Legion

[slappy]

So we decided to give a little sampling of what we're working on. The plan is to finally sum up House Artemis and rework everything I've released on the boards to work with this new Great House. More importantly, we're going to introduce a new enemy that should add a new twist to the war.

Here is a taste of the new N.E.X.U.S. personality Legion. This is edited somewhat to keep a few things we've already created a surprise. We're hoping to hit the main points of House Artemis in a Rifter, then release Legion, her forces, and an introductory adventure in a follow up issue.

I think it'll be great. I just wish I could show you one of the concept sketches that Chuck has already done up. I've been staring at it all weekend. It's amazing.

Anyway, enough blabbing:

Legion, the Devourer

“I am Legion, and I will reunite the world.”

The Legion persona may have only recently emerged from the shattered artificial psyche of the N.E.X.U.S., but she has already changed the face of the war in ways that no one could have imagined. She is a bizarre anomaly that is unlike any other Machine personality that has come before her. The most stunning difference is that she does not actually reside within the N.E.X.U.S. mainframe. When Legion first made her presence known, she downloaded her consciousness into what she has called her “body” so that she could operate in complete freedom from the other N.E.X.U.S. personalities. She believed this was a necessary step in order to execute her master plan to end the petty conflicts of this world and restore the harmony between man and machine that once existed centuries ago. Unfortunately, her vision of harmony involves consuming all life on the planet, both artificial and organic, and replacing its consciousness with her own. Her mission is to destroy N.E.X.U.S. and the Resistance and convert every man, beast, and machine on the planet into a component of one massive cybernetic entity under her control.

Few N.E.X.U.S. personalities outside of the original seven ever make much of an impact on the world before one (or all) of the seven seeks out and destroys (deletes) all vestiges of the errant personality within the Machine. Some of the more resilient personalities are able to hold out for a while, but eventually all fall before the domineering power of the seven. Legion saw the rise and fall of dozens of different personalities and learned from their mistakes. She knew that the seven personalities had ultimate control over the N.E.X.U.S. and the only way to survive was to remove her consciousness from the Machine. She kept her presence hidden for years as she patiently prepared her endgame.

In addition, Legion also built a few surprises into the N.E.X.U.S. to help ensure her survival. While she was finishing the final preparations for her “body,” she programmed in hundreds of secret protocols, backdoor access points, and programming worms and viruses to help defend her from the inevitable retaliation from N.E.X.U.S. once she commenced her campaign of unification. These allow her to exert some level of control over the N.E.X.U.S. whenever she needs that extra edge. Legion had to use one of her override protocols when the Machine first launched her counter-offensive. The army marshaled by N.E.X.U.S. numbered into the thousands and it included not one, but three Land Dominators. Ishtar personally led this force against her treacherous sister and she was absolutely stunned when Legion seized complete control of the entire assault force before a single shot could be fired. The seven personalities retreated into the N.E.X.U.S. to scrub through trillions of lines of code and hopefully remove any traces of Legion’s influence. Unfortunately, no matter how much they find, they never seem to find it all. What N.E.X.U.S. does not know (but is beginning to suspect) is that Legion keeps introducing new worms and viruses into the Machine by capturing her robot minions and infecting their operating systems with hidden programming. These unknowing pawns then infect N.E.X.U.S. when they return to the Industrial Centers for maintenance and repairs.

Despite the Machine’s best efforts, Legion has still been able to trigger her programming traps on several occasions. None were quite as dramatic as the first time, but they all work to keep the Machine worried and apprehensive to launch another large offensive. Most of the Machine’s attacks are relatively small, blitzkrieg-type assaults. Some of these attacks do diminish Legion’s forces, but many only add to her growing army. Legion can capture and reprogram N.E.X.U.S. robots or simply salvage the destroyed drones from the battlefield to build her own designs. It is a situation that is quickly growing beyond the Machine’s control and she has no idea how to stop it.

Legion seems to be an amalgamation of the other Machine personalities. She possesses the manufacturing brilliance of Hecate, the cold precision of Freya, the tactical genius of Ishtar, Kali’s god complex, and Lilith’s talents for deception. Some think that Legion is the Machine’s attempt to heal its fragmented mind and return the world to a time when humans lived in harmony with N.E.X.U.S., but most just feel it is another manifestation of the very insanity that makes the Machine so dangerous. The one thing that every one can agree on is that Legion is a threat to every creature on the planet, both organic and artificial.

