Mission Vao

"Hey, don't treat me like I'm a little girl. I ain't no kid &mdash; I'm fourteen years old."

- Mission Vao

Mission Vao, a Rutian Twi'lek born in 3,970 BBY, grew as an orphan, having never known her parents. The only family she had was her elder brother Griff, but her memories of him were biased and distorted, to say the least.

Biography
Her brother Griff was always borrowing credits for his crazy schemes of easy enrichment. They failed miserably, of course, and he was never able to repay his debts, which soon became enormous; he had to leave the planet, escaping from his creditors. Mission was only five years old that time, but she forever remembered their rather unpleasant 'trip' to Taris&mdash;not as passengers, but hiding inside a packing crate on a freighter, barely having enough supplies to make the trip.

On Taris, their life was significantly harder. Griff and Mission had to survive in the hostile Lower City overrun by swoop gangs. Although Griff treated Mission well &mdash; and even taught her some security breaching, stealth and survival skills &mdash; he also gambled and drank, not to mention continued his habit of wasting credits on various hair-brained get-rich-quick schemes (his previous fiascos apparently taught him nothing).

Griff also often visited the Lower City cantina to play pazaak. There he met Lena, a Twi'lek dancing girl, and instantly fell for her. Lena, however, was used to dating Tarisian nobles, and Griff was not rich enough to provide her with the lifestyle she preferred. Eventually, he had to leave Taris, escaping his debts once again; this time together with Lena, leaving his twelve-year-old sister behind &mdash; although he promised her he would return as soon as they earned enough credits to live like royalty. Since then, Mission hated Lena, believing it was her who made her brother forget about her, and thought of her as a "busty, credit-grubbing cantina rat." She had no doubt their relationship wouldn't last long.

Mission had to seek other ways of survival. One day, she found a Wookiee, Zaalbar, being harassed by several members of a Lower City swoop gang, the Black Vulkars, who were trying to provoke him into fighting. She felt compassionate for him and told the Vulkars to leave him alone &mdash; but then the Vulkars turned on her and it was Zaalbar who had to rescue her. He didn't kill them, but frightened them to death and made them run away.



Despite such unusual circumstances of their meeting &mdash; or perhaps because of them &mdash; Mission and Zaalbar (whom she nicknamed "Big Z") quickly forged an alliance. For two years they got by in the Lower City, never hearing anything from or about Griff, sometimes even feeling brave enough to explore the sewers of the Undercity. And one day, one event drastically changed their lives.

In 3,956 BBY, near the end of the Jedi Civil War. Carth Onasi and memory-wiped Revan found themselves stranded on Taris after the Sith destroyed their ship, the Endar Spire. During their search for Bastila Shan, a Jedi from the Endar Spire whose escape pod landed in the Undercity, they entered the Lower City cantina where they found an unusual pair&mdash;a Wookiee, and a fourteen-year-old Twi'lek girl who preferred speaking Galactic Basic Standard rather than her people's native language.

Seeing that Revan was a newcomer in the Lower City, Mission provided him with information about the city, the swoop gangs, and guided him to the base of another swoop gang, the Hidden Beks&mdash;she considered the Beks to be more honest and reliable than the Vulkars. Mission and Zaalbar then left the cantina to seek more adventures in the Undercity sewers.

The leader of the Hidden Beks, Gadon Thek, provided Revan with authorization papers needed to get past the Sith guard at the elevator to the Undercity. He also informed Revan that Mission would be the person to find in order to break into the Vulkar Base. Immediately after Revan exited the gates of the Undercity village, heading to the wilderness, he ran into a very distressed Mission. She explained that her friend Zaalbar had been caught by Gamorrean slavers in the sewers and agreed to put her invaluable skills at Revan's disposal if Revan helped her free the poor Wookiee.

Revan saved Zaalbar from the slavers, and from that moment, Mission and Zaalbar assisted Revan during his journeys. They followed him aboard the Ebon Hawk, a smuggling ship Revan stole from the local crimelord Davik Kang, just in time to escape the Sith bombardment of Taris. Although Mission was distressed to see her homeworld destroyed before her eyes, the mind-wiped Revan calmed her down after their landing at the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. Because of her age, Mission was often looked down upon by Revan's other companions. Carth Onasi was particularly disgusted at first about a fourteen-year-old living by herself in a dangerous area and fought with her occasionally during their time together on Taris. Soon before departing Taris, however, Carth and Mission apologized to each other about what they had said and started to work together as a team for the first time.

Shortly after, during Revan's travels to Dantooine, Mission encountered Lena. Lena explained to Mission that she dumped Griff, leaving him on Tatooine, where he was working for Czerka Corporation. She also said she had actually wanted Mission to follow them, and even offered to pay for her ticket, but it was Griff who wanted to leave his sister behind. It turned out that Griff had lied to them both, having told Mission that it was Lena's decision, and having told Lena that Mission didn't want to leave Taris.

Mission refused to believe her, but nevertheless was relieved to hear her brother was still alive. On Tatooine, Revan and Mission found Griff as a prisoner in the local Sandpeople enclave. It was the conversation that ensued there that made Mission realize the truth in Lena's words. Even after his liberation, Griff didn't give up his half-baked business projects&mdash;his latest one, in which he tried to use tach glands collected by Revan to brew Tarisian ale, also failed, and in addition he got himself into trouble with the Exchange.

