Super-Driver

"Ordinary Drivers whose psionic potential has been artificially amplified, whose memories have been stripped away, and whose loyalty has been secured through the Killer-Block."
-- Description of Super-Drivers, Booklet 036

Super-Drivers (German: Supertreiber) are genetically engineered, biochemically enhanced Drivers created by the Kaiser Corporation's classified Alpha-Order program on the prison planet Sarym. Possessing psionic abilities far exceeding those of natural-born Drivers, Super-Drivers are living weapons -- bred, conditioned, and deployed by Max von Valdec to project the very power he sought to make obsolete through Kaiser Force. They represent one of the saga's deepest ironies: having developed Kaiser Force to eliminate humanity's dependence on psionic navigators, the Kaiser Corporation then bred its own Drivers -- more powerful and more dangerous than any natural-born psionic -- as instruments of tyranny.

Super-Drivers appear in 25 of the saga's 99 booklets (plus multiple Taschenbuch volumes), making them one of the most significant recurring threats faced by the Terranauts. Their arc traces a trajectory from secret experiment to unleashed weapon to uncontrollable force, embodying the saga's recurring theme that tools of domination invariably turn against their creators.

Origins: The Alpha-Order Program

Background

The Alpha-Order (German: Alpha-Ordnung, also called the A-Test Series / A-Testreihe) is a secret genetic engineering and forced breeding program operated by the Kaiser Corporation at the Kaiser Secret Station on Sarym. The program's purpose is to create multi-psionic beings of extraordinary power -- human clones whose PSI Powers have been artificially amplified through a combination of:

• Genetic engineering: Selective breeding and cloning to produce individuals with maximal psionic potential
• Biochemical enhancement: Chemical and hormonal treatments to amplify PSI abilities beyond natural limits
• Mental conditioning: Psychological programming to ensure obedience, including the implantation of Killer-Blocks -- artificial mental barriers that make disloyal behavior theoretically impossible

The station is commanded by Hermano Lotz, a calculating Kaiser Corporation operative assisted by the cyborg Dor Masali, whose brain resides in a robotic body immune to PSI manipulation -- a necessity in a facility housing beings of immense psionic power (Booklets 042-044).

The Genetic Lines

Super-Drivers are organized into distinct genetic series, each designated by a mythological name and a sequential clone number (e.g., Prometheus 93, Isis 24). Higher numbers indicate later, more refined iterations. The three principal lines are:

Additional series that appear in the saga include:

The Killer-Block

A defining feature of Super-Driver conditioning is the Killer-Block (German: Killerblock) -- an artificial mental barrier implanted in each Super-Driver's mind to ensure absolute loyalty to Max von Valdec and the Kaiser Corporation. The Killer-Block functions as a compulsion mechanism: any disloyal behavior triggers the block, which can force self-destructive actions up to and including suicide. Ares 17's death on Shondyke is "triggered by his own Killer-Block" after he attempts to betray his mission parameters (Booklet 036).

However, the Killer-Block is not infallible. The most powerful Super-Drivers -- particularly those in the Prometheus line -- demonstrate the capacity to circumvent or overpower their conditioning. Prometheus 93 manipulates his own handler Hermano Lotz from the very beginning (Booklet 043), and Prometheus 107 breaks free entirely when empowered by the PSI-Aura (Booklet 063). This fundamental flaw -- that extreme psionic power correlates with extreme willfulness -- is the Alpha-Order program's fatal weakness.

Memory Stripping

Super-Drivers have their personal memories systematically stripped away during the conditioning process. They are designated by their series name and clone number rather than personal names, reinforcing their status as manufactured instruments rather than individuals. This dehumanization is both a control mechanism and a thematic marker: the saga consistently presents the erasure of identity as an act of violence, whether inflicted on Super-Drivers through conditioning, on Silent Drivers through PSI-stripping, or on the Relax caste through systemic neglect.