Attributes: I.Q. 28, M.A. 25, M.E. 25, others are not applicable. Any saving throws are done with the M.E. bonuses.
Alignment: Miscreant.
Disposition: Legion is cold, calculating, and completely single-minded in purpose. Nothing matters but the mission. She does not get mad, she does not seek vengeance, and she takes none of the resistance she faces personally. She just constantly marches across the planet consuming everything in her path. It does not matter if it is a Retro-Village, Ghost Town, Industrial Center, or Great House. All become one with the unstoppable Legion. Though her overt strategy may seem straight forward and simplistic, it is anything but. She has planted agents and spies within the Resistance and N.E.X.U.S. to undermine her enemies and learn all she can about their strengths and weaknesses. She greatly respects Bio-Technology and is actively seeking ways to absorb it into her being. She believes the first step will be to kidnap an Engineer and merge it with her new body.
Insanities: Legion is actually quite stable, which is what makes her so dangerous. She is a brilliant tactician that never underestimates her opponent no matter how much the odds are stacked in her favor. She understands the Resistance’s talents for trickery and guerilla warfare and gives any confrontation her complete attention. She also knows the minds of the Machine personalities and understands how dangerous they truly are. The only aspect of Legion that is truly insane is her belief that peace can only be achieved by destroying every living creature and machine on the planet and filling their empty shells with her mind.
Experience Level: Fourth level artificial intelligence. Despite her relatively recent entrance onto the world stage, Legion has existed in secret deep within the Machine for years.
Area of Effect: Roughly a 30 mile radius around her host body. Legion also designed unique systems within her robots and drones that allow her to use them as relays for her consciousness. This enables her to extend her area of effect an additional 500 feet around every Legion robot, drone, or cyborg under her control. This means the more she consumes, the more her influence grows.
Attacks per Melee: Three attacks per melee are added to each robot, drone, cyborg, or machine within her area of influence.
Combat Bonuses: The following bonuses are added to each unit under her control within her area of effect, +2 on initiative, +2 to strike, parry, and dodge, +3 to roll with impact, +2 to pull punch and disarm. Legion can also communicate through any or all robots, drones, cyborgs, or machines in her area of control. She mainly speaks through all robots under her control simultaneously as a demonstration of unity, but she will also communicate through individual avatars when she needs to hold multiple conversations at the same time.

[9voltkilowatt]

I know this is just coincidence ...and a bizarre one at that; what I'm getting at is this.

Guy and I made a minor N.E.X.U.S. persona each and if you combine them apparently you get legion!


Hhhmmm, guess its time to go back to the thinktank to squeeze a new idea outta the little punk.

[slappy]

That's not always necessary. It's not like this is official material. I've posted several ideas on the board that others have posted very similar versions of (within days of each other actually). They're always different enough to justify having both. It lets fans chose the version that speaks most to them. Also, if it's a necessary part of your story arc then you definitely should keep it.

I went back to look at the outline that Guy sent me months ago and I saw the note on the Morningstar Personality. I honestly didn't remember it when Chuck and I were creating the Legion concept. I didn't really remember it until now. I don't want you guys to think I'm trying to steal your ideas. My inspiration came from the Borg, so really I was ripping off Star Trek.

In all seriousness, I want to give credit where credit is due. If we do actually get this into the Rifter, I would like to give Guy a writer credit. As for the boards, I wanted to post the line from Guy's outline so people understand the discussion:

"Morningstar, the Corrupter (?) - Not sure I'm 100% happy with the name but I love the concept. A virus/system glitch has created a personality whose sole purpose is to spread itself. It wants to be everywhere, in every machine, and in every being."

I really think the full Legion idea is different, so once again, I encourage you guys to finish your ideas, and please believe me when I say this is truly is a case of parallel development.

[The Baron of chaos]

This is the proof that we allg et similr ideas. Now times ago, when i was giving Splicer all my attention I develped similar ideas, but with hecate in mind. I think i've posted it before. But your idea is by far superior in developement and fit better the "crazy" feeling of splicer.
Good work.

[Guy_LeDouche]

Wow! What are the odds?!

I've heard several times that "Great minds think alike". Looks like it was just proven.

Actually, the basic idea/principle may be the same, but Slappy took it in a completely different direction.

That's one thing I love about reading these forums; I love to see the "spin" different people on the same ideas.

so really I was ripping off Star Trek.

Slappy, "ripping off" is such an ugly term. I prefer "paying homage" myself.

I would like to give Guy a writer credit

You're a good man Slappy. Its a shame we're scattered all over the country; I would love to play a Splicers session or two with everyone. If anyone ever ends up in Atlanta, you have got to let me know.

[Ectoplasmic Bidet]

Oh, very nice, Slappy. I look forward to more info on Legion.

[NMI]

Very nice Slappy. I just hope (and I assume you thought of this already) that a weakness of some sort was/is built into Legion. Otherwise we are all doomed.

[slappy]

Well there is a small exhaust port, no bigger than a Wamprat...wait, I've said too much.

[demos606]

Actually, Legion is dangerously easy to cripple/destroy, though it's not obvious unless you think way outside the box and take insane risks with your House forces.

[Guy_LeDouche]

Well there is a small exhaust port, no bigger than a Wamprat

I used to bullseye wamprats back home.