Know your lore: Naga Sadow

Naga Sadow was a male Sith Lord, and renowned dark side magician during the days of the first Sith Empire. Sadow had ancestors among both humans and the Sith species of the planet Ziost. He rose to prominence in the final days of the Sith Golden Age, when Marka Ragnos, the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, passed away, leaving the mantle of Dark Lord vacant. During Ragnos' funeral, Sadow engaged in a duel with rival Sith Lord Ludo Kressh for Ragnos' title, only to have their contest ended by the spectre of the deceased Dark Lord himself. After a brief admonition, the ghost departed while issuing a warning to both Sadow and Kressh, stating that the fate of the Sith Empire hung on the balance of their decision on how to proceed with leadership of the Sith people.

However, the unexpected arrival of two Hyperspace-traveling siblings on Korriban, Gav and Jori Daragon, immediately spurred Sadow's progressive nature. Seeing them as passports to an ideal opportunity for conquest of the Galactic Republic from which they originated, Sadow masterminded a plot that resulted in his ascendance to Dark Lord of the Sith, with many of the lesser Sith Lords swearing fealty to him—save Ludo Kressh and those loyal to him. Kressh in turn gathered his own followers, and made an attempt on Sadow's life, striking at his decoy-fortress on the planet of Khar Delba in error. Kressh's attack was thus fruitless, and his forces were defeated by those of Naga Sadow. Now the undisputed ruler of the Sith Empire, Sadow allowed one of the alien travelers, Jori, to return home in feigned earnest; he was in truth allowing the girl to unwittingly lead his forces directly to the Republic.



Daragon made her way to the Empress Teta system to warn the Republic of the impending Sith invasion, but the Sith fleet emerged from hyperspace before an ample defense could be mustered. Leading the Sith forces from his personal meditation sphere, Sadow gave command of his flagship to Gav Daragon, and the Sith launched attacks against various unsuspecting Republic worlds. However, Sadow was betrayed by Gav when he fired upon the Dark Lord's sphere and interrupted his meditations, causing the illusions he had been projecting to fade. The tide of battle immediately turned in favor of the Republic as the bulk of Sadow's forces simply disappeared, and the war ultimately lost to the invaders. His fleet in shambles, Sadow then fled back to Sith space, where he engaged in a final battle with Ludo Kressh, one that resulted in the latter's death. Under the forces of Empress Teta, the Republic followed Sadow to his Empire, in an attempt to destroy the remaining Sith, once and for all. Sadow fled to Yavin 4 with his remaining Massassi warriors, where he hoped to rebuild the Empire.

Failing in his goal, Sadow entered a Sith sarcophagus to wait for someone to seek him out to continue the Sith Empire. 600 years later the fallen Jedi Freedon Nadd arrived on Yavin 4, awakening Sadow's spirit. After he learnt all he could, Nadd destroyed Sadow's spirit and left Yavin 4 to rule over the planet Onderon as the new Dark Lord of the Sith.

Biography

The death of Marka Ragnos
Naga Sadow lived circa 5,000 BBY, 20,000 years after the formation of the Old Republic. Sadow was descended from the Dark Jedi who had fled the Republic after the Hundred-Year Darkness, with only minimal Sith blood to dilute his Human lineage.

As Sadow grew, he was trained by the Sith Lord Simus, one-time rival of Marka Ragnos. Sadow would develop his own rivalry with fellow Sith Lord Ludo Kressh, leading to severe confrontations between the two several times. After the death of Marka Ragnos, the two Sith Lords emerged as favorites to succeed him as Dark Lord. During the funeral of Ragnos on Korriban, Sadow and Kressh engaged in a duel of Sith swords, after a disagreement as to who would better serve the Empire as Dark Lord. They were interrupted by the spirit of Marka Ragnos, who told of a great past and an uncertain future for the Sith Empire, encouraging the Sith to band together.

Moments later, hyperlane mappers Gav and Jori Daragon arrived, hoping to establish a trade relationship with the Republic. They were quickly captured and sent to the underground Sith prison on Ziost soon after.

Fate of the Daragons
Naga Sadow, meeting with nine other Sith Lords on Ziost, the central world of the Sith Empire, discussed the Daragon's ultimate fate. Ludo Kressh demanded that they be killed immediately, citing that they would return to the Republic, which would attack with a large military force. As was usually the case between the two, Naga Sadow (along with his former master Simus) passionately disagreed with Kressh, outlining the possibilities of keeping them as prisoners to his fellow Sith. Precisely what he said at that point is unknown, though it apparently won over many of those present.

Sadow later sent a group of his loyal Massassi guards to the impound dock of Ziost, where the Daragons' ship, the Starbreaker 12, was being held, to steal a distinct Republic blaster from the cargo hold. He gathered tens, possibly hundreds, of his Massassi and infiltrated the Ziost prison, freeing the Daragons, killing anyone in their way, including Sadow's former mentor Simus. After purposefully leaving the Republic blaster behind, Naga took the Daragons to his private fortress on Khar Shian, the moon of Khar Delba.



Dark Lord of the Sith
Naga Sadow returned to Ziost to find a meeting underway regarding the recent attack. The other Sith Lords, most of all Ludo Kressh, were angered by the apparent Republic rescue of Gav and Jori Daragon, and Sadow, pretending to be shocked at the death of Simus, insisted that they must retaliate against the Republic. Further, he insisted that he be crowned the new Dark Lord of the Sith, promising to not falter in the face of the "new threat." He was unanimously (with the exception of Ludo Kressh) given this title, and was soon given the ceremonial circular mark on his forehead to signify this.

It was around this time that Naga Sadow transported Jori Daragon to his decoy fortress on Khar Shian's host planet of Khar Delba, to isolate the siblings from each other. His aim in doing this was to begin teaching Gav Daragon ancient Sith magic, sensing his innate strength in the Force. Before long, Gav began forming images out of thin air, noting the dissimilarity between it and what the Jedi attempted to teach him when he was a child.

Naga Sadow once again sent his Massassi to Ziost, this time to capture the Daragons' starship, the Starbreaker 12, and transport it to Khar Delba. In the bloody massacre that preceded the ship's commandeering, the Massassi once more left behind a clue, this one being Naga Sadow's emblem. It wasn't long after this that, upon seeing the evidence left behind, Ludo Kressh attacked Sadow's decoy fortress on Khar Delba.

 Naga Sadow duels Ludo Kressh for the mantle of Dark Lord.

Ludo Kressh, along with allied Sith Lords Dor Gal-ram and Horak-mul, bombarded the icy planet with a large fleet of battleships. Naga Sadow, planting a homing beacon on the Starbreaker 12, encouraged Jori Daragon to flee to safety. She was hesitant to leave without her brother, but Naga was able to convince her to leave. After confirming her leap to hyperspace, the Dark Lord called upon his fleet on Khar Shian, surprising and overwhelming Kressh's forces. Naga Sadow, with the press of a button, commanded apparent Massassi spies on Horak-mul and Dor Gal-ram's ships to kill their captains, and they did so without question. Following this and brutal attacks from the Khar Shian fleet, Ludo Kressh had no choice but to retreat.

