SWTOR Character Tales: Ragdat's Darkest Days KOTFE 13-16

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

Now, before I go into the summary for the next three KOTFE chapters, I want to inform you guys that I made a change in my past post. The change is during KOTFE Chapter 10, and it involved when Kaliyo comes into Ragdat's bedroom. My intention was that Kaliyo was trying to get Ragdat to sleep with her against his own will, and I did so poorly. So, I went back and updated it, so it's no longer "Ragdat overreacts when withdrawing consent" to "reasonable reaction to someone who wouldn't stop even after Ragdat denied consent twice before".  With that said, on with the summary.

A few hours later, Ragdat was still stewing over Kaliyo disobeying a direct order. There would have to be consequences, but they would have to be fair for all parties.  But would Kaliyo accept these consequences as valid for what she did? Probably not, he thought, and he would have to do what was right for the Alliance sooner or later.

However, he didn't have too much more time to think about this, because he got a message that Hylo Visz wanted to talk to him about the Alliance's funding. In short, they weren't getting nearly as much in as they were putting out, even with Curoda's Pirate Fleet and the raids that Maircus and Adaso were taking into Zakuulan held territories.  Hylo brought up an old associate who could give the Alliance the financial kick in the arm it needed to continue this war.  Once they got up the elevator and into the cantina, Ragdat saw a Devaronian playing a card game with Lana. Ragdat could sense that Lana was using the Force to read the Devaronian's mind and tried to predict the cards accordingly, but the Devaronian still won their game.  Lana was outraged and stormed off, and the Devaronian introduced himself as Gault Rennow, a name which Ragdat recognized from talks with Maircus. Gault said that Maircus would vouch for him if he asked, and then laid out his plan; raid the Gilded Star and steal the Zakuulan treasury.  He laid out the basics of the plan; they would board the ship, empty the treasury, and then load it onto Curoda's Corellian XS Freighter, which had the speed and firepower to get away with the haul. But in order to get what they needed, they need two people from the Alliance, Senya and SCORPIO, another person on the Vandin Tibanna platform, and some equipment that Gault had shipped there. Once they had all they needed, they'd all meet at Gault's safe house to discuss the plan in full.

Once the set down on the Vandin station, Gault led Ragdat to a large cargo crate with a person in it; an Anomid named Dretcher. Dretcher called Gault "Tyresius Lokai", which Ragdat later found out was a name Gault used before joining Maircus' crew.  Dretcher activated his battle droids and tried to rid of the Devaronian, however, Gault and Ragdat easily destroyed the droids. But Dretcher's container boasted reinforced armor, and while Ragdat said that his lightsaber could cut through anything, Gault had something more cruel; he threatened to shake him to death with a sonic amplifier to the songs sung by Wookiees on Life Day. Dretecher had no choice but to let them inside and agree to do his job in exchange for finally getting Tyresius off his back.

Ragdat and Gault then went to the meeting with the Brekken Gang and its Captain Kenrik Fost. Asking to inspect his missile, Gault announced his refusal to pay for it and after the Niktos raised their arms, activated the warhead. The gang ran away, attempting trying to flee the blast radius, but Gault was unable to stop the countdown and it reached zero, only to reveal his Twi'lek partner Vette, longtime companion of Adaso's, and Ragdat found out later, friend as well inside the missile, revealing that she was pranking Gault, and had already removed the warhead beforehand.  Ragdat then said that as pranks go, that one was good.  Gault then said not to encourage her, and said that the rest of the team was assembled at the safehouse, and they should head there too.

Once there, Gault finally laid out his entire plan to infiltrate the ship. Dretcher would trick the system to see the identity of Vaylin when scanning her mother Senya, who provided a very close genetic match, though they had to introduce corruption in Vaylin's record in order to fool the censors, which also required Dretcher's skills, and required knowledge that Senya had about her daughter, as well as things her daughter would know. Senya would take SCORPIO aboard as her "attache droid", who would slice into the security and disarm the security around the vault once on the bridge. This would allow Vette, Gault and the Ragdat to get onboard and place the warhead inside the vault, which would break up the wealth into dust, which the Alliance could then vacuum out of the hold and into Curoda's ship's hold.  Ragdat said that there were plenty of things that could go wrong, but added that they could handle them as they popped up.

As they were waiting for Senya and SCORPIO to get into position so Ragdat, Gault and Vette could begin their assault, Ragdat asked how he managed to beat Lana at cards.  Gault smugly asked Ragdat what he would do in that situation, figuring that Ragdat would say "read your mind", so instead, Ragdat chose to be funny and said "Knock you on your ass with the Force, scoop up the payout, and then deflect any blaster bolts shot at me with my lightsaber." This got a grin out of Vette, but all he got from Gault was a frown and a comment about how he'd never play sabacc with Ragdat, before Gault explained how he kept his mind off his cards and in the gutter to resist Lana's mind reading attempts.  Ragdat simply took his word for it, not wanting to test that, which had Gault visibly disappointed.

The chat was cut short when SCORPIO alerted them that she and Senya had entered the bridge, and that it was time for the three to move forward. And as expected, Ragdat's team fought through Skytroopers and human workers, leaving Vette to crawl through vents once on the ship so she could disable the local security, which she had completed before they got to the vault.  From there, Ragdat and Gault set the warhead, sealed the vault, and set it off, leaving the dust and debris to be vacuumed by Curoda's team into her cargo hold. Upon completion of that, Vette rejoined them after having raided the armory and returned with an assault cannon.  Ragdat asked if she enjoyed making entrances like that, and Vette playfully said she did.

The team fought their way through the ship, only for Gault to see the elevator coming back up, and Ragdat recognizing Vaylin's presence.  And while Ragdat was certain he could beat her in combat, he couldn't do so without Vaylin destroying the ship.  So they retreated outside, though not before Vette dropped the assault cannon, saying goodbye to "Spewie" and that she'd "never forget" it, to eventually be caught by Hylo's ship, where Gault and Hylo's interactions with each other confirmed that yes, even though it was rocky, the were in a loving relationship.  And seeing that only served to make Ragdat miss Kira even more.

Upon getting back to Odessen, Hylo, after mentioning the expenses, stated that this haul would fund the Alliance for a long time, though when Gault brought divvying up their shares, Hylo mentioned that she had already done so, but with what Gault owed her skimmed off of his. Gault complained that she had "taken all the fun out of it", but Hylo mentioned that his idea of fun is why his divvying privileges were still revoked, only for them to hear the voice of Maircus shouting "seconded". Gault just glared at Maircus and said "Hey, I only screwed you before we started working together".

However, they didn't have time to celebrate, as that was when Kaliyo and Jorgan had finally returned.  And when Ragdat got to the military hangar, there was a fight brewing between Kaliyo and Jorgan; apparently, when Kaliyo came to help Jorgan, she had gotten Havoc killed.  The Spire still stood, though Kaliyo had managed to get her hands on a database for the GEMINI droids, which held the location as to where to find GEMINI Prime.

Ragdat stopped the fight, and confronted Kaliyo about her actions; he reminded her that there were consequences for disobeying the orders of the Alliance Commander, and Kaliyo said that unless Ragdat planned on acting on that threat, he should get out of her way.  Ragdat immediately called for Colonel Strannos to place Kaliyo under arrest, and ordered the Colonel to have a full strip and cavity search on Kaliyo, ensuring that she had no means to escape her cell, which was a cage that shocked Kaliyo if she touched the bars. Ragdat stated that all her actions, from the time she left Rattatak to now, would be factored in during her trial and that her fate would be put in the hands of the judge.  He then ordered the Colonel to knock her out, which she did via the stun setting on her blaster pistol, before returning to the Command Center of the base.

A few days later, SCORPIO revealed that the GEMINI frequency was based on her design, and said that the Prime unit was being held at a weapon's factory on Darvannis, and Theron Shan said that he could call in a favor from Shae Vizla to get forces there.  Vizla, now Mandalore the Avenger, in turn sent out the call to war, which meant that Maircus had to come along, as he was a Mandalorian.

Ragdat took Maircus to Darvannis, where Vizla's clans were was itching for both payback against the Eternal Empire and a chance to re-arm themselves with the spoils from Darvannis factory. Vizla's second-in-command Khomo Fett was dismissive of the Jedi, which caused him to immediately butt heads with Maircus, reminding Khomo of Ragdat's accomplishments, and how he was more of a match for anyone there. Vizla broke up the fight, saying they had more than enough enemies already, and didn't need to fight among themselves. Vizla decided to give Ragdat a chance to prove himself, pairing him with a scout Torian Cadera, an old companion of Maricus. Torian first recognized Maircus, utilizing the Mandalorian phrase "ner vod", or "my brother", before focusing on Ragdat and said he'd "keep him safe". Ragdat laughed at this statement, and said that he was a Battlemaster of the Jedi Order, and had killed the Sith Emperor twice. Torian remarked that, since Ragdat wasn't Mandalorian, he didn't want to assume, and Maircus added that "You never did learn to not underestimate your allies," and that "doing so is disrespectful to both you and them."

 Torian joined Ragdat and Maircus in capturing the perimeter guns and reprogramming them to target the weapons factory, however, when they got a report about a group of Mandalorians were being overwhelmed by Skytroopers, Torian stated that there was no honor and being killed by machines and attempted to target Chorn's location for an artillery strikes, killing the warriors along the droids, Ragdat stopped him, reminding him that killing their own people wasted a potential asset, and these Mandalorians would raring for revenge if they survived. Upon returning, Khomo Fett was upset that Ragdat didn't let his people die with honor, and Ragdat told him what he told Torian; never waste an aset in war. Vizla then stopped the brewig fight,and informed them all that they needed to rest for the night, and the fighting would resume tomorrow. For now, the Mandalorians would hold a Kote ky'ram, or a death ceremony intended to grant them the highest honor for their fallen comrades. Maircus explained that the Kote ky'ram was usually for those who fell against Jedi or against overwhelming odds, so those warriors who fell were being the granted the glory in death they didn't get in life. With that in mind, Ragdat chose to put off his meditations for a while and joined in with the ceremony, attempting to show solidarity with those he was fighting along side.

The next morning, Torian again joined Ragdat and Maircus in neutralizing the enemy forces at the Zakuulan listening post in preparation for the main assault. After neutralizing their enemies, Lana contacted Ragdat and passed on detailed schematics of the factory obtained by Theron to help with the assault, but also cautioned Ragdat regarding a long-term alliance with the Mandalorians, comparing them to wild animals craving violence.  Ragdat denied this mindset, stating that people like Torian, Maircus and Shae Vizla showed that their people could be reasonable if treated with respect.

With the factory's power stations taken over by Clan Beroya and Clan Fett warriors, Shae Vizla gathered the warriors to rally them before the final assault.  And during the planning stages, Vizla said she didn't see any way to accomplish the mission without heavy casualties.  Ragdat, remembering a conversation they had earlier about how she wasn't used to being a leader where they bonded over their shared experiences as leaders, offered the information Lana gave him as a signal of trust. With this information, Vizla ordered the main Mandalorian force move into the factory to claim as many weapons as possible, while Torian and Maircus accompanied Ragdat on a mission to secure the GEMINI Prime. Inside the factory, Torian revealed that he overheard the previous conversation between Ragdat and Lana and insisted that the Mandalorians were not animals, but warriors with a sense of honor. Maircus agreed, but added a reminder to Torian that Lana had good reason to think that way.  Ragdat calmed Torian's agitation, saying despite how much he trusted her at this point, he and Lana didn't always see eye to eye, and Torian apologized for saying anything. Torian and Maircus said they would guard Ragdat's exit, who then located the GEMINI Prime and established a link with SCORPIO, which piqued the Prime's curiosity. Ragdat, as carefully as possible, removed the droid from her alcove, while the Mandalorians retreated from the factory.

In the aftermath of the battle, Shae Vizla expressed worry about how the clans would react once the war with Zakuul was finally over, and Ragdat said that she would need focus on young leaders that understood that war wasn't always the best way to test their strength. Vizla was intrigued by this idea, and asked Torian, who had just entered Vizla's tent, what he thought about the future, and he flat out said that there were enough challenges without needing to wage war. Vizla agreed, and told Torian to join the Alliance as her representative.

