Hand of the Empire

The Dark Council were aware of their existence and that they were another layer of power between themselves and the Emperor. These agents consisted of both men and women that carried out their master's most secret of orders.

Out of all the agents of the Emperor, only the Hand were in constant contact with the supreme master of the Sith and knew of his true goals as well as purpose. This was achieved through the Emperor's command of the Dark side of the Force that allowed his thoughts to be shared with them and their will becoming an extension of his own command. The Hand did not involve themselves with the running of the Empire but instead worked to achieve their master's grandest of designs where they struck a decisive blow against their master's enemies.

During the Galactic War, the Hand became aware of Darth Baras's act of silencing the Voice of the Emperor and his motivation in becoming the ruling force of the Sith Empire. To that end, they sought out an agent that would act on behalf of the Emperor. Normally, the Emperor's Wrath, Lord Scourge, would deal with the usurper, but as he had deserted his post to join the Hero of Tython, Servant One and Servant Two searched the Empire for a replacement. Out of the countless Sith they scouted, they chose Darth Baras's former Sith apprentice, whom the Dark Lord chose to betray. This Sith was awarded the position of Emperor's Wrath and worked with the Hand to weaken Baras's powerbase in order to ultimately eliminate the threat posed by him.

After the Emperor's defeat at the hands of the Hero of Tython on Dromund Kaas, the Hand ordered the Imperial Guard to recover their master's true body and hide it in a safe place while his weakened spirit recovered from the fight. The Hand maintained constant communication with the Wrath tasking them with unifying the Empire.

The Hand was targeted by Dark Council member Darth Vowrawn, who went as far as interrogating a Servant, when the Sith discovered his friend; the Emperor's Wrath was being spied on. After the Wrath destroyed the Opticron droids, Servant One came in person to capture Darth Vowrawn and question the Wrath's loyalty. The Wrath was not interested in Servant One's ramblings so they severed their connection to the Hand and the Sith Emperor.

After the Invasion of Ziost, when the former Sith Emperor shed his Sith identity and resumed his mantle of Valkorion—leader of the Eternal Empire—he decided that he had transcended his previous limitations and no longer required his Hand, Voice or Children.

During the renewed galactic conflict, after the Meridian Complex assault, the now Emperor Vowrawn announced the reformation of the Emperor's Hand into the Hand of the Empire without the Dark Council's knowledge, finding the Hand best suited to deal with wartime activities by working autonomously instead of serving under individual Sith Lords. With the new transformation, Darth Rivix was appointed to the Hand of the Empire.

Nevertheless, some members of the Hand remained loyal to the fallen Sith Emperor, Darth Vitiate. They were referred to as the Servants, and were led by Servant Four as Servants One and Two had died long ago. As the Emperor's fanatical worshippers, the Servants learnt of the location of Tenebrae's original body, and took Imperial spacecraft to secure it in deep space. Though the physical body of Tenebrae was destroyed by Satele Shan and her students, the Servants aimed to resurrect their fallen overlord. Boarding Shan's cargo ship, the Servants were followed by a contingent of dark side adepts who wore red armor.

While the Servants worked to facilitate their Emperor's ritual, they were intercepted by the surviving Scions of Zakuul, similarly fanatics to Valkorion who sought to cleanse their Immortal Emperor's spirit from the Servants' "corruption." At odds with each other, they battled throughout the ship, and though the Servants emerged victorious, they were once again intercepted. The Eternal Alliance's T7-O1, Scourge, a former Wrath of the Emperor, Kira Carsen, a former Child of the Emperor, and the Alliance Commander, a former vessel and killer of the Emperor. The Alliance members defeated the Servants aboard the cargo vessel before reaching Satele Shan. Scourge, Carsen, and the Commander then entered Shan's mind, ultimately enacting the will of the Force by vanquishing Tenebrae once and for all.

In the expansion Star Wars: The Old Republic: Onslaught the Emperor's Hand is reformed into the Hand of the Empire and gains a codex entry. The reform is announced by either Emperor Vowrawn or Empress Darth Acina to players going through the Empire's storyline and depending on the player's class and gameplay choices, they might be asked to lead the secret organization.

• If the player is a , Acina or Vowrawn will restore their rank of Empire's Wrath and are named the official leader of the Hand.
• If the player is a , Acina or Vowrawn will restore their Sith title, and any past holdings would once again be their's to claim in service of destroying the Empire's enemies.
• If the player is an , Acina or Vowrawn will grant the rank of Keeper and give them command over covert operations separate from Darth Xarion's Sith Intelligence.
• If the player is a , Acina or Vowrawn will grant them the rank of Hunter and will be charged with hunting down and destroying the Empire's enemies.

• Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia