#Darth Karrid

[magnetarbeam]

I love how Darth Karrid's Sith name is just a combination of the first and last names she had before, instead of countless other Sith that just took a word that sounded evil.

This is among the few Darth names that maybe the Lost Tribe wouldn't roll their eyes at.

#star wars legends #star wars the old republic #swtor #swtor annihilation #darth karrid

[ospreyeamon]

malgus’ empire: doomed from the start

Why can’t you side with Malgus during The False Emperor? The guy does have some good points – not the fighting everyone in the galaxy at once thing, but about the stupid Sith infighting and stupid xenophobia holding the Empire back, and about the Sith Emperor being unworthy of loyalty.

One of the reasons is the devs can’t offer player decisions that would significantly diverge the overall world-state; creating a break between players who stayed loyal to their faction casting down Malgus and players who joined Malgus and propped up his empire would be hugely resource intensive, especially since the two-faction system is deeply baked into the game code. Another complicating factor is that, because The False Emperor is open to all classes, the logic of gains players making for their faction being promptly offset by the heroes on the other side can’t be used to justify a continuing stalemate the way it can be for Ilum, Makeb, and the class stories.

But those are Doylist explanations. What about potential Watsonian ones? Why would the player character, regardless of class, always turn down Malgus’ offer to join him? Why would a character who broadly agrees with Malgus’ position refuse him?

Maybe because there are hints that, even if they did join Malgus, they would be joining the losing side. Malgus’ new empire was doomed from its proclamation because Malgus just didn’t have the numbers.

With the exception of the imperial troops under his personal command, the two most prominent groups Malgus recruited – the Schism Collective, Talsa-Ko and her fellow voss – are from outside the Sith Empire. While Malgus is said to have “carefully cultivated the opinions of likeminded Sith leaders for years”, recruiting people like Darth Serevin, it’s not clear that Malgus’ primary aim was to bring them into his conspiracy rather than just promoting his more equal and diverse ideology for the Sith Empire. Notably missing from Malgus’ list of supporters are his apprentice Darth Karrid and his old ally Shae Vizla. As a falleen you would expect Karrid to be an obvious proponent of doing away with the Empire’s entrenched xenophobia, and the Mandalorian creed has never been one that looks down on a warrior merely because of their species.

Karrid’s absence is the one that is most suggestive because she is promoted to the Dark Council after Malgus’ defeat with no stain of his treason on her reputation. Given that knowing beforehand about Malgus’ plans but remaining silent would have also constituted a betrayal of the Sith Empire, it is likely that her Master left her ignorant of his plans. That would match with his behaviour towards an Imp-Side player; even though Malgus has been trusting you with missions for years, you still don’t warrant a personal invitation into the plot after delivering the crystals into his hands on Ilum.

It seems that, while Malgus worked hard to secure alliances outside the empire, he failed to properly canvas support for his plan inside the empire ahead of time. He assumed that the desire to see the Sith Empire reformed would translate into the willingness to abandon it. He assumed that discontented imperials would rally to his cause without his needing to make any effort to court, caucus with, or even inform them about his intentions.

This was not only arrogant but extremely stupid because Malgus needed the support of those dissatisfied imperials. Malgus’ first act after proclaiming himself emperor was to declare war on both the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire. Fighting a war on two fronts is something that leaders generally try to avoid for good reason. Because he refused to take the practical route of just picking one and engaging diplomatically with the other Malgus needed more troops, more ships, more supplies. Waging war on the galaxy is not a cheap exercise.

Malgus was depending on his support snowballing once he got going – winning some impressive early victories to raise his new empire’s profile to draw more followers in. Unfortunately for Malgus, not having as much initial support as he expected made snowballing more difficult, especially since attacking both the Republic and Empire meant that both sent their best and brightest to stop him.

Usually I would try to write about the player characters in more general terms, trying to account for the different classes and paths you can take through a story, but in this case it will be more coherent if I stick to mine. Malgus only asking the player character to join him after naming himself emperor means he decided to not preemptively approach:

The new Councillor of Ancient Knowledge, a twi’lek whose career Malgus actively helped further by assigning her plum missions. Darth Occlus has publicly supported Malgus’ position on removing the species-restrictions around military enrolment and imperial citizenship.

Lys’trel, who while younger than Malgus with a narrower support base is his equal in Force-skill and rank, finds herself genuinely offended that Malgus failed to so much as attempted to suborn her. As the only alien on the Dark Council she should have been an obvious potential ally. If he didn’t approach her, who else hasn’t he talked to? His apprentice Karrid apparently. Not a good sign. Malgus has already screwed up so throwing in with him will be very risky – but for how much reward? Lys’trel doesn’t care about war and conquest; violence is a means, not an end. Equality is something she wants, but she believes she can achieve it within the Sith Empire. For the Sith Empire to immediately implement its equality reforms after Malgus’ short-lived rebellion the policy changes must have already been in the works before it began; Occlus is an active participant in Darth Marr’s schemes to that end and had been trying to arrange an in-person meeting with Malgus to bring him in since with both Military Offence and Defence onboard they would have it in the bag. From Lys’trel’s perspective, Darth Serevin being invited in but not her and out of Malgus’ own apprentices Lord Cytharat not Darth Karrid – the lower ranked red sith but not the higher rank aliens – suggests that Malgus’ own subconscious biases are already undermining the equality he’s trying to create and the viability of his faction. It doesn’t help that in some important respects Malgus’ declaration just isn’t radical enough for her. Lys’trel wants to see slavery abolished and Malgus has said nothing about that.

Barrak Akkee of Clan Lok, Champion of the Great Hunt, is the most romantically famous of the aliens among the Sith Empire’s mercenary forces. Her underdog victory in the Great Hunt and adoption by Mandalore the Vindicated made her an honoured ally of the Sith – a feel-good story that improved the perception of fighting for the Empire among Imperial mirialians and mirialians among Imperials generally (which the Empire really needed because they are forcibly occupying Mirial). Then there was the whole being grievously slandered by the late Jedi Battlemaster only to clear her name by… besting the Battlemaster in single combat? forcing the late Chancellor Janarus to repent his lies at gunpoint? dramatically confronting Janarus with the evidence she had been framed before the Chancellor was assassinated by the late Darth Tormen? …the retellings vary but it was certainly very exciting.

As a Mandalorian, Barrak adheres to the Resol’nare and follows the Mandalore. Unless Mandalore abandons the alliance with the Sith Empire to make a new pact with Malgus, her loyalties will remain unchanged. As a bounty hunter, Barrak knows honour and glory won’t mend your gear or feed your family. Unless Malgus’ new empire can pay as well and reliably as the current one can, that’s going to be a problem; you can only pay your troops with loot if you win and keep winning which easier said than done, and it’s one thing to take people’s gold but another to take their grain. Anyway, it’s not like she or Mandalore got more of an “invitation” than Malgus’ widenet broadcast. What a snub.

While the Emperor chose another red sith of exalted lineage as his new Wrath after the previous one ran off with a Jedi, said new Wrath plainly doesn’t hold to the Emperor’s edicts on alien inferiority; he followed Malgus’ advice on tempting the kaleesh war-band on Ilum out of the Republic’s service into the Sith’s. Becoming the Wrath would give any Sith enough insight into the Emperor and his Hand’s behaviour to see the disregard he holds for his Empire. Vitiate’s Wrath publicly disowning him in favour of Malgus would send a powerful message to the Empire.

Tsojât accepted the mantle of the Wrath for personal reasons, not out of loyalty to the Emperor or to serve the Empire. But, having done that, he can’t turn away from the duty it implies. Having met the Hand it is clear that what people have been whispering since before the Treaty of Coruscant about the Emperor’s poor leadership is true – he doesn’t care about the people of the Empire, only his own powers and plans, whatever they may be. In the face of the Vitiate’s absence and apathy what should be the duties of the Emperor, the protection and guidance of the Sith Empire, instead fall to the Wrath as his emissary. Tsojât is honour bound not to betray the Empire and duty bound to attempt to fix it. Despite Malgus’ belief to the contrary, his breakaway is just another example of the destructive Sith infighting Malgus’ is railing against. This split in the Empire’s strength and attention right as the new war with the Republic begins leaves its worlds and its people in even more danger than they would be otherwise; it must be resolved as soon as possible.

(The infamous rattataki Cipher Agent is still officially listed as KIA and is not answering commcalls from the Dark Council at this time. Malgus couldn’t have gotten a hold of Cipher Nine if he’d tried, which he didn’t. Cipher took the Black Codex and ghosted the Imperial establishment with as much of the remains of ImpInt as vhe could safely disappear. To Yjimir, Malgus is just another self-absorbed and selfish Sith; another Dark Councillor unfit to lead the Sith Empire or any empire. His vision of a new empire is neither workable nor desirable.)

And they’ve all heard the story about Malgus and Elena Daru; Malgus taking a twi’lek slave as a lover, arming her to fight beside him, before murdering her because his love was a weakness. It doesn’t paint Malgus in a flattering light, even by the measures of the Sith. Murdering someone you love so they can’t be used against you is a tacit admittance that you aren’t strong enough to protect them. Turning on someone who has followed you loyally without provocation makes pledging service to you less attractive, for a leader who betrays his followers once may do so again.

#Meanwhile in a Galaxy Far Far Away #swtor meta #Darth Malgus #Malgus' new empire #Darth Karrid #reconstituted sith empire #swtor the false emperor #star wars the old republic #murder cw

[shynmighty]

On chapter 18 of Annihilation!

Had to look up the spelling of Darth Karrid because all I can hear on the audiobook is “Darth Carrot” and it was impossible to take anything anyone said about her seriously. 

#swtor #the unhinged ramblings of shynmighty #it's even better in the super serious jace malcom baritone #we're gonna take out darth carrot and her ship! #unleash the hungry bunnies!!! #i'll see myself out

[tarrevizsla]

darth karrid if you are free this thursday this thursday is when i am free so if you are free this thursday

#my art #darth karrid #ive gotten into the REALLY obscure characters now babey #annihilation lb #? i mean she's from annihilation

[wolf-of-the-glade]

So I am doing research (Gleefully scouring through SWTOR wiki) for a list I’m filling out and I came across this amazing thing...

“Seeing that a man in his underwear (Theron had taken off most of his clothes to deal with working in the Spear's engine room) had caused Mekhis's ultimate creation to be ruined, she activated her lightsaber and began to attack him.”

... on Darth Karrid’s wiki page and just the idea of some Sith turning around and just seeing a nearly naked man running around their ship in the middle of a massive space battle is fucking hilarious.

#Theron Shan #Darth Karrid #swtor #swtor funnies

[scr3am-bl00dy-g0r3]

swtor annihilation be like:

a republican spy who is desydrated and in underwear with a broken blaster

vs

a sith darth lord who is in dark council

#swtor #swtor annihilation #theron shan #star wars the old republic #darth karrid

[vultures-and-scavengers]

You never asked, Mortis, why I chose to be loyal to you in an Empire of schemers and traitors. You, a traditionalist who opposed Darth Karrid, who disdained aliens.

You changed my mind on a great deal of things, Calumnia. You spoke your mind, I disagreed, and time proved you correct. On multiple matters.

Careful, that was nearly an admission you could be wrong.

Upstart youngling. I was wrong about Karrid. I wasn’t wrong about you, though. You’re a snake, and a threat to Sith tradition. A reformist, of all things.

Mmm. You almost sounded proud. You have changed.

#oc: darth calumnia #swtor ocs #sith inquisitor #YES mortis is OOC here but this conversation is after like 6 years of cal being his spymaster and unofficial advisor #i wanted her to have a mentor and it needed to be someone who opposed thanaton but didn't really have a fandom presence #mortis is also canny enough to see where the winds are blowing imo and he is canonically capable of going so i was wrong #so she may have originally just been a conveinent and well trained pawn #endgame is like sometimes your found family is several dark lords a handful of ciphers and also the barsen'thor #just because thats like so funny to me. yes calumnia and her sister cordatus organize a political movement #yes they really put their roots down in the empire and start trying to reform it #and yes calumnia is stupid over a jedi master #darth umbris doesnt have shit to do with the politics; shes just there to be intimidating and violent #rowans doodles

[sullustangin]

Not a disaster spy.

Note:  I speak in lawful/neutral/chaotic alignments as seen in D&D.  I’m not getting into good, evil, or neutral, nor “Dark Side” or “Light Side” activities. 

There were more than a few reasons why I commissioned a piece of art that depicted some pretty gnarly scars on Theron Shan (and on my smug, Eva, but you don’t care as much about her, let’s be real). It’s part of a story I’m telling.  It’s part of my headcanon.  Also, it’s my own sort of protest against the habit of writing Theron off as a hot but inept spy.  He’s an impulsive fool despite being intelligent, which is why he ends up in bizarre situations. He always gets hurt because of this (but he’s always magically healed up in time for any smut). 

To be clear: Theron totally has issues due to his early life and an inability to play well with others; you can label him with attachment issues, intimacy issues, whatever keeps him a bit of a lonely character (which he admits).  Personal life -- disaster.  That’s canon, explicit and implicit.

What I object to are his skills and abilities being discounted because of that.  His professional life is far from being a disaster.  Director SIS Marcus Trant brands him as one of the best field agents, and long term, he ends up being operations manager for a covert base for an upstart independent government.

Reasons:

In the book Annihilation, Theron runs around in his boots and briefs trying to destroy the Ascendant Spear.   Hot, funny, and strangely effective.

But why?

Because Jace Malcom and Marcus Trant were ok with sacrificing a few planets of people “for the greater good.”  They let Ruan be attacked.  They planned on letting Duro be attacked, because they wanted the Pub fleet to focus on the Ascendant Spear, the Empire superweapon.  They watched a planet get wrecked and planned on doing it again.  It’s war.  It’s a lawful action, for the greater good.  It complies with society’s expectations -- the Republic leadership’s expectations -- in a time of war. Lawful neutral, probably.  Maybe lawful good if you squint and do the math about the Spear’s potential fatality rate, galaxy wide.

But Theron isn’t a lawful character -- he doesn’t just do stuff because society says it’s ok.  That’s why he goes off and does impulsive stuff because sometimes, society is wrong.  Theron is a neutral, leaning chaotic character -- he mostly follows the law, but also relies on his own intuition and gut feeling about what is right. Neutral characters balance what society says is right and what a person internally thinks is right.   Chaotic characters -- like my oc smuggler -- don’t rely on society’s views at all; it’s all about her gut and moral compass.  Theron at least considers lawfulness and order in his response, which is why he is (mostly) not a chaotic character.  He has his moments, though - no character is pure.  In contrast, Lana is a Lawful character in the context of the Sith Empire.  She does things that her society approves of.  She does like to think of herself as ‘her own woman’, but her behavior patterns are heavily informed by the Sith upbringing and training - she is Lawful but leaning Neutral on occasion due to her own sense of pragmatism.  She does not go by her gut alone. 

(Please remember I’m not addressing good/evil, Light/Dark side in this post.)

