(This article is currently under construction!)
1 Overview
Host stations are a highly technologically-advanced, state-of-the-art gigantic airborne war machines that serve as a mobile military base and a command centre that can exert absolute command & control systems over an entire army of fully-robotic and computerised drones and unmanned military hardware equipped with AI modules on the battlefield through their extensive battle network system and data-link connections, which also serve as a primary armament manufacture facility and a central command base of operation inside the battle zone.
Host stations are also a central intelligence hub and a collective supercomputer where all the network of intelligent and sentient computers are wired together into a single uniform war machine. These powerful machines are therefore capable of processing innumerable amount of information, including the coordinated calculation of real-time combat and communication data networks over the entire army of robotic drones and military hardware assets under their direct command & control system, as well as their production orders and instructions.
Host stations are considered a natural progression of the rapidly evolving military technology with new doctrines and paradigms that actively seek to take advantages of the energy-rich environment of the plasma geo-pockets and domed cities supported by them around the globe, while increasing the effectiveness of the industrial-scale war effort to its maximum. The scientists and hackers dared to achieve this goal by designing an all-inclusive mobile airborne base with built-in command and control systems, vehicle and weapon manufacturing plants, as well as connectivity to all intelligent computers and networks at an unprecedented scale.
The advent of the Host Station technology, in conjunction with the equally ground-breaking Plasma Formation technology, has radically and forever shifted and revolutionised the entire paradigm of warfare and military strategy in this post-apocalyptic world of perpetual wars.
The host stations are formidable fortresses on their own, and possess enormous energy reservoirs and batteries to support their crucial functions. They are capable of harvesting energy directly from the power stations to reinforce their defence system and replenish resources for their manufacturing plants for the production of military assets and hardware in battlefield. Gameplay-wise, the player's host stations are also equipped with an extremely advanced teleportation module, which allows them to shift over long distances relatively quickly and safely.
Because of their tremendous tactical and strategic values and proven performances in all aspects of war, the host stations have quickly established themselves as a central concept with a pivotal role in the future warfare. Only the factions powerful and advanced enough to produce and operate these war machines have survived. Especially since the humans have already mastered and perfected the arts of waging fully-roboticised warfare, solely involving unmanned robotic drones and military hardware after the events of Big Mistake. This also practically renders the individual host station masters/commanders the only true human presence in the battle zones.
2 The 'Human Interface'
The primary machine interface of a host station requires a single human being uploaded into it, who will undergo various cybernetically-enriched enhancements via neural augmentation surgery, as well as the machine assimilation process to eventually become a fully-functional mechanical component of these fearsome war machines. Therefore, the process of searching for the most promising and gifted human host station master is an extremely scrupulous and meticulous task; because a normal human being is not meant to acquire the unimaginable power of becoming one with the host station and wield its power at their own volition, which entails great discretions and responsibilities as well as powerful mind and mental capacity.
As a matter of fact, the potential cadets for host station masters are only selectively recruited or headhunted from the most intellectually gifted and talented individuals (such as a child prodigy, or a 'Wunderkind'; which was the case with SDU7.) that have demonstrated promising feats, who will be subjected to lengthy and rigorous security and surveillance sessions by the top government and military intelligence departments to evaluate their true potential abilities and capabilities over an extended period before the final decision is agreed upon.
Initially, this design practice was prompted by the fact that no human being will entrust the fate of their world up to the modus operandi of artificially constructed war machine brains. But the human components have also proven to be an effective commander as well as a decision-maker in battle that no machine brain can truly be capable of imitating. Additionally, the host station masters are also required to be accepted and 'chosen' by the machines first to work.
The machine develops a symbiosis with the human master by granting its unimaginable power and abilities at the hands of them, whereas the human will provide the machine with their mind and thoughts within the empathic network. As the synchronisation process occurs, the human component will gradually assimilate into the machine itself, while also developing extra sensory features and perceptions that are unfathomable to a normal human in the process.
The host stations are also known to be banking human brains - whether biological or cybernetically mapped/configured - and grey matter directly inside their neural networks and data storages. These elements form bearing knowledge and databases which are hinted to be an essential component of the core mechanisms that constitute the Host Station Memory Bank. The stored brains retain independent minds and thoughts of their former memories and knowledge, and their backed-up minds and consciousness may also interact with the uploaded host station masters through their cerebration inside the linked neuro-net.
This communication and data exchange commonly manifests as the 'voices in the head' for the host station masters; sometimes regarded as a sign of encroaching insanity from losing their human minds, with a varying degree of effects. They can also provide visual panoramas of their collective memories and recollections of the past (such as how the planet Earth was like before the Big Mistake), which can be simultaneously accessed by the host station masters. Sometimes these sentient minds and 'ghosts in the machines' emerge directly from the (re-)stored memories and lasting consciousness of the former predecessors that were uploaded into the earlier 'saviour machines'.
3 Titles
Different factions are known to use different titles (frequently interchangeable based on the contexts) for the cybernetically-enhanced and augmented human components of their host stations.
- Resistance: SDU (Synaptic Donor Unit)
- Ghorkov/Kyterneser: Commander
- Taerkasten: Master
The Resistance had initially monitored and selectively trained the most promising seven SDU cadets during the early storyline, with varying degrees of success and achievements.
Ghorkovs are also known to train and operate clone commanders for their host stations in order to maximise their combat efficiency and proficiency in battle.
Taerkastens are also known to use the term 'Savior Machines' (German: Rettungsmaschinen) for the host stations.
3.1 Default Player Names in the Official Campaigns
- Resistance: SDU7
- Ghorkov: Conrade
- Taerkasten: Truzen
4 Trivia
- In computer and networking definitions, the term 'host computer' refers to a main computer hardware or a central machine mainframe that is in charge of hosting a session for a series of inter-connected computers and devices with an absolute control over all programs and files in the network. Therefore, the term 'host station' is quite an appropriate description for a highly-advanced central mainframe that is created from wiring together all of the free world's computers to create the ultimate war machine, which possesses the full command & control authority and other operational functions over an entire group of artificially-intelligent combat drones and unmanned military hardware in a battle zone network.