Jaxo and Objective: A-77 *spoiler*

[drug_cartel]

Has anybody done this mission with Vik as their companion? I had him in the middle of a 3 hour Underworld Trading mission so I couldn't toggle him in, but I was curious his reaction since generally speaking he approves of Dark Side choices.

 

 

 

I prefer to save Jaxo, a friend, over a prison full a strangers. Plus, it was Jaxo who made the distress beacon; as far as I'm concerned, nobody has more information than her. For all I know these 300 Prisoners might be a combination of Imperial Prisoners who liked to murder and cannibalize children, and a handful of Republic Senator political prisoners who have already buckled and betrayed the Republic to reveal our secrets to the Empire. And probably a few other members of Jaxo's unit, which means that they are also soldiers, they also knew the risk they were taking, and it's up to the CO on duty, Jaxo, to make the decision where the most valuable resources lay. One incredibly talented, highly skilled, expensively trained field operative could very well be worth more than several low skill, entry level privates.

 

We're soldiers, and War is never about quantity. Hundreds, even thousands, of troopers like us can be sent to our deaths to save one Senator or General or crucial scientist. Not all lives are created equal.

 

 

 

That being said, my decision isn't going to be made based upon Light/Dark side, but rather the morale in my unit. So if any of my men at all will support my decision, then I'm going to go ahead with it.

[captaincr]

the decision in the end dosen't really make a difference to the end game which is too bad, it punches you in the gut and goes nowhere what yould have been nice though

 

 

If you choose to save her she shows up the last mission and helps you with the two elite guards making it easier. Or if you choose to save the infantry they show up in the last minute and make the last mission a little easier. Or something to that effect.

 

They did it in the Sith Warrior story line where if you spared republic troops they would help you against a Sith Lord later.

 

But right now its an emotional sucker punch with no real reward.

 

[drug_cartel]

You arent some random person given this question. You are an officer of the republic, entrusted by the citizens of the republic and their elected representatives to protect themselves and their self-interests as best as you are capable.

 

As an officer in the military you must remain impartial, as hard as it may be sometimes. You must save grief for later, dramatic "NOOOOO's!" for when you arent getting shot at, etc. etc.

 

In this situation, the answer is obvious.

 

 

There are 300 innocent people locked up. 300. innocent. You might say, they might be evil, or bastards. But you must remain impartial. It could just as easily be 300 really good people, who might give birth to the next Revan or skywalker. Furthermore, they didnt put themselves in that position. If you have to get down to it, even on a pure statistical basis, saving those 300 does more in the long run. But it's also the right thing to do. Jaxo as a soldier should have been willing to die to save everyone else, her panic is understandable and realistic but she knew what she was getting into and should've accepted the responsibilities.

 

I'd prefer not to die either but if it''s going to happen,there'd be no greater honor than to die saving hundreds of other innocent people.

 

I love the writing in this though. It could've been easy to just have her say "You know what you have to do" but she panicked and freaked out like a human being. She's a soldier but a soldier under severe duress. Hearing her panic and rambling on til her death was like twisting the knife.

 

 

I feel pretty much the opposite of this. I am an officer in the Republic Military. I am not a Senator or Governor; I am a Major. I have zero authority over civilians; I cannot simply walk into a cantina and start ordering non-soldiers around. Along with that, I have zero responsability for civilians, except when otherwise ordered by my Commanding Officer. My duty is not to make people happy; my duty is to win a war.

 

 

For those whom have beaten the Trooper Class Mission and opted to spare Raktin, you'll see that the High Chancellor Fancypants trades him to the Empire for thousands of Republic Prisoners. That is her duty, keeping the people happy so she can be re-elected. Simple choice, right? One man versus Thousands of Prisoners. Except that Raktin has killed hundreds of thousands already. Once freed, it is very likely that he will cost us far more lives than what were just spared. In fact, it is almost guarunteed; the Empire would not have traded that many prisoners for him unless they believed he could deal more than that in damage, and they know his capabilities far better than we do.