Mission initially felt betrayed by her brother, and she realized that nobody was perfect, especially after witnessing Griff continue his get-rich-quick schemes. Instead of fruitlessly trying to "improve" her brother, she learned to accept him as he was. Despite their previous tensions, Griff and Mission parted as friends, being seemingly happy with their reunion.

Mission followed Revan to the end, even to the monstrous Star Forge, and was present at the celebration of the Star Forge's destruction and the Republic's victory over the Sith, where Revan's companions were proclaimed as saviors of the Republic and awarded the Cross of Glory.

It is possible that Mission may have been an ancestor of Shado and Astraal Vao, Twi'leks who lived around the year 130 ABY.

Personality
Despite her harsh upbringing and abandonment, Mission was a sunny and optimistic girl. She believed the best of people most of the time, and was the first to rally to Revan's defense after the party's escape from the Leviathan as she was convinced by Revan's actions to be a true friend.

She had a strong sense of fairness, as evidenced by her anger with Chuundar and Czerka's treatment of the Wookiees, and her loyalty to the Hidden Beks after Brejik's betrayal. She was also courageous and impulsive, charging three Vulkars by herself to try and save Zaalbar, or mouthing off at – and trying to bite – armed Sith troopers.

Her chief annoyance, however, was when people dismissed her on the basis of age. This earned her several arguments with Carth and Bastila, the latter using the Force to trip her. She also constantly teased Zaalbar like a bratty little sister.

Behind the scenes

 * Mission was voiced by Cat Taber.
 * The Mission Vao/Zaalbar duo is most likely a tribute to Han Solo and Chewbacca from the movies. Zaalbar is a Wookiee, like Chewbacca, and Mission's in-game character class is "scoundrel", which is what Leia Organa used to call Han Solo. The ship they travel on, the Ebon Hawk, is also modeled after Han's ship, the Millennium Falcon.
 * Mission is the game character who repeats the classic line, "I have a bad feeling about this", as a reference to the movies. In the game's sequel, this torch is passed to Atton Rand.
 * When talking to Mission, one of the possible responses is "Let's get back to our mission, Mission", and she replies that she heard this joke a million times.
 * Early drafts of the game had Mission as a male Twi'lek rather than a female.
 * Mission's original face (shown below) did not satisfy the art director, who wanted more of a "teen look". The face on the right shows the final face design used in game.
 * A popular fan pairing has risen for a romance between Dustil Onasi and Mission in the recent years since the game's release.
 * In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, there is an item called "Vao Armband." Its description is that the words "To M. Vao -Z" are etched crudely into it. This is obviously a reference to the friendship between Zaalbar and Mission Vao. "To M. Vao -Z" was most likely written by Zaalbar because Mission called him "Z" or "Big Z".
 * Unlike most Twi'leks, Mission and her brother, Griff, spoke Galactic Basic instead of Twi'leki. Her reason was that she lived in Taris for so long, she got used to speaking it.
 * Alternatively to Mission coming to term with her brother's character and forgiving him, the player could convince her to embrace her feelings of anger and betrayal. She cuts all ties off with Griff and leaves him to whatever fate the Exchange has for him.
 * Surprisingly, Carth Onasi and Mission Vao have more light side points than Jedi party members Bastila Shan and Juhani (Jolee Bindo's alignment is neutral), which makes the most light side-inclined characters in the game (except, possibly, the player character, depending on which side of the Force the player chooses).
 * If Revan enters the Lower City cantina before meeting Mission in the Undercity, Mission can be seen inside the cantina with Zaalbar. Revan can start a conversation with her, during which, Mission claims they are the "official welcoming committee."
 * Mission's name may be a play on words of the city of Mission Viejo in California.
 * An obvious tribute is made to Mission with Astraal Vao and Shado Vao in that they were both raised in the Imperial Mission (Astraal is even called "Missionary Vao" at one point, which was explicitly confirmed by Jan Duursema to be a reference to Mission Vao). This, of course, does not necessarily imply heritage, but is a tribute nonetheless.

Alternate dark side ending


While the ending where Revan is redeemed and the Republic triumphant is considered canonical, there is an alternate ending of the game where Bastila seduces Revan to the dark side of the Force in the Unknown World, a planet in the Star Forge system. When Revan and Bastila return to the Ebon Hawk, Mission refuses to follow the self-proclaimed Dark Lord of the Sith. Mission didn't believe that Revan had truly fallen back to the dark side yet, and that if she didn't attack first that Revan wouldn't be able to bring himself to kill her in cold blood. However, she had sorely underestimated the ruthless Sith Lord, and Revan declared that he didn't need to kill her, and that her best friend Zaalbar would do it for him instead. Naturally Zaalbar refused at first, but manipulating him with the Force and his life-debt, Zaalbar finally submitted to his dark will, and slew the dumb-struck Mission with a single mighty blow. As if to signify that Revan's fate was now forever set down the dark path, Bastila applauds his callousness and comments that Revan is as dark now as he ever was.

It is also possible to attack Mission without convincing Zaalbar to kill her. In this case, Zaalbar abandons his life debt to Revan and protects Mission. Both are killed at the hands of the newly-reborn Revan.

Appearances

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