SWTOR Character Tales: Ragdat's Darkest Days Traitor Saga

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! It's time to get through the, as of the date of writing this, completion of Ragdat's Darkest Days.


The search for the traitor was slow going. The leaders of the Alliance were concerned that their people may have betrayed them, but were at least happy that their Commander respected their privacy. However, it turned out that not everyone did so; it turned out that Allisani had been monitoring everyone's communications and activities from the day she landed on Odessen, which is why she had learned as much as she had about their enemy, the Order of Zildrog, before anyone knew whom they were fighting. She even intercepted a communication between the traitor and the leader; the bodies and voices were distorted to protect their identities, but as Allisani told Ragdat, the traitor was not Lana with 100% certainty. When asked for the reason, Allisani said she was with Lana at the moment of the timestamp of this recording, and when Ragdat asked what they were doing, Allisani just grinned and said "A lady doesn't kiss and tell, Master Jedi, and a gentleman doesn't ask." which took Ragdat aback for a moment before regaining his composure. He was happy that they had found each other, but he missed Kira all the more with this information.


Allisani went on to say that based on what she could tell from the cleaned up analysis, both the traitor and their enemy were male, of average height, and of a relatively normal build. She could also tell, from the message, that the traitor was to prove himself on Umbara, which she, and later, Lana, found a trail for them to follow.



The trail led them to a hovertrain with a stockpile of Adegan crystals, where a transmission with the same encryption as the one from Iokath was detected. Lana, Theron and Ragdat boarded the speeding train to intercept and stop the traitor, while Allisani piloted Ragdat's Defender to drop them off, and eventually pick them up. The investigation led them to the control cabin of the locomotive, where the three reached it to find the cockpit of the train empty. It was this moment when Theron revealed himself as the traitor, shooting at Ragdat, only for Lana to jump in front of him. Ragdat was irritated; both at Theron for betraying them, and that his danger sense didn't alert him to the threat, and what that meant. Theron locked Ragdat and Lana inside the cabin and told Ragdat why he was betraying him; that the Alliance had become a symbol of oppression despite Ragdat's best efforts, and Ragdat replied that he never wanted any of this, and that he wanted to destroy the fleet, not take control of it. Theron said sadly that intention and action and action weren't always the same, and sabotaged the train's tracks, which would cause the train to crash into the side of a mountain, which, Theron stated, would be vaporizing Ragdat, Lana, and the crystals.



Managing to bail before the impact and survive the crash while Theron escaped on a speeder, Ragdat and Lana went after Theron on foot, while also fending off local wildlife. During this trip, Ragdat asked Lana how long she and Allisani had been together, and Lana said this wasn't the time for this conversation, and Ragdat said he knew, but it would get his mind of the betrayal and focus on something good while the fought, which would make him stronger, and that thinking about her lover would stoke Lana's passions and make her stronger. Lana rolled her eyes at this, but knew that Ragdat was right, and stated that they'd been together for about two years at this point. They had been friends during the Revan conflict, and they'd worked together as much as she had with Koth and Senya during Lana's search for Ragdat. Things became "official" when Lana spent a night at a safehouse Allisani utilized, and Allisani, who was there for reasons of her own, helped Lana de-stress one day. Ragdat smiled and said he was happy they found each other, with Lana saying that he'd find Kira again soon enough, knowing him full well that he missed her.



They eventually caught up with Theron, but were unable to stop him before his shuttle left Umbara and were forced to contend with an Umbaran Spider Tank which covered Theron's escape. Returning to Odessen empty-handed, Ragdat sent a galaxy-wide message on the HoloNet about his desire for peace directly to Theron in regards to his treason, and ordered Lana and Allisani to use every resource at the Alliance's disposal to locate Theron's whereabouts and intentions.



It wasn't long after this when Arcann asked to speak to Ragdat in private. He met Ragdat outside his Defender, and mentioned he never thought he'd set foot on Odessen as anything but a conqueror, and Ragdat mentioned how Arcann was a better man than he was when they met. Arcann thanked him and presented Ragdat with an armored shirt that he'd been making since landing on Odessen. The Knights of Zakuul had taught him how to craft his own armor, he said, and that if he was unable to be there to protect Ragdat, Arcann could be certain that this would. Ragdat inspected the armor; it was light, yet sturdy. And the chest, back and wrist pieces felt like the same material that his own chest, back and wrist pieces were. Ragdat then asked if this was Force imbued, and Arcann confirmed that it was, which showed Ragdat that it was resistant to lightsaber strikes. Ragdat could then detect strong feelings toward Ragdat coming from Arcann, and all that did was make Ragdat miss Kira again. He said, without realizing he had, that Kira would love to see him in this, which got a smile out of Arcann, which indicated that if someone else made the person he cared about happy, then he should be happy for the both of them, and said "We'll find her, Commander." before heading inside.



