Valkorion

"*My life spans millennia. Legions have risen to test me. […] My ascendance is inevitable. A day, a year, a millennium—it matters not. I hold the patience of stone and the will of stars. Your striving is insignificant. Let your death be the same.*"
―The Sith Emperor
**Vitiate**, known for the vast majority of his life as simply the **Sith Emperor** and known to his Eternal Empire as **Valkorion**, was a Dark Lord of the Sith who reconstituted the Sith Empire after its destruction in the Great Hyperspace War and went on to rule it for over 1300 years. To the people of the Eternal Empire over which he ruled in his later life, he was **His Glorious Majesty, Slayer of Izax, Immortal Master and Protector of Zakuul**—their **Immortal Emperor**. Born in 5113 BBY as **Tenebrae**, the illegitimate Sith son of Lord Dramath of Medriaas and a poor farm woman, the child who eventually became the Emperor killed his own father at the age of ten and was granted the title of **Lord Vitiate** by the then–Dark Lord Marka Ragnos three years later. Vitiate renamed his world Nathema and ruled it for the next century, content to exclude himself from Sith power struggles and even the Great Hyperspace War when the Galactic Republic destroyed the Empire in 5000 BBY. Summoning the remaining Sith Lords to Nathema with the promise of salvation from the Jedi, Vitiate turned on his fellows and used their strength to perform a ritual that made him immortal, at the expense of every living thing on Nathema.

Shedding his identity as Lord Vitiate, the self-proclaimed Sith Emperor led the scattered survivors of the Empire on a twenty-year odyssey into the Unknown Regions, where he established a new Sith Empire on the lost colony world of Dromund Kaas. He delved deep into the mysteries of the dark side of the Force as his people built a new civilization and expanded the Empire's domain over the next thousand years. His life prolonged through the power of the ritual, the Emperor sought a way to repeat the same feat of Sith magic on a galactic scale. However, doing so required a war—war that would destroy civilizations and fuel his power so that he could consume everything in the galaxy and become like a god. To that end, the Emperor arranged for the Mandalorian warrior culture to attack the Republic, and he turned the powerful Jedi Knights Revan and Malak to the dark side and set them upon the Republic after the Mandalorians were defeated. Yet a redeemed Revan returned to challenge the Emperor once more, and Revan's near-success and subsequent capture led the Emperor to pursue further safeguards against his death. Protecting his true body through the transference of his consciousness between host bodies known as Emperor's Voices, the Emperor launched his own war on the Republic almost three centuries later.

During the course of the war, the Emperor's efforts to create the extensions of his will known as the Children of the Emperor were nearly derailed by his traitorous apprentice Exal Kressh, but Kressh was eliminated before she could do lasting harm to her Sith Master's plans. As the war neared the end of its third decade, the captive Revan was able to mentally influence the Emperor to sue for peace with the Republic, and the resultant Treaty of Coruscant saw the Sith leader return control of the Empire to the ruling Dark Council and retreat into seclusion in order to prepare his ritual. A powerful young Jedi who would become known as the Hero of Tython drew the Emperor's attention during the subsequent Cold War, on account of the visions that centered around the Jedi Knight, but the Emperor easily crushed the Jedi's will and turned the Knight to the dark side along with the rest of a strike team sent to capture the Sith ruler. The Knight broke free of the Emperor's control months later with the help of the immortal Lord Scourge, the Emperor's personal executioner or Wrath, but the Emperor had already set his plans in motion as the galaxy spiraled into renewed war.

As the Hero raced to stop the Emperor's agents from starting the ritual, the Emperor dealt with the machinations of the traitorous Sith Darth Baras and returned to Dromund Kaas, to activate his Children across the galaxy and prepare for a final confrontation with the Knight. While a Republic fleet invaded Dromund Kaas, the Emperor fought the Hero and the astromech droid T7-O1 in a climactic battle that ended with the Emperor's defeat. The loss of his Voice drove the Emperor into a deep slumber while the galaxy escalated further into war, prompting the Sith Lord Darth Malgus to try to seize the throne of the Empire. A returned Revan attempted to restore the Emperor to a physical form in order to kill him once and for all, and though the mad Force-user was stopped by an Empire and Republic united in fear of the threat a returned Emperor posed, the Emperor's essence was able to regain his strength by feeding off the deaths and chaos that resulted from the coalition's battle against Revan's forces on the moon Yavin 4. Now known simply as Vitiate by the Empire he once ruled, the former Emperor took control of the planet Ziost, possessing the world's population and bringing about a horrific cataclysm there.

