SS: Struck Back

“It couldn’t be kept secret forever.  Sooner or later, Darth Thanaton was going to learn that I was alive, and at the very least, he knew while I was on Taris.  I had expected him to bend his will to striking at me.  I didn’t think that he would strike at Zash’s…my…apprentices.

In some ways, I still don’t understand their loyalty to me.  They were told to honor me, but of course, the endgame of Zash’s plan would have made it moot in all but appearance.  Still, their loyalty was pure.  In the end, they died on my behalf, risking everything to give me a key to setting up an ambush that may yet be Thanaton’s undoing.

This is not Sith behavior.  Self-sacrifice isn’t the Sith way.  I was supposed to be teaching them, but with their deaths, they have taught me something.  They have died for a cause that they believed was greater than their lives.  Could I do the same?  With Ashara, I’ve had discussions as to whether the Empire was worth saving-I responded in the affirmative.  But could I die for that ideal?  I don’t know.  Ashara asked me if I would consider coming to the Republic, become a Jedi, due to the anti-alien stance of the Empire.  I had to try not to laugh; even if the Empire had not been my home, even if I had the temperment to detach myself from everything that makes me who I am, I’d never be able to join the Jedi.  Every Jedi I have met with the exception of Ashara has tried to kill me on sight.  No, that path is closed to me; my path must be my own to walk.

While I was on Quesh-the world where my apprentices died-I got caught up in a scheme to wreck Republic interests.  It was an actual light diversion from the true reason I’d come.  I am not sorry to leave, however.  The place is a poison world, regardless of what kind of adrenals can be found there, and I am glad to put it behind me.  Because my apprentices are dead, I am attempting to acquire a new one from Korriban.  If nothing else, it will allow me to taunt Overseer Harkun with my continued survival.  Even with Thanaton working against me, I am still a Lord of the Sith-a slave no longer-and that’s worth a bit of joy at Harkun’s expense any day.”

-from Sorshan’s Story

Quesh is always a quick world to do, and it’s just as true on the Imperial side as it is on the Republic side for Star Wars: The Old Republic.  So it shouldn’t be shocking that I got through it in a single night-and that was with picking up all the missions I could find.  Level is now in the mid-fifties, thanks to an xp booster I was using.  There are some changes ahead for xp boosters awarded during missions, which will make using them a bit more effective-if I understand correctly, the 1 hour boosts will become 3 hour boosts, which will be helpful in continuing my advancement.

The Quesh storyline-the planet’s story, I mean-is always amusing in its conceit.  It’s not amusing in a laugh-out-loud sort of way, though.  The Empire is basically trolling the Republic into retaliating in force-to basically break the Treaty that keeps the two governments from war.  Of course, that’s not slated until Chapter 3 of the class stories, so no real joy for the Empire there.  I continue to defy expectations as a Sith, with letting not just one, but two Hutts live, plus freeing some miners who could have just as easily died if I did nothing.  “I was wrong about the Sith” says one.  Nah, he’s not, but he got lucky with this character.

Not a whole lot else to report on this one.  As mentioned:  Quesh is a fast run, and the stories here-both Inquisitor and planetary-aren’t exactly complicated.  The only real struggle for me was to determine what image to use for the post header today; I almost went with the “unflinching walk” still when Imperials blow up a massive crane, but the image of a Jedi mortally wounded and falling into the toxic wastes of Quesh to be too good to pass up.  Next up:  Hoth, and the next companion!

EoA: Wrath

“My journey to Quesh wasn’t one that involved Master Braga’s plan for dealing with the Sith Emperor.  Instead, it was a personal request-a student of his had cut off contact.  Impressively, his student, named Sajar, was once a member of the Sith Dark Council!  I had thought my own accomplishments in turning Praven to the Light had been impressive, but this was something that still awes me.

Unfortunately, Sajar had a relapse, of sorts.  He gave in to his anger on Quesh during an Imperial operation.  The Empire is attempting to incite full scale war, and it was a credit to Republic forces that we didn’t light that spark.  But Sajar snapped, and could not trust himself to engage in further hostilities against the Imperials-and worse yet, the Emperor’s personal executioner, the Emperor’s Wrath, was coming to kill him for his betrayal.

I had Sajar work in a non-combative capacity while I held off Imperial forces-and we got the ray shields up in time for me to meet the Wrath himself.  I warned him away from Sajar-but I may have sparked a special interest in the Wrath.  He seemed to know me, somehow-and indicated that I had gained the attention of the Emperor himself.  That may be a problem-I may endanger our larger mission if the Emperor is seeking me out.  I won’t let that stop me from doing what I feel is right.  I have a job to do, and as Sajar returns to Tython to regain his center, I must go to Hoth for the next piece of Master Braga’s plan….”

-from the Epic of Anthrandos

Quesh is a very short planet in comparison with all the others in the original Star Wars: The Old Republic game.  The class quests tend to often be just a single mission on Quesh, and it’s easy to get through the planetary quests too.  Sometimes I wonder if the planet was slapped in there at the last minute to fill a level gap.  It seems especially true for the Jedi Knight, since Sajar’s encounter seems to exist for the sole purpose of giving you a first meeting with the Emperor’s Wrath-which isn’t strictly necessary since the Knight will be meeting him again soon enough.

Not that I have any issues with the Quesh storyline or its existence at all; that meant I could get through this planet quickly and get closer to the end of the Chapter.  While it’s nice to have an in-depth story that has you running around a large world to find stuff, it’s also nice to occasionally have a world where you can stop in, do some stuff, and leave without a heap of drama.  As usual, doing side quests and exploration quests can lengthen the time a bit on Quesh-and I did do those!-but ultimately, I kind of consider this a “breather” planet.

Level is in the upper 50s at this point, and level 60 could happen on Hoth-or failing that the conclusion of the Chapter Two story.  Still doing nothing but Light Side choices, and using Doc as a companion; oddly, didn’t get too much Influence with him on Quesh; guess he didn’t have much to say here.  Or maybe I just took the wrong conversation choices (perfectly possible when you’re a stick-in-the-mud Jedi hanging with a free-wheeling scoundrel like Doc).

So Quesh is out of the way now, and Anthrandos is heading to the ice planet of Hoth next!  I even have the post title for this next part all set up, which is amusingly timely (you’ll see!).