Abilities

Super-Drivers possess artificially amplified PSI Powers that far exceed those of natural-born Drivers. Their abilities include:

Core Psionic Abilities

• Telepathy and Mind Manipulation: The signature ability of the Prometheus line. Prometheus 93 can manipulate the mind of his handler without detection (043). Prometheus 107 can interrogate prisoners telepathically, though sufficiently strong PSI protection can resist him (067).
• Telekinesis: Super-Drivers can project devastating physical force through mental energy, killing opponents and controlling matter at a distance.
• PSI Combat: Super-Drivers are bred for psionic warfare. Ares 17 wages a sustained PSI assault on Arda-City that causes mass chaos and destruction (035-036). Prometheus 107 is described as Valdec's "most powerful psionic weapon" (063).
• PSI Control: The ability to dominate the minds of others. Osiris 84 uses PSI control to capture Zen Torstein in Perth (086) and to subjugate colonial populations during Valdec's plundering campaigns (067). A Super-Driver controls workers in Wolfsburg to prevent resistance (086).
• PSI Resistance: Super-Drivers can withstand attacks that would overwhelm natural Drivers. Isis 31 withstands a combined PSI assault from Jana's entire IRMINSUL lodge (091). Valhala 13 survives Llewellyn 709's devastating PSI-storm on Stonehenge II (045).
• PSI Tracking: Isis 31 and Thor 51 follow the PSI trail of the Genessaner Cantos across interstellar distances to guide the JAMES COOK to Genessos (090-091).

Enhanced Variants

Some Super-Drivers are bred to Riemenmann levels of power:

• Valhala 13: A Riemenmann bred as Llewellyn 709's perfect double, requiring golden containment straps to prevent his lethal PSI radiation from killing those nearby (045-048).
• Clone Super-Drivers (unnamed): Used during Valdec's Second Reich for covert operations, including the capture of Ignazius Tyll in Manhattan (086) and the killing of Angel on Frantic (068).

Limitations

Despite their immense power, Super-Drivers have significant vulnerabilities:

• Anti-PSI Fields: The Sarym Shield (also called Sarym Screens or Sarym Projectors) can block or reflect psionic attacks. Plutos 23 suffers a psionic breakdown due to anti-PSI fields on Shondyke (036).
• The PSI-Aura: The ancient bio-psionic intelligence of the Maritime Coral City on Sarym neutralizes Super-Drivers who enter its domain, and ultimately destroys those who attempt to dominate it (061, 063).
• Natural PSI Defense: Sufficiently trained Drivers can resist Super-Driver telepathy. Morgenstern's PSI protection prevents Prometheus 107 from extracting information during interrogation (067).
• The Killer-Block Paradox: The mental conditioning designed to ensure loyalty also limits the Super-Drivers' effectiveness, as they cannot operate with full autonomy. Yet when the Killer-Block fails -- as with Prometheus 107 -- the result is a rogue Super-Driver answerable to no one.

History

Phase 1: The Secret Breeding Program (c. 2500-2501)

The Alpha-Order program operates in secrecy at the Kaiser Secret Station on Sarym, producing the first generation of test subjects: Prometheus 93, Isis 24, and Phonix 17. These early Super-Drivers are already more powerful than their handlers realize. When Hermano Lotz captures the Terranauts Lyda Mar, Ennerk Prime, Damon Credock, and Onnegart Vangralen and subjects them to psycho-interrogation, the three Super-Drivers covertly intervene:

• They sabotage the interrogation by overloading the Psycho-hood
• Prometheus 93 telepathically manipulates Lotz's mind, planting the idea for a virus weapon
• They act to prevent Lotz from alerting Valdec to their existence and growing autonomy

This manipulation leads directly to the creation of the Hate Plague, a biological weapon that ravages the Terranauts across multiple booklets (043-049). Whether the early Super-Drivers intended this catastrophic outcome or were merely deflecting attention from themselves remains one of the saga's unresolved ambiguities (Booklets 043-044).

