Assault on the Gravestone

After the Commander of the Alliance that led the war against Zakuul was reported dead on Dromund Kaas, Eternal Empress Vaylin and her advisor SCORPIO launched an assault on the Gravestone, the only Alliance vessel that posed a threat to their Eternal Fleet. They captured a civilian cargo freighter Ridala and killed its captain, staging an attack on it. When the Gravestone piloted by Koth Vortena arrived to combat the Eternal Fleet, SCORPIO impersonated the freighter's captain and send a distress call. Vortena allowed Ridala to land inside the Gravestone hangar for repairs, from where SCORPIO, Vaylin and a host of Knights of Zakuul and Horizon Guard rounded up Koth's crew and took control of the vessel. Vortena himself managed to avoid capture and called the Alliance for help, who brought their own fleet to engage the Eternal Fleet warship, while the Alliance Commander and Lana Beniko infiltrated the Gravestone in a boarding pod and dispatched several skytrooper patrols on their way to Vortena. Koth revealed to them that Vaylin's forces risked triggering the quantum bomb that he installed as a precaution against SCORPIO, and the Commander joined him in disabling the bomb fuses, while Beniko provided the distraction. SCORPIO became aware of the quantum bomb and, desiring to save the vessel at all costs, maneuvered Vaylin and her Horizon Guard to leave the bridge, so that it could be reclaimed by the Alliance Commander and Vortena. She then informed them that Lana Beniko was cornered by Vaylin in the Dark Sanctuary and required assistance. The Commander and Vortena arrived in time to save Beniko and the Commander engaged Vaylin, who was about to land a blow, but was stopped when Valkorion triggered her secret conditioning, making her powerless to strike. Unable to fight, Vaylin turned and fled, giving Vortena the chance to disarm the bomb. Just as Theron Shan brought reinforcements by landing an Alliance shuttle inside the hangar, SCORPIO took over control of the Gravestone, taking it to a destination that she uncovered within the ship's subroutines. The vessel jumped out of hyperspace in Iokath system, surrounded by the entirety of the Eternal Fleet. ARIES, the droid that controlled Iokath, then fired a superweapon that emitted a bright light and knocked the organics aboard all ships unconscious, arranging and placing them across Iokath surface to test in various combat scenarios.
==Prelude==
Not long after the Invasion of Voss, news from Dromund Kaas reported that the Commander of the Alliance had died. Far from the truth, this was part of the plot by former Republic Supreme Chancellor Leontyne Saresh and Imperial Minister of Logistics Gelmid Lorman to take over both Empire and the Alliance by assassinating the leaders of both governments at once. SCORPIO delivered the news to the Eternal Empire Empress Vaylin, who quickly sensed that the rumors were false, as her father's spirit still resided inside the Commander's mind. However, SCORPIO noted that the truth was irrelevant and that the resulting disarray was the perfect opportunity to strike against the Alliance. With the Gravestone as her ultimate goal, SCORPIO and Vaylin set a trap for the only vessel that could threaten their Eternal Fleet. They captured a civilian cargo freighter Ridala and killed its captain, staging an attack on it by the Eternal Fleet.
==The assault==
Vaylin, SCORIO and several Knights of Zakuul boarded the freighter, which was then put under pretend fire from the Eternal Fleet warships. Impersonating the ship's captain, SCORPIO send a distress call, which was eventually answered by the Gravestone captain Koth Vortena. Vortena allowed Ridala to land inside the Gravestone hangar for emergency repairs, allowing Vaylin's forces to round up Koth's crew and take control of the vessel. Vortena himself avoided capture and called the Alliance base on Odessen for help, managing to transmit his coordinates before the transmission was cut off. SCORPIO was unable to take full control of the ship's systems, as Vortena had previously locked the bridge controls, making sure essential systems such as shields, weapons and the hyperdrive remained inaccessible to her.
The Alliance fleet jumped out of hyperspace and engaged the Eternal Fleet, but this was only a distraction to allow Lana Beniko and the Alliance Commander to board the Gravestone an a boarding pod. Unable to access the HoloNet signal through the battle, SCORPIO asked Vaylin to torture the crewmembers for Vortena's personal details that could help break his personal encryption key. Meanwhile, Beniko and the Commander dispatched several skytrooper patrols and met with Koth, who revealed that unlocking the primary passcode without entering a second hidden one would trigger the quantum bomb installed as a precaution against SCORPIO. The Commander joined Koth in disabling the fuses spread throughout the ship, while Lana provided distraction from Vaylin's forces. Learning that the encryption key was based on the list of soldiers who died under Koth's command during his war service, SCORPIO unlocked his primary key, while also noticing a second password.
Desiring to save the Gravestone at all costs, SCORPIO maneuvered Vaylin and her Knights to leave the bridge, noting that five patrols at opposite ends of the ship were lost and revealing that Vortena received help from the Commander. Vaylin went ahead to confront her father, who inhabited the Commander's mind, leaving the bridge and Vortena's crewmembers unsupervised. Koth and the Commander disabled the fuses on the first deck, and after killing Horizon Guard Tragus Rova proceeded towards the bridge, surprised to find it empty of Vaylin's forces. Vortena disabled the quantum bomb from the bridge console and told Len Parvek, Tora and the rest of his crew to evacuate in the escape pods. SCORPIO then contacted the bridge and revealed that she allowed them to reach the bridge so that Vortena could disable the bomb, while also informing them that Lana Beniko was cornered by Vaylin in the Dark Sanctuary, where the bomb was hidden.
The Commander and Vortena engaged and defeated Vella Zarkot and reached the Sanctuary in time to save Beniko from Vaylin's lightsaber, but their fighting still triggered the bomb, leaving three minutes until detonation. Vaylin Force-pushed Lana aside and engaged the Commander, quickly gaining advantage and about to land a blow. However, the spirit of Valkorion himself intervened to preserve his host and stopped time in his vicinity, but Vaylin was able to break through and regain the freedom of movement. Having a conversation with her father for the first time since his physical death, Vaylin blamed him for caging her on Nathema, while Valkorion insisted that what he did was to keep her safe. Vaylin then prepared to strike the Commander when Valkorion uttered a phrase "Kneel before the Dragon of Zakuul", triggering her secret mental conditioning and making her powerless.
Unable to fight back, Vaylin became angry and confused and fled the Dark Sanctuary, giving Vortena the chance to disarm the quantum bomb while the Commander disabled the power relays to prevent its early detonation. While the events unfolded in the Dark Sanctuary, SCORPIO was finally able to gain unrestricted access to the Gravestone, uncovering hidden files and subroutines thousands of years old that revealed the place of origin of herself, the Gravestone and the Eternal Fleet. Using her connection to the GEMINI droids, SCORPIO instructed them to travel to those coordinates, ending the space battle and leaving only the Alliance ships in the vicinity of the Gravestone. Theron Shan brought Kaliyo Djannis, Aric Jorgan, Torian Cadera and Vette as reinforcements by landing an Alliance shuttle inside the Gravestone hangar just moments before SCORPIO announced that she was taking control of the Gravestone and urged the organic beings to abandon ship.
Realizing that she was betrayed, Vaylin confronted SCORPIO on the bridge and attempted to attack her, but SCORPIO engaged and locked the vessel's hyperdrive, taking the ship to the same destination that she send the Eternal Fleet to. Both Vaylin and SCORPIO then left the bridge, where the Alliance forces converged and witnessed as the Gravestone jumped out of hyperspace in Iokath system, surrounded by the entirety of the Eternal Fleet. SCORPIO left the ship in the shuttle Ridala and contacted the Alliance again, revealing that Vaylin and her remaining forces were sabotaging everything they could on the Gravestone. Koth Vortena and the Commander rushed to the omnicannon, but in their absence Vaylin returned to the bridge and overpowered both Kaliyo and Aric Jorgan. She threatened to kill Torian and Vette, but was unable to hurt anyone before a blinging white light coming from Iokath engulfed the ship.
==Aftermath==
The Gravestone and the Eternal Fleet were brought to Iokath, a massive sphere constructed around a star by a long-dead species and controlled by a self-aware droid called ARIES. As the vessels approached and entered Iokath, ARIES activated a superweapon that emitted a bright light and knocked all organics aboard the ships unconscious. He then arranged and placed them across Iokath surface to test in various combat scenarios, isolating Vaylin and SCORPIO as the most dangerous ones. Both the Alliance and the Eternal Empire forces from the Eternal Fleet warships then worked to regroup and reclaim their ships from ARIES so that they could escape from Iokath.
==Behind the scenes==
Knights of the Eternal Throne Chapter III: Dark Reunions plays differently if the player's previous Dark Side choices caused Koth Vortena to abandon the Alliance and later steal the Gravestone. In this case, Tora remains loyal to the Alliance and is not present when Vaylin's forces capture Koth's crew. Requiring outside help to disable his quantum bomb, Koth will reluctantly contact the Alliance for help despite the mutual animosity. After the quantum bomb is disabled, player has the options to either kill Koth for the betrayal on the spot or spare his life, in which case Vortena will be captured on Iokath along the rest, but will still leave the Alliance afterwards.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Eternal Throne 
==Notes and references==
Category:Battles of the war against Zakuul