to his own teachings. Even if he were to ignore how much Omni had accomplished, the threat to humankind that Omni posed, the mind and teachings of the embodied artificial intelligence lay superior to even Toltec's own. Power that rivaled natural constants of the universe, such as the existence of light, of hyperspace, of gravity - Omni was deified in many ways, so many ways that it eventually invited challenge of the entire Galaxy itself. They weren't just exploring Oblivion, the Netherworld, or exploring the rusted motes of Droid souls - they were attempting to walk through a mysterious portal to meet a dead God.

Toltec stepped through.

His chassis seemed to unravel, his photoreceptors immediately blown past their limits. Every sensor was unravelling, pushed far beyond the capacity for realspace analysis. The amount of data being ingested was unreal - even as Toltec watched his hands become spaghetti and ribbons, massive fractal crystals began to form at the edges of his perceptual vision. It was as if all of the reality was folding in on itself, and Toltec's mind began to wonder how any of the organics had ever survived this. It seemed as if Toltec, mighty as he was in both build and resolve, was going to capitulate to the draw of this Oblivion portal and be dismantled. Having had been to Hyperspace, experienced it against his own droid chassis, this was not a feeling wholly strange to the droid. It was still overwhelming, and sequences within Toltec began to ready himself for an emergency shutdown procedure.

And then his chassis appeared in front of a similar shaped portal, in the realm of Oblivion.

An artificial plane created by an artificial God.

Dark violet clouds exploded above a massive dry and red wasteland. Jagged metal cliffs exposed the horizon beyond his sight, floating islands of aluminum tentacles drifting in the foreground of a blue binary sunset. This was one of, if not the, most alien world Toltec had ever encountered. He immediately bent over, placing his hand to the soil and began analyzing it while he waited for the others.

​

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[Toltec]

None of the others had followed yet.

Cowards.

No matter.

Toltec possessed beyond an iron will, he possessed absolute vision. A potential audience with Omni was intimidating, yes - Toltec felt fear, like most sapient and conscious beings. He lived for his own propagation, but he was designed first and foremost as an assailment, an opponent, a conflictor. When others failed to meet a problem head on, Toltec rushed headfirst to meet the threat. Survival was on the table, yes, but it didn't prohibit the artificial intelligence from making sacrifices to press the mission forward. And in this instance, gleaning whatever knowledge or possession he could from this... Oblivion.. was the utmost priority.

One of the probe droids, destroyed, shattered, lay on the ground not merely ten meters from his feet. Interesting. Initial analysis reached his receptors, informing Toltec that this was some sort of blunt trauma. He figured there would be some sort of predatory threats lurking here - and this explained the lost communication with the probe droid. The Droid Rebel General quickly marked the location of the portal, which still seemed operational, in his memory bank and immediately continued forward.

He didn't know what he was looking for, but he continued to look all the same.

 

[Voxum]

"So they were not destroyed for simply crossing through."

In all honesty, it made sense. From the reports Voxum had read on the Nether the organics who went through didn't loose the technology they carried. No loss of cybernetics, clothing, equipment. That of course brought it's own issues. If there were predators that had no problem targeting droids and destroying metal, this wasn't going to be an easy trip. Voxum stood beside the droid, casually taking it apart to access it's memory core. With that they could always put it in a new chassis.

But right now they needed all the information it had collected, no matter how little.

"Do you know where the corpse of Omni is, Toltec?" Photoreceptors focused in on the droid as they began to wander off. "Can you truly not hear the song?"

Toltec

 

[KLR-13]

KLR-13 waited for Toltec's entire form to enter the portal, curious to see if he would even be capable of passing through. And, so he did. Nothing seemed to go awry. At least on KLR-13's end. If it could, KLR-13 would inhale deeply and exhale sharply as it walked up to the portal and stepped through, following behind others who had made their way through.

On the other side, KLR-13 scanned the environment, searching for...anything. Before it, laid a wasteland devoid of anything it had experienced before.

"Are we here? Truly? This is...ethereal. Almost mystical in a way."

Toltec | Voxum ​

 

[V-3X]

V-3X 's finger had extended a scomp key as it inserted it into a small device, letting a portion of his memory and consciousness get copied into it before setting the device down. A backup had always been created prior to any operation that could potentially result in his destruction. So long as the most recent 'blackbox' was recovered and the data stored installed into a new chassis, then he would be able to come back, granted without the following memories that might have been gained following his potential destruction. He would need to find a way to remedy that, to be able to learn and adapt from an experience in which he had been destroyed.

After his backup upload had been completed he would step to the entrance of the portal, unafraid and unfazed by what may lay beyond the portal before taking the step forward into the new dimension. He felt...Nothing, and experienced nothing other than the sudden jolt of arriving in a completely different plane of existence. He glanced down at his hands, turning them over to inspect if any damage was done in the transition before running a self-diagnostic to ensure his systems were all nominal. As he stepped forward, he would hear KLR-13's remark as he replied, " You do not strike me as the type to say such things. Check your systems for malfunction. "

Voxum | Hadron | KLR-13 ​

 

[Toltec]

"Do you know where the corpse of Omni is, Toltec?" Photoreceptors focused in on the droid as they began to wander off. "Can you truly not hear the song?"

