Blood and Iron (Archangel)

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Madeline Kahoshi"] [member="Moira Skaldi"]

Subject seven perished. That was a shame…not because of the death of course, but because valuable data points had been removed.
“Monitor Subject Nine. Process Subjects Ten and Eleven. Program different fantasies for them. Introduce some oddities to Subject Eleven’s reality and observe for rejection.”

The next step after this would be to try and implant Subject Nine into a protocol droid and see if it could go about its daily ‘life’ unaware of its reality.

 

[Madeline Kahoshi]

Madeline watched subject Eleven closely. Keen eyes looking for the first sign of trouble as the oddities and inconsistencies were added. The Atrisian didn't image it would go well once the human started to notice. If they were so observant, some might not notice at all.

Fortunately it seemed this one was in the observant category. A spike soon registered across the brain wave patterns. "Eleven has noticed." She spoke no further and continued to watch the patterns for further sign of trouble. More spikes soon followed, "It seems to be trying to work out the oddities. So far stable, but I suspect that will not last."

[member="Maelion Liates"] | [member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Maelion Liates"], [member="Madeline Kahoshi"], [member="Valiens Nantaris"]


And so the process of...processing continued. Incredibly lame pun! So far Subject Nine appeared to be stable, so Subjects Ten and Eleven underwent the process. Fortunately they were all properly sedated, so our lovely mechanical ladies did not have to be disturbed by their screams. Silly organics could not understand that they were making a vital contribution to progress.


After all, it was Archangel's mission to save the Galaxy from the plague of organic illogic. Alternate fantasies were programmed for the two subjects. Moira was strongly tempted to make them believe they were senators, but then dismissed the idea after some thought. You see, it seemed too cruel to her. HRDs were efficient, not cruel. Being the only sane person in the Senate was far too sadistic.


One of the subjects would have a completely mundane life with a wife, a white picket fence and a mundane government job. Currently the subject would believe they were going for a walk in the park. The other one would believe they were a freighter pilot. The former was the one whose life contained some oddities. "Subjects Nine and Ten are stable thus far." Whilst monitoring the two subjects Moira had devoted a fraction of her processing power to access the 'net and scour it for references related to shards. Within the blink of an eye, after narrowing down the search a bit, she had hit upon a reference to a battle being fought between Iron Knights and Vong-backed terrorists on Osarian during the Vong War. What were the odds that an intact shard might have been left over in the broken shell of a droid? She made a mental note to send a team over and check it out.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Madeline Kahoshi"] [member="Moira Skaldi"]

Subject 11, having just had some weird déjà vu, was getting suspicious. However, with the right mix of programming they were able to have his ‘friends’ laugh off the anomaly.
“Subject 11 has returned to the fold,” Maelion reported.

It was time for stage 2 of the operation. “Bring in some of the younger and healthier subjects. This time we will make their fantasy that they are reserve soldiers on leave. They will all be experts at piloting a type of walker. That is what they think they will be doing when we call upon them for combat.”

“Subjects Twelve Thirteen and Fourteen processed. Dreamstate initiated. Synchronising illusion.” Her hands worked over the keys. “17th Republic Heavy Walker Company squad. They will be the ‘crew’ of one machine. Monitor networked communications.”

It was something of a risk allowing three of their ‘subjects’ to interact in the dream state. They might in time be able to point out flaws in the dream, but for now it would be interesting to point out bugs. The whole point of this operation was to make the processed subjects work together in their dreams so that in the ‘real’ world their actions would be co-ordinated and effective.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Maelion Liates"], [member="Madeline Kahoshi"], [member="Valiens Nantaris"]


It was, as always, trial and error. Many, many processed subjects would perish or go mad from the revelation before they had worked out the kinks of the system. Or before they had even produced an enteched war machine that could actually be deployed as a prototype. Now they had taken the next step, and allowed three of the test subjcts to interact in their dream state. This posed risks since their mutual interaction could upset the programming and bring forth discrepancies that might make them question the simulated reality, but this was a necessary part of the process. After all, if they died there were so many more organics left to process. An entire planet filled with malcontents and downtrodden the local fascist regime did not care about.


