Chaos, how I missed you...[Moira]

[Nisha Decrilla]

It wasn't hard to get to Widek's surface, the rebellion was poorly organised at best and as such, their control over space traffic had suffered considerably. Anaya waited patiently, listening to the chatter between ships and found a nice window to get past as an argument started between a cargo ship and the traffic warden. A tired and very stretched warden by the sounds of things. She flew low over the city in the old A36 Sleuth settling for a landing spot just outside the main port.

She closed her eyes as the ship shutdown with a low hum and took a deep breath. Her whole body was quivering with excitement, but there was a worry at the back of her mind. Calina was her everything and she'd just thrown her life into a deal. If this went awry, Calina would pay the price and Anaya would be powerless to do it. Not because she couldn't take Kaine. Oh she had no qualms about killing the monster he had become, he, however had one very large advantage over her.

The power of the One Sith.

Opening her eyes she let the air out of her lungs slowly and reached for the comms array. She sent an encrypted message to an old acquaintance that simply read:

Chaos is Everything​

​

Target: Widek.​

With it she sent her coordinates, and then she sat back and waited.

[member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

8[member="Anaya Fen"]


Keen mechanical eyes studied the short, laconic message. Brevity suited the homicidal death machine just fine. She was not one for wasteful small talk. Long, pianist fingers danced over the keyboard as she typed in a reply.

Understood. Can be there in three days.​

We have a delivery mechanism for the merchandise.​

Request data.​

Would you like oranges or apples?​

Oranges was code for Reaver narcotics, apples for the zombie virus.

​

Alas, their plans to strike on Kalee had been derailed by events. Moira still felt a close approximation of annoyance about the fact that Contruum was...no longer neutral. She had a soft spot for her old stomping ground and preferred it being an anarchic hellhole. Then again, it was doubtful that Sith rule was benevolent. But the world of Widek would suffice for the operation.


Located to the north of Atrisia, it had so far eluded the Sith's expansionist drive since they'd had juicier targets, though she imagined that would change. Speaking of the Sith, there were rumours of unrest in their territory. Fleets being moved to the core, Lords growing uppity, people disappearing. A transmission was sent and then Archangel began its preparations. Widek would never be the same again.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya let out a small, manic giggle in the confines of her ship as she replied.

Apples and eyes. Estimated completion: one month.

This would not be as quick as they wanted. To be done properly, she would need to infiltrate the rebellion and a face as well known as hers was not exactly the right one for it. No, Anaya had another idea, and it was one that would favour Archangel. Still she couldn't digress so much in these transmissions, encrypted or not, there was always someone who could crack the code. What was it slicers said?

The signal never ends?

Something like that. She closed her eyes and slipped into meditation while waiting.

[member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Anaya Fen"]


The transmission was brief and concise. Understood. Juicy apples from Eden.


There would be no snake, but wasps were good as well. Yes, this writer likes their meta commentary. The operation would not be able to be carried out quickly, but one advantage of being a droid was that you tended to be patient. Hence Archangel's new operations on Kaeshana. After all, someone had to take care of the forsaken after Firemane abandoned them.


Transmission sent, Moira cut the connection. There were a great many things to prepare and data to be gathered. Widek was not the most developed planet, but there were a number of population centres worth striking. Along with a local rebellion that had enough clout to keep the local government from realising the inevitable and submitting to the iron grip of the Dark Lord.


Rumours said there were Rebel Alliance partisans amongst its ranks. Three days hence from now, Moira's shuttle swept across the main city and touched down at a reasonable distance away from the main port. Conveniently Anaya had sent her coordinates for a meeting spot. Two HRDs accompanied her, but Archangel's main force would remain in space for the time being, far outside sensor range.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

The whine of a ships engine and the clatter of dust peppering her own ship drew Anaya from her meditation. She watched the dust kicked up by Moira's ship spray across her viewscreen, waiting until it had died down before rising from the chair she was in to greet her. She couldn't help but smile widely as she descended the landing ramp and her eyes settled on Moira's stiff form.