Within a week, Ragdat's message reached the right ears and Aristocra Saganu of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force arrived to Odessen personally, having been greeted by his former lover Allisani, and revealed that Theron was being sheltered on Copero by the rogue Syndic Zenta of the Inrokini Family. To avoid a political conflict, Saganu asked Ragdat to deal with the traitor personally, sending a Human Lieutenant Raina Temple, whom Ragdat recognized as a Padawan, with them to watch for Chiss Ascendancy interests. When Ragdat mentioned that he recognized her, Temple told Ragdat she was a "cultural explorer" to the Ascendancy thanks to her experience with the Chiss, despite not being able to complete her Trials of Knighthood thanks to a lack of a Council. She also mentioned that she wasn't comfortable with a lightsaber, and so stuck with her blasters from before, now being far more accurate, even able to deflect incoming fire with her own shots, an ability even more difficult than doing so with a lightsaber. Ragdat was impressed, and agreed to take her along, along with Allisani, who knew the terrain of Copero very well.


Arriving on Copero, Ragdat, Allisani and Temple were informed that Force sensitives among the Chiss were considered "impure", which is why Valss was so protective of Syndic Zenta. The three fought their way through the Copero City, eventually engaged Zenta in combat inside her starship factory. Defeated and subdued, the Syndic explained that Theron had betrayed her as well, using Valss to steal the location of a holomap by slicing into her personal datapad. The map had long been kept in secret on Copero and led to yet another superweapon of the Sith Emperor Vitiate. Having learned Theron's location, Ragdat was about to continue their pursuit, but Saganu demanded that they take Zenta's life. Ragdat said that Jedi don't kill their prisoners, and Saganu claimed there would be no deal between the Alliance and the Ascendancy otherwise. Allisani was quick to remind both Saganu and Ragdat that Saganu was only one member of the ruling families, and that the rest wouldn't be too pleased that an outsider killed a high ranking member of house Zenta. With this in mind, Ragdat said that Zenta would be arrested by the Alliance and would be tried for espionage against the Alliance  and would be tried by a tribunal of both members of the Chiss ruling families and Alliance officials. Saganu was not pleased at this; both by Ragdat ruining his plans and that his former "red flame" was openly going against him like this.


Eventually reaching Theron at Allisani's guidance, Theron destroyed the holomap after learning the superweapon's location, but as he and Valss prepared to leave, he noticed that the three had arrived to stop them. Valss stayed behind to buy Theron enough time to escape, and Ragdat struck the Valss down in a lightsaber duel, his first one since being freed of Vitiate, a fact that he thoroughly enjoyed.


Once again again returning to Odessen without Theron, Raina Temple mentioned the fallout in the Ascendancy with Saganu in serious trouble, and volunteered to stay with the Alliance, and Ragdat said he could contact Vedere about getting Temple through the Jedi trials. Temple thanked Ragdat, but stated that she never really felt at home with the Jedi's structure. Ragdat said he understood, but the Trials were merely the Council recognizing what the Force had already proclaimed, and that Knighthood for her would simply be recognition of the autonomy she already had. Temple smiled and said that when they had the time, she would undergo the Trials, but her duties to the Ascendancy and Alliance came first. Ragdat agreed, and contacted Vedere to set things up.


Eventually, smugglers working for Hylo Visz intercepted a message to the Alliance from an Abandoned Listening Post and Ragdat went there with Lana and Allisani to personally investigate it. They discovered that the abandoned station served as the Order of Zildrog's base of operation for months, and that the Order was able to watch the Alliance that whole time despite the regular security sweeps on Odessen. Holorecordings revealed that the Order was led by former Horizon Guard Vinn Atrius, who planned to awaken another superweapon from Iokath called Zildrog and use it against Odessen. During this whole thing, Ragdat noticed one of the holorecordings was the one that Allisani had shown him several weeks before; of Theron talking to Vinn Atrius about Umbara. However, the final message entered just before their arrival also revealed a set of coordinates on Nathema, which Lana recognized as coming from Theron due to the unique encryption they developed together on Rishi. Forced to flee as the self-destruct mechanism was activated and completely obliterated the station, the three returned to Odessen just when the work of restoring the holomap from Copero was finished, revealing a location on Nathema that matched the coordinates left by Theron.


To stop the Order's plan and deal with Theron one way or another, Ragdat, Allisani and Lana traveled to Nathema, where they were shocked to see once lifeless world overgrown with plant life. After dealing with several Nathema Zealots and escaped beasts from the Sanitarium, they reached the coordinates where Theron approached them and revealed himself to be secretly working for the Alliance's interests the whole time. Lana was confrontational, of course, but Allisani was the most understanding, having had to "betray" people she was working for the entire time before, and explained that this was probably why Ragdat's danger sense didn't alert him to Theron's betrayal on Umbara; he was in no real danger from Theron, despite him having to make things look convincing. However, everyone agreed that the Order should be stopped, and the four headed towards the Emperor's Vault under an ancient Sith Temple, where Zildrog was located., while Theron and Lana hammered out issues the entire time. Theron even echoed something Lana said to him on Rishi years ago, how they "had to be kept in the dark" in order for the plan to succeed.


They tried to enter the facility, only to be stopped at a terminal, where a holo of a Pureblood Sith activated and started raging at Ragdat for killing his master. He revealed himself as "Servant One", a member of Vitiate's Emperor's Hand, and was upset because his "master was his life", and wanted to help the Order of Zildrog to help destroy the Jedi who killed Vitiate 3 times and his Alliance once and for all, sending out a giant Guardian droid for the four to battle.


The battle was won, and they continued on into the facility. When they reached the Vault, Vinn Atrius and GEMINI 16 were already in the process of awakening Zildrog. Theron shot Atrius, and Atrius raged over how his people had suffered under Ragdat's actions. Ragdat, however, stated that every event that had happened over the last six years was engineered by his "Immortal Emperor"; the Eternal Fleet attacked the capital worlds of both the Republic and Sith Empire all to lure Ragdat out. He then destroyed an entire scout fleet without warning, and faked his death at Ragdat's hands, which allowed Arcann and Vaylin to kill quadrillions of people throughout the galaxy before he could finally be destroyed once and for all. All Ragdat had done this entire time was mitigate the damage and helped people, even providing relief for the people of Zakuul once he stopped the Fleet's rampage. Vinn Atrius shouted for Ragdat to "Shut Up!" and that "Valkorian brought peace and prosperity to Zakuul!", which caused Ragdat to shake his head and say "You can't reason with a fanatic." However, GEMINI 16 trapped all of them in a force field and finished summoning Zildrog, allowing it to remotely take over the Gravestone that remained parked on Odessen.


Controlling it through the Dark Sanctuary, Zildrog took the Gravestone, though not before the crew had a chance to evacuate, into Odessen's orbit and proceeded to repeatedly fire the omnicannon at the Eternal Fleet, which sat defenseless in the absence of orders from the Throne. Colonel Strannos contacted Ragdat and informed them of the crisis, but they were unable to do anything to stop Zildrog from completely annihilating the Eternal Fleet. Zildrog then targeted Odessen itself, but needed to recharge the omnicannon before the next attack, forcing GEMINI 16 to engage the Alliance directly. Lana, Theron Allisani and Ragdat destroyed the last remaining GEMINI droid, and Theron attempted to shut Zildrog down, but was stabbed in the back by Vinn Atrius with a lightsaber pike.


Atrius then ordered Zildrog to augment him with its power and attacked Allisani, Lana and Ragdat with his new increased strength, but thanks to Ragdat's ability to see Shatterpoints, the three defeated Atrius without much difficulty and destroyed Zildrog, which also caused the self-destruct of the Gravestone and disabled the "Eternal Throne."


Ragdat marched toward Atrius, glaring at the man while he taunted Ragdat. Atrius told him to "Just kill me and get on with it. Be the hero, like you always do!" while Lana tended to Theron's wounds, determining that he needed to be immediately brought to Odessen for treatment. Ragdat said once again that Jedi don't kill their prisoners, and that he'd be given back to his own people and be put on trial by them, a fact that shocked Atrius to his core.


Ragdat had Allisani stabilize Theron and took them all back to Odessen. Once back, Lana reported to Ragdat that although Odessen suffered minimal damage with no casualties to Alliance personnel, the Gravestone and the Eternal Fleet, two of the Alliance's greatest weapons were gone. Ragdat was relieved at this fact, since he never wanted the fleet in the first place, but, as Allisani added, without them, the Alliance no longer possessed the military force to rival that of the Republic and the Sith Empire, who redoubled on their preparations for the inevitable renewal of open hostilities. Additionally, though many members like Adaso, Maircus, Colonel Strannos and the leadership choosing to remain, many Alliance members choose to leave and rejoin their original factions, since the Alliance's initial goal of toppling the Eternal Empire accomplished, requiring the Alliance leaders to choose which faction to support. Ragdat jokingly asked if Lana would have any reservations about joining the Republic, and she jokingly added that she wouldn't if the Republic didn't have a problem with her interrogation methods. Ragdat said that she'd be right at home with the SIS as she said Theron came into earshot. At that point, Ragdat, Lana, Theron and Allisani stood in the hangar, and mused on the future now that the shadow of Vitiate had finally been been illuminated.


And that's it, as of November 21, 2018, for Ragdat's Darkest Days! And yes, that whole thing about Lana and Allisani being together is indeed a nod to my playthrough of Allisani through KOTFE and KOTET. I will mention them getting married at some point in the future like the game allows them to now, but for now, look forward to Rise of Mamine, which I intend to get out before December 1st. But for now, stay beautiful freaks!