Longterm Consequences of Ambulas Reborn's Failure

[Mints]

While I was striking down Ambulas Proxies I began questioning what kind of reaction Frohd Bek's investors will have to all of the rather embarrassing failures. From what I can surmise Frohd Bek had planned on licensing Animo-driven Ambulas units to his investors and other customers. While the Ambulas Proxy could ostensibly be replicated by any third party who possess the schematics, the Animo system is the key feature. The backlash against Frohd Bek for the failure of his program could potentially cause other Corpus, particularly Board members with something to gain from his loss, to turn against him and seek to recoup their losses through the violent acquisition of Bek's physical and intellectual property.

Bek may be guilty of dealing in arms to anyone who has the credits to pay for them but if one of his peers were to usurp his position they could be much worse. For example, the demagogue Nef Anyo whom is nothing short of a child-kidnapping cultist and could radicalize the Corpus, pushing them even further toward an any-means-necessary policy in pursuing profit. In the event of a Corpus Interregnum a potential power play from a resurgent Alad V isn't out of the question either. With his father caught in the crossfire Darvo might feel the compulsion to intervene regardless of their past disagreements. The Grineer are sure to notice as well, and it wouldn't be the first time the Grineer have tried to seize assets from Bek.

The balance that Lotus attempts to maintain in the Origin system is precarious as it is. If the position of Chairman of the Board were to go up for grabs the results could turn out to be an anarchic catastrophe. With such a great external threat like the Sentients such a problem could not be ignored. We must also face the possibility that the Sentients have embedded covert agents within the Corpus. If such an entity were to reach the position of Chairman it could do irreparable harm to the entire system.

I believe that it is in our best interest for Frohd Bek to retain his position as Chairman of the Board despite this Ambulas Reborn project. Unfortunately the direct intervention of the Tenno may just fuel the fires of rebellion. Do you think the Tenno should intervene in such an event, allow it to transpire, or even capitalize on it? Given the choice, who would you side with? Am I thinking way too far into this? You tell me.

[-Mandachordian-Tenno-]

the people offering the highest bid wins the paid armies(we the tenno) while the people opposing would be crushed with the foot of capitalization.

[Kaotyke]

Considering Bek was doing the same damn thing the Orokin did and evolving his Proto-Sentient Animo, the Corpus might NEED a new Chairman because that is a new level of stupid.

I mean:

The Orokin was taken down by the Tenno, yes, but the Sentients were what started it all!

Bek was doing the very same mistake the Orokin made! If Glast could see that, it stands to mind that others probably came to that conclusion as well.

[LSG501]

I wouldn't be suprised if this is a 'precursor' to the clan assassinations with the 'investors' being the targets on the corpus side (looked like there were grineer in the devstream too)

[chainchompguy3]

18 minutes ago, Kaotyke said:

Considering Bek was doing the same damn thing the Orokin did and evolving his Proto-Sentient Animo, the Corpus might NEED a new Chairman because that is a new level of stupid.

I mean:

The Orokin was taken down by the Tenno, yes, but the Sentients were what started it all!

Bek was doing the very same mistake the Orokin made! If Glast could see that, it stands to mind that others probably came to that conclusion as well.

Well, We the players know that. But only through our codex entries and lore speculation.

It might be safe to assume that this kind of history is not known to the corpus, be it because the information was only available to tenno, or because the Corpus have abandoned the practice of historical-record-keeping, considering it a distraction from the potential profits and innovation of the future.

If anything, repeating the mistakes of the orokin would be the exact thing I would expect of the corpus.

[tsoa]

Interesting thoughts, OP.

20 minutes ago, LSG501 said:

I wouldn't be suprised if this is a 'precursor' to the clan assassinations with the 'investors' being the targets on the corpus side

That, or they could tie it to the Razorback Armada, which is coming soon. Either way, I hope they explore the consequences of this event. :)

[Hopakkiin]

Already build Ambulas proxies could be send to the void, since they lost all their value, causing them to become a frequent enemy. Or Frohd Bek could be forced to abandon the Ambulas factories, leaving them to be seized by the infestation. Alternatively he could be exiled and sent to the void, returning as a new boss enemy. A couple of possible things. 
 

[Kronxito]

I think the problem here is the Animus. Its another potential "sentients like" problem.

[BornWithTeeth]

What about assassinating members of the Board during the chaos, performing acts of espionage to destabilize Corpus estates and assets, arranging for those assets to land in Darvo's hands, and attempting to launch Darvo onto the Corpus Board?

 

Admittedly, Darvo himself probably wouldn't like the idea.

[Zeiss17]

1 hour ago, DP_KRoM said:

I think the problem here is the Animus. Its another potential "sentients like" problem.

Considering that it learns by fighting, I doubt it has learned much since all the ambulas drop in mission already dead.

Maybe it learnt how to suicide by now.

[Hopakkiin]

1 minute ago, ShaneKahnnigan17 said:

Considering that it learns by fighting, I doubt it has learned much since all the ambulas drop in mission already dead.

Maybe it learnt how to suicide by now.

The challenge would be: Kill it before it kills itself.

[Zeiss17]

6 minutes ago, Hopakkiin said:

The challenge would be: Kill it before it kills itself.

Like an overglorified oxium osprey.

[Kaotyke]

2 hours ago, chainchompguy3 said:

Well, We the players know that. But only through our codex entries and lore speculation.

It might be safe to assume that this kind of history is not known to the corpus, be it because the information was only available to tenno, or because the Corpus have abandoned the practice of historical-record-keeping, considering it a distraction from the potential profits and innovation of the future.

If anything, repeating the mistakes of the orokin would be the exact thing I would expect of the corpus.

I'm pretty sure The Enemy, with a capital "T", of the Orokin would be very well known by the Corpus. Its like saying:

Crewman: You know these guys who were the biggest threat to the Orokin? The ones that almost brought them down?

Tech: What? I dont care about those things! Its in the past!

Crewman: But, with our proxies, shouldnt we be carefull not to give them sentience? The TENNO were made to fight the--

Tech: I SAID "I DONT CARE"! I want money!

Crewman: Even if it potentially means the death of us all?

Tech: MUUUUUNNYYYYY!!!!

Crewman: _{... I wonder if Glast is recruiting....}

[Jeoxz]

There's other way as in Ambulas was a success from a business perspective. Yes we broke animo, preventing another sentient-like creature. BUT he still sold and sent millions of Ambulas and surely got a good stack of credits for it, that would fortify his position as chairman. Corpus know how strong are the tenno, and the Ambulas was never advertised as tenno-killer. Just a new, fancier, learn-ier proxy. And the Ambulas might stay as a normal enemy dropping from the sky every now and then, it's not like they stopped making MOAs just because we walk all over them. 

[LinaCrysta]

8 hours ago, Kaotyke said:

I'm pretty sure The Enemy, with a capital "T", of the Orokin would be very well known by the Corpus. Its like saying:

Crewman: You know these guys who were the biggest threat to the Orokin? The ones that almost brought them down?

Tech: What? I dont care about those things! Its in the past!

Crewman: But, with our proxies, shouldnt we be carefull not to give them sentience? The TENNO were made to fight the--

Tech: I SAID "I DONT CARE"! I want money!

Crewman: Even if it potentially means the death of us all?

Tech: MUUUUUNNYYYYY!!!!

Crewman: _{... I wonder if Glast is recruiting....}

this gave me a laugh xD on a more grim tone.this is real life right now,ecosystems destroyed,lives destroyed no matter as long as the corp head gets his MUUUNNNNYYYYYYY.We kinda are baby corpus atm kinda sad.go usa lol

[Mints]

9 hours ago, Jeoxz said:

There's other way as in Ambulas was a success from a business perspective. Yes we broke animo, preventing another sentient-like creature. BUT he still sold and sent millions of Ambulas and surely got a good stack of credits for it, that would fortify his position as chairman. Corpus know how strong are the tenno, and the Ambulas was never advertised as tenno-killer. Just a new, fancier, learn-ier proxy. And the Ambulas might stay as a normal enemy dropping from the sky every now and then, it's not like they stopped making MOAs just because we walk all over them. 

I suppose that would depend on what Ambulas has to offer over, say, a Bursa. Bursas are rather robust weapons platforms, come in many variants, and are likely much cheaper than Ambulas units. Ambulas units are also rather large and and appear to almost always be deployed by some other mechanism like a dropship or an underground rail system. What makes it better than 100 Moas, 10 Bursas, or 1 Jackal? What's the market value without Animo?

Come to think of it, I wonder what Corpus intellectual property laws are like. Are all Moas built by a sub-corporation owned by one man or are they essentially an freely available schematic to be used by anyone with the means to produce them? With their vast factory complexes and shipyards who actually owns the combat proxy designs they're replicating? Do the Ambulas units solely belong to Frohd Bek or can just about anyone make them?

Regardless, even if it were a financial success for Bek his investors may still be very angry with him for not delivering what they paid for. I mean, you've seen how mad people get over successful kickstarters that didn't deliver right? Imagine that except we're talking millions of credits sank into an Ambulas unit driven by a system capable of learning from its mistakes. If you get an Ambulas unit without the fancy computer backing it up you didn't get what you paid for.

[o.0-]

Certainly sets the stage for more Corpus storylines in future content.

Which is one area that I'd love to see expanded on.

And those new Corpus dropships are really neat, just wish the crew on then were animated.

[METAHUMVN]

I don't know. To be honest, I could care less about what happens to the Corpus or the Origin system. 

All I want is my Supra Vandal. 

XD

[RunningTree3]

8 hours ago, Mints said:

Come to think of it, I wonder what Corpus intellectual property laws are like. Are all Moas built by a sub-corporation owned by one man or are they essentially an freely available schematic to be used by anyone with the means to produce them? With their vast factory complexes and shipyards who actually owns the combat proxy designs they're replicating? Do the Ambulas units solely belong to Frohd Bek or can just about anyone make them?

Interesting bringing up IP law and practice. This considering that Bursa and Ambulas are hackable yet seem to have some sort of built-in expiry -- perhaps designed very much to prevent an operational model being reverse engineered. Contrast this to standard Moa hacked from cabinets, who may survive the mission all the way to extraction (and possibly taken in by the extraction team Lotus sends for some mission types).

I would guess the standard Moa and Osprey schematics have long since been rev-engineered, at the very least by Perrin Sequence and Suda.

Apart from these, perhaps all proxy schematics are still guarded by whoever owns their production. I imagine the manufacturer would sell proxies 'pre-programmed' to be loyal to their customer, but customers are unable to make their own hacks to it nor re-sell them -- sort of like real-life OEM product keys?

However I am curious as to why the Grineer have not also employed proxies as 'reinforcements', given how willing the Corpus have been to trade in arms. Possibly a refusal to sell by the manufacturer/board? Maybe proxies can only be serviced by the manufacturer, and given the ever-changing political environment of the Sol system, the Grineer hierarchy just see proxies as liabilities: why spend so much on shiny toys that cannot be regularly and properly maintained if a trade embargo happens every other day.