USH'S STAR WARS GAME- CAMPAIGN II EPISODE II (LIGHT SIDE)- Arms Race

Good question- what the hell is that clicking? Can't be typing, it's not continuous. It comes in twos.

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"You are HERE investigating a crime? I am sorry, my information was that you wanted to question Ryamore as a possible witness to malfeasans on Neimodia. Nothing to do with an investigation here. So why the Council deems it necessary to send this many Jedi for a simple questioning eludes me."

Cannes is taking you up the gently rolling face of a dune, from which you are afforded a good view of some of the technology demonstrations. Which seem to be all weapons, actually.

"Well Master Clarion," says Cannes. "Obviously we in the Union don't use these devices ourselves. We manufacture and then sell; others use. The Trade Federation, for example, is one of our largest clients, especially with Battle Droids. As for their ultimate uses in others... well, these are dangerous times, and demand for security is high. These droids can be used in homeland security. Police work. Even peacekeeping operations.

"Maybe even with the Jedi Order. Imagine on assignment being able to summon a hundred droids to your aid at the push of a button, ready to follow your orders. Small ships can easily carry that many. We see a profoundly positive use available for these technologies.

"Now young... Delfedd, yes? You wa ted to know more about the new battle droids as opposed to the old? Let's go over and see them in action."

"Well, the questioning is part of a much...larger...thing," Xeth tells him. "And I would prefer that I do my missions with Jedi and living sentients. Droids can be...sabotaged...to do other than what I would require them to do."

"Other than R3, of course. I've had so much security junk put into him that nothing can hack him..." Xeth says. All non-Techno Union things, of course...

Xeth follows as they go to watch the droids.

"That it is part of a larger thing I neither deny nor have any knowledge of," says Cannes. "But why you needed to send so many for a simple interview, you still have not adequately explained. Numbers will not help you in such a thing.

"And Xeth... all systems have weak points. But I assure you, soft systems- organics- have far more than hard systems- robotics. For every weakness you can think of for them, I can think of ten for an organic being. You have faith in your adaptable little friend there. Well, we can build systems by design for anyone to have faith in.

"Now... the new droids... the Combat Automata project was successful... but clearly imperfect." As he speaks, you clear the ridge and have a perfect view of the Super Battle Droids taking on three different droid armies.

"Of course. I do not mean to trouble you with such things..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"There is a certain diminishing returns for numbers in strategic situations," says Cannes. "100 is better than 10. 1000 better than 100. Ten thousand better than a thousand... a billion better than a million? The more you have, the harder the logistics become. Can you ensure that all your numbers are in the correct place at the correct time?

"Battle droids are, as I say, roughly militia equivalent. Recent research has shown that true effectiveness may actually have to be pitched at a level slightly higher than that."

The Super droids win the exchanges at a rate of about 5 to one, as far as you can notice. They are not elite units, but they are certainly better than the old ones."

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"The Mark II droid fights at the level of a trained soldier, rather than a militia man. This is part of a general compromise.

"All design is compromise, of course. You want a faster starfighter? Strip off the armour. Don't complain that you blow up on a glancing hit, though. No matter how good you are in manufacturing any area, more of one thing inevitably leads to less of another. That's just logic.

"In this case, the Mark II will be at an expense of quite the staggeringly vast amount of numbers of the basic model. You can see the logic for yourselves just by looking at them. There is more to them. That is because they are armoured. Not armoured like a tank, you understand- but enough to make a difference."

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Indeed, the bulkier Mark II droids take more than just one blaster hit before falling, unlike the old versions, which are very spindly indeed, of course.

"Of course, once the armour goes in, production goes down. There are more materials involved in making these droids. Therefore, a given production facility will make less in one day than of the standard model. That is the compromise. We think it is acceptable.

"After all, it allowed us to make other adaptations. The bulkier frame allowed the in-built weapon, of greater power than a blaster rifle. Also, a built-in weapon is easier to programme for than holding one seperately. This was port of the refinement for the combat algorithms, which allows for the more trained combat potential."

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"The theory of the Mark II droid shows that it is between two and three times more difficult to build, but as these tests are showing, some five times or more more effective. And even in the lower numbers, they can still be built in vast numbers for huge armies. These are not super-elite droids- as I say, those are Droidekas. These are foot soliders- of solid calibre. With their powerful weaponry and built-in armour, we can confidently say that these droids, equal in skill to trained soliders, are the highest quality basic footsoldier in the Galaxy- and can be made with a fraction of the effort. Basically, they render conventional foot armies obsolete."

"If you pardon my saying, but that type of droid seems like overkill Director. And why the continued questions about our numbers? Do this many Jedi make you uneasy?" replies Clarion.

Can I use sence to figure out what the clicking is?

"Interesting, Interesting. Makes sence though, trading size and price for durability and firepower..."

Originally posted by Jedi Priestess
"If you pardon my saying, but that type of droid seems like overkill Director. And why the continued questions about our numbers? Do this many Jedi make you uneasy?" replies Clarion.

"Yes," says Cannes. "A typical Jedi team is two. THIS many would make anyone uneasy. It makes me think you have another motive for bringing so many, and you won't give me a straight answer."

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"And Overkill in which way? What you see before you here is only a fraction of galactic demand. Though in that respect, the project is currently unfinished."

It's coming from Cannes, Roan.

"It is a delicate balance," he says. "Too elite is too inflexble and too pricey. Too cheap is too unwieldly and awkward. We think the new mark is a good mix, and the project looks promising."

"As long as I could take one down, I'm satisfied..." Xeth whispers to Roan.

"Pardon me, Director Cannes...but what the hell is that clicking noise?" he asks, looking about.

(Do these Super Droids we are watching look like the finished product of 8 years from now?)

"Clicking noise?" he asks, staring at you, Xeth,

Suddenly the noise isn't there any more, and you acutely feel that that was a faux pas, Xeth.

And yes, exactly alike.

"I could have sworn..." Xeth says, trying to use his senses to feel anything out of place.

"Nothing, my apologies. It is probably just the sound of the droids outside..."

"Now what can these droids...these Super Droids, be armed with?"

(Could he be a geonisian?)

Hmmm.....
Thats not exactly good...
I'm gonna keep senceing him just incase...
I don't trust him at all.

(I'm having the crazy idea the dude is partly or entirely droid himself.)

"As I said before the reason why the council deemed it necessiary to send all of us is unrevealed even to us. We do not question the council's decisions we execute them. Speaking of that how long will it take before we can start questioning director Ryamore."

Roan, you are finding it difficult to sense this mind properly... and Marcus' instincts are correct. His brain is not 100% organic, Roan.

And now you think about it...

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It's his eyes! Every time he blinks!

...

You've never seen a pair of artificial eyes THAT good. Damn, that noise is unsettling...

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He's nowhere near a droid, but he has certainly been augmented.

"The Council does not tell its own Masters of its reasoning? Somehoe I find that hard to believe. I am afraid Ryamore is a very busy man, especially at this place. I am sure he will be here soon.

"Now... the Mark II droids ['Super' droid is colloquial], as you can see, are armed with a rapid fire, high energy blaster in their right hand fist. Their programming does not actually extend to the use of external weaponry.

"And in fact, this is one area in which the Mark II programme has not extended. As you know, Battle Droids are colour coded by their purpose-yellow for command, blue for pilot, purple for security, and red for soliders. All the Mark IIs are soldiers, doubling with the security brief. The need for a command unit has been eliminated, but there is no capacity for the replicating the Blue Mark Is. But then there is no need to- the Mark IIs would not be able to handle the STAPS and Battle Tanks and other such gear that the droids are designed to operate any better, so the Mark I will conti ue to have a use in that respect for some time. Though our fully automated droid fighters may point to the future- tanks and gun platforms with no seperate pilot at all.