That’s why Theron ends up dehydrated with cramped leg and half naked.  He didn’t want people to die "for the greater good” when he personally could stop it.  So he and Gnost Dural fool Darth Karrid into participating at Duro, which means the Republic Fleet has to defend the planet, since its target is the Ascendant Spear.  The only way that happens is that Gnost-Dural is tortured, and Theron has to manually slice into the nearly uninhabitable bowels of the ship.  Hence the whole strip tease by the end of the incident.  

Consequences: 

In the example above, it’s mostly situational embarrassment for Theron, and the Jedi gets tortured. 

In an earlier part of the book, Theron is beaten up to keep his cover and acquire important information (and loses a few teeth in the process) and leaps off a building and probably fractures a few things -- he dislocated a shoulder too.  Still didn’t blow cover, and he is able get off Ziost with Gnost Dural. 

Every SWTOR player knows about Rishi -- it’s easy to argue that Theron doesn’t give up Lana because that could burn his Republic ally.  But if  you’re playing Imp side, what’s stopping him?  Flirting is nothing to this point.  Why not burn all the Imps down?  He could save his own skin, infiltrate the Revanites that way and save the Republic Fleet -- to hell with Darth Marr.

Because it’s not just “ooo rah Republic” informing his choices -it’s not Republic society saying it’s ok and lawful that makes him sit there.  It’s his own moral compass that says it’s wrong to burn Jakarro and the operative, even if Lana did give him up.  So he holds out under torture, even as Revan tries to make his descendant his ally. 

Theron had been in SIS for about 12-13 years by the time we get to Rishi.  We know he’s fallen from high heights and survived worse falls than leaping between buildings on Nar Shaddaa -- survived, not gotten out unscathed. He was a swoop racer for awhile -- that’s a risky hobby.  As an agent, It’s reasonable to assume he’s been shot at with blasters and possibly slugthrowers (if he came across a Mando), stabbed with traditional blades or vibro-blades, got burned if he was in an industrial area or a hot engine room or a chemical lab -- the list goes on.  After Yavin, we know that the one agent possibly more chaotic than he is, Jonas Balkar, ends up giving him a few broken ribs in the name of busting up an implants ring. 

So Theron does have very real consequences for his decisions, in all likelihood.  That’s what I wanted to reflect in the recent commission; although it happens shortly before the torture session on Rishi, it shows the viewer that this is a path he’s been on before, and not by accident. 

Cutting here because boy, did I have a lot to say about what happens AFTER SoR in terms of alignment/characterization.

The KotFE and Beyond: Consistency Issues

Theron registers his approval and disapproval on certain decisions in later xpacs, and he often takes the more benevolent “light side” end of things -- whether that’s based upon his societal expectations or personal moral compass is not as clear.  But he still does disagree with the Commander (one of the more obvious examples being  storming out of the room if there are too many Pub casualties on Corellia when the player is Imp side).  While it remains a touchy topic, the Traitor Arc does reflect his neutral-chaotic tendencies. He goes with his internal moral compass.

Electrocuting the Commander on Iokath was part of Theron gaining the Order of Zildrog’s trust. Theron’s smart enough and probably familiar enough with the Commander’s bio data to know how to make it happen and look bad enough without serious ill-effects. This is part of what he does as a spy, and there’s likely a guide on double agent sabotage somewhere in SIS -- how to look like you’re doing bad stuff without actually doing as bad stuff as requested.  This is also part of what he personally believes to be a better path -- certainly not by Alliance “what to do when bad things happen” book, which was to tell his Commander.   

Does Theron fail at Nathema?  Yes; there is a major loss of war materiel (the Gravestone and the Eternal Fleet).  But what would he have considered more important?  The loss of the fleet or the loss of the Commander and others if the Fleet was unleashed?  The loss of life or the loss of stuff? That’s where Theron’s neutral-chaotic alignment comes in. 

It also does matter how the player views the entire situation -- Theron’s boss also has a say in ‘success,’ which is why Trant matters in judging Theron’s previous actions. At the end of KotET, some people had been miserable that they HAD to either be a ruler or a peacekeeper instead of just getting on their ship and riding off into the sunset for more class-specific adventures. By the end of Nathema, some people were mad about losing the weapons and the power.  Some people were relieved that they weren’t so OP anymore; the writers had written story/character development into a corner, and ending the whole Throne/Fleet thing had to happen. (It’s still not fully out of a corner, in my personal opinion.)  

Theron doesn’t get out of the Traitor Arc completely clean, no matter how many stans we write about it -- the writing is what it is.  He assuredly gains a new scar.  But it is player choice as to the severity of the failure -- and the consequences: Theron can end up married, still in love with the Commander, dumped by the Commander but in the Alliance, exiled, or dead. Those were the consequences for what he believed was the right thing to do -- this was probably his biggest leap into the chaotic alignment in terms of decision making, and this was the most dramatic spectrum of consequences.