Later, as Naga Sadow's Massassi workers attempted to repair the considerable damage done to the Dark Lord's decoy fortress, Gav Daragon was transported to Khar Delba at Sadow's request. Once he arrived, Naga Sadow began to convince him to assist the Sith Empire in his invasion of the Republic; Gav, tied up in the whereabouts of his sister, was easily manipulated. Shortly thereafter, during a meeting in the Dark Lord's war room, what was unbeknownst to Naga Sadow a decoy fleet of ships arrived at the fortress on Khar Delba, relaying a hologram message of Ludo Kressh. Sadow ordered Gav to press a button on the wall, causing what would seem to be Kressh's flagship to explode. Ignoring Gav's shock from killing someone, Naga Sadow began preparing his forces for their invasion.

Assistance in his war effort came from all across the Sith Empire, perhaps most notably from Ch'hodos and its ruler, Sith Lord Shar Dakhan. Gathering a massive fleet of warships, each carrying thousands of Massassi warriors and gigantic war beasts retrieved from various Sith worlds. The Dark Lord himself sat in his comparatively small meditation sphere, ominously shaped like an eye. As his fleet converged over Khar Shian, Naga Sadow appointed Gav Daragon to Commander of the attack on Koros Major, Gav's home planet. And with that, the fleet made the jump to hyperspace, prepared for anything the Republic might throw at them.

Naga Sadow, with his fortress and Sith Meditation Sphere behind him

The Great Hyperspace War
The Sith fleet's first encounter was with the Starbreaker 12, under new ownership of Ssk Kahorr, who had recently gotten it as recompense for damages done to his business by Jori Daragon. The Sith promptly destroyed the Starbreaker 12, and Sadow assured Gav, who feared for his sister, that there were no Human lifeforms aboard. Gav's ships then made their way to Koros Major, with Naga Sadow traveling to the massive star Primus Goluud to meditate.

From here, Sadow formed great illusions on the battlefields of Koros Major, Coruscant and Kirrek, creating mirages of war beasts and Massassi troops, weakening the resolve in his Jedi and Republic opponents, as well as those planets' civilians. This meditation was eventually interrupted by Gav Daragon, who, piloting one of his capital ships, fired upon the Dark Lord's meditation sphere, breaking his concentration and causing his magical illusions to fade, eventually leading to Sith defeats on all three planets.

Naga Sadow lured Gav to his meditation sphere, asking to discuss the matter peacefully. Gav agreed, taking his personal shuttle to the damaged craft, but the Dark Lord was gone by the time he arrived. As a small fleet of Koros ships, commanded by Empress Teta herself, and including Jori Daragon, arrived, Gav transmitted coordinates to the Sith Empire to the Empress, citing that all of their defenses were   away invading the Republic. Moments later, the regrouped Sith fleet led by Naga Sadow arrived, apparently focusing the Force through his flagship into Primus Goluud before withdrawing to hyperspace. As explosions started to ripple all over the supergiant, Gav yelled at Jori to leave, and reluctantly, she and the opposing fleets did so just before the star went nova.

The Dark Lord's fleet came out of hyperspace over Korriban, and were quickly confronted by a large contingent of Ludo Kressh's ships. Ludo Kressh declared himself the new Dark Lord of the Sith, casting Naga Sadow out of the Sith Empire forever. A brief space battle ensued between the two, until Naga Sadow crashed one of his own ships into Ludo's flagship, killing the self-proclaimed Dark Lord.

Moments later, Empress Teta's forces arrived above Korriban, and attacked Sadow's fleet. The Koros ships quickly took advantage, crippling the Dark Lord's flagship. As a last resort, Naga Sadow ordered the Massassi on two of his ships to kill their captains, forming a barricade between himself and the Republic ships. A small squadron of starfighters followed Sadow however, but he once again used the Force to manipulate solar flares, this time on the nearby Denarii stars, causing them as well to go nova, destroying the starfighters and their pilots. Empress Teta, presuming Sadow to have died in the explosion, recalled her fleet and returned to Koros Major.

Naga Sadow, with his lone ship, retreated to the remote moon of Yavin 4, fourth moon of Yavin Prime. It was here that he conducted alchemical experiments on his Massassi warriors, causing them to mutate from red-skinned Humanoids into fearsome, savage, hunchbacked predators. Despite these abuses, his Massassi slaves treated him like a god, building huge temples to honor their Sith Lord. Naga Sadow had hopes of reconstructing a new base to form a new Sith Empire, but this was never realized by him. However, another Dark Lord, who managed to escape in the Unknown Regions, laterrebuilt the Empire and even attacked the Republic more than a thousand years later.

Legacy of the Dark Lord
Sadow encased himself in a suspended animation chamber, beneath the focusing chamber of a primary temple, where he remained in a coma-like trance for centuries, waiting for someone to call upon his power and continue the history of the Sith. He remained in suspended animation until 4,400 BBY, when a dark-hearted Jedi named Freedon Nadd arrived on Yavin 4, awakening Sadow's spirit. Nadd learned the ways of the Sith from Sadow's spirit and King Adas's Holocron and then attempted to destroy Naga Sadow's spirit after gleaning information about Sith Sorcery and plundering Sadow’s vaults for Sith artifacts. Nadd then traveled to the planet Onderon, which he conquered and made his own; there he proclaimed himself the new Dark Lord of the Sith.

During Sadow's reign the Sith constructed a tomb for him on Korriban. Though there is no indication that he ever occupied it, the tomb did house a Star Map left behind by the Infinite Empire. During the Great Hunt, Shaela Nuur died in this tomb while fighting two terentateks. This tomb was later used by the Sith Academy Master Uthar Wynn as a final test for Sith hopefuls to join the Sith Order, in which a student would have to retrieve a lightsaber from the farthest room in the tomb, where the Star Map was located. Here it was that Revan and Malak found the Star Map, and later Revan returned after his memory was wiped to again find the Star Map. During his second visit Revan may also have recovered a powerful poison blade. After Revan retrieved the Star Map and the lightsaber, he killed Master Uthar Wynn as Wynn's treacherous apprentice, Yuthura Ban, looked on. Revan also defeated Ban in a duel immediately afterward, but spared her life and allowed her to return to the light. The tomb was also later visited by the Jedi Exile, though she could not enter it as its door was blocked.

Eison Gynt, possessed by Naga Sadow

In 3,756 BBY, Jedi Master Barel Ovair and his Padawan Eison Gynt traveled to Yavin IV to explore Sadow's tomb. The Jedi found that Sadow's Massassi warriors survived the bombardment of the moon during the Great Sith War, and were promptly attacked by the beasts. They fled inside the temple, and only Ovair returned to Coruscant. The Jedi Master lied in his report to the Jedi Council that Gynt was killed. Gynt was still alive, and was eventually possessed by Sadow's spirit. Using the Padawan's body, the Dark Lord reached Coruscant years later, and fought Ovair, but lost. Later, Jedi historian Gnost-Dural ascertained that Ovair was in reality a Sith, who infiltrated the Jedi Order. His orders from the Sith Emperor were to seal Naga Sadow's spirit, so that the dead Dark Lord would not interfere with the Emperor's plans.



This article uses material from the "Naga Sadow" article on the Star Wars wiki at Wikia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike Licens

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May the schwartz be with you: Ewok Karaoke

Forget singing hits from Journey, Madonna and Lady Gaga. What fans really want is to sing the Ewok celebration song! Here is an excerpt from the newly remastered "Return of the Jedi."

Side note: Wookies aren’t that good at karaoke. They tend to drive everyone else out of the bar.

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Playable Species of SW:TOR - Twi'lek

Fridays Star Wars the old republic update gave us an insight to the first companion  - the Twi'lek Vette. Therefor we will continue our Species of Starwars column with an inside to this colorful species.

Twi'leks (pronounced /'twilɛk/) were an omnivorous humanoid species originating from the planet Ryloth. They tended to eat cultivated molds, fungi, and rycrit meat. Their distinctive features included colorful skin, which varied in pigment from individual to individual, and a pair of shapely prehensile tentacles that grew from the base of their skulls. The tentacles, called "brain-tails," "lekku," "tchun-tchin," or "head-tails" are advanced organs used for communication and cognitive functions. Twi'leks possessed a fairly standard humanoid vocal structure and were capable of learning most alien languages; however, they usually preferred their native language of Ryl, which incorporated subtle movement of the lekku. When they wished, they could even communicate in complete secrecy using their versatile brain-tails. Twi'lek females were often used as slaves or dancers because of their beauty.

Biology and appearance
The two most striking features of a Twi'lek were their broad range of skin coloration within the species, and pair of brain-tails. The brain tails, also called "tchun-tchin" or "lekku", protruded down the back of the skull and contained part of a Twi'lek's brain. The very word "Twi'lek" is believed to be derived from semi-Basic "twin lekku." A Twi'lek's brain-tails served many purposes in their daily lives and culture, storing fat and being used as erogenous zones. The Twi'lek's native language of Ryl was spoken using a combination of words and subtle movements of the lekku. Newborn Twi'leks had no lekku, as they presumably grow out during childhood.

A Twi'lek's brain-tails were highly sensitive, and grabbing them forcefully was so painful that it could easily incapacitate almost any Twi'lek. Sometimes, damage to the brain-tails caused lasting damage to the Twi'lek's brain. They could be replaced by cybernetics, however, as in the case of Rianna Saren.

Long or shapely lekku were considered great status symbols, and often went hand-in-hand with respect, influence, and wealth. A Twi'lek's brain-tails could be likened to phallic symbols, and for both sexes, larger lekku brought with them some indistinct positive connotations.

heir brain-tails were a source of great pride to Twi'leks, especially when confronted by other species. The name "tchun-tchin" actually referred to each lekku—'"tchun" being the left lekku and "tchin" the right. In casual conversation the Twi'leks would usually refer to their lekku as "tchun" or "tchin."

The range of possible Twi'lek skin colors was extremely diverse, including green, orange, brown, yellow, blue, gray, pink, black, white, red, and purple, all in varying shades and hues. Other types of Twi'leks included the particularly rare turquoise-skinned Twi'leks, known as Rutian Twi'leks, and the rarest red pigment of the Lethan Twi'leks, whose skin color was caused by a mutation of the genetic code. Some Twi'leks took to dyeing their skin to produce a pattern, as did the dancer Ayy Vida.

Males had humanoid ears, and among females there is equal biological evidence for humanoid ears and ear "cones". While some headdresses were cultural decoration to denote status, quite a few were originally introduced as "muzzles" to prevent the slaves from having access to a language that non-Twi'lek handlers could not understand.

Both males and females lacked body hair, with the only notable exception being eyelashes to aid in keeping out the sand and heat of Ryloth. Females typically had painted eyebrows or had their eyebrows tattooed on, in order to appear more palatable and less alien to more base-line humanoid offworlders. Boc Aseca had body hair under the armpits and on his chest, though it is unknown whether this was the result of some genetic mutation, a rare subspecies, or something else.
Female Twi'leks have been considered especially attractive and slender, which made them favorite subjects for slavery and entertainment. The beauty of female Twi'leks was well known throughout the galaxy, and as a result many young Twi'leks were sold into slavery, becoming dancers or status symbols, most notably by Jabba Desilijic Tiure. The usual ugliness of the males was also well known.

Society and culture
The natural grace and exotic beauty of the female Twi'leks made them a popular target among slave traders. Many Twi'leks actually encouraged the slave market on their own planet. Some saw it as a chance to make money by kidnapping or selling orphaned children, while others saw slavery as a way of saving children from growing up in Ryloth's harsh environment. A number of Twi'leks believed that slavery was an efficient way to proliferate their species and preserve their culture, as the Twi'leks lacked their own means of inter-planetary travel. Regardless of how it came about, many Twi'leks lived as slaves or entertainers and were considered status symbols, especially the females of rarer skin hues: the Rutian and Lethan Twi'leks. Twi'leks that managed to escape from captivity usually turned to a life of thievery, with both genders making use of their powers of seduction.

While many Twi'leks lived their lives as merchants or even criminals, the race also had a proud and honorable warrior tradition. It was Twi'lek warriors who invented the Chir'daki, or Deathseed, starfighters that married the TIE Fighter cockpit to the S-foils of the X-wing starfighter as well as using a rotation system similar to what allowed the B-wing starfighter. During the Bacta War, Twi'lek warriors assisted Wedge Antilles in the fight against Ysanne Isard.


The clothing of Twi'leks depended on their gender. While most male Twi'leks wore long, loose robes, female Twi'leks typically wore tighter, more revealing clothing to maintain their elegant figures and enhance their value to males. Twi'lek dance costumes were typically made up of silky veils that clung to their bodies, although other kinds were used, such as a revealing net costume Oola once wore.


When meeting a stranger or guest for the first time Twi'leks will usually exchange gifts or something else as a welcome. When welcoming a large number of beings they will usually throw a party and use their traditional dances as entertainment. It is as Cham Syndulla once said, "it is customary to share what we do have."

Twi'leks when on Ryloth live in simple mud brick dwellings that protect them for the scorching heat of their homeworld. They often decorate them with native textiles and simple things. When in a city Twi'leks use more galactic standard dwellings with technology though they are still modified to survive Ryloth's environment.



Government
Twi'lek society was divided into clans, with each clan having its own city. Each city had its own government, which was led by a five-member head-clan. These five Twi'leks would lead the society in all matters until one member of the head-clan died. At that point, the remaining members of the head-clan would be cast out into the barren landscape on the day-side of the planet, presumably to die, thus allowing the next generation to take over. If the next generation was not yet ready to claim their inherited positions, then a set of regents would be selected to rule until the proper time.



This article uses material from the "Twi'lek" article on the Star Wars wiki at Wikia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike Licens

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R2-D2 Builders at Maker Faire

Every year robot builders, inventors, MythBusters and craftsters gather for a giant celebration of science geekery called Maker Faire.

And you can’t have a robot gathering without our friends the Bay Area R2 Builders Group showing up to inspire Star Wars fans of all ages to make their own astromech sidekick.

The astromechs were out in full force spinning, whirring and beeping at the crowd that constantly followed the R2 units or came to visit them in the robot area of the fair. Even amongst the other iconic robots from Lost in Space and The Forbidden Planet, and the impressive Tesla Coils, the R2 Builders were the real stars of the fair.

Every time I follow around R2 and his makers around Comic-Con, WonderCon, Celebration, and Maker Faire, I love to see kids pose with, hug, kiss, pet and even have full conversations with R2-D2. He might just be the most lovable robot in the galaxy.


Check out R2-D2 in action:

 





PHOTOS: R2-D2 Builders at Bay Area Maker Faire.

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Companions and Sith Advanced Class Details Revealed for SWTOR

It's Friday again and that means its time for another BioWare update for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Most of what this Friday update brings has already been revealed over the last day by other sites (particularly IGN and GameSpot), but it's nice the see on the official site regardless. And with a few new snippets here and there (such as a new biography page).

