Robonaut (Malosian)
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The Malosians, more commonly known as Robonauts, evolved from intelligent jellyfish-like creatures on the planet Malos. 'Robonaut' means 'robot sailor' and was a name given to them before it was realized that an organic being exists within their armored skin. Not only their appearance but also their behavior gave the impression on first contact that they were robots. Their gelatinous ancestors were well-adapted to their planet's cold oceans. However, their star (an F4 class yellow-white dwarf) was short-lived (with half the lifespan of the Sun) and when it entered the red giant stage the oceans of Malos rapidly evaporated. The Malosians adapted their biology, through genetic engineering, to survive on land. Their tentacles developed into limbs - indeed remove the gauntlet of a Malosian and you will find four tentacle-like digits, each terminating in a mouth. They also developed exoskeletons to assist their movement on land and to resist the hot and dry conditions. Urgently they took to the stars to escape their dying world. Unfortunately, however, the Malosians have no empathy at all and few feelings. Born from a desperate situation they act with paranoia toward all sentient life and, although not evil as such, they are a warlike conquering race.
The
firearm on the trooper's right arm is capable of launching plasma
balls or laser beams, depending upon fire mode. The manipulator on
the trooper's left arm is a power manipulator designed for strength
and for crushing. However, it can change shape to perform more
delicate tasks. A wide range of tools can replace the firearm and
manipulator.
These Robonaut beings are total drones, doing whatever is required to further their own species, and viewing other life-forms with paranoid contempt - considering all other life a potential threat to their own existence. Their entire militant industry is devoted to the singular purpose of gaining domination and exterminating all other life-forms. Driven by logic and apparently devoid of all emotion, they form a formidable and extremely dangerous 'machine' society.
The
exoskeletal armour is photoreactive and so can change colour and
pattern to match the environ and so camouflage the trooper. It also
has the ability to dissipate laser beams and can protect from
intense heat as well as the coldness and vacuum of space. The armour
can confer invisibility over a narrow band of wavelengths by causing
light to flow around the trooper without reflection, absorption or
refraction. The armour is an intelligent composite material that can
repair itself to some degree, though damaged modules are easily
replaced. The armour has a nanostructure that not even Erfavlin
technology has yet been able to duplicate and contains a superheavy
element that has yet to be produced on Earth.
This trooper can ruin twice as fast as a human without tiring. Its
reactions are much faster than those of most humans and it is as
strong as the strongest man. Its brain is programmed with weapons
skills, tactics and essential technical skills.
Above: Malos as it once was - a vibrant ocean planet with sub-zero
oceans. Its original name, given to it by the Robonaut ancestors, is
unknown.
Above: Malos as it is now - a blasted desert world orbiting a dying star. Malos, meaning 'bad' or 'ill' was the name given to this planet by Federation explorers. The Malosians simply designate Malos as planet 0001 and their own name for their species is unwritable, but in our language they have adopted the title given to them and call themselves Robonauts - meaning robotocised space beings.
Excessive stellar heating caused this world to lose its liquid hydrosphere - its atmosphere dried and thinned and its oceans evaporated, exposing a desert core. Once a paradisal world supporting a vast range of ocean life, including the intelligent 'Malosians', its struggling inhabitants became militarized, fighting over diminishing resources. In the end, one overlord emerged, a ruthless tyrant and psychopath, who genetically engineered the inhabitants and transformed them into an obedient race, with the overlord as the first Robonaut 'Emperor'. They developed armoured exoskeletons to protect them from their harsh environment and dispensed with their emotions.
Little
detail is available about Malos, except for the beamed log of the
first explorers to land upon it. Their ship, the explorer Quason-7
was one of a flotilla commissioned by the Symbraxis Corp to explore
the great GCN-7401 nebula for potential resources. Their ship
crash-landed on Malos, a planet on the far-side of the nebula,
following steering system failure. Marooned, the survivors
discovered a hostile and peculiar world. The terrain consisted
almost entirely of hot desert sand dunes blasted by intense stellar
radiation and stellar storms. At first the explorers found no
Robonauts. (The only Robonaut Malosian presence on the planet was a
handful of science facilities and military camps with shuttles
delivering supplies and troops.) However, they made contact with a
cyborg species, the Cephalotrons, hostile initially, these creatures
became allies to the stranded explorers. Apparently these beings,
consisting of little more than tentacled brains, were an off-shoot
of early genetic experiments by the Malosians on their own cells.
This form escaped from its laboratory and multiplied at a phenomenal
rate, utilizing technology that the Malosians had left on Malos. The
Cephalotrons possessed genius intellects, a legacy of their
genetically engineered progenitors. The explorers learned that the
planet was infested by several colonies of Ankaragi
insectoids, themselves marooned following a previous space battle.