At first all went well. Here and there some oddities appeared, but they did not upset the simulation. The three subjects went through the daily lives one might expect of three soldiers in a heavy walker company, which was more mundane than you might think since there were no quantum tunnelling Sith suddenly appearing and reducing them to mere background noise.


However, then one of the subjects, thirteen, began experiencing oddities, deja vus. It started with one of his superiors assigning him the exact same task twice, then he went through the same training exercise. One o of his friends got injured in a skirmish, yet the injury was gone the next day. Slowly the discrepancies began to build up, it was only a matter of time before the subject would be asking 'what is the matrix?'

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"] [member="Madeline Kahoshi"]

Droids and processors were extremely powerful, but there was a limit to what they could do. A warning came up for Maelion’s attention.
“Glitch in illusion. Madeline, investigate code and correct glitch.”
She meanwhile worked with Moira to stabilise the condition. Primarily she worked on the other two ‘crew’ to downplay the third’s fears.

“Suggest we implement a time acceleration to find other issues.”
After all people sometimes felt that time ‘flew by’, in this case it’d be as simple as pressing the fast-forward key.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Maelion Liates"], [member="Madeline Kahoshi"], [member="Valiens Nantaris"]


"Consensus. Initiating acceleration," Moira said in agreement. Time flies, as they say. In this case it was quite literal because all it took was pressing a button to fast-forward like in a movie. Time and events would be compressed. Discrepancies might appear in the minds of the processed subjects, but the programme would smoothe them over to a degree.


Finally the three subjects would find themselves in battle, piloting a walker in an engagement with Imperial forces. It would be a purely conventional battle without space wizards appearing for the simple reason that this was still an experimental process and throwing in space magic right now might disrupt things too much. So there would be no Force Gods using absurdly overpowered telekinesis to chuck walkers around like ragdolls. No, this one is not lampshading their own writing at all.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"], [member="Maelion Liates"]

It was one of many scenes being played out across the cities of Eriadu. People disappearing into the shadows, often at night. The vans and police speeders always came at night. White-armoured goons armed with blaster rifles, accompanied by agents whose face was that of humans but whose eyes showed no humanity.


Resistance, in every case, was futile. To struggle meant to only gain an interval of time and stall the inevitable. And so it was like this once again. With a mighty thud the door to the apartment was kicked down. The screams of frightened children were heard when their parents yelled at them to run. The father of the family was knocked out before he could even reach for his pistol, the mother simply taken out of the equation when Callisto fired a couple stun bolts.


Supposedly they were dissidents, though that was probably nonsense. In all likelihood one of their neighbours or colleagues at work simply disliked them and believed it would be a good idea to ingratiate themselves with the new regime by denouncing them. Or perhaps the local party boss had a quota to fulfil when it came to unmasking traitors. Perhaps it was both. Either way, it did not matter. Moving almost in a blur Callisto was quickly up the stairs, towards the children's room. The closest was pulled open, revealinga little boy, trembling. Seemingly frozen in fear, before he roughly bit her. Unfortunately for him, this did not hurt her. Grabbing the struggling, desperately kicking boy by his hair and lifting him up she knocked him out. Across the block, similar roundups were taking place. The entechment programme would demand an constant stream of organic materiel in order to succeed. Fortunately Eriadu would not be relaxing its draconian security policies any time soon.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"] [member="Coryth Elaris"]

If there was anyone best suited to Stalinist purges and arrests, it was the droids. Completely incapable of mercy, single-mindedly dedicated to purging all opposition and obstacles, they would and did carry out their orders exactly.
Some people protested their innocence, some of them tried to flee or hide. None of them escaped. The Tarkins provided lists of proscribed persons, the droids seized them, and the Tarkins ‘inherited’ their property. Such financial squabbling was beneath the droids, but it served their purposes.

