Till the Dark Lord Lifts His Hand

[HK-36]

[member="Ultimatum"],

Well HK was not asking him to agree that organics were superior to droids, in fact the older droid's own opinion on the situation was far different than that, he merely wanted Ultimatum to not be caught on a camera saying that droids were superior to organics. The whole servant thing was more of a political thing, as in he was a public servant as a politician rather than their dictator.

"Good, if it will come to a debate and you will not be able to sway them, again, I will make my appearance and distract them away from the subject with my presence. Most of them were probably children when I first came to this planet and brought order with me, but if I know Protectorate's propaganda the way I do, they should still know me in familiar and beneficial light."

When asked about the GUIDE, HK looked out of the window as well, nodding slightly,

"I am counting on it."

He would look back to Ultimatum,

"What I noticed is that often, especially around the reasonable organics, actively disrupting someone else's political broadcast or attempting to comment, twist, or speak over it in real time leads the opposite to desired effect. It comes off as trying too hard, many would rather hear both sides than have the words of one garbled while the other screams at them. If this will be the course of action GUIDE will attempt to take then I will conduct counter-slicing against him. I will try to disrupt his broadcast to increase it in magnitude, rather than silencing him I will make him too intense, make him seem radical and off-balance. Meanwhile, I will try to track the point of origin, and I will pay him a visit."

HK turned to look out of the window once more,

"Even if that fails, remember that we are not going there to sway those watching through the receivers but those who are there in person. If your message will be twisted by the Guide remotely, he cannot twist your words when you will speak to the protesters and your loyalists directly. The words will travel and spread, make more appearances in public, among the citizens, and the GUIDE's victory will be short lived as in the long-run your supporters will grow and the opposition shrink."

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum allowed himself to briefly believe that the Guide would indeed not bother with continued transmission against him. A fleeting moment of hope that his formal redress would be uninterrupted by his enemy. Yet at the same time, it was a brilliant maneuver to attempt to dissuade his enemy's followers by breaking up their leader's speech. The Guide had taken a moment, and turned it into a tipping point of an entire regime. Indeed, this was a moment in history that would change how Ultimatum would deal with organics in the future, one way or the other. He did not know what he would do if he were to lose control. What would he be forced to do to continue his ultimate goals, the betterment of organic kind? Was there no greater purpose than that of willingly giving everything for another?

Whatever his thoughts or beliefs on the matter, the artificial being knew that they mattered little to the rest of the galaxy. There was simply too much that happened for him to truly be taken notice of, a small fish in a big pond so to speak. He would have to come to terms with that in a more meaningful way, but for now it was enough to accept that and move on. The droid would put aside personal feelings for the sake of those that he would speak to. He doubted they wanted to hear his excuses or feelings. They probably wanted little more than a reason and an assurance that it would not happen again.

For all this, he knew he had to trust [member="HK-36"], he had to trust that the older droid indeed knew of what he spoke and that he would be able to reliably combat the Guide in whatever way he could. Ultimatum was certain that if necessity ever arose, though he hoped it would not, he could find the base of the organic and let loose an army on his doorstep. This however was not a preferable outcome, it was too close to his old programming for him to be comfortable with. War, a seeming necessity of organics to come into conflict with one another. He disdained the fact that he had been made for such a purpose, solely. Wage a war against the organics, destroy them, and ultimately fail.

"That sounds effective, I trust you will be able to handle whatever the Guide may throw at us. Looks like we have arrived." The droid looked out the window of the vehicle as the ship slowed to a stop. Outside there was a crowd of various people, some natives and others immigrants, all were listening or speaking. Even through the thick build of the vehicle, the ruckus on the other side could be heard. It was the sound of uncertainty, the edge of a riot. The various viewscreens on buildings did not currently show the Guide, instead they had returned to whatever they would usually broadcast. No doubt that would change once things got going. Ultimatum wondered what would happen this day. Would his reign continue? Or would this be the beginning of the end? Only time would tell. The metal being tried to make peace with that as he opened the door and stepped out of the vehicle.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Ultimatum"],


"That sounds effective, I trust you will be able to handle whatever the Guide may throw at us. Looks like we have arrived."

HK nodded, confirming what Ultimatum has said, they have indeed arrived at their destination. The older droid pulled himself back against the seat to remain out of the view of people outside, folding his legs in underneath him in traditional meditative position.

"I will remain in here for the time being and connect to the holonet and transmission surveillance. Should you need me, I will be ready to step in at moment's notice, as we discussed."