 

 

So in A-77,,,

 

 

...we've got to choose between Jaxo and 300 prisoners. Officers are called upon to make difficult decisions. These decisions would not be difficult if it was as simple as numbers. We're talking total value. What can 300 soldiers do versus what can Jaxo do? Well, for starters, 300 soldiers can sit in their cells and do nothing, while Jaxo can break out single-handed, get a distress beacon back the Republic, and arrange for rescue. Then 300 soldiers can sit around doing nothing while Jaxo fights alone and unarmed against battle droids, evading capture until our arrival. Basically, there are 300 soldiers who give up, who bend over and take it, while Jaxo fights alone and against insurmountable odds. She knew the risk? They're all soldiers. Every single person in that prison knew the risk. And only one of them knew the risks and then put their life on the line to save not only themselves but also 300 other people who were too worthless to do it on their own.

 

What Jaxo demonstrated was that, based upon the facts of the situation, she was able to accomplish more than the other 300 prisoners combined. Who's more useful to the Republic? I vote Jaxo.

 

 

As for some sort of inherant worth question, I believe you're entirely off base.

 

 

You are correct that we do not know who might be the next Revan or Skywalker. We also do not know who might be the next Palpatine or Thrawn. There is only one way to predict whether a person will do good, bad, or nothing in the future, and that is to look at what they have done in the past. Skywalker and Revan weren't great men because they had the Force; they were great men because when faced with challenges, they rose above them. They didn't quit, they fought against insurmountable odds, and while they had help from friends along the way, they did much of the work on their own. Skywalker or Revan wouldn't have been important forces for good in the galaxy if they had just laid down and accepted their fate when things were hard. Jaxo was the one with the courage and skill to keep fighting, while the others sat around waiting to be rescued (by Jaxo). If anybody in that prison has the potential to turn the tide of the war, it would be Jaxo, not the incompetant grunts who failed to step up when the situation called for it.

 

 

It's a question of value, not quantity. And the quality of the soldier being saved plays a factor. We don't just need warm bodies walking around on a field; we need real soldiers capable of making a difference in this war.

[Zalekanzer]

I feel pretty much the opposite of this. I am an officer in the Republic Military. I am not a Senator or Governor; I am a Major. I have zero authority over civilians; I cannot simply walk into a cantina and start ordering non-soldiers around. Along with that, I have zero responsability for civilians, except when otherwise ordered by my Commanding Officer. My duty is not to make people happy; my duty is to win a war.

 

 

For those whom have beaten the Trooper Class Mission and opted to spare Raktin, you'll see that the High Chancellor Fancypants trades him to the Empire for thousands of Republic Prisoners. That is her duty, keeping the people happy so she can be re-elected. Simple choice, right? One man versus Thousands of Prisoners. Except that Raktin has killed hundreds of thousands already. Once freed, it is very likely that he will cost us far more lives than what were just spared. In fact, it is almost guarunteed; the Empire would not have traded that many prisoners for him unless they believed he could deal more than that in damage, and they know his capabilities far better than we do.

 

 

So in A-77,,,

 

 

...we've got to choose between Jaxo and 300 prisoners. Officers are called upon to make difficult decisions. These decisions would not be difficult if it was as simple as numbers. We're talking total value. What can 300 soldiers do versus what can Jaxo do? Well, for starters, 300 soldiers can sit in their cells and do nothing, while Jaxo can break out single-handed, get a distress beacon back the Republic, and arrange for rescue. Then 300 soldiers can sit around doing nothing while Jaxo fights alone and unarmed against battle droids, evading capture until our arrival. Basically, there are 300 soldiers who give up, who bend over and take it, while Jaxo fights alone and against insurmountable odds. She knew the risk? They're all soldiers. Every single person in that prison knew the risk. And only one of them knew the risks and then put their life on the line to save not only themselves but also 300 other people who were too worthless to do it on their own.

 

What Jaxo demonstrated was that, based upon the facts of the situation, she was able to accomplish more than the other 300 prisoners combined. Who's more useful to the Republic? I vote Jaxo.

 

 

As for some sort of inherant worth question, I believe you're entirely off base.

