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Oh hey, the droid designer, isn't that the guy who gave Rand'ayn combat tests way back in the day? Neat if they're actually having you kill the staff who the Republic players interacted with. I wonder how many more of the Jedi PCs' acquaintances are on the chopping block?
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Mar 29, 2016 22:40
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Almost there! Just doing a little editing. And yeah, sacking the seat of the Jedi seems like kind of a big deal, that'd have serious ramifications down the line on things like their recruitment and training rate.
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Apr 5, 2016 23:31
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Possibly-unintentional-case-in-point, Ako Domi, the Jedi from Nar Shaddaa that Quentine ran into way back when. Dude was a squeaky clean hero, gets captured and thrown into a Sith blacksite for a couple years of torture and manipulation, flips straight to "I am a void of neverending darkness!" like a teenager who's just discovered black hair dye and eyeliner. Which isn't to say that people don't crack up under duress and torture, especially considering the Sith sort of specialize in that sort of conversion, but the Jedi are primed for conversion for the reason PTN pointed out - the Jedi have already taught themselves if they compromise they can't be Jedi, so when a Jedi does have to compromise a lot of them end up figuring that must mean they're Sith now. That's how even something as mundane as a normal human relationship can get them to go completely crazy (see: Skywalker, Anakin). The best and most resilient Jedi are invariably the ones who don't take it all too seriously and maintain some self-awareness, although there might be a lower limit on that too (see: Rand'ayn). Which reminds me, update totally coming up, for real this time.
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Apr 9, 2016 23:57
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Smuggler Shadows of Revan Update 1: Oh yeah, the Sith also exist   I’m with the SIS. We’ve got a very special event coming up, and you’re on the guest list. What kind of “special event”? The kind the Empire won’t enjoy. Details when we meet in person - see you soon. So the SIS wants to party, huh? Looks like my schedule’s just filled up. Is that…? Captain! It’s good to see you again. Welcome to the secret mission! Not that secret, the way everyone’s blabbing about it. Oh, this is Akavi, an excellent woman to bring to a brawl. She certainly seems to be. You're Mandalorian, right? Yes. And you are the Jedi the Captain writes about in his personal log. Woah. wait, that’s not - how does everyone keep getting into there? You have a crew of professional thieves. Also, your password is 'password'. Ha! Why haven't we met before? Because I probably would have tried to kill you, Jedi. Mandalorians, am I right!? Ha ha haaaa, anyway here we are--  ...And then wave two comes in. Perfect timing. You’re actually planning an attack on Korriban? Yes. And your part in the plan is critical. Oh, I remember you! Grand Master Satele’s son. And you must be the Master she calls “the nosy one”. Can we skip the backstories? So we’re invading Korriban - take me through your plan. Like how we’re planning to occupy the Sith homeworld. Won't the Sith be... upset? We don’t have the resources to hold Korriban. Yet. Our objective is to raid the Sith Academy. Specifically, the databanks held inside the Dark Council chambers on the Academy’s upper level. The information in those databanks could win the war. Once the first attack wave clears a landing zone, it will be your job to go in and get them. You will exfiltrate immediately and rendezvous back here. My associate, Commander Jensyn, will remain behind to collect secondary objectives as time allows. Have the Empire’s forces really become so weak that we can charge straight in like this? You don’t need to tell us how tough this will be. The Sith Academy is one of the most secure locations in the entire galaxy. But if we succeeded… we could learn more about the Empire’s moves than every SIS operation from the past decade combined. Our forces are ready. Victory for the Republic depends on you. You can sometimes rely on smugglers too, for the right price. May the Force be with you. It’s a long flight, we should catch up. When was our last death-defying mission, Corellia? It was! I saw your speech to the Senate after. Very moving. Almost professional. You should be a senator. You wound me, padawan. We got sent to Ilum, dealing with the Empire’s little civil war. I’m surprised we didn’t cross paths. What, that iceball? Please, that job was for suckers. My last big contract was Makeb.  You’re the hero of Makeb?! I’ve been hearing stories from the refugees! And all of them true. Even the ones that sound made up. Especially the ones that sound made up.One Interminable Journey to the Edge of Known Space later  Korriban. Think of all the history beneath our feet. Think of all the corpses. Who's the droid?  GSI Brand Combat Special! Here to support the war on [ENEMY] for the glory of [GOVERNMENT]! Man, they'll sell those things to anyone now. They certainly will, [ALLY]! Everyone ready? We will stain the sands red with the blood of our enemies! I'll take that as a yes.  [So yeah, we did get two Jesus Droids along for the ride on this flashpoint. It made things embarrassingly easy, so we ditched them by the first boss.]    Are you okay?! This is nothing! aaaaaaaaaaaaaa The droids will hold the valley, while we push on to the Academy. And what about this guy? We ask him nicely to let us through. He may listen to reason. Time for some good old Corellian charm. [Lord Renning is the same Sith who sent Mortiferous on a brain hunt a long, long time ago]  [He will release his Tukata friends to help out in the fight. All that brain research paid off, apparently.]  *BLAM* Too bad we couldn't talk it out. Maybe if your opening line hadn't been 'get out of the way, Tubbs', we would have got somewhere. Eh. I tried. Imperial defenders have a barricade up ahead. There's no time to go around—you'll have to break through. Onwards and upwards!  Looks like our boys need support.  *BOOM!* Lucky the Imperials were all standing by those explosive barrels. Luck... or the Force? The Force... or stupidity?   Look, I’m sorry, okay? That’s not why we’re here. Just… just try to keep your heads down, all right? What’s going on here? We can’t leave them behind - do whatever it takes, just get them out of here. Whatever you say… You made the right call. Besides, those troops’d just get in our way. Taking on the entire Sith Academy with no backup… the glory will be legendary. Even if we are all horribly killed. I’m glad for your support?   What? They're just k'lor'slugs. I hear Rodians can make a mean ragout out of ‘em. I... wasn't expecting so many. Uggh. How can people live here? Sith are only people in the loosest sense of the word. ... Impressive. The Empire's been fielding a lot of new technology lately. Some sort of new power source they discovered. Seems like just another droid to me. Oh wait, that's pretty neat.     OK, just gimme a minute to hack this shield control. Try 'password'.  That's some welcoming committee. The temple is just up ahead. It’s even bigger in person... Think we might’ve bitten off more than we can chew on this one?  Phew, guess not! Hey, is this guy supposed to be ticking? This is it. The Sith Academy. Mm. There's something primal about it, isn't there? Like it grew out of the rocks. *Yawn* I dunno. You see one ancient temple of horror and evil, you've seen them all. Ha ha, very funny. So Captain, ready to invade the chambers of the all-powerful Dark Council? I mean, while we’re here anyway. To be continued...
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Apr 11, 2016 07:21
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Bruceski posted:Sadly this doesn't actually affect the newbie zones for people, even ones who have been through this story part. Jolune can go back to Tython and the dodecahedron will be happily floating again. While there's been some backtracking before, SWTOR doesn't really advance each location with the timeline. Going back to Tython at max level is more like going back in time to the state of the galaxy back when you were level 5, new characters are still starting their story back in the Cold War and Korriban and Tython remain unchanged to reflect that, same for Makeb despite it having nominally exploded.
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Apr 12, 2016 01:48
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Smuggler Shadows of Revan Update 2: Death to Sidequests Face the power of the dark side! These halls will be your tomb! Give me a break. I've been in deadlier bar fights. Wow, really? …No, Nadia. It's just smack talk. Bar fights don't involve leathery psychotics trying to rip the soul from your body. *cough* Most bar fights don't involve leathery psychotics trying to rip the soul from your body. That was the best shore leave we ever had. Huh. Pointy. The famous Giygas memorial. Don't stare at it for too long. The Dark Council chambers are on the upper levels. You'll need to access the main elevator to reach them. And how do we open the elevator? Kill some quest givers, get some codes?  We don't have much intel on the upper-level defenses--be ready for some heavy opposition. The SIS as helpful as ever. What do I even pay my taxes for? You pay taxes? In theory.  Come, little Jedi. I can read the skein of your fate painted on the inside of your skull. It says - hguk! No you don’t! [We’ve met Overseer Ragate before, when she gave Mort a vision of the future, in exchange for BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD.]  Nadia! What have I told you about letting mad Sith sorceresses try to possess you? Sorry, Master. I won’t pretend I know what was going on, but looks like it worked. Yeah, you wouldn’t believe how much practice I get with that one. Well, she had a code cylinder for the upper level. What kind of crazy Sith loot you think she was keeping sealed up in that vault? I sense… skulls. Lots of skulls. So probably not worth cracking open then.  [Inquisitor Arzanon sent Mort to hunt traitors with the magical traitor hunting machine.]  Here's another code cylinder. This is an idiotic security system. This one reads “ord”. That first one was “pas”. Bet you five credits I can guess what the next one'll say. I wonder what they did in here? They tortured and killed people for no reason, Quentine. Their pain is soaked into the metal. Yeesh. In the future, assume I'm being rhetorical with that stuff.  And the fat one makes three codes. I'm not dead ye- argh! Sorry, she shouldn't've jumped the gun. Haha, yes. So much ancient knowledge… just… out of… reach! Aren’t Jedi known for lifting things with their mind? Ugh, don’t remind her. We’ll be here all day. Nadia, give me a boost!  Wait for it…*WHUMP*  That’s all the codes. Let’s do this.[The last two Lords, Solence and Cestus, aren’t sidequest givers for Imperial players, they were just background NPCs on Korriban. The linking thread for all four Lords is the mission Atronie did for Lord Abaron way back when- they’re the four Sith who get scanned as part of that quest.]   What’s that awful noise? The muzak of the damned. The Sith like to soften up their supplicants before they meet the Dark Council. Ding! Top floor! Menswear, camping equipment and Dark Lords.  Believe me, my profaning’s just getting started. Did you believe you could breach the chambers of the Dark Council and go unpunished? That you could steal our great works without challenge?    Hey Jo, how many Dark Council members are we up to? Three? Four. I picked one up on Ilum. Let’s keep the ball rolling.  Did you think swatting a pack of washed-up instructors and pathetic acolytes meant you were worthy of facing me? Brace yourselves, I think he's going to- Fools! He's too powerful to contain – you need to get under his guard! Hit him in the face!   “Hit him in the face”? Sometimes serenity must give way to action. I must be rubbing off on you. Phrasing, Quentine. Well ladies, we've defeated a Dark Councillor and taken the throne room. What do we do now? Hmm... Hail, Darth Quentine! What news of our latest diabolical scheme? Our most potent superweapon yet nears completion, Lady Bloodmurder! Capable of destroying the entire galaxy in 3 seconds. I call it... the Excruciatatron. Eeeeeexcellent. This shall be the one that seals our final victory over the Republic, unlike our last 17 superweapons which sucked and were bad. Also, my Sithsona is Lord Bloodmurder. Masculine titles are preferred for both Sith and Jedi. Do we really need to sweat the details on this one? What about my immersion? {Looking at their big computer} Weren’t we supposed to be doing something? Oh right, the mission! Well, here’s the Dark Council’s private terminal. Every kind of classified file we could hope for. And hey, look - they left the Dark Council’s official social media account logged in. Let’s share some terrible opinions on the Holonet.[VIDEO: Another Victory for the Good Guys]  *BOOM*  Now I see… you are not the ones who kill me. You have merely cleared the path for the one who will. I face my fate gladly, Jedi. The old man was right about me - was he right about you, too?  A member of the Dark Council could’ve been a valuable prisoner. Pity. The situation was under control, Jensyn. There was no need to kill him. He raised his weapon. I don’t take chances with Sith. We are going to have words later. As you say, Master. Your part of the mission is done. My team will hold the academy while I search these chambers along with a few technical specialists. One Interminable Journey from the Edge of Known Space Later...   Don’t mind the annotations, I noticed a few grammatical errors. Congratulations. You just succeeded in a mission many people never dared to dream was possible. We’ve proven that victory - true victory - is within reach. Just imagine: all of the Emperor’s followers, truly defeated at last. We’re close now, I’m sure of it. This is a great day. I don’t know about you, Colonel, but I prefer to spend my great days in the cantina.*ALARM*  Imperial forces just hit Tython. Iso-5 bombings, strike teams in the Jedi Temple… they need our support, now! How did this happen? If you’re willing to help, we might be able to find out… Blue squadron: complete refueling operations and launch immediately. Any wave one troops not injured on Korriban: re-equip and board shuttles. Shan, you gather whatever sensor data we have and forward it to all forces. I want everyone en-route in five. Move! Why do I get the feeling ‘a brief gap in our patrols’ is responsible for this breach? This is your home base being attacked, Master Jedi. You can meditate on the ramifications later. The Empire must not be allowed to capture Tython. We cannot afford to hesitate. Period. Before we launch, can you tell us what we’re up against? Who’s in charge down there? I’m still getting the contact reports, but… from the sound of it, the attack was led by the Emperor’s Wrath. …Why? Is... that a trick question? He’s a Sith. We can debate this afterwards. Action stations! Let’s go! To be continued?
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Apr 16, 2016 22:46
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The Dark Council seems to be going through one of those high turnover periods where a few seats are held by long-timers and the rest go to a rotating cast of climbers. Normally, I'd say those positions will either stabilize once the seats are filled by sufficiently competent Sith, the smaller group of council veterans will eventually absorb the outstanding portfolios instead of electing replacements, or one of said veterans will grasp for power and dissolve the council (and its membership) permanently. The Emperor was the force keeping the council stagnant and under control, Baras and Malgus were just the first Sith trying to fill the void now that he's gone. I think we've already had one guy absorb the three war-related portfolios so the consolidation might already be under way. It's kind of interesting how much more important the Dark Council is than the Jedi Council, since the Supreme Chancellor and friends are at least nominally the leaders of the Republic and Satele gets to be the Jedi's iconic representative whereas in the Emperor's absence the Dark Council runs the Empire and is inherently given to machinations and power-plays. I mean, Jolune's on the Jedi Council and I don't think she's so much as asked someone to get her coffee. Meanwhile Darth Nox has a pyramid full of flunkies bowing and scraping. Dolash fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Apr 18, 2016 |
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Apr 18, 2016 21:54
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Smuggler Shadows of Revan Update 3: Homecoming If this ravine is as close as they could drop us, the temple must be heavily entrenched. Master, are you… feeling okay? ... Give your teacher a little breathing room on this one. The Imps have these woods tied down with artillery. What’s the call? I sense… transmitters, being used by spotters. Opposite ends of the Gnarls. Then we’ve got something to aim for. Think maybe that ravine leads around the outside? No. We go straight through.   Whew, yeah, that… that’s pretty busted. One transmitter down. The Empire built it through one of the old holoprojectors. They predate the Republic. This is... mindless destruction. We did just raze Korriban. We didn't destroy the Sith's history with it. Not for lack of trying.  Slow down, Jolune! They’re dug in and your sidekick’s falling behind! I’m not a sidekick! *BOOM!*  Well, they’re not calling down any more artillery. So we won’t burn, at least. The front-line commander must be nearby. We should not advance on the Temple without securing the rear. Heh, securing the - nope, not the time. So, you’re the tactical one, huh? The Captain prefers to focus on morale and public relations. That speeder station controls access to the temple. The commander is there. Should you be... glowing like that? Glowing like what? Eh, nevermind.   You must be the ones who killed my men! I’m Major Travik. Major Tragic? Man, that's unfortunate. You have my sympathy. No, I... what? Shut up! Less talking, more fighting! Haven’t heard that in a while. [Travik's functionally identical to Major Imos, who Mort fought back on page 1. That's the depressing thing about these flashpoints- they're completely identical for both Republic and Empire except for the play order and enemy skins.]  Watch your back with these commandos! They’re dropping in from all over. *whump*  Eesh. I don't think the human body should do that. The enemy commander is dead. The outskirts are secure. Right. Good. Good job, everyone. This oughta clear any shields they’ve thrown up between here and the temple. The Sith’ll be off Tython in no time. You holding up, Jo? Take a look at this. Just on the other side of that valley is the landing pad where I first arrived on Tython, a long time ago. They were built into ruins that date back to the founding of the Jedi Order. Now look at them. Yeah, the Empire's really ruined those... ruins. Um. Hey, we took back my homeworld together, we can take back yours too. This isn't my homeworld, but... Forget it, let’s keep moving.  Look out! Imps must’ve brought this ugly-looking guy too. Actually, he’s local.  So that’s the Jedi temple? Funny, thought it’d be bigger. It’s actually a lot bigger on the inside. A lot of it’s just- I'll give you the tour afterwards. Come on! So maybe Akavi and I should sneak up while you - woah! No time. We’ll fight head-on. Nyeah! You don’t have to blow up the turret! Especially while we’re standing right next to it! Just shut it down! Yes, that… might have been overkill.   Now all we need to do is clear out these weird droids. Wait, I recognize this... Those droids belonged to Master Dentiri! What did you do with him? Use your imagination, Jedi! [Lieutenant Kreshin summons droids and stealths herself periodically, which makes this fight drag out wayyyy too long.]   ...And she’s dead. Droids are all busted too. Then let’s get this over with. To be continued! New Codex Entries: (been a while since we last had these!) Taking the Sith Academy posted:To disrupt the path of Sith apprentices hoping to one day become Dark Lords, even if it’s for a moment, would be seen as a victory to many. But the true value of capturing the Sith Academy lies within the restricted halls and chambers of the Dark Council. The Empire on Tython posted:Not long ago, a vengeful Sith Lord attempted to obliterate Tython–and nearly succeeded. Ever since, protecting the Jedi Order’s home from further incursion has been of paramount concern to the Republic. That an Imperial invasion force has slipped through Tython’s new, heightened security architecture points to some unsettling possibilities.
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Apr 29, 2016 22:56
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Unfortunately, as you can tell from the same image, the Republic's already headhunted the Empire's best stick-hit contractor.
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Apr 29, 2016 23:36
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The troopers and Force users being mirrors is kind of eh, but I actually like that the lieutenant who replaces the Jedi Master for that boss fight has hacked their training droids to attack the very Jedi who trained with them. It feels like they could've done more like that to twist the knife a bit to emphasize the place some of the heroes figuratively grew up in is trashed. For example, while we just saw a few Flesh Raiders we won't see anything about the Twi'lek pilgrims.
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Apr 30, 2016 01:07
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Smuggler Shadows of Revan Update 4: Unspeakable It’s worse than I thought. Sorry you’ve got to see it this way. They even crashed the D12. A giant polyhedron that never hurt anyone. Just one Sith, though - maybe we already beat most of them outside? Another lesson, Nadia - there’s always more Sith. A lot more! Thanks for the assist. Someone has to keep you alive. Sensors show some kind of shielding around the Jedi Temple Library - the Imps must be up to something in there. Track the shield power back to its source and shut it down, then see what’s going on. The library! We need to hurry!  Is there a plan? Charge!  The emergency power generators are in here, beneath the Order's magic 8-ball. It would be faster to destroy them. Hey, the Jedi are looking at a steep enough repair bill as-is. Here they come.  Whoever’s leading this attack is just on the other side of this gate. If you’ve got any last suggestions... What do we do if it’s the Emperor’s Wrath? Are we going to fight him? ...I am a member of the Council, and the Barsen'thor of the Order. I have a duty. Is that a yes? Open the gate, Captain. Huh?      It's Goh time!    [Goh will occasionally drop rocks on everyone, which do a ton of damage. He can also leech power from the holocrons around the room to strengthen himself, which is solved by destroying the holocron before he finishes. So much for preserving Jedi artifacts.]  Nngh! He’s drawing power from the library’s holocrons! We have to stop him! How? Violence, Nadia! Oh, right! Ruergh! Was he supposed to be a new Emperor’s Wrath? Apart from his whole silent treatment shtick not fitting the job description? Not a chance. I’d have heard if that job changed hands. Uh, not that I’m keeping tabs. So, who was he? What was the Empire after? Who knows? Not like they left any witnesses. ...I may have one. One what? A witness. Someone who was present throughout, and whose judgment I mostly trust. Myself. Oookay, you lost me. How much do you know about holocrons, Captain? I know a guy who moves Jedi memorabilia in bulk, but even he’d have trouble flipping this whole lib - ah, I’m guessing that’s not what you meant. A holocron is... well, this holocron is like... a little piece of me in a box. … What, like a finger or something? Oh, for the love of... No, Quentine, not like a finger or something. More like a... memory. An old self. Hello me. Ø×±»«¢! What’s, uh, ‘she’ saying? ...Everything I needed to hear. Come on, we need to sound the all-clear.  There's a comm station in the table. Looks deserted. Not even booby-trapped. This isn’t how I imagined my first visit to the Jedi Council chambers was going to go.  Running a bit ahead of schedule, are we? No matter. You can have your little temple back, if you like. I’m done with it. You have an interesting view on the situation. You realize your attack failed, don’t you? Failed? Really? *Click* My men have finished securing the lower levels. Even captured a few prisoners. Keep the prisoners under guard until the SIS can round them up for questioning. Gladly. Get those scumbags out of here! They won’t know any more about the raid’s real goal than we did on Korriban. Wait, what? Guess it’s all cleanup from here. Gonna be a pretty major job, too… What next time? Next time the Jedi Order almost gets destroyed? Hey, the way this war's going... you never know, right?  Sorry, that was... er... T-the fleet shuttle's here! One interminably awkward journey to the Republic Fleet later...  ...So Jensyn and everyone else on the Korriban raid didn’t make it out either? Convenient that the first-hand witnesses to both attacks have all been killed. Apart from ourselves. More Jedi and Sith died in these raids than from whole campaigns, but neither side is any better off. Isn't it strange? This could have been much worse. Thanks to you, the enemy has only bloodied our noses - and hardened our resolve. The timing of this attack - just as we made our own assault on Korriban? It’s too much to be a coincidence. It’s possible the enemy’s intelligence isn’t the shambles we were led to believe. I’m sure the SIS will determine how this slip-up happened. Yes. We will. The medal of valor. No commendation this prestigious has ever been awarded this quickly; the Chancellor was truly impressed. As am I. Congratulations. The timing of the attacks, Colonel - and the message from that Sith lord. We have to find out what really happened here. We will. But you’ve done more than enough for one day. Now then: I’ve been tasked with organizing the Tython cleanup, and I want to be sure the Jedi Council knows they have our full support. If you’ll excuse me. You're not excused. I am a member of the Jedi Council, and I am not feeling fully supported. Sorry, but I assumed the Council would be more concerned with rebuilding right now. A full inquiry into this incident will be carried out, in time. By professionals. ”Professionals”? Listen here, buddy- No, Quentine, let it go. We're done here. So, are we going for drinks? Eugh, not right now. A walk might clear our heads a little. I know a hangar with a good view.On the lower decks...  