As a side bar, the latter xpacs suffer from writing issues; there’s a lack of nuance compared to the vanilla stories and even Hutts and SOR.  Although the writers did promise that characters would leave if there were enough negative actions, only Koth actually left because of something we did; Lana never leaves, and Theron leaves regardless of prior actions -- because he’s doing the  double agent thing. (I thought the opening speech on Umbara was ill-fit for most classes, frankly -- the writing got better as we got closer to Nathema, but there are plotholes that make me fume.)  Lana and Theron never leave because the player makes too many LS or DS decisions. I honestly wish that was a consequence, because not having a consequence for decisions hallows out both characters and makes them lackeys rather than the stronger, distinct characters they were prior to Popsicle Time. Lana never leaves no matter what. Theron ultimately remains gone by player decision, not by his own.  Koth was at least granted that autonomy, for which I respect the writing for Koth. 

Theron Shan is a good spy that accepts consequences.

Theron is good at his job -- the best at his job, around the time of SoR. Because of how Theron approaches the world, he takes risks so others don’t -- so others don’t get tortured, so other planets don’t get blown up.  It doesn’t mean that he’s some inept idiot that fumbles his way toward mission success. He  knowingly suffers for his choices that are a combination of by-the-book training and his instincts. He doesn’t complain about it, even when the player points it out on Rishi.  It is the job.  Spies do really, really strange stuff to keep their covers. He also doesn’t complain as he’s limping around after Nathema, nor does he object if he’s exiled or dumped.  He knows what he did.  He can live with it (if the player lets him). 

Spies that remain alive and get back to their home nations without giving anything important up to the enemy are successful spies.  We see this in pre-SWTOR media.  Rishi is a success for Theron -- although he is exposed, he remains alive and uncooperative.  The temporary Alliance between Marr and Satele gain massive amounts of intel, including Revan’s base on Yavin.  Later, Theron is able to keep the Odessen base functional and secret.  We even get to do some infiltration work on Zakuul -- the Alliance’s spies don’t give anything up while surviving and making it home with gains.  He succeeds overall at Odessen.  He fails at Nathema, though that failure is mostly interpreted by the player in terms of severity. 

Few spies are perfect and survive to become old men.  Even if Theron is killed at the end of Nathema, he did make it further than many; if we consider that Theron was about 37 or 38 at Nathema and he started SIS at 16, that’s upwards of 20 years in the field.  That’s a long lifespan for an active field agent, even in real world estimates. 

For those of us who let Theron live, then he still has potential for more spy escapades, though probably with some serious oversight.  We can leave that to headcanons, since Lana and Theron have taken a step back in prominence since Onslaught.  Theron will never be orderly like Lana; if you favor lawful characters, you will rarely see eye to eye with Theron.  He is not a by the book spy, and even Trant complains about that.  At the same time, the instinct, the skills, and personal conscience is there, which is why Theron is successful all the way up to Nathema -- and depending on the player, arguably still is. 

Personal life -- sure, a disaster. No doubt. But as a spy?  I don’t think disaster is an accurate assessment.

#theron thursday #theron shan #swtor #alignment #good spy

[galacticshq]

we have SO many amazing characters already but you know what we need... we need some underrated swtor & kotor characters !

revan, darth malek, darth bane, darth nihilus, darth karrid, lana beniko, aloysius kallig, darth malgus, visas marr, kira carsen, leeha narezz, nadia grell, aryn leneer, ven zallow, satele shan, eleena daru, shae vizla, shaela nuur, kreia, bastila shan, vima sunrider, ashara zavros, nomi sunrider, atris, darth nox, & more !

#swtor rp #kotor rp #appless rp #canon rpg #space rpg

[raven-of-domain-kwaad]

Ryscha and Amarra, 'Bang, Marry, Kill' : Darth Acina, Darth Karrid, Darth Lachris. - KH💙

Hahahaha! Thanks Anto!

Ryscha laughs almost to the point of tears as she looks at the aghast expression on Amarra’s face. “I’ll go first,” she finally manages to wheeze through a final fit of laughter.

“Hm. I'd probably bang Acina. I mean Empress of the Sith? I can’t really say no to that. Also Loyat would probably kill me if she learned that I had that opportunity but passed on it. Probably marry Lachris. I heard she was Marr’s apprentice and Marr wouldn’t have chosen to train anyone likely to become too unstable.” 

She looks a little sheepish as she shrugs her shoulders for the final answer. “Sorry Karrid but I don’t really know you so I’m going to have to kill you.”

Her gaze immediately turns to her sister and she smiles impishly while waiting for Amarra to answer.

Amarra scowls and glares at both your and Ryscha’s expectant expressions. Letting out a long suffering sigh, she starts to speak. “I would... bang...” she grimaces and momentarily closes her eyes at the crass word. “I would sleep with Darth Karrid. She was a strategic prodigy and an alliance with her would have been very beneficial.”

Ryscha sighs and rolls her eyes. “Here she goes, being all cold and calculating about things. You know that the Jedi would be impressed at how controlled your emotions are, right?”

While Amarra does not outwardly move at all, Ryscha’s chair does suddenly and unexpectedly tip over. Amarra then ignores her sister’s sudden yelp and continues.

“I would have married Darth Lachris. She was indeed Marr’s apprentice and from what I understand was a pragmatic, level headed and very capable leader.”

