Raid on the Gilded Star

In 3630 BBY, the Alliance that opposed the Eternal Empire of Zakuul teamed up with con artist Gault Rennow to raid the Gilded Star treasury ship, which kept the valuables accumulated by Zakuul from pillaging the worlds of the known galaxy. The Alliance leadership traveled with Gault to the Gas giant Vandin where the Gilded Star was hiding, where the Alliance Commander helped Gault recruit the Anomid identity slicer Dretcher, who provided a holographic disguise for Senya Tirall to get onto the ship's bridge with SCORPIO at her side. From there, SCORPIO opened the way to the ship's vault for Gault and the Alliance Commander, while Gault's partner Vette disabled the vault's security mechanisms. Gault planted a missile warhead inside the vault, which upon detonation vaporized its entire content of precious metals that was then pumped into the tanker piloted by Lana Beniko. Gault, Vette and the Alliance Commander escaped the ship with the help of Hylo Visz everyone returned safely to the Alliance base on Odessen, where Gault and Vette decided to stay and join the Alliance cause.
hiding in the atmosphere of the gas giant Vandin. Strained for funds, the Commander agreed to the plan and accompanied Gault to Vandin along with Lana Beniko, Theron Shan, Senya Tirall and SCORPIO. Bringing in his partner Vette and an identity slicer Dretcher, Gault outlined his plan to infiltrate the ship and sabotage a warhead inside its reinforced vault, vaporizing its contents so that they could be siphoned away from the ship. The heist went mostly as planned, as Lana and Theron piloted the tanker ship and made a safe getaway, while those aboard the Gilded Star itself were picked up by Hylo Visz. Returning to Odessen, Gault and Vette expressed their desire to join the Alliance, but the celebration was interrupted by the return of Aric Jorgan and Kaliyo Djannis, who managed to escape Zakuul with a database on the GEMINI droids, although four of Havoc Squad's six members were lost in the process. Hoping to salvage this fiasco, Beniko ordered SCORPIO to analyze the data archive.
==Prelude==
During the war against Zakuul in 3630 BBY, con artist Gault Rennow and his partner Vette came up with a plan to rob the Gilded Star, a treasury ship used by the Eternal Empire of Zakuul to safekeep the valuables that they accumulated from pillaging the worlds of the known galaxy during the Eternal Empire conquest. The Gilded Star was hiding deep in the atmosphere of Gas giant Vandin and had a vault was so strong, it could survive the rest of the ship being reduced to atoms, which gave Gault and Vette the idea on how to empty it of valuables. Setting his plan in motion, Gault placed on order for a functional missile with the Brekken Gang, asking the Niktos to deliver it to Vandin, while also sending Vette to sneak inside the missile and retrieve its warhead. Gault also arranged for his old acquaintance Dretcher's hiding place to be shipped to Vandin unannounced.
The warhead was intended to vaporize the vault's content of precious metal for easy transportation while Dretcher's job was to provide disguises, but Gault's scheme also required specific personnel to pull off the operation. For this part, the Devaronian contacted his old partner Hylo Visz, who was working with the Alliance that opposed Zakuul and invited him to the Alliance base on Odessen. Upon arrival, Gault was introduced to the Alliance Commander and laid out his proposition, to which the Alliance Commander agreed. The Commander was joined by a team of Alliance personnel, which included Lana Beniko, Theron Shan, Senya Tirall and SCORPIO and departed with Gault to Vandin.
Arriving on the gas giant's Tibanna mining platform, Gault took the Alliance Commander to look for Dretcher's hiding container. After Gault threatened to shake the Anomid to death with a sonic amplifier, Dretecher had no choice but to let the Devaronian inside his container and agree to do his job. Gault and the Commander then went to the meeting with the Brekken Gang and its Captain Kenrik Fost, where Vette pretended to activate the missile, tricking the Niktos into escaping without payment, and retrieving the warhead. Gault then assembled the team at their hideout and laid out his entire plan, assigning everybody their roles. Dretcher's part included forging the identity of High Justice Vaylin for her mother Senya Tirall, who provided a genetic match and required character knowledge and would take SCORPIO aboard as her "attache droid". They would access the bridge and lower security, allowing Vette, Gault and the Alliance Commander to get onboard and place the warhead inside the vault, while Shan and Beniko would pilot a tanker to siphon off the vaporized previous metals.
==The heist==
When the Gilded Star came up for its annual resupply, the team moved in positions. Using Dretcher's holographic disguise, Senya got herself and SCORPIO onboard under the identity of her daughter. From the bridge, SCORPIO took control of the Gilded Star network and initiated an emergency lockdown under pretense of testing, isolating as much of the ship's security personnel as she could and allowing Gault, Vette and the Alliance Commander to get inside. The vault's security mechanism was isolated from the main network, requiring Vette to sneak inside the ship's inner working to disable it, while the Commander and Gault proceeded to the vault itself. After Vette opened the door to the vault, Gault planted the missile warhead inside it and stepped back outside, locking the door behind him. The Commander then used Gault's detonator to activate the warhead, which upon detonation vaporized the vault entire content of precious metals, while leaving everything outside safe and intact. Lana Beniko and Theron Shan then position a tanker ship next to the Gilded Star and extended the umbilical cord, while SCORPIO disengaged the airlock and depressurized the vault.
The vault's content of precious gas was pumped into the tanker over approximately ten minutes, after which SCORPIO and Senya vacated the bridge and joined Lana and Theron onboard the tanker. With SCORPIO no longer having control of the blast doors, which began blocking their escape routes, Gault, Vette and the Alliance Commander planned to take the skyhook down to the mining platform, going back out the same way they came in. However, when they reached the lift, it was already coming up towards them, and Senya sensed through the Force that her daughter Vaylin was inside. Desperate to avoid confronting her, Gault decided to go outside along the ship's hull, which the trio reached after dispatching the security forces in their war. Having no real plan at this point, Gault received a call from Hylo Visz, who was checking up on their progress and became aware of their situation. Hylo then piloted a small shuttle to the side of the Gilded Star, allowing Gault, Vette and the Commander to jump directly on it. Inside the vessel, the Commander suggested to return to Odessen, while the rest of their team accompanied them onboard Beniko's tanker. Meanwhile, Vaylin reached the vault and contacted Arcann, believing that she arrived just in time to stop the robbers and angry at her mother for the audacity to impersonate her. She then became furious when she found the ship's vault empty.
==Aftermath==
Everyone returned safely to Odessen, where during a small celebration Gault planned to divide everyone's share himself, but Hylo was having none of it given her previous experiences with him. She payed the Devaronian, Vette and Dretcher herself, skimming the part that Rennow still owed her off his share. What remained was more than enough to fund the Alliance operations, and Gault suggested to the Alliance Commander to invest the excess into another one of his schemes. Afterwards, Vette announced her intention to stay and join the Alliance's cause, while Gault did the same, giving him an opportunity to spend more time with Hylo. The celebration was interrupted by the return of Aric Jorgan and Kaliyo Djannis from the mission to the hyperwave relay station, which ended in failure. The two of them managed to escape Zakuul with a database on the GEMINI droids, although four of Havoc Squad's six members were killed in the process. Hoping to salvage the fiasco, Beniko ordered SCORPIO to analyze the data archive.
Upon her return to Zakuul, Vaylin began fantasizing about revenge against her mother, but Arcann interrupted her tirade by asking whether she remembered Senya from when they were children. Vaylin repeated her belief that Senya hated and controlled her for being more powerful. She then asked her brother what would happen when the rest of the galaxy learned about the insult to them, but Arcann assured her that the riches could be replaced and the fear of his reprisal would discourage any potential uprisings.
==Behind the scenes==
While the mission itself features little gameplay variation, "Chapter 13: Profit and Plunder" presents the player with a choice to decide what to do with the excess finances from the heist. The option with the highest amount of Light Side points is to side with Vette and to distribute the surplus back to the worlds that Arcann has plundered, which gets approval from Senya Tirall and disapproval from Gault and SCORPIO. An option with less Light Side points is to side with Hylo Visz and to invest every credit into expanding the Alliance and overthrowing Arcann, to the approval of SCORPIO and Lana Beniko. The Dark Side option is to side with Gault to the disapproval from Vette and Senya, in which case Gault will later send the player a letter, explaining that he gave a large loan to his associate named Vel in hopes of a big payoff.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire 
==Sources==
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==Notes and references==
Category:Battles of the war against Zakuul
Category:Heists and robberies