Empress Acina

"*A recently-elevated peer among our elite. This introduction is long overdue. I'm Darth Acina of the Dark Council.*"
―Darth Acina
**Darth Acina**, later known as **Empress Acina**, was a Human female Dark Lord of the Sith and a member of the Sith Empire's ruling Dark Council during the Galactic War with the Galactic Republic. She was chosen by the Emperor's Hand to be the new head of the Sphere of Technology after the death of Darth Karrid at Duro, and to watch over a warehouse of powerful technology known as the Arcanum. When the rogue Dread Masters broke into Arcanum and stole the Seeds of Rage. Acina was quick to summon an Imperial individual to assist in recovering the seeds.

In the aftermath of the Eternal Empire's invasion of the larger galaxy and the death or disappearance of all other Dark Council members, Darth Acina assumed leadership of the Empire and declared herself Empress of the Sith. Her ascension was openly supported by the majority of the remaining Empire.

She declared loyalty to Arcann and--allegedly--helped him eliminate several council members who refused to bow before the Eternal Throne. With her rivals out of the picture, Acina declared herself Empress of the Sith, and Arcann publicly acknowledged her claim. Whispered gossip suggested their relationship went much deeper than mere political alliance, though little exists to substantiate those rumors.

Some accused Acina of cowardice, but Empress Acina bided her time during Arcann's reign, but upon learning of his defeat at the hands of the Outlander, set in motion her plans to reclaim the Sith Empire's power, realizing that the Alliance that defeated Arcann would be strong enough to eventually defeat the notoriously unstable Vaylin. To this end, Empress Acina arrived unannounced at the Battle of Voss, rescuing the Outlander and the Alliance from the Eternal Fleet. She subsequently invited the Outlander to Dromund Kaas to negotiate an agreement between two independent powers.

Upon arrival, the Outlander and their aides, Lana Beniko and Theron Shan, were brought by Minister Lorman to Empress Acina, who suggested that she and the Outlander discuss their alliance in private aboard her personal shuttle. In flight and away from prying eyes, Acina assured the Commander that her offer was genuine, and that she had no intention of taking the Eternal Throne for herself. Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden engine failure, requiring Acina to down the shuttle and abandon ship. Now stuck in the wilderness of Dromund Kaas, Empress Acina and the Commander were forced to contend with the planet's dangerous wildlife and lightning storms. The pair eventually discovered that their shuttle had been downed by the GenoHaradan, whom the Empress had always assumed to be a myth. The legendary assassins proved no match for the Alliance Commander and the Empress of the Sith, however, as the pair shortly dealt with the assassins and located their camp. The Outlander discovered from the camp's logs that the assassination attempt was organized by none other than Leontyne Saresh, in a bid to take over the Alliance.

When they came under renewed assault, Empress Acina and the Commander took shelter in a nearby Sith tomb. Although Acina was unaware of it, the Outlander had a brief discussion with her former master, Vitiate, upon the discovery of the Sith Lord the tomb had been built for. As the pair descended further into the tomb's depths, Empress Acina fondly recalled her training on Korriban, where she, like all Sith initiates, had been required to regularly venire into the danger-filled tombs. Eventually, the Empress and the Outlander were confronted by Minister Lorman and the final GenoHaradan strike team, seeking to finish the job. When the GenoHaraden were dispatched, Empress Acina offered final judgment of Lorman to the Outlander. The pair then made haste to Kaas City so the Commander could return to Odessen and deal with Saresh.

Once the former chancellor had been dealt with, Empress Acina contacted the Commander to ratify their Alliance.

Following Vaylin's defeat on Odessen, Empress Acina issued an emergency distress call to the Alliance, informing that the Eternal Fleet was bombarding Dromund Kaas indiscriminately. Acina's alert was but the first of many signaling that the final battle for the Eternal Throne was at hand.

After the Outlander ended the bombardment and seized the Eternal Throne, Empress Acina oversaw the cleanup on Dromund Kaas, but shortly afterward, regardless of her Alliance with the Outlander, she began preparing her people for war.

When the Empire received an anonymous intel regarding an immensely powerful superweapon on a recently rediscovered world of Iokath, Acina send a detachment of Imperial forces to secure the weapon. While on Iokath, Imperials encountred Republic forces who were after the same objective and were soon joined by the Eternal Alliance's Eternal Fleet. Acina send Major Quinn as an ambassador to the Alliance Commander, with the orders to sabotage the meeting and escape should Alliance turned against Empire. The Empress herself made a holocall and formally asked the Commander to side with the Empire against the Republic forces led by Supreme Commander Jace Malcom.

The Alliance Commander sided with the Empire and the Republic launched a counter-offensive against the Imperial base on Iokath. Acina meet with the Commander after the initial attack was repelled and the two agree to reclaim weapons from an Iokath weapons cache to gain an advantage over the Republic. As Supreme Commander Malcom threatened to activate a superweapon capable of wiping out all life on Iokath, Acina provides the Commander with a walker called Crimson Talon to storm the Republic base and stop Malcom. Though the Commander and Theron Shan arrive in time and try to talk him out of it, Malcom still activates the superweapon, awakening the Six Gods, which costs him his life. Though leaderless, Republic forces keep on resisting and Acina assured the Commander that their future partnership will remain strong.