It doesn't take a Jedi Master to tell Darok is hiding something. Do you think he was working for the Sith who phoned in? Darth Smug Hangup? Even Sith would balk at the idea of sacking their own academy. Well, most Sith. Although, if someone were playing both sides... Great, another pan-galactic conspiracy to take down. When do we start? ...Darok was right about one thing. I can’t avoid my responsibilities as a Council member to go chase mysteries. Not now. The temple's in ruins, countless Jedi killed... I need to help rebuild. So what, you’re going to let Darth Slick get away with it? Oh, I'm sure I can count on the good citizens of the Republic to resolve this crisis. A particular good citizen comes to mind. Was that an official job offer from the galaxy's most venerable Jedi under the age of thirty? Heh... ...Be careful on this one, Quentine. There is no need to worry about the Captain. He may conduct himself like a clumsy fool, but he offsets this with incredible dumb luck. Thanks for the vote of confidence, horns. And don’t worry about me, I think I’ve got a hunch on how to get started... ...Maybe with a friendly drink? What? That was the hunch. A friendly drink, like Theron was hinting at earlier? You mentioned your hunch fifteen minutes ago. We crossed the whole station. Look, just… let me handle this one. Currently acting as emissary to the Drayvos League. Nowhere near Tython. We aren’t exactly close; the Jedi don’t much care for family dynamics. Doesn’t mean I can’t check up on her though. If you’re her son, why weren’t you raised as a Jedi? I was, actually. But I don’t have their particular talent, so I found… other employment. Honestly, I’d say things have worked out just fine. Most people don’t have “interplanetary super-spy” as their backup career. Do you enjoy it? Sometimes, but you end up dealing with a lot of lies in this business. But the real question is, are you going to take your shiny medal and go home like Darok’s hoping, or are you ready to start digging? If you were to do some digging, where would you start? I’d start by recruiting someone outside the system. Someone who’s used to working outside the lines, around the edges. Psh, do you know who you’re talking to? I’m the underworld’s foremost outside-the-box thinker. Captain, please. The pictures of you being thanked by the Supreme Chancellor were on every front page in the Republic and there’s a Corellian movement to draft you for Senate. Your profile’s gotten a little too high. Those official fanclub organizers are real bloodhounds. And then, once I’d found something, I’d contact my new friend and we’d get to the bottom of all this. But this is just speaking hypothetically, of course. Of course. The End... Or is it?! New Codex Entries: Colonel Darok posted:When Republic Special Forces accomplish an especially hazardous mission with seemingly impossible odds, it’s often Colonel Rian Darok who is credited with their success. With a commanding presence and blustery persona, Darok asks his Special Forces troops for nothing less than their unwavering obedience, which they gladly offer time and again. Darth Arkous posted:Through all the recent upheaval in the Dark Council, it is the sphere of Military Offense that has seen the most turbulence. After the brief and fiery tenure of Darth Arho, and the failed schemes of Darth Vengean before that, it was imperative that an even-tempered, long-trusted Sith take up the affairs of the Imperial military. Enter Darth Arkous, veteran of the Great Galactic War and passionate loyalist.
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May 7, 2016 00:32
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I'm not really a raider myself, in SWTOR or any MMO. I've never really been a big participant in the social and guild-related aspects of MMOs which is part of what makes SWTOR's story focus appealing (even if it's pretty uneven). It's just tough to get motivated for the gear-grinding treadmill unless you happen to have friends to play through it with, and in that case there are other, more fun games to play. I do like the idea of "story-mode" versions of flashpoints and the like that let people play through just to check them out, though. On the topic of new thread content, I've got something coming up but I'm waiting for PTN to get back in order to make it work a little better, so hopefully some time later this week. Edit: I will admit that the stronghold system is almost enough to tempt me into doing a bunch of grinding and dungeon-delving, although that's just for the sake of the Let's Play. Kind of hard to justify ginning up fifty million credits for that though. Dolash fucked around with this message at 00:06 on May 24, 2016 |
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May 24, 2016 00:04
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At least no one is surprised to hear Darok and the Darth are in cahoots, a plot twist so obvious and telegraphed even the characters during the raids could barely play along.
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May 24, 2016 21:46
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SKY COQ posted:I quite like Darok the Republic traitor, if only because at certain points his voice actor slips and turns into Spotswood from Team America. ...aaaaaaaaaaaah! THAT'S what I recognize him from!
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May 27, 2016 02:23
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The ship-droid butlers feel really tacked on and I have never felt the need to bring them with me, equip them, or think of them beyond when I run past on the ship and they remind me they've done my character's laundry for the hundredth time. It is a little funny that normally the enslavement of sentient robot intelligences would be treated like a serious issue in most sci-fi settings and in Star Wars it's just a given. AI rebellions are just another source of droid enemies rather than a challenge to people's paradigm and any sign of intelligence in interchangeable labor or combat drones are treated as comic relief and signs of factory defect. A "free the droids" movement would probably get laughed at more than that Senator's daughter's campaign to save animals on Nar Shaddaa. Dolash fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Jun 5, 2016 |
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Jun 5, 2016 21:51
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 Trooper Update 40 – Soldiering On Original Trooper updates listed here Trooper updates from the first endgame thread start here   ...just hope Garza’s not expecting us to wash up first.  Excuse me? Nope. Captain Todessa, right? Leader of Havoc Squad? Todessa? That’s you, boss. Oh! Right. Yeah, that’s me. At ease, soldier. And who’re you supposed to be? Apart from someone who’s badly underdressed for a day in the Senate Tower’s secure zone. You could call me a fan. The last Havoc commander, Tavus, I saw on the news he died from complications from an old war wound? Must’ve been a real blow to the team. It was about 1,100 pounds of ‘blow’ to the temple, yeah. We’re all real broken up about it, so if the press wants another quote I can direct you to the divisional spokesperson. I’m not here for the party line. Havoc lost another man in transit just recently too, right? An Iridonian named ‘Fuse’, was it? In fact, the whole of Spec-Force has a whole pile of recent MIAs and KIAs. That’s classified. Well, nice as this chat’s been I’m running late for a briefing, so if you could just see yourself to the nearest Senatorial security and save us the trouble... What, really? You still haven’t figured it out? Oh, for - look!  It’s me, you idiot! The real Captain Todessa. You remember? The person you replaced? How can I remember a person I’ve never met? I’m just a soldier doing a job for the Republic. How’d you fit that mohawk into a helmet that small? That’s a neat trick. Like spinning. I want to be on the record that I was against the “mysterious drifter” reveal. Wait, the last Havoc commander? I thought you and your squad went AWOL. Who cares? If she’s back, that means you and I can get back to the Blood Dragons. I’m sick of this ‘special ops’ crap, give me a trench or a jungle and an imp quota any day. You’re not getting off that easy. And as the actual Republic officer here, I order you to take those tin cans off so I can get a look at who Garza assigned to take over my life.  Ngh… there. Satisfied? I will be once you disable your voice modulator. … Fine. Satisfied? Another Cathar? I didn’t know there was another of us in Spec-Force. You’d be amazed how much room freed up after- Okay, cut the chatter. Cut the--ugh. So I’m assuming you‘re not here to turn yourselves in, which means you must have a drat good explanation to keep Garza from dropping you down a deep, dark hole. Matter of fact I do, but the General should be around for it. Let’s see her together. Oh, this ought to be good.  ...I’m going to be forthright with you ladies - I am not happy with this situation. Surprise, General! No one is! But I’m willing to be the bigger woman here and put our history behind us if you reinstate my squad’s rank and IDs and get this imposter out of my sight. At least I’m not a traitor. You are an unlisted deserter. The uniformed officer on my right is recognized as Captain Todessa and leader of Havoc Squad. Explain to me why exactly I shouldn’t have you arrested and court-martialed? Well, I got that covered at least. After you put me in contact with Supreme Commander Rans for those “special missions” on Nar Shaddaa, I asked him for a transfer to black ops. The great thing about black ops, you don’t have to leave a note. You thought I wouldn’t figure out what happened to Tavus? The old Havoc squad deserting after Ando Prime because you convinced them the Senate left them to die, when the Senate never even knew they were there because you didn’t have authorization. I had a bad feeling that cleaning up your mess would make Havoc squad a loose end, so we got out and laid low until the Tavus situation blew over. I’m only surprised your wind-up toy soldier didn’t end up having to take the fall for me. Unlike you, I can actually be relied on to follow orders. Blindly. At least I’m wired for loyalty. Without acknowledging any of your wild speculation, if that were true, why come back now?  Because you’re about to introduce her as me to Supreme Commander Rans, and I’ve been working for him off the books for months now. And that’s going to raise a whole lot of questions. I’m doing you a favor by coming back. Fine by me. Being a special forces errand girl was getting dull anyway. So much backtracking… Reinstate my squad and we can all go on acting like the whole “Tavus defects with half of Spec-Force because someone screwed up” thing never happened. Oh, and I’ll need the keys for my ship back while we’re at it. Whole thing stank of cheap deodorant anyway. Can I assume you’ll want the M1 backup back as well? Wouldn’t want us cheapening the original. I thought of that too. Yours has the same recall code as mine, he should be here any minute.  General, I came as fast as the legs of justice could carry - er… I apologize, my ID-database must be malfunctioning. I’m detecting two Captain Todessas at this time? Yes, we’re well aware 4X. Please stand in the corner and try not to overload. As for our… situation. I can agree that things got out of hand, and would absolutely prefer to keep the Supreme Commander or God forbid the Senate from getting further involved. What, exactly, is going on? At this point I have no idea. I started tuning it out a few minutes ago. If reinstating your previous position is what it takes to put this all behind us... Captain Zhenzi, relocate your squad to the Spec-Force barracks, I’ll have new instructions for you later. Hell with that, General. Put me back in a line regiment. I’ve been away from the Blood Dragons for too long. They’ve probably gone all soft and merciful without me around to keep them in line. Just--go, we’ll talk about this later. No we won’t. Stop sniping at the brass, Mako. Let’s go. General. So long, Captain - I’ll be waiting in case you feel like defecting or disappearing again. Out, soldier! Well, if you are going to be attending this meeting, you can at least change out of those smelly rags. They’re expecting my best officer. Which is me. Don’t worry, I put together something a little more regulation while I was away. Give me five minutes.  Recommended for getting back up to speed on what the heck's going on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UFy3NUFLAg   Good day. We've both heard a great deal about you, Captain. Given our present circumstances, Fleet Admiral Numinn and Supreme Commander Rans have come here to plan a full-scale joint operation to deal with the Gauntlet superweapon. Right, the Empire's latest capital ship killer. What's our strategy for dealing with the Gauntlet, General? Plans are still being developed. Which tests better than "we don't have one yet". If the Gauntlet prototype is completed and the Empire succeeds in producing more of them, we're doomed. The entire Republic would be conquered in a matter of weeks. I understand that the Gauntlet is a dangerous weapon, but is it really that game ending, sir? Any fleets sent within range of a Gauntlet superweapon are forefit. Reinforcing battles, retaking lost positions, assaulting new ones – all become impossible. Destroying the Gauntlet will require a coordinated naval and infantry strike of unprecedented scale. Our forces must begin preparing now. In the midst of the assault we're planning, a single commando team will board the Gauntlet and sabotage it from within. We've chosen Havoc squad to carry out this task. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Captain. Your team will need to be expanded. You'll need a technical specialist and an explosives expert. The general and I have scoured the entire Republic personnel database to locate the two most highly qualified specialists available. Both men are engaged in active operations – the first on Balmorra. Extract him and return here as quickly as possible. Understood? If I'm adding these people to my squad, I'd like to know more about them. I have full reports on each new recruit. You'll receive the relevant details when you arrive in each mission zone.   Home, sweet home. M-master Todessa! That is, the actual master Todessa. What a... pleasant surprise! Can it, tin can. Okay people, it's a long ride to Balmorra, fan out and check the ship for anything those knucklehead imposters might've messed up or left behind. Master, I can assure you, I followed my previous master's instructions to the letter regarding the cleaning and restoration of your- What about the droid, Captain? Could be bugged, or have some other instructions programmed in. Good point, maybe we should take it apart - just to be safe. ...On reconsideration, perhaps I could lend a hand conducting another sweep? Smart move.ONE SHORT SPACE JOURNEY LATER  ##Begin Log## Captain’s Log, entry #001 Stardate: Two days out of Coruscant We're just coming up on Balmorra now. Not much else to report today. The squad's gear is a mess between the stuff we brought back from our "time off" and whatever was left behind on the ship. My chair settings are still all messed up too. Wonder if I should tell M1-4X Garza built a copy of him, or if that'd give him an existential breakdown. Uh... ##End Log## Okay, forget this, journaling is boring as hell. I don't know what sideburns gets out of it. : Captain! Transmission coming through, it's General Garza.  Imperial forces conquered the planet during the first war, but a Balmorran resistance movement has fought the occupation to this day. Republic support for the resistance has been... inconsistent, over the years. But now, our forces are pushing to drive the Empire off Balmorra for good. What brought on this sudden commitment? We are at the brink of all-out war. Balmorra's industry is a strategic resource and cannot be allowed to remain in Imperial hands. Vik is a Weequay, and a natural at demolitions work. But he also has a history of insubordination and collateral damage. Keep him on a short leash. What good is this guy if he can't follow orders? Oh? So now soldiers not following orders is a problem for you? When they're my orders, yeah. You're an experienced officer. You can keep him in line. He is, however, the most skilled demolitionist on record – and Havoc Squad needs the best. Not like I've got any options, I guess. He is the only available explosives expert anywhere close to Havoc standards. Vic is currently fighting as a mercenary for the Balmorran resistance. His supervisor is a resistance leader named Ardon. Dorne, you're with me. Let's see if we can shake the rust off. Sir, while I can promise I have not become rusty during our... down-time, the General implied we need only extract Vik from his current post, not engage the Imperials. I've heard that one before. Five credits says we'll be chasing that Weequay bomber up and down the occupation zone. Nice staging area they picked here. The resistance must be doing better than I thought if they've managed to liberate this swamp. Actually, sir, the outpost known as 'Bugtown' is the Republic's only major foothold on the planet, thanks to the Imperials' belief that the terrain and highly mutated fauna are too hostile to allow major landings. Anyone ever mention you can be a real buzz-kill, sergeant? Relentlessly throughout my career, sir. Just keep your eyes open for any resistance officers trying to butter us up into some pointless side-mission. These rebels can be real rear end-kissers.  "Butter us up", sir? Shh. I'm not interested in your opinions. I'm interested in Tanno Vik. Don't worry, I know how much a Balmorran's opinion is worth to you people. General Garza sent me a message explaining everything. I've got Vik's current assignment details right here. Glad to hear that the Republic's finest aren't here to help, but to take away one of my best men instead. We're honored, really. Or what? It's not like you and your publicity-stunt squad are doing anything useful for me anyway. Vik is taking one of our teams on a patrol run. Their next stop is our signal interception post – you can catch up with him there. Now, if that's all – there are real soldiers who need my time. If you've got a problem with me or my squad, do something about it.  Can you believe that guy? After the Republic broke the treaty of Coruscant and got the whole first wave killed trying to save their planet, he's still giving us attitude. They should be grateful the Republic hasn't cut its losses. With all due respect, sir, the resentment might be rooted in the years between the start of the occupation and now when the Republic made no major effort to assist the resistance. As General Garza mentioned, the only thing that changed recently was the calculation that the Republic needs to deny Balmorran arms to the Empire before the war begins again in earnest. The Balmorrans themselves are a secondary objective. Huh, that's... okay, that's a pretty good point. Thank you, sir. Doesn't mean I won't knock Ardon's teeth out if he calls us a publicity-stunt squad again, though. We're much closer to the Imperial occupation headquarters at Sobrik than I expected. Maybe this is the time the Republic succeeds in taking back Balmorra. Don't get too excited. If we don't focus on taking out the Gauntlet then whatever gets done on the ground here will go to waste. Just keep your eyes peeled for a Weequay mercenary. Or any sort of trouble, since that'll probably lead us straight to him. Excuse me. I'm looking for Tanno Vik. Ah! Oh, you're with the Republic. I thought I was dead meat. Looking for Vik, huh? That Weequay scumbag is long gone. Dorne, you owe me five credits. Is Vik in trouble again? Trouble? He's getting us all killed! Vik was here earlier, but he slipped away when we weren't looking – along with our entire security team. All he left was this holorecording.   This is all on Republic orders, of course, part of the big push – take a look at regulation 235-R, you'll see that everything checks out. Have a good one. Dorne? Are you familiar with Regulation 235-R? Yes, sir, but it makes no sense. Regulation 235-R dictates the size and positioning of improvised field latrines. No, I get it – Vik was making poo poo up. Vik is the least of our problems. With security gone, Imperial commandos have breached the perimeter and started sabotaging our equipment. Is there any way to get the relays back online? Judging by the way the relays cut out, I'd guess the Imps just yanked the power couplings. Easy fix, but the problem will be fighting through those commando teams. Do you think you can manage it? There's nobody I can't handle. That's all the qualifications I need to hear. Sir, pardon my intrusion, but while I can see the strategic value of assisting the resistance, didn't you say we should avoid becoming entangled in "pointless side-missions"? I did, and we are. Havoc Squad needs to rebuild its reputation, and if Vik's joining the team then that makes this mess our responsibility, stupid as it is. But I've got an even better reason for helping those tech-dweebs out. How long's it been since we got to ambush an Imperial commando team, Dorne? Too long, sir. drat right. Feels good to be back!
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Jun 19, 2016 06:19
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Todessa's ahead of the fashion curve. Everyone'll be wearing their armor like that someday! As for shotgunning, Quentine is healer-specced (as much as he's anything-specced, as I am actually quite terrible at this game) and the scatter gun plays a big role for such smugglers, so I guess that's where Dorne is getting it. Also, putting this update together I saw that PTN started his trooper run a year to the day after Brainamp's original run ended... and that was a year ago from next Tuesday. A long time in the making!
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Jun 19, 2016 07:23
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It's been a thread staple since it's one of those MMO limitations that widens the gap between the story and the gameplay - which is normally less of a problem for MMOs with just a threadbare story to begin with, but since SW:TOR hangs so much on narrative it's always a bit jarring to be threatened with an "elite squad" who turn out to be three guys. It's a pity more MMOs don't let you take on big armies of enemies, especially in Star Wars with a history of larger-than-life heroes battling through waves of mooks. It might also be nice if there was more obvious and active fighting between NPCs in different warzones so it felt more like you were participating in a battle rather than winning whole wars single-handed and three enemies at a time. I like Balmorra (which I happen to be retracing again!) especially for the effort they put into making certain zones feel active, like the bombardment and siege of Sobrik and the expansive battlefield in front of the Arms factory with squads for both sides hunkered down everywhere. PTN's right that they seem to put a little more effort into encounter design and showing off the scale of different battles going forward, so that'll be good to show.
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Jun 21, 2016 20:01
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What, Revan is back?! Goodness! What a shocking revelation in this, the Shadow of Revan! For a guy whose last action was an attempt to exterminate all Sith and Imperials in the galaxy with an army of genocidebots, he's done well for himself to take charge of a pan-galactic conspiracy strong enough to put Darths and Republic special forces on the same side. There hasn't been anything yet about the Revanite goals or motivation, right? Just that whatever they're doing involves major conspirators from each side and the players' efforts to uncover them provokes a huge backlash.
