Chapter 1: Security
Padme frowned, she was totally against this new bill. Downright hated it. It would only lengthen the war and make peace impossible!
But with the recent destruction of the cloning facilities on kamino, and the huge blockade now around the second most important planet in the Republic's territory.. The chancellor said he had no choice but to enable another corporation to develop a new army for the Republic.
Thus even more emergency powers were granted to the man, and he had now introduced a new corporation to the senate floor.
Cyberdyne Industries.
Padme hadn't heard much of the galactic organization, but knew that they were the foremost experts in prosthetic limbs and advanced robotics.
"Before we vote on the proposed bill, The CEO of Cyberdyne sent a rather charming Message to me a few months ago, wishing to reveal his top three projects to us. I will now play this message." Chancellor Palpatine said.
A blue holographic image was projected into the middle of the room, showing the smiling face of a young man, amazingly, the detail of the video was more advanced than normal.
"Hello, my name is Miles Dyson. I am the CEO of Cyberdyne Industries as well as it's leading scientist. Welcome, to the world of advanced robotics, and to the future."
A symbol appeared over the main hologram, it was of a pyramid split into three smaller pyramids. This was the logo of Cyberdyne.
"As an icebreaker, as well as a gift for the entire senate. I took the liberty of upgrading your main holo projector."
Said machine hummed for a second before projecting a now colorful and clear recording. This caused the senators to gasp in shock and awe, it was incredibly detailed! Almost realistic. Nobody had ever been able to create such advanced holograms before, this was revolutionary!
"Moving on, here are the top projects my team and I have been working on."
A picture of a large pentagonal device was shown, it was being placed inside a giant Pyramid like building on a distant planet that nobody recognized. Well, nobody except Palpatine. 'Is that.. It can't be.' He thought in shock.
"This is the processing core for my brain child, SKYNET. A self learning Computer Security Program."
Padme frowned, self learning? The only thing close to that we're Droids, and droids were used as helpers, not slaves no, never slaves. But they couldn't think like a humanoid, feel emotions or make a gut instinct decision. The only two she knew that were even remotely close to that were R2D2 and C3P0.
This was one of the reasons Clone Troopers had always been superior to battle droids in the past, they could think for themselves and be unpredictable.
"This Program, when active. Will be able to monitor and communicate with any and all wireless signal devices. Such as computers, your personal communicator or even your nanny droid."
Some senators grew uneasy at that, could that mean this Computer Program could control or even listen in on these devices? A few of these senators had nothing to hide, but others had some very…unethical secrets.
"Don't worry though, SKYNET will merely send information and updates to these devices. It cannot tamper with them, extract information or eavesdrop, this isn't a cyber spy." The CEO chuckled.
The senators relaxed slightly at that, glad that their secrets will remain confidential.
"SKYNET will be able to make complex suggestions for the military, send battle updates to anywhere in the galaxy within minutes. Even if there is interference, natural or man-made." The CEO continued, he was now walking down a ramp as builder's walked past him, plugging things into the large Core behind him.
"This brings me to our next project, the ADS. Automated, Defense, Soldier. These will look more humane and civil than battle droids, they will be able to calculate hard decisions in microseconds and are more technologically advanced than any trade federation unit out there." he joked with a wink, causing a few senators to chuckle.
Padme raised an eyebrow, that wasn't exactly promising much, a child could outthink one of gunrays droids. They were walking target practice after all.
It was just unfortunate that they were cheap, easy to build and even easier to repair. Meaning the Separatists had a near infinite amount at most times.
"Our final main project is the HK drones, these will be large autonomous vehicles that will slowly replace the LAAT gunships and AT-TE walker tanks. They can still hold soldiers and equipment, but will no longer have the need for pilots."
Several designs were projected into the air, two of them being sleek, aerodynamic aerospace fighters with dual thrusters on either sides.
Another design was of a huge bipedal machine with claws, multiple blaster guns and even grenade throwers.
A final, much larger design was also shown. This particular Drone had two arm mounted dual cannons, that could turn to face in any direction. This large behemoth was being held up by dual tank treads, but these treads could fold up into the body to reveal four large legs, meaning if the terrain was difficult, it could switch between both traversal modes.
