Hand of the Empire

The Dark Council possessed knowledge of their presence and understood that they represented an additional power layer positioned between themselves and the Emperor. These agents, comprising both men and women, executed the most confidential directives of their master.

Among all the Emperor's operatives, only the Hand maintained ongoing communication with the supreme leader of the Sith and were privy to his authentic objectives and purpose. This connection was facilitated by the Emperor's mastery of the Dark side of the Force, enabling him to share his thoughts and effectively make their will an extension of his own. Rather than involving themselves in the day-to-day administration of the Empire, the Hand dedicated their efforts to realizing their master's most ambitious schemes, delivering critical blows against those he considered enemies.

During the era of the Galactic War, the Hand became aware of Darth Baras's actions to silence the Voice of the Emperor and his underlying ambition to seize control of the Sith Empire. Consequently, they actively sought out an operative to act in the Emperor's stead. Ordinarily, the Emperor's Wrath, Lord Scourge, would have addressed this act of treachery, but due to his abandonment of his duty to join the Hero of Tython, Servant One and Servant Two embarked on a search across the Empire to find a suitable replacement. From the multitude of Sith they considered, they ultimately selected Darth Baras's former Sith apprentice, the same individual whom the Dark Lord had previously chosen to betray. This particular Sith was then granted the title of Emperor's Wrath and collaborated with the Hand to erode Baras's power base, with the ultimate goal of eliminating the threat he posed.

Following the Emperor's defeat at the hands of the Hero of Tython on Dromund Kaas, the Hand issued instructions to the Imperial Guard to retrieve their master's physical form and conceal it in a secure location, allowing his weakened spirit the opportunity to recover from the battle. The Hand maintained consistent communication with the Wrath, entrusting them with the task of unifying the Empire.

The Hand became a target of Darth Vowrawn, a member of the Dark Council, who went so far as to interrogate a Servant after discovering that his friend, the Emperor's Wrath, was being monitored. After the Wrath destroyed the Opticron droids, Servant One personally arrived to apprehend Darth Vowrawn and question the Wrath's loyalty. The Wrath, uninterested in Servant One's pronouncements, severed their connection to both the Hand and the Sith Emperor.

After the events of the Invasion of Ziost, when the former Sith Emperor discarded his Sith identity and reassumed his role as Valkorion—the leader of the Eternal Empire—he determined that he had surpassed his previous limitations and no longer required the services of his Hand, Voice, or Children.

During the renewed galactic conflict, following the Meridian Complex assault, the now Emperor Vowrawn publicly announced the reformation of the Emperor's Hand into the Hand of the Empire, without the knowledge of the Dark Council. He believed the Hand was ideally suited to manage wartime operations by functioning independently, rather than being subordinate to individual Sith Lords. With this reorganization, Darth Rivix received an appointment to the Hand of the Empire.

Despite this, some members of the Hand remained dedicated to the deceased Sith Emperor, Darth Vitiate. These individuals, known as the Servants, were under the leadership of Servant Four, as Servants One and Two had perished long ago. As fervent devotees of the Emperor, the Servants uncovered the location of Tenebrae's original body and commandeered Imperial spacecraft to secure it in the depths of space. Although Satele Shan and her students destroyed the physical form of Tenebrae, the Servants were determined to resurrect their fallen leader. After boarding Shan's cargo ship, the Servants were pursued by a group of dark side adepts clad in red armor.

As the Servants worked to facilitate the resurrection ritual for their Emperor, they were intercepted by the surviving Scions of Zakuul, who were similarly fanatical in their devotion to Valkorion and sought to purge their Immortal Emperor's spirit from the "corruption" of the Servants. Conflicting with each other, they engaged in battle throughout the ship, and despite the Servants emerging victorious, they were intercepted once more. 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 slayer of the Emperor) confronted them. The Alliance members defeated the Servants aboard the cargo vessel before they could reach Satele Shan. Scourge, Carsen, and the Commander then entered Shan's mind, ultimately fulfilling the will of the Force by permanently eliminating Tenebrae.

In the Star Wars: The Old Republic: Onslaught expansion, the Emperor's Hand undergoes a transformation into the Hand of the Empire, accompanied by a new codex entry. The announcement of this reform is made either by Emperor Vowrawn or Empress Darth Acina to players progressing through the Empire's storyline. Depending on the player's class and choices made during gameplay, they may be offered the opportunity to lead the secret organization.

• If the player is a Sith Warrior, Acina or Vowrawn will reinstate their rank as Empire's Wrath and designate them as the official leader of the Hand. [3]
• If the player is a Sith Inquisitor, Acina or Vowrawn will restore their Sith title, and any previously held possessions will once again be theirs to claim in service of destroying the Empire's enemies. [3]
• If the player is an Imperial Agent, Acina or Vowrawn will bestow the rank of Keeper, granting them command over covert operations separate from Darth Xarion's Sith Intelligence. [3]
• If the player is a Bounty Hunter, Acina or Vowrawn will award them the rank of Hunter, tasking them with the responsibility of tracking down and eliminating the Empire's adversaries. [3]