A look of obvious dislike crosses her face as she thinks about the third person. “I would kill Acina. Our sire and his Hand chose to put her in charge of the Arcanum a storehouse full of dangerous secrets. And anyone that my sire and his followers believe to be a reliable servant is someone that should be seen as a threat and incredibly dangerous.” A small smirk pulls at her lips as she keeps talking. “Though I must say they seem to have chosen a rather poor servant in her. She and the Hand never figured out that it was I who destroyed the Arcanum before they could use its power.”

“They never saw it coming huh?” Ryscha grumbles from beside the chair that she no longer believes is safe to sit in.

“Something like that,” Amarra says with a self satisfied smirk.

#4nth0ny #oc: ryscha kine #oc: amarra kine #the kine sisters #gonna be honest anto you made me snort when i read this question 🤣🤣 #never done the seed missions with acina and the arcanum but i do like to think that amarra destroyed it afterwards #but yeah ryscha just thinks these questions are funny while amarra takes them too seriously #also loyat would be super curious to know how good or bad acina was in bed #in my hc anyway loyat seems like she'd be a gossip and would love to be able to talk about acina's sex life #so take one for the team ryscha and sleep with the empress is probably what she would say to get that exclusive inside scoop

[lonewolfel]

Fictober 2020, Day 25

Prompt: 25 - “sometimes you can even see”

Fandom: SWTOR (Star Wars the Old Republic)

Rating: G (mentions of death) 

Paring: mentions of Theron/Sith Inquisitor

Jace was never exactly close to Theron. That was something he had always regretted. He may not always agree with his son's choices (Darth Imperius), but he still cared about him. Satele's and Theron's disappearance was something that hit Jace hard. The last time Jace saw Theron they talked about his relationship with Darth Imperius. Now the Sith Lord is dead by Emperor Arcann’s hand and there was a fragile peace between the Zakuulan Empire and the Republic. 

Jace walked into the office of the Director of the SIS Marcus Trant. He sat down in front of the Director.As much as Jace hated to admit it he was jealous of the man. Trant knew far more about Theron than Jace ever did. After all Trant has no Theron for almost twenty years and Jace has known him for a couple years. Though Jace had tried, it was harder than he thought. As much as Theron probably didn't want to admit it  sometimes you can even see Theron’s similarities to Satele and Jace. 

"I'm glad you can make it." Trant said and Jace nodded.

"You had information on Theron." Jace said and Trant nodded. Though he seemed to be hesitating. 

"How much do you know about what happened on Yavin?" Trant asked and Jace frowned.

"I know that the Grandmaster's fleet went there along with the forces of Darth Imperius and Darth Marr to defeat the false Revan. Grandmaster Satele had a theory that Theron was into Darth Imperius." Jace said

"The Grandmaster may be more right than she thought." Trant muttered and Jace looked at him in confusion. "When I briefed Theron I could tell that he knew far more than he was letting on in regards to Darth Imperius. He spent months with her and yet claimed to know nothing that the Republic didn't already know." 

"You didn't consider it a security risk?" Jace asked in confusion. 

"I did until I got this from one of my agents inside the Empire." Trant said and he pulled out a recording. 

"Master, I have looked in all Imperial databases. Theron Shan is not mentioned in anything." Jace recognized the voice as the Jedi traitor Ashara Zavros. One of the apprentices of Darth Imperius.

"He is a good agent." The mechanical voice of Darth Imperius said

"But Master surely he has done something against the Empire." Zavros said

"How much do you know about Technoplague?" Darth Imperius asked

"Technoplague is an unknown Republic agent that is responsible for the death of two Dark Council members; Darth Mekhis and Darth Karrid of the Sphere of Technology." Zavros said "You think Theron is Technoplague."

"I know he is." Darth Imperius said

"He told you?" Zavros asked

"No, when he hacked into my ship the technique was practically Technoplague's MO. Also, Theron mentioned Master Zho a known accomplice to Technoplague's killing of Darth Mekhis." Darth Imperius said

"Shouldn't you tell Acina and the Dark Council?" Zavros asked

"No." Darth Imperius said

"Master, with all do respect, he has killed Dark Council members he could kill you." Zavros said and Darth Imperius started to laugh. Jace's frown deepened at the fact that she thought it was laughable at the idea that Theron could kill her. "Master, this is serious." Zavros seemed annoyed at her master.

"If he succeeds then I'm sure Zash and Thanaton will send him a fruit basket from beyond the grave." Darth Imperius said

"We need to find you people that won't try to kill you." Zavros said

"That's what you, Talos, Oculus, and Khem are for." Darth Imperius said

"Master..." Zavros started

"Trust me, Ashara." Darth Imperius said

"Yes, Master." Zavros said and the recording ended.

Darth Imperius knew exactly who Theron was, yet she made no move to defeat him. She allowed the Empire to sit in its ignorance. 

"The bug was destroyed soon after the recording." Trant said

"Do you think Darth Imperius wanted us to hear this?" Jace asked and Trant shrugged.