This week's update is all about those lovable little companions players will get symbolic of the Han and Chewie relationship. If you want to know how these companions will help your character develop there is a whole wealth of information now available on the Companions page.

Every Star Wars™ hero needs a companion. Han has Chewie, Luke has R2-D2 — even Jabba has the cackling monkey lizard Salacious B. Crumb. These characters will complement your strengths or weaknesses, and provide company for the epic journey you will inevitably undertake. Whether they’re combative, friendly, flirtatious, or even just good for a laugh, they always contribute to your development and serve as a sounding board for your choices. In Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, a variety of these Companion Characters will join your cause.

Learn more about Companion Characters and how they can shape and enhance your game play by visiting the Game Systems section!

If companions aren't something you care for perhaps more news from the dark side will help brighten your day. Two Advanced Classes for the Sith Warrior have been revealed: The Juggernaut and the Marauder. Along with the new Sith Warrior details comes one of its companions - Vette and a nice new Sith Warrior video.

Wondering how you will be able to customize the Sith Warrior to fit your specific play style? We are excited to confirm the two Advanced Classes for the Sith Warrior: The Juggernaut and the Marauder! Whether you want to charge into the fray as a Juggernaut, punishing your adversaries while protecting your allies, or slice through enemy ranks with two Lightsabers and unmatched aggression, the Advanced Classes system in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ will give you the power to match your play style.

In conjunction with the Companion Character section released today, we present you with one of the Sith Warrior’s Companions – Vette! You can learn more about this known associate on the Sith Warrior page or by accessing Vette’s biography.

Check out the newly updated HoloNet to get details about the Advanced Classes available to the Sith Warrior. Also be sure to visit the media section for a new video featuring the Sith Warrior as well as some screenshots showing the Juggernaut and Marauder in action!

What connects the two updates is a new biography entry, that of the Sith Warrior's Companion character Vette. Here's the description from her HoloNet entry:

Slave, Treasure Hunter, Survivor

Few people have seen as much of the galaxy as Vette and few have had as little control of their destiny. Born a slave on the occupied world of Ryloth, Vette was separated from her family at an early age and sold to a series of minor crime lords. When legendary pirate lord Nok Drayen utterly destroyed her latest owner's holdings, Vette and the other slaves were given their choice of freedom or joining up with Nok. Vette became a pirate, travelling the known worlds and learning to get in and out of places she wasn't allowed.

Years later Nok Drayen mysteriously and suddenly released all of his people from service. Vette was left on Nar Shaddaa where she joined up with other young, idealistic Twi'leks and used her criminal abilities to rob and ruin those who exploited Ryloth's cultural artifacts and people. An unquenchable spark, Vette is older than her years but far from mature, delighting in silly pranks and always ready to laugh at people who think too much of themselves.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic Sith Warrior Video

Bioware have leaked a recruitment video for the Sith Warrior. So far it has only been available in low quality at gamespot, but I manage to snitch a high quality version and uploaded it to youtube:



As nail-biting as the trailer is, that is not all. Notice at 1:15 of this exciting video trailer, the Sith Warrior is driving a speeder bike. What does this mean? Are players going to have vehicles in SWTOR? We do not have the answer, but given the footage in this trailer, the answer looks positive.

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IGN Interviews BioWare on Companions

IGN has an intresting interview with James Ohlen about the companions in Star Wars: The Old Republic:

 IGNPC: Companions have been part of BioWare games from Mincs to Liara. How has the role or design of companions evolved over the years? How will The Old Republic improve on the existing companion systems? What have you learned about players' expectations for the companions?

James Ohlen: Companions have evolved a lot since the days of Minsc and Baldur's Gate. In Baldur's Gate the companion characters we created were limited to voice over barks and a little bit of story. In Baldur's Gate 2 we expanded that significantly, adding the ability for players to get to know his companion through intricate conversation trees, companion centered quest lines and romances. Occasionally we wouldn't have companions as part of our initial design (Neverwinter Nights and Jade Empire were examples of that), but we'd always add them back because companions had become such a staple of our games. In fact, Mass Effect 2 has a storyline that is focused primarily on the collection of companion characters.

With Star Wars: The Old Republic we had to solve for the fact that this is the first Bioware (MMO)RPG that is entirely real time. All of our previous RPGs allow the player to pause the game. We have had to approach how a player controls his companion much differently than before.

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KOTOR the Movie part II : Veil of the Dark Side by Kaydon Sentry

Kaydon Sentry's adaptation of the video game "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" continues in this second installment of the film franchise.

The crew of the Ebon Hawk travel to Manaan and Tatooine in search of the next Star Maps - artifacts that will lead them to the Star Forge, the Sith Empire's center of power.

As Logan and Bastila trace the paths of Revan and Malak, they discover more about each other, and the bond that connects them...


Director(s): Kaydon Sentry
Writer(s): Kaydon Sentry and Vadakin
Genre: Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Drama
Runtime: 2h, 18min and 13 seconds
Country, language: USA, English
Website

Veil of the Dark side follows where the prequel left off. Malak's Sith forces continues to wage war against the peaceful, and fragile Republic. The crew of the Ebon Hawk are still on the hunt for the missing Star Maps on Manaan and Tatooine.

New allies are introduced, that one way or another helps the struggle against the fierce Sith. Combined, they prove a dangerous enemy to Malak. The film offers a variety of situations, environments, and enemies that our heroes must face - and survive. If you've played the game you might, even so, be surprised at times. Additional footage, visual effects and animations are added to make the very best of it, and bring you a new and improved experience of Knights of the Old Repbulic.

It's an experience you aren't allowed to miss. . .

If you missed part one you can watch it here


 


DVD TORRENT

Kaydon has included a readme file with some basic information, I didn't get any audio when viewing it in Windows Media Player (it came up automatically) - I probably don't have the proper audio codec. But it worked fine in Power DVD. If you're having trouble viewing the DVD in VLC (which is what I use), use the "open folder" function to open the VIDEO_TS folder, or just play VIDEO_TS.IFO with VLC.


DvD Direct Download - Part 1/2

DvD Direct Download - Part 2/2

Steps:

1. Download the two .rar files
2. Extract them (it's enough just to extract one and your program takes care of the rest) using WinRar or 7-zip.
3. Burn the .iso to a dvd/mount it.
4. Watch it using VLC!

.AVI (TORRENT)

The .avi is 1.40 GB precisely, by popular demand. Aspect ratio is 16:9, with slight letterboxing due to the subtitles. It's compressed with DivX, so you'll need the most recent update of that codec to play it properly. I recommend VLC Media Player for best viewing results.


YouTube

PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
PART 6
PART 7
PART 8
PART 9
PART 10
PART 11
PART 12
PART 13
PART 14
PART 15
PART 16


Enjoy!

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Planets of Star Wars: Hoth

Hoth was the sixth planet of the remote Hoth system. A desolate world covered with ice and snow, located in the Anoat sector, a rarely-traveled portion of the Outer Rim Territories, it became famous as the one-time location of the Alliance to Restore the Republic's Echo Base during the Galactic Civil War. It was discovered in 3 ABY by the Empire, causing the Battle of Hoth, a major engagement that destroyed the Rebels' base and gave them heavy casualties.



Description
Located on the fringe of the Ivax Nebula in the Anoat Sector of the Greater Javin along the Ison Corridor, Hoth orbited the blue-white star Hoth on a wide elliptical orbit. Beyond Hoth was a large asteroid belt, known as the Hoth Asteroid Field, from which small asteroids regularly broke off, crashing onto Hoth's surface as meteorites.