He went over the major plot points of their plan once more just to make sure Ultiumatum was reassured he would not be going into the whole situation alone should anything go wrong.

"May the Force be with you."

HK added as the red glow of his eyes darkened and his mind wandered off away from his vessel to divert all his focus and processing power to sifting through the frequencies and local holonet data, if the Guide was going to strike the machine wanted to be the first to know and be ready to interfere with any transmission the enemy slicer and propaganda-slinger would try to send out against them.

 

[Ultimatum]

The Force? There was a question of whether or not the Force would have cared for the droid, if it cared at all. Truthfully Ultimatum was uncertain if he believed in the Force, at least as Jedi and Sith spoke of it. From his understanding, the Force was little more than a field of energy, akin to a gravity or electromagnetic field. It connected everything inside of it, but could be manipulated to accomplish tasks impossible otherwise. Of course, as one with no experience in the science or lack thereof, Ultimatum had no reason to make any comment on the subject.

At this moment far more important things were racing through his head. While [member="HK-36"] was prepared to back Ultimatum up, the younger droid was now uncertain. He had come to terms with the fact that Mustafar might be lost, but that did not mean that he wanted to lose it. He had forced himself to accept the will of the people, a most interesting though given that the 'people' so often disagreed on most subjects.

Two V-1s flanked Ultimatum, but soon disappeared into the crowd as they tried to make a path for their leader. The droid felt uncertain in this environment, knowing that it would not take much to stir the crowd towards violence. It was not just the Guide, it was himself. One wrong word, or a misunderstood concept was all it took. There was no true loyalty from these everyday organics. They would not put their life on the line for a belief that did not directly affect them. It was a matter of severity and how close it was to the individual. Because what Ultimatum was ultimately working towards was so far in the future, and theoretical to most organics, they were unlikely to even care about it.

He walked as best he could through the crowd to a makeshift podium that had been erected. There was a moment while in the middle of the crowd that for a moment he thought he saw a blaster in the crowd. It was impossible to tell if it was an actual weapon or if it was merely a random chance. Whatever it was, Ultimatum tried not to think about it and instead continued stepping until at last he was at the foot of the stage. There was nothing for it but to do what he had set out to do.

The three steps up to the stand were perhaps the most consequential he had ever taken. The speakers had been set to a calculated intensity so as to be heard by everyone at the stand while not being overly boisterous, based on what the Iron Knight had spoken of. Once on the stadium and setting himself in the sound system, Ultimatum turned to the crowd and began to speak. He experienced a strange phenomenon, while he thought every sentence through carefully he could not recall a single word. The analytical side of him would have truly enjoyed looking over his programmings response to the situation, but he had neither the processing power nor the will to do that.


Whatever Guide was planning, it appeared that he was done spreading his message, the comms systems he had been using were shut down and whatever people he may have had were gone. It would seem to most investigators that he gave up the fight, or that he was turning his attention elsewhere. This would not be the end of the fight for Mustafar and not the last time that the Guide would show his face.

(Sorry I don't feel that I have the ability at this time to create the speech itself.)

 

[HK-36]

[member="Ultimatum"],

((It's alright, we did that pretty long pause when I lagged behind, I need to get into the feel of things too))

Supposedly the Force and its philosophies meant to everyone a different thing, HK lived long enough to see patterns and cycles in events such as rises and falls of Empires against all odds, fulfillment of prophecies, event subtle signs in everyday things that could help him guide his future actions, perhaps that was why he always seemed to be just in the right place at the right time. HK believed in the Force, just as he believed that it still spoke to droids although it did not spoke through them exactly as it did through organics, in fact he considered himself its agent, although so far the Jedi Order would barre him entry into their ranks. Either way, that was a discussion for another time.


As Ultimatum spoke HK remained within the vehicle in his meditative pose, ready to jump in if the Guide tried to intervene in the speech and stir resistance against his fellow droid once more. However it seemed that it would not be the case for as Ultimatum did his speech before the crowd, and what a speech it was, swelling the hearts of droids and organics alike, bringing even the hardest Mustafarian crab-like being to tears, even though they most likely did not had tear ducts, somewhere in the crowd a Mustafarian worker and V1 could be seen hugging. Surely the exact contents of the speech would be elaborated upon further, for now it seemed to do its work well enough, although ultimately Ultimatum would be left on his own to deal with the consequences of his appeal to the Mustafarian citizens and whether or not it did quell the Guide's efforts and risk of revolution on Mustafar against him.

