Moira Skaldi
Paperclip Maximiser
[member="Maelion Liates"], [member="Project Uriel"], [member="Valiens Nantaris"]
The Lightbringer, the vessel through which Archangel spread the message of the Age of Steel, shot through the blue shimmering tunnel of hyperspace with great speed as space unfolded before it, pushing its engines for all it was worth. The fruit of relentless machine drive and the cooperation of willing and unknowing organic allies, the stygium array, coupled with the finest engine emission controls available meant the ship was invisible to almost every observer. This was an attribute that would certainly be needed on this task, for stealth would be essential for the operation the Metal Princesses planned to pursue. The destination of this voyage was Onderon. Once a minor kingdom of Sith Lords on the edge of civilised space, now it was the capital of the Republic after it had been driven from the Core Worlds by the One Sith onslaught. To be more precise, the destination was not Onderon itself but Dxun, known as the Demon Moon, an orb stepped in bloodshed, broken dreams and covered by a jungle populated by wild beasts.
Once upon a time, a good while before the cataclysm the mad goddess Akala unleashed upon the Galaxy, Moira and Maelion, partners in crime and zealots in pursuit of an age of machines, had visited the moon before, seeking a piece of the famed Taurannik Codex inside the tomb of Freedon Nadd, leaving corpses in their wake. Now once again they were here to salvage what past eras had left behind. Almost a millennia ago the Galactic Empire had pursued a project codenamed Shadow Droid. Inspired by the entechment technology utilised by the Ssi-Ruuv xenos, Palpatine's best scientists had created a starfighter that blurred the line between organic and machine.
The Shadow Droid had been piloted not by an organic pilot or a controlled by a droid mind, but by surgically implanted organic brains. Umak Leth had, much to his master's displeasure, failed to replicate entechment and thus fallen back upon the proven success of a direct circuit-to-cerebrum neural link. The still-living grey matter of grievously wounded TIE pilots had been harvested and hardwired to the ship, turned into cybernetic hardware and endowing the pilots with reflexes and efficiency far beyond the human norm. Likewise, Palpatine had endowed them with the gift of the Force. In their day and age the Shadow Droids had been devastating, and had been deployed during the battle of Onderon, though in the end the Empire had fallen when their master was pulled into the netherworld.
Intelligence uncovered during Atrisia's collapse indicated that a Shadow Droid might still be buried deep in the muddy ground of Dxun, something worth salvaging and improving upon. It was a moon littered with the detritus of wars upon wars, populated by dangerous beasts and undoubtedly others would be attracted to it to plunder as well...but that would not stop genocidal death machines. And unlike Palpatine, they had not just harnessed entechment but gone beyond its creators had done.
Moira Skaldi stood upon the bridge of the Lightbringer as she studied datapads containing intelligence, absorbing the data at rapid speed. All around her there was activity, but rather than frentic it was orderly and precise as the crewers went about their duties. Then again, this was to be expected because every single one of them was a droid. So many projects absorbed her time. The chaos caused by the netherworld crisis had been good for Archangel, though it had not lasted long enough for her tastes. Still, they had acquired cortosis on Bespin and dealt Firemane a blow in the process, acquired murakamid orchid on Shri-Taal, made a phrik contract with the Protectorate and she had acquired a DNA sample of [member="Coryth Elaris"]. Once the clone was created she would be...magnificient. As was common in operations like this she was not wearing her 'true face', but rather had changed appearances since for HRDs that was easy as choosing a different pair of clothes. Nothing could be allowed to hint at Archangel's involvement, for to all outward appearances it was a respectable company that in the past had enjoyed cordial ties with the Republic and still did.
The Lightbringer, the vessel through which Archangel spread the message of the Age of Steel, shot through the blue shimmering tunnel of hyperspace with great speed as space unfolded before it, pushing its engines for all it was worth. The fruit of relentless machine drive and the cooperation of willing and unknowing organic allies, the stygium array, coupled with the finest engine emission controls available meant the ship was invisible to almost every observer. This was an attribute that would certainly be needed on this task, for stealth would be essential for the operation the Metal Princesses planned to pursue. The destination of this voyage was Onderon. Once a minor kingdom of Sith Lords on the edge of civilised space, now it was the capital of the Republic after it had been driven from the Core Worlds by the One Sith onslaught. To be more precise, the destination was not Onderon itself but Dxun, known as the Demon Moon, an orb stepped in bloodshed, broken dreams and covered by a jungle populated by wild beasts.
Once upon a time, a good while before the cataclysm the mad goddess Akala unleashed upon the Galaxy, Moira and Maelion, partners in crime and zealots in pursuit of an age of machines, had visited the moon before, seeking a piece of the famed Taurannik Codex inside the tomb of Freedon Nadd, leaving corpses in their wake. Now once again they were here to salvage what past eras had left behind. Almost a millennia ago the Galactic Empire had pursued a project codenamed Shadow Droid. Inspired by the entechment technology utilised by the Ssi-Ruuv xenos, Palpatine's best scientists had created a starfighter that blurred the line between organic and machine.
The Shadow Droid had been piloted not by an organic pilot or a controlled by a droid mind, but by surgically implanted organic brains. Umak Leth had, much to his master's displeasure, failed to replicate entechment and thus fallen back upon the proven success of a direct circuit-to-cerebrum neural link. The still-living grey matter of grievously wounded TIE pilots had been harvested and hardwired to the ship, turned into cybernetic hardware and endowing the pilots with reflexes and efficiency far beyond the human norm. Likewise, Palpatine had endowed them with the gift of the Force. In their day and age the Shadow Droids had been devastating, and had been deployed during the battle of Onderon, though in the end the Empire had fallen when their master was pulled into the netherworld.
Intelligence uncovered during Atrisia's collapse indicated that a Shadow Droid might still be buried deep in the muddy ground of Dxun, something worth salvaging and improving upon. It was a moon littered with the detritus of wars upon wars, populated by dangerous beasts and undoubtedly others would be attracted to it to plunder as well...but that would not stop genocidal death machines. And unlike Palpatine, they had not just harnessed entechment but gone beyond its creators had done.
Moira Skaldi stood upon the bridge of the Lightbringer as she studied datapads containing intelligence, absorbing the data at rapid speed. All around her there was activity, but rather than frentic it was orderly and precise as the crewers went about their duties. Then again, this was to be expected because every single one of them was a droid. So many projects absorbed her time. The chaos caused by the netherworld crisis had been good for Archangel, though it had not lasted long enough for her tastes. Still, they had acquired cortosis on Bespin and dealt Firemane a blow in the process, acquired murakamid orchid on Shri-Taal, made a phrik contract with the Protectorate and she had acquired a DNA sample of [member="Coryth Elaris"]. Once the clone was created she would be...magnificient. As was common in operations like this she was not wearing her 'true face', but rather had changed appearances since for HRDs that was easy as choosing a different pair of clothes. Nothing could be allowed to hint at Archangel's involvement, for to all outward appearances it was a respectable company that in the past had enjoyed cordial ties with the Republic and still did.