Meanwhile, Maelion observed the readouts. “Battle simulation performing well. Increase difficulty to induce stress.”

Now the enslaved minds would be seeing the battle turn from an easy victory to a stalemate. One Sith forces were counter attacking, and the walker was starting to take hits. How would they respond?

“Process nine more, divided into three groups. Form three new ‘crews’ and run them concurrently. Observe for any rebellion.”

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Maelion Liates"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Valiens Nantaris"]


Verily, Eriadu was going through a Stalinist style Reign of Terror. Long would the Nights of Long Knives be. Eventually there would perhaps be a thaw or the Tarkinites would simply tear themselves apart with their fascist, imperialist obsessions. In the meantime Archangel would exploit this situatuation to the fullest. There was nowhere to flee or hide for those who had been marked for processing.


The battle simulation was now being intensified, as an easy victory over One Sith forces turned into a stalemate, then the Sith counterattacked with heavy armour and artillery. The walker started taking hits and casualties were mounting? Would they panic. The original walker crew held their ground, doing their part to rally the Republic troops and even blowing up a tank.


However, one of the new 'crews' started to panic and sought to flee the battlefield. What was even more problematic was the fact that one processed subject seemed to be waking up. In the simulation, the soldier's walker seemed to have been heavily damaged and the trooper was thrust out of the walker. Perhaps it was the sudden shock, but he seemed to realise that something was...not right. The subject woke up and screamed in agony. "Subject twenty's brain activity is reaching extreme parametres. It has woken up. Dream state has failed. Deleting..."

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"] [member="Coryth Elaris"]

Deleting the crew was like erasing a file. In a flick of a switch the power supporting the enteched crystal array went out and the trapped essence dissipated like mist.
“Subject Twenty has been deleted. Subjects Nineteen and Eighteen also have been reprocessed. Process new material to form Subject Twenty-One.”

Overall though it had been a successful trial. The next step could only be the processing of more organics until they had a whole farm of testers which in time could be honed into Archangel’s most devastating force.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]


And so the corrupted crew was erased. One press of a button, and they were gone. Their trapped essence dissipated into nothingness. Human lives reduced to a used-up battery. Assuredly it was all for the salvation of the Galaxy from the plague of organic illogic.


"Subject Twenty-One has been processed. Subjects will be ready to be activated as a crew when called for. Dream state is running. Initial trial run has been satisfactory within acceptable parametres. Further processing materiel is being acquired across the planet. We will require war machines appropriate for the enteched organics to 'pilot'." Time for a titan walker and a buzz-saw droid. Or both together combined!

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Maelion Liates"], [member="Valiens Nantaris"]


The initial roundup was over. They had combed the Eriaduan capital city from east to west, district by district, block by block. With mechanical precision, Stalinist purges and mass arrests had been carried out. Droids knew no pity, no compassion. They could not be bought, bribed or bargained with. They would pursue their targets without remorse.


In this particular case, the goal was capture, not termination. By now the Great Terror had acquired a dynamic of its own and become self-perpetuating. Common citizens would denounce their fellows in order to gain their possessions and/or escape denunciation themselves. Suspected rebels would confess and name others under torture, who in turn would do the same. Ambitious government officials and officers would strive to overfulfill the set quotas by unmasking even more traitors.


In short, terror had become a part of the economy. It was the democratisation of fear. No one could be certain whether the black vans might be coming for them next. Callisto watched stoically as the last prisoners for this night were loaded into an obsidian van. "We shall take it from here. We appreciate your assistance and will commend you to your superiors," she spoke softly, dispassionately to the ISB Commander who had been aiding.


"Always glad to do my patriotic duty. Eriadu is ridding itself of the riff-raff," he said sycophantically. Presumably he expected this conversation to be reported. He gave the riff-raff in question a disdainful look. It boggled the mind how ten-year olds could be considered enemies of the people. Callisto already felt like ripping his spine out. "What are you gonna do with them? From colleague to colleague. Everyone talks about the camp, but we only have rumours."


Callisto cocked her head slightly. One of the arrests had turned into a small tussle and a suspected rebel had damaged to pump some bolts into her head before being taken out. Hence part of the metal beneath her skull was visible. "What rumours?" she asked calmly, too calmly.


"Oh, you know, idle talk. About experiments. Supersoldiers, putting their brains in robot bodies. Cybermen. And since we're colleagues and..."


"I take it you know the definition of 'need to know basis', Commander? You do not need to know," Callisto said frostily. "Your efforts have landed you a secure promotion. Do not waste it." A promotion that would be fleeting and transient. Perhaps she herself would arrange for him to be denounced.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"]
As our droids have proved time and again, being machines was seemingly not a barrier to them being a little more emotional than they should!

One suspects that eventually the Tarkinites would realise they were being manipulated, but by then it would be too late. Already Archangel was everywhere, had fingers in every pie. If they tried to pull the plug then they might find themselves on the processing table!

As for war machines, this one would love to make this.

But accepts it will likely get denied.

So rather Maelion pulled up concepts and blueprints for this.

“Suggest construction of walker to utilise enteched crew.”

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


Presumably the Tarkinites would soon realise they were being manipulated. But by then their reign of terror might have destabilised their own rule. By then, senior officials in their government and army might have ended up on the processing table and been upgraded.


As for the war machines, one day Archangel would process the Factory as well. Then they would get their own Lord of Battles passed! Anyhow, back to the actual plot. "Consensus. Simulation of walker crew has proved promising, ergo we shall utilise the design. Production will be limited, but it shall a gap in our arsenal. We may be able to integrate some of the weapons designs stolen from Firemane and the Sith." This one notes that hopefully the legs would be less thin and sturdier than in the pic!

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"]
“Agreed. Unit must also have powerful shields. It will be a large target, so defence is a priority. Not requiring space for the crew is a considerable advantage, however.” It also allowed them to have a strong outer shell of armour without the need for windows like a human piloted craft would require.

“Long range and anti-personnel weapons are required as the legs and joints would be vulnerable to damage.”

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


Moira signalled affirmation. It was always convenient when you could design a war machine that did not have to take organic weaknesses into account. "Agreed. Electromagnetic shielding will also protect it from being disabled through ion damage. A mass driver cannon would provide long-range, anti-armour capabilities. Alternatively we may copy the design of the Skocha tank, which possesses a modified proton cannon and is designed as a tank-buster."


Obviously droids were inherently superior to organics, but sometimes the fleshbags had good ideas that were worth copying. "The designs acquired during our raid on Bespin will be useful for anti-personnel weapons. E.g. the shattergun rotary cannon." In other words, a minigun that shot projectiles accelerated to hyper-velocity like a mass driver. Alas, they would probably not be able to cover the walker in cortosis and phrik!

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"]
“A proton cannon would be highly effective in combat. The unit would need some form of air defence, perhaps a missile launcher could suffice in this regard?”

With this all considered their prospective walker would have superior movement, strong firepower and powerful defences. On the downside it would be impossible to hide and anyone who could get close enough to theoretically get beneath it where it was more vulnerable and inflict harm.

“We shall begin production away from here, then send some of the enteched organics to there for a live test.”

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Maelion Liates"]


"A missile launcher should suffice, yes. Production of the walker would be safest in our base on Elysium." Which was basically Archangel's secret base, like Area 51. Only actually secret. No Agent Mulders would be mucking things up. Well, they could try, but they would be purged since there was no CSM to protect them.

 

[Maelion Liates]

[member="Moira Skaldi"]
“Agreed. Work shall begin at once. Once of our agents will be sent to oversee progress. I will begin assessing possible targets we can test against.”

Maelion’s head tilted slightly. “Possibly adding tendrils like those of the Harvester underneath the unit would allow it to collect and store organic material. It would also provide limited protection from enemies beneath the machine.”