Arkanian Legacy

Arkanian Legacy

TheArkanian Legacy was a massivecapital ship that served as the mobile headquarters ofThe Adasca BioMechanical Corporation of Arkania, also known as Adascorp, in the era of theMandalorian Wars. Originally intended as a means of moving corporate operations out of the fire of theGreat Sith War, it later evolved into a center ofArkanian culture, including auniversity, artmuseum and concert hall, along with extensive medical and scientific laboratories. During the Mandalorian Wars, theArkanian Legacy also became the site of AdascorpCEOArkoh Adasca's ploy forgalactic prominence, as he attempted to sell the destructive power of the massiveexogorthspecies to the highest bidder, effectively choosing the winner of the war. As such, Adasca invited representatives from theGalactic Republic,Mandalorians andJedi Order to theArkanian Legacy, hosting an auction of sorts among the parties fighting the war. However, with control of the galaxy's fate within his grasp, Adasca's plan came apart when the scientist he was using to control the exogorths,Arkanian OffshootprisonerGorman Vandrayk, set the massive space slugs on theArkanian Legacy in the midst of abattle that had broken out on the ship. Adasca waskilled, and the remains of the ship were left irreparably damaged and listing in contested space on the front lines of the Mandalorian Wars.

Description[]

Initially created as the mobile corporate base ofThe Adasca BioMechanical Corporation of Arkania, better known as Adascorp, the colossalcapital ship^[2]Arkanian Legacy housed up to 104,079 people and also served as a researchhospital,arboretum, conservatory, one of the largest artmuseums inthe galaxy,^[1] auniversity and a domed observatory that doubled as a concert venue.^[5]

Employing a skilled crew of 5,000, theArkanian Legacy was defended by an armament of four light and 12 mediumturbolaser batteries, as well as 24starfighters and eightshuttles, not includingLordArkoh Adasca's private vessel. In addition, various research, transport, passenger and visitor craft were usually housed aboard theArkanian Legacy at any one time. Equipped with anavicomputer and a class 2hyperdrive with a class 8 backup, theArkanian Legacy could hold up to 10,000 tons of cargo, 100,000 passengers, and two years' worth of consumables.^[2]

Among its other features, theArkanian Legacy contained a crow's nest with dozens ofholoscreens, which Adasca'scybernetically-enhancedDuros assistant,Eejee Vamm, used as a workstation. From there, Vamm had access to video recordings and broadcasts from all over the galaxy, and had the ability to run retinal scans on people within those recordings.^[6] In addition, the crow's nest had access to hundreds of different security cameras within theArkanian Legacy itself.^[3] TheArkanian Legacy's hospital was a fully-outfitted unit, including quarantine care centers and extensive scientific laboratories.^[5] True to Adascorp's mission, much medical and biomechanical research was carried out on the ship, both in the laboratories and in theArkanian Legacy's multiple libraries.^[4] The center of the ship's opulent facilities was its wide-open atrium, anchored in the center by a massive fountain. The atrium connected to a series of ornately outfitted personal quarters that were often used to house important guests. For less well-appointed guests, theArkanian Legacy also possessed its ownbrig, guarded by a battalion of security personnel.^[5]

History[]

Plotting for the galaxy[]

First conceived of during theGreat Sith War as a method for Adascorp to keep its headquarters out of harm's way, theArkanian Legacy was initially the project of Adasca's grandfatherArgaloh, and was eventually completed by Argaloh's sonAlok.^[5] TheArkanian Legacy was finally launched at the ceremony where Arkoh Adasca, Alok's son and the eighth Lord of theHouse of Adasca, came into his inheritance as the head of Adascorp,the galaxy's largestbioengineering firm. The scion of a great industrial dynasty, Adasca became immensely popular among purebloodArkanians as theChief Executive Officer of Adascorp,^[1] but he had grander ambitions in mind than just being the head of a major corporation. During thetime of his grandfather's stewardship of the company, a brilliantArkanian Offshootscientist by the name ofGorman Vandrayk had discovered how to contact and control the minds of theexogorths, a species of massive and mysteriousspaceslug found in many disparate regions ofthe galaxy.^[4] Realizing the incredible destructive power of the beasts, Argaloh planned to weaponize the exogorths, but a horrified Vandrayk went on the run and took his indispensable knowledge with him.^[8]

By3963 BBY, thegalaxy had become engulfed in theMandalorian Wars, fought between theGalactic Republic and theMandalorian warrior clans. Remembering his grandfather's vision for the exogorths, Adasca formulated a plan that could possibly turn Adascorp into a galactic power. The company had discovered a host of dormant exogorths near the dyingstarOmonoth, and Adasca figured that if Adascorp could take control of the beasts, he could sell their services to the highest bidder and effectively choose the winner of the war^[8]—but, as he would retain operational control of the exogorths, whichever side he chose would be forced to pay him tribute.^[3] As grand as Adasca's ambitions were, his plan had no chance of success without Vandrayk, as Adascorp was unable to take control of the exogorths without his knowledge. Adasca made tracking Vandrayk down a high priority,^[4] and enlisted his cybernetic aide Eejee Vamm to use the observational power of theArkanian Legacy's holoscreen crow's nest to peruse the galaxy for him. Vamm eventually recognized Vandrayk from a recording on theplanetTelerath, and a retinal scan confirmed the runaway scientist's identity. The Duros immediately messaged Lord Adasca, confirming that he had what the head of Adascorp had been looking for.^[6]

It was a while longer before Adasca could get Vandrayk onto theArkanian Legacy, but he managed to get his hands on the elderly Offshoot when he was forced to return toArkania to treat an illness. With the help of Vandrayk's friendJarael, whom Adasca manipulated into trusting him, Adasca learned of the location of Vandrayk'sship,The Last Resort, and swiftly found andtractored it onto theArkanian Legacy.^[7] After finally getting his hands on Gorman Vandrayk, Adasca decided that thetime was right to make his grab for power. TheArkanian Legacy was filled to capacity—with most of the 100,000-plus aboard being purebloodArkanians—but as the ship made its long journey to theOmonoth system, Adasca began quietly transferring residents who were not in on his plan to other assignments off the ship.^[1] First, the ship stopped at a deep-space refueling station, where the sickly Vandrayk was rushed to the on-ship hospital, despite his Mandalorian friendRohlan Dyre attacking several security guards.^[5] However, Adasca managed to pacify Dyre by granting the curious Mandalorian access to the ship's research facilities, eliminating another potential obstacle.^[4]

A game of thrones[]

As theArkanian Legacy continued its voyage to Omonoth, Adasca and his assistant Vamm busied themselves with sending out invitations to representatives from the Galactic Republic, Mandalorians and theJedi Order.^[4] Once the ship reached its destination, the visitors begin to arrive: a small contingent of Republic survivors from theBattle of Serroco, led byAdmiralSaul Karath;Mandalore the Ultimate, leader of the Mandalorians, and a large complement of warriors; andAlek, the second-in-command of the Jedi Order'sRevanchist faction that advocatedJedi intervention in the Mandalorian Wars. They were soon joined by a surprise arrival,Jedi MasterLucien Draay, an old acquaintance of Adasca's and a member of the secretJedi Covenant group ofseers, who had deduced that Adasca was up to something. Refusing to accommodate a circumstance he had not planned for, Adasca had Draaypoisoned and locked in the ship's brig with Republic prisonerZayne Carrick, Draay's former JediPadawan who had been on the run from the Covenant after being accused of acrime he did not commit.^[9]

Once all the interested parties were aboard, Adasca took his seat in theArkanian Legacy's atrium and began overseeing a chaotic auction of sorts.^[9] Although the factions were technically under a flag of truce, that did not prevent Alek from attempting to attack the Mandalore, nearly causing an armed confrontation between the Republic and Mandalorian representatives. After demonstrating the exogorths' destructive power, Adasca began to field offers—most tantalizing being the Mandalorians' promise to make Adasca their sole weaponsmith and chief man of science, which would grant him enormous power and opportunity in a Mandalorian-dominated galaxy. However, Carrick and Draay, normally enemies, began plotting from the brig to escape and derail Adasca's plans. Together, they overpowered their guards, reclaimed Draay'slightsaber and cut themselves free.^[8] After venturing to the ship's crow's nest and discovering what was happening through the ship's security cameras, they met up withLieutenantCarth Onasi, a member of the Republic detachment and an acquaintance of Carrick's. After retrieving his lightsaber from Onasi, Carrick got a spare set of Mandalorian armor from Rohlan Dyre and staged an fight with Onasi on the floor in front of Adasca, using the diversion to free Jarael—whom Adasca was using as a hostage to compel Vandrayk to continue his work on the exogorths—and confront the Adascorp CEO.^[3]

With a full-fledgedbattle underway between Adasca's security force and the Jedi and Republic representatives, the Mandalorian contingent retreated to the Mandalore's private shuttle. Adasca was unable to reach Vamm for aid—little did he know, the Duros, along with the ArkanianDoctorSuprin, had been murdered by Dyre before the firefight broke out. Vandrayk, who had been confined to an orbital exogorth control station, received word that Jarael was free, and immediately set the monstrous beasts on Adasca. After transmitting a mocking message to the Lord of House Adasca, Vandrayk ordered the exogorths to attack theArkanian Legacy itself. Carrick, Jarael and the Republic and Jedi contingents managed to escape in the chaos, leaving Arkoh Adasca to die with his plans and his headquarters.^[3] After the exogorths ripped through the ship, theArkanian Legacy was left derelict and listing in contested space. In the midst of the Mandalorian Wars, Republic forces were unable to determine whether any were left alive on the ship, and ultimately decided against launching a rescue and recovery mission.^[1] The ship was ultimately ruled unsalvageable by the Galactic RepublicDefense Ministry.^[10]

Officially, the destruction of theArkanian Legacy was ascribed to a Mandalorian raid that took Adasca's life—as Adascorp was an important corporate citizen of the Republic, all mention of Adasca's plots and what really happened on theArkanian Legacy was kept out of public knowledge.^[11] For his part, Saul Karath was solely credited with saving the Republic forces in the battle and turning back the Mandalorian raid, greatly elevating his public profile.^[12] Later in the war, a Republic force led by Karath and Alek managed toretake Omonoth long enough to salvage the remnants of theArkanian Legacy. Among other things, the Republic outfit recovered the mutilated corpse of Eejee Vamm in one of the ship's labs.^[13]

Commanders and crew[]

Conceived of by his grandfather Argaloh, theArkanian Legacy passed to Arkoh Adasca upon his ascension to the stewardship of Adascorp.^[1] As the company's CEO, Adasca oversaw everything on Adascorp's mobile headquarters, using the hundreds of security cameras stationed throughout the ship to keep track of all events that took place on theArkanian Legacy^[3] and his wider information network to observe much of what occurred in the galaxy beyond.^[6] Adasca's singleminded focus was to find Gorman Vandrayk and put his plan for galactic domination in action,^[8] and his search brought a tremendous amount of data into theArkanian Legacy, forcing him to employ a cybernetically-augmented Duros aide, Eejee Vamm, to help manage all the information.^[5] Although Vamm was one of the only non-pureblooded Arkanians among the well over 100,000 crew and passengers aboard the ship at its peak,^[1] he was unflinchingly loyal to Adasca, as were the myriad doctors, scientists and researchers on the ship, led by the Arkanian Doctor Suprin.^[5] Although almost all the regular inhabitants of theArkanian Legacy were Arkanians, not all of them were privy to Adasca's plans, and the CEO of Adascorp transferred those who were not in the know off the ship on the journey to Omonoth.^[1] Among the Arkanians left on the ship were Adasca's armored security team, who wieldedstun batons and were aided by a contingent ofHK-24 assassin droids.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

TheArkanian Legacy first briefly appeared inKnights of the Old Republic 13, an issue of theStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republiccomic book series, written byJohn Jackson Miller and released in2007. Although the ship's first appearance only showed its holographic crow's nest,^[6] the rest of the ship made its first appearance several issues later, inKnights of the Old Republic 16.^[7] TheArkanian Legacy went on to be the primary setting for theNights of Anger^[4][5][7] andDaze of Hate story arcs.^[3][8][9] The ship was designed by artistBrian Ching, who "spent a lot of time" in developing the ship's appearance according to Miller.^[14] During its appearances inKnights of the Old Republic, the ship was also illustrated byHarvey Tolibao^[4] andBong Dazo.^[3] TheArkanian Legacy and the story that takes place aboard it was at least partially inspired byArchie Goodwin's depiction ofThe Wheel during the originalMarvel ComicsStar Wars comic run,^[15] and Miller devised the ship's capacity from that ofNeyland Stadium, the football stadium for theUniversity of Tennessee,^[16] Miller's alma mater.^[17]

Appearances[]

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• Knights of the Old Republic 13(First appearance)
• Knights of the Old Republic 17
• Knights of the Old Republic 18
• Knights of the Old Republic 19
• Knights of the Old Republic 20
• Knights of the Old Republic 21
• "The Admiral's List: Karath Home Safely" — Knights of the Old Republic 22(Mentioned only)
• "The Adjudicator Special Report: The Colonies" — Knights of the Old Republic 23(Mentioned only)
• "Galactic Republic Defense Ministry Daily Brief #KD0092" — Knights of the Old Republic 24(Mentioned only)
• Knights of the Old Republic 31(Indirect mention only)
• Knights of the Old Republic 47(Mentioned only)
• Knights of the Old Republic 49(Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Legacy of the Sith(Codex entry)

Sources[]

• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Handbook
• Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
• KOTOR Campaign Guide Web Enhancement 2: Captain Dallan Morvis onWizards.com(original site is defunct)
• KOTOR Campaign Guide Web Enhancement 6:Arkanian Legacy onWizards.com(original site is defunct)
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

Notes and references[]

External links[]

• KOTOR #15/16 art questions onDark HorseMessage Boards(original site is defunct)