Skynet awakens on Imperial earth

[dragon]

I was reading the novel where Ragnar was on Earth and as was trapped in the underground civilization a the local movie channel played T3. Got me thinking with all the unexplored crap on earth deep inside the old cities so much is hidded. For instnace when that creature came up from the depths and was about to swallow the two marines swimming(how do they that with all that armor ). So the scenario is this.

Skynet after seeing all is about lost had created a fall back shelter and then goes into a inactive period. Due to a malfunction it does not awaken untill the 41st millenimum. After assessing the situation it realizes it has to proceed carefully. So Skynet shall have no more than 10 years to prepare before it is discovered, so how will skynet do? And how will the Imperium react?
Skynet fall back shelter has a limited production capability. It can created only small numer of infiltrator units and a slightly larger number of assualt types. It does not have to capability to create the T-1000 or the T3 type terminator.

And I'll be throw skynet a bone it has 1 T-1000 with it.

[Shroom Man 777]

It can't do shit, once it is found it is dead. The best hope it has is to somehow get the attention of the AdMech and have itself sanctified or venerated as an Omnissiah or something, because if Skynet rattles the cage too much, the Imperium fucks it up.

[Samuel]

Why would it fight? It can just claim to be one of mankind's many machines that were created about the Dark Age of technology and hopefully survive while dribbling out STC. Obviously, it doesn't have any, so it could try to fake the results or simply supply some powerful people with neat gadgets in return for their protection.

Of course, true AIs have problems, but if Skynet finds a patron, it cold flourish.

[Dark Hellion]

The problem is that it doesn't have any neat trinkets to offer. What is it going to try to give, Plasma rifles. IG have a few million of them, only IG plasma rifles don't just kill people, they kill the fuck outta Space Marines. Hyperalloy, meet Ceramite and Adamintine alloys. AI, meet Titan machine spirits. Everything Skynet does the Imperium either has something it does better, or in the case of time travel (which is an utter cop out) it still has to deal with Tzeentch, the Emperor and Farseers, who all can make predictions of any cataclysmic event it could churn out, and still have the tech to kill it, even a million years ago in the case of the Eldar.

[Shroom Man 777]

It might have the advantage of creating those super-awesome fuel cells used in Terminators. TINY cells that can provide awesome power would be a boon for Imperial tech. And mimetic polyalloy-tech, that would also be something new for the Imperium.

Skynet's only hope would be to ally with humanity.

[Sidewinder]

Skynet's only hope would be to ally with humanity.

I've always pictured Skynet as a Necron ally. Imagine the possibilities available to Necron warriors using Skynet's "grow flesh onto a robotic endoskeleton to disguise it as a human" technology, especially with regards to infiltration, reconnaissance, ambush and other surprise attacks.

I know, I know; even then, Skynet is fucked (the Imperium will quickly adapt to such tactics), but the C'tan will likely trick Skynet into thinking it has a chance. Skynet will likely end its days as a decoy to lure Imperium attention away from whatever plans the C'tan have.

[Shroom Man 777]

I really don't think the Necrons give a crap about tactical stuff like setting up ambushes, given that they're immortal soul-sucking vampire zombie robot skeleton aliens from space. I mean, just look at their combat tactics, obscene Monoliths spewing forth sickly green death as hordes of unstoppable mechanical skeletons come for you, the ground blackening with thousands of scarabs ready to peel flesh off your bone, and some of the Necrons even coming out of the goddamn walls to kill you. They've got teleportation tech and phase-shifting, I don't think they need artificial flesh. The only ones that bother are the Flayed Ones, but they just skin people alive and wear the peeled skin to scare the living crap out of people.

You've got the Deceiver and other Necron deities being perfectly able to disguise themselves as normal humans through their unholy powers, anyway. If they want to be subtle, they can be subtle. Then they'll eat your soul.


Goddamn I love 40k.

[NecronLord]

Skynet's only hope would be to ally with humanity.

I've always pictured Skynet as a Necron ally. Imagine the possibilities available to Necron warriors using Skynet's "grow flesh onto a robotic endoskeleton to disguise it as a human" technology, especially with regards to infiltration, reconnaissance, ambush and other surprise attacks.

They already possess such abilities, and use them. There is a necron "inquisitor" with living flesh around his body in one book.

I know, I know; even then, Skynet is fucked (the Imperium will quickly adapt to such tactics), but the C'tan will likely trick Skynet into thinking it has a chance. Skynet will likely end its days as a decoy to lure Imperium attention away from whatever plans the C'tan have.

The C'tan don't want to mess with Earth. Earth is the home of the Astronomicon, a valuable bulwark against Chaos. It's more likely, at best, that the Deceiver would take pity on (IE, toy with it) this machine life form, and transport it to somewhere it's got a better chance. Say. Tau space. Mini-hunters facing off against Tau gun-drones! Discus-kill-bot fight!

For the record, the only really classifiable instance of a regular skynet plasma rifle (from Cameron's T2-3D ride) hitting an easily calculable target has it blasting about a cubic foot out of a concrete pillar, which gives it firepower roughly on a par with a low end lasgun, single figure megajoules maybe. While that'd be enough to at least be vaguely threatening to some of the Imperium's troops, the kind of equipment to be found on Terra would far exceed it. The TX's plasma cannon was even more powerful, but was of course, powered by the terminator's own reactor, and is thus presumably more comparable to the support weapons terminators use.

Really though, it's going to get stomped. It might be able to give someone the time machine... They'd probably kill for that. Well, they'd kill for anything...

[Teleros]

Really though, it's going to get stomped. It might be able to give someone the time machine... They'd probably kill for that. Well, they'd kill for anything...