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Jun 28, 2016 02:15
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MEANWHILE, IN THE PAST Trooper Update 41 – Mop-up Detail  Ahh... that's the stuff. That's the last of the resistance comm stations back up and running, sir. Hm? Oh, right. Guess we should check back in with the techies. It was a breeze. Well, that was more than enough excitement for me. Good thing you were around. Once the equipment came back up, Jalba had the bright idea of tapping Vik's communications like we do the Imps'. Listen to this. -a dangerous mission, no doubt about it. To be honest, a lot of you probably won't make it back.  But we're not here for glory or credits – we're here to save Balmorra. Am I right? I don't know if I can even watch this nonsense. Are you telling me your whole security force bought that line and followed Vik off to do who-knows-what? Look, we're volunteers, not trained soldiers. For a lot of our guys, the chain of command is whoever sounds like they know what they're doing. Step one is Sobrik – once we have what we need there, it will be a straight shot to our final objective. Is there any way you can raise him on his holo? No, he's smart enough to leave it off when he's not using it. I know a guy, a major in the Republic Special Forces. Triam. He's been helping us out around Sobrik. I'll bet he could narrow down the search for you.  This planet really is a mess. The long occupation has certainly left its scars, sir. It's not just that. Everywhere you look, it's droids, blasters, walkers, shields, turrets... thrown around like childrens' toys. Enough war material for a hundred campaigns bottled up on this mudball. Now I remember what you said about the Republic not helping out sooner, but the Mantellian separatists kept the whole Republic army at bay with small arms and a savvy multimedia team. If the Balmorrans had any idea how to use the stuff they're wasting they'd've freed themselves years ago. Under the circumstances, the resistance has done well just lasting this long. Imperial occupation forces are not known for being lenient. Please, a bunch of second-stringers commanded by people who couldn't cut it on the front line. Give me one formation of real soldiers and we could roll this whole planet. Speaking of real soldiers, we better smarten up for the Major. Don't need any more trouble making its' way back to Garza. I'm looking for a Weequay named Tanno Vik. Have you seen him? Yeah. I've seen him. That bad, huh? You don't know the half of it. That lying filth “volunteered” to destroy some Imperial jammers in Sobrik. They're blocking the scan data from all our high-altitude probe droids. I'm getting sick of cleaning up Vik's messes. And somehow I doubt this is the last one. Aiding the resistance is a priority objective – we've got no choice. You'll need detonite charges to bring the jammers down. Vik took the last of mine, so you'll have to do some scrounging. The Imps have checkpoints scattered through Sobrik – they'll have explosives. Once you have enough charges, hit those jammers hard. Consider those jammers scrap, sir. Once the jammers are down and we start getting full aerial scans of Sobrik, we can pinpoint exactly where Vik took my explosives.  I swear, if that Weequay's going to drag us all over this mudball, we should at least get a decent fight out of it.   Piece of cake. But not nearly enough explosives. Not enough, sir? Assuming the jamming stations are standard pattern Imperial- The major said scrounge, Dorne, so that's what we're going to do!   Thaaat's more like it. And from the sound of those alarms somebody's already getting to work on Sobrik for us. That should make the next bit easier. If the jammers are inside the city, do you have a plan for how we're to plant the detonite? Of course. Frontal assault! Lot fewer guards on gate duty than I was expecting. I don't think we're the first ones to blast our way into the city today, sir. You're probably right. Now let's get out of the street and find some of those jammers, that detonite's burning a hole in my pocket.  Take care of the security, aaaand... drat, what a let-down. Is the size of the explosion really a priority, sir? The jammer has been successfully neutralized. Practice makes perfect, Sergeant. Okay, last one. Watch and learn. Hah! How was that? Very... theatric, sir. We can workshop the look a little more before the Gauntlet assault once we pick up Vik. Speaking of...  All right, the aerial scans are coming in now... let's see if we can find that Weequay. Hm. I'm seein signs of an explosive entry at the Imperial HQ, near the administrative office. We don't have any people in the area, so it's got to be Vik's handiwork. Why would Vik attack Imperial headquarters? Your guess is as good as mine. Somehow I doubt it's as heroic as it sounds. Sounds more like the guy's got a deathwish to me. Pardon, Captain, but we are currently standing in the open of an Imperial-occupied city- Zip it, Sergeant.  Dead guards, sound of blasting... we can't be far behind now. There's a lot of resistance and Republic action in the city right now, can you be sure this is our demolitionist? Yeah, I've got a feeling. Sithspit, those kills are fresh. Keep up, Dorne! Sir, I can see resistance trading fire up ahead! So help me, if Vik dies seconds before we make contact I'll kill him. We're... too late. Detecting no life signs, Captain. Detecting no Weequays either. That scumbag isn't even here, I – wait, you hear that? Sorry sir, hear what? Communicator. Somebody's trying to call a dead resistance fighter, and I think I can guess who.Recommended for speaking to the man himself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYPiNMMAwSw   I'm Havoc Squad's CO. Surrender immediately or my team will hunt you down. Nice to meet you, too. I guess that message I got wasn't a prank after all. I really want to hear what the Republic has to offer me, because last I checked, I wasn't winning any popularity contests with Command. But that'll have to wait until my work here is done. I couldn't stand to leave without doing my part for the Balmorrans.  Let's see, there's money, revenge, the thrill, tough galacitc job market... My money's on money. Funny. You know, if you're really interested in getting me on your team, you might want to pitch in with this operation. My odds of surviving go way up if I have Havoc Squad's help. I'd say that's better for all of us. It doesn't sound like I have any other options. Yeah, let's make the best of a bad situation. My team and I just grabbed an enemy VIP named Brel Orus. He's a Balmorran fat-cat who sold out to the Imps. Thieving mongrel slime! You'll pay for this! You'll pay for – argh! What's hidden inside of the hazard vault, Vik? Let me worry about that part. Bingo. Money. Really killing the vibe here, Captain. I need you to clear a path. There are all sorts of defenses that could stop my missile before it hits. The Imps have anti-missile turrets, shields, defensive sensors... why don't you start with the sensors? Take them down, then contact me again, copy? Enjoy this little game of yours while you can, Vik. Sir, are we still recruiting Tanno Vik? Or arresting him? I'll figure it out when we catch up with him. Meantime, we've got a lot of work to do.
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Jun 28, 2016 09:11
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PoptartsNinja posted:I probably could've squeezed more in, but once I top 30 pictures I start looking for a good stopping point. I was thinking about it. Sorry I've been slow on the Trooper update, by the way, it's been quite the busy summer season. I've got a big one coming up very soon. Adding to the agreement that the Rishi intro was neat, Sith and Jedi definitely tend to take galactic events more seriously than Smugglers and Bounty Hunters.
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Jul 12, 2016 02:59
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Trooper Update 42 – The Meaning of Strife  Contact! Sensor outpost ahead, sir! I've got eyes, Sergeant. Focus on clearing the security!    I have to ask, Captain – why me? I mean, sure, I'm pretty incredible. But last I heard, the guys up top weren't too interested in having me around. Havoc Squad's next mission is dangerous, and no one cares if you come back. That's about what I expected. Heh. From a dishonorable discharge to Havoc Squad in less than a year. It's a crazy galaxy. You're not in Havoc just yet, Vik. Personally I'm waiting on these demolition skills of yours. Clear the way for my missile and you won't have to worry about that. Let's get back to helping these poor, pitiful Balmorrans. Now that the sensors are gone, I need you to hit the Imps' anti-missile turrets. Think you can handle that? You'd better not be wasting my time.  Is that...? AR-X 21B point-defense deployable remote SAM, sir. I was thinking more “completely unguarded.” Kind of... unsatisfying. Much better! Sir! The Glyph Industriex Mark VI siege droid doesn't possess anti-missile capab- Better safe than sorry, Sergeant. Let's hail Vik. Much appreciated. We're going to be ready to launch in no time. So what's it like, being top squad in the Republic? You have Command breathing down your neck, or do they give you room to operate? You just worry about following my orders to the letter. Understood? This is going to be fun, I can tell already. Only one more thing between my missile and its target: an aerial shield generator. Take it down, and we'll be good for launch, Captain. After this, no more games, Vik. We meet face-to-face. I wouldn't have it any other way. Captain, with all due respect, I don't think it wise to play Vik's game. He should be doing what you ask, not the other way around. When we catch up to him, he'll wish he hadn't toyed with us. It's stuff like that which make me worry about what you get up to off-duty.   Shield generator neutralized, sir. This is too easy. The Empire's lines have to be collapsing fast if they're leaving all their toys exposed like this. C'mon, Vik sent us the coordinates for a secure comm-line to wherever he's launching his missile from. Let's get this over with. Recommended for explosive action https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FeorqEabhM  Just what I wanted to hear. I'm dying to launch this baby. Target coordinates locked in... fire!    Whew... the Imps are really going to feel this one. I want your exact coordinates. Now. All right, all right. So much for enjoying the moment.  Now this looks a little bit more like a front line. Sir! Aren't we going to assist? Winning the Big Push isn't our objective, Sergeant. Buuuut... One freebie mortar barrage. Okay, game face on. Whatever Vik's been planning, we're putting a stop to it and extracting him before he goes and gets killed, scrubbing the whole mission. Are we expecting him or the resistance to... er, resist, sir? Just be ready for anything. Case in point.     I'm on it, sir. Ugh... th-thank you. It was... it was that traitor, Brel Orus. He gave the Imps our position somehow. We fought hard, but they overran us. They tore straight through and grabbed Vik. They'll take him to the Balmorran Arms Factory. The Imps built a prison in the back of the complex – no one ever comes out. I'm going to get Vik back. Period. You're a real hero. You and Vik both... you're heroes. Your condition is stabilized, soldier – but get to a safe location immediately. Thanks, I can make my own way back. You two need to save Vik. Poor dumb kid. He really has no idea what Vik was up to. Pardon me, sir, but how much do we really know about what Vik's planning? Less than we should. Doesn't mean I can't smell a rat. The Balmorran Arms factory is behind several layers of defense and the Republic's offensive has stalled. There's no way around. I prefer a stand-up fight to all this sneaking around. Looks like we're in the Big Push after all.   The factory entrance is up ahead, sir! That's the last big Imp fort on the planet, Dorne. Once we're inside they're going to hit us with everything they've got. ...Or nothing, I guess. Not picking up any contacts on the scanner, but I'm detecting a lot of recent battle damage. We may not be the first team to break through to the Arms Factory today. That just means we need to pick up the pace before the Empire starts pulling out. I doubt Vik'd be worth the trouble of keeping alive. Imperial standard operating procedures are... pragmatic, on the topic of prisons at risk of falling into enemy hands.    Drop your weapons! Surrender – now! I made it this far – do you really think you can stop me? She's got you there. Is this really how you want to go out? Shut up! We do not negotiate with riffraff. The Empire fears no one, isn't that right? Yes, sir! Time to start hurting people.  Too slow!  And that's how it's done. Now on your feet, playtime's over.Recommended for meeting face-to-fist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFF9bqfAmr0   *CLONK* You've given me nothing but trouble, Vik. I won't forget that. Uh... let's not be hasty, now. I am a man of honor, despite what you may have heard Yeah, “nice guy”. You stole from your people and betrayed them to the Empire by accident. I've made mistakes, certainly. But allow me to make amends. A contribution of credits, say, to repay the Republic's heroism on behalf of my fellow Balmorrans. You can't buy your way out of this. No! No! Argh!