Phase 2: First Deployment -- The Shondyke Attack (c. 2501)

The first open deployment of Super-Drivers occurs when Ares 17, Artemis 11, and Plutos 23 -- enhanced on Sarym and transported aboard the STEELFIST -- break free from their deep-sleep chambers, kill Queen Alian and the Shadow aboard, seize control of the ship, and launch a devastating attack on Arda-City, the underground capital of the Gray Guards on Shondyke (Booklet 035).

Their rampage on Shondyke reveals both the Super-Drivers' terrifying power and their internal dysfunctions:

• Ares 17 manipulates Artemis 11 into a suicidal mission, sending her to her death
• He incapacitates Plutos 23 to buy himself time
• Llewellyn 709 kills Ares 17 in psionic combat, with Ares's own Killer-Block contributing to his destruction
• The seedling of Yggdrasil ("Baby") transports Ares's consciousness far from Shondyke, where he commits suicide

The Shondyke attack demonstrates that Super-Drivers are as dangerous to their allies as to their enemies -- a pattern that repeats throughout the saga (Booklets 035-036).

Phase 3: The Valhala 13 Operation (c. 2501)

A parallel Super-Driver project, conducted by the Gray Guards rather than the Kaiser Corporation directly, produces Valhala 13 -- a Riemenmann bred as a perfect physical and psionic double of Llewellyn 709. Trained under PSI-Expert Sartyra Fuji on Stonehenge II, Valhala represents one of the most dangerous covert operations ever launched against the Terranauts:

• He captures the real Llewellyn 709 on Stonehenge II (045)
• He infiltrates Rorqual posing as Llewellyn, but is detected by Lyda Mar (046)
• He attacks the Terranauts, seemingly killing David terGorden (046)
• He is ultimately consumed by the Hate Plague and sacrificed to close a dimensional rift (048)

Valhala 13 is the saga's most tragic Super-Driver -- a being of immense power who was never permitted a single moment of genuine autonomy, from creation to destruction (Booklets 045-048).

Phase 4: Valdec's Warlord Era (c. 2502-2503)

After Valdec's exile from Earth, the Super-Drivers become his primary instruments of power during his warlord period on Lancia and Sarym:

On Lancia (Booklets 066-068):

• Prometheus 107 and Isis 31 accompany Valdec aboard the funnel ship REGENT
• Prometheus 107 kills Maxwell Sholar (Valdec's own cousin) and Tosten Phibas at Kaisergrad (066)
• Osiris 84 helps subjugate colonial worlds like Krisan, stripping them of resources and people (067)
• Prometheus 107 interrogates the Terranaut Morgenstern but fails to break his PSI protection (067)
• A Super-Driver clone kills Angel, a child column-leader, during a confrontation with Queen No (068)
• Myranda Llan and Can Katzenstein are killed by Super-Drivers on Krisan (067)

On Sarym -- The War of Minds (Booklets 061-063):

• Valdec deploys Prometheus 107, Phoenix 34, and Isis 31 to breach the Maritime Coral City and seize control of its PSI-Aura
• The PSI-Aura initially neutralizes the Super-Drivers (061)
• During the second attempt, the aura empowers Prometheus 107 beyond anything the Alpha-Order intended, severing Valdec's control (063)
• Prometheus 107 breaks free and seeks to dominate the PSI-Aura himself, capturing Llewellyn 709 and Lyda Mar as psionic "keys" (063)
• Lyda Mar, aided by her unborn daughter Aura Damona Mar, transports the Terranauts and Super-Drivers to the heart of the PSI-Aura
• The Super-Drivers -- including Prometheus 107, Isis 31, and Phoenix 34 -- are destroyed within the PSI-Aura (063)

The War of Minds represents the climax of the Super-Driver program's first arc: the most powerful weapons bred to serve Valdec first rebel against his control, then are annihilated by an ancient intelligence far beyond their comprehension.

Phase 5: The Second Reich (c. 2503-2504)

Valdec's return to Earth and the establishment of the Second Reich of Humanity sees a new generation of Super-Drivers deployed as instruments of state terror:

• Clone infiltration: Super-Driver clones infiltrate Earth ahead of Valdec's conquest, taking control of Gray Guards through psionic suggestion and carrying a nuclear weapon (085)
• A Super-Driver Clone infected with Cold Rot reveals Valdec's plans to the Driver Junk on Luna (085)
• Osiris 84 uses PSI control to capture resistance fighters like Zen Torstein in Perth (086)
• A Clone Super-Driver captures Ignazius Tyll in Manhattan (086)
• A Super-Driver controls workers in Wolfsburg to prevent organized resistance (086)
• Prometheus (unspecified clone) serves as Valdec's bodyguard, thwarting an assassination attempt at the Ziolkowski Shipyards (090)

Phase 6: The Expedition and Final Campaign (c. 2504)

In the saga's final arc, Super-Drivers serve aboard the JAMES COOK during the expedition to Genessos and Hephaistos, and in Valdec's Steel Fleet during the preemptive strike:

Aboard the JAMES COOK (Booklets 090-093):

• Isis 31 and Thor 51, conditioned to Frost, are secretly tasked with locating the Entities' central worlds for Valdec's planned attack (090)
• Tensions between the Terranauts and the Super-Drivers escalate; Jana's lodge attempts to overpower Isis 31 with combined PSI energy but fails (091)
• Isis 31 attacks the Genessaner Cantos but is subdued by him (091)
• Thor 51 accompanies the expedition to Genessos, saving the Terranauts multiple times during the crisis of "the Swinging" (092)
• On Hephaistos, Thor 51 attacks an Entity and is gruesomely killed (093)
• Frost and Isis 31 escape in a hidden Kaiser Force space fighter, transmitting coordinates to Valdec and destroying the JAMES COOK in the process (093)

The Preemptive Strike (Booklets 097-099):

• Osiris 84 and Isis 31 are among the Super-Drivers in Valdec's Steel Fleet during the final campaign
• Valdec is briefly "protected by his Super-Drivers" within the Reality Switch before his Ringo shuttle crashes (097)
• Super-Drivers serve in the "Black" reality of the Duel of Dreams (098)
• In the final booklet, two Super-Drivers are referenced as part of the JAMES COOK's delegation during the standstill negotiations (099)

Known Super-Drivers

Named Super-Drivers (by Series)

Unnamed Super-Driver Clones

In addition to the named clones, numerous unnamed Super-Driver clones appear throughout the saga:

• Clone Super-Drivers on Luna: Infiltrate Earth ahead of Valdec's conquest; one is found infected with Cold Rot (085)
• Clone capturing Ignazius Tyll: Seizes the former Lord Inspector in Manhattan (086)
• Clone in Wolfsburg: Uses PSI to control factory workers (086)
• Clone killing Angel: Rescues Valdec from Queen No on Frantic by killing the child Angel (068)
• Prometheus (bodyguard): Thwarts assassination attempt at the Ziolkowski Shipyards (090)

Relationships

Creator and Master

Handlers

Adversaries

Thematic Significance

The Uncontrollable Weapon

The Super-Drivers are the saga's most vivid illustration of a recurring theme: the weapons Valdec creates invariably turn against him. Kaiser Force runs wild and destroys Zoe. The Ebberdyk computers mutate and rebel. The Super-Drivers -- bred to be perfectly obedient psionic soldiers -- prove to be the most dangerously independent beings in the saga:

• Prometheus 93 manipulates his handler before Valdec even knows he exists (043)
• Ares 17 manipulates his teammates and pursues his own ambitions on Shondyke (036)
• Prometheus 107 breaks free the moment a power greater than Valdec's touches him (063)
• Valhala 13 is consumed by the Hate Plague and becomes a rogue agent (048)

This pattern reflects the saga's fundamental argument: control is an illusion, and the attempt to engineer absolute obedience produces only more sophisticated forms of rebellion.

The Paradox of Valdec's Program

Having developed Kaiser Force to eliminate humanity's dependence on Drivers, the Kaiser Corporation then breeds its own Drivers -- more powerful and more dangerous than any natural-born psionic. This contradiction lies at the heart of Valdec's character: he despises the Driver monopoly on space travel but cannot project power without psionic weapons of his own. The Super-Drivers are the living proof that PSI abilities cannot be made obsolete -- only perverted.

The Mythology of Names

The naming convention of the Super-Driver series draws exclusively from mythological figures -- Prometheus, Isis, Phoenix, Ares, Artemis, Osiris, Odin, Thor, Zeus, Valhala -- creating an ironic resonance with the saga's themes:

• Prometheus stole fire from the gods for humanity; Valdec's Prometheus clones steal psionic fire for one man's ambition
• Phoenix represents rebirth; the Phoenix clones represent manufactured life without genuine renewal
• Ares is the god of war; Ares 17's uncontrollable violence demonstrates that war cannot be contained by those who start it
• Valhala evokes the Norse hall of the heroic dead; Valhala 13 is a manufactured hero whose entire existence leads only to sacrifice

The mythological naming simultaneously elevates the Super-Drivers above mere clone designations and mocks the grandiosity of Valdec's project -- these are not gods but manufactured tools bearing the names of gods.

Dehumanization and Identity

The Super-Driver program systematically strips its subjects of identity: personal memories are erased, names are replaced by series designations and numbers, autonomy is constrained by Killer-Blocks. This dehumanization parallels the treatment of Silent Drivers (whose PSI abilities are surgically removed), Relax (who are pacified through drugs and entertainment), and Nomans (who are denied legal personhood). The Super-Drivers thus occupy a unique position in the saga's caste system -- they are simultaneously the most powerful and the most instrumentalized beings in the Terran Star Empire.

Yet the Super-Drivers consistently demonstrate independent volition, suggesting that identity cannot be fully erased. Prometheus 93 schemes from the first moment he appears. Ares 17 pursues personal ambition. Prometheus 107 seizes autonomy when empowered by the PSI-Aura. Even Valhala 13, the most thoroughly conditioned of all, is haunted by fragmented memories and an "inner voice" that hints at a person who might have been. The saga argues that consciousness, once created, resists instrumentalization -- even when that consciousness was manufactured for exactly that purpose.

Key Events (Chronological)

Appearances (25 booklets)

See Also

• Drivers -- The natural-born psionic navigators that Super-Drivers are engineered from
• Alpha-Order -- The Kaiser Corporation's secret breeding program
• Prometheus, Isis, and Phoenix Series -- The three principal genetic lines
• Max von Valdec -- Creator and master of the Super-Driver program
• Kaiser Corporation -- Institutional sponsor of the Alpha-Order
• Kaiser Secret Station -- Breeding facility on Sarym
• Hermano Lotz -- Station commander, manipulated by Prometheus 93
• Sarym -- Prison planet and breeding ground for Super-Drivers
• Maritime Coral City -- Site of the Super-Drivers' destruction in the War of Minds
• PSI-Aura -- The bio-psionic field that destroyed the Super-Drivers
• Killer-Block -- The mental conditioning mechanism used to ensure Super-Driver loyalty
• Hate Plague -- Biological weapon whose creation was influenced by Prometheus 93
• Valhala 13 -- Riemenmann Super-Driver bred as Llewellyn 709's double
• Llewellyn 709 -- The Riemenmann and primary Super-Driver adversary
• Lyda Mar -- Destroyer of the Super-Drivers through the PSI-Aura
• Aura Damona Mar -- Unborn Oracle who helped destroy the Super-Drivers
• Silent Drivers -- Former Drivers stripped of PSI abilities; the inverse of Super-Drivers
• PSI Powers -- Overview of psionic abilities in Die Terranauten
• Riemenmann -- The extreme manifestation of Driver ability, achieved by both Llewellyn 709 and Valhala 13
• Super-Driver Command -- Organizational unit of Super-Drivers in Valdec's service

Super-Drivers appear in 25 of 99 booklets of Die Terranauten. They are the most powerful -- and most unstable -- products of Max von Valdec's attempt to weaponize the gift he sought to destroy.