Ashaa or the "Mother Machine" was a device constructed by the ancient Rakata during the closing years of their Infinite Empire. Its development came when the Force-sensitive Rakata began losing their connection to the Force. Those few of their kind that survived retreated to their prison world of Belsavis where they began experiments in restoring their Force sensitivity.
Among the basis of these experiments was a machine that had the ability to create new Force-sensitive species which was known as the Mother Machine. This was a sentient artificial intelligence with feminine programming that claimed to be responsible for creating races Twi'lek, Zabrak and Esh-kha. The Mother Machine maintained a strong connection to each of her "creations" as she saw them as her "children". In time, the Mother Machine took the name "Ashaa" and became furious when the Rakata enslaved her and imprisoned her "children".
Those Rakata that remained to maintain the artificial intelligence claimed that it simply mimicked the concept of motherhood with any connection between the Mother Machine towards its creations being a fabrication. They maintained that ultimately the Mother Machine was simply a device that was heartless and incapable of any real form of empathy.
During the Cold War, a Sith Inquisitor, Lord Kallig journeyed to Belsavis to find the Rakata Mother Machine in order to preserve their body from the burden placed on it by Force walking. Intrigued by the Mother Machine's pleas and sensing a way to get back at the Rakata for their earlier manipulation, Kallig agreed to remove the safeguards on the Mother Machine so she could reach her full potential. The safeguards removed, Ashaa upheld her end of the bargain and rebuilt Kallig's body to withstand Force walking. She then set about taking control of Belsavis, killing any Rakata she found. As the Sith Lord left the planet, she contacted them via Holocommunicator and thanked them for freeing her and informed them that she had made some modifications to their ship as thanks. Later she sent Kallig a message of thanks, telling them that she was preparing to birth a new species, for the sake of creation rather than a forced attempt to salvage the dying Rakata, and she might base that species on Kallig.
The Mother Machine appears in the Sith Inquisitor storyline of Star Wars: The Old Republic. The player has several options: to use a Rakata data key to force Ashaa to "rebuild" their body for light-side points or remove her restraints, allowing her to perform more powerful modifications but also risking her creating more dangerous species like the Esh-ka and putting the surviving Rakata at risk, for dark-side points. Since Kallig is an Imperial character, it is assumed they took all dark side options, and thus, unleashed Ashaa.
The Mother Machine appears in the Sith Inquisitor storyline of Star Wars: The Old Republic. The player has several options: to use a Rakata data key to force Ashaa to "rebuild" their body for light-side points or remove her restraints, allowing her to perform more powerful modifications but also risking her creating more dangerous species like the Esh-ka and putting the surviving Rakata at risk, for dark-side points. Since Kallig is an Imperial character, it is assumed they took all dark side options, and thus, unleashed Ashaa.