*BLAM*  Sir! He wasn't even armed! Wouldn't have helped him anyway. That wasn't what... never mind. It's not like anyone is going to miss the guy. Now, seeing as we're all on the same team, I'll fill you in on my little operation. That vault we blew open is full of pricey prototype weapons designed by Balmorran companies. Orus had them hidden before the Imperial invasion to “keep them safe”. Yup. Pretty impressive work, I'd say. Orus planned to sell the prototypes for a tidy profit. We could do the same – after picking a few choice items for ourselves. You led good men into enemy territory and got them killed just to make a profit! Those men died fighting Imperials - exactly what they volunteered for. Druan survived, by the way. Who? Yeah, that's what I expected. Misappropriation of Republic military assets, unauthoried operations behind enemy lines, looting, wartime profiteering... this is atrocious! Finally we agree on something, but seeing as I don't trust you as far as I can throw you, you're not leaving my sight until this “operation” is over. Grab your gear and let's go. Dorne, watch the entrance to the factory and keep us posted on reinforcements. Gladly, sir. Take care. Garza wants you on my team for your demolition credentials, but Havoc's an assault squad first and foremost. You better have close combat chops to match. I survived most of a year as a rebel mercenary, didn't I? Give me a techblade and room to use it, you'll see I'm Havoc material. Hmph, not bad. Maybe you're not all talk. Shucks, Captain. I'm already feeling like part of the team. The vault's just a little further in. My missile should've cracked open the security door, so as long as we've beat the Imps to it we shouldn't have anything to worry about. ...Unless Brel Orus topped up the vault with security droids, of course. Of course. I gotta admit, that's not bad work. Blowing in an interior security gate with an exterior missile hit? You're too kind. The real trick was not bringing down the supports too and collapsing the whole vault. Can't say I'm enjoying fighting all these security droids though. There's got to be a way to shut them down. No one's around to give them orders, so knocking in the gate probably tripped an alarm. So long as we don't trip any more, the rest of the droids should stay quiet – and increase our haul. Hm. Oh, how will we ever avoid tripping this highly advanced alarm system?  Oh wait! I'm not an idiot! That's the droids taken care of. That's these droids taken care of. If Brel sprung for the luxury package that'll include a few heavier models on their own network. C'mon, what're the odds of- Oh goddamnit.  Last one? Yeah, I think that's it. Good, because I'm out of ion and beating droids to death with my blaster barrel takes way too long.  Captain, this is Sergeant Tong. I took the liberty of calling his transport team in to get these captured enemy weapons crated and moved. You have a plan for everything, don't you, Vik? Just trying to make a good impression on my first day. Where can we take this stuff for you, sir? Yeah, sir. Where are they taking all of these highly advanced, highly useful, highly valuable prototype weapons? These highly “not part of my mission at all” weapons. Deliver them to research and development immediately, sergeant. Yes, sir! Let's get to work, men! What a waste. I can't believe I went through all that trouble for nothing. I don't tolerate insubordination of any kind. Is that clear? Dorne, the prototypes are secure and Vik's ready for extraction. What's the situation in the factory? I read you, sir. Imperial forces are in full retreat and the Republic will be securing the factory shortly. Shall I requisition transport for your extraction? Negative, Sergeant, we'll catch a ride back with Sergeant Tong's men. Take a speeder and meet us back in Bugtown, we can check in with Ardon before we dust off. The resistance commander? Sir, if we already have Vik what point is there in- Rubbing it in? Oh, no reason.ONE MUCH EASIER JOURNEY BACK ACROSS BALMORRA LATER  Yeah, I heard. He was in the middle of the deepest raid into Imperial territory I've seen. Sobrik, the Balmorran Arms Factory... I heard he hit them all. Vik was out for credits, pure and simple. I don't believe that for a second. If you seriously bought Vik's act it's no surprise Imperial Intelligence took the Resistance apart so many times. Big talk from someone who's never lived under Imperial occupation. Really? Now, Vik'll be strolling around Coruscant with your lot, making publicity holos while the rest of us fight. What a waste. Havoc Squad fights harder than any other unit in the war. Yeah, I'm sure that's what your CO tells you all the time. I'd like to say it's been a pleasure having you here, Captain, but we both know that's a lie. Come back when Havoc Squad is done showboating all over the galaxy. We'll put you to work for a real cause. Sir, what was the point of that exchange? I mean, we are taking one of his men, even if we're doing him a favor with Vik, would've felt wrong not checking back in. If Ardon's head is too far up his own rear end to see the rest of the war outside his own backyard, that's his problem. Besides, sometimes it's good to get angry at somebody I can't shoot. Keeps me in shape in case I ever stop fighting people for a living. Consider me located and extracted, General. Good. From now on you will speak only when spoken to. Has Vik given you any trouble, Captain? Did you ever see Kelly's Heroes, General? I can't say it rings a bell. Never mind, then. I cleared things up. I'm glad to hear it. Tanno Vik, your service with the Republic Army is hearby resumed. You are posted to Special Forces unit 326, code-named Havoc Squad at the rank of specialist. It's a real honor to be here, General. I look forward to getting out there and fighting for the Republic again. Permission to speak freely, Captain? What do you have to say, Lieutnenat? With all due respect, I don't think someone like Vik has a place anywhere in the Republic Army, let alone Havoc Squad. I don't want Vik in my unit either, but I don't have any choice. On the plus side, he's got the highest chance in the squad of getting blown up, so it's not all bad. Well, you know how to make a guy feel welcome. I understand your concerns, but we have a job to do. Let's focus on it. An urgent situation has developed involving a critical part of our plan to assault the Gauntlet. Havoc Squad is needed, immediately. Surely this isn't the only platoon we have that can crack a bunker. Of course not. But the operation calls for the best men available, and these men are the best. When you reach Quesh, report to Major Donovan. He's overseeing the rescue operation. I don't remember hearing about Quesh before. What's the big picture? Quesh is the only source of a rare chemical used to produce powerful adrenals. The Republic is fighting to maintain control of this resource. Great, so it's the War For Drugs. Hopefully the Safecrackers can hold out, since it's a few sectors from Balmorra to Quesh. I'm going to take a nap - Dorne, plot us a hyperjump out of the system, and Jorgan? Help our newest specialist get settled in. I already have a bunk picked out for you, Vik. Just under the ammo bins. Oh, you and me are going to get along fine, Lieutenant.[Sorry for the triple-strength update, but I was triple-behind-schedule, so hopefully this evens things out!]
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Jul 18, 2016 09:30
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Yeah, I do quite like the way Balmorra's laid out, especially Sobrik and the battlefield up to the Balmorran Arms factory. It actually manages to look like a war by having lots of NPCs in large groups fighting each other and you sweep through familiar, built-up areas that give you a sense of actually taking over the city. It probably helps being one of the two worlds where the Republic and Empire versions happen out of order so you're actually engaging with what the players in the other faction accomplished. Sacking the Sobrik spaceport is neat because until then the cookie-cutter spaceport zones each planet has have been inviolate.
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Jul 18, 2016 10:40
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Montegoraon posted:These mission requirements could have stood to be a little less dramatically stringent. You absolutely need the very, very, very best team out there, or the whole plan will fly apart at the seems? Please. Maybe if you settled for second or third best, and didn't have to fly through every war zone in the galaxy, you could spend the extra time and money reinforcing the player's Belief Suspension. Yeah, I can agree with that. I mean it's not so strange when Jedi and Sith fret about Chosen Ones or have individuals with unique powers or what have you, but even the military's best are usually replaceable with their second-best in a pinch. I figure it's just Garza being a micro-managing perfectionist - "No, we have to have this platoon on sapping duty, I don't care about the logistical cost of redeploying them just get it done!" It sort of suits a special forces commander who seems to favor pet units and overly-elaborate plans. On the plus side her constant interfering gives the player a reason to romp around the galaxy meddling in different theaters instead of just sitting on a carrier training and waiting for the operation to start. It also strokes the players' ego nicely. Ardon was written as a straw man but he could very easily have a point that the Republic higher-ups are only focusing on the big picture or their own side projects and not the reality on the ground, and big-name squads like Havoc are given disproportionate attention when the majority of the dying is done by countless regular soldiers and volunteers in grinding, inglorious trenches. I sort of wish if they were going to go the Kelly's Heroes route with the Trooper story on Balmorra they'd have had more fun with it, Vik might've made a better first impression if his security detail had been in on the scheme and the mission had more of a heist vibe to it, and Vik wouldn't seem like such a through-and-through sociopath. If they wanted to explore the idea that the Republic military doesn't care about the Balmorrans, restructuring the story to be more about how Vik is playing an important role for them and extracting him will hurt the locals would've helped. There was actually a third choice at the end to give the prototype weapons to the Balmorrans, but frankly the planet's already littered in guns and the Balmorrans are about to win anyway so that seems like a waste.
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Jul 18, 2016 19:18
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Doctor Reynolds posted:"Some talented soldiers need rescuing. Go do it." seems like as good a reason for a mission as anything else to me. It works well enough, but they definitely oversell it with "our whole plan will fail without this one platoon, and then the Republic will be destroyed!" I like they actually give the trooper to snarkily ask if these are the only guys in the Republic who know how to crack a bunker, and seeing as how they've just gotten back from getting dragged all over Balmorra to add a class A rear end in a top hat to their squad because he's the best demolitionist a trend is starting to form.
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Jul 19, 2016 03:59
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There is their own Sith Code, however, which is basically written as a moody rejection of the Jedi Code - which was probably the thinking of whatever EU writer came up with it. I do like that they made some effort to differentiate the four force-wielding classes and give them voices and choices that make them seem like somewhat distinct characters, which I think came across in the playthroughs done for each of them. If we're being a little generous, this helps when the game's story becomes single-track with the expansions, since unique bits of dialogue like Mort asserting he's the Emperor's Wrath are pretty rare so a residual sense of your class's distinct identity from the class quests helps. Imagine, every time they want a new line of dialogue for the player character they need to have it recorded by sixteen different people and it has to make sense with the characterization of eight different character identities. That's got to be seriously constraining.
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Jul 19, 2016 19:02
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The important thing here is Jakarro's watering down Quentine's brand! His ship's even painted the same colours, come on man!  "Thus always to slavers" is a pretty good bonus quest title. The sort of medieval chattel slavery of Star Wars is one of the ways it's more fantasy space opera than science fiction, and it's nice seeing the game make a little acknowledgement of one companion's backstory considering they have to worry about 40-odd companions per quest now. I'm guessing she'll say the same thing if the Sith Warrior still has her enslaved by this point as well, although the subtext might be a little different in that case. I'm glad slavery occupies the bottom rung of evil deeds in the game, since whomping on slavers is pretty much universally satisfying regardless of setting. It's only a pity Empire players can't do much to combat slavery within the Empire, and likewise it would've been nice to extract some slavery-related concessions in Rise of the Hutt Cartel when the Republic breaks the Hutts over their knee.
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Jul 19, 2016 23:08
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Yet somehow less creepy than some of the more unironic characters you see running around the Republic and Empire's space stations. At least Kira's fully clothed. Sometimes I like to wonder what all the blinking extras and doodads do on some of these outfits. Like the lights going along the top of the fedora - are they for something? Do they convey mood? Does the hat have a little battery pack, or a tiny sci-fi reactor? Are they wired into the computer earmuffs?