"I won't pretend to understand the mind of a Sith, but I doubt this was accidental. She did remain true to her word the Empire still has no clue who Technoplague really is." Trant said 

"Do you think they were in a relationship?" Jace asked

"There was no proof that Theron ever met with Imperius, but he did meet with her apprentice." Trant said and he pulled out another recording. This one had video. He saw Theron sitting at a table in a cantina alone with a cloaked figure walking towards him. "This was about a week after the Barsen'thor's capture." Trant hit play on the recording. 

Jace could hear the cantina music coming from the holo. The cloaked figure got closer to Theron.

"Ashara." Theron said and Jace could barely make it out.

"I came to give you this." Zavros said and she handed Theron something.

"What is happening?" Theron asked as he looked at the object.

"My Master and Lord Beniko have a plan." Zavros said

"What are they?" Theron asked

"My Master's plan I don't know, but she claims that both the Empire and Republic won't make it two more months fighting Zakuul." Zavros said and Jace huffed at how accurate that was.

"You're joking, that would only be a year." Theron said and Zavros shook her head. This revealed part of her face to the camera.

"That's what my Master says and she is rarely wrong." Zavros said

"What is Lana's plan?" Theron asked 

"It's in the datapad. I need to go. May the Force be with you, Theron." Zavros said and she turned away. She walked away and the video ended, remaining on the last scene. 

May the Force be with you was something Jace had heard from Jedi not Sith. This confused him. Why hadn't she adapted to the Sith sayings?

"Do you think he went to the Empire?" Jace asked fearing the answer.

"According to my agent in the Empire, Theron never joined with any Imperial. In fact Minister Lana Beniko has left the Empire and has not been seen since." Trant said

"What do you think they are up to?" Jace asked

"I don't know it was clearly about something in that datapad." Trant said

#fanfic #fan fiction #fictober20 #swtor #star wars the old republic #theron shan #theron shan x sith inquisitor #female sith inquisitor #light side sith inquisitor #f!sith inquisitor #meva ebon #jace malcom #ashara zavros #marcus trant

[magnetarbeam]

Darth Karrid: Do you have any idea of the price you will pay for this impudence?

Theron Shan: I don't know the meaning of the word!

Theron Shan: Seriously. Impudence. What does that mean?

#star wars legends #star wars the old republic #swtor #darth karrid #theron shan #incorrect star wars quotes #original: stargate sg1 #swtor annihilation

[oddpeg]

NGL, listening to Annihilation and I keep hearing Darth Karrid as Darth Carrot.

#swtor #Annihilation #darth carrot #a little less scary

[vorn-legacy]

Annihilation - A Theron Shan novel

Welp I finished my second of Drew Karpyshyn’s Old Republic novels over the weekend and my lasting impression of the book was that the author doesn’t really care about the world in which his book is set. I don’t know whether this is true or not, but it was the impression I got. This book is meant to be set in the world of the Old Republic video game, taking place shortly after the Jedi Knight and False Emperor stories and before the Shadow of Revan. But there are just too many minor lore detail slip ups that stick out to me - as someone who really appreciates consistency in world building.

Theron Shan “saunters” (he does that everywhere apparently, can’t find another verb) round a back alley and manages to get from the Promenade to the Red Light district. Good luck mate. Bit of a big jump en route.

Teff'ith’s ears “prick up” or something like that. Um… She’s a twi'lek…

The descriptions of the Republic and Imperial naval fleets make absolutely no sense whatsoever. The class ships have been crammed in there as fighter escorts and such. Time hasn’t been taken to find out what their roles actually are.

The final battle is, although fitting, slightly anticlimactic.

Predictable from the very start.

Key bits of detail needed for visualisation are missing, but we get in depth analysis of the holoadvert in the background.

There are a few little nods to the game which only veteran players will pick up on, which is kinda nice.

No Theron’s Jacket™

Darth Marr being all pragmatic :)

Can’t make his mind up what Theron’s weapon is. Are the darts toxic or mixed because he uses the word “Toxicity” even when it magically becomes a taser.

The Mom and Dad talk scenes…

disagreement on how much credits are worth comparatively

Lorman!

All in all, I enjoyed reading it. Because it’s an old republic novel and I just love the fact that it’s non-saga era star wars. More than that… Not a lot going for it. Slightly disappointed. :(

#theron #shan #satele shan #revan #swtor #old republic #novel #book review #annihilation #drew karpyshyn #karrid #darth marr

[pineaberry]

Fictober 2019: #6

STARRING: Theron Shan

________________________

Things had gone badly. Spectacularly badly. Horrendously even for his standards.

Theron was under no delusion… all of this was his own doing. Well maybe not the Imperial Prison, that one had been a curve ball.

It all started as most things did, he’d gotten bored with his job. After the destruction of the Ascendant Spear he had been relieved from desk duty and was once again trusted with SIS missions. Yet after the adrenaline rush had worn off, his post now felt mundane. All too soon, boredom settled in, and he began to long for more than just smash and grab operations.

He began taking risks: slicing into networks with half of his cybernetics disabled, picking locks upside down with his non-dominant hand… typical ‘using the window when there was a door available’ stuff. Even then it didn’t take the edge off. He started scouring unsolved cases, digging into the darker files until the director took away his clearance.

“Get a hobby, Shan. One that doesn’t involve suicidal impulses enabled by my database.”