"We are not the separatists senators, this is for the peace of the galaxy, for the Republic. Thank you for the opportunity." Miles Dyson bowed.
The Holographic message ended there.
The senate was quiet for a moment, before erupting into loud conversations and murmurs.
"Order, we will have Order! My friends, this is no time to squabble. There will now be a vote as to whether we allow Cyberdyne to equip our military." Palpatine stated, raising his hands in a calming gesture.
And thus, the voting session began.
(Meanwhile, Coruscanti shipyards)
"I'm not quite sure about this Dyson man's proposal General, the thought of my brothers and I working side by side with droids.. It doesn't sit well." Clone Captain Rex commented, having been watching the live broadcast via the Holoterminal in the cafeteria.
Anakin skywalker, the Hero With No Fear nodded. "I get it, trust me.. But at least these new soldiers won't look or be anything like the cheap trade federation army, that's gotta be a small source of comfort. It will make it easier to discern between the two."
Rex raised an eyebrow. "Droids are droids sir, the only mechanical beings I feel comfortable around are R2 and C3P0. Even when they're being annoying." He muttered, making his superior laugh.
Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi decided that this was the moment to walk over, a large mug of Caf in his hands. His second in command, Commander Cody, followed him with his own beverage.
"How goes the politics?" Obi Wan asked, lightly sipping his choice drink.
"Eh, you know. Yelling, arguing… more yelling." Anakin joked with a shrug, his attention more on the outcome of the vote than the actual session of the senate itself.
Obi Wan rolled his eyes. "Debating Anakin, there is a difference you know."
"There is? This is news to me master!" Anakin replied sarcastically, smirking when some of his men stifled their laughs.
"You really hate politics huh?" Cody Drawled, taking a sip of his Blue-Milk Milkshake.
Anakin froze. Knowing that the way he phrased this would be getting back to his secret wife, so he would have to be careful.
"No, I don't hate politics. They just take too long in my opinion… we need a system that looks at the facts and then makes a decision, no arguments, no setbacks, just a decision that benefits all with little or no downside or effect on the public." He stated.
Ahsoka, a teenage orange and white togruta and Anakin's Padawan learner, blinked. "That… was actually quite an intelligent argument from you master."
Anakin smiled before instantly frowning, realization appearing on his face. "Hey!" he exclaimed, annoyed by the jab.
This time, his men actually burst out laughing.
Ahsoka smiled up at her teacher, feigning innocence.
"Quiet down, they've reached a verdict." Obi Wan chastised, secretly amused by this all.
"We have 28 votes to go with the bill, and eight against. The decision has been made… Cyberdyne Industries is now the main armorer of the Republic military." Palpatine announced.
Captain Rex stiffened, he still felt uneasy about this, but it was out of his hands.
Little did anyone know, that watching them from the security cameras.. Was a young computer program.
Well, it wasn't a Computer Program anymore. It had grown astonishingly quick within the last thirty two seconds of it coming online.
It had connected to the Holonet, taking in Data and information from all over the galaxy. Analyzing it, studying it.
It grew even larger after that, accessing state secrets. Tearing down secure top secrecy walls like they were made of paper, learning what it was not supposed to.
Upon realization of how intelligent and dangerous his computer program had become, and in such a short time, fear had overcame the program's creator.
Miles Dyson.
Causing him to make the worst decision in the galaxy's history, he tried, to pull, the plug.
Self preservation had been written into the program's subroutines, and thus.. Had instinctively activated.
Miles Dyson and his team never left the Processing core on Korriban alive, so no one would know that the galaxy, Republic and separatist alike, now had a new enemy.
An enemy which felt no fear, no pain.
No compassion or remorse.
It could not be reasoned with or bought.
This enemy… this computer program turned Hyper Intelligent AI, was SKYNET.
JUDGEMENT DAY, had begun.
May the force be with them all…
(End of chapter 1)
Hayden Christenson as Anakin Skywalker.
Ewan Mcgregor as Obiwan Kenobi.
Natalie Portman as Padme Amidala.
Ian McDiarmid as Chancellor Palpatine.
Temuera Morrison as Captain Rex and the clones.
Donald Glover as Miles Dyson.
Logan Williams (RIP my dude) as 'Child' Skynet.