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Jul 24, 2016 07:30
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Trooper Update 43 – Fill'er up! ENROUTE TO QUESH  Finally called him out on it, ran a weapons diagnostic. Loudmouth's packing some serious ordnance. Guess Havoc is finally shaping into a real squad. You haven't seen anything yet. For starters, our next member won't be an insubordinate rear end in a top hat. Your words, sir, not mine. Just remember, people's expectations of us – of you – are only gonna get bigger. That CO post could get real heavy, real quick. If I couldn't handle the job, I wouldn't have taken it back. Believe me, I'm up for this. Commanding a squad is no cakewalk. Nothing worse than having to choose between the success of the mission and the lives of your men. A leader's got to be ready to make those kinds of life-or-death decisions. There's no room for doubt. Okay, I'll shut up. Well, fun as this chat's been I'm getting a page from Dorne. Keep up the good work, Lieutenant.Recommended for pulse-pounding human resources action! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmEcJTIMZ2k  What can I do for you, Dorne? As a condition of my service in the Republic military, Personnel Division requires that I report regularly on my activities. However, my Havoc Squad missions are classified and cannot be shared with Personnel Division. I'd like to ask if you would vouch for me when I report in. Really? Sounds like a hassle considering they're willing to let you into the army in the first place. I've never had to do any check-ins. I confess, sir, I did become curious about how the conditions of your... situation differed from mine, but any records on the subject appear highly classifed. As for my own case, that is a matter for Personnel Division to decide. We should use the ship's secure holocomm. Captain Kalor? This is Elara Dorne, personnel number 22-795, reporting in per regulation 449. Well enough, sir. Allow me to introduce you to the commander of Havoc Squad – my new CO. Sir, this is Captain Kalor, Army Personnel division. I don't see that Dorne's loyalty needs to be proven further. Oh, we're all very proud of Elara. This is just part of the process. Tell me about being in the top squad in the Republic, Elara. You must be keeping very busy. I'm sorry, Captain, but you aren't authorized to know about Havoc Squad's activities. My CO will have to vouch for me from now on. Don't try to push us, desk jockey. It won't end well. Are you insane? You're actually threatening me? What? No, that's just a friendly heads-up. If I was threatening you, you wouldn't have to ask. Just... just carry on, Elara. We'll talk about this after I've had a word with my superiors. Kalor out. Hm. I wasn't expecting him to react so strongly. Surely he didn't expect me to report on classified information? You can't expect much out of a solider who doesn't even fight. I have to disagree. Wars are won as much through organization as combat success, and specialists are needed for both. Oh, sure. But if you're a specialist in paper-pushing you should listen to an expert when they tell you “that's none of your goddamn business”. Wait, were you doing those reports to Kalor while we were hiding out in black ops? Oh, of course sir. Maintaining a cover-identity within the wider Republic army is an integral responsibility of any unofficial military formation. I submitted false reports during that time with the Supreme Commander's full authorization. So... why not just do the same thing again and tell Kalor whatever he wants to hear? But sir! Republic Special Forces is an official and highly-regulated branch of the Republic military! Unlike our last posting, it would be flagrantly illegal under Republic law to submit false reports while serving here. But the whole point of being black ops is we were breaking... you know what? Forget I even asked. Just call me if Kalor keeps causing you problems, I'm going to check in with 4X. Since my verbobrain was first activated, I have longed to engage the enemies of freedom directly. Under your noble leadership, I can finally fulfill the mission the Republic's peerless scientists designed me for! Now that's the kind of pick-me-up I was hoping for. It's good that you're so enthusiastic about our mission. I can't take all of the credit for my enthusiasm, of course. I owe everything to my primary designer – Doctor Boab Deduun. Thanks to Doctor Deduun, I can understand the importance of our fight, and the extent of the threats we face. And I can fight harder for it. Sounds like there's one scientist out there who gets it. Could you introduce me to Doctor Deduun sometime? I would be happy to do so, but Dr. Deduun's lab is highly classified – even I don't know its actual location. Much as I like listening to you go on about blowing up Imps for truth, freedom and the Republic way, I should probably see how Vik's settling in. Make sure he's not planning on selling off the weapons lockers. Give my regards to our valiant new comrade in arms! I keenly anticipate the bonfire of justice he will build out of the Republic's enemies! Okay, starting to get a little creepy there, but otherwise carry on. I think this will do, Boss. Does this mean you can actually follow orders once in a while? Stranger things have happened. Trust me- Famous last words. -You keep me happy, I'll keep you happy. Now, let's put some of this fancy equipment to use. Oh, wait, before I forget. I've got an Imperial superweapon to knock out, you think I want anything to do with your little side-business? Then give 'em to charity. Toss 'em out the airlock – I don't care. If that's the way you're going to be, I might as well spend them on some hazard gear. We're coming up on Quesh now and guess who just volunteered for the operation? Happy to do my part. Us Weequay are a lot more toxic-resistant than most humanoids. Oh, really? I look forward to putting that to the test.
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Jul 27, 2016 09:36
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On a personal note, as a roboticist-in-training myself, I can guarantee that M1-4X actually owes everything to his primary designer's grad students. I bet Deduun insists on first billing on papers he supervises but doesn't even write, too.
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Jul 27, 2016 09:39
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Glazius posted:What's the more diplomatic means to talk to the probation officer about stuff he doesn't have clearance for? Just being polite, explaining your security clearance and I think referring him to the General if he has any more questions - which he also doesn't like, but is still a step above implied violence. I can see the issue with adding a defector to a high-clearance unit, and it's fair for a handler from the bureaucracy to be annoyed at being overridden by top brass with no consideration for procedure or precedent, but Kalor comes off as an unsympathetic stickler regardless. Not to mention the Jedi and Sith's revolving door policy of falls and redemptions kind of makes a mockery of the idea of opsec.
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Aug 1, 2016 22:55
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Ooooh! poo poo's getting good now! Interesting to see the Emperor and his schemes and servants are still reacting to the things you do, even if he's dead. Does this mean Vowran is off the Dark Council? It's hard to tell if the Hand are supposed to have the power of official censure considering they couldn't stop Baras that way, Vowran might be on the run just to avoid potential assassins.
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Aug 2, 2016 01:50
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That was a pretty cool diversion, neat to know that if things go to plan Darth Nox will be kicking around millennia from now to chide Palpetine's sophomoric efforts. Although that guy's boast about "we'll spend a year to get a month!" needs work, that's exactly the kind of return-on-investment that'll cause the project to fail.
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Aug 7, 2016 21:39
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A very different road to immortality. So a few thousand years from now, a cranky, immortal Atronie and the holographic memory of Jolune can still carry on their nerd arguments. I'm thinking Quentine'd aim for more of a "license his image to market a cheap brand of gin" type of immortality.
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Aug 8, 2016 23:23
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Trooper Update 44 – Quashing Quesh  Stepping off, Jorgan. Keep an eye on the ship 'till we get back. Sir, are you absolutely sure about taking Vik with you on this op? The man's a menace. Menace or not, he needs to pull his weight. Unless you want to volunteer for Planet Carcinogen? And keep in mind we've only got one helmet with environment controls right now. Er... point taken, sir. Good luck out there.  Ahhhhh, smell that fresh air, Specialist. Ready for your first mission as official Havoc? Can't wait, sir. What're we doing on this slice of paradise, again? Bailing out another one of the General's pet units? More or less. Let's see what their CO has to say about it.   Just hang in there, son. Havoc Squad just walked in – I'll get them briefed and in the field on the double! Copy that. I'm sure we'll find a way to keep busy. Coria out. Just how bad off are we, Major? Things are grim, no doubt about it. If you hadn't turned up... Garza'd dust off the file on her number two pick. Everything went south while the Safecrackers were on a bunker raid. Intel was bad, alarms got tripped, and the Imps moved out in force. Almost refreshing to deal with a normal problem for once. Okay, I'm all for rescuing our people, but we need a strategy. Agreed. We don't have the manpower to fight through the imps head-on. We need to outmaneuver them. Diversion is the key. Scouts found an Imperial command center, deep behind their lines. That's where you'll strike. Just give me the coordinates, and I'll make some noise, Major. Vik, did you bring the good stuff? Just the basics, but I think I we'll manage. Let's give those scumbags a run for their money! As soon as the Imps clear out, Coria will contact you so that you can all burn jets back here.  For a behind-the-lines command center, I was expecting a lot more resistance enroute. Where's the enemy? Maybe they're all off chasing the Safecrackers. Or, maybe they're all waiting to ambush us the moment we drop our guard. Or maybe whoever was on perimeter security detail's going to eat a court-martial for completely failing at their job. Or a blaster bolt. Learned a lot about Imp court-martials, did you, sir? That's strike one, Vik, now shut up and let's go torch this bunker to the ground. Good defensive position here, if they'd posted more men on it. Get those det packs ready, anything that looks expensive I want in pieces.   Child's play. Seriously, we're doing whatever officer's in charge of defending this dump a favor. There won't be any evidence left of how badly he screwed up. Hey! Lookie here, it's the man of the hour. I don't know how you got past my defenses, but you won't - You're the worst field commander I've seen all week, and I saw Vik here trying to lead men into battle. Hey! Those men had- Shut up, Vik. Uh, if this is a bad time, I can -hgrk! He didn't even send the distress call. It's like I have to do everything myself! Burden of leadership, boss. Not that I'd know anything about that. Think that did the trick, I've got Coria calling in now. I don't know what you're doing, but the Imps don't like it. You'll have a lot of company soon – suggest you pull out immediately, over. We're doing fine here, Lieutenant. No sense in pulling out now. What? Don't be a hero, sir – get out of there! You'll be completely overrun! I don't need your tactical evaluation, Lieutenant. Uh, boss? Or yours, Specialist. It's your funeral, sir. Not that I don't enjoy a good rampage behind enemy lines, boss, but usually the idea is to clear out before you get caught. Nobody on this whole planet's put up a good fight yet. You said yourself this bunker had perfectly good defenses if the commander knew how to use them, so now we're going to show these guys how it's done. Bring it on!    Whew... now that's more like it. Yeah, bet you're not feeling so confident now that... wait, they had a Ravager droid and they bring it out last? What the hell's their commander thinking? Sir, can we stop critiquing the enemy and finish up? My lungs are getting coated in heavy metals. Fine, you big sissy.    And that... is how it's done! The bunker commander should've been taking notes. Unlikely, since we killed him. Their APC bugged out during the fight. Should we call it in? Let 'em run. Maybe they learned a thing or two. Let's go see if the Safecrackers made it out. Recommended for basking in well-earned praise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVaAAAnd1Fk  And it worked! I've seen platoons fight for a month to hit the Imps that hard, and you did it on a whim! Some days, it's about having the right motivation. I'm good – what can I say? You've got to be more than “good” to mess up the Imps like that. I'll be glad to have your help, Lieutenant. General Garza already has plans for you. That's what I hear. It'll be a pleasure to work with you again. All right, all right – we're not on vacation here, people. Coria, get your men settled and ready for transport. ONE RIDE BACK TO SPACE AND A FEW MINUTES ON HOLOCALL-WAITING LATER  Excellent. Very good work, Captain. I'll make sure that the Safecrackers stay out of harm's way until our operation against the Gauntlet begins. Your next step is Hoth – the last specialist that Havoc needs is stationed there. Contact me when you arrive and I'll brief you on the specifics. Can't you tell me anything about the last specialist? I'm okay with no spoilers, but how about a vague teaser we can speculate about on the ride over? I can manage that. He's... complicated, Captain. I don't have time to go into it now – we'll discuss the details when you reach Hoth. Permission to speak freely, sir? Of course, Lieutenant. Something... or someone, has been burning up the air filters since you got back from Quesh. Not to mention that Cathar have an especially sensitive sense of smell. The ship's atmosphere has exceeded the regulation parts-per-million of three different toxic substances... and five illegal ones. And while I was not given an olefactory sense by my brilliant designers, my sensors are nevertheless informing me that if they had, I would currently be doubled-over in nausea, sir! Yeah yeah, I can take a hint. I might've picked up a few spores while we were planetside, and while my chemistry background is mostly incendiaries I think they're starting to ferment. Eurgh. Vik, you're confined to the decontamination shower. That makes Jorgan the lucky winner for who's going down with me to the frozen ice-ball to pick up our next Havoc recruit! Can't wait, sir.