 

 

You are correct that we do not know who might be the next Revan or Skywalker. We also do not know who might be the next Palpatine or Thrawn. There is only one way to predict whether a person will do good, bad, or nothing in the future, and that is to look at what they have done in the past. Skywalker and Revan weren't great men because they had the Force; they were great men because when faced with challenges, they rose above them. They didn't quit, they fought against insurmountable odds, and while they had help from friends along the way, they did much of the work on their own. Skywalker or Revan wouldn't have been important forces for good in the galaxy if they had just laid down and accepted their fate when things were hard. Jaxo was the one with the courage and skill to keep fighting, while the others sat around waiting to be rescued (by Jaxo). If anybody in that prison has the potential to turn the tide of the war, it would be Jaxo, not the incompetant grunts who failed to step up when the situation called for it.

 

 

It's a question of value, not quantity. And the quality of the soldier being saved plays a factor. We don't just need warm bodies walking around on a field; we need real soldiers capable of making a difference in this war.

Well yeah, except

If you choose to save Jaxo, she becomes a worthless depressed drunk who isn't any good to anyone.

So enjoy your worthless dark-side points, I guess.

[Lesaberisa]

TLDR: I don't buy the argument that saving Jaxo is the correct 'military' choice because it's based on making stuff up about the prisoners and exaggerating the effect a single SpecOps soldier might have on the war as a whole compared with the prisoners. Picking Jaxo is about making an emotional/personal decision to favor your comrade/friend/lover/whatever over your duty (It's not what I did in game but I definitely sympathize with it, and while I probably wouldn't have chosen her even if I were actually in that situation, it would have scarred me quite a bit).

 

Spoiler tags since other people are, I guess (although it's a spoiler topic so...)

 

 

Saying Jaxo is worth more than the other prisoners because she's some sort of extremely well trained/very talented SpecOps soldier is really stretching things - we have no idea who the other prisoners are, exactly, and it's unlikely "incompetent grunts" would be imprisoned in a top secret prison like that (or, if you buy into "Jaxo as super soldier" line, why such a skilled soldier would be imprisoned in a facility full of useless "warm bodies"). While, yes, I guess it's impressive she managed to get a message off and hide for a bit (a few hours?), I'm not sure why that necessarily translates into her being some sort of extremely skilled soldier.

 

I put more stock in the idea that she's "more important" based on the fact she's named/the player gets to know her a bit (yes, in more ways than one if a male trooper and you so choose ) more than anything strategic or military-wise. Choosing to save her for personal reasons makes a lot of sense to me, I simply don't see anything compelling in the argument that Jaxo is somehow even close to as important as 300 Republic prisoners deemed worthy of being put in a secret prison.

 

On that note - the prisoners almost certainly include more than their fair share of valuable military and political prisoners who offer a lot more to the Republic than a single trooper - the same would hold true if any of Havoc Squad or some other NPC were in Jaxo's place (save, perhaps, for someone like Satele Shan). Why else would the Imperials lock them away in a secret facility nobody knows about, unless there was some value in doing so?

 

 

As for the actual decision...

 

I was somewhat bothered by the choice when it first came up, but the begging to leave the other prisoners behind soured me pretty quickly (I can't imagine any of the squad doing the same), and I guess I lack the extra emotional oomph of having her sleep with my trooper since I was playing a female trooper. I felt bad, for sure (and recommended her for a medal, while not mentioning how she was acting at the end), but it was an emotional gutpunch rather than a particularly difficult decision.

Edited March 11, 2013 by Lesaberisa

[durasteel]

While I appreciate the possibility of an imperfect solution, I do wish that the perfect solution were possible, at least in all of the Republic class story lines. Make it difficult, make the player work for it a little, but make a perfect outcome possible. That is the role of the hero in an epic fantasy: to do the impossible, to win, and to save everyone.

 

The absolute last thing I play video games for is realism.

[Bleeters]

I'm in no particular hurry to see the Trooper story stripped of the one remotely difficult choice it has the entire time, myself.

[DemonMoMana]

wow worry less about spoilers. In order to get this thread players would have to type objective a-77 which they wouldn't know to do unless they have the quest. I want to know what happens as well; cuz really sucks to have to leave a "friend" to die.

[Fallerup]

 

I really liked this quest. Not doing it, certainly, and it was seriously infuriating- but there are extenuating circumstances.

 

I let Jaxo die, with the second of the two lightside options(The first being the cold "The Mission Comes First" and the second being the actual Good Person "Many>Few" sort.), and I felt really bad about having to do it.

 

There's just one major issue that this represents for me- I'm gay. My Trooper, as someone I try to relate to, is also gay. So far, I've played through three different storylines to their completion(or near completion) and not a single one offers a romance option(or even a flirt that I've found) for a homosexual woman.

 

I'm pretty sure there are flirt options for the same-sex-opposite-sex, but none for me. In fact, there are only two female characters which are persistent through the Trooper storyline and under, what, sixty years old? Elara is entirely professional, but quite friendly in that regard. She even asked about my possible-kids, which was kind of cool. I liked seeing that emotion.

 

Jaxo was a character who -almost- reached flirting point, but never got there.

 

I don't even know if there are ANY homosexual female romances in the game, and I was terrified to hit the light side option and kill off the only unconfirmed(at the time) romance option my Trooper would have had.

 

Though, of course, I'm not sure if I would have been happy with the alternative- considering it's very likely she'd be the only option, I don't know if I'd be okay with the condition for a gay romance with her to be killing 300+ people.

 

 

actually, there is only 1 gay romance in the entire game, at least on imperial side, I assume on republic as well. for imperial males its that pure blooded sith male in the imperial Makeb story, lord cytharat and for females its Darth Acina (Macrobinoculars mission chain). Those are the only gay romances in the game that I know of.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Fallerup

[DemonMoMana]

Omg This quest decision is horrible. I realize that in real life there are plenty of "no win situations" choices where u hate whatever decision u make. Which is why most of us are playing these games instead of going out into the world and making these kind of decisions. Havoc squad is supposed to be the best of the best. so there should have been some kind of choice that might be difficult to do but manage to save both. Maybe a timer or something make it very hard but not impossible. I escaped out of the choice I don't think i am gonna play this character anymore. If ur gonna make me sacrifice a character u should not have had "girls night out" kind of sadistic to make me get attached to a character then put me in this kind of situation--even star trek had their "disposable crew members" for such situations. Then having her beg me to save her. Thanks but i would very much like to sleep again after playing this game.

[Essence_of_Light]

Omg This quest decision is horrible. I realize that in real life there are plenty of "no win situations" choices where u hate whatever decision u make. Which is why most of us are playing these games instead of going out into the world and making these kind of decisions. Havoc squad is supposed to be the best of the best. so there should have been some kind of choice that might be difficult to do but manage to save both. Maybe a timer or something make it very hard but not impossible. I escaped out of the choice I don't think i am gonna play this character anymore. If ur gonna make me sacrifice a character u should not have had "girls night out" kind of sadistic to make me get attached to a character then put me in this kind of situation--even star trek had their "disposable crew members" for such situations. Then having her beg me to save her. Thanks but i would very much like to sleep again after playing this game.

 

It is not "horrible". In fact, I'd say its what Bioware's job is. Bioware is a company thats strives to make great, impacting stories. By looking at your paragraph I understand that Bioware made you CARE about this NPC, which is their job. So, I'd say Bioware succeeded in a sense to make this impactful.

 

If you're too stubborn to accept an option and move on then I feel sorry for you. You can't win them all, you know.

[DemonMoMana]

It is not "horrible". In fact, I'd say its what Bioware's job is. Bioware is a company thats strives to make great, impacting stories. By looking at your paragraph I understand that Bioware made you CARE about this NPC, which is their job. So, I'd say Bioware succeeded in a sense to make this impactful.

 

If you're too stubborn to accept an option and move on then I feel sorry for you. You can't win them all, you know.