However as HK listened and waited, he could not help but calculate about the future, for even if Ultimatum would be successful in following HK's directions and appeasing the restless people of Mustafar, another obstacle was waiting around the corner. What HK didn't tell Ultimatum, at least not just yet, was that the Triumverate, closest thing GA has to a governing body, took note of Ultimatum's supposed involvement with the Sith on Atrisia as well as the restlessness of Mustafar, that was why HK was sent on the lava planet in the first place. They wanted for him to compile a report on Ultimatum, his relations with the citizens, as well as possibly bring him before them to answer for himself.

But they were going to cross that bridge when they'll come to it, for now things were going great!

 

[Ultimatum]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0b4STz1lo​

After the conclusion of the speech, Ultimatum felt great pride. Not in himself, but in the people. They had been open to his message, willing to look past his failings and accept the truth as best he could tell it. There were no words within his vocabulator that equaled the ersatz emotions running through him. He noted the embrace of a V-1 and an organic, it was good to see that they were still connected. Ultimatum had anticipated a response, however the scale was far and beyond anything he had imagined. Yet at the same time, his joy at seeing the response was tempered by the uncertainty of what the Guide was planning. This had been the first time that the man had made an appearance on such a large scale. Had they played to his plan?

His analytical mind knew that there was definitive way to answer or predict that and that it should just be left alone. However, the part of him that was so close to the organic's reasoning was trying to plan ahead. Had the Guide anticipated any interruption on Ultimatum's part? Had the organic been aware of [member="HK-36"]'s arrival? If so, how did the Guide learn that the Iron Knight would be coming? If not, had they broken the man's plan this time?

Whatever way, Ultimatum felt that he had dodged a bullet this time, if only barely. It seemed that the people were ready and willing to follow him once more and the droid hoped that he could live up to their expectations. He had a horrible feeling that it would not be so, but he was willing to put that to a more pessimistic system within his mind. With a final bow he stepped down from the podium, the crowd gave way naturally before him this time. He shook hands with a few organics who extended their hands. The throng began to disband, people returning to their homes or work, many thinking on what had been spoken and looking forward to the future.

After about ten minutes of shaking hands and trading words with organics, the droid reached the vehicle and stepped in. With a wearied sigh the artificial sat back into the seat and looked to his superior. Ultimatum questioned, "I think that proceeded better than expected. What do you think?"

 

[HK-36]

[member="Ultimatum"],

When Ultimatum stepped back into the vehicle and asked HK about his opinion the older droid nodded,

"Yes, it went very well. What I learned throughout my existence is that no matter how persuasive and charismatic you are organic's hearts and opinions do not change easy, especially when you advertise stance opposite to theirs. The willingness to follow you and embrace cooperation with droids had to be there to begin with, you merely helped it awaken once more within them, and I have a feeling you will find majority of the population in a similar position."

HK unfolded his legs from below himself, returning from the meditative stance,

"I did not detect any signs of the Guide attempting to intervene in any way during your speech, as good as it is that he did not intervene, I was not able to track down his location, so he may still very well be out there."

The droid looked out of the vehicle briefly before returning his attention to Ultimatum,

"What do you plan next for Mustafar and its people?"

He asked the other droid, in a way testing him to see if his plans will align with the tenants HK was trying to impose upon him, tenants which more or less came down to not being a jerk to his subjects.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum watched as the droid disentangled himself from the meditation position, finding the flexibility most amusing. While the younger droid could probably have chosen a body with more emphasis on adaptability, he had gone with defensive capabilities and similarity to organic structures. He had no doubts that the droid was far more dangerous than himself, experience alone would have given the Iron Knight an edge of extensive proportions.

The artificial being was surprised to hear that Guide had simply disappeared, surely the organic would not give up his crusade so quickly. His thoughts momentarily returned to his worrying about that organic's return. However, the droid reminded himself that now was not the time for such contemplations. This moment was better spent answering his new overseer. The droid had asked what Ultimatum's plan was now. It was a test no doubt. He had to answer carefully and as truthfully as he could.

"To begin with I shall see to setting more time aside to spend among the people. In the future I will attempt to avoid associating myself with Sith or their allies. Beyond that I shall continue with my own developments and be at the beck and call of the Alliance and yourself." He looked questioningly at [member="HK-36"], looking for the droid's response.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Ultimatum"],

The droid nodded at Ultimatum's words, whether the other droid meant and would follow through with them would be yet seen, but they were certainly what HK wanted to hear,

"Good, I will be sure to include this in my report to the Alliance Triumvirate, and should Mustafar ever need aid, your planet has the full backing of my domain and the rest of the Alliance, of course."

