Mission Vao

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

- Mission Vao

Biography
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 controversial, to say the least.

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. His sister was only five years old that time, but she forever remembered their rather unpleasant 'trip' to Taris - 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 - and even taught her some security breaching, stealth and survival skills - he also gambled and drank, not to mention his continued habit of wasting credits on various "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; but this time together with Lena, leaving his twelve-year-old sister behind - although he promised her he would return as soon as they earned enough credits to live like royalty. Since then, Mission always thought it was Lena who made her brother forget about her, and called her a "busty, credit-grubbling 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 - 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.

Without her brother to protect Despite such unusual circumstances of their meeting - or perhaps because of them - 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 - a Wookiee, and a fourteen-year-old Twi'lek girl who preferred speaking Galactic Basic 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 - 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. However, immediately after Revan exited the gates of the Undercity village, heading to the wilderness, he ran into very distressed Mission. She explained that her friend Zaalbar was 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.

From that moment, Mission and Zaalbar assisted Revan during his journeys, and 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 minded wiped Revan calmed her down after their landing at the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. Becuase of her age, Mission was often looked down upon by Revan's other companions, Carth Onasi was particularly disgusted at first about a 14 year old living by herself in a dangerous area and fought with her occasionally during thier 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, Mission encountered Lena. Lena told Mission that she left Griff 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 felt betrayed, but nevertheless relieved to hear her brother was still alive. On Tatooine, Revan and Mission found Griff as a prisoner in the local Sand People enclave. Even after his liberation, Griff didn't give up his half-baked business projects - 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.

But Mission was prepared. She realized that nobody was perfect, and instead of fruitlessly trying to "improve" her brother, 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.

Mission may have been an ancestor of Astraal Vao, another Rutian Twi'lek who lived around the year 140 ABY.

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 how 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.
 * 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.
 * Mission's original face (shown left) 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.

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. There is no way to keep her alive - the player (as Revan) must either kill Mission, or persuade Zaalbar to kill her, signifying that the path of the Sith is one of crime and betrayal.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic