Last time, Calo Nord confronted us as we left the lair of the krayt dragon.
He isn't pleased, to say the least.
"Hey, asswipe! You were on a planet being demolished by the Sith! How the hell are you still walking?"
"I am hard to kill."
"You're not answering my question!"
"Rage is a hell of an anesthetic."
"Stop spewing action hero lines and explain something for once in your goddamn life biow- I mean- Calo!"
"The talking is over. Time to die."
"Hey! That's my line!"
We open up with a volley of lightning. This is, sadly, an easy boss fight. Calo is tough enough, but his fellow mooks are easily downed. You'd think that a guy able to survive the devestation of an entire planet would be tougher, but, sadly, he goes down with minimal effort.
"Go back to hell, you piece of shit."
"Questioning: Master, you have just killed the only known survivor of a planet devestated by a Sith Armada. Do you know what that means?"
"No, what?"
"Ego-stroking statement: You have more power at your fingertips than a Sith Armada."
"Oh, I knew that. It's pretty cool that it's official now, though. Come on."
We pry Calo Nord's body armor off his rotting corpse. It's one of the best suits of armor in the entire game. Canderous will be using it for the rest of the game, pretty much.
And so, we make our way back to Anchorhead. However, we stop in the Sand People encampment we destroyed last update, to talk to the Jawas we briefly met.
"Alright, go back to Anchorhead. I've killed the Sand People. But, if I don't get a just reward, I will massacre your entire race to get what I want."
On our way back, we spy this beauty.
Yeah, we saw the sandcrawler in the last update, but man, does it look good. It looks like a mix between Jabba's barge and a standard Sandcrawler. Chalk another one up for Bioware's art department. They've been doing such a good job, they might only have three colors left to draw with by 2012...
Finally, Anchorhead, and a goodbye to Tatooine, is in sight.
When we enter, we first speak to Iziz, leader of the local Jawas.
My god...the grammar...it's so bad...
"This one finds the honorable Jawa's grammar apalling."
"Shut up, Hanar! Go back to your own game!"
"This one reminds the psychopathic lady of the fourth wall."
"Fuck you!"
"This one must go now. Their home planet needs them."
"Well, that was bizarre. But you! You think you can get away with giving me this pittance! I demand more for my services!"
"Then i'll have to take it out of your hide!"
D'awww. He's like a kid in a candy store.
"YES WE KNOW I'M GOING TO THE DARK SIDE SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!"
"For more money. Simples."
We make our way back to our ship. However, we are accosted by a strange individual.
"Hey...what is this? What kind of con game are you trying to pull?"
"Um...thanks."
"O..k...That was weird..."
It gets even weirder when we do examine the datapad.
Cryptic. We'll resolve this eventually.
Before we go back to our ship, we stop into the Czerka corporation to trade in our Gaffi sticks.
"I have gaffi sticks to redeem for bounties."
"Yeah, here it is."
"Y'know, for a bit more, I could maintain my vigilance in the future."
Heh. Sucker. Alright, let's head back to our ship, at last.
"Hey, Varen?"
"What is it, Bastila?"
"Remember that cargo that weirdo loaded onto our ship?"
"Oh, yeah. I nearly forgot about that."
"Well... you might wanna brace yourself."
"WHAT. THE. FUCK IS THIS?"
"Observation: These are Gizka, master. They are small, reptilian creatures that could be found all across the galaxy. They breed incredibly quickly, and in large numbers."
Well, fuck. I thought I could be safe from Tribbles in the Star Wars universe, but, alas, it is not so. Sadly, we really can't do anything about them right now. Every time we cut them down, they return, more powerful than we could have possibly imagined. And more numerous.
Before we take off, we have another chat with Canderous.
"I was wondering if you had any more war stories."
"Duh. A good planet explosion, a few torture vids, and a few tissues constitutes a good night in, for me."
"I...I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."
"What do you mean?"
"Why? What happened?"
"What happened next?"
"A ship!"
Holy...fucking...shit. Mind=blown. This scene seems to imply that Canderous was responsible for the Yuuzhan Vong invasion.
For those of you unfamiliar, the Yuuzhan Vong are essentially the Star Wars equilivent of Reapers from Mass Effect. A strange mix between Zombies, Insects, and Shape Shifters, the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the galaxy 23 years after the events of Return of the Jedi. The ships the Yuuzhan Vong use are very similar to what Canderous seems to be describing. The New Jedi Order books, which were the books that cronichled the Yuuzhan Vong storyline, were just finishing up around this time, so this was serious shit back then.
...Well I thought it was interesting!
Before we continue our journey, let's have another chat with ol' HK-47.
"I wish to try repairing you some more."
"Let's get started!"
Unless you have a decent repair skill, you simply don't get access to these scenes. It's a shame that a lot of people won't get to see them, because they are rather entertaining.
"What's so intruiging?"
"And Assassination droids, it seems. Who am I kidding, what senator wouldn't want a personal assassin robot to do their bidding? Unless...did he know you were an Assassin droid?"
"I like this guy already."
Ah, yes, The three cornerstones of politics. Lies. Scandal. Assassinations.