HK reassured him, funnily enough later on such aid would probably be welcomed as Mustafar and its neighboring space would become a target for FO assault. For now, the droid looked out of their vehicle's viewport, if he could see into the future he would order Ultimatum to strengthen the planetary defenses and train his militia forces.

"I will compile my message to them today and send it, we will probably head to speak with them personally tomorrow and finalize their decision, hopefully in our favor, although I do not see why it would be otherwise. I want to get this done as soon as possible so that you could return to Mustafar before the excitement and spirits from your speech dies down. If the Guide would come back and conduct another attack it will probably not be in the upcoming days, so this is the best time to deal with interplanetary politics."

The older droid would look back to Ultimatum,

"Does that sound logical?"

Which was a droid way if that sounded good and fine with him, while HK would be more than willing to embrace his position as Ultimatum's overseer, he would not meddle that much into the affairs of his planet, after all it was his planet, so any changes HK would want to make to it would probably be reversed if he did not actively enforced them if they did not agree with Ultimatum. Either way, he wanted to make sure that the other droid agreed with him so far.

 

[Ultimatum]

"Very. I shall have to update the construct of Mustafar's militia, put a proper commander over the army in case this ever happens again or if the Guide should attempt more extreme methods." He thought that Legion could probably locate a suitable candidate that would both politically and militarily fit into the role. His ally had never failed him before, though the droid had been destroyed at least twice since his creation. It was a testament to the ultimate loyalty that droids could give to one another, not even death could damage the bond.

The droid looked out the window of the vehicle as it jolted to a start and flew down the streets. It was heading back to base, according to its protocols for standard travel. Ultimatum believed that [member="HK-36"] was wiser than himself, understanding that there would no doubt be differences in certain views and beliefs. He hoped to be right in the assumption that their core beliefs were alike enough to allow compatibility in their work. The artificial being knew what it was like to work alongside someone who was at opposition to his view and it had not been preferable.

The younger droid was curious however as to the Alliance leadership, "You were sent to report on my actions I would hazard to guess? Did the Triumvirate question my loyalty to the Sith or was it because I have not properly sworn allegiance?"

 

[HK-36]

[member="Ultimatum"],

"Very well, if you will need any help supplying your forces or manufacturing new technology let me know, Abregado has access to plenty of fabricators and great military capability, although we are currently still undergoing the process of reorganizing and modernizing our forces. Protectorate-era gear has served us well but it is becoming more and more difficult to find replacement parts for them, plus we will be moving away from relying on small teams of elite units and field large armies of drones backed by heavier support droids to put pressure on the enemy and distract their forces."

HK explained, while their usage of small well trained strike teams of Iron Company worked well during Bando Gora campaigns, as most of the skirmishes involved boarding enemy ships or being boarded and then the cultists fielded mostly untrained lightly armored infantry, it's not as an effective tactic in the open field of modern combat,

"It was a mix of both,"

He moved to Ultimatum's question,

"Their interest was peeked as you did not officially swore alliance, they were not moved towards investigation until the suspicions of you working alongside the Sith arose during the Atrisian Incident."

Hopefully that would explain the situation clearer to Ultimatum, as they were going to speak to the Triumverate soon enough.

 

[Ultimatum]

The answer cleared up the intentions for Ultimatum, it would have not truly changed anything. The fact would have remained that he would be heading to speak with the Triumvirate whether or not he wanted. There was an advantage to be had from this, perhaps he would be able to bring his project forward to the Alliance and see if they would be willing to lend him aid. That was not as important as cementing himself as an upstanding ruler underneath these organics.

The army concepts that [member="HK-36"] suggested were of course quite interesting to hear. Ultimatum had concocted several conceptual military systems, but had as yet been unable to implement them. His main focus at this point was the development of the technology required for his military ideas. Even should he take the time to test the design, his intentions were not that of war, but for the advancement of technology overall. From what Ultimatum had learned of organic history, the military was merely the most efficient and effective method of forcing technological growth.

"I would say we get to the Triumvirate as soon as possible so that I may return equally soon and complete preparations for defenses and finalize work on technology that has been developing for quite some time. Or do you have other plans for the moment?"