These insectoids were being attacked and eliminated by the planet's
other indigenous population - the Robonauts, who had already largely
left the planet and colonized certain neighboring systems. The
stranded Ankaragi, despite their rapid reproduction rate, were
seemingly unable to prevail as their technological resources were
limited. Indeed, in the fullness of time the Robonauts
reverse-engineered Ankaragian technology and this was another
impetus to their rapid development.
The
Cephalotrons had a total resentment of the Robonauts and the two
species had previously engaged in total war - a war which saw Malos
sterilized almost completely. By the time that the crew of the
Quason made contact with them, the Cephalotrons were reduced to a
handful in number, but still they strove to sabotage the Robonaut's
experiments. The crew of the Quason never left Malos - they all
perished there, one-by-one. Shortly after the final log transmission
(sent by Engineer Stahl, the last crew survivor) Malos underwent a
second sterilization event as it became enveloped in neutron
radiation. Speculation has it that the last Cephalotrons sacrificed
themselves as they annihilated a Robonaut invasion fleet that
according to the log had landed to exterminate the Cephalotrons.
Apparently they activated some sort of doomsday device of unknown
origin (possibly a relic of earlier Malosian civilization). [The
Cephalotrons were so-called because of their massive cerebral
development and are not unlike the Cephalodomes (see below) who were
developed from the same genetic stock, with modifications to ensure
their obedience to the Robonaut cause.]
The Malosians are currently at war with the UGA (United Galactic
Alliance) and their industrial capacity and speed of technological
development pose great problems for the UGA. Malosians are totally
loyal to the cause of their empire and strive constantly to secure
their future survival by attempting to eliminate all sentient
life-forms that may be potential competition. This 'paranoia'
motivates the Malosians to engage in constant warfare. However,
survival is their primary aim, rather than war itself. It is not
clear how such a technological and intelligent race became so bent
on warfare. Perhaps this mentality is a result of their extensive
genetic engineering of their own genotype. With their highly
advanced technology, the Malosians represent the biggest threat
currently in the known galaxy. Initially it was thought that they
were simply carrying out the orders of their psychopathic Overlord
or Emperor, who immortalized his mind in their central computer
system, replacing old and worn out bodies like avatars of its
consciousness. However, it is now understood that having passed
through a computer system, the Overlord's mind did not emerge
unchanged and it is truer to say that the Robonauts are slaves to a
certain computerized logic centered on unquestionable assumptions.
Their command structure resolves any conflicts in decision-making,
but ultimately all Robonauts strive towards the same goal according
to the same basic rules.
Malosian troopers are formidable opponents in battle, but it is in
space where wars are lost and won. Control space and you have won
the war as planet after planet can be besieged at will. The Malosian
warfleets excel in combat. They have superb gunnery and fire control
and they have miniaturized many starship systems, allowing their
warships to carry a formidable array of weapons. They are also
experts in developing armored hulls. In short, their spacefleets are
formidable. The Malosian Black-Fire class dreadnoughts are the
backbone of the Malosian warfleets. These ships are more than a
match for anything that the UGA has.
Malosian evolution
The picture below
shows one of the Malosian ancestral forms - a tentacled jellyfish like
creature which lived in the ammonia oceans that once covered Malos.
These creatures later adapted to life on land, their brains enlarged
and the tentacles fused into two pairs of limbs, except at the distal
ends where the tentacles remained free, forming the digits. It is not
known for certain how far they evolved by natural means until their
own genetic engineering took over. The Malosians today are experts at
genetic engineering and organism design and manufacture (synthetic
biology or synbio). They have produced several morphological variants
of their own species. Some individuals still resemble the creature
below somewhat, and are used as brains to control cybernetic
appliances, including heavy war-borgs.
Below: a Malosian greeting: they used gestures and bioluminescence to supplementrapuid sequences of binary sounds when communicating.
Much of what we know about these ancestral forms comes from historic records retrieved by explorers from Malos and also by observations of their own generation plants and genetic make-up. Today, Malosians reproduce by artificial means, using temporal accelerators when sufficient power is available, to speed up development, and they are seen to pass through several embryonic stages thought to be recapitulations of their evolutionary ancestry (much as human embryos pass through a stage possessing pharyngeal slits, which are thought to be ancestral gill slits). One such embryonic form resembles the one above, but lacks tentacles and detaches discs from the conical column of discs underneath the bell, with each disc developing into a complete individual (a process known as polyembryony). Malosians have combined the genetic material from both genders into each individual (their cells are binucleate tetraploid). The ancestral forms soon became social creatures, using a combination of tentacle movements and bioluminescence to communicate, in addition to very low pitched infrasounds (below the threshold of human hearing).
Did
you know?
Proof
that the Malosians evolved from jellyfish-like ancestors became
apparent on the planet Tau-Draco 5. A small colony of Malosians
arrived on the planet, but shortly afterwards they began to notice
the strange effect of degeneration - they began to slowly evolve
backwards. They attempted to ensure their survival by constructing
temporal stasis fields around their base camp, with limited success.
They located the source as an alien device on the planet, which was
generating a sophisticated chronon-field that caused genetic
material to revert to its primordial state. Attempts to use Malosian
androids to deactivate the field were eventually successful, but by
this point all that remained of the colonists were blobs of jelly
that did not survive long on this desert planet.
Click here to view a Malosian timeline
Above: an early form of Malosian soldier caste. Having evolved into bipedal amphibious creatures, as the Malosian oceans slowly shrank, these troopers were genetically modified and bear lethal stinging tentacles. Some think their main role was in controlling the lower castes.
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Malosians
completed their adaptation to dry land and finally outer space by a
combination of biological and cybernetic engineering. With the aid
of their armored exoskeletons, which earned them the name of
Robonaut, they are even able to survive for prolonged periods in the
vacuum of space. (Malosian tissues contain extensive deposits of
silver in the form of Ag2+ organic complexes which can
act as the final electron acceptor in respiration without oxygen,
before eventually requiring oxygen to replenish them). They have
also undergone certain biological adaptations, strengthening the
skeleton, the original gelatinous/cartilaginous structures have been
replaced by secreted carbon polymers in a semi-crystalline array,
producing somewhat translucent plastic-like skeletal supports.
Strengthened muscles are attached to this skeleton, especially the
back muscles which have been strengthened for use on dry land. The
limb muscles consist of complex spirally arranged contractile
fibers. However, they are still vulnerable without their exoskeletal
armor, which enhances their toughness, speed and strength (and can
be modified with additional synthetic-muscle packs for increased
athleticism). This armor is almost totally impervious to super
high-velocity rifle rounds and gyrojet rockets and most kinetic
energy weapons. It also has the ability to reflect, absorb and
dissipate laser energy. Recently, better protection against proton
beam weapons has been incorporated, though such weapons are still
moderately effective against this armor.
Additional synthetic muscles are provided by the exoskeleton,
consisting of contractile polymers. The exoskeleton is continuous at
the joints and flexes according to electric currents flowing through
it, changing state between soft and pliable and rigid. Armored joint
capsules protect these electrosensitive areas. The exoskeleton is
equipped with a tactile sensor network and interfaces directly with
the brain by electromagnetic signals. The outer layers of the
skeleton are well insulated against electrical charges, giving
protection to the sensitive circuitry inside. A network of
unpolymerised liquid extends around the exoskeleton through special
fibers such that the armor is capable of repairing and remodeling
itself as needed (to some degree). Additional armor packs can also
be attached. A special polymer layer absorbs most radiation. The
color of the armor can be modified adaptively, allowing the Robonaut
to blend in to its environment. Inside the exoskeleton resides a
still somewhat gelatinous and translucent organism, reminiscent of
its jellyfish ancestry.
The nervous system consists of the large brain, with a helical
cortex divided into four main sectors or lobes. The cortical area is
considerable due to extensive folding. Four nerve cords extend from
the brain into the torso and to the four limbs, which are modified
tentacles. Each limb terminates in four tentacular digits. The
forelimbs retain a mouth at the end of each digit, which opens into
an esophageal canal. The four canals quickly fuse and travel along
the core of the arm, to the torso and abdomen where they enter the
gut. The gut is reduced to a single chamber, a four-lobed chamber
with motile villi. This chamber appears to secrete no enzymes, but
simply absorbs the nutrients that are supplied in pre-digested form.
Amino acid broth is the synthetic food source and this is taken into
the mouths by suction. The mouths in the hindlimb digits are
vestigial as this pair of tentacles no longer plays any role in
feeding. Alternatively, a port positioned in the back armor allows
nutrient broth to be directly injected.
Sensors are arranged in a sensory ring around the head. These
include eight indistinct eyes, arranged in 4 pairs around the ring,
and vibration sensors. The exoskeleton possesses a computerized ring
overlying this region which enhances the biological senses. Although
vision is through 360 degrees, it appears that only one pair of eyes
at a time can be given detailed processing from the brain, which is
able to switch its attention between the eyes.
Robonaut blood contains a manganese-based pigment and varies from
purple to pale-pink in color. Robonauts no longer require oxygen or
oxygen-containing nitrogen species for respiration, rather they
contain an energy-storing organ that occupies much of the thorax and
which can drive the redox reactions of the cells directly via the
manganese-pigment which changes oxidation state. As already
mentioned, Ag2+-complexes can function as final electron
acceptors in respiration. This organ requires periodic recharging
and stores tremendous amounts of energy that can power some weapon
systems, such as the laser sidearm that troopers and drones
frequently carry. Power belts can provide additional power if
needed. Malosian tissues have a high content of ammonia, which was
originally the main nitrogenous excretory product, initially
secreted into solution and then released as gas when the Malosians
adapted to life on dry land. They have taken this further,
minimizing the inconvenience of excretion, and now excrete solid
crystalline waste which is accumulated into large crystals in a
special gland. Digestive waste is minimal or non-existent since they
generally ingest nutritive broth only.
Above: these automated drones were encountered on Malos by the crew of the Quason. They are formidable opponents. They typically drilled into the sands of Malos and then emerged to attack without warning! They were armed with a 360-degree laser torus capable of firing in up to four different directions simultaneously and two heavy laser turrets, mechano-plasma drills, an anti-personnel defense screen, dust-storm generators, radiation screens and reflective hulls.
Above: a Robonaut facility infiltrated by a stealth probe. The giant vessel contains a modified Malosian which is little more that a giant tentacled brain (left). The facility is being run by Cephalodomes (see below).
Robonaut
society is purely functional. They appear to have no feelings or
emotions, being driven only by logical neural circuits. They do not
even feel pain as most sentient beings do, they are simply aware of
a prioritized response to take action to avoid damage. Their logic
is based on the flawed assumption that all other life-forms are
potential threats, either now or in the future, and must therefore
be eliminated or at least controlled. Each 'individual' is totally
devoted to the Robonaut cause, with a distinct hierarchical command
structure. Their commitment to industry is unsurpassed, and their
industry base is constantly expanding exponentially (apart from
set-backs from fighting so many wars with other life-forms).
How
did this race develop in this way? What went wrong? As already
explained, they came from the dying world Malos. In its prime this
planet supported a highly sophisticated and well-developed society,
with aesthetic principles and an appreciation of life, both their
own and that of others. However, when the crisis of their dying
world reached a critical phase, a small group of very wealthy
individuals unleashed an obedience virus. This virus genetically
reprogrammed the populace for obedience to the ruling clique and
their supreme emperor or overlord. Those individuals who escaped the
virus by natural means (by fate or by natural immunity) were
systematically destroyed in a civil war. This takeover was
facilitated by the commercialization of the planet - all science
research facilities and educational establishments were at one time
privatized. This meant that they worked for the sole service of the
large corporations whose trade secrets meant that science now became
a subject only for the selected esoteric few. Over time only a few
large corporations dominated, and their leaders formed the ruling
clique, with access to all available knowledge. When the virus was
unleashed, the populace had no detailed understanding of what was
causing the change in their behavior, not understanding the nature
of viruses or genetic manipulation, and so were unable to combat it,
they simply lacked access to medical research facilities and
scientific knowledge. Once subjugated, the populace was subjected to
more extensive genetic manipulation and cloning.
Of the ruling clique, they are now all almost certainly no more. The
last to perish was the Emperor, who was destroyed in the recent
UGA-Robonaut war (although it is thought that the last emperor was a
genetic clone of the original). It is now realized that the
'Emperor' was merely an avatar for the mind of the original overlord
imprinted into the central computer system, and ultimately, an
avatar of the computer system itself. This avatar has been replaced,
but we know understand that Robonauts today have a distributed
command structure, in which the local commanders act largely
independently, since Robonauts now all have the same core mindset
they have little need of an actual leader, they automatically work
together with computer brains to facilitate in decision-making.
Leaders function primarily to resolve computational dilemmas and
indecision, otherwise they seem to agree easily on a course of
action. However, recent intelligence reports suggest that the mind
of the last Emperor was again uploaded to a central computer
system/network and that his consciousness is now effectively
interminable, but fused with that of the core computer brains as a
composite consciousness. The emperor physically destroyed in the
last conflict may have simply been a local copy. In any case, his
destruction did not achieve the desired results of disrupting
Malosian command and integration.
Update
Computer
memory chips recently retrieved from the ruins of Malos have shed
more light on Robonaut evolution. The ruling clique that brought
about the final revolution was the Gralixin Tech Corp and its
political associates. Prior to the obedience virus, they used
mind-scanning techniques, microchip implants, surveillance and
draconian laws to gain control under the pretense of benevolence and
maintaining law and order. They encouraged sacrifice for the
'greater good' from the masses whilst giving less than they took for
themselves. Despite these measures, discontent grew within the
populace. It was at this stage that they unleashed the obedience
virus. This virus not only induced obedience in those infected, but
also induced developmental defects in which emotion was eradicated.
All that remained was to introduce a set of logical ideals, a set of
rules that governed all thought within the populace. The ruling
clique then proceeded to plot against itself and one-by-one each was
eliminated, until only one individual remained as supreme ruler of
the Robonaut race.
This leader was to become Robonaut Emperor as the Malosians spread
throughout space. He (we refer to this individual as masculine for
convenience, although by this point gender was irrelevant as all
Robonauts were produced by synthetic means and bioengineered for
various functions) arranged for his own effective immortality, by
uploading his mind into the Robonaut central computer net, allowing
his continual 'reincarnation' by downloading his mind-print into
replacement bodies. However, we now know that all did not go exactly
as planned. The computer net corrupted his psyche with the logical
code of conduct and after several download cycles the Emperor ceased
to have emotions of his own and also became a slave to the same
computerized logic that enslaved the minds of the Malosian race. Now
this logical code is the true ruler of the Robonauts, who can
continue to function in the absence of a bodily emperor - they have
a hierarchy of command intended to resolve indecision, but otherwise
all Robonauts have the same driving motives and this binds them
together as a selfless machine. Their emperor is now simply a
computer AI or avatar.
What are these 'logical' ideals? Put simply: to ensure the survival
of the Robonaut race at all costs, in particular by eradicating,
when possible, other life forms that pose a potential threat in the
present or in the potential future. Their programmed but powerful
minds housed within advanced bioengineered brains strive
relentlessly towards this goal.
Robonaut
Battle Tactics
So,
what should one do if being attacked by Robonaut troopers? Fighting
a pitched battle in the open is usually the worst course of action,
unless one is protected by a field of anti-proton mines or
accompanied by a force of the latest battle droids with lightning
reactions. However, unless you have rapid transportation then it is
unlikely you shall outrun them. Robonauts will usually send in
probes to ascertain an opponent's strengths and then, if they
perceive their foe to be readily beatable, they will charge at very
high speed, using their agility, armour, shields and remarkable
reaction speed to overwhelm enemy positions, assisted by a variety
of particle-beam weapons. If the enemy is perceived to be in too
strong a defensive position then they will launch micro-satellites
to bombard enemy positions from high altitude with particle beam
weapons and they may send in sacrificial shatter-droids. These
automated mobile weapon platforms may move by means of mechanical
legs or anti-gravitation and are designed to deliver very intensive
but short-lived bursts of firepower, whilst employing sonic devices
and other psychological weapons designed to disorient the electric
or neural circuitry of opponents.
Once
positioned strategically, shatter-drones will detonate if and when
their fire-power is nearing depletion. Fortified positions may also
be fired upon with smart gyrojet projectile weapons - powerful
armor-piercing bullets which select and home-in on their targets.
Troopers may then storm positions at high-speed, whilst the enemy is
still disoriented. If needed, then reinforcements may be brought to
the front-line with tremendous speed, for example in transport pods
(a pod 10 m by 2 m may carry 16 troopers) which are clocked for
invisibility and travel by anti-gravity levitation or, on more
difficult terrain, on mechanical legs. The former may reach speeds
of about 1000 kph, the latter 400 kph (less on difficult terrain).
If heavier firepower is required, then they may deploy heavy
battle-robots or firepower from an orbiting starship.
Robonauts are not invincible, however. Any means of slowing down
their charging troopers will give the enemy valuable time to react.
Corridors and barricades will slow them down, allowing multiple hits
against each trooper (most small arms require multiple hits to
penetrate Robonaut armor). Inertial force fields have proven
effective in this respect. Heavy proton cannons are perhaps the most
effective infantry weapon for penetrating Robonaut defensive screens
and armor, and if set-up to deliver a crossfire this can be an
effective defense.
The
Robonauts were defeated in the battle of Taros-Minor by the
development of a neural toxin which effected Malosian
neurotransmission, however, the Roboanuts have since developed
counter-measures to this. The latest war-bots, such as the Cybex warbot 7000 series are effective against
Robonauts, but expensive. Fire support from orbiting warships will
certainly slow their advance, though Robonaut units are typically
equipped with a number of micro-satellites which can be rapidly
launched by microwave beams and long-range heavy lasers, but these
can not match the firepower of a heavy warship. However, Robonaut
warships are formidable and it is best to avoid pitched space
battles with them. Robonaut troopers will begin to lose their
advantages in a prolonged battle without supplies. Their power-banks
and ammunitions will eventually drain, forcing them to rely on more
basic weaponry, such as laser blades and electro-knives, though
their great strength and agility makes melee with Robonaut troopers
extremely dangerous. When their power-banks drain they will also
slow down to more modest speeds. Robonauts feel no pain as such
(they can sense damage but will react logically towards it) and if
damaged then they may retreat or continue fighting as they judge
appropriate, until their total destruction if need be, however, they
will slow when damaged. Sonic mines and sonic grenades may damage
their soft tissues without breaching their armor, although their
armor has a damping system to defend against such weaponry however
these weapons can be useful in slowing them down.
Will
the Robonauts prevail?
Some
may question the UGA directives to destroy beings like the Arcturans
and Malosians, claiming that makes us no better than them. However,
one has to be pragmatic. Robonauts are programmed with the
unshakable belief that their ensured ultimate survival depends on
destroying all other sentient beings. They may form transient
treaties and coexist peaceable with others for a time, but only
until they have the advantage. They can not be trusted and can not
be reasoned with since their logical processes are poisoned by the
single premise that war is the only path to ultimate survival.
Though the UGA never delights in destruction, there is nothing
to be gained by sympathizing with the Malosians. Their power must be
kept in check. Cronodon is now, of necessity, instrumental in
helping to ensure this. Cronodon is reaching out across the galaxies
in an attempt to contact new civilizations so as to forge new
alliances. Only by such an alliance can the Universe be assured of a
future for its many inhabitants. There are those who believe that
the Robonauts will one day dominate the known Universe, whilst
others are more optimistic: waging war without necessity surely has
only one ultimate result - destruction! The Robonaut philosophy is
fundamentally flawed. Even if they destroy the UGA, Cronodon and
planets like Earth, then others will stand against them. The
Universe is too vast to ever be conquered and those who make war on
all and sundry will surely find themselves eventually defeated.
Robonaut
invasion of Earth?
Attacking
a heavily populated planet is never a simple matter, even one as
technologically primitive as the Earth. Earth is far away in space,
far from the Malosians and it is unlikely they would be interested
in such a remote and primitive planet. Had Earth been much closer,
then perhaps they would absorb it into the boundaries of their
empire by natural colonization. However, let us suppose that the
Robonauts saw a future timeline in which Earthlings developed at
such a rate that they posed a potential threat, albeit probably
small, and decided to nip the problem 'in the bud'. How might
they dispose of Earthlings and how might Earthlings resist? To begin
with, such a potential threat would probably be low priority to the
Robonauts, and so it is improbable that a spacefleet will arrive to
sterilize the surface of the Earth, unless the planet happened to be
in their flight path. Instead, they would probably dispatch a single
assault scout: a small warship some 30 meters in length, perhaps
carrying a hundred troops and 10 warbots. It would be cloaked, so
that earth-bound sensors are highly unlikely to detect it. It would
have the capacity to manufacture perhaps a hundred more troopers. If
a longer mission was planned, then the warship might be accompanied
by a small mining craft to mine the Moon for resources to enable
more troops and warbots to be manufactured.
It is possible this warship will simply begin a full-scale assault ,
but alternatively they may simply release neural-control agents to
target key leaders. This may require intelligence-gathering, perhaps
dispatching a landing-party or probe by stealth to conduct thorough
biological analyses of Earthlings in order to understand their
biology. Additionally, based upon a detailed computer analysis of
intercepted Earth transmissions whilst the warship was approaching
from light-years away, key leaders could be identified and their
most likely locations ascertained. They may then release small
robots, resembling Earth insects, but each capable of injecting an
intelligent neural control agent of biological nature. This
bioengineered organism would grow as a network around the brain,
rewiring itself until it achieved its desired aim of taking control.
If successful, then they would simply redirect the future history of
Earth development, suppressing technological innovation and keeping
Earth trapped in a primitive state. However, there is always the
risk that a detailed brain scan may reveal the neural agent.
Let us consider the option of an all-out assault. This may follow a
failed attempt to gain control of world leaders, for example, or it
may simply be to save time - the longer the warship remains engaged
in orbit, the more this resource is detracted from other potential
missions. Such an assault may be preceded by an attempt to
assassinate world leaders and military generals. Again, insect-like
robots or bioengineered organisms would be programmed to identify
and locate key leaders. Upon locating a target they would inject a
lethal toxin, perhaps a tailor-made neural toxin. Only by retreating
beforehand to a bunker, secure enough to stop a cockroach getting
in, and staying there for at least a year, might these leaders be
safe. Alternatively, the Robonauts may rapidly interrupt
communications by destroying all communications satellites (which
could be done in about 20 minutes at most) and severing oceanic
cables and jamming radars. This strategy is risky as it will raise
the alarm and would be timed to coincide with an attacking force.
Troopers would land in shuttles, using invisibility cloaks. One or
two troopers may be dispatched to each key government establishment
to gain control or destroy them. Likely targets include the White
House, the EU Parliament and the Houses of Parliament in
Westminster. At the same time, three or four troopers might be
dispatched to each key military base, attacking at speed, using
invisibility. Even if the invisibility was foiled (such as by
broad-spectrum computer-enhanced detection hardware, or simply by
using paint bombs) the Robonaut troopers would still be formidable.
Moving at great speed and with great agility they would likely
over-run most bases within a couple of hours. Heavy machine guns and
anti-tank missiles and rockets may subdue a Robonaut trooper, but
they would have to be brought to bear en mass. Tank guns could
potentially work, but it would be very hard to hit a target moving
as fast and with such agility as a Robonaut trooper, which would aim
to initially knock out a tank's sensors before delivering multiple
blows to the rear, where the tank's armor is weakest.
If a
well-equipped base organized itself fast enough and the Robonauts
found themselves overwhelmed, then they may utilize one of their
warbots. Even if one such warbot was surrounded by a thousand
armored units, then it would probably destroy a hundred of these
before being overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of fire. Rapid-fire
laser bombardment from the mothership in orbit could also rapidly
destroy ten or so armored units in a single volley, and within a
second of their detection. Attacking aircraft can be similarly dealt
with. Attack helicopters could potentially destroy a Robonaut
trooper, but again they would probably struggle against such an
agile target, but if necessary, warbots or space-ground support
would destroy them rapidly. It would take a massive coordinated
missile strike to breach a warbot's anti-missile defenses. Robonaut
troopers would use proton cannons and warbots to break down any
tough defenses, such as the partitioning walls and security doors of
the Pentagon.
Realistically, some bases may manage to thwart such an attack. They
might simply overwhelm the enemy with vastly superior numbers, or
entrap the enemy by means of high explosives or ingenuity. Those
that remained a viable threat would be dealt with by shore
bombardment from the orbiting warship, but this would take time. If
successful in eliminating government offices, communications and key
military bases, then the Robonauts would likely give the Earth an
ultimatum to surrender or face annihilation. If the earth
surrendered then it would be prevented from developing free-thinking
science and instead its resources would be funneled into
manufacturing equipment for the Robonaut's to secure their position
and rapidly reproduce and strengthen their position. Earth people
might carry on almost as normal for a time, but sooner or later the
entire planet would be subjugated into slavery and maybe the human
race would be exterminated when the Robonauts were in sufficient
number to accomplish this with relative ease.
If, however, Earth refused to submit, then the Robonauts would
unleash phase two of the assault - massive chemical and biological
warfare, or they may be economical and simply hold Earth to ransom
with its own nuclear warheads from captured silos. Perhaps the Earth
would consider launching its own nuclear warheads, either targeted
to the mothership or tactical warheads targeted at captured
establishments. The former might buy time, but the missiles would be
too slow to breach the mothership's anti-missile laser defenses. If
necessary the mothership would outrun any missiles while its laser
battery picked them off (in rapid fire mode) or until they detonated
or ran out of fuel to maneuver. A strike against Robonaut held
establishments would be more effective, though collateral damage
would be considerable. However, remember that the small assault
scout mothership can manufacture a second waves of troopers in a
matter of days and by now they would be standing by and Earth would
likely still have no means of locating any shuttle craft for
interception. There is a small chance, however, that the attack
would be successfully repulsed, in which case the Robonauts would
likely resort to weapons of mass destruction, such as biological
weapons or by calling reinforcements for neutron bombardment.
Above: a synthetic life-form or bioid.
Designed
for Dalion's dim star-light, the organism and its spores lacked
screening pigments. Once they realized this, the inhabitants could
set-up sterilized areas protected by screens of UV light, whilst UV
lasers were able to destroy the motile spore-carriers. Remaining
cities could now be protected. Eventually the remaining spores will
lose their viability, but large regions of the planet presently
remain uninhabitable.
