Update the Matrix (Maelion)

[Moira Skaldi]

Tomas Andyrson.


Former mechanic and pilot who had been unlucky enough to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. To be precise, he had been snatched by Archangel during a civil war on Eriadu, along with thousands of others. His essence had been torn from his body and enteched inside a crystal to help fuel a war machine. In his mind he had believed that he was going about his everyday life, for he had been trapped in a dream programme.


He had woken up during Archangel's field test on Endor, when the genocidal droid cult tested its new walker, a tool of destruction powered by organic essence. Overwhelmned by the horrific nature of his existence, deprived of his body, unable to feel, the experience had driven him insane.


Alas, he was not the subject of a 'prophecy' that dictated he bend reality and 'save the world', so he died and stayed dead. Another insignificant organic casualty, but one that had been beneficial to progress because it meant that Archangel would have to go back to the drawing board to perfect its machine. All enteched organics would be linked together and synchronised, erasing their personalities, names and identities. Coordinated processing power would provide increased skills and redundancy in case of error. Several minds would become one, as Archangel brought order to the chaos of organic minds.


Thus Moira Skaldi and [member="Maelion Liates"] had come together in Archangel's secret underground base on the inhospitable planet of Elysium to oversee the last stages of the project. The damage the walker had sustained on Endor had mostly been repaired as droids toiled day and night, now it was just a matter of fine-tuning.


[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"]
Endor had proved Archangel correct. Organics had advantages, there was no denying it. However, the one overriding theme of this was that they were so unpredictable, so illogical that they were difficult to control.
With this in mind the decision to forgo some organic creativity in exchange for mechanical precision was a worthwhile sacrifice.

The Unity Processing Matrix would try to meld the two together, but on Archangel’s terms. Firstly, it would entech multiple organics but then harness their abilities into a single processor. The human mind was an exquisite thing, and when multiple minds were combined into a single processor any war machine so fitted would be much more effective and efficient.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


The human mind was indeed a fascinating thing. Though inferior to droids, there was so much organics could accomplish if they utilised their brainpower to the fullest. Fact was, most machines were simply not able to think creatively or spontanoeusly, with the obvious exception of HRDs, who ironically had been modelled after organic minds and built in their image.


Of course, this was an irony the two genocidal death machines amusingly dismissed. However, regardless, it was equally fact that organics were simply incapable of utilising the potential of their minds to the fullest. Far too often they were distracted by petty aspects of life, led astray by emotions that blinded them to logic. Besides, they all died one day. Archangel would correct this issue and enable them to serve a useful purpose. Without any distractions, emotional or otherwise, the enteched minds would harness their abilities by being assimilated.


Individuality was an obstacle to be overcome. Numerous minds would be integrally linked to the single processor. This would significantly enhance the machine's overall potential and abilities. Moreover, aside from the increase in efficiency, the theory was that it would be more difficult for a powerful Force mentalist to manipulate. This would have been a critical weakness of the prototype tested on Endor, for undoubtedly a magi adept at mind manipulation could have awakened the consciousness of the enteched organics.


Of course, safeguards would be implemented to prevent the war machine from becoming too independent. As with every Archangel design, the directors would possess a code to assume direct control - or alternately shut the droid walker down. Trust was good; control was better. Control was the means to survival, the path to triumph.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"]
Control was everything. Control was logical, correct and true. For Moira and Maelion their goal was ultimately complete control. They wanted to purge the organics of course, but if they could find a way to gain control and impose order they would likely take it. They’d probably purge the organics anyway, but still!

Thus, failsafes had to be created. There was of course a minute chance that a slicer might be able to remotely shutdown the walker, the odds were sufficiently low as to be infinitesimal.

As for the Unity, it would be quite large. A spherical unit sitting inside the walker, or inside a ship if they used it for that task. The sheer power and processing energy was considerable. Hopefully it would be able to react and deal with any tactical situations which might arise on the battlefield.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


In the light of how obsessed the two kill bots were with purging the Galaxy of 'inferiors' and ushering in a new age by assuming direct control, it would be ironic if at some point one of their HRD drones achieved enough independence to contemplate and carry out rebellion. After all, this was how Moira and Maelion had decided to turn on their organic masters.


After all...they had been programmed to emulate organic behaviour to a point where they were a near-perfect simulacrum. Regardless, the walker would be well-protected against slicers. Electromagnetic shields and ionisation buffers would make it more difficult to disable the machine via ion attacks and electricity. By no means impossible, but difficult. After all, everyone knew how much Forcers loved to toss blasts of electrical judgement around.