Anaya greeted her with a kiss to each cheek, knowing full well it was affection Moira simply tolerated from her. "Moira, you've no idea how pleased I am to see you." She glanced briefly at the HRD's accompanying her, but offered them nothing else by way of attention. "I've nothing in terms of comfort to offer you for us to discuss this, but if you're content to, I'd like to pay the city a visit and get a feel for the tone of things while I explain our situation."

[member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Anaya Fen"]


And so the Chaos duumvirate had a reunion. Moira gracefully accepted the kiss on each cheek from the Twi'lek and then returned it. It was a strange organic affectation she had learned to tolerate since she liked Anaya well enough. For an organic she had very sensible views.


"It's a pleasure to see you again," she said. Tone was slightly less bland than usual, even though Anaya obviously knew she was a robot. The two HRDs accompanying Moira stood guard like implacable sentinels, ready to pounce in case of danger. Both of them were Eldorai who had been saved from Kaeshana and upgraded by Archangel. Now they could never have to worry about medical bills anymore.


"I'm fine with discussing things en route. We can go over the mission parametres on the way. I imagine false flag. Do we have a backer for this?" Unlike her writer, Moira would presumably not know that Anaya had had a friendly chat with [member="Darth Vornskr"]. Whom the droid was meeting in another thread, but let's not split hairs about the timeline. Likewise Moira was in the dark about the fact that the Chaos Queen had a kid. That said, she suspected an Imperial connection since the local insurgency was being an annoyance to the Dark Lord's minions. "I'm deploying wasp drones to recon the city."

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya smiled "Wasp drones?" She queried, "You must show me them when we're less occupied, I've always had a fascination with droids of a less familiar design." Anaya began to walk into the city, being sure to keep her saberstaff out of sight. "The parameters of our mission are fairly simple - sow discord against the rebellion. Our backer is a private investor, Darth Vornskr. This contract is an exchange of favours. While I create chaos, he does something for me." Anaya didn't delve, and she trusted Moira wouldn't press the matter. After all, as much as she enjoyed the droids company and help from time to time, she would never trust her. This was a relationship based on business values, not sentimental ones.

"He want's the rebellion to lose favour with the locals. They've gathered a supply of munitions and are proving difficult to get under control without a high death toll. The One Sith have never been ones to worry about death toll, but to keep planets in line it always helps if they like you. I want to infiltrate the rebellion," She hand Moira a datapad "and by 'I' I mean you. This is a list i've been given of people at its head. I figured today would be a good day to remove a head and replace it with one we have a greater deal of control over."

The dust outskirts gave way to the clean cut corners of a once bustling city. There'd been a fair amount of trade here once upon a time, what with it being at the end of the Metellos Trade Route, but it was beginning to show the signs of neglect. Storefronts on the outskirts had been abandoned, no longer getting the foot fall they had in its prime. Anaya smiled. "It's almost like a young Contruum, dont you think?" Place pressure in the right places, and she and Moira could make it very much like Contruum.

Alas, there was far more at stake than her own desires.

[member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Anaya Fen"]


"Miniaturised, wasp-like drones. Fast, stealthy, barely detectable. Can either be equipped with surveillance equipment or alternately with a stinger to inject a subject with a sedative or toxin." Maybe Archangel would create giant spider droids next.


She cocked her head slightly when Anaya described her agreement with Butcher-King of Gore. "Vornskr, I see," she said and left it at that. There was obviously something about their arrangement the Twi'lek was not telling her, but she did not particularly care. Did she like her? Yes, sort of. Trust? No. That implied absence of threat. She absorbed the information Anya provided her and looked over the datapad, then nodded.


Her eyes fell upon the city that was stretched out before them. Abandoned storefronts, garbage lying around on the streets, here and there a building's window had been smashed. In the far distance you could hear police sirens.


"Yes, a young Contruum still in its infancy," she said thoughtfully. She liked the idea of spawning a new one. "We can abduct key rebels and replace them with HRDs. Our processing capacities have expanded significantly and are less time-consuming," she did not elaborate further, but suffice to say it would take far less time to create mechanical clones now than the let time they'd met.


"Once we have control over a suffficient number of rebel cells, we can release the virus. Blame it on the rebellion and Selectivist terrorists since these days everyone is harping about them." She found this a bit amusing since Lasedri's coup had fizzled within a couple hours, but now everyone was accustomed to suspecting Reds everywhere. Moreover, many identified the Republic with them, even more so after Hadrix' crimes at Roche. This would discredit anyone opposing the Sith. Archangel would provide a 'free cure' to the virus.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Truth be told, Anaya had no idea what Selectivists Moira was on about, she was so out of the loop these days that she missed the finer details of the workings of the galaxy. She chose instead to focus on that which directly affected her, and that which she could use to her advantage. Like a rebellion close to home for Kaine Zambrano. Her mind flickered briefly to Calina, tempted to reach out to the girl to make sure she was ok, but stubborn anger washed such a desire from her mind.

The girl had dug her grave, let her lie in it for a while.

"I'm glad that once again, Moira, we think along the same lines." She passed a hand over her stomach, activating Glamour, the sith amulet made for her by Valik, embedded with a sith mask, her skin began to change hues and she stepped into the shadow of a building. Red marred with the sharp black lines of her tattoos gave way to lilac as she stepped into the light. Hers was a face known, regardless of whether she had stayed in shadow's or not, those who remembered the Old SIth Empire, remembered Anaya Fen and when the sith were not to be caught up in this, recognition was the last thing she needed.

"Tell me, must these rebel leaders be alive in order for you to process them?" She was so hungry for a fight, so eager for the smell of blood.

[member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Anaya Fen"]


"Yes, alive, and mentally sound," Moira confirmed blandly. Such a spoilsport! Theoretically it was possible to process the newly-dead, but then the only thing that was copied was their appearance. The processing machine did not accept dead minds, alas.


"Not necessarily physically undamaged though. Broken legs are fine. Do with the minions as you please," she added as an afterthought. Meanwhile the swarm of wasp drones had descended upon the city. The drones were fast, tiny and hard to distinguish from real wasps, unless you were really alert.


Their orders were simple: Perform surveillance, scout out the security forces and the known hideouts of the rebel insurgency, with a specific focus on the rebel leaders Anaya had told Moira about.


As they stepped into the shadow of a decrepit building that had seen better days and Anaya drew upon her Sith gifts to morph her appearance, Moira received a jolt and very briefly her eyes flashed behind buried photoreceptors before they resumed their more human blue colour. She produced a datapad and briefly connected it to herself, downloading the data so that Anaya would be able to see for herself and get a plan of the building. The rebel lieutenant had 'requisitioned' a rather run-down hotel for himself.


"The drones have scouted out the location of one of the rebel leaders. The militia guarding it is common riff-raff. Some turrets. The wasps can take quietly take out the guards outside, then we can break in and grab the leader."


Assuredly, there'd still be enough rebels for Anaya to slaughter! "Later on we can arrange for his 'rescue' by his 'comrades', and blame the attack on a rival group." To cause even more disruption, Moira had planned to have Archangel contact another rebel under an assumed identity, offering them weapons and 'assistance', and in the process sneaking in one of its agents. The same would be done with the shaky government.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya accepted the datapad as Moira spoke, her lips slightly pursed as she scanned the surveillance gained. The wasps worked fast, she gave them that much at least, perhaps she'd have to invest in a few herself. She was sure she and Moira could come to some sort of deal, they normally did. "No more than a block or two away from us," she handed the datapad back. "Wonderful." she almost skipped as she picked up her pace, angling them in the right direction, a wide smile playing across her face.

She was almost childlike in her excitement, a small giggle escaping her. She'd nothing to worry about, a simple goal ahead of her that centered around violence. Break in, kill a few minions, without using her saber if possible, capture the rebel leader and hand him over. She would send a report to Kaine while they waited for him to be processed, and then repeat the process a couple more times to gain a firm grasp over their target. "You know Moira, if you were human, our relationship would be very different."