 

It is not their job to make a storyline depressing. Games are supposed to be entertaining not real life. I dont want realism if i did i wouldnt be playing games. Specially a Star wars type where characters are supposed to be larger than life heroes. As for making a choice there really isnt one. The deck is stacked against u. If u choose Jaxo u still lose her, so what is the point in having a choice in the first place. Just do a cut screen take over everything and dont give a choice cuz that is basically what is happening anyway.

Edited January 3, 2014 by DemonMoMana

[Xrop]

It was a tough decision for me, one which I think shows the amazing depth and personality of this game. I don't want to give a spoiler alert, so I'll just say that it is the only darkside choice I have made on this character. I'm glad I don't have to make decisions like this in real life, but if I did, I would make the same choice.

[FoxyShoxzy]

 

Saved Jaxo and don't regret a dammed thing. Was 10k Lightside and haven't made a DS choice since Ord Mantell. Oh well, I'll get it back no problem. Did lose over 400 rep with Elara though. Ooops. Almost at 10k with her as well. I'll buy her a few presents and she'll forget all about it.

 

I agree with someone back on page 2 or 3 or 4. Jaxo is a highly trained Spec Forces agent, versus 300 random troops who have been locked up for god knows how long. I agree that Jaxo is practically Havoc herself. Would have done the same for Jorgan, Dorne, or even Vic.

 

Garza can throw herself out an airlock for all I care. I am so sick of her BS.

 

[Blowwtorch]

I had M1-4X with me at the time, and his opinion on the matter was that the cost of equipment and training to outfit a single special forces soldier far outweighs the cost of the 314 soldiers imprisoned there. That settled that!

 

A quick lie to General Garza and then I'm good to go.

[PavSalco]

Omg This quest decision is horrible.

I can't believe what I see. That quest was the best thing that happened in the trooper story apart from aboarding the Gauntlet. Personally, I consider this moment as the best dialogue options in the entire game.

 

This is not a fairy tale. This is a war and sometimes you really don't have a choice but the lesser of two evils. There is no place for weepers in the army. If you don't accept this, I suggest you to stop playing a trooper, and watch My Little Pony instead.

[Never_Hesitate]

and watch My Little Pony instead.

 

aka "play a marauder"

[canispalius]

here is a bit of fun when you get the mission "Catching Up" untrack it ,and do it anytime after " Objective: A-77". If you chose light side then necromancy it's an undying art.

[KcirSirrah]

I played through this class to 55 and when I got to the Jaxo story the decision wasn't hard at all for me. I am a 10,000 dark trooper so I decided to.........

 

 

 

Kill Jaxo and save the prisoners. Yeah I took a LS hit but in all seriousness I wanted to kill her because I had my fun with her fading to black a few times and now it was time to cut her loose.

 

[Angrycowboy]

For the record I like Jaxo and don't care if it gets Dark Side points. The following is how to choose dark and have the least consequences with your companions:

Bring M1-4X if you want to save her at the end and he actually suggest's she is more valuable as a spec ops soldier in training than the others. You gain 200 dark side points and M1-4X approves. when you return lie to Garza and you only lose -2 with 3 of your 5 companions (I understand if you bring Dorne you lose like 400 total with her cause she disagrees). That was my way of handling the situation. And as many have said it is a delema but you don't know those 300 people and you know Dorne, most would choose a friend over strangers, but in the spirit of being a soldier is it right probably not. But I pose another question to you, since it was a trap, how do we know Rakton didn't pull a Wesley Snipes in Demolition Man and the prisoners weren't all already dead? just a thought (I know they live if you choose light side but I'm just saying if you choose to save Jaxo this is still a "possibility" and you never will know). Bottom line if you want to do the least amount of damage to your companions with the save Jaxo decesion just make sure M1-4X is with you when you make the decesion and it will make it much easier.

Edited September 23, 2014 by Angrycowboy

[Idaho-D]

A good writer would create a way to do both.

