Lore:Astrid

The Neinzul Astrids are a splinter faction present in the Ancient Shadows campaign. They are Neinzul that were modified by the Langstrom AI in its early iterations, and provided the inspiration for the modern AI-Neinzul Hybrids. They are hostile to both Humans and the friendly splinter factions. They use three ships, like most splinter factions: The Starfire frigate, the Solar Wrath heavy frigate, and the Nova light cruiser.

Extract from the Shadow campaign journal "Shattered Pillar Zenith Found":

We've run into a lot of AI-modified Neinzul since the war, but we thought it a relatively recent development. Apparently we were wrong. Bioscans are 100% that we're looking at Neinzul, but the construction is consistent with one of the first iterations of the Langstrom AI. Inauspicious heritage, you could say. Xenobiology is calling these hives the "Astrids", and I have no idea why. No warp grid emissions or other telltales of AI communication are present, but we have no idea if these Astrids would link back up with their erstwhile masters if given the chance.