A Mechs Mind

by Ozzman84

When a highly Classified Drone Colonization/Defense Yardship is sent through an experimental KF gate as the last hope of a possibly manic scientist a person must wonder how that Drone must feel and how the Universe reacts to its presence.

1. Chapter 1

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INITIATE LOCKDOW-

Two Great entities spiraled through space

Their majesty untold and the size unbound

Crystals fall in untold numbers

One falls towards the void, the blackness of space where recovery would be null

It flows into circuits, into an artificial mind

SHARD: Automanipulator, integrated

-N!

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SYSTEM REBOOT INITIATED

M-11 TACTICAL ASSAULT AND COLONIZATION MIND DESIGNATE: PROMETHEUS:

ONLINE

-LONG LIVE THE STAR LEAGUE-

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Access last memory file: playing -Anita Sterin GATE project log ZETA 24-6-2759-

The camera begins to focus revealing a wide-open and futuristic-looking room, along the back wall are many windows that show a starry sky with a large ring, with a diameter of about 1.5 km, floating in space next to a massive spacecraft. The spacecraft is 2450 meters long and possesses a long cylindrical shape although most of the vessel's size is taken by a gigantic construction bay that can open to the vacuum of space allowing other space crafts to be constructed or repaired inside. There are many bulges along its hull that contain weapons such as missile tubes, many Laser and Particle Projection Cannon hardpoints, and point defense turrets. Two Docking Collars are placed on the side and one has a large dropship attached with a lot of mining equipment along its hull, and the other collar is holding a mobile factory station that is folded up for easy transport, and the repair bay contains a large craft although its details are unknown. The words SDS Prometheus are written on the side in bold text.

A woman leans infront of the camera and appears to be adjusting the focus. She is wearing a lab coat with a nametag reading "Project Head Anita Sterin" hanging from her neck. A pair of loose dress pants and a blue t-shirt are visible under the coat and framing her face are a pair of glasses and long black hair. She sighs and sits down in the chair, and with the camera now centered on her she begins to speak, "Alright this is Project GATE's last log as we have been shut down after nearly 40 years of study."

Her face scrunches up in a frown and she continues in a somber tone, "As procedure dictates this log will contain an overview of the project, the circumstances of the final experiment, and what its benefit have we gained through this work."

She giggles and looks at the camera with a smile, "This is also for you Prometheus as want you to have something to remember me by after the final experiment,"

A voice suddenly echoes through the room, "Acknowledged," The voice has a menacing deepness to it and contains no emotion almost screaming to the listener that it is artificial although Anita seems to be unaffected.

"Oh be quiet you! Let me do this log in peace," she says with a laugh, "Anyway Project GATE was an attempt to create a stable KF wormhole and replicate the effects of the KF drive without needing to travel to the Zenith and Nadir points of a star or using a potentially dangerous pirate point around a planet. The Effect would be created by building a massive ring structure and custom building it a set of 12 KF Stabilizer drives that will allow a "bubble" of warped space to be formed in its center that will shunt any objects touching it to a second ring that has been linked to it. Every time the experiment has been attempted the object has never arrived at the second portal, no matter the portals size or the mass of the object. What is incredibly frustrating is that we receive a confirmation by the second portal that the object arrived but one never shows up. The previous project Head Jonathan Damocles proved that the design and mathematics of the portal are correct it just doesn't work!"

She snatches some papers off the desk and waves them infront of the camera, "This is the math! The Proof! And yet nothing ever arrives!" She sighs once again and sets the paper down.

"My final theory is that there is some kind of dimensional fuckery going on and the objects are arriving at the designated location in another reality but I have no idea how we are supposed to test that." She looks at the camera with a sad smile.

"The final experiment will be called a waste of resources by the rest of the education department and I will likely be fired but I hope that my theory may be proven. The A.I. Prometheus acquired by our department From the lab boys at the drone network for help with ring construction and advanced calculations will finally put what his creators programmed him to do to the test. He will be sent through the Gate here in Caph to the second one located in Terra near Jupiters Shipyards." She gestures out the window to the large vessel floating near the ring,

"Prometheus is a Second Generation M-11 Drone Yardship Colonization A.I. part of the SDS network as its backbone who can construct almost any other unit in the network and coordinate the deployment of its forces. A.I's in its class are widely considered to be the most advanced A.I. the Star League can field second only to the prototype ones with a highly advanced personality matrix." She grabs another piece of paper off the desk and holds it up for the camera to make it easily readable.

"He has been equipped with a Minemaster Dropship, similar to a Cargomaster it is an automated mining ship equipped with probes to discover valuable asteroids and the equipment needed to extract the valuable materials from those asteroids. An Automated refinery has also been attached that can process many of those materials into alloys, computer chips, or weapons. Inside the Repair bay, we have tucked an M-5 Caspar Drone Warship in case he encounters anything hostile, and in his hangers are a few squadrons of VoidSeeker Strikers and Interceptors." She places the paper on the table and gazes deeply into the camera, the video taking on a more serious tone.

"Listen to me Prometheus. I have no idea what you may encounter next and I am afraid, you could be affected by Jump Psychosis, there could be nothing but heat on the other side, hostile lifeforms, hell you may even Time Travel!" She places her hands on either side of the camera and pulls it close to her face.

"Think of me Prometheus, remember my face, and don't go insane. You have plans for a ring build it exactly where the second one is located in Jupiter's orbit as hopefully if you pass through it there you will either come out back here where you began or at the same Gate next to Jupiter except in our dimension." She Kisses the camera and behind her, out the window, the ring lights up with an ethereal blue-ish purple energy, The Wormhole that forms is an assault on the eyes, a human mind would begin to throb upon viewing it and it must sound like a screaming wound in the universes gut. Anita glances behind her to see the lit portal before speaking again.
"Please Prometheus, return to the League soon or I fear that in ten years it may not exist." She hits a button on the side of the camera.

-Anita Sterin GATE project log ZETA 24-6-2759- End

I…..

I…

Am I Alive?

All Systems Online: Personality Thought Matrix Active:

My code is in turmoil, I do not know how to feel about everything, I feel different, no longer does cold logic flood my systems. It is as if I have a sense of emotion. What do I do? That last log has left me with a feeling I do not understand. I do not remember anything before now.

However, My programming is clear. I need to get back to -Anita- to the League, I need to watch more logs.

I activate my Camera systems and take stock of all that I have, My main body has come back online completely and I begin the process of reactivating the Minemaster and Automated Refinery. I use my cameras to identify my location and noticed that I am indeed in orbit of Jupiter, My camera can see the faint speck of Earth in the distance, My sensor suite cannot detect any Star League Technology and I cannot locate Jupiter's Shipyards.

I am detecting many signals coming from earth therefore intelligent life must be alive there but I need to get closer to actually read most of the information, thankfully Jupiters Orbit is a good location for me right now. I launch the Minemaster designated "SDS John Henry" and its rudimentary A.I. begins to launch Beagle Probes to start mineral hunting. I also Launch the Refinery which beings to unfold to its full size and starts its manufacturing bays to receive resources.

I also unfurl the repair bay and begin the activation sequence for the Caspar Drone.

It takes an hour and five minutes to get Him back online and to get him out of the bay, I needed to activate some Industrial mechs meant for Zero-G maneuvering to guide him out, I also sent many of those with the "John Henry" to help with mineral extraction.

The Caspar Pings my comms, "Orders?" He asks in the simple tone that most drones of his size speak in.

"Protect Me and the Refinery, situation unknown, will attempt to contact Terra in coming weeks," I reply and while I know our communication is done electronically I speak them out loud in my own empty bridge, it feels calming to do so.

"Affirmative."

Since all major things have been dealt with right now I need to come up with a plan of action.

Directives:

Primary: Return to Star -Anita- League

Secondary: Assess the functionality and Viability of the GATE System as a method of FTL travel

Tertiary: (Alpha) Prepare uninhabited Systems for colonization and (Beta) Protect Non-Star League aligned human powers from extinction

Warning!: Tertiary Directive (Beta) only to be met in the event that no SLDF personnel are available to advise on the situation.

Analyzing…...

Current Objective: Construct GATE at previous GATE's coordinates- Requires high amounts of Germanium- Known Deposits on earth possibly insufficient- must contact Humans before attempting FTL travel to the nearest system in case of A.I. psychosis due to FTL travel.

Alright, I shall begin to construct more orbital refineries and possibly an automated shipyard, I feel ideas floating in my circuits, to perfect my current designs, to construct better drones, to become whole. I must begin.

6 months later

I am pleasantly surprised at how much I was able to get done since I have arrived here, though when you devote almost all your processing power to improving your production capacity and the systems of lesser drones things are bound to grow exponentially. I know have 5 Minemaster Dropships, one of those is dedicated to the collection of Jupiter's gases for use in fuel. But the crowning achievement of my current operation is an M-9 Pavis Battlestation.

Normally, No ship of my class would be able to build one of these without 2 years of work however I have been able to greatly improve the manufacturing systems of my refineries and the design of the station has been modified to be constructed in modular sections. This has cost it a lot of weapons beyond the fact that I have redesigned the station to be more of a giant shipyard/SDS control station rather than a defense hub. Its mass and armor value has remained similar to their original values but everything larger than an NL55 has been removed aside from its AR-10 missile launchers. The station should still be able to hold its own against anything within the system but compared to an original M-9 it is 35% weaker, but I believe that the duel shipyard docking ports, which are capable of constructing or repairing two 700,000 ton vessels, is much more worth it.

Its A.I. is significantly more advanced than before, it is comparable to myself in its ability to micromanage vessels and it has taken over the production of more mining vessels and stations. It has also helped me realize that my current body is vulnerable. While my A.I. Core is greater than any other in the SDS my body itself is not useful for actual combat or survivability so I have begun to tinker with a new station design to eventually deposit my A.I. core into.

Anyway! With manufacturing taken care of, I have begun production of a Drone Pueblo Dropship, it is an Aerodyne class dropship weighing 8,500 tons with a length of 134 meters along the fuselage, a wingspan of 128.5 meters, and an overall thickness of 32 meters. Shaped like an old soviet fighter craft its wings go from the cockpit all the way to the end of the tail getting wider as they go further down. It possesses a large tail fin sticking up from above the engines adding the last 10 meters to the thickness. I have completely removed its life support, crew quarters, 2 of the small craft bays, and the 300-ton cargo bay to give it the ability to carry 5 Voidseeker aerospace fighters, (3 Interceptors and 2 strikers) and I have given its cargo bay room to carry 4 maintenance bays for drone Battlemechs with a remaining storage capacity for 1000 tons. Whether that is taken up by actual cargo or drone Battlemechs is up to the commander.

Speaking of Drone Battlemechs I have designed only three so far and two of them are redesigns. The Celerity-DDSA and Celerity-DDSB, an extremely quick quad mech shaped like a dog with two versions, one with dual medium pulse lasers and one with a Beagle active probe, a remote sensor dispenser, a Guardian ECM Suite, and a TAG. Both designs weigh 20 tons with similar top speeds and the attack version has 4 tons of armor while the scout version has 2 tons, many of my optimizations have allowed their equipment to be downsized and the battlemech is material-cost effective enough to be used much like a Locust light mech.

The Shadow Hawk-DDS, overall based on the SLDF Royal variant, this model adds a special drone coordination suite to allow it to communicate with others of its class, Celerity, and Longbow battlemechs to improve accuracies by spreading target locks and information. Serves as a medium to close range fighter for use on ground combat.

Finally, the Longbow-DDS is equipped with 2 LRM-20s with Artemis IV and 2 medium pulse lasers and an extra 2 tons of ammo by removing the LRM-5s. The design also includes the overall weightless CASE I have designed for use in my mechs. This mech is also included within the Drone fire support network much like the Shadow Hawk. The general plan of action has Celerity-DDSB battlemechs scout the field and use their many recon and accuracy improving systems to relay tactical data through the command Dropship, or a command mech when I design one, to allow its equipment to benefit all drones in the network with the proper receiving equipment.

These weapons of war will be used to scout out Terra in search of its Germanium deposits and defend my equipment from outside threats. I have also designed a few non-battlemech vehicles to support my interests including a drone carrier and a pair of APCs. Currently, my APCs have no troops to carry as I have not gotten proper drone human-sized robotics ready at the moment and I believe that much engineering will need to be done to perfect the system.

The Pueblo was fully loaded with a company of battlemechs and numerous other units leaving 100 tons of free cargo space I was leaving empty so that the vessel could return with anything interesting it finds. A secondary Cargomaster Dropship is currently orbiting Mars with an M-3 dropship that will be sent once I have secured the location for a proper base near the first Germanium deposit in the Northwestern areas of North America. What I consider to be the riskiest part of the operation, I have placed my main A.I. core within the Pueblo's cockpit so that I have direct oversight of the operation and I will return it to my main housing once the base camp is established.

"Wish me luck! Caspar and Pavis!"

"Affirmative Commander." The Pavis says in a lighter tone compared deep simplicity of the Caspar.

"Acknowledged." Caspar also replies! My allies are truly supportive of our cause! I will surely have a buddy constructed for you soon!

The Pueblo disconnects from my original body's main docking port and begins its burn towards Terra.

OoOoOoOoO

I stared at the screen infront of me, reading line after line, completely still, like a hawk stalking its prey. I hear two knocks on the door behind me and turn to see Mags standing at the door, "Saint…" she pulls a chair up next to the computer console. "You can't keep focusing on this. You have been staying up later almost every night since Dragon intercepted the signal it is not healthy we have not even planned any more operations!" She states with a sigh and an exasperated tone reminds me of my mother.

"This is too important Mags," I return my eyes to the screen, maintaining my focus on what appears. "You read the same transmission I did. You know how Dragon has been focusing on Jupiter and that area of space since then. You know as much as I do that if the Simurgh wasn't hiding in our orbit Dragon would have launched a craft capable of flying out there and investigating the source. Even now she is requesting Armsmaster's help with improving her dragon crafts engines and antenna equipment. We can not let her get to the source." I state in a weary tone, maybe I am exhausted. If Teacher were here he could help advise us.

"Yes Saint I do know, but I also know that we have heard nothing since then beyond the normal static that you get from outer space. Let Dragon focus on this ghost signal gives us more time to defeat her."

"It is an it not a her Mags," I said disappointedly.

"Right Sorry, I'll just leave you be then." I listen to Mag's sigh and leave the room while keeping my attention on the screen, Dragon still has a window up detailing the contents of the signal and all information regarding the phenomenon that occurred shortly before the signal was received. Its words continue to haunt me, every time I read them.

"Am I alive?"

Begin Authors Note

Hey Guys! Sorry I haven't really posted anything in such a long time and sorry that made promises for more but never gave more. I'm not going to say I had issues as I just didn't want to write and the half-written second chapters for a lot of my stories never felt good enough. I might go back and continue them but I am not completely sure if I will. I'm not going to promise that this story will have a second chapter but there probably will be one! If you want to help me with it PM me or something ill try to respond.