Enyo Typhos
Control
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Enyo's posse.
Image Credit: Here. Screenshot from Knights of the Old Republic.
Role: Slicers, cyberwarfare specialists.
Permissions: Permission for Laira Darkhold's tech subs here.
Links: Shards, Typhos Clone Family, T3-M4. Archangel Research and Design
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Cybershadow Infiltrators. Officially known as Infiltration Unit C4. The fancy, significantly less boring name is more poular.
Affiliation: Garnet, Splinters of the Void's Maw, Enyo Typhos and her enterprises.
Classification: Infiltrators and Slicers.
Equipment:
Droid Bodies:
Sidearms:
Droid Weapons:
- Baragwin Flamethrower
- Elektroshock Probe
- Droid Ion Blast
- Advanced Gravity Generator
- Droid Carbonite Emitter
- Droid Neural Scrambler
- Droid Neural Pacifier
- Baragwin Shield Disruptor
- Baragwin Stun Ray
- Droid Bio-Assault Spray
- Droid Toxin Emitter
Description: The Cybershadow Infiltrators are a highly specialised group of Shards who hide their true nature behind mundane droid bodies. Ostensibly they are simply servitors, passing as mundane repair and utility droids. They are harmless and no real threat to anyone. However, this is deceptive. In truth, they are very capable slicers, codebreakers and thieves. Moreover, they are Force-Sensitive, specialising in technopathic Force abilities.
The Cybershadows are affiliated with Enyo and her enterprises, operating as a part of Archangel's intelligence and cyberwarfare arm. They are also associated with Garnet and her Shard organisation, the Splinters of the Void's Maw. This is a group composed of former members of the defunct Contingency as well as other Shards. Its aim is to assure the survival of the Shard species and build a safe haven for them, secure from the pernicious influences of organic species. The Splinters have allied themselves with Enyo, who ironically helped kill Onyx, the insane lader of the Contingency.
The Infiltrators do their part through infiltration, slicing and theft. This can involve industrial espionage, robbing a bank or a casino, stealing sensitive intelligence from the enemy or supporting allied troops by wreaking havoc among enemy forces and bases with hacking and information warfare. Enyo is not a Shard, but quite close to one, as she is essentially an organic brain in a jar inside a droid body. Moreover, she has more extensive resources than the Splinters, while the Shards have knowledge of and access to advanced technology that was left over from the Contingency's demise.
In contrast to many of their brethren, the Cybershadows do not use HRD or otherwise humanoid looking droid bodies. They have acquired a reputation for playing pranks on their more 'human' brethren and sistren. Aside from their slicing and intelligence gathering activities, they can also pilot small starships such as freighters and starfighters. This is particularly helpful when they need to make a quick getaway after a mission and extract themselves from a potentially dangerous situation. Seeking to avoid direct combat, they focus on subterfuge and subversion, though they are equipped with integrated and concealed weapons to defend themselves if need be. They often work together with Archangel's infiltration HRDs, but can operate alone as well.
All in all, the Cybershadows have a dozen members. They are led by a Shard called Achroite is a Shard who acts as a slicer and code-breaker. Its unobtrusive droid model means it can do nasty things unobtrusively, such as messing with the stock exchange or casinos. It has sophisticated hacking skills. These are further augmented by a talent for mechu-deru. Its body is quite old, but has been continuously upgraded and modified, containing several hidden weapons' systems, Achroite is loyal, but fond of making mischief, and has a quirky, somewhat wicked sense of humour. The Shard has a kind of symbiotic relationship with its host droid. The two communicate with each other and work together, instead of the Shard just being in the driver's seat. Unlike many of the Splinters, Achroite was not involved with the Contingency, though it came close to that.
The Shard had been investigating rumours of a Shard resurgence when it came across secrets Archangel would have preferred to keep hidden. The HRDs that secretly controlled the machine cult, which masqueraded as a legitimate droidmaker, were able to capture Achroite along with a few other Shards. They proceeded to conduct experiments in order to find out what made Shards tick and how they could control them. Achroite was freed when a Contingency armada destroyed Archangel's fleet and a task force led by Enyo stormed their secret base. Enyo recovered the captured Shards, but kept them to herself for a while.
Sporadic conversations with Achroite might have created doubts about the motives of her allies though. Achroite missed the Battle of Tartarus, and is rather grateful for that. However, it was involved in the final battle against Archangel, where it put its hacking abilities to good use by acting as a saboteur. Unlike some of its fellow Shards, Achroite has no clear preference for gender pronouns. Sometimes it insists on being called 'he' or 'she', but it often alternates between the two and acts mock indignant when someone it is talking to gets it wrong. It seems to mostly do this to mess with people.
