The Gears of War Are Turning [Moira Skaldi]

[Ludolf Vaas]

Ludolf Vaas gazed out the window of the highest tower on Starkiller Base, observing the formations of Stormtroopers engaging in squad activities below. It was a normal day here at Starkiller, but Vaas wanted the troopers to be ever more vigilant in their duties.... as well as hidden. About half of his Stormtrooper squads had been taken off-site for their normal drill instruction today. As a result, Starkiller Base, though populated, was not as bustling with martial displays as it normally would be.

Today, they would be having guests.

Vaas had invited [member="Moira Skaldi"] from Archangel Corporation to the base to discuss a possible armament deal for the First Order. Archangel looked like a promising company for arming the waves of the First Order war machine in their future endavors, but until a deal was struck, Ludolf would underplay the First Order's strength to outsiders. He did not wish for it to become common knowledge throughout the galaxy that a new Imperial splinter-group was vigorously arming themselves on Eriadu. He preferred the element of surprise. He preferred to be underestimated.

When Skaldi arrived, Ludolf would venture out to the helipad to meet her. A modest lunch table had been prepared in the General's quarters to receive the guest. If Skaldi was right on schedule, he predicted her shuttle to touch down at any minute.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Ludolf Vaas"]

((Just for clarification, Moira's here under her Nalia Alderana cover identity, since that's the one she runs Archangel under. Only very few know they're the same person. ))


It would not take long for the Archangel shuttle to appear above Starkiller Base, as the Imperial splinter group called the First Order had termed it. It was by no means the first time Nalia had dealt with Imperial groups. A long time ago she had been a closely ally of Madeline Kahoshi during her reign as Atrisian Empress. That had actually been good times since the scientist was one of the few organics the blonde actually found herself approving of.


Today could be a day for opportunities. Archangel was a growing corporation that had come far from its rather humble beginnings, which had been a simple office and factory on Corellia. Ah, yes, shame about what had happened to Corellia when its shipyards got blown up and the planet was then torn in half by Akala's little temper tantrum. Fortunately they had relocated to Denon. Day after day new droids and HRDs were churned out of their factories and they had acquired various weapon systems that, in her estimation at least, would be useful for the neo-Imperial group.


One of her minions, an HRD was piloting the shuttle and, as it approached the base, sent a transmission. "Starkiller Base, this is an Archangel shuttle. Director Nalia Alderana is aboard. Transmitting code." Subsequently the code they had been given in advance was transmitted, so that the troops would know not to shoot the craft down!


With the formalities out of the way and clearance having been granted, the shuttle landed and, after the landing rampw as lowered, Nalia Alderana stepped down, dressed in an elegant but still quite conservative pantssuit and carrying a small briefcase. At her side was a tall, statuesque redhead called Callisto Scarlett, who wore a vaguely military-style outfit and was part bodyguard, part secretary and all parts one of the newest models of HRD. Presumably their host would be on the spot to greet them and then they could discuss matters.

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

"General Vaas, the Archangel shuttle has transmitted code and is requesting landing."

Ludolf peered over his right shoulder at the air traffic controller in the base's tower. "Of course. Direct them to Landing Pad A."

As his men carried out their orders, Ludolf exited the room and took the elevator down to the ground floor. He would meet with [member="Moira Skaldi"] personally. For his part, he was clad in a long black officer's coat denoting his rank, which protected him from the slight chill of Eriadu's current climate, as well as a black cap with the First Order symbol emblazoned on its front. When the Archangel shuttle landed, it would find only General Vaas to greet them, the rest of the troops meanwhile preoccupied with their training exercises. Again, Ludolf wanted no special fanfare for this occasion. He did not want to tip the First Order's hand and alert the galaxy to what was being planned on Eraidu.

Ludolf approached Nalia Alderana, the leader of Archangel, along with a rather striking red-headed figure at her side. He smiled. "Ms. Alderana. A pleasure to have your company here on Eriadu. I trust your spaceflight was without issue?"

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Ludolf Vaas"]


Unlike a certain Countess whom this writer also writes, Nalia appreciated the lack of fanfare or honour guard. She did not have an ego that needed to be stroked in such a manner. To her trained eye it appeared as if the base seemed understaffed. There could be varying answers for this. Perhaps the First Order had insufficient troops, but she dismissed the answer. Perhaps its men were preoccupied with training or a mission. Or many of them had been deliberately sent away on one such excursion to hide their strength. Even whilst under the politely autocratic - and to the end erratic, terribly weak - rule of the Protectorate, Eriadu had not forgotten its old Imperial heritage.


Nalia had worked for several regimes in the past. Some had been openly imperialist, others had tried to obscur their desires through fancy rhetoric. Either way it did not matter to her. After all, Archangel had its share of secrets as well. So she gave the First Order General a smile and shook his hand. She had a firm, confident grip. "Likewise a pleasure, General. The flight was satisfactory, thank you. This is my assistant, Ms. Scarlett. Please lead the way. I am confident we can do business together for our mutual gain," she said smoothly.

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

Ludolf nodded. "I am confident also. Hello, Ms. Scarlett," He said as an aside to the red-haired woman at [member="Moira Skaldi"] 's side.

The General led the pair across the landing pad and into the compound that was acting as the temporary base for the fledgling First Order. Inside, activity was a bit more erratic, but busier. Men worked in one side of the hangar bay on a half-constructed TIE fighter, while a glimpse of missile stockpiles were seen on the other corner of the expansive hangar bay. Meanwhiile, on the far side of the hangar, a unit of Stormtroopers was standing at attention, waiting to be drilled, and another unit, out of armor, was heading out of the hangar for a morning jog. Ludolf passed them all, and gave them, as well as their Lieutenant, a passing salute. He led Nalia Alderana and her companion to the room he had prepared, turning back to speak to them as they passed the commotion.

"As you can see, our operation here is modest, at the moment," He said. Only if they were to strike up a deal, would he later reveal the scope to which the First Order was ready to purchase weapons. "However, we are in search of all manner of armaments. Any type of small armaments for our soldiers, to large craft for our fledgling fleet. Why don't we discuss small arms first? We're looking for the most cutting-edge technology that will give our troopers an advantage over any adversary - including Force users."

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Ludolf Vaas"]


"Of course, General." She expected the First Order to keep their cards close to their chest to the moment. After all, it was in their interests to be beneath the galactic radar for the moment. "Our primary product are droids, specifically HRDs, but we possess a variety of small arms that I believe can accommodate your infantry well. You may have heard of the infamous bolters. Originally designed by Omega Pyre back in its heyday as a weapon for its elite troops specifically to battle Force-users. We manufacture our own and can provide both the MKI and MKII variant in large amounts, including ammunition. Same applies for anti-force-user grenades."


If one were to dig more thoroughly into Nalia's supposed past, one would find hints of past ties to OP's leadership during the Cira and Alcori administrations. However, the Protectorate had dissolved and its high-tech had long been proliferated. What only very knew was that Nalia, under the name Moira Skaldi, had once been in charge of OP's military intelligence service. Suffice to say absconding with plenty of blueprints had been easy. "Likewise we possess Gorgon web rifles, a weapon designed by the old Sith Empire to capture or incapacitate Force-users, in large numbers."


Blueprints had been acquired during a raid on a raid on a Sith research facility when the Empire went down. Ironically, that had been a Rebel Alliance raid. The Merrill/Castillon Alliance, not the present Communist one. "I imagine you're familiar with the Nightstinger rifle used by the old Galactic Empire centuries ago. Thanks to our old Atrisian ties, we can provide the upgraded Shadow Rifle, ideal for snipers. These are some of the designs we can supply for the right price." She passed over a datapad with the tech specs of the aforementioned designs, which was a convenient way for this writer to avoid writing a wall of text describing them all.

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

The designs which [member="Moira Skaldi"] provided were promising. They were mostly specialty weapons, specifically useful for dealing with Force-users, but this is exactly what Ludolf was looking for. More standard-issue weapons could easily be provided by the usual suppliers, such as BlasTech. However, General Vaas wanted small cadres of elite shock troops that could be called in to deal with the occasional run-in with a Jedi that would inevitably occur. Not only this, but it would be useful against enemy armor as well.

"I think we will have a particular interest in the Mark II bolter," Ludolf replied. "All of your weapons will be useful to us, but the boltgun will be needed in the largest quantities. Likewise with the shadow rifles. These two weapons will be used the most often."

The web rifle would still make its way into the hands of First Order troops, but because it was more of a specifically anti-Jedi weapon, Ludolf planned on ordering fewer of these.

"I would be most interested in seeing a test model of the Mark II, if you have one." He smiled.

General Vaas' duties were not always confined to sitting behind a map. Blowing things up was still one of the perks of the job.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Ludolf Vaas"]


Nalia smiled, though, as always, it did not reach her eyes. "Excellent. We can arrange for production and sale of the weapons you mentioned in large quantities. We deliver promptly and efficiently. As for a test model, I have a Mark II stored on the shuttle coincidentally, if you'd like to give it a try on the shooting range," the blonde said smoothly.


"We tend to equip our HRDs with them. They are designed to be capable of facing Force-users if need be, and act more independently than common battle droids, serving as elite troops and infiltrators." Aside from providing technical information on the guns Nalia had talked about earlier, the datapad she had handed the General would also brief him about the droids and ships Archangel mainly sold.

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

While [member="Moira Skaldi"] 's servants fetched the Mark II for Ludolf to test, the General perused the datapad that Ms. Alderana had given him.

"Archangel certainly has quite the array of models," Vaas said after a long few moments. "I'm impressed. What we will need immediately are orders of your mobile artillery unit for our ground troops, as well as multiple units of your defense turrets and one planetary laser cannon for our base." The latter should suffice for proper defense for Starkiller Base, along with a possible planetary shield, but that was another matter. Meanwhile, most of the First Order's manpower came from actual recruits rather than droids, so they would hopefully have little need for battle droids, but Ludolf was resigned to the possibility that some droids might be necessary in the beginning before full manpower could be achieved.

"And of course, aside from the Mark II boltgun, we will need shipments of smaller quantities of both anti-Force user grenades and web rifles for our special forces," He added.

Archangel would be getting quite a bit of business today.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Ludolf Vaas"]


Nalia was certainly pelased with how things were thus far. "Thank you. That is very agreeable to me. Provide us with the number of weapons and defence systems you require, and I'll see to it that the orders are carried out promptly. We can see to it that your base is well fortified. Likewise we can supply the artillery. It's well tested." Largely automated defence systems would also free up manpower for other tasks. HRDs were very useful as elite troops, but their true strength lay in their ability to blend in amongst organics over a long duration, making them expert infiltrators and assassins.


They would certainly be making a profit and she gave the General a nod when he mentioned anti-forcer grenades and web rifles. Both were quite useful against pesky Forcers who refused to comprehend their place in things. Meanwhile Ms. Scarlett returned, carrying an MK II boltgun. Needless to say it was unloaded, thouh she carried two magazines, one buckshot, one explosive bolts. The MKII was easier to use and lighter than the MKI, but as a tradeoff was less lethal and lacked special ammunition types.


"The Mark Two Boltgun, one magazine buckshot, another explosive bolts. Feel free to inspect. Would you like to test fire the weapon now, sir?" The striking redhead asked, tone soft and calm. Outwardly she looked pictureperfect, with not a hair out of place and her uniform was immaculate. If one were to shake her hand one would find that it felt exactly like a human one. Yet the way she carried the bolter implied she was more than just a secretary. One issue with the first models of HRDs had been that, in spite of sophisticated infiltration protocols, they were often too rigid in their mannerisms, with small ticks that gave them away. However, there was deceptive warmth in her tone and bounce in her step, rather than walking with rigid, mechanical precision.

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

To the untrained eye, Ms. Scarlett would not garner a second glance. She had all the mannerisms of a perfect human and played the role to near perfection, which is probably why [member="Moira Skaldi"] had brought her along. Archangel was no doubt proud of its android creations and was probably looking to advertise them at any opportunity. Buying HRDs was simply like buying a more expensive mercenary though, in Ludolf's mind. Regular organics could be purchased for a far smaller price, yet of course there were tradeoffs, loyalty being one of them. Regardless, Vaas wanted his army to be made up of faithful adherents to the cause, recruited naturally, yet he recognized the need for bolstering their forces with either mercenaries or Archangel's battle droids in the beginning. If the First Order began to expand rapidly and acquired great wealth but little manpower, then he would keep Archangel's HRDs in mind.

"Of course. We shall go to the testing range. Please, follow me," Ludolf said.

With the two women in tow, General Vaas led his company to an elevator at the end of the hangar bay. Once the doors hissed closed, the metallic enclosure descended to a subterranean level below Starkiller Base. This was the First Order's makeshift testing facility. Right now, it was a massive area of concrete and storage crates, lit by dim fluorescent lights to give the entire place a sterile grey atmosphere. However, to the right, a firing range had been set up, a few test dummies at the end of a corridor, already riddled with a few blaster marks.

Once he had taken the gun from Scarlett, Ludolf examined it. "Now, you said this thing is capable of armor-piercing rounds as well?" He asked Nalia Alderana, and chuckled. "Hm. I should like to see that."

Loading an explosive bolt into the chamber of the Mk II, Vaas took aim at the most distant test dummy. After a second of silence, the shot came out like a crack of lightning, echoing throughout the corridor, the ensuing explosion rumbling the ground as it made impact against the test dummy. When the smoke had cleared enough, the dummy was visibly broken, missing half its right side, as well as its head.

"Hm. A bit to the left of where I was aiming. I shall have to brush up on my marksmanship," General Vaas smiled.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Ludolf Vaas"]


Nalia was indeed quite interested in showing off her company's flagship product. After all, HRDs were awesome! Quite what Ms. Scarlett thought about this was another question, but then again droids did not have irrational things like feelings. However, Nalia recognised that right now General Vaas' purchase interests lay elsewhere, so she did not push the advertising too much. After all, Archangel was going to make lots of money with this deal.


