Last time we left the Three Musketeers, we narrowly escaped from a mining base, destroyed the Robot that killed all the people there, looted his rotted carcasses, fought our way through an army of sith, Kreia got her hand cut off, and we partook in a terrible turret section. However, the Sith's ship, the Not-At-All-Ominous-Sounding-Harbinger, is in hot pursuit, and turbolasers and highly volatile asteroid fields don't tend to go over well.
"Keep your distance from those asteroids, Atton. This is your chance to prove that you're worthy of being our designated pilot. It's either that, or we feed you to T3. Dog Food's pretty scarce out here, after all. And I here them dogs love the taste of human flesh."
"I'm not a dog, you imbecilic meatbag!"
"Of course you aren't."
"Yeah, and then we'd burn horribly in nuclear fire. I guess you're still delirious from blood loss, but damn, woman. That idea sucks."
"Hmm. Our choices are die, or die. Wonderful. Atton, just stay the course. We'll get out of this yet. After all, they can't kill off the main character this soon."
"...does the word "Raiden" ring a bell?"
"Well, this is it. Dying with a bunch of meatbags. I can think of worse ways to die, I suppose. Oh wait, no I can't."
So, let's see the consequences of our decision. Will it be like Alpha Protocol, where choices are meaningful and change the direction of the story? Or will it be like The Walking Dead, where it's the same story but some characters might be wearing different hats?
Yep. Choice affects nothing but your conscience. Harbinger hits the field anyway...
...and Peragus still goes up in flames.
Peragus is a sticking point for fans and non-fans alike. Most people think it sucks. A boring, repitive gauntlet through repetitive enemies. But, the atmosphere and writing is great. I honestly think peragus would be great for a point-and-click like Gemini Rue (that game's awesome) or Blade Runner The Game (also awesome), but as an RPG where they have to dump robots in for you to fight? Not so much fun. But, I do like the planet overall. As I said, great writing, great atmosphere, and I can forgive a lot of things for those things. Plus, it's genuinely creepy, at least the first time you go through it. Not Eternal Darkness or Silent Hill 2 of constant unyielding terror, but more Majora's Mask-level underlying feel of unease.
That is, if you separate yourself from the fact that you play a super-capable Kung-Fu jedi.
Finally, we enter Hyperspace, and leave this place behind...forever.
Also, I guess we're in the time vortex now.
"I have a name, you know."
"I do. However, your name is stupid. Therefore, I reject your reality and substitute it with my own."
"You said the Harbinger was on it's way to Telos?"
"How did you know I was on board the Harbinger? I took great lengths to ensure that I would not be followed."
"I would hardly call the act of updating your Facebook status constantly claiming that you are in the Nar Shadda Red Sector an act of strategic genius. Besides..."
"That's an unusual set of coincidences."
"Also, the writers were lazy, and the Force is like crack for lazy writers."
"How come I don't remember any of this?"
"Then, how did we get to Peragus?"
"Hey, asswipes! It was me! Me! The real hero of this game!"
"Aw, shut up, you old hag. I could take you. In a fight. With me. And you. Come at me, bro."
"He says he repaired the ship and took it to Peragus."
"Sure, Bob. Whatever you say."
"Alright, Atton. I'll repair the ship. And then I'll kill you in your sleep."
"Kreia, why are these Sith after me?"
"But...I was exiled from the Jedi order. I'm not a Jedi anymore."
"But...last of the Jedi? That can't be true."
"What about the Jedi on Dantooine? And Coruscant?"
"Well, they were morons. So, yeah. Fuck those guys. But...if any survivors still live, we need to warn them."
"Then, how do we stop the Sith?"
"They're eager to fight us - I say we fight back."
"What do you mean?"
"The Mandalorian Wars were my choice."
"If we don't fight the Sith, then we sacrifice the Galaxy."
##
"Yeah...she did seem well enough for someone who had just lost her hand."
"What are you talking about?"
"That's...odd."
"When did you get so sensitive?"
"I'm gonna check on her. Can you handle things up here?"
"Oh, sure. All I gotta do is type on my invisible keyboard for a couple hours."
With that done, we finally have free reign of our ship. It's been a while since KotOR 1, but our old girl, the Ebon Hawk, hasn't changed much.