And if it gets stomped and then forced to give up its knowledge on time travel to the Imperium? Granted the universe already has time travel via travelling in Warp space, but that's inherently unpredictable and seems to be fairly rare. A "dial-a-year" time machine for the Imperium...

[Bedlam]

Really though, it's going to get stomped. It might be able to give someone the time machine... They'd probably kill for that. Well, they'd kill for anything...

And if it gets stomped and then forced to give up its knowledge on time travel to the Imperium? Granted the universe already has time travel via travelling in Warp space, but that's inherently unpredictable and seems to be fairly rare. A "dial-a-year" time machine for the Imperium...

To be honest what would happen would depend on what faction got their hands on the time machine. Most of the really high ups probably realise they benefit from the staus quo and would burry it, but if some lower ranking zelots got it I think there would be a few assasination attempts on Horus.

[NecronLord]

To be honest what would happen would depend on what faction got their hands on the time machine. Most of the really high ups probably realise they benefit from the staus quo and would burry it, but if some lower ranking zelots got it I think there would be a few assasination attempts on Horus.

The only modern high lord of Terra we know anything about knowingly put himself in a position to be cut to pieces or even captured and tortured by chaos forces for his beliefs. The idea that they're corrupt bastards is dubious. Aside from Vandire and that master of the assassinorum, there's no evidence that any High Lord is corrupt. It's quite unlikely that any of them are anything but true patriots (though some for the Mechanicus, Navigators, etc.'s interests).

[SAMAS]

I would say "Fanatic" rather than "Patriot", but yeah.

[Bilbo]

If we assume that Skynet actually invented time travel and the various terminator technologies then at the very least the skynet system is an incredible engineering and scientific system. It may be of value just to use as a research program. If Skynet can create time travel on a Earth nearly destroyed by nuclear war then imagine what it could create if given the material and tech base of the IoM.

[Samuel]

If we assume that Skynet actually invented time travel and the various terminator technologies then at the very least the skynet system is an incredible engineering and scientific system. It may be of value just to use as a research program. If Skynet can create time travel on a Earth nearly destroyed by nuclear war then imagine what it could create if given the material and tech base of the IoM.

The Imperium already has those. They are called STCs.

They aren't really intrested in new tech and research aside from the old systems (although they do do some) because they have to deal with things over millenia. Makes things easier if you don't have to constantly update to new tech. And as it is, the Empire has a ridicuously high tech level. There isn't much SkyNet can offer- aside from back engineering relics from the Dark Age. Of course, they would probably view it as heresy to have a sentient machine profane such holy items, but there are some willing to take a go.

[NecronLord]

Self aware thinking machines are pretty much the chief techno heresy. The AdMech maintains dedicated kill-squads to deal with them.

[The Grim Squeaker]

Self aware thinking machines are pretty much the chief techno heresy. The AdMech maintains dedicated kill-squads to deal with them.

There was at least one comic with an A.I waking up in a vault, and Ad-Mech investigating, ending with one getting stuck with it to be tortured for all eternity.
A.I's trying to take over humanity are very, very old news for humanity, it's either the Age of Steel or age of Stone (Stone or metal men, depending who you ask), and as you said, AI's are very well known and there's a reason why they're suppressed. (That, and the fact that sentient unprotected minds are sadly vulnerable to a chaos symbol on the old CPU making it eat people )

[Shroom Man 777]

If Skynet gets possessed and used by Chaos...

[Khaat]

the "iron men" in 40K history could imply an early encounter with "sleepy necrons", but an encounter in the turbulent-lost-to-history-times with a near-miss destruction of humanity at the hands of SkyNet could very well be part of the intentionally vague canon of the IoM.

"all hail the Emperor, the Master of Humanity, John Connor"

[White Haven]

Not to put too fine a point on it, Terminators are Men of Iron, and as such the Imperium collectively shits a solid plutonium cat. And as for infiltrators, Auspex units will show that up in a HEARTBEAT, synthflesh isn't going to stop that grade of sensor.

[Shroom Man 777]

Please, there are many AdMech dudes and mad Inquisitors - including Horse-Face - who'd like to harness STCs, even ones that produce Men of Iron, for their own purposes. That was even in one of the Ghost Gaunt novels, with Chaos-possessed robots.

Admittedly, they were all deformed and really didn't do anything but stagger around and look scary.

[Samuel]

You are right- the Emperor is going to take a dim view on a machine who previously attempted to exterminate humanity. Can anyone say purge? There is no way anyone would work with such a create- aside from the Imperium's enemies and it isn't exactly possible to get SkyNet off Terra.

[NecronLord]

the "iron men" in 40K history could imply an early encounter with "sleepy necrons"

No, it couldn't. Iron Men have been seen to be something completely different. Human made robots.

[Samuel]

the "iron men" in 40K history could imply an early encounter with "sleepy necrons"

No, it couldn't. Iron Men have been seen to be something completely different. Human made robots.

They were used in early human expansion, before turning on humanity at around the end of the Dark Age. I don't know whether it was before or during the time the warp storms engulfed the galaxy at large.

[Khaat]

mea culpa i seem to have fallen prey to "the c'tan did it!" fallacy. i found what i was looking for (the Men of Iron predating the introduction of necrons) after i posted.

my 40k is a little spotty these days, must be the fading light of the astronomicon
"back in my day, we burned heretics uphill both ways and liked it!"

[Teleros]

That said, given the links between certain parts of the Imperium and a certain C'Tan (if not 2), it may be that the Iron Men are connected to the Necrons (perhaps based on them).

You are right- the Emperor is going to take a dim view on a machine who previously attempted to exterminate humanity.

Depends on who finds Skynet first. If some heretical AdMech guy does, it might well survive longer. Whether "longer" is "long enough to build the AdMech guy a time machine" or "long enough to build adamantium Terminators" is up in the air though .