#fatal alliance

[blue-mint-winter]

Tell me Darth Chratis wasn't naked when he came out of his sarcophagus.

[ulavii]

Swtor Confession

I changed my name to "ulavii" because of Ula Vii from Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams and sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who read the book cause I've never seen the characters talked about in the swtor fandom ;;

[blue-mint-winter]

Jedi-Sith student exchange programme

"Your apprentice will be mine!"

[blue-mint-winter]

To be a Jedi padawan and when the Jedi Council unfairly refuses to let you take your Jedi Trials your Master tells you to take a walk to cool off so you go to the seedy parts of Coruscant and fight crime. It helps you destress 😇🧘

[blue-mint-winter]

I am persuaded that there is more to governance than just rules, laws, and discipline. A culture must have a heart, too. A strong heart that never falters.

Ula Vii in: Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams

[blue-mint-winter]

Re-read: Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams

In my journey through the Old Republic books Fatal Alliance was a dreaded point that I finally had to tackle. I didn't have any concrete memories about the plot, only general impression of mediocrity. The re-read was a much better experience than I expected.

First of all, this book creates great atmosphere. It's familiar SW, but with some unique elements that mark the era of the cold war between the Republic and the Sith Empire. The characters visit the rundown Coruscant, still recovering from the Sith invasion by Darth Malgus a decade ago, the labyrinthine Hutt palace on Nal Hutta, the smuggler's surprisingly well-equipped ship and the most characteristic location - the droid-infested planet Sebaddon, orbiting the black hole.

The sense of comforting familiarity is also carried by the characters who represent the main classes in the video game. They're all archetypes but at the same time have their own unique traits. What's really interesting is that they all have their own personal high stakes in the main mission. Larin, the former Republic soldier, sees it as a chance to return to service. Ula Vii, the Imperial spy, has to participate in it to keep his cover. Jedi padawan's and Sith apprentice's future in their respective orders depends on their success.

The interactions between the characters are very fun. They usually play off each other really well. I liked how the Jedi and Sith were shown. Satele Shan was worthy of the title of the Grandmaster. The alliance between the two enemy sides against a mutual threat (hexes) allowed for important character development for the students who had to exchange their teachers for a time being. I think the last time something similar happened was in FOTJ. This book reminds me of that series in some aspects (for example the issue of slavery in Hutt space).

It was interesting how the Jedi padawan, Shigar Konshi learned how to deal with his anger and passion through his time with Darth Chratis, while the Sith apprentice, Eldon Ax, learned about importance of peace and serenity from observing Satele.

Ula Vii and his relationships were also very entertaining, mainly because of his struggle with staying undercover as a Republic envoy while trying to covertly help the Empire at the same time. His crush on Larin was amusing, it made him more authentic as he acted on his feelings instead of calculation. I also enjoyed his unlikely friendship with the smuggler Jet Nebula as well.

Eldon Ax was another character that stood out to me. She didn't become close with any of the others but her own story of finding her family's past and dealing with it was striking. I liked the symbolism of her resolution on Sebaddon - she set her clone free (act of kindness) but it died because it couldn't survive outside the tank. She used the hexes to kill Darth Chratis which completed her mother's revenge (and her own). (Btw, Force-sensitive clones remind me of Riptide, another book in the Legacy era).

The action and adventure in the book were well-described and easy to follow. The author put some thought into the unusual abilities of the hexes and how they can be fought off.

I remember one of the main reasons for my low regard for Fatal Alliance was that it didn't connect with anything else in the EU. These characters just don't return anywhere, except for Satele Shan. But I think as a standalone, it was a pretty good adventure in the climate of SW.

[blue-mint-winter]

Her family, her mother-what had happened to her father? She had never asked. Maybe he was dead, too, had died years ago, when she was a child. Maybe he was a Sith Lord who wouldn't lower himself to be associated with a common woman. Maybe, she thought, just maybe... ? Impossible. She mocked herself for even thinking it. Darth Chratis was no kind of father to her, and never would be. She needed no father, just like she needed no family. If Stryver was right and the fugitives were all dead, that just made her life easier. She wouldn't have to expend the energy finding and killing them, in the Emperor's name.

Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams

The idea that Darth Chratis could be Eldon Ax's father is so disturbing. It's like he got the custody in a divorce and then her mother was so angry about it that she built a droid army to destroy the Empire that her daughter is now a part of. Meanwhile Darth Chratis didn't even care for young Eldon and only later became her master after she was trained in basics.

I noticed that Darth Chratis complimented Lema Xandret by calling her "brilliant and mad". That lends some credence to the possibility they were once a couple.

Both of them were shitty parents, though I have more sympathy for Lema. At least she cared for her daughter, maybe a bit too much.

[blue-mint-winter]

Satele Shan survived in space without a spacesuit before it was cool. She used a Force barrier to maintain an air bubble around herself.