Machine Army

 <title source="name">
   <default>Machine Army</default>
 </title>

<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <header>Information</header> <label>Alignment</label> <label>Leader(s)</label> <label>Leader(s)</label> <label>Allies</label> <label>Allies</label> <label>Status</label> <label>Location</label> <label>First Appearance</label> <header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label> </infobox> The Machine Army took over the Town of Eagleton, Tennessee. As such it is designated as Site Q3.<ref name="PRTM"/> Bitchs now the murder-toasters are coming for you.

Modus operandi

Multiple approaches are known but all are inexplicably hostile to humans.<ref name="II.I3"> - Excerpt from Interlude 3 II</ref> They only have so many tricks however.

Their 'breeding' cycle involves infecting metalic objects or ores to spawn new machines.<ref name="II.I3 e4"> - Excerpt from Interlude 3 II</ref>

Trap Buildings

They lay traps for people by becoming building. More accurately they become facsimiles of buildings and attempt to lure people into them.

In one seen example they became, or took over, a functioning supermarket left devastated by Gold Morning. They made it work again to make it enticing to scavengers and others.

Structure

Multitudinous decentralized cell structure, all marching to a common purpose while still independent.

PRT Response

The PRT has locked down Eagleton and patrols regularly, putting some of their more difficult members there.<ref name="R1">Get stationed in a place that's 'safe' from a PR perspective. Murderbeam isn't able to do much against the Machine Army, but might get stationed near Pueblo or the Pastor's area. - comment on Reddit by Wildbow</ref> They preferred putting capes there who would blast anything at the first sign of trouble.<ref name="R1.5">The second possibility is somewhat tricky, and becomes a balancing act. There are areas the PRT desperately wants to keep secure, and securing these areas becomes a punishment duty:
[...]
Eagleton, TN was evacuated, quarantined and is regularly patrolled after the Machine Army incident.
[...]
Naturally, the PRT doesn't want to put the wrong person on the wrong detail. Too violent a person in, say, Gallup or Gary would be a recipe for disaster, a spark to a powder keg. A mentally imbalanced or vulnerable person in Madison would be similarly disastrous. But find the right combination, like a trigger happy lunatic in Eagleton, and things are mostly fine, because they'll happily patrol and gun down the machines on the regular. Someone unambitious and lazy might let something slip through or grow out of control in Eagleton, but would be fine with the sleepy task of maintaining a watch on the periphery of Freedom. - comment on Reddit by Wildbow</ref> The organization explored several options on how to deal with the threat, such as nuclear weapons,<ref name="R3">You gotta figure that the PRT has thinkers that have analyzed whether it's worth doing that.

What you're liable to do with a nuke (because nukes don't really vaporize everything) is just spread out the machine 'seed' fragments and then you've got Machine Army everywhere. - comment by Wildbow on Reddit.</ref> much like they did with Nilbog.

With Gold Morning heroic response has shifted.

History

Background

The machine's emergence necessitated their containment.<ref name="PRTM">Cities that break from this convention but nonetheless have departments are named with special designations.
[...]
Quarantine Sites:
[...]
Eagleton - Q3 - Site evacuated after Machine Army event, specialized patrols - PRT Master Reference</ref>

Post=Gold Morning

With the evacuation from the event The Machine army was able to escape containment.<ref name="P.1 e1">► Nutty
Replied on August 17th, Y1
@ Boosher – This article, search for Nancy Y’s statement. People traveling across the US to get to portals are being warned about multiple threats. Word on the capevine is that with everyone having pulled out, all former quarantine zones are breached. In the US and elsewhere. Nilbog is the one everyone knows about. He’s in custody, his children aren’t. If you’re paying attention to hero groups and their movements, they’re making lots of trips out. They’re tired and people say they’re aloof.
I say they’re fighting a hard fight and they’re keeping their distance from public and media because they don’t want us to know it. - Excerpt from Glow-worm P.1</ref>

Roughly two years later they had expanded past the Raleigh Chasm.<ref name="II.I3 e11">“I don’t- this isn’t about me. Can you- can you let them know the Machine Army is this far north? They shouldn’t be on this side of the Raleigh chasm.” - Excerpt from Interlude 3 II</ref>

References