"As I say, the Mark II is not finished. The economies of scale have not yet kicked in, and it is still at least ten times more difficult to build one than a battle droid. They also currenty consume power too quickly, and a full army overloads the power that can be sent from a single braodcast circuit. This test is purely one of their massed combat potential, and I am sure you will agree it is a success. Data from this will be used to refine the production process; I am sure we shall see them enter full production within the decade."

He starts to walk you on from the ridge.

"These units represent the future of the Galaxy. They represent the very ethos and creed of the Union. Look at the Galaxy. People talk in history classes of the great wars of a thousand years ago, and four thousand years ago. We can analyse them quite closely. And little wonder! Most of it was exactly the same as now!"

He has walked you over to a small armoury tent, from which he produces a blaster rifle, which he hands over to one of you.

"Look at it. Standard issue Galactic longarm rifle. Do you know the basic design principle of that weapon has not changed in millennia? Four thousand years since those great Sith Wars which saw armadas streaming across the Galaxy and vast armies fighting on countless worlds. And what did they fight with? Weapons almost exactly like that one!

"Think about the historical developments of your home worlds, and how they changed in millenia. From the days of bronze and iron, four thousand years would bring you to space travel and interstellar contact. In fact, one century might brin huge differences. One life time! So why is it in the Republic that things are much the same as in your father's day, and his, and his, and his... how could the Galaxy have become so stagant? Several millenia have bought about an effective technological change that you might have expetced to see in mere decades.

"The Galaxy is too large and formless, is the main answer. There is no central consensus. In these four thousand years, Republican worlds that werre once primitive have accelerated into hi-tech cutting edge societies. Whilst some of the best societies of the past have remained so stagnant, or even declined, that no-one even knows who they are any more."

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"Some sections of the Galaxy cannot even manage space travel without outside aid. Some sections of the Galaxy are so advanced, the common man can only dream and wonder about what they can do. And these poritons are so large, that most people have no ideas they exist. So what do we get at Coruscant? A horrible, bland comibation of all these factors to create one average." He points at the rifle. "THAT. Places have gotten better, others worse. The average... barely any different.

"And no-one is interested in doing anything about it. The talent these days makes technology beautiful, but not better. The money that should be driving progress in the Galaxy is instead lining the pockets of fat and useless Senators. Countless worlds lie in effective degreadation and pverty in this uncaring Galaxy. Well, our Union plans to change all that.

"As you know, the Union is just that- a conglomeration of hi-tech worlds, dedicated to technological research and development,. But our interest is not purely commercial; it goes a long way beyond that. We have a vision. We are dedicated to raising this average level of technology for the first time... since the Republic was formed. We will create new standards that are accessible to everyone. These armies are part of that theory. The Outer Worlds are scared and insecure, attacked by pirates and beset by smugglers and Hutts on all sides, and those with the resources to help in the Inner Worlds don't care. Only your good selves try to re-dress the balance... if only there could be more of you. Well, when our programmes are complete, affordable planetary security and dfence systems, from armies to orbital batteries, will be available to everyone. A level playing field for the Galaxy. It's what people deserve, after all."

He has still been leading you along the dunes as he speaks, but now he stops, looking thoughtful.

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"If you would be so kind... may I take a look at one of your Lightsabres?"

"If any of the others will let you that is there choice, however my lightsabre is not to be touched by anyone except myself."
*glares at Vilpa*

Clarion is growing weary of all this talking. "Perhaps we can go to Raymore if he is busy, so as not to take him away from something important."

"If he is busy, you would not really be able to talk to him either. He'll be available once he is available."

He'll wait on people's responses about the Lightsabre...

"You may see my lightsaber, if you return it immediately. No messing around." *Delfedd unhooks the lightsaber from his belt.*

"Thankyou..." says Cirus, taking the weapon. Holding it at both ends, he brings up up to his eyeline, and studies it carefully.

"Fascinating worksmanship," he says. "You built this yourself?"