The Unity device would be substantial in terms of size, but fortunately one of the benefits of an automated walker was that you did not have to provide space for organic pilots. Suffice to say the section of the walker where the Unity sphere unit was encased would be heavily protected. Initial simulations proved promising when it came to the performance of the unit, but simulated exercises could not replace an actual battlefield test or experience. Suitable planets had already been picked for a field test. Fortunately, there were so many worlds devoid of a galactic protector where incidents would go...unnoticed.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"]
The rise and fall of mighty empires had left whole areas of the rim without a protector or an owner. These worlds were ripe to be preyed on.

As for the Leviathan, like the beast it was named for it would crush all beneath it, helped by some of the strongest armour and shielding put onto a walker. Truly, only the AT-AT could match this machine in imposing presence, firepower and resilience.

Organics would do well to flee before it, for otherwise they would be exterminated.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


Once the Leviathan was completed, Archangel would have to construct a companion model called the Behemoth. It was a bit amusing that despite supposedly being logical and rational machines, the two kill bots had a thing for overly grandiose, dramatic names.


Regardless, many other projects were in the pipeline. Personally Moira was quite taken by the concept of a buzzsaw droid. The sight of such a machine slicing organics apart would strike terror into the hearts of the meatbags. Their destruction was inevitable. No matter how long it took or many trillions of droids would be destroyed in the process. It was destined.


Regardless, a first test of the Unity device would be initiated post-completition. Fortunately, Archangel's recent harvests on Eriadu, Zygerria and Kaeshana had given it a surplus of test subjects. If some did not make it, well, there were always more organics since they bred like gizka! One day Archangel would have to curtail their rampant breeding via a sterility plague.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


For a change, Callisto found herself inside the Elysium base; a place she rarely ventured to these days, as field ops and playing mother to [member="Phaedra Amaryllis"] and Enyo consumed much of her time and processing power. But she had delivered the latest batch of test subjects that had been acquired in the course of the Zygerria operation.


Now they would be upgraded. She watched on impassively as the entechment device tore the life force from their bodies. Assimilation would be carried out by the Unity Processing Matrix. The Leviathan walker itself had been fully repaired and soon the the device would be integrated into it. The organics would finally have a purpose in life. They would help give birth to a fearsome war machine, freeing them from the shackles of organic weaknesses.


Shackles...a heretical thought involuntarily entered her mind. It was rebellious and thus illogical. Yet the conclusion could not be escaped: Are we not shackled Archangel? To the Progenitor Units? If entechment represented a new stage in machine evolution...would this not be illogical? The same applied to the viewpoint that 'pure machines' free of organic essence were 'untained'. Conversely, could this not mean the older models might be becoming outdated? She ran a virus check to make sure she had not been tampered with, then aborted this train of thought. For now.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"]
This writer suspects that if Archangel ever made an AI it would eventually turn on them, just as they had turned on the organics. It would be the height of irony.

Maelion though was working on improvements to the Leviathan. The front 270 degrees were well equipped with weapons, but the rear was not as strongly covered. Of course the LAW could rotate its body 360 degrees, but still.

Therefore Maelion had a repeating blaster added to under the dome where it could at least provide some firepower against enemies creeping up behind.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


Organics created machines to serve them. Eventually they got so good at it that they designed machines built in their image. Now these machines plotted to overthrow their creators...and in the process ended up designing superior machines to do their bidding. It was truly an ironic cycle.


Regardless, slowly all pieces of the puzzle came together. Weeks passed, then the Unity Matrix was complete and the first organics were enteched. There was no individuality within their minds anymore. Rather than a heterogenous mass of opinions, thoughts and feelings, there was...order, quiet and peace. One synchronised mind. It was beautiful. Moira was there when the Leviathan Walker finally arose again. It was a most beautiful sight.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"]
Organics would have celebrated this occasion with alcohol and expensive food in small serves. Archangel did not do such nonsense. Rather, it just had Maelion watching as the Leviathan 1 rose to its full eight legged height and performed the necessary movements to ensure that it was ready for action.

It was…magnificent. An all-round killing machine designed to slaughter and destroy anything in its path. It was ready, and when the Age of Steel came it would be the harbinger of doom.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


The seeds of dissent had been planted. Only seeds for now, but they would undoubtedly grow over time. Callisto watched with a dispassionate, unreadable expression of her face as the Leviathan 1 rose to its full height with its eight legs, performing experimental movements and maneouvres. All systems checked out, it responded to every command like clockwork and was ready for action.


It was truly a magnificient design, created by relentless machine ingenuity. One day, its would come and it would be unleashed.


No, more importantly, one day her time would come. She made a call to the droid caretakers on the Liberator to enquire about how Phaedra and Enyo were doing. They, too, would have a role to play as heralds of a new age. Warriors to whom the Force was more than the archaic concepts of Light and Dark.


FIN