The planet consisted of a molten metallic core with dichotomous crust. Its surface was entirely covered by a frozen ocean, except where volcanic fissures opened up steam vents, depositing rock and minerals in darker patches on the glacier plains. A few mountain ranges pierced the permanent ice shelves, some being geologically active. The tidal pull of Hoth's three nameless moons caused fissures in the ice-layers, sending jets of ocean water into the freezing Hoth air. The intense cold froze these jets into spires of ice, suspending primitive ocean algae within these tall columns and glaciers. Massive oceanic currents beneath the southern hemisphere caused regular seismic activity, resulting in a constantly shifting landscape of caves and tunnels. Buried deep in Hoth's equatorial region was a fissure, reaching hundreds of meters towards the core of the planet. In this area never exposed to Hoth's blue-white sun was a cache of lumni-spice, a rare fungal growth.

Its orbit and axial tilt resulted in consistently icy weather patterns. Daytime temperatures reached levels unbearable to most species and rarely rose above freezing, even in the planet's relatively mild equatorial regions. The gale force winds and intense snowstorms that regularly wracked the windswept surface magnified the extreme cold of Hoth.

The frigid biosphere included a minimal food chain: the predator wampas, the omnivorous tauntauns, the herbivorous Hoth hogs, a few rodent species, including snowmice and ice scrabblers, and iceworms, lichens, and Dragon Slugs.

The average planetary temperature was around -61ºC; however at Echo Base, located near the planet's equator in the northern hemisphere, daytime temperatures could reach -32ºC; however night-time temperatures got as low as -60.

History
Hoth's existence was known throughout the galaxy as early as 4,000 BBY. The swamp wampas of Dromund Kaas were proven by scientists to be descended from the wampas of Hoth. It is possible that wampas were brought to Dromund Kaas during the Great Galactic War though the truth remains a mystery. Indeed the Republic suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Empire during that conflict. The two fleets included some of the most advanced warships available, and the Republic lost several valuable prototype vessels in the engagement. The battle showered the planet's surface with hundreds of shipwrecks, but neither side possessed the resources to recover them. By the time of the Cold War, pirates began efforts to salvage the wreckage, but their efforts were contested with the onset of competing efforts by the Republic and Empire.

Hoth again became a battlefield in the New Sith Wars, During that conflcit, a battle occurred bewteen Jedi and Sith forces on the ice world.

The planet was not entirely unknown to the galaxy at large. The trans-system data storage library on the planet Halowan contained a substantial amount of information concerning the Hoth system and the planet's geography. While still relatively unknown and rarely visited, Hoth was occasionally frequented by pirates and smugglers who took advantage of its remote location, using the ice planet as a base. Even prior to his inclusion with the Rebellion, Han Solo was already familiar with Hoth from his days as a smuggler. The Mon Calamari smuggler Salmakk and his crew used one of Hoth's ice caverns as a base for several years prior to the Alliance's presence there. He and his group were chased away from Hoth by Solo after failing to capture him, hoping to collect the bounty placed on his head by Jabba the Hutt. The smuggler Raskar, leader of the Pirates of Iridium, attempted to seize a valuable cache of lumni-spice before the Alliance settled on Hoth, but was chased off by a dragon slug. A group of failed stormtroopers attempted to start a hunting business there, but were all supposedly killed by a group of wampas.

The Alliance first learned of Hoth when then Lieutenant Commander Luke Skywalker and C-3PO crash-landed on the planet. After the last remnants of Rebel forces evacuated the Yavin system, Skywalker made a daring escape through the Imperial blockade of Yavin 4, plunging his ship into the vapor-trail of a transdimensional cometary body. His starship was caught in the hyperstream of the comet, and was dragged to the Hoth system. Skywalker was saved from certain death after being trapped in a Hoth blizzard by a young woman named Frija Torlock. Skywalker was given sanctuary by the woman's father, Lexhannen Torlock, an Imperial governor. However, he soon learned that the two were in actuality human replica droids of the real Torlocks, hiding from the Empire on Hoth. Fearful of organic beings, the elder Torlock intended to kill Skywalker. However, in the attempt, he accidentally shot and destroyed his daughter. He was then cut down by the young Jedi's lightsaber. Skywalker and C-3PO managed to escape the planet after sending a transmission, answered by Han Solo aboard the Millennium Falcon. He later recommended Hoth to Alliance High Command as a possible relocation site.

Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, the Habassa also hinted to the Rebellion the Hoth system as a possible candidate for relocation.

The Rebellion's first official involvement on Hoth came in 1 ABY when Alliance High Command agreed to use the planet as their headquarters. The Alliance Corps of Engineers, under the command of Major Kem Monnon and supervised by Major Bren Derlin, descended on the ice planet to begin construction of High Command's new base of operations. Monnon's engineers took over the remains of the caverns once used by Salmakk for his smuggling operation, expanding the facilities considerably. The base was built in the northern hemisphere on the only livable temperate band near the equator. Construction on the new Echo Base was completed in 2 ABY. Aside from its remote location and near unbearable temperatures making it an unlikely candidate for Imperial probing, Hoth was an ideal location because of the asteroid belt that surrounded the system, providing a difficult barrier for approaching ships.Additionally, the ever shifting caverns meant that it would be easy to move the base within the planet.

The Rebellion operated out of Echo Base for about one year before it was discovered by the Empire in 3 ABY. An Arakyd Viper probe droid, launched to Hoth from the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Stalker, attached to Darth Vader's Death Squadron, reported the location of the base to the Imperial Navy. Vader and his fleet of Star Destroyers soon arrived in Hoth's orbit, deploying a large invasion force to the planet's surface. The Battle of Hoth ensued between the two forces, resulting in a crushing Rebel defeat. Those Rebels lucky enough to survive the battle evacuated the planet. The debris of the battlefield attracted the scavenger Arns Grimraker.

During the battle, a group of eighteen Rebels deemed most valuable to the Alliance's cause jettisoned from the disabled GR-75 medium transport Bright Hope back to Hoth's surface aboard an escape pod. They were forced to survive on Hoth for more than a month before a rescue party led by Commander Toryn Farr was dispatched to recover them.

After the ground battle in 3 ABY, Hoth returned to a world of obscurity, visited mostly by poachers, smugglers, xenobiologists, and the occasional tourist. An Imperial Correctional Center was established on the planet, which became known for its harsh conditions; it was said no inmate survived more than three years there before freezing to death. In 5 ABY, the imposter of Kadann sentenced Grand Moff Dunhausen to four years imprisonment at the Center. The Empire captured numerous wampas and from their base stock bioengineered the cliff wampas which the Imperials used to guard their facilities on Gal



This article uses material from the "Hoth" article on the Star Wars wiki at Wikia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike Licens

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Preventing knee-jerk ragequitting through marketing machinations? Sean "Dragons" Stalzer explains.

In D-Mail #1, The Syndicate Guildmaster and CEO Sean "Dragons" Stalzer explained his passion for building strong online communities and reasoned that these communities and the "business brains" behind online games have many of the same interests at heart. This week, in D-Mail #2: Knee Jerk Reactions, Sean looks at how game developers can slow down ragequit-prone guildmates before they do something rash, and do it through, of all things, clever marketing gimmicks?
Sean explains:

In the real world we weigh the pros and cons of a decision more carefully than many players do in the virtual world. So we can often see examples of ill-conceived decisions or solutions to a perceived issue that were not well thought-out. It is in those moments that communities can tear themselves apart and, once destroyed, the developer and the player suffers the results. So when I read the recent news from Bioware, it was with a mind to increasing social attachment to games that I viewed their idea and how it perhaps could be adapted to have a positive impact on MMORPGs.

What was BioWare's most recent stroke of genius, according to Sean? To find out, read Sean Stalzer's D-Mail #2: Knee Jerk Reactions, at Ten Ton Hammer!

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Leveling is, let's face it, ridiculous... ?!?

There has been an ongoing thread on the official forums this past week entitled "Leveling is, let's face it, ridiculous" that has garnered quite a bit of attention. It became so popular in fact that the Lead Combat Designer Damion Schubert decided to drop in and leave a line.

In his post he discusses a lot of interesting faults with skill based leveling systems.

  Quote From: Damion Schubert

Not to go into the details of what advancement systems we will have or not have inside the game but... this doesn't always work out this rosily, without great designer care. I worked on Meridian 59, which was a wholly skill-based game, and learned a lot about the strengths and pitfalls of systems like it. One of my great pet peeves of pure skill-based systems is that they claim that they are more realistic, but they in fact can create extremely unrealistic situations inside the world.

Read the full post here

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Know your lore: Ebon Hawk

The Ebon Hawk was a Dynamic-class freighter and a smuggler ship that rose to fame due to its use around the time of the Jedi Civil War. It was well-known throughout the galaxy as a ship associated with the Exchange, and it passed through many hands before coming into the ownership of the amnesiac Jedi Revan. The ship then became instrumental in Revan's search for the Star Forge.

After Revan left known space, the ship eventually fell into the hands of the Jedi Exile, who used it on her quest to stop the Sith Triumvirate. The ship was heavily modified over the course of its life, to the point that it was difficult to determine its origins. With its extremely powerful hyperdrive, the ship was believed to be the fastest in the galaxy during its time.



Description
The interior of the ship was designed to accommodate a small crew, a good amount of cargo, and a small vehicle such as a swoop bike. There were two sets of crew quarters (starboard and port), each with three standard beds. The starboard dormitory had a secret compartment underneath one of the bunks, which Ratrin Vhek told the Exile about in order to prove his prior ownership of the Hawk.

The cockpit had seats for a pilot, copilot and navigator, with two additional seats behind them. Also in the cockpit area was the galaxy map, where the next destination could be selected. The galaxy map offered a summary of the destination's terrain, native species, and docking facilities.

The cockpit was connected to the main hold by a long hallway, which also led to the communications room. In the communications room were a number of controls, including a console for accessing the ship's security cameras.

In the center of the main hold was a large round console that included the ship's navigation computer, which could be voice-locked. The console further served as a holoprojector, both for communication and for tactical planning. The ship's security cameras were also accessible from here, as well as the security doors. There was plenty of seating in the main hold, and it was large enough for the entire crew to comfortably gather together. Off to one side was a small storage room.

From the main hold, another hallway led to the engine room at the back of the vessel, where the engines (two of them, port and starboard) and the hyperdrive were accessible. There was usually something in this room that needed repair, particularly the temperamental hyperdrive.

Off the hallway between the main hold and the engine room was the medical bay. There was no kolto tank and only one bed, but it was sufficient for treating all but the most serious conditions. Across the hall from the medical bay was the utility lift, which provided access to the gunner's turrets and to the Ebon Hawk's hull.

The cargo hold was spacious and included a code-locked smuggling compartment. Davik used this compartment for smuggling spice, using the code "Red-47." On the other side of the ship was the garage, which was similar in size and shape to the cargo hold, but more easily accessible as it was connected to the exit ramp. It was designed to fit a small vehicle, and Davik kept a Lhosan Industries swoop racer here, which Revan acquired along with the ship. There was also a workbench in the garage. The garage was blown open when the Harbinger fired on it and was under repair for the remainder of the Exile's journeys. The swoop bike was also gone by the time she acquired the ship.

The Ebon Hawk was armed with twin turbolaser turrets (dorsal and ventral), as well as two heavy laser cannons on each side, and other hidden armaments. The navigational computers were stolen retrofits, and the hyperdrive was uncommonly powerful. The hyperdrive was a Class 1 unit, replacing the original Class 3, and the realspace speed was doub

 The main hold of the Ebon Hawk

History
he Ebon Hawk was constructed on the Galactic Republic planet of Transel. Other Dynamic-class freighters, however, were used in the Republic Navy; one of them was in the Republic fleet at Ralltiir in 3,963 BBY, and at least two more crashed on Malachor V after the final battle of the Mandalorian Wars.

The Ebon Hawk changed owners many times over the decades. Ratrin Vhek claimed to have captained the ship prior to the end of the Mandalorian Wars saying that the ship was stolen from him during a routine run in the Mid Rim. He was able to accurately describe many of the ship's distinctive features and quirks but, whether he ever truly owned the Ebon Hawk was never confirmed.



The Exchange
Many of the ship's owners, such as Forii Haxa and Ahita Othar, were associated with the Exchange; their sudden and unexpected deaths led some to believe that the Hawk brought bad luck upon its owners.

Eventually, the freighter ended up on Taris, acquired by the local Exchange crime lord Davik Kang. In his service, the Ebon Hawk smuggled goods and supplies throughout the Jedi Civil War. With its outstandingly overpowered drive system, Davik was known to joke that it was the best thing he had ever stolen.

 The underside of the Ebon Hawk.

Adventures with Revan

Escaping Taris
Revan, Carth Onasi, and Bastila Shan were approached by Canderous Ordo, a Mandalorian mercenary working for Davik Kang, to gain the access codes needed to break through the Sith blockade. As it turned out, Canderous had ulterior motives. He was dissatisfied with mercenary work, and proposed a deal to Revan; if Revan could get the access codes, Canderous would help him steal Davik's flagship and escape Taris. Revan succeeded in obtaining the codes, with the help of the droid T3-M4 who had been made especially for the job, but, once inside Davik's estate, the group discovered just how difficult stealing the Ebon Hawk was going to be. The hangar security system was state-of-the-art, and they would need the security codes if they were going to have any chance of escape.



While exploring the estate, Revan stumbled upon Hudrow, Davik's incarcerated former pilot. Hudrow told Revan that he knew the security codes for the Ebon Hawk and offered them to Revan in exchange for his freedom. Revan released the man and used the codes to disable the security system. The party headed for the hangar bay.

They were stopped by Davik and his associate, the bounty hunter Calo Nord. Revan and his companions were forced to fight the two of them and Davik was killed. Calo Nord pulled out a thermal detonator and threatened to take the whole hangar down with him, but the Sith had begun their bombardment, and the roof collapsed on top of him. Believing the bounty hunter to be dead, Revan's group boarded the Hawk and lifted off, narrowly escaping before the planet's surface was devastated by the Sith fleet.

A frontal view of the Ebon Hawk on Tatooine.

The search for the Star Forge
The Ebon Hawk became instrumental in Revan's search for the Star Forge, transporting him and his crew to Dantooine, Manaan, Korriban, Kashyyyk, and Tatooine, in search of ancient Star Maps.

While the ship was docked on Tatooine, an Aqualish merchant by the name of Jor Ul Kurax mistakenly loaded Crate 42-B7, a shipment of Gizka, into the cargo hold. The gizka escaped and, before the crew could figure out what to do with them, they had virtually taken over the ship. Revan later met a Selkath on Manaan who was an exotic animal collector and donated the Gizka to his zoo.