### The Outlander

"*Look around you. Zakuul is poised to become the greatest civilization in the history of the galaxy. I have forged this empire to surmount all of my previous works. To span eternity. The Eternal Throne commands a fleet more vast than any ever built. It has the power to reshape the galaxy into any image that I choose. That we choose. I will share all of this with you… if you will only kneel.*"
―Valkorion
Not long after Ziost, Valkorion was approached by his sons, who proposed a plan to test the strength of the border worlds between the Eternal Empire and the eastern galaxy. Now fully devoted to ruling the Eternal Empire, Valkorion sanctioned the attacks, but only permitted Thexan to lead the Eternal Fleet. Arcann disobeyed the command and accompanied his brother anyway, striking at worlds such as Tython and Korriban. During the attack on Korriban, Arcann was seriously injured in battle, losing an arm and suffering severe wounds to his face. When Thexan reported on the battle to his father, Valkorion was uninterested in his son's wounds, believing it to be fair price for his defiance. When the two returned from the raids, they presented trophies of lightsabers and banners to their father at the foot of the Eternal Throne. Valkorion responded with silence and turned away, infuriating an already resentful Arcann; Valkorion's son was overcome with anger and leapt at his father, intending to kill him with his lightsaber. Thexan reached out with the Force and pulled his brother back in mid-leap, and Arcann—still caught up in his anger and the dark side—engaged in a furious but brief lightsaber duel with Thexan that ended with Arcann slaying his own twin. As his horrified son came to his senses, a seemingly unmoved Valkorion approached him and commanded Arcann to come with him.

In the aftermath of the Eternal Empire's attacks, Darth Marr led an joint Republic–Imperial expedition into the Unknown Regions in pursuit of both the Sith Emperor and the mysterious attackers. As they approached Zakuulan space, Arcann reported their approach to his father atop the Spire, and Valkorion—who was well aware of the visitors—deployed the Eternal Fleet. Marr's expedition was wiped out, but Arcann's forces captured Marr and a second figure who had been involved in the war and the hunt for the Emperor. At his father's command, Arcann brought the two to Zakuul and before the Eternal Throne, where the foreigners recognized Valkorion as the former Sith Emperor. Amused by Marr's rage, Valkorion offered to share his power and influence with his prisoners, and killed Marr with an enormous blast of lightning when the Sith Lord stole a Zakuul Knight's lightsaber pike and attacked him. Vaylin ordered everyone out of the throne room, leaving only Arcann, Valkorion, and the remaining prisoner, to whom Valkorion repeated his offer. However, Arcann betrayed his father at that moment and Valkorion was struck down—but the Force entity simply shifted his essence into the prisoner's mind.

Sensing his father's survival, Arcann quickly had his father's newest host body frozen in carbonite to contain him, and publicly blamed the "Outlander" for Valkorion's death. Claiming the throne of the Eternal Empire, Arcann took control of the Eternal Fleet and launched a campaign that overran both the Republic and the Sith Empire. Though he was locked within the Outlander's mind, Valkorion did not possess his host's body. He instead manipulated the Outlander's dreams within their shared carbonite prison, attempting to convince the Outlander that he sought only to aid his host in taking the galaxy for their own and continuing to offer to share his power. The Outlander was imprisoned for five years until Lana Beniko and her allies launched a rescue mission, and Valkorion watched as the Outlander and Beniko's group escaped the Spire and discovered the Gravestone—the ship that could battle the Eternal Fleet—in the Endless Swamp.