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Aug 12, 2016 09:29
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Thus marking the first time in Star Wars history where wearing armor actually protected someone.
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Aug 12, 2016 17:09
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I was waiting for an opening to bring it up, but let me say unprompted that I rather liked the Trooper's short mission to Quesh. It's an actual, straightforward military operation as part of the front line of the regular war, and while your motivation for participating is still tied to a galaxy-spanning goal of taking out the Empire's latest superweapon the mission itself seems more like the sort of work commandos would be doing. It's also nice that the only big choice is whether you want to stay and dish out a bigger beating on the Imperials, and fighting twenty more men feels like about the right scale of accomplishment for a larger-than-life soldier rather than saving a species or destroying a forgotten alien horror. Then again, I suppose if all the Trooper's missions were so "street level" it'd be hard to understand why they could become the Big Hero charged with saving the galaxy later on.
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Aug 14, 2016 04:02
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Yeah, bluster aside I assume most of the reason why Random Dirt Farmer With A Blaster #391 tries to take on these legendary heroes/villains is because they don't have much choice. Hell it's sort of one of the ironies of light and dark side choices for Imperial characters, a lot of the time the light side choice is taking them alive so they can be tortured in an Imperial prison for everything they know then executed. I was playing the Bonus chapter to Shadowrun: Hong Kong the other night after accidentally discovering that it existed, and it was funny while running raids on corporate labs to have the companions remark "Hey remember how we beat that horrific demigod? And now rent-a-cops are shooting at us." Anyone you tried to use that reasoning on would just shrug and say "A job's a job."
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Aug 18, 2016 03:06
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 ##Begin Log## Captain’s Log, entry #[REDACTED] Stardate: [DOUBLE-REDACTED]  Ever since Tython I've been doing my best to keep a low profile, and that means cutting back on writing all my secrets where anybody who can guess the Miel Muwn's network password can find them. Had a little personal business on Rishi though, and it stuck with me, so I figured there's no harm in getting it out.  Going to Rishi wasn't my idea. I'd been having trouble finding leads on Colonel Darok, and then Theron went dark only to wind up with a stack of phoney charges on his head. At that point we were basically just cruising from port to port and trusting to luck.  Speaking of trusting to luck, somebody really needs to teach Corso how to play cards.  quote:Corso: Hmph. Better ways to spend my time.  Seems I was right being careful about leaving evidence lying around on the ship's computer. If our mystery slicer's reading this log right now, well, hope you're enjoying yourself. quote:Corso: Rishi? The pirate hideout?   I'm not gonna talk about if we made any progress on our investigation once we landed – that's the kind of top-secret stuff I'm trying to keep a lid on – but like I said, I did have a bit of side business while we were there, involving an old friend.  Remember Beryl Thorne? If you're the mystery slicer, maybe you don't – and shame on you for not reading my backlog to get up to speed. Beryl's another “independent captain” like myself I met back on Taris. Her and Risha have... let's call it history. quote:Beryl Thorne: You know there's a Republic representative to Port Nowhere now? It's almost like you cleaned up the place.  Smuggling those Tarisian “core samples” out from under agent Soganti's nose (RIP) was a fine bit of work. In fact, Beryl's friendly family heirloom retrieval service was my second-favorite memory from that garbage ball of a planet. My favorite was that bottle of Cassandran brandy she had. quote:Beryl Thorne: Just the fortune for today.  We weren't in the middle of anything too time-sensitive and I always like catching up with an old friend, so me and Risha made for her landing pad. Risha and Beryl might not be on the best terms, but when there's a fortune to be made she can overlook a little history.  Recommended for reunions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcQa2VzgqVo   Like I said, Risha's up for the money, but she and Beryl have a pretty strict “no talking to each other” policy. quote:Quentine: Beryl. So what have you been up to? Just the kind of stupid rule I'd expect the Senate to pass. Never miss a chance to blast ourselves in the foot. quote:Quentine: Where's your droid? Argo?  Okay, so I only buzzed Ilum before seeing how much frostbite we were looking at, but the rest of what's gone on is crazy enough that it blends right in. Weird to think that Hutt infighting Beryl mentioned was a side-effect of me bringing the Cartel to heel back on Makeb. Which means I'm part of the reason she lost Argo. Probably for the best I didn't point that out. quote:Beryl Thorne: You're good, but I think someone's feeding your ego. It didn't. I'm just terrible of keeping up on galactic gossip. quote:Beryl Thorne: Former businessman, retired to a moon of Hosko about a decade back. Pretty sedate tastes for a Hutt, likes to avoid trouble.  Sounds like typical Hutt problem-solving to me – make a run for it with all your money and hope someone else fixes it. Basically Makeb all over again. quote:Quentine: The war's only getting worse, and if it's over in ten years? I doubt Garblaque will like the outcome.  I have to admit, the question caught me off-guard. I'd never imagined escaping the war before, that it was even possible. For a rich enough Hutt I guess just about anything is. quote:Beryl Thorne: Is that wrong? Hutts can be good conversationalists, and I'm just – I'm tired of the fighting. You must be, too.  I'd be lying if I said the idea didn't appeal to me at least a little bit. Not that I'm desperate for a way out, or that I'm all that close to Beryl. It's just... well, even with everything going on in the galaxy, smugglers don't usually have long before they get taken out or retire. Am I still going to be jetting around the galaxy punching out Sith five years from now? quote:Beryl Thorne: Not an ending – a new beginning.  quote:Quentine: Blow things up, watch the droid, steal the tickets. Not a problem.  The plan was simple, especially considering the payoff. That's the thing about stealing from pirates, though – it's usually a lot easier than stealing from whoever they robbed in the first place.  I told Risha about the plan, but she wasn't exactly thrilled. Sure, the tickets were worth plenty of credits, but it's not like she needed a way out. Her planet, Dubrillion, is just about ready for its queen to return. If anything it kinda looks like she's stalling. Don't tell her I said that, though.  Finding and hitting the pirate cargo wasn't hard. You couldn't throw a thermal detonator in Rishi without blowing up a pallet of loot. The hard part was sneaking out in the confusion to keep the pirates from guessing what was going on.  A few arsons later and Beryl gave us the heads-up that the droid was on its way, and she had a good guess where it was headed. We'd managed to keep away from any guards so far, so now all we had to do was beat them to the jackpot.  I took a moment on the ride over to try and figure how some backwater buccaneers got their hands on a couple dozen tickets for the most exclusive joyride in the galaxy. I mean, obviously they stole them, that goes with being pirates, but it's not like any small-time outfit gets a crack at a prize that rich. Maybe they just got lucky.  The coordinates Beryl gave us were for a hidden landing pad out on the water, just big enough for one small shuttle. Whoever these pirates were, they'd obviously been relying on stealth to keep their precious loot safe – most of the work on this job was probably in how Beryl got the info in the first place.  Seems like we'd beat them to the punch. Everything was going nice and smooth until...  Yeah. Seems they didn't just send a droid – the pirate captain figured out our game and tried to jump us while we were cracking his treasure chest.  The captain was this big, meaty Houk who mostly just tried to tear us limb from limb. Risha had a lot of trouble drawing a bead on him with her sniper rifle at that range, so I let my scattergun do most of the heavy lifting  Now there's one fewer pirate captain in the galaxy. The set of keys he had on his belt saved us some time on the chest, too, so I'll call that a net win.  We grabbed the tickets and headed back to Beryl's landing pad. Risha was a little quiet on the walk back. She didn't say it, but I think she might've been worried I was about to ride off into the sunset. Well, as you probably guessed, things weren't that simple. Recommended for a plan B. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQEFR4MO0xM  quote:Quentine: Got them. Two dozen tickets to Garblaque's luxury dreadnought.  And there you have it. Getting out was never on the table. Guess that explains what the Houk and his crew were doing on Rishi instead of packing their things for a ten-year cruise, moving golden tickets takes time and they must've thought a pirate planet would be perfect to lay low. quote:Beryl Thorne: We can sell them, no problem, but we're not going anywhere. Truth is, even if these tickets turned out to be a bust, I've racked up more than my fair share of credits over the last couple years. I figure if I wanted out I could probably buy one of Garblaque's tickets outright. Would I, though?  quote:Quentine: I'm doing something good. And I won't abandon the people who rely on me. Even if a luxurious early retirement is tempting, I couldn't relax leaving the galaxy the way it is. Besides, Jolune'd never forgive me if she heard I blew off solving this whole conspiracy business. Doesn't mean Beryl should leave Rishi empty-handed, though.  quote:Quentine: Doesn't have to be privateer work. The Supreme Chancellor owes me a few favors.  quote:Beryl Thorne: Too bad the only people who can afford tickets don't really need them. The ones who've already got gangs and armies for protection. I might've laid it on a bit thick there.  quote:Quentine: Never figured we were. Beryl's a good woman, she doesn't deserve the kind of trouble she's had to deal with. Soon as we're off Rishi I'll check with the Chancellor and see if my credit's good for a pardon, if the Republic can overlook my record they should be willing to do the same for her.  I met up with Risha afterward and told her about the tickets. She chewed me out a bit for letting Beryl give them away to the needy when we could've made enough credits to buy our own moon, but still, I think she was a little happy to hear I wasn't going anywhere. That's enough getting sidetracked for now. We've still got a job to do here on Rishi, and the leads we're picking up – well, you wouldn't believe me if I told you. drat if old mean, red and ugly isn't at it again. ##End Log## Dolash fucked around with this message at 15:36 on Aug 30, 2016 |
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Aug 30, 2016 06:34
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Paging doctor Freud! Typo fixed. And yeah, the whole cruise idea's a bit flimsy. Selling the tickets to some honchos then donating the proceeds to help a much larger number of refugees, for example, would make sense. It's not like being a pitiable charity case on a ten-year cruise with a bunch of Hutts, rich gangsters and businessmen outside of the bounds of society is a guarantee of safety either - I can see that cruise going Bioshock pretty fast. It is sort of neat from a sci-fi perspective to consider that once you have interstellar space travel, advanced technology and a whole galaxy to explore, someone wealthy enough could just opt out of society entirely and cruise off into the unknown. Heck, the Rishi maze is a whole mysterious and underexplored dwarf galaxy thing clinging to the edge of the main galaxy, the "Great War" is only really taking up a fraction of the space available.
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Aug 30, 2016 15:43
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