AX-027

The AX series:

The AX series of combat droids by WSYS were a common early model of military robot, designed for covert ops and support roles. The series enjoyed a large run from 2100 to 2115, and over 500,000 units were produced, making them one of the first military bots which achieved widespread success. The main selling point of the AX series was its modularity -- A unit could be outfitted with any number of modules designed to fulfill certain roles, from heavy weapons support to EWF modules to disrupt enemy communications, to special radar and targeting systems for anti-personnel models. WSYS ceased production in 2115 due to the rise of the tougher GX general infantry droid, and retired the model in 2117, outsourcing maintenance to third party companies. The AX series continues to be bought and sold on the secondary market however, due to its robust reprogrammable AI, which was developed before standards on combat droid intelligence were thoroughly set. Many private security firms still use AX series droids in support positions, and occasionally, like any model of combat droid, pirates and terrorists will pick one up from the black market and utilize its unusual combat intelligence for their own means.

AX-027:

Having been one of the first hundred AX models, AX-027 was constructed with painstaking care by WSYS as an example of the anti-personell capabilities of their new AX series. He was outfitted with the standard modules for single-target tracking and put on a transport cruiser to the Mars colony for a military technology expo. En route to Mars, his cruiser was attacked by the cyberterrorist group Iron Earth, a small group of pro-technology, anti-human radicals. The ship was paralyzed, boarded, and looted. Iron Earth stole all technology aboard and then deserted the wreck, killing all human crew members. Their plan was to install an advanced, experimental, "liberated" AI (one with full sentience, capable of improvisation and independent thought) into AX-027, so that he could aid them in their operations. He was transported to Iron Earth's base on Phobos, which was, at the time, a frontier colony where Iron Earth could remain mostly hidden. The liberated AI was installed, but the Martian government approved the use of deadly force against Iron Earth just before AX-027 could be booted up and brainwashed into obedience. With their base under attack, and facing the threat of nuclear bombardment, Iron Earth decided to abandon their base and disband. AX-027 was booted up, placed in a planetary ejection pod and jettisoned down to Mars. Without any assistance from engineers or technopsychologists, AX-027 wandered randomly around the Martian surface for 24 hours, disoriented and struggling to deal with sentience. When he finally collapsed due to lack of power, he was alone and stranded in the Martian desert. Weeks later, he was discovered by a long distance surveying team and brought back to the Epsilon frontier settlement. He was repaired, configured, and put to work at a bar. Years later, after the settlement had grown into a colony, he was discovered by a private military contractor, who recognized him as a liberated AX model and offered him a job as a mercenary. AX-027 soon found that his combat programming, which had gone largely underutilized, was still intact, and soon became able -- unlike most combat droids -- to dictate the terms of his own employment.