Valkorion was intrigued when Senya Tirall joined the Outlander and Beniko's group, helping to raise the Gravestone so that the group could escape Zakuul, and his presence within the Outlander was revealed to the Outlander's companions when the remaining Scions of Zakuul put the Outlander through a series of trials on the shadowport Asylum. As the Outlander gathered allies to fight against Zakuul, Valkorion continued to offer his power and aid to his host, seemingly sincere in his claims that he wanted only to aid the Outlander; the Force entity sought to stop Arcann from destroying all that he had built. After a confrontation with Arcann at the Battle of Asylum, the Outlander's team escaped the Eternal Fleet and journeyed to the remote planet of Odessen, where the Outlander established an Alliance against Arcann's Eternal Empire with support from elements in the Republic and the Sith Empire.

Later, on the advice of Lana Beniko, the Outlander wandered into the jungles of Odessen to converse with Valkorion on any strategy the latter might possess. Valkorion mocked his host, claiming that they were weak and that his children possess power that surpass those of Jedi or Sith. Valkorion told the Outlander that their knowledge within their aspect of the Force was masterful but they need to extend their boundaries and transcend to a new level of power. He began a brief skirmish with the Outlander. When the skirmish ended, Valkorion showed disappointment on the Outlander's performance and felt a disturbance in the Force. He then seemingly left his host.

During the Battle of Odessen, Arcann attempted to speak to Valkorion through the Outlander, but was met with silence. Nonetheless, his subsequent assault proved that Valkorion had left at least some of his power within the Outlander, who drew on it to defeat Arcann at last. In the aftermath of the battle, Valkorion returned once again, claiming that the Outlander was now ready.

### Reclaiming the Eternal Throne

"*You were an exemplary pawn--one I forged into a vessel of supreme power worthy of preserving my spirit. Now I take your body as my own, and rule once more as the Immortal Emperor.*"
―Valkorion's master plan comes to fruition
Valkorion continued to push the Outlander towards bringing down Vaylin. During Vaylin's takeover of the *Gravestone*, he awakened Vaylin's mental conditioning by speaking the trigger words, and giving the Outlander another weapon to use against her. The trail led from there to Iokath, where Vaylin regained control of the Eternal Fleet from SCORPIO's free will; then back to Zakuul, where the Outlander and Theron Shan crashed Vaylin's Grand Festival; and then finally to Nathema, where Valkorion had sent Vaylin to be "properly conditioned". Due to the void in the Force on Nathema, and the unleashing of power as Vaylin broke through the mental cage Valkorion had put her into, his presence in the Outlander's mind appeared to be fading in and out at regular intervals. Despite this, he maintained enough of a grasp to attempt to warn against intrusion into the vaults beneath the Sanitarium. The reason became clear to the Outlander soon enough: it contained a holocron that held the Force essence of Valkorion's father, Lord Dramath, who had been imprisoned since his illegitimate son (then known as "Tenebrae") had usurped him more than a millennium before. Dramath offered the holocron as a means of defeating Valkorion once and for all.

After Vaylin unleashed a full-scale assault on Odessen, she confronted the Outlander with her full powers, cracking the walls of the Alliance base. Despite this, the Outlander succeeded in vanquishing Vaylin, but - as Valkorion soon revealed - her death left the Eternal Throne without a master, causing the Eternal Fleet to revert to its original purpose of extermination. To stop the rampage, the Outlander had to seize the Eternal Throne. Accompanied by two others, the Outlander fought through the lines of Knights, skytroopers and others barring the way up into the Spire, before entering the throne chamber itself. The Outlander sat upon the throne, becoming immobilized in agony as the power of the throne pulsed through their body; when it was done, the fleet had stopped firing at last. Valkorion appeared before the Outlander, congratulating them for finally becoming ruler of Zakuul and master of the Eternal Throne...before lashing out with his power, trying to force the Outlander to submit to his will. He revealed that he intended to hollow out the Outlander as a new vessel for his immortal spirit, just as he had done to the original Valkorion centuries before, and take the Throne back for himself. Though the Outlander tried to resist, Valkorion shattered the mind of his unwilling host, forcing their very being into the depths of their own psyche.

#### Demise

"*Remember me when your Alliance burns to ash!*"
―Valkorion's last words
The Outlander resurfaced in the void of their own mind, wearing the form of Valkorion himself. Guided by their own voice to find Dramath's holocron, the Outlander-as-Valkorion relived the memories they had shared, including the confrontations with Arcann and Vaylin on Odessen, as well as his apparent "abandonment" of the Outlander in the wilds on Odessen - which had been in fact a ruse, to see how the Outlander would function without his counsel. The Outlander was soon able to regain control, facing off against Valkorion himself, who admitted to being impressed with his foe's persistence. Holding the Emperor at bay, the Outlander used Dramath's holocron to break whatever hold he had over his children, who then allied with their one-time foe to destroy Valkorion. When the Outlander appeared to gain the upper hand, Valkorion pulled the holocron from the Outlander's grip and destroyed it, boasting that even if they conjured a hundred more holocrons, it would not be enough to stop him. But the Outlander, now in full control of their own mind again, spoke the words "kneel before the Dragon of Zakuul" - the trigger words for Vaylin's conditioning. To Valkorion's utter shock, thinking that only Vaylin was vulnerable, he became powerless before his enemy; twisting the dagger further, the spirit of Vaylin spoke the same words with gleeful vengeance.

Reeling, Valkorion turned towards the throne...only to be confronted by Senya, who declared that Valkorion had turned her back on his family for the last time, before striking him with her lightsaber. Raving that "a god has no family", and that without him, they were nothing, Valkorion rose to strike at the Outlander, only to be immobilized by Senya and their children. Valkorion tried to lash out one last time, and was struck down on the spot by the Outlander. With a great burst of dark side energy, the Immortal Emperor was gone, seemingly never to return.

#### The Sith Plague

Due to his obsession with immortality and the subsequent use of the Emperor's Voice, Vitiate kept his original body locked in stasis where it could not be harmed either by nature or outside interference and its location kept secret to only his most trusted servants, including the first and former Emperor's Wrath: Lord Scourge.

Vitiate, at an unknown period, carved an ancient Sith ritual into his original body to act as a last resort in the event his body was harmed, which would immobilize the attacker(s) by putting them into a coma. The plague would spawn an entity that would feed on the victims by connecting their minds and merging into an even stronger entity.

However, despite the effectiveness of the plague, anybody who was previously granted a portion of Vitiate's power was rendered immune to the plague's effects due to the past power acting as a vaccine.

Lord Scourge and Kira Carsen discovered the location of Vitiate's original body and they destroyed it at practically the same time the Alliance Commander destroyed Valkorion's spirit in their mind during the Battle for Zakuul. This event led to the plague being released and rendering Scourge and Kira comatose for more than a year. Satele Shan and her followers learned of this and rescued the duo, however they unknowingly doomed themselves in the process without having any sort of vaccine similar to what Scourge and Kira possessed. The duo trapped the, now plagued, Satele Shan and her followers in a transport programmed to travel a random course throughout unsettled sectors of the Outer Rim with a few med-droids to tend to them. Scourge and Kira later learned that the plague unleashed an entity that was connecting the minds of Satele and her followers and merging into a stronger, united hivemind.

They sought the aid of the Alliance Commander first by testing them on Mek-Sha to ensure that Valkorion was truly dead and no trace of his power remained in their mind, mainly due to the Emperor being a master deceiver. Upon the Commander passing their test, Scourge and Kira revealed their plan to the Commander: they would send a signal to the transport in order to bring it to an empty sector closer to Odessen. Upon its arrival, they would board the transport, connect their minds through the Force, and attempt to destroy the entity. If this did not work, their last resort would be destroying the transport.

The Commander agreed to this proposal and Kira stated that it would be a while before the transport came into range. Until then, Scourge and Kira offered their aid in any mission the Commander requested. Much to Scourge's increasing frustration, however, the ship disappeared, not appearing at its next expected rendezvous point. To hunt it down, they suggested to the Commander to send droids, as they would not become corrupted by Vitiate's power.