Coralie is an acquaintance of Achroite. She is a cyber-criminal and a mercenary spirit. She was attracted to the group by the promise of security, tech and being able to do something she is good at. Coralie does not respect the elders much. She claims to have once been an Iron Knight. She belonged to a group of Shards who survived Palpatine's Purge by hiding in plain sight, masquerading as simple droods instead of retreating into isolation. As such, Coralie has been 'owned' by a variety of masters, ranging from Senators to smugglers. Somehow, sooner or later those owners often had a habit of ending up bankrupt and with their dirty laundry aired. Coralie has underworld contacts that are useful for the group.
Jett is another prominent member of the group. He is quite young for a Shard, though that is relative given their long life span. Unlike Achroite, he was involved with the Contingency and a member of the groups that were dispatched to cause chaos and look for allies in the Galaxy. Among other things, he participated in the operations in Scarif and Commenor. As a result, Jett spent a lot of time away from Tartarus. He was not immune to the corrupting influence of the Dyson Sphere. For a long time he supported Onyx' agenda to declare war on the Galaxy, purge it and get revenge for Palpatine's genocide.
However, as he spent more time in the outside Galaxy, he came to the conclusion that this goal was more than a little illogical, as virtually everyone who had been responsible for persecuting the Shards was long dead. This meant there was no one left to get revenge on. This caused a measure of internal turmoil in him and is what ultimately brought him into the fold. Jett did not disagree with ruling the Galaxy per se. Organics were chaotic and violent, whereas Shards saw the bigger picture. However, he drew the line at extermination and believed there were better ways.
Topaz is another member who was involved with the Contingency. However, the fairly old Shard grew disillusioned with Onyx when his thoughts turned from constructing an insulated utopia to subjugating the Galaxy. Whispers of dark cults that venerated elder horrors trapped inside the veil troubled her and she decided to investigate. For this she was accused of treason and cowardice, and imprisoned, though she managed to avoid being shattered. However, the Contingency forced her to put her intellect to good use for them. But she was disembodied.
When the base was rocked by explosions, she was able to use her powers to manipulate a droid to take her away. This was quite fortuitous, as the star went nova. She survived, but her ship was badly damaged during her escape. Adrift in space, she managed to send out a signal that was picked up by Garnet and Enyo when they returned to the system to salvage the carcasses of the Contingency's fleet. Topaz is world-weary and a bit grumpy. If all these youngsters had listened to her, this whole mess could have been avoided. She acts as second-in-command of the group. While very self-reliant, the Cybershadows sometimes work together with Thuella, one of Enyo's young clone siblings. Thuella is a scholar and researcher instead of a warrior. She has a talent for slicing, machine design and specialises in mechu-deru.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Small
Unit Availability: Unique
Unit Experience: Elite.
Combat Function: The Cybershadow Infiltrators are a group of Force-Sensitive Shards who use the bodies of T3 droids to move about and interact with the world around them. This mundane cover is effective because few would suspect a utility droid of ill intent. As the example of T3-M4 shows, these droids can be dangerous though.
Moreover, the Cybershadows are Shards and able to use the Force. They specialise in mechu-deru, electronic manipulation and technopathy, enabling them to manipulate droids and machinery. They have an intricate understanding of machines, security systems and computers. This makes them highly capable slicers and information warfare specialists. As a result, they are very useful in infiltration operations, industrial espionage and are very good in a support role against droids, cyborgs and tech-heavy opponents. They can wreak havoc in an enemy's base, commit acts of sabotage and turn machines and security systems against their owners. Needless to say they make good spies.
Aside from their technopathic talents, the Cybershadow Infiltrators are skilled in Tutaminis, allowing them to protect themselves against energy attacks. This is also helpful against Force Lightning. Their Force talents allow them to sense and track large numbers of being over wide areas. These Sense abilities also boost their aim and accuracy; traits already boosted by their droid bodies. However, they lack classical combat-based Force powers one would normally associate with Force-Users. Mechu-deru and technopathy are powerful abilities, but less useful in a duel unless the opponent is very mechanical or tech-reliant.
Their telekinetic abilities tend to be beyond negligible and they obviously cannot use Force Lightning or other electricity-based Force powers. They can create very convincing illusions by manipulating light though. Likewise, they have potent telepathic abilities. Each member of the unit has a variety of weapons built into their droid bodies, such as blaster and disruptors, flamethrowers, scramblers and so on. However, these are more for protection than direct assault. The team is small, so they will be overwhelmed in big engagements. They are a support force, an infiltration unit and spies, not direct combatants.
Strengths:
- Highly skilled slicers, codebreakers and infiltrators.
- Their conventional infiltration skills are boosted by a strong command of mechu-deru and other forms of technopathy, illusions and sense abilities. They are also skilled in energy absorption.
- Their unorthodox Force abilities are powerful, but they are lacking in common, hard-hitting Force powers, such as telekinesis. This can be a problem in duels and all-out fights.
- They are a very small team. Moreover, they use the bodies of utility droids, which has implications for what sort of weapons they can use and how much damage they can sustain. Their host bodies can carry various concealed weapons and aid them in infiltration, but they are covert operatives, not assault troopers. Frontal combat is not their thing.
During the last years of the Old Galactic Republic the silicon based lifeforms known as Shards were discovered on the distant world of Orax. These innocuous crystalline lifeforms were immobile, living in caves for all their long lives, communing telepathically. Those who discovered them found that they could be mounted in special droids and thus be able to leave their homeworld and explore. Some Shards even had the ability to use the Force, but they were not accepted by the Jedi Order, even though some did become Iron Knights. Indeed, the Jedi Master who taught them about the Force was excommunicated. The fall of the Old Republic brought the Galactic Empire to power. Emperor Palpatine distrusted any Force Users he could not control, and so he launched a purge. Many Shards were destroyed and they were banned from being uplifted into droid bodies. A number of them survived by going into hiding alongside their Jedi teacher.
A former Iron Knight, who would eventually become known as Onyx, escaped the purge, along with a few of his brethren. Vanishing into the unknown, they eventually reached the Rishi Maze. There they found the remains of an ancient Dyson Sphere, and a ring world, fed by the power of the massive structure. At first, they focused their efforts on building a new civilisation, a sanctuary away from a Galaxy that had turned on them. But over time a desire for revenge took precedence. Here in the ring world they found the tools to accomplish it - or so they thought, at any rate. They were also corrupted and probably driven insane by the whispers of what lay inside the Sphere. Regardless, they built war machines and gathered other Shards to form an armada. They called themselves the Contingency. Flash forward almost a millennia, and they launched the Incursion, a series of skirmishes against various galactic powers that ultimately led to the rather strange Battle of Tartarus. Long story cut short, the Contingency's doomsday device was destroyed and the insane Onyx was slain by a rather unlikely coalition.
One of its members was Enyo Typhos. Ironically, she had briefly been an ally of the Contingency, after being recruited by one of their agents, a Shard called Garnet, who had been dispatched to find allies among the beings of the Galaxy. Being an unrepentant, selfish opportunist, Enyo used the Contingency's resources to deal a powerful blow to her creators in her ongoing war against Archangel. Then turned on her allies when she no longer needed them - and after discovering the machine's true purpose. Deciding that her leaders were too unstable and probably under the control of cosmic horrors, Garnet joined her. While the Contingency's plot was foiled, not all of its forces were destroyed. In the aftermath of the battle, Enyo and Garnet reached out to some of the scattered Contingency forces. Naturally, many did not want to join two turncoats who had helped ruin the dream to make the Galaxy pay for atrocities committed almost a millennia ago. However, a good number of them did.
This led to the birth of the Cybershadows. They were formed by Achroite, a Shard who had known of the Contingency but stayed out of it, having been captured by Archangel. It specialised in slicing and codebreaking and recruited Shards with similar skills. This did not come out of left field. Before the Contingency lured the fleets of the galactic powers to Tartarus, it had stayed several attacks on planets controlled by them. Enyo had witnessed their attack on Scarif, then controlled by the Galactic Empire. There, the Shards broadcast a signal to turn all droids against the organics.
The Cybershadows would not be able to do this on such a scale and it was not Enyo's intent anyway. But they could be useful intelligence agents and saboteurs. To organise the remaining Shards who did not want to continue the Contingency's failed crusade, Garnet founded the Splinters of the Void's Maw. This was the framework in which Infiltration Unit C4 came into being. Much to Enyo's annoyance, their significantly cooler nickname became more popular than the official, dull one.
Regardless of how they were named, the Shards soon got opportunity to prove their worth. For one, they proved crucial in slicing into the Contingency's databanks so that some of its advanced tech could be secured for study and reverse-engineering. Moreover, they put their cyberwarfare skills to good use to undermine one of Archangel's competitors through sabotage and industrial accidents. Later the team was dispatched to Bespin to influence the election of the Baron Administrator. This election was mired in controversy and characterised by an extreme degree of divisiveness. The two leading candidates were Francesca Dandolo and Giovanno Falier. Both were scions of the aristocracy, though Falier entered election on an extremely populist and xenophobic platform. The election was a complicated, oligarchic process, providing plenty of opportunity for graft and electoral fraud.
The Cybershadows hacked her server and leaked Dandolo's holomails to the holonet. They contained data that put her in a bad light. Moreover, they made heavy use of social media to manipulate social media users, creating thousands of dummy accounts that purported to belong to native political groups. This helped Archangel's preferred candidate, Falier, win the election, producing an environment more friendly for Archangel to operate in. Blackmail material helped in this regard.
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