 

It's a writer's crutch to

throw away characters to increase the power of a story's antagonists which is what is happening in this case. Like those guys in the red shirts at the beginning of each original Star Trek episode. You knew they'd be disintegrated before the first commercial break. Or the woman in Skyfall who Bond could easily have saved since immediately after he tears every mob apart. Weak, very weak. These sorts of outcomes make the hero weak, not the villains stronger.

 

 

Send the story back to the writer. We want to do both. A real hero would do both, and you know I am right. There is no "Try". You remember, right? And, what did Luke Skywalker do?

Edited November 27, 2014 by Idaho-D

[Eriias]

I think what bothered me about this quest and several like it (like the LS/DS option in the first flashpoint (almost exact same thing, vent the part of the ship to do the thing you want to do, people die, save the other people etc.) was that it was completely unbelievable that my choice (dark side here) killed the other 300. It took me all of 20 seconds to go down, kill those "3" droids and bring Jaxo back upstairs. We hadn't blown up by then. Why not just put the shields up after that? Problem solved. I get the idea and this was also an emotional thing for me but when I committed to the Dark Side choice then realized it didn't even make any sense, I was pretty miffed. There's no reason, given how it's presented, that you couldn't just get everyone out.

Edited July 24, 2015 by Eriias

[SithKoriandr]

I think what bothered me about this quest and several like it (like the LS/DS option in the first flashpoint (almost exact same thing, vent the part of the ship to do the thing you want to do, people die, save the other people etc.) was that it was completely unbelievable that my choice (dark side here) killed the other 300. It took me all of 20 seconds to go down, kill those "3" droids and bring Jaxo back upstairs. We hadn't blown up by then. Why not just put the shields up after that? Problem solved. I get the idea and this was also an emotional thing for me but when I committed to the Dark Side choice then realized it didn't even make any sense, I was pretty miffed. There's no reason, given how it's presented, that you couldn't just get everyone out.

 

When they give you the option to save her, it's not even 100% the others will die. It's "the others MIGHT die". If you choose to save the 300 for sure, it's "Jaxo WILL die" At the very least, you think some of the others would have gotten out.

 

Sacrifice the 1 for the many is LS there, but on Esseles if you sacrifice the 1 for the many it's DS, and you do that choice TWICE! It's just backwards.

[DrowNoble]

What I actually was hoping for, given Bioware's previous choice/consequences in other games, that IF I saved Jaxo she would join my crew, but Dorne would leave.

 

Think about it, you did two ops with Jaxo and (possibly) the optional mission. For ladies, you had a Girls Night Out and for the guys you, uh, had a Guy Night In so to speak. So a male trooper who "romanced" her would be more inclined to not let her die. Dorne, being a by-the-book soldier, would object to saving one person over 300 (Jaxo knew the risks). Add to this if Dorne finds out you slept with Jaxo, she'd be doubly ticked and ask for a transfer. Then Jaxo comes in as your new healer, same abilities just uses med/cunning gear.

 

At least that's what I would of thought. Instead we get a small emotional choice that has no effect either way. She dies Dorne approves and you go on your merry way. She lives, she writes you a letter saying she has "issues" with you saving her over 300 other people (they all die) and Dorne disapproves.

 

A great opportunity for a significant player choice wasted on Bioware's part.

[kamikosong]

Yeah, that one reminded me some of the choices BW has made me make in the Mass Effect games. Good stuff.

 

I wouldn't describe ME3 as "good stuff" it's the only game I have ever bought I didn't bother to play campaign wise, I only ever played multiplayer with my friends. After learning the travesty of the endings....I felt my game trilogy was somehow sullied by them.

Also DA2 should have taught me a lesson did it? Oh no....

 

This Jaxo thing REALLY infuriated me and has basically spolit my trooper for me. Where was the third option? Not has anything like this rail roading on my agent nor my Bounty hunter OR my Juggernaut....

It is great writing when they make me like an npc so much, but awfully shameful to waste her like that AND to FORCE an awful decision no matter which one you make. I'd feel like a douche if I saved her or saved the prisoners...good job there-not.

 

It's like that character in a film that dies for "dramatic reasons" even though it adds nothing to the film....I was enjoying my trooper up until this point.