Well, given the people we've seen who have become chancellor...
"Hey, guys! You should totally give me absolute power for some weak, poorly defined reason! Don't worry about my monstrous appearance, i'm totally trustworthy. By the way, I'm going to build a superweapon that can wipe out entire planets. Don't mind me! It definitely conforms to the Geneva Convention. No worries."
"You can do that? Aw, man. I have GOT to run for senate once all this is over."
"And...why would he do that?"
"Ah, yes. So his wife was cheating on him then? Good for her."
Who else wants a tv show about the wacky adventures of HK-47? I do! It may take over My Little Pont as the greatest internet phenomenon ever!
"So that's two out of two masters killed. Great. My prospects are looking good, at this rate."
"Well, it appears he got a conscience in the end. Idiot. I had my conscience removed when I was 12."
"Have you recovered any other memories?"
Woot. Thanks to these upgrades, HK is the best ranged combatant in the entire game, for my money.
We've got a couple more people to talk to before setting off. First, whiny ass #1: Carth Onasi.
"So. You were a prick the last time we talked."
Hit the nail on the head, Carth me old boy.
"Maybe you should pull yourself together so you won't be so useless."
Two for two. Keep em coming!
"You sure have."
"No, I won't. Just keep your mouth shut and do what you're told from now on."
Good news! We won't have to endure that for the rest of the game.
To be fair to Carth, he's not all bad. He does really grow as a character towards the end, but he's just so...SO...bad before then. We're told he's this great war hero, but all he does is whine a whole lot about his situation. And, if we delved deeper into his character, we'd find that there is a valid reason why he is a whiny sod. But, it's so poorly handed that it just comes across ham-fisted.
To be clear: I do not like Carth, but not because he is whiny. There are examples of "whiny" characters done rather well in the past, like Squall Leonheart, for example. Squall is a teenager, and at the same time we would be doing A levels and the like, he's off saving the world. It makes sense that, as a young, confused, and above all, immature boy, that his issues would manifest in this way. But Carth...Carth is a grown man. A good writer would have written Carth as a withdrawn, cautious person, afraid to speak his mind, afraid to let anyone get close. Instead, Carth just whines a lot about how he can't trust anyone. Weak.
Whew, rant over. Let's get on with things, shall we? Bastila wants to talk to us.
"You wish to speak to me?"
"What? You've been grading me?"
Oh, here we go...
"We're not going over this again, are we?"
"I know! Isn't it awesome?"
"Some men aren't after anything rational. Some men just want to watch the world burn. You can put me in that category."
Foreshadowing!
"Do whatever is required? Such as...?"
And, with that, our lecture ends. And thank the maker for that. Let's continue on.
I know what you're thinking. Yavin, Woodaba? I don't remember this place from KoTOR. Well, this place was patched into the game after release, and you'll soon see why you don't remember it. Away we go!
"Uh...hello? Anyone home?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm new. Very new."
"I work for the republic. Ostensibly."
"Eh. I've got no problems with the Republic. Hold on, let me unlock the door, so we can talk face to face to face."
He opens the door for us, kindly enough.
"I macguffins called "Star Maps", leading to something called the "Star Forge"."
"Exar Kun?"
"Enlighten me about this Exar Kun fella."
"Holy crap! Can I go to the temples?"
"Nope. Sorry. Yavin IV was cut from the game in the conceptual stage."
"Goddammit. You spend all your time in this station? Alone?"
"A box of tissues and a functioning internet connection are the only company I need."
"I...I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."
"You're an inventor?"
"Why did you come to the station?"
"So, you're from this system?"
"Did you get brought here?"
"Uh...no."
"Who were the baragwin?"
"Have any gadgets you'd be willing to sell me?"
He's got some real top-of-the-line stuff. Unfortunately, it isn't much use to us right now. However, we do grab a baragwin droid shield for HK-47, which will drastically increase his lifespan.
...and thats it. Nothing else to see. A high-end shop and some interesting lore. There really isn't anything else here, as far as I can remember. Ah, well. Time to continue!
Our destination: Dantooine. Why? Remember our stowaway? Time to resolve that.
We are accosted by a stranger after we disembark.
Ooh, I can't wait to see where this leads...
"Never mind her. She gets a little strumpy when people mention her brother."
She's in denial. All people with the name Griff are lazy assholes.
"Maybe he isn't who you thought he was, Mission."
"So, where is Griff now?"
"Really? We were just there. Ugh. I'm not going back there right now."
Ooh! Burn.
Photobomb level: Jedi.
Well, that was...interesting. But, we came here for one reason, and we shall do it.
"Fine. But you better not be wasting my time."
"Sasha? There is a stowaway on my ship by that name!"
"Yes, I am. She speaks only a smattering of Mandalorian, but I was able to figure it out."
"All right, you can come aboard. But no looking in my cabin. And don't step on the space frogs."
On board the Ebon Hawk...
"Lur arka na bads. Nuh-gisen laefsa, Sasha."
"It would be awesome if they could show their appreciation with money."
Unfortunately, they leave before we can extort them.
"...well, that's that. Goodbye, Sasha. I have to go mock Carth mercilessly."