Marisa Serek, also known as Archer, was an operative of the Galactic Rebellion and a founding signer of the Declaration of the Rebellion, representing the Imperial Knights.[6] In the early years of her career, Marisa worked most notably for Gorabba the Hutt as a thief on Hutta, but eventually exposed Gorabba's illicit activities after being fed up with the Hutt's activities. After a brief manhunt leading to her capture, Marisa was injected with a drug that forced her to do as she was commanded as revenge for ruining Gorabba's reputation. Although forced to go on a murderous rampage, she was able to receive help from the Jedi. Despite being advised against it, Marisa continued her former criminal activities, except with the purpose of investigating the origins of the mind controlling serum. Her activities on Quesh attracted the attention of the Imperial Knights, whom helped her escape after her successful theft of a Sith holocron. After learning that the drug that once afflicted her was the product of Sith alchemy, Marisa pledged herself to assist the Imperial Knights, becoming a significant figure within their resistance movement. Because of an operation that Marisa took part of, she was indirectly responsible for the talks that eventually saw a rebel alliance between Alliance and Imperial rebels.
Biography
Early years
Marisa grew up with her mother Irene and was financially supported by her father Maffew by Crullov City.[2] However, she never saw her father as a father figure, due to the latter's lack of presence in Marisa's life. As a child, Marisa faced bullying due to her white hair, being part-Echani, and was given the derogatory nickname Granny. The nickname pushed Marisa to dye her hair black.[7] However, "Granny" stuck with her peers, which further drove Marisa into finding acceptance from those who did not care about her heritage. She pushed herself into taking part in dares around her hometown with a street gang in order to be respected, to her mother's chagrin. However, she grew close to her uncle, Bernogne Wael, who occasionally visited all the way from Bastion[7] with Marisa's aunt. Bernogne and Marisa became close friends, although the distance between them, especially as the borders between Alliance and Imperial space closed from the growing distrust between the two governments, became a large barrier.
Marisa eventually became friends with members of a street gang. The gang played risky dares around the town, which eventually evolved into small-time theft, forming a small thieves' guild in the process. At first, Marisa worked with her friends to pull off small-time heists, using the money they made to make bigger and bolder hits, mostly for fun and wealth.
In her time in the guild, Marisa became particularly acquainted with Sheena Muklon. The two immediately disliked each other and bickered continuously, to the annoyance of the other guild members. Their relationship was only tolerated because of their competence at their respective tasks. Marisa's ability to defeat physical security measures and Sheena's ability to defeat cyber security were invaluable assets to the guild's work.[8]
The thieves' guild, called Diamond Coin, eventually attempted to steal credits from a bank, which required hackers to operate on-site to bypass firewalls. After neutralizing the bank security and staff, one of Marisa's colleagues wanted to shoot one of the bank guards for initially resisting the robbers as a message to the others. Marisa opposed the suggestion, to the point that she forcefully disarmed the guild member and dragged him where he would not interact with the bank guard. As the guild made off with the credits, Marisa noticed that the bank guard from earlier was shot.
Infuriated, Marisa left the thieves' guild, using the credits from the heist to travel to Nar Shaddaa in search for long-term employment as a free agent. She eventually met Gorabba through his men on the smuggler's moon.[9] Gorabba consistently hired Marisa to steal items from other Hutts as well as acquired valuable items for the Hutt's personal collection. Because of the varying methods of providing security to the countless Hutt mansions and fortresses, Marisa grew familiar with both technological and primitive security systems, ranging from complex locks to animal guards. She used her time in employment to develop her kit of equipment for breaking security grids. However, Marisa believed that her skills were put to better use than to "steal trinkets."
Castellan restraints
Marisa observes Cloud City.
