Renegade Rodian
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To flesh out an important arm of the Helix Syndicate.
- Image Source: ELYSIUM - Droids & ELYSIUM - Droids by Ben Mauro / Lock Icon 2 from Endless Icons
- Role: Technical Support
- Links: N/A
- Group Name: The Processors
- Classification: Criminal Organization, sub-group of the Helix Syndicate
- Headquarters: Fort Amaranth
- Loyalties: Helix Syndicate
- Group Sigil: The signature Syndicate circle, with a white lock in the middle.
- Hierarchy: Processors do not have much of a hierarchy. Unit leaders are typically in charge of two to three other Processors, while Division leaders are in charge of commanding and coordinating dozens of units. These Division leaders are beholden only to the Helix Syndicate's executive staff. In addition to being beholden to their Division leaders, Unit leaders typically end up answering to local leadership at whatever location they happen to arrive at more than their Division leaders.
- Membership: Processors are almost exclusively made up of unwilling people with a basic level of intelligence. A significant amount of them were once individuals that had crossed the Helix Syndicate in some way - captured members of The Collective, Waylon Syndicate, and so on. The rest were simply scraped from members of prison populations no one cared about. No sane individual would willingly join the Processors. Surgeons and engineers on the Syndicate’s payrolls have likened it to being turned into a droid.
- Doctrines: Bound by programmed loyalty, the creed of the Processors is simple: serve the Helix Syndicate in all things asked of them. They cannot be tempted into betrayal with bribery or coercion. Their loyalty is absolute. Unless, of course, they were to somehow remember their life prior to conversion…
- Curios: The expansive cranial augments displayed by Processors are more than enough to identify them. They make Lobot look like some unwashed barbarian tribesman by comparison.
There are several hundred Processors on the Helix Syndicate’s payroll at any given time. They are divided into divisions, which are further divided into smaller units of three to four. It is exceedingly rare anyone would ever encounter more than a single unit at once, unless they were all gathered for maintenance or some other mundane purpose. A unit is all that is ever really needed to accomplish any number of related tasks. Each division has a specific purpose, and the Processors in each division are appropriately given specialized training towards that purpose. The divisions and their purposes are as follows.
- Division Aurek: This is the offensive branch of the Processors, focusing on cyber warfare and slicing. If the Helix Syndicate needs access to someone else’s computer network and they aren’t willing to give it up, a unit from Division Aurek is called in.
- Division Besh: Processor units from Division Besh are experts in keeping friendly systems secure against malevolent intent. They are capable of thwarting most slicers and eradicating malware wherever it crops up within the Syndicate’s systems.
- Division Cresh: Division Cresh is, by far, the most mundane. When new systems are being set up or require repairs, units from Division Cresh are sent in. These units are also the most likely to be sent to allies of the Helix Syndicate to help advise them in maintaining their own security systems. When someone contacts the Helix Syndicate technical support hotline, it is a Processor from Division Cresh that answers.
Processors are a rare sight just barely having the numerical strength to cover the Syndicate’s territories. Thankfully their skills and capabilities are developed enough that overwhelming numbers just aren’t necessary. The Syndicate’s Processors are prodigious computer systems experts, able to assault, defend, and maintain them with chilling efficiency. Processors know nothing else nor other desires, being dedicated solely to the task of serving the Syndicate with their expertise.
Their skills and knowledge are derived primarily from their cybernetic implants. Out of all of the Syndicate’s cybernetic employees, the Processors are the most augmented, surpassing even Force 32. But unlike, their augments are not combat related. A complete list of the cybernetics infused with Processors would be tiring to create, but they do include the Borg Construct Aj^6, a Cortical Datasplit, a Digital Lockpick, the Hifold Sensory Package, a Neuro-Box Interface and a Psicom 1260 Interface. They have also been equipped with some of iBorg’s Neural Implants acquired through the black market, namely the Clarity and the Spark.
As a consequence of their specialization, Processors have no combat training and are instructed to always flee from battle no matter how minor the engagement is. They will never stand and fight an opponent, even if cornered. If they are cornered, they will attempt to initiate a self-destruct- wiping their memory units and frying their cybernetics. This process is almost always lethal to a Processor and none on record have survived it.
Due to their unnerving appearance, demeanor, and origins, Processors do not get along well with other Syndicate personnel. They make people uncomfortable, what with their stiff movements and quasi-mechanical countenances. When deployed in tandem with other Syndicate assets, there will always be an element of friction between the two if they remain in close proximity. For this reason, Processors never tend to stay at one assignment for very long. Partially because they don’t need to, and also partially because the Syndicate does not want to risk an incident.
Since their identities are stripped from them after being converted into a Processor, each Processor has a designation code rather than a name. A designation code will include their Division, unit number, and a unique six digit combination. For example: C-12-389522 belongs to Division Cresh, Unit 12. Processors that spend prolonged periods of time other Syndicate personnel will typically end up with a nickname. This is usually something derogatory: Taserface, Laserbrain, Sparky, RoboHead, and the like. Despite their better judgement, Processors will eventually come to recognize and respond to these names.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Computer experts are in high demand at the Helix Syndicate. Perhaps too high. As the Syndicate grows, its demands for expert personnel could not be met while also ensuring they didn’t hire a spy. The Syndicate resolved to create their own experts instead - ones who were a bit more clever than droids but just as fanatically loyal.
The first wave of Syndicate Processors came from Collective personnel captured after a minor battle on Nar Shaddaa. Most of the Collective's officer corps and other vital personnel were evacuated successfully. Those who lagged behind, mostly soldiers and minor support staff, were captured by the Helix Syndicate. Ideas were bounced back and forth in regards to their fate. There was some debate over whether to sell them into slavery, kill them outright, or send them home. Then someone suggested they be used for the Processor program. They would all be shipped to Fort Aetherius to undergo the extensive surgery, their past-lives obliterated, turned into little more than loyal worker drones.
Of course, the Syndicate only fought one battle and procured only a handful of captives from the Collective. They were going to need more than that.
The remaining Processors, the majority of them, come from two other sources. The first are the rest of the Syndicate's enemies: Uncooperative, incompetent, or directly obstructionist persons who have annoyed the Helix Syndicate to such a catastrophic degree that killing them outright just isn't good enough. The rest come from prisons, either in Yavvitiri or Civola. Their deaths in prison altercations will be fabricated, and they will be carted off to Fort Aetherius to begin their new lives.
In addition to the previously stated roles, the Processors serve another important role as a lesson taught to those who would try to stand in the Helix Syndicate's way. Those who cause sufficiently advanced problems for the Syndicate won't just be killed: their very identities will be obliterated, and they will be reduced to little more than a technologically gifted lobotomite servitor. And then you'll work for them until you die.
Just because they can.
