Skirmishes on Citadel Station

The skirmishes on Citadel Station were a series of incidents that took place on Citadel Station above Telos in 3651 BBY. The main struggles occurring on the station were fought out between the Ithorian herd and Czerka Corporation who fought for control over the Telosian Restoration Project. The former Jedi and exile Meetra Surik and her allies were detained at the station following the Peragus incident but when released were able to aid the Ithorians in and the Telosian authorities in their struggles against Czerka. This also led to the Bumani Exchange branch weakening during a minor incident taking place in their offices which Surik led for the Ithorians (also weakening their hold over Citadel Station).

Surik also provided some informal work for the authorities and saved the former Czerka worker Batono who fell out of favor with them. Surik also helped Lieutenant Dol Grenn locate the source of a black market smuggling ring onboard the station and was able to root out the Duros merchant leading the operation in a skirmish in one of the docking modules.

These conflicts came to an end after the Ithorians were able to expose Czerka's illegal business activities to the Telosian Council which allowed for their herd to continue their activities.

Prelude
In 3955 BBY, a restoration effort to restore Telos after its bombardment was started after Supreme Chancellor Tol Cressa funded the effort. The Galactic Republic had hopes that if Telos succeeded the process could be replicated on other planets. Citadel Station was constructed in orbit to act as the home for technicians and other experts who worked on the restoration efforts. But Czerka Corporation under Jana Lorso saw a chance to make a profit and so integrated itself into the project while installing allies on the Telosian Council to preserve Czerka-oriented interests. The corporation also marginalized the efforts of others including the Ithorian herd through the use of legal loopholes and mercenaries to take control over the restoration zones and salvaging their resources. Czerka's aim was to maximize its profits at the project's expense.

But over time the Exchange and smugglers irrigated themselves into the Station's affairs with the local Exchange crime lord Loppak Slusk overseeing most illegal ventures on the Station. The independent operations also existed with the Duros merchant Samhan Dobo leading one such smuggling ring and he funneled weapons to the Exchange and Czerka.

The former Jedi and |exile Meetra Surik arrived on the Station alongside her allies on the Ebon Hawk after the group fled the destruction at Peragus. Lieutenant Dol Grenn arrested them and impounded their equipment and ship for their possible role in the destruction and confined them in force cages while an investigation was led to determine their role.

Skirmishes
"The T.S.F. isn't cut out to handle all the problems on Citadel Station right now. We need Republic assistance."

- A T.S.F. officer explains the situation to Meetra Surik

False Batu Rem
Surik and her allies were placed into force cages as the investigation took place despite their pleas of innocence and denials of wrongdoing. But soon an assassin disguised as an officer entered the room and explained that he was sent to kill the last Jedi for the Exchange. He further elaborated that he shorted-out the holocameras that gave him freedom to overload the cages and electrocute them.

But Surik and her allies - Kreia and Atton Rand - managed to defeat the imposter in the ensuing commotion. Lieutenant Grenn arrived and believed that the three were attempting an escape; he discovered the individual was an imposter and had Lieutenant Yima conduct an investigation while transferring the prisoners to house arrest in Residential Module 082 with guards present to ensure there was no repeat of the situation. Surik and her allies were permitted to leave hours later but not to leave the Station since the Republic dispatched a ship to conduct their own investigation. Surik later discovered and shared with Grenn that the imposter arrived on a tramp freighter from Nar Shaddaa.

Ithorians vs. Czerka Corporation
The Ithorian Moza contacted Surik (when she was under house arrest) to speak with her on the behalf of Chodo Habat who requested her assistance in dealing with Czerka Corporation and their machinations on the station. Surik decided to meet with Habat once Moza explained their situation to her. But Kreia and Rand were both in favor of leaving the station because remaining there too long could attract the Sith and was counterproductive to that end.

Surik met with Habat whose first task for her was to procure and escort an intelligence droid to them that was needed to help oversee certain areas of their project. Habat explained their previous droid disappeared and that it was suspected it was stolen even though the authorities concluded it was not stolen. But Czerka also wanted to acquire the droid and sent mercenaries to secure it in the docking module; Surik and her allies defeated the mercenaries before escorting the droid back to Habat.

The second task was to reason with the Exchange leader Loppak Slusk to ease their hold over the Ithorians. Surik hoped to negotiate with little conflict and met with Slusk's chief lieutenant Luxa in the cantina; she disliked Slusk and planned to take his position and so agreed to help Surik enter the offices without trouble since she had several of its people (including the Gamorreans) on her side. This planned coup began in the offices where Surik dispatched Benok and his accomplices before confronting Slusk with a demand to leave the Ithorians alone. But when Luxa arrived, the former Jedi refused to kill Slusk, and was forced to help him kill Luxa when the Zeltron attacked her. This attempted coup failed but dented Exchange operations on the Station.

"Farewell, T1-N1. Please do not abuse my trust and fire on the personnel while I am occupied, thereby creating a diversion that allows me to escape with stolen files."

- B-4D4-GE3 to T1-N1

The final task was to unearth evidence of Czerka's illegal activities so the Ithorians could present that evidence to the Telosian Council. It was their hope that the Council would take action against Czerka so the Ithorians could continue their work free from corporate interference. Surik discussed infiltrating the Czerka mainframe with Czerka Corrun Falt (who despised Lorso and aspired to her position); he suggested that B-4D4-GE3 could access the mainframe if Surik had the droid credentials which would enable for her to take possession of the droid. Surik later approached Opo Chano for the credentials and she was able to go to the Czerka office to secure the droid and take him to the Ithorians to be reprogrammed for the mission.

The Ithorians reprogrammed the droid so that it could both lie (to preserve its mission) and download all evidence from the Czerka mainframe that could implicate them in illegal dealings. The droid managed to gain access to the mainframe and manipulated his counterpart T1-N1 to attack the two Czerka guards standing outside the mainframe as a diversion. This enabled for T1-N1 to escape Czerka while allowing B-4 the chance to wipe all information regarding himself while returning to the Ithorians with the evidence. Once the mission was completed Habat decided to allow the droid to go free; Rand however took issue with this and said that B4 could not be trusted to keep quiet about what had transpired.

Black market
The failed Czerka attack to retrieve the Ithorians' droid also presented a new task: a modified holdout blaster was found on one of the mercenaries which prompted Surik to take it to Lieutenant Grenn for inspection. Grenn long suspected there was a black market smuggling ring on the Station and determined that the blaster was just the first step in finding evidence to expose it. He tasked Surik with showing the blaster to others to see who might know more about it. Surik took it to the Duros merchant Samhan Dobo who admitted that he made and sold the weapon; Surik said she wanted to help his operations and he tasked her with acquiring three things for his next operation. Surik secured Grenn's aid in acquiring the three things before telling her to go with Dobo to his exchange so that Grenn and his people could arrest those involved.

Surik provided the items to Dobo and accompanied him to meet his Czerka contact in the docking module. The deal was unable to go ahead due to Grenn intervening and Surik's role revealed; Dobo tried to use a grenade to kill them but was defeated and arrested. He swore revenge on Grenn and Surik from his force cage. Dobo's defeat also crippled a leg of Slusk's operations on the Station.

Batono
Lieutenant Grenn at one point asked Surik to locate Batono who was to report on Czerka activities to the Telosian Council per his advice. Surik asked a dock worker in the docking module who knew about Batono but directed Surik to speak with Jana Lorso. Lorso said she too was interested in locating Batono since she wanted him silenced to end his mistruths. Surik also approached the Ithorians (on Lorso's advice since Batono spent time with them) and Habat directed Surik to an apartment where she would find him in hiding.

Surik convinced Batono that she would keep him safe en route to Grenn but was forced to kill two mercenaries that Czerka sent to kill him. His safe arrival to Grenn meant that Batono could speak with the Council.

Aftermath
"The one you came all the way out here to pick up…well, she managed to escape the Station. We're not exactly sure how it happened."

- Dol Grenn briefs Admiral Carth Onasi about Surik's escape

The Ithorians provided Surik and her allies with a shuttle to leave the Station and descend below to the restoration zones to meet with the Zabrak engineer Bao-Dur who could help them locate their ship. Surik also managed to save the Ithorians from an attack in their compound when Czerka hired mercenaries to eliminate them (Surik intervened just before she was to leave the Station). Batono's information to the Council enabled for them to demand that Czerka relinquish its Telosian resources and stand trial for their misdeeds; Czerka's influence was removed at some point before the battle at the Station.

The black market bust also proved helpful in the sense that it provided Grenn and the authorities with weapons to use when Darth Nihilus and his Sith forces attacked Telos.

Grenn also advised Admiral Carth Onasi about Surik's escape but Onasi explained that he was en route to Telos to speak with Grenn deciding to adopt a "wait-and-see" approach regarding Surik.

Surik later allied with the Exchange crime lord and droid G0-T0 and later discovered that he in fact was the first droid meant for the Ithorians. He explained to her that his mission was to preserve the Republic and that the Ithorians' directives for him would prove counterproductive to his mission.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords