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Knights of the Old Republic 25: Vector, Part 1

What is it ? : So this is a big crossover event between, Knights of the Old Republic (4000bby), Dark Times (20bby), Rebellion (2aby), and Legacy (137aby), and has the same threat reappearing at different points throughout the history of Star Wars.
So we begin with members of the Jedi Covenant fighting Rakghouls, Feln, Q'Anilia and Xamar battle hundreds of the beasts while a figure clutching a Talisman oversees. They are confronted by Zayne Carrick who tells them this is happening now, and then they see Darth Vader who tells them it is also happening now, Luke Skywalker who repeats that it is happening now, and finally Cade Skywalker, who also repeats that it is happening now.
A Rakghoul grabs Q'Anilia, and she comes out of a vision to find Lucien Draay shaking her as she was having a vision during the memorial for Raana Tey, berating her for having a vision at an inappropriate time. The other members of the Covenant stick up for her, telling him that visions cannot be scheduled, they come when they come, telling Draay they all saw the same thing. Rakghouls on Taris, along with Zayne Carrick, they also recognise the Talisman that was being held.
They access their records, and discover that it is recorded in the files on Naga Sadow, an item the Sith fought over a thousand years ago.
Lucien wants to dispatch an agent to Taris, but the others point out that Raana Tey failed, but he says that was a mistake sending a seer instead of a hunter.
On Taris a young girl is being chased by Rakghouls, when she is rescued by a female Jedi, the girl identifies herself as a Constable, but the Jedi notices that she has been bitten and therefore infected by the Rakghouls. The constable tells her that it is ironic that she is now infected as her job was once to contain the Rakghouls, and pleads to be put out of her misery, a job the Jedi does, killing her with her lightsaber.
An explosion rocks the corridor in the undercity, and Zayne and Gryph emerge from a side corridor being chased by yet more Rakghouls. The Jedi kills the Rakghouls, and asks why the pair are in the undercity, and Zayne tells her they were with the Resistance until the Mandalorian attack on the Resistance base, and then they were in an outcast village, until they were kicked out.
She expresses disbelief that the outcasts would kick them out, until Zayne reveals that it was because Gryph left the gates open when he left to scavenge the belongings of those transformed into Rakghouls, which allowed the Rakghouls into the village.
She isn't interested in them, and annoyed by their squabbling, so sets off, with the two following her in case she has a way off planet. They continue to squabble, which annoys the Jedi who identifies herself as Celeste Morne, but when Zayne identifies herself she recognises the pair of them, telling them it is her duty to bring them in, but she has a mission, so that will have to wait.
The corridor is shaken by another explosion, and they encounter two dead Mandalorians, and hear others talking. They listen in and find that the Mandalorians are led by Pulsipher, who was the second in command at Flashpoint and an apprentice of Demagol. The Mandalorians have found the Talisman, something that Pulsipher believes will bring him the power and respect he deserves.
Celeste grabs a jetpack from one of the two dead Mandalorians, and flies off to pursue Pulsipher, and Zayne grabs the other to follow carrying Gryph. . .

High Points : So it's the start of a story arc, and one which might be read by readers who don't usually follow Knights of the Old Republic, so there's a bunch of exposition here to bring us up to date with the story. And that's not too badly done, we've also got the introduction of a new Jedi character, Celeste Morne,, and the bad guy of the story, Pulsipher, all done nicely.

Low Points : My big problem here is the characterisation of Zayne and Gryph, as they're both being played for comedy. The two bicker constantly, and it's childish in comparison to the friendly barbs they usually exchange. And Zayne in particular is made out to be useless, Gryph complaining that Zayne almost cut off his head last time he pulled his lightsaber, which doesn't match up to the last time we saw Zayne with his lightsaber he was fighting (and losing to) a Jedi Master.
We really aren't shown how the pair got from the end of the last issue to here, at that point they were heroes of the Resistance, with allies and friends. Now they're just wandering the tunnels, with no plans, and in no way helping fight off the Mandalorians.

So what do you really think ? : Well as the first part in a story it does it's job pretty well in bringing us up to speed, but as a part in a continuing story it does it's job terribly. We've got characters behaving totally differently to normal, and there's a massive unexplained jump in the story This seems really odd, as the writer is the same person in both the last issue and this one, so I've no idea why these have occurred. I can only assume that there was some kind of decree come from on high imposing the Vector storyline onto the series, and that's had some kind of effect.

Final Words : I find it amusing that the vision that the Covenant had, was three Skywalkers (Anakin, Luke and Cade), plus Zayne. He seems the odd one out in the vision, but strangely the only one that the Covenant recognise, not even realising that Vader is a Dark Lord of the Sith.
While I've always planned to go over the Legacy series (which I've also got sitting on my shelf), so will eventually reach the end of this crossover. But I wonder if I should read the Dark Time's and Rebellion parts of the story as well? Or will characters and continuing storylines render that pointless?

Score : 8/10

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