A hobby, right… easier said than done. What had the man expected him to do? Take up fishing? Painting? Crocheting?

Cut off from the database, he sought intel from in less reliable sources. Unfortunately, security forces had done too good a job stabilizing Coruscant’s underworld. There were rumors that Havoc Squad and even the Jedi Council had a hand in the changes. If things kept improving this way, he would soon be out of a job. The thought of early retirement was only slightly more unnerving than the prospect of having peaked. He had done a single great deed in his life, claimed his medal, and now it was over. It would be all downhill from there.

Rather than simply accept his lot, he dug in and kept searching. Finally, the slightest glimmer of a handful of leads began to show promise. The Black Sun, the Justicars, even the predatory Hutt lenders had been cleared out. Large swaths of smuggling rings were broken up and the routes dropped, but a single title continued to turn up. Everywhere he looked, the smugglers had been hit and their supply routes had gone dry. All except for the Gilded Lady.

Against everything that a reasonable human being would do, he kept the intel to himself and began to investigate this newcomer. After all, Director Trant had said for him to get a hobby. 

He caught glimpses of her in surveillance videos and studied her movement until he felt reasonably sure of what he was dealing with. Then, it was all a matter of putting the squeeze on the right contact in order to get the next drop location.

Theron was waiting for her that night, squeezed into a ventilation shaft out of sight. He didn’t have to wait long before a woman appeared. She was clothed in black from head to toe save for the solid gold mask covering her face. The goods she was smuggling were fairly innocuous when compared to the other syndicates. They were the usual blend of drugs, booze, Kaasi chocolates, and Imperial holo-novelas… Nothing SIS worthy. That is, right until he spotted the payment. Kyber crystals, artifacts from the demolished Jedi temple, and a holocron.

If he was a more cautious man, he would have called for back-up but the prospect of a suitable challenge clouded his judgement. It also made him overlook the fact that he wasn’t 16 anymore and crouching in a vent for hours on end was murder on leg circulation. His numbed legs made him stumble and fall out of the vent with a spectacular crash. By the time he had found cover from the inevitable barrage of blaster shots, the Gilded Lady had long since boarded her unmarked shuttle and left the scene.

It was the same the next time he tried to track her. No matter how close he got, something always glitched up the encounter and she slipped away. The rational part of him was insisting that he needed to bring in back-up. If he was dealing with a Sith, then the SIS would certainly need to be involved, perhaps even his... the Jedi Grandmaster.

And yet…

He knew that the moment he brought attention to this, Director Trant would brush him off for lack of merit or worse, give the case to someone else altogether. Besides, he’d finished off Darth Karrid easily enough, hadn’t he?

Whether it be due to ego, or his unmatched track record of poor life choices, Theron pressed on alone. Finally, he devised a brilliant plant to place a tracking device in a Jedi artifact and have it be a part of her payment. Afterwards he would be able to track her location and gather more intel. He followed the tracker to a blank region of space and dropped out of hyperspace atop an Imperial prison colony.

It went about as well as could be expected.

Which brings me to now…

Theron was strapped to a table, the instruments overhead scrambling his implants. Several guards had already rifled through his things and taken what little he had of value before leaving him to await the Inquisitors. Slowly he used the tip of his tongue to loosen his back molar. There was a quiet click before his augments came back on. The energy field was temporary but perhaps he could get a signal and make a call before the Inquisitors arrived.

The two Inquisitors arrived.

Unsurprisingly, one of them was the Gilded Lady, the other was a tall pureblood male wider than the door. He remained silent all the while staring at Theron as though he’d just been scraped from the bottom of his boot.

“You have been quite persistent. This isn’t the first time you’ve attempted to hold a meeting without an appointment,” her voice was somehow both muffled and amplified by the mask.

“The Gilded Lady herself,” he smirked as he braced himself for pain.

“And under all those bruises and a broken nose…Theron Shan, I presume.”

His smirk remained plastered on his face as he felt a cold chill run up his spine. It made sense that she would know his name, and yet it didn’t make it any less unsettling.

“Well, now that introductions are out of the way, I don’t suppose I could convince you to loosen the straps?”

“Indeed not,” she mused as she pondered over a tray of instruments. “You are a long way from home.”

“Yes, I’m aware. Your point?” he asked as nonchalantly as possible.

She finally made up her mind and picked up a needle filled with an acid green liquid.

“My point? What an unfortunate choice of words, but I believe, this point will do.”

TO BE CONTINUED!

________________________

Original Fictober Promp List HERE!

#Theron Shan #SWTOR #SWTOR OC Villain #The Gilded Lady

[sith-shenanigans]

there is something oddly funny about this death scene and I don't know what it is

it's the anticlimactic feeling to the whole thing, maybe

she's not letting him stall for time, and there are no last-minute turnarounds

the Spear just comes in and wrecks everything, and that's that

it makes sense, of course—we're not very far through the book, so this is an establishing scene for how dangerous the Spear is more than anything else

main takeaways: if I were not so tired this would have told me about how to write space battles, everyone has made some very iffy tactical decisions, and Darth Karrid/the Ascendant Spear is still the only true ship

#io reads annihilation