#### Attempted resurrection

"*No! No!"* *"The Force is mine! I command it!"* *"I... am... endless!"*"*No. In the end... you are nothing.*"
―The last words of Vitiate, Valkorion, and Tenebrae, and the Commander's judgment
The droid T7-O1, piloting a starfighter, was able to locate the ship and transmit coordinates to Odessen. This also uncovered the continued existence of the Emperor's Hand, Vitiate's innermost circle of fanatics. As they had been vessels of the Emperor's power and thus could resist his corruption, the Commander, Scourge, and Kira intended to travel alone to the ship, but were joined by others from Odessen, who provided fire support when the Emperor's Hand attacked them in a shuttle. Teeseven had been able to get aboard the ship and sabotage its systems enough for the Commander and their allies to board; Kira shut down the ship's engines and defenses, while Scourge joined the Commander to launch the escape pods and jettison the Servants' shuttles, in order to prevent the curse from getting off the ship. As they explored the ship, however, the Commander and Scourge discovered that the Servants had been engaged by another force: the Scions of Zakuul, whose late leader Heskal had prophecied their return "when it was time to die".

After clearing the bridge, the Commander and Scourge were approached by the spirit of Revan, who had been guiding Scourge to stop the Emperor's rebirth. Though thought to have become one with the Force on Yavin years before, Revan explained he could not rest until he knew Vitiate's spirit was banished forever, and warned that Vitiate was using his possessed victims to remake himself. with the ship disabled, Kira rejoined the Commander and Scourge in the medical bay, where they confronted the leaders of both the Servants and the Scions, the latter of whom was killed by the former. After dispatching the Servant leader, Kira found that while Satele lived still, two of the possessed Jedi were dead, and the others close to it.

As planned, Kira connected to the others via the Force to enter Satele's mind, where they encountered all three of the Emperor's known guises there - first Valkorion, then Vitiate, and finally his original form, Tenebrae. Kira realized that the ritual carved into Tenebrae's original body was not a plague, but an imprint, an echo of his original self. Tenebrae condemned the version of him they knew as too complacent, distracted by "mortal concerns" - empires, wars, and even (in Valkorion's case) a family - and declared he would succeed where his original self had failed. The Vitiate form separated the Commander from their allies; however, they were soon joined by Revan, who stood with the Commander against Tenebrae's shades. While the three forms all declared themselves endless, they were confronted first by Meetra Surik, whom Tenebrae mocked for her failure to kill him once before, and then by Scourge, who reminded that he had saved the Emperor from her the first time, and would not do so again.

The Tenebrae form again lashed out to separate the Commander from the others. The Commander then encountered Darth Marr, the Dark Councillor who had been killed at the Commander's side on Zakuul at the start of the war. Marr explained that the new Tenebrae only knew of his past deeds from the memories and impressions of Satele and her students, but had gained none of the wisdom from those experiences. Marr then warned that if he was not stopped now, there would not be another opportunity, and called upon the Commander to "break the chains he uses to ensnare us all".

Finally, the Commander reached the center of the mindscape, a recreation of the Jedi Temple on Tython, and encountered Satele within. The Emperor's three forms boasted that Satele could not resist for long, and that when her mind was destroyed, only Tenebrae would remain. Satele awoke and mocked Tenebrae for his ego: he could have dominated any one of her students, but instead chose to dominate them all, as well as their master, all to prove he was still powerful. As Satele spoke, those whom the Emperor had manipulated and killed over the centuries, all who knew his true weakness - his pride and vanity, and his fear of death - began to manifest, standing behind the Commander, the one who had the power to destroy him once and for all. In the end, Tenebrae's power was not enough to save him, as the Commander and their allies were able to withstand the power of the Emperor's many forms. Defeated, the three guises of the Emperor petrified and crumbled to dust, just as the victims on Nathema and Ziost had done. Once and for all time, the Emperor was no more.