Marisa secretly exposed Gorabba's actions to the other Hutt cartels. The kajidic collapsed under the resulting pressure of the Hutt council and its members were hunted down.[10] However, Gorabba was able to figure out that she was behind his fall to power and placed a bounty on her. Marisa fled to Tatooine for refuge in the chaos.[11] However, she later learned that bounty hunters were searching for her and went into hunting. In order to throw off pursuers, she stowed herself away in a box of kassoti sent to Cloud City.[12]
On Cloud City, Marisa found that Gorabba's bounty hunters were a step closer than she anticipated. She ran into one hunter named Rath, who she was familiar with from Gorabba's court, while on the city. Rath tranquilized her, but Marisa was able to kill the bounty hunter and escape with the help of former Imperial Knight Zsaekriel Dtoahfre'Vuun.[12]
Zsaekriel helped Marisa evade the bounty hunters who tracked her down to Cloud City. Because Zsaekriel also had things to do on Cloud City, Marisa decided to accompany him as a way of settling her debt. Although they eluded a bounty hunter along the way and evaded Cloud City security officers, the two easily rescued a young boy from being sent into slavery. However, Zsaekriel's client sought to erase all traces of the boy's escape, ordering mercenaries to kill the two. They were rescued by the Cloud City security forces who intended to arrest Marisa for killing Rath, opening fire on the armed mercenaries and allowing Zsaekriel and Marisa to escape.[12]
Marisa endures the Castellan conditioning procedure.
However, despite her efforts, Marisa was captured by a bounty hunter who brought her back to Gorabba. After taunting her for ruining his reputation, Gorabba ordered her to be injected with the IX serum in order to ensure his revenge.
During the month-long process, Marisa was confined to a converted kolto tank, where she was connected to a machine that fed her dosages of the IX serum over time. In order to ensure that she does not try to prevent the procedure from succeeding, Marisa was also fed essential nutrients through a tube and was administered sedation drugs. The Castellan procedure was very painful, including symptoms such as involuntary twitching from the modification of Marisa's nervous system. When it was concluded, Marisa could barely recollect the experience, mostly remembering the excruciating pain, though Gorabba made it clear to her that she was under the control of the Castellan restraints.
After being programmed with the code word "dyslogistic" to complete the restraints, Marisa was ordered to travel home to Corulag. When she arrived, Marisa was forced to commit multiple murders, including the death of her mother.[1] When she was given the order to kill her mother, Marisa contemplated suicide, realizing that Gorabba also intended for her to kill her entire family. The orders she was given under the Castellan restraints prevented Marisa from turning herself in to law enforcement officials. Although the mandate also specifically forbade her from killing herself, Marisa began smoking death sticks, hoping that she would eventually die from its infamous life-shortening side-effect. When the Jedi Knight Pax Sator came to the planet in order to help local authorities apprehend her, Marisa plotted to use the Jedi Order to cure her. Sator agreed to take her into Jedi custody, but enabling her to move on her own free will, and arranged a meeting with a member of the Jedi council.[1]
The Prime Envoy, Gracelyn Maier, agreed to meet with Marisa on Tython.[13] Although Marisa was not able to directly communicate the nature of the IX serum, Gracelyn used the Force to purge Marisa's body in a lengthy meditation. Marisa left Tython believing that she was cured of the Castellan restraints. The healing trance's non-specific purge of unnatural substances also ended Marisa's death stick addiction, though Marisa still had a habit of subconsciously gnawing objects, particularly when she was anxious.
Uncovering the past
After leaving the temple on Tython, Marisa wanted to discover who invented the IX serum. She infiltrated Gorabba's information database on Nal Hutta to find clues.[14] Among the information she uncovered, Marisa learned that it was invented by a Sith Empire that existed over ten thousand years ago. Although revenge was not possible, she continued her search. The ingredient dimalium-6 led Marisa to Quesh, where she learned that a Sith named Lord Luchus oversaw Imperial mining operations. Luchus was also believed to had used some of the Quell chemicals mined on the planet in his own experiments. His holocron was in the possession of Borga the Hutt by the town Attis.[14]
Marisa stole the holocron, causing an uproar from Borga.[14] Although Marisa was not concerned with the increased security, she laid low on-planet while she waited for the next public transport to leave Quesh. She was, however, stopped by two mercenaries who searched and questioned her. Marisa was only able to escape the mercenaries with the timely intervention of Aemon Vale and Gareth Voltaris of the Imperial Knights, who were on-planet in search for Luchus' holocron upon hearing about Borga's outburst.[14]
The three stopped at a local diner, where the Imperial Knights interrogated her about the purpose of stealing the holocron. Marisa was initially hesitant about giving away any information, though she was willing to give away the holocron after she was finished with it.[14]
On Aemon's ship, the three of them learned that the holocron belonged to the dark lord Luchus from the Cold War era.[15] The group soon realized that the holocron's gatekeeper was actually the ghost of the Sith lord himself and subdued Luchus' spirit. However, Marisa learned that Luchus was her ancestor and he was responsible for the creation of the Castellan restraints, greatly upsetting her. With this revelation, she decided to assist the Imperial Knights, despite not having the Force sensitivity to be trained as a Knight.
The True Throne
Marisa Serek c.1,022 ABY.
“I don't care what you were, only what you will become.”―Merlin Ambrosius[src]
Traveling to Kalee on Aemon's instructions, Marisa joined a secret meeting of the Imperial Knights.[15] She spoke with the newly-appointed Knight Commander of the Imperial Knights, Merlin Ambrosius, about the specifics regarding working with the Imperial Knights and delivered Luchus' holocron to the Knights, in accordance with her agreement with Aemon.[5] Merlin subsequently destroyed the holocron, thanking her for not selling the relic for money. He offered her the rank of lieutenant in the new resistance group that he was forming, called the True Throne. Marisa accepted the offer, introducing herself as Archer.[5]
Even with Merlin's trust, Marisa's relations with her new allies were not without problems. Her relationship with the Hapan duchess Siennaa of Arabanth, a high ranking member of the Knights, was unstable.[16] However, it could be attributed to her lack of knowledge of Hapan culture combined with her impression of nobles.[15] Also, her loyalty to the Imperial Knights was questioned, especially among the Knights who were aware that Marisa knew that the True Throne was the cover name of the Imperial Knights' operations. Her dubious background, although not a deterrent to her acceptance as an ally of the Knights, was sourced as the reason for the reluctance.
Despite these setbacks, Marisa became a major figure in the resistance movement, involved in over a hundred True Throne operations against the Imperium over the next ten years.[17] Among them, Archer ensured that the Corulagian police database was wiped of information specifically about her appearance, gathered during the manhunt against her, since removing the incident from the police files would have immediately attracted suspicion. The Imperium's inability to identify her as Marisa led to a number of rumors about her origins, ranging from being related to a redeemed Sith lord to being a black operative of the former Galactic Alliance.[17]
While on Alsakan, eight years after the fall of the Galactic Alliance, she ran into her uncle, Bernogne Wael. Against her better judgment, Marisa spent time catching up with events with Bernogne. Because she lingered with Bernogne, the Ubiqtorate was able to identify her and attempted to capture her on Metellos. Although Marisa managed to escape, Bernogne was arrested for questioning by Imperial Intelligence agents.[17] Feeling responsibility for her uncle's predicament, Marisa promised to herself to rescue Bernogne from imprisonment.
The Rishi incident
An extended manhunt for Marisa took place on Rishi.
Two years after Bernogne's capture, the Imperial Knights uncovered a rumor that the Hutts were in the process of investing in a significant project. Marisa was deployed to Rishi in order to determine whether the planet's mining operations increased, since it was believed that the project would require large energy reserves and that Rishi would be likely utilized to provide the energy demands. Archer's familiarity with Hutt operations was believed to be valuable in reconnoitering the sector. She also wanted to investigate the planet's imports for hints of any transport of bacta from Hutt controlled Thyferra. However, Marisa's activities were discovered, stranding her on the planet with Hutt-hired mercenaries attempting to arrest her for espionage. The Alliance Remnant intercepted her distress transmission and, despite the risks involved, sent a small strike team to extract her from the planet.[10]
Marisa was stranded on the planet for three days, running dangerously low on water and depleting her carried rations.[10] Although she was able to evade capture in the time that it took for the Alliance strike team to arrive, Marisa was eventually detected by mercenaries and forced to defend herself. The Rebels were able to come to her aid in time, providing air support against Hutt air security units and engaging alongside her in a brief firefight against the Hutt mercenaries. When one of the Hutt mercenaries called for a ceasefire to question Marisa of her intentions on Rishi, she took the opportunity to devise a story to aid in masking her true mission.
Taking the opportunity to further tarnish Gorabba's reputation, Marisa claimed that she was hired by one of Gorabba's men in order to obtain records of the exonium mining operations to aid in Gorabba's return to power.[10] The story convinced the mercenaries to request that herself and Gremont Fernagh, a member of the rescue team, join the Hutt cartels.
However, the Marisa and Gremont silently agreed that they needed to escape as soon as possible. With a diversion prepared by Gremont, the two escaped on the Lunar Solace piloted by Nev Coronar, although Gremont suffered injuries in the process.[10]
Archer was hesitant about her rescuers' intentions, considering that they were simply mercenaries that intend to take Orubo the Hutt's bounty on her for themselves. Gremont revealed to her that himself and Nev were part of the Rebellion, though Archer initially did not believe his claim.[10] The distrust persisted, with Archer explaining the nature of her intentions on the planet.
The tension eventually dissolved through conversation, allowing Nev to contact Terrsyn Pearot for further orders. Although Pearot was not able to directly speak to the trio, his adjutant relayed to Marisa that the Alliance Remnant was ready to help her and her allies if needed.[10]
Forming an alliance
Marisa in uniform.
“The General wants to let [Archer] know that the Alliance is ready to assist the resistance.”―Andronikos Kilran[src]
When Marisa returned to the Imperial Knights, she informed the knights of the Alliance Remnant's efforts to exfiltrate her from Rishi.[18] This opened the possibility of talks with the leader of the remnant forces, Terrsyn Pearot. However, Siennaa was determined to go forward with a suicidal plan to assassinate Darth Vereor, the right-hand man of the Sith Empress Andraste.[18] Marisa implored the duchess to reconsider the plan, given the opportunity to form an alliance to better prepare for an attack against the Imperium. However, Siennaa's stubbornness prevented her from listening to Marisa. In fact, her resolve was only strengthened by Marisa's words, due to the latter's inexperience in political debate.[18] The duchess and the Knights and True Throne operatives who followed her later perished.
Enfali Tragati, who succeeded Siennaa as the Commander of the Imperial Knights, led her followers into an arrangement with Pearot, bringing them into the rebellion. At the same time, they discarded their name as Imperial Knights and became the Imperial Marshalls, since few knights not at the rank of Marshall remained in the order.[19]
Following the Empire's seizing of the Hutt-owned bacta stores on Thyferra, Marisa took part in a delegation sent by General Ellis Xhosa to arrange an agreement of mutual support.[20] Because of her background with Hutt individuals, Marisa acted as a consultant and adviser to the two former Alliance senators that she accompanied.
She later insisted on being part of the conference that
Personality and traits
Young Marisa.
“Orders don't sit well with me. But I'm interested in helping in my own way.”―Marisa Serek[src]
When she was young, Marisa relied heavily on herself, believing she could not trust others. Her explanation was that she could not trust others to not make a mistake or act without permission, stemming from her experience as a member of the Corulagian thieves' guild. This belief extended through her tenure as a hired hand for Gorabba the Hutt, avoiding unnecessary interactions with dubious individuals.
When she was afflicted by the Castellan restraints, Marisa felt as though her destiny was to remain a pawn for the rest of her life. She felt incredibly lonely, being unable to properly explain her predicament to others, and turned to death sticks in order to indirectly kill herself, since the restraints forbade her from committing suicide. When she was able to convince Pax Sator to take her to the Jedi Council, Marisa was relieved and quickly rose out of depression following the submission of the restraints. The experience changed Marisa's lone wolf habits, becoming more willing to work with others. Her experience with the Castellan restraints also made her more critical and questioning of orders being given to her.[17] Since breaking her addiction to death sticks, Marisa retained a habit of gnawing on objects. She could keep the habit under control in most situations, but she occasionally did so when under stress.
The Castellan restraints also made Marisa more protective of those who she cared about, even if she did not directly show it. Although she gave her uncle Bernogne the choice to either stay behind, and be arrested by the Ubiqtorate, or flee with her, Marisa implied that going with her would be the best option. Her urging persisted until she believed that she could not stay any longer.
Marisa's early career caused her to be a strong and assertive person. She had to learn to be forceful in order to be respected in the underworld, especially as an employee of Gorabba the Hutt. Without doing so, Marisa believed that she would be taken advantage of. Her personality was once compared to the late Knight Commander Iona Peller.[12]
Ever since she finally broke all ties to the Hutt Cartels, Marisa did not trust the hired hands and affiliates of any Hutt.[20] She understood the mercenary culture surrounding the cartels, as well as the formal etiquette when dealing with the Hutts themselves, which made her an excellent candidate for advising diplomatic committees that go to meet with Hutt representatives.
Originating from her friendship with the Corulagian street gang, Marisa developed a peculiar dialect. It usually surfaced in casual conversations or when Marisa got excited or nervous. However, her tendency to use the dialect diminished as she worked with the True Throne.[17] Ten years after the Battle of Coruscant, only a handful of her companions knew about her unique dialect, which no longer became her dominant accent. Marisa was also fluent in Huttese, which she used to hold private discussions with others.[15]
At first, Marisa did not know much about the Force.[13] However, she had a general idea of the different main sects of Force users: namely the Jedi, Sith, and Imperial Knights.[12] Her time working with the Imperial Knights in their resistance against the Imperium greatly expanded Marisa's understanding about the Force and Force users.
Although the Jedi helped her tremendously in the past, Marisa was hesitant about accepting their support towards the Rebellion.[6] Even though she still was technically an Alliance citizen, Marisa worked long enough with the Imperial Knights to support their personal agenda over the Alliance remnants. She believed that the presence of the Jedi Order threatened the Imperials' ability to influence post-war diplomacy, particularly when it came to the preservation of the Galactic Empire as it was prior to the usurpation of the Imperial throne.
Marisa's favorite drink was hot chocolate.[12][14]
Talents and abilities
Marisa opening a safe.
As a professional thief, Marisa had detailed knowledge on virtually all of the viable security systems used in her time and methods to bypass them. Her experience allowed Marisa to quickly respond to different types of security and could quickly analyze the strengths and weaknesses of security measures.[12] Athleticism played a major role in Marisa's heists, since she had to position herself at the right place at the right time in order to succeed. This enabled Marisa to be efficient in the use of parkour.[17]
Marisa was an experienced hacker and computer technician, capable of using various devices to bypass cyber security.[12] However, her technique was surpassed by her rival guildsman Sheena Muklon.
Despite her qualifications, Marisa avoided combat whenever possible, preferring to use non-lethal tools to disorient her armed enemies.[11][1] Marisa still traveled with a hidden holdout blaster for protection and included underhanded weapons such as a retractable knife in her boot.[4] She showed some skill in self-defense, though Marisa greatly preferred to avoid confrontations whenever possible.[12]
After joining the Imperial Knights-in-exile, Marisa learned how to defend herself with Echani techniques. Although professed to not be a master of Echani, Marisa possessed enough understanding of the art to incorporate street fighting skills into her combative style and predict her opponent's movements through observation.
She was not an influential speaker, surmised from her failed efforts to convince Knight-Commander Siennaa from committing to a suicidal charge against Darth Vereor.[18] However, Marisa's knowledge of the politics in the underworld was respected well enough to make her part of an diplomatic entourage to meet with representatives of Vero the Hutt, the most notorious Hutt crime lord in the galaxy.[20]
She possessed a custom built COMAR bow, designed by Alda Industries to her specifications.[21] With some training, Marisa developed good marksmanship with the weapon.
Behind the scenes
Marisa's Corulagian speech was inspired by Singaporean dialect. However, it made little sense that the dialect would be sustained after communicating for a long period of time with people who spoke standard Imperial and Alliance accents, so its usage declined.
Marisa was originally created as a potential NPC for a string of legacy quests on TheStarWarsRP.Com, inspired by Kasumi Goto from Mass Effect. However, she was developed into a full character in order to take advantage of Marisa's non-combative background. The main focus of the character's development was to create a sense of having no place that Marisa could truly consider a home, in order to have a sense of longing for a close-knit group that she could be compatible with. The Imperial Knights developed to be the most natural option, due to coincidences in story-writing on TheStarWarsRP.Com.
Jaffar Serek was originally intended to be Marisa's father, though he was changed to uncle due to age differences. Bernogne Wael eventually replaced him as Marisa's uncle in order to connect Marisa with a more established character.
Appearances
- Star Wars Legacies (First appearance)
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Keyword: Dyslogistic on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Old Guard's Tears on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ Inferred from Echani mother and Human father. Occasionally mistaken as Echani in writing.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Marisa Serek's character profile on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Terms and Conditions May Apply on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Rise of the Rebellion on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Thief: Part 1: From Humble Beginnings on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ Emergent Occasions on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ The Thief: Part 2: Truth or Dare on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 Wir sind der Jaegar! on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Warrior or Storyteller? on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 Through the City in the Clouds on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Entering the Serenity of Mind on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 Not All Knights are Chivalrous on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 A Meeting to Change All Our Lives on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ Baby Steps to a True Empire on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 Archer's character profile on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 The Last Round Table on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ The Imperial Marshalls: History, Training, and Philosophy on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Asteroid Blues on TheStarWarsRP.Com
- ↑ COMAR Bow [Alda Industries] on TheStarWarsRP.Com