Would Earth survive such a biological attack? Robonaut's also have
no qualms about using chemical weapons. They would be quite prepared
to poison any planet they did not wish to inhabit themselves,
perhaps with polonium-warheads. What about radiation? A small
warship does not carry enough nuclear warheads to irradiate an
entire planet, but if the Earth was still considered a potential
threat and had resisted all these attacks, then the Robonauts would
simply commit more resources to the problem. Perhaps they would
assign a single light-cruiser, fitted for planetary attack, clearly
a valuable warship they would not detach from fleet maneuvers
lightly, but still less than 1% of their fleet's resources. Such a
vessel could bring its neutron batteries to bear, irradiating some
20 square kilometers of the Earth's surface each second in acutely
lethal neutron radiation, and ten times that area would receive
doses of radiation lethal in a day or two (by which time much of the
neutron radiation will have decayed). Rapid fire laser batteries
could also destroy whole cities by creating fire-storms. Earth's
only option at this stage would be to issue a distress call, but
with radio waves traveling no faster than light, who would hear such
a distress call in time, so far away in space?
the
Malosians do not believe in relying on single technologies (they
deem this a potential weakness) and perhaps because they consider
them part of themselves. Malosians are ever inventive in discovering
different ways of doing things. An alternative theory points to
Cephalodome history and suggests that they are a species in their
own right existing in symbiosis with the Robonauts. Early explorers,
crash-landing on the planet Malos, found a dry, barren and desert
planet blasted by catastrophic climate change and past wars as their
old civilzation collapsed to be replaced by the new. Not all was at
peace, however, in this radiated wasteland. These space explorers
encountered a remnant of an opposing force: Cephalodome-like
organisms, products of early Malosian bio-engineering
experimentation before they settled on their final form. These
creatures had escaped from Robonaut laboratories intent on one
purpose: to destroy the compassionless Robonauts. These early
Cephalodomes (called Cephalotrons by early explorers) retained
essentially normal emotions, including empathy, and saw the threat
posed to all sentient life by the newly space-faring Robonauts.
Above: a Cephalodome. These curious creatures were originally thought to be a different race allied to the Robonauts. Indeed, their genetics are appreciably different, but they have common ancestry and have been produced by genetic engineering. They consist of a massive brain, covered by a thin membrane, equipped with a small conical trunk and a number of tentacles. This one is inside a typical exoskeleton, but others are embedded inside various machines which they operate. They were reportedly an early experiment in genetic engineering.
These rebels were vastly outnumbered, but with their enhanced brains they were immensely inventive and somehow persisted despite Robonaut attempts to exterminate them. That said, they were sometimes overlooked; as the Robonauts were moving out from Malos, colonizing space, so their homeworld was now of reduced importance. Finally facing annihilation, the last remaining rebels apparently activated a neutron missile which had been part salvaged from the arsenal used in past civil-wars on Malos (competition grew as natural resources evaporated and also not all factions yielded peacefully to the mind-control virus) and part manufactured. The result was yet another great irradiation of Malos. Many Robonauts perished and so did the last of the rebel Cepahlotrons.
The Robonauts perfected their bio-engineering, and despite these costly failures a stable form of organic brain was engineered and even given the task of running many essential systems, whilst Robonauts concentrated on warfare with other planets. Some analysts hypothesize that the Cephalodomes, despite losing the emotions which had caused their 'instability', had nevertheless infiltrated the Robonaut computer network and reprogrammed it to make themselves acceptable to Robonauts. Now both Malosian variants coexist and continue to function together seamlessly. Robonauts have since generated and experimented with other biological variants of themselves.Update
Analysis of computer memory banks retrieved from the ruins of Malos by a recent covert reconnaissance has revealed new information regarding the development of the Cephalodomes and their relations to the Robonauts. Robonaut tissues generally consist of syncitia of binucleate units. It turns out that one of these nuclei was derived from a separate organism that fused with the ancestor of the Robonauts to form a chimera. Malosian genetic engineers experimented with separating the two nuclei and reconstructing missing functions (in part with the help of cybernetics) as both nuclei had degenerated through the course of evolution as they became dependent on one another's functions. The result of separating out the second nucleus and cloning it was the Cepahlotron race. In Robonauts today the second nucleus is largely synthetic, encoding functionality added by Malosian synbio engineers.
The Malosians continued to experiment with the Cephalotrons as they considered them as belonging to their own race, but in the context of an inferior caste. Following the Cepahlotron rebellion, Malosians continued their experiments and eventually generated the Cephalodomes as a separate caste. It is not entirely clear why Robonauts continue the Cephalodome line, but possibly they simply consider them a part of themselves or perhaps they still have some need of their considerable intelligence.
Article updated: 25 Sep 2015, 27 Nov 2021