She left the HRD to process that as they round the corner to find the guards, milling about, their alertness shoddy for even your standard riff raff. One caught sight of them, opening his mouth to shout out, only to be silenced as the wasps descended. It was a sweet and silent sight, the only sound they made was a sigh as their bodies hit the floor. The brief silence that followed was permeated by the crackle of electricity. Anaya's lightning gathered in her hands forming a tight ball. She marvelled at it for a moment before hurling it at the front door. It grew in size as it flew, ripping away the door and part of the wall either side.

"Knock, knock." she purred, bouncing forward.

[member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Anaya Fen"]


Anaya's last comment to her caused Moira to feel something like puzzlement, before she concluded that it was innuendo. Organics...Anyhow, soon she had new to focus her processing power on. Something that revolved purely around violence and homicide. Just the sort of thing you felt like doing when you were a moderately megalomaniacal death machine.


Wasps descended upon rather undisciplined guards and before the unfortunate fellows realised what happened, they were stung and slumped to the ground like puppets whose strings had been pulled. Her minions would grab the militiamen and take them away for processing. Boom! Through the power of electrically charged space magic, her partner in crime blew the door away! Immediately rebels inside the hotel rallied and reached for their weapons. It seemed that a party of sorts had been going on, so some of them were in a rather inebriated state.


They would not have much time to consider the error of their ways. The night sky was lit up by the red flares of blasterbolts, and Moira leapt into action. Shatterpistol in head, she quickly took out a guards with a precise shot. Shatterpistol in one hand and bolt pistol in the other, she advanced. Blaster bolts and slug rounds swept towards her but she broke into a sprint, moving with almost blinding speed.


Able to concentrate on two enemies at once she fired while she ran. Several blaster bolts struck the droid or glanced off her, but she smashed his skull as if it were a ripe melon by clubbing him with her gun, and, still firing, jumped up, swarmed up a pillar without stopping and jumped across to the floor right above the reception area.


Three rebels seemed to corner her, but she rammed an attacker and stamped on his throat, turned and gunned his comrades down or kicked them away like toys. Suddenly she was pushed back when a hidden rebel charged her and, unexpectedly, managed to ram his axe into her shoulder. The poor fellow, who looked like he would've still been in college on a less benighted world, looked frightened when she focused her cold eyes on him. Wordlessly gripping the axe, she pulled it out of her shoulder. The rebel tried to run, but she shot him in the leg, then chopped his head off. The leader's room was close.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya itched to draw her sabers and cleave them all in two, but the mission made it clear she couldn't leave any evidence that might tilt the the balance in favour of the rebels. She let Moira take the lead, drawing the heat onto her before stepping into the room, lips uttering a spell that absorbed the light. Darkness descended and Anaya moved quickly, drawing a dagger from her boot, she snuck behind one seizing him and drawing it over his throat. His gurgled cry drew blaster bolts her way but she was already gone.

She darted in the dark, between victims, blood making her hands sticky. Slowly but surely the sound of blaster fire died down and the light returned. anaya peered down at the blade in her hand, eyes glittering with excitement. She smiled and began to hum a lullaby she'd heard once, passing by Moira she winked at her, taking the lead to head upstairs and find the leader. She took the stairs two at a time, ducking as she reached the top to avoid the blaster pointed at her head. Dust rained down on her back as it peppered the wall behind her.

She flicked her wrist forward, and the knife slammed into her assailant's throat. The second guard she seized in the force, holding him off the floor by his throat, she squeezed slowly, taking pleasure in the way he was squirming and wheezing. "Moira, dear," she called down to her comrade. "There's no more minions."

[member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Anaya Fen"]


For some reason, the lullaby stirred memories inside Moira. It was a most unfamiliar feeling. Not to mention slightly disconcerting. It took her back to the days on her homeworld. Days of innocende and idealism. Young, human Moira had been good with children, even when she joined the resistance to topple an oppressive regime.


This train of thought was illogical, so she erased it. She did not immediately respond to Anaya's words, but rather advanced towards a room and simply kicked the door down. Dramatic entry for the win! However, no sooner had she done this, than an explosive charge detonated. It was not a powerful one, but the blast knocked her around, part of the ceiling caved in and dust rose up into the air.


