Tarisian Season Opener

The Tarisian Season Opener was a swoop race held annually on the planet of Taris. Due to the planet's prominence as the seat of professional racing, the event was widely regarded as the start of the galaxy's swooping season, hence the title given.

In 3,956 BBY the amnesic Revan competed in the event in order to free Bastila Shan from Brejik and the Black Vulkars who had captured her and planned to sell her as a slave. Though Revan's bike was using a prototype swoop engine accelerator designed by the Hidden Beks, which he had earlier retrieved from Brejik's gang after they had stolen it, it was his innate command of the Force that enabled him to beat racers who had been riding swoops for over twenty standard years prior. Brejik, however, claimed that the accelerator was an illegal modification and refused to give up Bastila as the Vulkars' share of the victory prize. In this he defied the traditions of the Season Opener and declared himself to be "the wave of the future."

When Revan accused the gang leader of lying, Bastila took the opportunity to use the Force to free herself of a neural disruptor and incapacitate one of her guards. This precipitated a vicious brawl in which Brejik, along with his top racer Redros and all of the attending Vulkars, were killed by Revan and Bastila. Afterwards the two would make their way back to their hideout in the South Apartments.

This would prove to be the last Season Opener as Darth Malak ordered the planet subjected to an orbital bombardment not long afterward.

Behind the scenes
The player has a limited number of chances to complete this race. If he or she fails three times, the Hidden Beks' mechanic will inform the player that the temperature of the swoop's engine is beginning to worry him and that he's added a rudimentary cooling system to it so that the swoop will be able to make one or two more runs. After the fourth failure, the mechanic reroutes the cooling system's power to the accelerator to give the swoop an extra boost. He tells the player that this modification is liable to cause the swoop to eventually explode. If the player does not complete the race within 38 seconds on his fifth try, the swoop explodes, killing Revan and prematurely ending the game.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic