BEHIND THE TECH

Legion Priority Target

As vast and unfathomable as the galaxy is, cyberspace can be just as deep. The virtual worlds and digital highways connecting them are incredibly complex, requiring specialized algorithms managed by artificial intelligence to run them. 

But as the AIs are purposefully limited to only handle routine problems that arise in the net, there is still a very real demand for coders.

Coders have become an essential part of everyday life throughout the Republic, such that even the least skilled among them can find work. From programming bots to setting up networks to link ship systems to their ports of call, a good coder can write entire strings of programming to make or break an operation.

For the military, that may also include setting up security protocols and arming weapon systems with the latest in tactical acquisition software. Starships and freighters employ them for the same job, programming their onboard systems to protect the crew for when the need arises. Even pirates recognize the value of having a brilliant coder on board. With a swipe of their hands over the keyboard, a good tech plugged into the ship can dial weapons, co-piloting AIs, and work defensive systems to move faster and fight harder than the marks the pirates are trying to take down.

While the coders mostly work out in the open, the dark spaces between law and order where savvy criminals prowl the depths of the Night Market and the Dark Web is where the code slicers make their way. Where the coder builds systems, the slicer tears into them to snatch the treasure of stored information. Digital securing mechanisms tied to networks are easy pickings for the code slicer with a kicked up data-pad loaded with next-gen crypto-cracking algos. 

The slicer logs into the network running the target, and infects it like a virus, uploading tons of malware adapted code strings and hostile data hack equations. Within minutes, the systems fail, and the slicer leaves himself a backdoor into the system. As no one even suspects the slicer is on the digital scene, he’s free to upload new routines, giving whatever unit he supports unlocked doors, misdirected guards, and no surveillance. 

Find your way through the digital wizardry of coders and code slicers in Galaxy’s Edge.