We do find this interesting sight in the cargo hold. That's a familiar paint job...
We got a HK vocabulator from the charred remains of our friend back on Peragus, so we can install that.
That done, we continue exploring the rest of the ship, and run into T3, working on the engines.
"Hey, do you know where that HK droid in the Cargo Bay came from?"
"That didn't sound very convincing. Are you sure you don't know?"
"Oh, fine. Keep your secrets. Say, you look like you've suffered a heck of a lot of damage over the years."
"Wow, you certainly are making great use of your vast vocabulary today. How much damage?"
"So, you lost a lot of programs in your behavior core, in addition to the damage to your frame?"
"I'm sure you'll gain that skill back. I'm glad there's someone useful on this ship."
"I have decided that in the robot apocalypse, your death will be quick and painless."
"That's nice of you, T3. Thanks."
"Think nothing of it."
Continuing our exploration of our old ship, we come across the old spice compartment, only now it holds...
Jedi Robes! And Pazaak cards! And random chemicals! Perfectly normal!
Our exploration done, we head over to Kreia's chambers.
"Listen...when you lost your hand...I felt it too."
Conversations with Kreia are an influence minefield. There are SO many things you can say that piss her off. You can't be too nice. You can't be too nasty. And, above all, you can't try to help her, or she will bite your head off.
"If I felt the loss of your hand, what would have happened if you had died?"
"More extreme? It felt like my hand had been dipped in molten carbonite."
"By the way, I meant to ask, how the hell did you get away from Sion?"
"The Force did it."
"Ah, of course. Wait...are you saying that my life is tied to yours?"
"Then we gotta work together and try to be careful until we can fix this."
"How could this bond have happened?"
"It seems the force flows easily through us - when one of us manipulates the force to heal or strengten themselves, it will aid the other too."
It's a neat little mechanic, actually. It goes a certain way towards eliminating the issue in the first game where buffs only affected the caster, where Kreia or Bob can buff themselves, and the other will gain the benefit. Pretty cool, all things considered.
"When we were on Peragus, I could feel the force again."
"It was like a whisper...at the edge of hearing. Like it was coming from a great distance."
"Wait...what? The Jedi did this to me?"
"But, to cut someone off from the force, it is like losing all your senses at once."
"Um...Kreia..."
"What is it?"
"Your pants."
"What about them?"
"I...I think they're on fire."
"Pay that no mind."
"All right then, uh...there must be some way to reverse what the Jedi did."
"Slim is better than none."
"I will honor whatever training you offer."
"I'm gonna need all the help I can get. I would welcome whatever you can bring to the table."
"Can you recap what's happened since the Mandalorian Wars for the benefit of those who haven't played the first game?"
"Tell me about the Wars."
"The Jedi council were scared. They preferred to stand back and "assess the threat". Only a few Jedi had the courage to go into battle. Like me."
"And Revan and Malak refused to wait."
"Until we destroyed them...at Malachor V."
"Many Jedi died at Malachor V, and the conflict split the order."
"I felt them fall...war had consumed them."
"Didn't the Jedi Order try to stop them?"
"Then, how were Malak and the Sith defeated?"
"But what happened to Revan?"
It's not like Revan to leave unfinished business just hanging like that. What on earth has happenned to her?"
"So, Revan turned on Malak - to save the Republic?"
"Then we must do what we can until it can recover from the war."
If you take nothing else away from that conversation,
remember that line.
"Perhaps the Republic may be better suited to stand on it's own. If we prop it up, it's only setting itself up for a bigger fall. If we do anything, we need to help the Republic help itself."
"Because I'm the last jedi?"
Shakespeare, eat your heart out.
"No pressure then. I need to know more about the Sith hunting us."
"There was another Jedi Civil War?"
It's rather vague what she's actually talking about, after all, every bloody war in Star Wars could be summed up like that, but I think she's referring to the Great Schism, or First Schism, the first war where the Jedi broke into the Jedi and the Sith.
"But these Sith seem...different."
"The Sith on the Harbinger knew some Force techniques, but they were weak."
"He's not a fool...but he does seem odd to me."
Taking Kreia's advice, finally freed from the Coversation That Never Ends, we head to the cockpit.
