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 CHAPTER 19: LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE OF THE DEAD Previously posted:JOLUNE MOL'NEUX has travelled to TARIS in search of missing Jedi Master CIN TYKAN, but keeps getting sidetracked by other people's problems...   : Now Governor Saresh is off my back, we can go find Master Tyk-   : What's going on here? : Their old estate is off base, so we got no way to secure it. : Taris is our home. We're not going to wait until the army takes its pick of the planet and then throws us the scraps!: ”The pick of the planet”?: Oh, yeah, the army just can't wait to lay claim to the fragrant boglands of old Taris. We're thinking of building a golf course. : The Republic validated our records, but some outlaws set up a camp there- they've got security droids all around the perimeter. : It's not rakghouls or anything. There's someone living there. Sentients.: They've got security droids all around the perimeter. It's a war zone- we almost got killed entering our own property!: The Republic will respond to all such claims of hostile non-indigenous life-forms based on strategic value.: That means they don't care and never will.: So you have been paying attention after all!: That is my inheritance you're insulting! I am a Republic citizen and I demand you send out a squad at once! : But... it's just an old house. You've never even lived there. It is wrong to risk lives for mere property. : No.: Oh! Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you.: ...  : ?: D-does that mean you'll help us?: Great! They're all yours, then. You find anything important, you can fill out a form at HQ.: All we need is to get those blasted droids cleared out and find out who's controlling them. I can handle the rest. New Powers! 1. Noble Sacrifice: this is an interesting one. You burn 15% of your health to restore 8% of your force power, and your force regen rate drops by a quarter for 10s. It's instant to use and has no cooldown, so you can stack it up to 4 times. Useful in SPAM EVERYTHING NOW NOW NOW situations. This is the only way of quickly restoring a large amount of force power for Sages (although specialising in one of the dps skill trees lets you learn ways to restore small amounts of force by damaging enemies). 2. Force Slow: does a piddly little amount of damage and halves an enemy's movement speed for 6s. Useless. 3. Rejuvenate: unlike everything else we've learned to date, Rejuvenate wasn't picked up from a trainer once we hit the right level. Nope, this power was learned from the Sage's healing skill tree. It's slightly useful on its own- instantly restoring about 3% health + another 3% health over the next 9s; but when combined with another skill it becomes very useful indeed, as it imparts a “Conveyance” buff to the caster. Conveyance boosts the next healing ability cast, by either reducing the force cost or greatly increasing the chance of a critical heal bonus. So this power will see a lot of use in the future.  : This is the estate, according to the map The Chin gave us. There's one of the droids he was ranting about.  : OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. my metal spleen hurts.  : Surprised it intact. Poh Grandsire excellent builder.    : Hold : My people are refugees, survivors of the battle on Coruscant. Would you turn us out of yet another home?: And who might you be?: My name is Achitan, and you might call me the leader of this colony. We fled here after the war- the lower levels were in shambles, thousands of people from thousands of species homeless and hurt. The humans in the Galactic Senate barely slapped on a new coat of paint. We came here to start a new life.  : I'm sorry if I upset you. I guess I've been lucky- no human has ever been bigoted to me before. At least not to my face. Oh, god, w-what if they're doing it behind my back? Do all humans secretly hate me? I won't be able to stop thinking about this now!I'm always surprised when non-humans play the alien solidarity card with Jolune. Miraluka are so physically close to humans, it's bizarre that Bioware coded them to flag as aliens for the purposes of conversations like this. Or maybe I just don't know my lore well enough and Anti-Miralukan prejudice is actually a Big Issue in the Republic : So many men are here to reclaim this planet who know nothing of its past. Ancient Taris was a blight on the Republic, the black mark on its reputation for freedom.: You need somewhere to settle, I'm sure there's unclaimed land. That isn't too radioactive, or poisonous, or full of rakghouls, or on fire, or... Let's take a moment to reflect on how stupid this all is. No-one lived on the land on Taris back in the pre-bombing days; the planet's surface was a perpetually twilit wasteland that criminals were exiled to, while all the rich and not-so rich lived in the city world's towers. So why would there be this whole land ownership tussle between Achitlan's and the siblings' ancestors? : I have their documents, so old they were kept in printed form. Read them yourself if you doubt me.: What happened? There must have been a reason. : I think the claim was “aliens are dangerous to Tarisian trade”. Please, if you have any sympathy for our cause, perhaps there is something you can do? We are alone and at the Republic's mercy.: I would not wish to see you turned away from your home. Your toxic, monster-infested home.: I thank you for softening your heart to my story. I will tell my people to begin repairs to the droids.You can of course tell Achitan and her crew to get lost, but what would happen to intergalactic race relations then?  : How do I phrase this? ...So, about that home you thought you had... no. So, have you thought about any... other birthrights you might have... nope. So, I hear Onderon is lovely this time of year... nah. So, turns out your great-grandparents were actually MASSIVE RACISTS, how about that... noooo.   : I told him that's not really possible--: So, who are the crooks who set themselves up on our property? Did you drive them off? : What are you talking about?: Is it the rakghouls, monsters...? I told you we should have waited until the planet was opened to settlers.: Let's try honesty... The land is held by the alien who owns this deed. Her claim is better than yours.  : There are alien survivors who kept their claim? I'd have though they would never want to come back here. I-I studied the history. It wasn't right.: It was justified! You can't make us leave because of that.: Things that aren't right are never justified- the land is theirs.: Great. Robbed and patronised in the same sentence.:  ... But you don't have to leave. You could work with them! It'll take more than two people to turn this place civilised.: I agree, Relus. This isn't our ancestors' estate.  : We won't turn them away. I know what it's like to want a home.You have the choice to get the Pohs to work with the aliens, as I did, or just shout at them to get the hell off Taris, which is funnier. This choice carries no light side/dark side points, so you can follow your heart.  : A surprisingly large number of people, apparently.: Brass called me when you left. Wanted to see if your work's as good as your rep.: I have a rep now?: Good to be “known” for great deeds. Sign of respect : I used to be “known” for sleeping in the library. I miss those days... Oh, yes, is there something else you want me to do?: Well, I doubt the brass's asking you over for a cup of mudleaf tea. If Captain Childress calls, it usually means something needs fixing.    : You did nice work on that land claim mess. Like we flew this many troops to the armpit of the galaxy so some kids could play pioneer.: So... why did you fly this many troops out here then?: Hell if I know. Best theory I heard is that this whole operation is the greatest insurance scam the universe has ever seen. It'll take way more than it's worth to make this planet livable. Only thing interesting about Taris is that it's the worst failure the Republic's ever had. : And we almost let it happen again on Coruscant. Three hundred years after Taris, we still don't know squat about how to defend against a bombardment once ships are in low orbit.: Look to the past to reclaim the future.: If you mean studying dusty records might save my men's lives, you got that right.: You liked one of my aphorisms?!: Sure, it was... nice. Pithy.:   : If we're lucky, that ship recorded the whole bombardment. But my team's lost contact... which means there are desk jockeys in the wild with the most valuable data on Taris.: What's this ship? Why's it so valuable? How is it even intact, if it fell out of orbit onto a planet that was subsequently glassed?: There were Jedi aboard, back in the day. Maybe they used some sort of Force voodoo to protect the ship? Now, we hope it's got data on the attackers.: But... there... wait... didn't we just have a war? Why is a 300 year old wreck a useful source of data on planetary bombardments? Surely technology has changed a considerable... amount... since... then... : Ha! The only thing that's changed since then is that we don't have to wear those dorky red uniforms any more. Now get going. The crash site's a ways out. Fast as you can make it- I don't know if we've got survivors. : But... but... I have more questions! : There's no time to explain! Go! Go! : Stupid military with their stupid, nonsensical missions. I bet the ship is dust by n- : Oh, wow. Did they build this thing out of diamond or something?NEXT TIME: Trask Ulgo returns from the grave to teach us how to dress ourselves, open doors. BONUS CODEX CONTENT: Taris (Pre-bombardment) posted:Located in the Ojoster Sector of the Outer Rim Territories, Taris was an ecumenopolis founded at the nexus of several hyperspace trading routes. Prosperity led to a rapid population increase and the continued vertical expansion of the planet-wide urban sprawl. But with the discovery of superior trade lanes elsewhere, Taris’s economic fortunes changed. For the wealthy nobles living in the upper floors of the towering skyscrapers, Taris remained an urban paradise. As one descended, however, the standard of living dropped precipitously. Aliens and refugees were forced to live in the city’s lower levels, supporting the upper classes both figuratively and literally. Near the surface, violent swoop gangs held sway over a terrified civilian populace beset by poverty and famine, and the sewers of the undercity were infested with rakghouls. Ironically, many of those living in the lowest levels of Taris survived Darth Malak’s bombardment, while the rich and powerful were almost entirely wiped out. Endar Spire posted:The Republic cruiser Endar Spire was shot down over Taris during the Jedi Civil War in an attempt by Darth Malak to capture the young Jedi Bastila Shan. This event led directly to Taris’s ultimate destruction, securing the ship’s place in history. Over the centuries, the Endar Spire’s husk has become a shelter to many different groups on Taris, including surviving settlers, pirates and scavengers. Its internal systems are believed to contain a bounty of information and useful materials to anyone with the will and ability to recover them. Inferior fucked around with this message at 09:52 on Oct 12, 2013 |
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