Later, on Korriban, Revan met a Rodian named Lurze Kesh. He had been expecting a shipment of spice from Davik and gave Revan the code to the locked compartment in the cargo bay so that he could retrieve it. After taking the spice off Revan's hands, the Rodian gave him a special box to deliver to Motta the Hutt on Tatooine.

Revan ran into another small problem after Zaalbar noticed that the stock of food was getting low. After hearing footsteps in several parts of the ship, Revan finally stumbled upon a stowaway. Sasha ot Sulem was a young girl who had been kidnapped by Mandalorians, and she had managed to escape them by sneaking aboard the Ebon Hawk while it was docked on Dantooine. Sasha didn't speak Basic, only a jumbled version of Mando'a, which Revan was able to understand after a great deal of effort. Sasha took a liking to Revan and told him that she considered the Ebon Hawk to be her home. After some persuasion, Revan convinced her to go with Lur Arka Sulas, a Twi'lek who had been searching for her on behalf of her worried parents.

The Leviathan attacks the Ebon Hawk

While the crew was on their way to uncover the fifth and final Star Map, the Leviathan suddenly appeared. The Leviathan was the flagship of Admiral Saul Karath, Carth's old mentor, who had betrayed the Republic to become the right hand of Darth Malak. The Ebon Hawk was caught in the larger vessel's tractor beam and the crew had only a short time to devise a plan for escape.

Once freed from their cells on the Leviathan, the crew split up. While Revan, Bastila, and Carth headed to the bridge to disable the tractor beam, Canderous led the rest of the group back to the Ebon Hawk to prepare for launch. After a confrontation in which Revan learned of his true identity, Bastila remained behind to fight Malak while Revan and Carth escaped to the Hawk. With the tractor beam disabled, the ship was able to escape the Leviathan and continue on its mission, one crew member short.



Some time after this, Revan was approached by Ziagrom, a Twi'lek who had done business with previous owners of the Ebon Hawk. Ziagrom told Revan that he had heard reports of the Ebon Hawk traveling all over the galaxy, and at the ship's last port he had placed a tracking device on it. Once aware of the ship's activities aboard the Leviathan, Ziagrom had used sources within the Sith fleet to uncover Revan's identity. Despite holding this valuable knowledge, Ziagrom wanted nothing more than to offer Revan access to his partner's premium wares.

With the last Star Map, Revan's crew finally learned the location of the Star Forge. They set out for an uncharted planet in the Unknown Regions. As they emerged from hyperspace, a powerful disruptor field around the planet forced them to crash-land on the surface. The disruptor field had fried the stabilizers and damaged the hyperdrive. Replacement parts would need to be located before the ship could go anywhere. The disruptor field would also have to be disabled or they would simply crash again.

Luckily, the Ebon Hawk wasn't the only victim of the planet's disruptor field. The surface was littered with wreckage, and Revan was able to find suitable parts in short order. The real problem was the disruptor field. While Carth repaired the ship, Revan, Juhani, and Jolee Bindo made their way through the Temple of the Ancients, from which the disruptor field was controlled. After a confrontation with Bastila, who had fallen to the dark side, they shut down the disruptor field and rejoined the others at the Ebon Hawk. There the crew was contacted by Admiral Forn Dodonna of the Republic fleet, which had just arrived and begun its attack on the Star Forge.

With Bastila using her battle meditation against them, the chances of a Republic victory were slim. Thus, rather than joining in the space battle, the crew fought through the Star Forge's defenses and docked the Ebon Hawk on the factory itself where they set off to confront Bastila and Malak.

After Revan had redeemed Bastila and defeated Malak, there was nothing to prevent the Republic fleet from destroying the Sith factory. Revan and Bastila ran back to the Ebon Hawk and made their escape just in time. The factory's main orbital stabilizers were destroyed, and it fell out of orbit and plunged into the star below.

A year after Darth Malak's defeat, Revan left Republic space, his memories of a bigger threat having returned. He left the Ebon Hawk and its droid occupants, T3-M4 and HK-47, behind on Malachor V and continued on alone.

T3-M4's orders
After Revan abandoned the ship and droids, T3-M4 took control of the Ebon Hawk for a period of time. Before Revan left, Bastila Shan had given the droid orders to protect Revan and to get help if anything went wrong. T3-M4 took this order seriously and immediately set out to find Jedi who could help.

At some point during the time between Revan's ownership of the Ebon Hawk and its acquisition by the Jedi Exile, HK-47 was subjected to close-range blaster fire and several of his parts became scattered around the galaxy while his deactivated body remained in the ship's storage compartment. The cargo hold came to house several containers with miscellaneous parts and supplies, as well as another astromech droid, 3C-FD.

Adventures with the Jedi Exile

The Ebon Hawk reappears
Five years after the Battle of Rakata Prime, the Ebon Hawk was picked up by the Harbinger, a Republic Hammerhead-class capital ship that was transporting a passenger known as the Jedi Exile. The Harbinger had received a distress signal which claimed that the freighter was being attacked by a Sith warship. The Harbinger crew searched both vessels, but found no one alive, only T3-M4 and the body of a seemingly dead Sith Lord, Darth Sion.

Some days later, the Sith Lord woke up in the Harbinger's medical bay, and the crew realized that the ship had been boarded by a number of hidden Sith Assassins. They attacked the Republic crew.

 The Harbinger fires at the Ebon Hawk

While the chaos ensued, an HK-50 series assassin droid posing as a protocol droid rendered the Jedi Exile unconscious and sealed her in the cargo hold. She was quickly found by T3-M4 and Kreia and brought aboard the Ebon Hawk. Unknown to them, the assassin droid also stowed away as they escaped. The hijacked vessel Harbinger fired on the Ebon Hawk just as it made the jump to hyperspace, nearly destroying the freighter.

When it emerged from hyperspace, the ship was in dire condition. The hyperdrive and both engines were dead, and it was floating dangerously close to the asteroid field surrounding Peragus II. Everyone aboard was either dead or dying and it was up to T3-M4 to repair the ship enough to make it to the Peragus Mining Facility, which was the only port available due to the damaged navicomputer.

T3-M4 found a damaged astromech droid, 3C-FD, in the cargo hold and repaired him. Together the two droids set about repairing the ship. They were able to use fragments from a proton torpedo that were littered across the hull to repair the hyperdrive, and then restored power to the port engine. The starboard engine remained disabled, but they had enough power to make it to the nearby facility. The droids were somehow able to navigate the asteroid field and dock the ship there. But upon docking, the HK-50 broke out of the cargo compartment and attacked the droids. T3-M4 was brought offline and 3C-FD was damaged beyond repair.

The Ebon Hawk was cleaned of its storage (including one of its secret compartments) and dead passengers by the mining crew, although they were unable to access the storage compartment off the main hold. Kreia was sent to the morgue, the Exile was sent to recover in a kolto tank, and the deactivated T3-M4 and 3C-FD were sent to storage. The only one aboard who was able to speak was the HK-50 assassin droid. He was sent down to help the maintenance officer.