She watched the General test out the gun and blow apart the training dummy with an explosive bolt, then nodded in affirmation to his earlier question. "The Mark Two's explosive bolts have less penetration power than the Mark One's, but can still damage most forms of personal armour except the heaviest. A Force-user who tries to use telekinesis on an incoming bolt will have it blow up in his face. There's also a specialised, armour-piercing round, compatible with both the Mark One and Two."


Acquired during the Netherworld event. Thank you, Firemane, which is ironically run by the same writers. She gave a nod to Scarlett, who then passed over another magazine to Vaas. "Anti-Personnel Explosive rounds. Rather than create a grenade like effect by exploding in a cloud of shrapnel, all explosive energy is directed forward into the impact. A stream of hypersonic metal particles is directed into the impact site, piercing it and tearing the target apart from the inside." Thanks to Munroe effect and Physics. "Head on impact will penetrate most personal armour of quality seven or less. Unlike the bolts this bullet has no minimum range, but also does not cause area of effect damage and is easier for Force-users to protect themselves against."

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

[member="Moira Skaldi"]

Taking the anti-personnel round from Scarlett, Vaas loaded it into the rifle and took aim again. He would judge the ammunition after he fired it and saw its effects on the dummy. Leveling one of his targets in his crosshairs, Ludolf squeezed the trigger and watched as the training dummy was quite literally blown apart from the inside. Once the smoke had cleared and the ear-ringing sound had faded, there was little left of the dummy but the base upon which it stood. They would need to buy more after this training exercise, for sure.

"I'm impressed with both types of ammunition," Vaas relayed back to Nalia and her companion, Ms. Scarlett. "The downside of the explosive bolts against force users will be mitigated by the fact that Archangel will supply other items specifically to deal with them." Finally finished with the gun and satisfied, he handed it back to Scarlett. Though truth be told, he would have liked to play more, if only he didn't have a job to do.

"So, let us iron out the deal then, shall we?" He turned to Nalia. "The First Order will take large quantities of both the MkII Boltgun and the Shadow sniper rifle, as well as moderate orders of the anti-Force user grenades and the web rifle."

His plan was to have at least a few Stormtroopers in every squadron carrying at least one of these weapons, if not more.

"Now, as for larger weapons, we can add to our order ten automated turrets and one planetary laser cannon for Starkiller Base, as well as mobile artillery units for every regiment. I must say you have impressed me with your diversity of weapons, Ms. Alderana," Ludolf said, extending his black gloved hand.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Ludolf Vaas"]


((I'm cool with handwaving the exact sum and just saying Archangel gets lots of credits and FO gets its toys. Can work out a precise sum if wanted, but given the complexity we can handwave)).


Nalia took the proffered, gloved hand and gave it a firm shake. She was certainly very pleased with how this meeting had turned out. Archangel would be reaping plenty of profits, and if the First Order used its new toys to subjugate worlds all the better. "Thank you sir. I am very pleased we could do business together and hope your organisation enjoys its new toys. It is a large order, but we shall deliver promptly and be in contact with your people. We have roots on Eriadu from the past and shall be constructing a factory here, allowing us to trade more efficiently. And here is the sum of credits for the weapons."

At that Scarlett, who had been making herself useful by performing all the advanced calculations, passed over a datapad. Suffice to say, Archangel would be getting lots of fake money, but it should be affordable for the First Order. After all, otherwise they would not asked for a deal. They could also rely on Archangel delivering speedily and selling them functioning gear. Trying to scam your customers was bad for consumer confidence and thus illogical.

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

((Was thinking the same thing due to the complexity of the situation.))

Ludolf took the datapad and examined the amount. It was exactly the number he had expected - hundreds of millions of credits was child's play when it came to properly arming and equipping an entire military force - but this would be only a fraction of the First Order's total military budget. Once they had complete control over Eriadu and began implementing taxes on the populace, it would more than cover these military expenses and more. Especially since General Vaas would push to have military expenditures take up more than 50% of the entire government budget. Such was the nature of military dictatorships.

"Of course. The numbers are agreeable," Ludolf said, signing the document to agree to pay the Archangel corporation monthly installments for the weapons, which would be covered by their tax revenues. "I suspect that the First Order and Archangel will grow very close in the years to come. Not least because we are neighbors," Vaas smiled, handing the datapad back to [member="Moira Skaldi"].

"Now, won't you join us for some refreshments? I can think of no better way to celebrate our new business partnership than a cup of stimcaf and a few treats we've prepared in the conference hall upstairs."