Choose My Adventure: Of Hutts and men

The first week in my chosen game is behind me, and I must say I'm really enjoying myself in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Last week, you voted for me to make a brand-new male Chiss Imperial Agent on The Ebon Hawk server, so I built one heck of dark-sided, flirtatious character for us to play with for the next month or so.

Xel'es is an opportunist. His career as an agent for the Empire has proven rewarding, but a relocation assignment on Hutta is where he plans to shine for his superiors and prove himself as more than just a simple field agent.

I've reached level 11 on Xel'es, and I'm ready to start choosing his advanced class and crafting profession (if you decide he craft). Read on past the jump to read his story and help choose where he goes from here. And be warned, there are plenty of spoilers for the Imperial Agent storyline if that's a thing that bothers you.

Hutta. They're sending me to Hutta. Of all the filthy cess pools in this universe, they're sending me to the worst one. And here I thought I was really advancing in my career. Sure, I admit that I may have made a mistake by seducing that councilman's wife, but no other agent can say he's as dedicated as I am. Hopefully this will all blow over if I can prove myself. I guess I should be thankful that they're giving me another chance.

I arrived in Jiguuna, a corrupt mining town run by the crime boss Nem'ro the Hutt. Well, at least Nem'ro would like to think he runs it, but another tub of Bantha poodoo known as Fa'athra has challenged Nem'ro's rule. Personally, I'd like to see them both choke on their own druk, but I'm here to prove myself, so I won't mess this up.

Once I got comfortable, I called back to Imperial headquarters to discuss my mission with Keeper, who will be acting as my direct superior during this operation. He informed me that Nem'ro prefers to stay neutral and take advantage of the joke of a truce between the Republic and the Empire. Keeper seems to believe that Nem'ro can be swayed to provide valuable supplies to the Empire, so it's up to me to infiltrate his inner circle and win his trust. And if that can't be done, I should at least win over one of his lieutenants. Seems simple enough.

My contact on the ground is an Arcona named Jheeg who gave me my new identity. I'm now a pirate named The Red Blade, and I'm on Hutta for business. Apparently the real Red Blade is parsecs away, so he'll never catch wind of what we're up to here on Hutta. I am to lose my affiliation with the Empire, and with it, my Imperial accent.

Of course, there's one problem. Jheeg has already proven himself to be a bit of a baffoon by allowing some gifts for Nem'ro to be stolen from the hangar. After I was able to get those gifts back, I recommended that Jheeg be punished for his incompetance, but Keeper seems to think that would be a mistake. I hope this doesn't come back to hurt us in the future.

In Nem'ro's palace, I met with the Hutt's right-hand man, Karrels Javis. According to Keeper, Karrels is the weak link in Nem'ro's cartel and is a bit of an Empire sympathizer. He seems like a decent fellow and is more concerned with the safety of his free-trader sons than anything Nem'ro has to say. He may just be my easy plan B if Nem'ro proves difficult.

Despite a mission that has so far been simple and straightforward, there is always that inevitable challenge. This time, the challenge is a cocky Rattataki named Kaliyo who seems to think she knows more about me than I've led on. I saw her chumming around with Karrels earlier, but Keeper tells me that she's a freelance assassin, enforcer, and anarchist who has had a dozen employers and just as many aliases over the years. I don't like her, even if I would like to take a peek at what's under that black trenchcoat of hers. For now, I need to remember that that's the exact thought process that got me into this mess, so I'll be sure to practice restraint.

The most important part of my assignment thus far has been an infiltration mission into Fa'athra's mining facility to sabotage his entire operation. Not only did I eliminate a healthy portion of his workers, but I also freed the enslaved miners against my better judgment and planted a listening device to help the Empire calculate its next move.

But Keeper had some bad news for me that introduced quite a problem for my plan B. One of Karrel's sons was killed by a Sith hotshot in a trade dispute, and I had to eliminate the old man before he found out about it and changed his opinion of the Empire. I was beginning to enjoy Karrel's company, but I knew it had to be done. My lack of reluctance in situations like this is the reason they picked me. And I'll just keep telling myself that, too.

After disposing of Karrel's body, I bumped into Kaliyo once again, and once again the smug sculag thought she could corner me into some type of confession about who I am. She told me that she knew everything. I fired up the old Chiss charm, but that fortress of bitter cold wouldn't budge. In fact, it makes me so crazy to think that she was trying her best to give me a dose of my own medicine. She thought she could charm me! Can you believe that? I consider myself more of a Twi'lek man myself, and this Rattataki thought I would fall for her cute little attitide. Not me. I invented her game, and she's just not any good at it.

It was at this point that Keeper popped in to my holonet device to offer this woman a job. A job! As much as it pained me to even consider, he did have a point. I mean, she's good. She's really good. And combining our forces could prove valuable in getting this assignment done and getting me off this stinking planet. And to be honest, I need to find out what makes this firecracker sizzle.

So Kaliyo and I head into the eye of the storm: Fa'athra's palace. I promised Nem'ro's new lieutenant, Toth'lazhen, that I would find Karrel's "real killers" and steal a holodisk with all of Fa'athra's business contacts. The thing about this disk is that it could reveal everyone who has ever double-crossed Nem'ro, which would unleash a bloodbath of rage upon a good chunk of Jiguuna's elite. Kaliyo suggested that I scratch the disk to prevent this backlash because it's a bit above and beyond the spirit of our assigment. We're just supposed to get Nem'ro on our side, not help him eliminate half of Hutta. Despite her suggestion, I opted to turn the data file over to Toth'lazhen unscratched. The Twi'lek discussed the disk's contents with Nem'ro, who easily pledged his cartel to the interests of the Empire.

So it all fell into place. I (all right, we) did what it took to get Nem'ro on our side, and Keeper says that supplies are already pouring in to help our cause against the Republic. I'm currently relaxing with a well-deserved spa treatment on the Imperial Fleet while a shuttle to Dromund Kaas awaits me in the morning. I plan to see what this base has to offer in regard to companionship... and maybe do a little upgrade shopping.

Oh, and one more thing. The real Red Blade? He won't be a concern to anyone anymore. But his rifle feels really good in my hands.

For this week's polls, you'll be voting on which advanced class Xel'es will take between Sniper and Operative and how he will continue with crafting. Note that I can take three crew skills in any combination, but only one from the crafting category. Be sure to get those votes in by 12:01 a.m. EST on Friday, December 21st.

%Poll-79585%
%Poll-79588%
%Poll-79593%
%Poll-79598%
%Poll-79605%

It's Shawn's turn back in the driver's seat of Choose My Adventure with you as the co-pilot. It's going to be a rough ride, so put on your seat belt! If you want to read a full six weeks of farcical puns about cars and farming, be sure to tune in every Wednesday as the adventure continues to unfold.