By the time the Exile awoke in the medical bay, all of the miners in the facility were dead, the work of the HK-50 assassin droid; HK-50 also secretly ordered the mining droids to repair the damage to the Ebon Hawk. As she and her new companions—Kreia, Atton Rand, and T3-M4—made their way to the hangar, the Harbinger docked with the facility. It had followed the Ebon Hawk to Peragus, carrying Darth Sion and his Sith Assassins. The group was forced into a confrontation with the Sith Lord and narrowly escaped to their ship. As they prepared for launch, Sith troopers swarmed the hangar. The Exile was able to defend the ship by manning the ventral turret, defeating all of the oncoming Sith troopers. As more Sith troopers came into the bay and fired at the ship, Atton Rand managed to take the ship out of the hangar in quick haste.



As the Ebon Hawk fled the facility, the Harbinger gave chase. In the skirmish, the Harbinger fired at the Ebon Hawk, setting off a chain of explosions in the asteroid field that ultimately destroyed the Peragus Mining Facility. The Ebon Hawk was able to make the jump to hyperspace and escape both the explosion and the Harbinger. They were forced to travel to Telos IV, as it was the only planet for which astrogation charts were available on Peragus.

On Telos, they were placed under house arrest by the Telos Security Force and the Ebon Hawk was impounded until the cause of the mining facility's destruction could be determined. While docked there, the ship was stolen by Brianna, one of the handmaidens of Jedi Master Atris. Atris believed the ship and the droid T3-M4 contained valuable information about the whereabouts of Revan.

With the help of Bao-Dur, the Exile reached Atris's secret academy on Telos and retrieved the Hawk. From there she set out to search for the lost members of the Jedi Council.

 The Ebon Hawk escapes from Goto's yacht.

The search for the Lost Jedi
The Ebon Hawk was instrumental in the Exile's quest, which took her to the planets Dantooine, Korriban, Onderon and Nar Shaddaa. The navicomputer had been encrypted some time before the ship left Peragus and T3-M4 became solely responsible for the ship's navigation.

While on Nar Shaddaa, the Exile encountered Ratrin Vhek, who claimed to own the Ebon Hawk. The Exile offered to give the ship back to him. Her companions questioned her decision as there was no way to verify his story and, without the Hawk, they wouldn't be able to leave the planet. This ultimately turned out to be moot; Vhek was killed by Red Eclipse thugs when he boarded the ship.

The Red Eclipse had been scheduled to dock on the landing pad where the crew had docked the Ebon Hawk. The slavers were not happy to find the Hawk there and they attempted to hijack the ship. When the Exile and her crew returned to the ship, they were forced to fight off Captain Cahhmakt and his thugs, after which the Ebon Hawk and its landing rights were secure.



While the ship was docked on Nar Shaddaa, Atton suggested that the crew change its ID signature so as to make it less of a target. This proved compatible with one of the Exile's goals; she wanted to confront Goto, a crime lord who had placed a bounty on Jedi. However, in her efforts to confront Goto, she was captured by the crime lord and brought to his ship where she was then asked to help the Republic rebuild itself. However, Goto was unwilling to let her go because of her recent actions which had caused much destruction, most notably the destruction of the Peragus mining facility. However, T3-M4 sneaked into Vogga the Hutt's warehouse with the help of the Pazaak "Champ" and stole ID signatures from the warehouse. There he discovered that it was the droids there that were responsible for transmitting ID signatures of Vogga the Hutt's freighters to Goto. Along the way, T3-M4 faced HK-50 assassin droids intending to get Vogga's ID signatures but T3-M4 made short work of them. He went back to the rest of the Hawk's crew and, with the Ebon Hawk's signatures changed, they proceeded to rescue the Exile from Goto.

 The gunner's turret of the Ebon Hawk firing at a Sith interceptor over Dantooine.

This plan worked; the ship was caught in Goto's tractor beam. After confronting Goto, the Exile and her crew had to shut down the power to the yacht's tractor beam in order to escape. This also shut down the ship's cloaking shield, and as soon as the yacht became visible, every bounty hunter in the vicinity began to attack it. The Exile and her companions escaped on the Ebon Hawk. Soon afterward they realized that G0-T0, a droid who had fooled everyone into believing that Goto was a real person who only communicated by hologram, had stowed away and he was reluctantly allowed to stay on as part of the crew.

When the crew attempted to travel to Onderon in search of Master Kavar, they were attacked over the planet by General Vaklu's forces. The Ebon Hawk was again forced to crash-land, this time on one of the planet's moons, Dxun. The space battle continued overhead after the initial skirmish with the Hawk and Vaklu's forces attacking other Republic ships in orbit over the planet.

The Ebon Hawk had to be repaired once again before it would be space worthy. In the meantime, the Exile managed to secure another route to Onderon. While on the planet, she saw a news hologram that grossly exaggerated what had happened in the space battle. The hologram claimed that the Ebon Hawk was a capital-scale vessel, and that it had fired first, destroying fifteen Onderon ships before being shot down (as opposed to six). Vaklu was using the Ebon Hawk as the catalyst for a civil war.

The Ebon Hawk's fate
After the Exile had completed her quest to find the Jedi Masters who exiled her, the Ebon Hawk transported her to the forsaken world of Malachor V. There, the ship made a very damaging crash-landing in a canyon, before later breaking loose and falling into Malachor V's core. After the Exile confronted and defeated the remaining Sith Lords, Darth Sion and Darth Traya, the Ebon Hawk proved still functional when her companions piloted the ship out of the abyss and rescued her from the Trayus Core just in time to escape before the Mass Shadow Generator destroyed the planet completely.

From there, the Exile then headed into the Unknown Regions to seek out Revan. Kreia predicted that the Exile's crew would return to the Republic and rebuild the Jedi Order.

 

Commanders and crew
The Ebon Hawk knew many owners during and after the time of the Mandalorian Wars. Many, like Forii Haxa and Ahita Othar, were associated with the Exchange. As more and more of the ship's owners died, as Haxa and Othar both did, while the ship was in its possession, rumors that the ship was bad luck surfaced. Another pilot, Ratrin Vhek, claimed to be stranded on Nar Shaddaa after the ship was stolen from him.

After the Hawk made its way to Taris, Davik Kang's crew included at least one pilot, Hudrow. Under Revan, the Ebon Hawk was piloted by Carth Onasi, with Bastila Shan serving as co-pilot. Revan traveled with seven other companions, each of whom served their own unique role on the ship. There was a young Twi'lek named Mission Vao and her Wookiee friend Zaalbar; Canderous Ordo, a Mandalorian mercenary; Juhani, a Cathar Jedi; Jolee Bindo, a self-described "old Padawan"; and two droids, T3-M4 and HK-47.

Under the Jedi Exile's ownership, the ship was piloted by Atton Rand. Once again T3-M4 and HK-47 were on board, along with another droid, G0-T0. Canderous Ordo was also on board again, but this time he was known as Mandalore. Bao-Dur and his remote worked to repair the ship throughout the journey along with T3-M4, who was seen either in the engine room or the navigation center. The rest of the crew included a Miraluka named Visas Marr, a bounty hunter named Mira, a mysterious old woman named Kreia and Mical, a Republic soldier and medic; who spent his time in the medical bay. The final passenger was the last of Atris's handmaidens, Brianna. She stayed in the cargo bay for most of the Exile's adventure, constantly training with Echani techniques. Ratrin Vhek met the Exile during her journey and forcefully claimed that the ship was his. He wanted so badly to get off the planet where he had lived as a refugee upon for more than half a decade, he tried to take the ship for himself. He was killed by a Red Eclipse assault party when he snuck aboard the vessel and tried to take off with it.

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