Upon returning to Odessen with GEMINI Prime in their possession, SCORPIO was able to analyze the template and easily crack the droid's internal protocols due to their similar designs. SCORPIO explained to the Alliance leaders that by plugging the Prime into the captain's console on any warship in the Eternal Fleet, she would be able to take control of the entire network, and with it the Eternal Fleet. Identifying a lone warship scheduled to recharge its hyperdrive as their target, the Alliance moved to intercept it.

A few hours later, Koth piloted the Gravestone to the location of the Eternal Fleet warship and stayed onboard to jam its communications and safeguard the GEMINI Prime. SCORPIO was able to confuse the Eternal Fleet vessel's targeting systems, allowing Theron Shan to take a shuttle with a strike team consisting of Lana, Senya, SCORPIO and Ragdat inside its hangar. The GEMINI captain noted their presence before being distracted by SCORPIO, noting their physical similarities. She then activated a set of blast doors, separating Ragdat and SCORPIO from Lana, Senya and Theron, forcing both groups to battle droids. After a brief conversation over the coms where Ragdat suggested that he, Senya and Lana use their lightsabers to cut through the door, SCORPIO mentioned that the doors were made of a lightsaber materials, and said they should head to the rendezvous point. On their way to the rendezvous point, Ragdat and SCORPIO came across a data note and that SCORPIO plugged herself into, establishing a direct link with the ship's GEMINI captain. She announced her intention to erase the GEMINI, but the captain overloaded SCORPIO's circuits and destroyed her chassis. This temporarily disrupted the Gravestone jamming signal, allowing the GEMINI Captain to inform Emperor Arcann of the intruders. Lana contacted Ragdat and informed him of a change in the plan, sending Senya to escort the Commander to her and Theron's present location. Ragdat informed Lana of SCORPIO's demise, which relieved the Sith Lord, who felt that the droid would be a problem in the future one way or another.  Ragdat chastised Lana for her callousness, saying that even though she wasn't trustworthy, SCORPIO died in service of their cause.

Upon arrival at their new rendezvous point, Lana explained that the ship was transporting prisoners for Arcann to interrogate; Imperial Admiral Zasha Ranken, former leader of Imperial Forward Command, Republic Senator Tai Cordan, who followed Vedere as part of the Rift Alliance, and Zakuulan holostar-in-exile Malita Tal. The trio were inspired by Ragdat and his efforts, and had found each other in their search for the Alliance, forming an alliance of their own, but Arcann had captured them and was going to "interview" them on Ragdat's whereabouts. Lana and Theron escorted the freed prisoners to the escape pods, while Senya and Ragdat confronted and defeated the GEMINI captain. After a protracted battle, the GEMINI acknowleded her defeat, and revealed that her clash with SCORPIO granted her free will, before she transferred her consciousness into the frequency and triggered the ship's self-destruct. With power fluctuating like crazy, Theron asked Ragdat which escape pods to launch first, but was only able to launch two, the Republic and Imperial ones, while the third one exploded, killing everyone inside, angering Senya and devastating Theron. The Alliance leadership barely managed to escape the vessel's destruction in time as Arcann and Vaylin arrived with the Eternal Fleet. The Gravestone escaped into hyperspace, while GEMINI Prime had completely shut itself down. Senya confronted Ragdat about his choices, and Ragdat explained his order; the Admiral Ranken could provide ships and personnel, Tai Cordan could give them access to Balmorra's weapons and droids, as well as plenty of funds.  Ragdat said he wanted to save them all, but as the Commander, he had to make choices based on utility in the war.  Senya was still angry, but she seemed placated, but SCORPIO contacting them ended all discussion. She revealed that she faked her death, using the GEMINI network to transport herself to Zakuul, where she took control of the Eternal Throne.

A little over a day later. the Alliance leadership was trying to figure out what SCORPIO was planning, and also learned that a portion of the Eternal Fleet remained under Arcann's control. But almost as if she knew what they were talking about, SCORPIO called and explained that she revealed Odessen's location to Arcann, to test whether he would retake his throne or deal with Ragdat and Vitiate immediately. And of course, Arcann chose to go after his father. With Eternal Fleet on its way, Ragdat had no choice but to leave behind some forces in case of a ground assault, while taking the fight to Arcann on the Gravestone. As the battle of Odessen began, Lana determined that the only way to ensure safely of the Alliance was to annihilate Arcann's Eternal Flagship, disabling its shield and weapons. Lana, Senya, Vette and Gault accompanied Ragdat in the infiltration of the flagship, where after seeing her mother on the security cameras, Vaylin contacted them and revealed that Arcann was on the ship's bridge, while also luring Senya away from them to confront her personally.

