Vrag
The Second Seal, broken.
Image Source: Me
Intent: To modify the original helmet to better suit the fighting style of the Hand of the Dark Lord and to serve as a means of intimidation and demoralization
Development Thread: If needed
Manufacturer: Hrosha–Gul Shapers (Legion Yun’Do), Vrag
Model: Personal armor — Helmet (Modification of the original)
Affiliation: Vrag
Modularity: No
Production: Limited
Material: Vonduun Skerr Kyrric, living bone, Amphistaff, Bafforrka worms (Durasteel and Rebreather from the original helmet)
Classification: Highly resistant armor; anti-blaster, anti-slugthrower, anti-lightsaber (Additional offensive capabilities listed below)
Weight: 3.5 kg
Quality: 9
Special Features:
All the sensors of the original are included [HUD with multiple viewing spectrums, including IR, UV, Night Vision, Thermal, and AR (Augmented Reality) for enemy tracking]
Added layer of protection by the bone/Vonduun skull graft
The "horns" are actually specifically shaped pincers, enlarged and cultivated to lash out at opponents within reach (0.5 m radius from point of origin)
An amphistaff has been grafted onto the Vonduun crab in the mouth of the skull, where it rests coiled and hidden until an order to attack is given
Because the Vonduun has been grown around a living bone, the skull maintains its elastic properties and standard resistance of bone to various forces and strain (Resistance magnified by the Skerr Kyrric)
The conception of the helmet’s design stems from what little the Hand of the Dark Lord remembers of her people’s stories and mythology. It also honors her chosen moniker, Vrag, for the firrerreo place great weight in the significance of names and power thereof.
True to this, the Sith had reached out to the same unconventional Shapers that had bred the Vonduun Skerr Ygdris, an armor she wears proudly to the battlefield, and tasked them with the challenge of creating what she had crafted in her mind. The base for what needed to be done already existed, but the prospect of breeding Skerr Kyrric around the living bone of an animal was a new one; had she come to a more traditional Shaper, they might have given up right then and there, but the Shapers of the legion Yun’Do were nothing if not experimental.
And so the work began, careful steps at first, for there was no knowing how the Vonduun would react to the skull had been offered. To expedite its growth the process had begun with a live animal — a goat — upon whose flesh the crabs fed as they molded themselves into and around the bone. This also made sure that the sensitive tissue stayed surrounded by an organism at all times, preventing the atrophy and subsequent death thereof.
Like with all shaping, this took time, but the Hand had time aplenty, sacking worlds side by side with Yuuzhan Vong while the Shapers worked incessantly to incarnate the vision in her mind.
While the idea of grafting an amphistaff onto Skerr Kyrric might have been difficult once, the Shapers had already achieved it years prior with the Vonduun Skerr Kraetos, and had since then performed the procedure many times, rendering that part of the process perhaps the easiest of all. All throughout the growth of the Vonduun, the Shapers kept breeding the Bafforrka worms into the organism to make it just as resistant to the pollen as the rest of the armor, and finally, after weeks of work, the Vonduun Skerr Dhaladii was brought to life.
The Skerr Kyrric had grown all over the skull, preserving its living properties as if were still inside the head of the goat. The pincers of the crab covering the top of the skull had been bred specifically to evolve in place of the removed horns, guided into the correct shape during the weeks of the creature’s growth. Once the crab reached adulthood, the twin pincers would be far more enlarged than usual, and in their resting position they would, at a first glance, resemble the horns of a goat. After that, however, all similarities ended, as no horns ended with intimidating claws that could easily rend unarmored flesh if it ever came close enough. Luckily for Vrag’s future opponent, the reach of said pincers was rather measly — not more than half a meter in a radius around their point of origin; still, in the thick of battle where bodies clashed together, such additional protection would doubtless come in useful.
The second, far more hidden — and also far more dangerous — weapon of the adult helmet was the fully evolved amphistaff resting in its bony cage, a good portion of its tail grafted onto the Skerr Kyrric. As such, the creature could only extend to an effective range of 2 meters out of the mouth of the skull and would be most effective in frontal assault, though due to its flexibility, the amphistaff could still bend backward or to the side, although with greatly diminished reach and power behind its attack. That is not to say, however, that the beast was innocuous; it was still very much capable of spitting the deadly poison as far as twenty meters, and any target that became exposed when too close could easily find itself with its fangs sunk deep in their flesh. Since she wouldn’t be wielding it with her hand, the amphistaff had been conditioned from its very birth to react to electrical jolts of different intensity, which either coaxed the creature into spitting its venom or lunging out of the skull to attack the nearest target. These impulses would be transferred to the amphistaff by vocal commands, interacting with the advanced HUD already installed inside the original helmet.
Strengths and weaknesses:
General:
[+] Vonduun Crab resistance: As per standard, the Skerr Kyrric lends remarkable resistant properties to the helmet. The two layers magnify this attribute considerably, offering additional protection against blunt force trauma due to the elasticity of the bone
[+] Horny: The pincers have been especially shaped to be suited to stabbing, and should an opponent come in range, the aggressive Vonduun will attack
[+] Immune to Bafforr Pollen: Like all Vong "tech" produced by the Hrosha-Gul Shapers, the creatures were bred and raised with the Bafforrka worms inserted, granting them an immunity to the pollen
[+] Force Dead: Like the rest of the armor and Vong species in general, the helmet is largely insusceptible to the Force
[–] Weight: The twin layers of Skerr Kyrric and the original durasteel make for a helmet that definitely falls on the heavier side of the spectrum
[–] Ease of Grappling: The "horns" and the base structure of the skull leave an opponent spoiled for choice when it comes to possible grips and handholds, allowing them to manipulate the head of the wearer should the grapple succeed
[–] Allergic to Sparkbee honey: As is common for Vong species the Vonduun crab will seize up if it comes in contact with the substance
Amphistaff:
[+] The coiled Vong creature has been grafted onto the Vonduun inside the mouth of the skull, where it lies hidden most of the time. It has all the abilities of the amphistaff, but the one used the most is the acid spitting (20 m range). The creature itself is around 2.5 m long, and it can lunge out of its hiding spot to bite an opponent if given the order
[–] Due to it being grafted directly onto the Vonduun on the inside of the skull, the amphistaff has a limited range of movement. Its cutting properties are also severely diminished, since there is no wielder behind its strikes to lend any real power to the attacks
Primary Source: Vonduun Skerr Ygdris (Only modifying the helmet)