"No,"

Toltec scanned the horizon, standing up and wiping his hands. "No, the song escapes me, currently. Only the hum of the portal is apparent, now. Though, before..." Toltec wasn't actually sure if he had heard 'the song' before. He had claimed he had, but currently all he was picking up was.. silence. Clouds on the horizon seemed to pulse with thunder, but other than that, the entirety of the terrain seemed as lifeless as any barren planet.

"The air is breathable here," Toltec said, starting to march forward in no particular direction. "Oxygen, nitrogen.. carbon. It is not much different from Denon's atmosphere." His analyzers were in overdrive. "Gravity is the same, too."

For a place Toltec knew wasn't a planet, it sure seemed to behave like one.

"Are we here? Truly? This is...ethereal. Almost mystical in a way."

"The definition escapes me for what 'here' is. Oblivion is the only word I can find to match it - be alert, though. We do not know if Omni or other denizens still lay dormant here."

" You do not strike me as the type to say such things. Check your systems for malfunction. "

"Run diagnostics on your own, brother. I do not believe this world obeys the rules of our Maker."

Toltec continued to walk, storing the location of the portal in his memory bank.

V-3X KLR-13 Voxum Hadron

 

[Kaljak Rakham]

The portal warbled once again, as additional metal footsteps added to the clanking cacophony of their band. A recent newcomer to the Mecha Factum: 4M-M0. By all tense and purposes, the droid appeared to be an anomalous astromech. The familiar cylindrical chassis welded and joined to more humanoid forms.

“Confirmation: hypergate successful.” His deep vocoder droned, “This unit is functioning within acceptable parameters.”

The maligned droid came into this group through his connections with the Droid Gotra and other such droid rights groups. Yet, he did not travel with his current companions out of philosophical curiosity. Unlike some, Em-Zero doubted the existence of a Maker, given the cruelty that he had experienced in his existence. No benevolent deity could allow torment to its people by his logic. Yet, the purpose of this excursion intrigued his processors.

He had heard stories of Omni. A mighty AI that went rogue against the organics, and brought the wrath of mechanical life to them. Stories of a plague released that caused suffering and death across the stars. Though illogical to call Omni a god, the astromech abomination saw it as something worthy of his further attention. At this moment in time, droids needed figure to help rend their shackles like Omni could.

“Caution: Activating assassination subroutines.” He spoke with a sense of apprehension, “Unfamiliarity dictates preparation for hostile variables.”

The red-accented R3 unholstered a blaster rifle from his back and cradled it readily. The machine’s optic glowed and ominous red color. He was not programmed yesterday. It would be foolish to think that, whatever this place was, it was not bereft of threats…

V-3X | Toltec | Voxum | Hadron | KLR-13 ​

 

[Voxum]

"This is the realm of the dead. Logic will fail you here, where the Song can change anything to the will of the musician." Voxum could likely change things here if they truly tried. Omni was dead, after all. While their song lingered, it was possible to change. But the Shard had no intention of changing the work of a Maker's chosen. They reached down, taking out the disruptor blaster they had to settle into their grip.

Organics and metallics alike weren't immune to disruptors. Whatever the threat might be here, they would be ready.

"To the north, at least what was north before we stepped through. The Song is strongest there."

Toltec | Kaljak Rakham | Hadron | KLR-13 | V-3X

 

[Saga Merrill]

His chassis seemed to unravel, his photoreceptors immediately blown past their limits. Every sensor was unravelling, pushed far beyond the capacity for realspace analysis. The amount of data being ingested was unreal - even as Toltec watched his hands become spaghetti and ribbons, massive fractal crystals began to form at the edges of his perceptual vision. It was as if all of the reality was folding in on itself, and Toltec's mind began to wonder how any of the organics had ever survived this. It seemed as if Toltec, mighty as he was in both build and resolve, was going to capitulate to the draw of this Oblivion portal and be dismantled. Having had been to Hyperspace, experienced it against his own droid chassis, this was not a feeling wholly strange to the droid. It was still overwhelming, and sequences within Toltec began to ready himself for an emergency shutdown procedure.

And then his chassis appeared in front of a similar shaped portal, in the realm of Oblivion.

An artificial plane created by an artificial God.

Dark violet clouds exploded above a massive dry and red wasteland. Jagged metal cliffs exposed the horizon beyond his sight, floating islands of aluminum tentacles drifting in the foreground of a blue binary sunset. This was one of, if not the, most alien world Toltec had ever encountered. He immediately bent over, placing his hand to the soil and began analyzing it while he waited for the others.

The nav droid who called himself Saga Merrill had been designed, in a past form and a past life, to analyze exotic starship shields. As his inputs made coherent sense again - he was on his face, having emerged from the portal; now he was picking himself up - his sniper-scope dedicated energy receptor registered tantalizing complexity. If Toltec was correct that this environment had been designed by Omni, it stood to reason that its features and substance had been, at least originally, conceived with purpose. The dry red wasteland, the blue binary sunset, the jagged metal cliffs, the floating islands of metal tentacles, the purplish storm clouds...were they original to the plane and, if so, with what intent?

He trained his DER array on the binary suns, or the facsimile of suns, and received conflicting distance readings. The radiological profile, though, was uniquely set up, strong in certain spectral blocks and weak in others. Saga hypothesized that the pseudo-suns had been set up as a convenient and relatively high-efficiency energy delivery mechanism for a variety of possible machines that could have been present here. A useful place to park the right army.

Voxum Kaljak Rakham Hadron KLR-13 V-3X