As they made their way to confront Arcann on the bridge, Lana was informed by Theron that the rest of the Eternal Fleet had turned on Arcann as well and now targeted Arcann's flagship to eliminate both him and the Commander in one fell swoop. Lana realized, in horror, that SCORPIO was trying to destroy them both, but Ragdat stated that changed nothing; their mission was still to stop Arcann.

Upon reaching the bridge, Lana stayed behind to deal with a squad of Zakuul Knights, leaving Ragdat to confront Arcann alone. Arcann claimed that his animosity was always about Vitiate, not Ragdat himself, but Ragdat said that, by fighting him, Arcann was doing exactly what his father wanted; they only way they could stop him was to be allies, not enemies. This angered Arcann even further, and demanded his father to answer him. When Ragdat said "Don't you get it, Arcann? Daddy's gone, doing Force knows what while we do exactly what he wants!", a frustrated Arcann blasted Ragdat with telekinesis, only for Ragdat to reach out with the Force and parry the attack witn his hand.  Arcann remarked that Vitiate's bond with Ragdat was stronger than he imagined, but Ragdat denied this while activating his lightsaber, saying "the only difference between now and when we fought on Asylum is that daddy's not here to drop my TK barrier".

The battle went back and forth for a quite a while, with Arcann showing Ragdat something new; a mastery of integrating telekinesis into his lightsaber sequences, showing a level of creativity that his father never did.  This kept Ragdat one his does, forcing him to focus on both his telekinetic barriers and his swordfight with Arcann.

Eventually, Ragdat managed to overpower Arcann after finally seeing a Shatterpoint that revealed an opening. Ragdat hit the Shatterpoint, but when he had him at his mercy, he told Arcann to come with them, that they could defeat his father together, but before Arcann could respond, falling debris as a result of the Eternal Fleet's barrage separated them and seemingly crushed Arcann, forcing Ragdat to retreat before the flagship blew apart. As he ran toward the hanger, Ragdat informed Lana that Arcann was finished, who then told Ragdat that she and the rest of the infiltration team were in the hangar and were prepared to leave, though there was no sign of Senya. Ragdat hoped that she'd escape, but he had no choice but to focus on getting to a ship to escape.

As Ragdat found a starfighter, he received a message from Lana that she and the rest of the team were safe, and then got a message from Senya; she revealed that she was alive and so was Arcann, who she was taking away in the hopes of redeeming him. He saved her life from Vaylin, she said, so she knew there was good in him. Koth pleaded with Ragdat to shoot her down, but Ragdat denied this request, saying to Senya to get Arcann as far away from his father's influence as possible. Senya thanked Ragdat, and entered hyperspace. At point, Theron fired the omnicannon on the Eternal Flagship, creating a massive explosion that wiped out the present portion of the Eternal Fleet and winning the battle for the Alliance.

Back on Odessen, Koth was vocally upset at Ragdat for letting Arcann go, and Ragdat reminded Koth that Vitiate wanted Arcann's death, and the only way to win this war once and for all was to deny Vitiate what he wanted at every turn.  Lana assured Ragdat that despite the betrayals they've endured, the Battle of Odessen had become the rallying point the Alliance needed for all the forces seeking to oppose the Eternal Empire, swelling their ranks and giving them the capability to repel future invasions. It was this moment when Vitiate confirmed what Ragdat had suspected all along, and manifested himself before the Commander once again; he wasn't gone at all.  Ragdat would need to continue to steel himself against this monster for the foreseeable future.

I'm going to add another interlude to finish the Alliance Alert companion recruitment missions, since I never got around to doing so when they pop up between chapters. And don't worry, all you who hate Skadge, he will NOT be joining the Alliance, though he will show up in the interlude.

But for now, look forward to KOTET in 3 parts, and then, finally, Rise of Mamine here. Until then, stay beautiful freaks!