Visibly damaged, with her clothes and part of her skin torn, the HRD got up and immediately bolted towards the window. She felt a close approximation of what organics would call annoyance. The rebel lieutenant had used the explosion as a cover to jump out and was now running. Alas, resistance was futile. "Pursuing the leader."


Immediately the HRD leapt out of the window after him. She landed upon the ground with a solid, tile-cracking thud, dropping immediately to one knee and one gun, weapon like an extension of her other hand. In a blur of movement, she took off after him. Whilst running she fired her gun but missed by the inches, the rebel plucked a grenade free from his belt and tossed it towards her general direction. Electrical sparks coursed through her body, damaging some circuits, when the EMP grenade detonated, but she was too far away from the blast to suffer severe damage.


Implacably, she bolted after him. Frustrated, the rebel lieutenant turned across another corner as the droid was catching up with him. Then he cried out quietly when the stinger of a wasp stung him. He slumped to the ground, though he still tried to crawl away, then finally fell unconscious.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

The explosion knocked Anaya and her current toy sideways, showering them in dust and rubble. She grunted, ears ringing but no other damage done and got to her feet, incredibly grateful she'd let Moira go first she loped after her into the room. Leaning out the window she followed the chase down the street.

"She's got this." She confirmed aloud to herself before making heresy back down the way down the stairs, stepping lightly over corpses she made her way into the street, brushing herself off as she went, clicking her tongue and sighing about the mess that had been made of her clothes. Catching up with her comrade and their captive she pulled her top out. "Look at this, blood all over it. I liked this top, it was made for me." She huffed "I knew I shouldn't have killed that designer. He was terribly annoying though."

She moved to the unconciouss form of the rebel,leader and used her foot to roll him over. "I was so looking forward to breaking his legs."

[member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Anaya Fen"]


Moira, being a droid, was sadly unsympathetic to Anaya's fashion disaster. So she just looked blandly at the Twi'lek, who at the moment reminded her a bit of a certain Lady Kerrigan. Organics...


"There will many others you can break. An entire planet will become a killing field," she said emotionlessly. With her hand, which was partially showing the metal since some of the flesh had been damaged in the explosion earlier, she grabbed the unconscious rebel leader, gagging and cuffing him. After all, it would be most annoying if he woke up and started screaming.


Through the darkness, a speeder descended from the sky, piloted by one of her droid minions. Without further ado, Moira hauled the rebel lieutenant into the craft. It was time to make an exit.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya smiled as Moira loaded their captive aboard the speeder. She did enjoy the droids company, sometimes more than organic so like herself. "I have other affairs to attend to, but I shall get some surveillance set up and see what other intelligence I can gather while your dealing with him."

Moira would let her know when the rebel leader was ready to be reinserted, in the meantime, she would track more, discover habits and try to understand what it was these people hated so much about the One Sith.

"Much love and luck to you, my dear friend."

[member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Anaya Fen"]


And so the human merchandise was bagged, tagged and loaded up. Aside from the rebel lieutenant, the two rebel minions who'd been sedated by the wasp droids at the start of the assault formed part of the package.


Very soon, their minds would be harvested. It would all be quiet, efficient and painless. The HRD turned slightly to look upon Anaya when the Lethan Twi'lek spoke to her. Moira did, as a matter of fact, like her company.


Well, she was one of the few organics Moira didn't feel an overwhelmning urge to process all the time. Of course, should an opportunity to upgrade Anaya present itself, Moira would not hesitate to bestow the great gift upon her. After all, that was the best way to preserve her!


Such a sweet, genocidal tin can. "Good luck with your endeavours, friend," Moira spoke in her most humane tone. "Keep me abreast on what information you uncover. I estimate he should be finished in two days." The process of...processing had been sped up considerably and actually took less time now, but they would need some time to organise his reinsertion. Time skips are a writer's best friends. Goodbyes exchanged, Moira slipped into the speeder and took off into the night.