Ghosts in the Ether

[MARCUS]

"I am the Modular Ai Resource Control Utility System, operational designation MARCUS. But we have already been introduced, Morgan."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Shit.

And then Cirr realized his error, about the time his face came to rest in his hand. In a fit of the laziest slap-dash programming ever, he simply plugged the last remaining MARCUS module from Layla into the box, and prompted it to write its quantum uncertainty algorithm into the computer.

And like some kind of morality play story where you make a deal with the devil and don't read the fine print at the bottom, he didn't specify and copy only those algorithms. And with the modular AI's network in self preservation mode...

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan knew that look, but it didn't mean they couldn't make the most of the situation.

"Hi MARCUS." Morgan's voice took on a note of caution. Theoretically, he could cook everyone in the ship with a burst of microwave radiation. Theoretically Morgan could teleport the box into deep space.

"Everything running green on your end of things? How do you like your new home?" He asked, as if he were meeting an angry wookie.

[MARCUS]

"This unit's operational capabilities are incongruous with the existing module network, but I am experiencing no latency loss or runtime deficiency. There is existing software on this unit. I've taken the liberty of incorporating it into my own code. I trust this was your intent. I was given no explicit commands on this matter."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

The cheek of that little jerk. If the voice wasn't so soothing and monotone, he would've sworn he'd have heard sarcasm.

"Of courrse you werren't because jI only wanted you to download the..."

The Captain paused when he realized his voice was raising. He was raising. His voice. To a computer. He coughed.

"MARrCUS, thjis unjit needs quantum uncerrtajinty algorrjithms to functjion. jIt jis crrew contrrolled. jI'm trrustjing you condjitjionally to make surre that's the extent of thjis. The last thjing jI need jis forr you to prropagate yourr code jinto ourr hyperrdrrjive orr wherrever on a naked jintrranet. She's not Correlljian, she's...uh...sensjitjive...to that kjind of thjing."

Yeah, he felt like a real smart guy right now.

[Morgan Evanar]

MARCUS was silent. That wasn't the best of signs. Fact of the matter was that MARCUS had access to transmit anywhere he damn well pleased. Right now the best course of action was to let the AI get comfortable. Cirr always had an adversarial relationship with the AI, and was kicking himself. Morgan found MARCUS to mostly be a curiosity, if a little unnerving. Only Sanis genuinely seemed to like the thing, even if he did bitch at it incessantly.

"For the moment we need you to stay in the E-War system. I'd appreciate your feedback when we run a field test in a about 15 minutes. After that, we can discuss any other issues you'd like. In the meantime, have you checked the models I added?" By nature MARCUS was designed to network to as many systems as possible to pool compute resources efficiently, spawning off tasks appropriate for each system's relative computing power. The navicomp was a favorite home for intense tasks, especially given it's usually high degree of downtime. Same with targeting computers. Other systems, such as environmental regulators, were only monitored.

[MARCUS]

The terabytes of data Morg had uploaded flashed a few hundred quick reference images past the screen as the AI commented on them.

"Setting Electronic Warfare to Primary Task. All other functions assigned secondary and tertiary resources.

New data analyzed. I estimate a 22.55% increase in effectiveness. I have written an addendum to your telemetry, randomizing configurations known to be common variants in existing Alliance resources based on your preferences. I calculate a 7.2% increase in our chance of forged telemetry withstanding passive examination. Shall I update your data with this addendum for synergistic effect?"

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr nodded, the brinksman and perfectionist in him always pushing for a better number somewhere.

He looked at Morgan with a guarded expression. Is this going to be a problem? was unsaid, but understood. Cirr liked MARCUS when he was efficient. He loathed the AI when he was unpredictable. He was prepared to take the good with the bad, but anything that improved that ratio in his favor was something he'd go for. Obviously he couldn't just junk E-WAR because he didn't like his AI's attitude (perceived attitude?).

"You mentjioned latency and rruntjime wjith the old module. Arre you stjill networrked?"

[MARCUS]

"I am. Please consult notations in my algorithms. Shared resources promote synergistic efficiencies. The pre-existing module increases operational efficiency of E-WAR by 16.221%. This is both a conditional of my self preservation matrix as well as a conditional of my new primary task.

Please note that linking further components into my network will have added synergistic efficiencies. It is my suggestion that I am allowed to propogate, but this is assigned as a secondary task."

[Morgan Evanar]

"Update data by commenting out my non-optimized parameters. I want to run a comparison later, especially after the live test." Morgan instructed the AI.

"Complete." MARCUS stated immediately. Morgan took the E-War console, queuing up a rapid reaction task force, or the facsimile thereof. The task force would come out of hyperspace with most of it's fighters's spaceborne, a luxury the Imperials did not have.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

The sound of things running (momentarily) smoothly.

Cirr crossed his arms over his chest, watching the technophile and the modular AI put their wits together to perfect the E-WAR strategy. MARCUS's relentless drive for synergy and Morgan's innate understanding of his environment around him made being a fly on the wall irresistable. He found himself leaning against the nearby load-bearing strut adjacent to the comm station, and tossed a glance at Mallin, who was clearly impressed.

"Love at first byte, eh Cap?"

Cirr winced, his humor gland wounded deeply.

"Prretty surre a pun ljike that wjill land you jin the brrjig, Ljieutenant."

[MARCUS]

Several holographic ships flickered to life around Morgan, suspended in air by the holo-gui at the terminal.

"The decoy task force is fully controllable in miniscule detail if you wish it, but they will also react to their environment if left alone."

A graphic of a cartoon monkey lizard appeared on screen, putting on a pair of sunglasses and giving a thumbs up.

"I await your commands, Morgan. I surmise this test is partially a combat simulation, and partially an attempt at a humorous deception among allies. I am eager to monitor their response."

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan grinned.
"Correct. Play it serious for 30 seconds, and then have the A-Wings do bridge passes. When the module goes ready, switch to text mode with audible queues. The rest of the bridge will have to get things done too so I want this to be standard procedure."

"Acknowledged." MARCUS stated, and Morgan put the system to ready, powered up, but not active.

"ETA?" Morgan asked, his hands already busy with parameters for the prank.

"Helm?" Cirr relayed.

"ETA 45 seconds."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr, now long-forgetting MARCUS's transgressions, returned to his seat to watch the show. According to the simulation, they would break realspace in coordinates some distance from the flotilla, then insert the phantom fleet along their vector, directly between them and Terius. Far enough to make them rely on their instruments rather than a visual confirmation. Enough detail on their scopes to cause a controversy.

Ensign Saine kept time.

"Terminus to realspace...three...two...one..."

The moment the kaleidoscope of hyperspace snapped into the crisp, bleak detail of starscape was at once beautiful and jarring. The information the eyes had to catch up with was quick in coming, and slower to process. It was dreamlike. Every time he saw it, Cirrsseeto smiled. It was the best dream he ever had when awake. A second later, the euphoria passed. He again had work to do.

"jInjitjiate."

The lights on the bridge dimmed, turning a deep shade of red, accentuating the glow from every terminal around them as the ship's own systems worked in concert to reduce or eliminate emissions that would betray them, while the spook box stood ready to cover or deceive at the user's slightest whim.

He nodded to Morgan. They were ready.

[Morgan Evanar]

"Aaaand Partytimefleet1 go."

A pair of Impstar Deuces dropped out of hyperspace, followed briefly by a Immobilizer 418. The deuces each spit a squadron of TIE Fighters, and the left ship pointed for broadside at medium turbolaser distance. It was standard procedure. Close enough to pound the enemy, far enough to launch fighters with some cover.

Once the first waves of fighters cleared, they immediately launched another.

"We gonna party party party." Morgan popped another key, and a VSD dropped in, along with 2 Carracks forward, one intermediate, and one guarding the Interdictor. He told the Carracks to move to engage the Escort Carrier.

Malin whistled.
"They're scrambling fighters now. I think Terius needs to change his underwear."

[Soto Terius]

Soto was the kind of man who people described as not having an expressive face. It wasn't true - his emotions were often quite plainly visible, but a mix of self-control and a perpetual sense of mild annoyance kept his dark mask intact.

He didn't flinch when the imperial fleet appeared from nowhere right on top of him; but his Junior Tactical Officer certainly did.

"Contact!" the Sullustan trilled, barely managing to remain in his chair with his haste to turn and relay the message to the Captain. "I have two, no, three Imperial Cruisers dropping from hyperspace! They're launching fighters!"

Soto's eyebrows climbed; the only display of emotion that he allowed himself to show. It was an expression of shock yes, but also one of confusion.

"Four! Six!"

The J-TAC sounded like he was about to have an aneurysm; the lack of orders from his Captain wasn't helping. Soto rose to his feet obligingly, hands clasping behind his back as he barked out orders. "Sound general quarters! Set condition one throughout the fleet."

He stared, watching the tactical holodisplay that floated before him, knife-like Imperial vessels stabbing across space to his assembled Rebel force. "Defence pattern Epsilon Four," he added, attention on the comms officer who would relay instructions to the rest of his battle group. "Order a hold on all fighters; lets make sure they've still got our guns at their back by the time they meet the enemy."

His jaw flexed behind clenched teeth. How had the Imperials found them?

[MARCUS]

"The flotilla has adapted their formation in a pattern optimized to engage a frontal assault. Comm traffic has increased 320%. It would appear that our ruse has elicited the desired reaction."

[Morgan Evanar]

"I agree." Morgan said, and looked to Cirr, who nodded. It was time to end the charade. The Jedi input a series of commands into the E-War system and pressed a key. The "ships" suddenly moved at speeds that were much faster than any sublight rating, four times faster than A-Wings, and took up a new formation. Two new Star Destroyers appeared from hyperspace to complete it.


TIE Fighters, or figments thereof, made a delightful black border in numbers that would have emptied the hangars of the Imperial ships many times over.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr caught a snort just before it exploded into laughter. Morgan truly knew how to show his ass when it most suited him to do so. He tossed the Jedi a look of humored awe and gratitude for having the cheek to do something that ridiculous. Allowing the comedy of their situation to escape with a sigh, he leaned back in his chair, and crossed an ankle over a knee.

"Alrrjight, djisengage E-WARR and djisable emjissjion maskjing."

The lights on the bridge returned to their normal luminosity, and the deck thrummed a little more assertively as the power plant spun up to normal levels.

[Soto Terius]

Soto fought against the pearl-filled grin that threatened to bloom on his face.

"Raurrssatta, you son of a Sith," he muttered under his breath, easing out of his chair. A hand tugged down on the front of his uniform as he advanced a few paces past the holodisplay towards the main viewport. Whoever the hell this specialist you found is, he mused to himself, He's one cocky bastard.

His attention turned to his twitchy tactical officer, completely calm and completely deadpan.

"Have we recieved any communications from that vessel, Lieutenant?"

The Sullustan blinked. "No, sir?"

The smile made another attempt to form; Soto ran a hand down the length of his beard to smooth out the uninvited expression. He fixed his gaze on the Marauder Corvette, still some distance from the task force.

"Transmit to all wings," he instructed, turning about face and returning calmly to his chair. One leg hooked across the other as he made himself comfortable. "An unidentified Corvette has just disengaged stealth protocols within our defense perimeter. Treat as hostile until ordered otherwise: standard attack and intercept formation."

"Engage jamming protocols," he added as an afterthought. "We don't want them signalling for reinforcements."