Editing World Devastators (section)

==='''Construction'''===

While standardization and interchangeability are hallmarks of Imperial technology policy, the World Devastator is unique among Imperial war machines in that no two of them are identical. This is because they are not assembled by droids and techs: they assemble themselves. In effect, they build themselves while in operation.

All World Devastators begin as virtually identical machines. They have a basic brain core, although individual machines may have specialized programming for specific functions. Each World Devastator has sensor webs, factory maintenance subsystems and cognitive defensive subroutines. Once these powerful processors are brought on line, they are attached to the fabrication units and molecular furnaces.

The fabrication units include machining scanners, robotic lathes and automated assembly lines to turn the raw materials into weapons, droids and combat vehicles. The computer and the initial fabrication units are supported by a framework, called an endoskeleton, which determines the Devastator's final shape. The molecular furnace and its attendant software, which is responsible for breaking down raw materials, is also attached to the endoskeleton in the initial construction phase.

Once the endoskeleton is assembled, the proto-Devastator is allowed to run under supervision for a few weeks. Fed a steady supply of slag metals and raw ores, it atomizes them all and begins churning out parts, including additional body sections, weapons for the Devastator and larger assembly lines. While the endoskeletons of all Devastators look identical during this early phase, subtle differences become apparent as the machines build themselves.

After the first stages of construction, the World Devastator is normally only a few hundred meters at a side; it is in its "adolescence." The World Devastator will now be sent into battle, where all further development will occur.

At this stage, the Devastators are at their most vulnerable. The new machines attack in groups to maximize battle effectiveness and gather enough materials to increase their size and produce vehicles, starships and other vital weapons. This is where the self-improvement programming comes into play. The longer a Devastator functions, the more it improves and modifies itself, growing larger and more lethal.

As individual units grow larger, the battle squadron splits into smaller and smaller groups. Theoretically, a single Devastator could eventually become large enough to strip a planet unaided in a few weeks or even days. Neither Umak Leth nor his technicians have any idea what the upper limit to a Devastator's growth is.