The objective on the Chiss Ascendancy's world of Copero was part of the Eternal Alliance's pursuit of their former ally, Theron Shan. Unbeknownst to the Alliance's leaders, Shan had gone deep undercover, aligning himself with the Order of Zildrog. The Order charged him with obtaining the coordinates to Zildrog from the Sith Emperor's holomap. To this end, Shan infiltrated House Inrokini on Copero, feigning a need for sanctuary from the Alliance. Upon discovering this deception, Aristocra Saganu of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force declared the ruling Syndic Zenta a rogue and requested that the Alliance Commander capture them both, assuring that the Ascendancy would turn a blind eye. Saganu brought the Commander and Raina Temple, the Ascendancy's representative, to Copero. There, they apprehended Zenta and learned the truth about Shan's intentions from her. They hurried to intercept him, but Shan and Valss, Zenta's brother, had already accessed and destroyed the holomap after extracting the information they sought. Valss remained behind and perished, while Shan successfully escaped to relay his findings to the Order. The Commander, along with Temple, returned to Odessen, where Temple proposed continuing her work with the Alliance.
In 3681 BBY, when the Sith Empire resurfaced and initiated the Great Galactic War against the Galactic Republic, the Chiss Ascendancy stood as the Empire's sole genuine ally, distinguishing itself from the Empire's subjugated species. The specifics of the agreement were known only to the highest echelons of power. To safeguard the Ascendancy's interests, the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force dispatched a team to seize a safeguard from Vitiate, the Sith Emperor, in case the alliance dissolved. They successfully acquired a holomap containing one of Vitiate's most guarded secrets: the coordinates to Zildrog, a superweapon with the capacity to annihilate entire civilizations. This holomap was transported to Copero, an Ascendancy world, for secure storage, accessible only to the highest-ranking Chiss officials.
Over fifty years later, in 3629 BBY, a group identified as the Order of Zildrog commenced their quest to locate Zildrog, with the intention of deploying it against the Eternal Alliance. Theron Shan, an Alliance member, discovered this plot and feigned defection to the Order, planning to dismantle it from within. After demonstrating his loyalty on Umbara, Shan was tasked with retrieving the holomap from House Inrokini, the ruling family of Copero. He persuaded Zenta, the ruling Syndic, to grant him refuge in exchange for Alliance secrets. Aristocra Saganu, head of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force, considered this an act of treason but was unable to take action against Zenta due to political constraints. Instead, Saganu journeyed to Odessen, the Alliance's capital, and revealed Shan's location to the Alliance Commander, requesting the apprehension of both traitors without the Ascendancy's official involvement. Despite the unprecedented nature of allowing outsiders onto Copero, Saganu offered to escort the Commander there to capture Shan and Zenta, stipulating only that Lieutenant Raina Temple accompany them to ensure the Ascendancy's interests were protected.
On Copero, Valss, Zenta's brother who possessed Force-sensitive abilities, had a vision of Shan's success. This led him and several of Zenta's elite fighters to join the Order's cause. Shan accessed Zenta's personal datapad to uncover the map's location within the ancient ruins and proceeded there with Valss and others, abandoning the Syndic. Concurrently, Saganu's shuttle transported Temple and the Commander to the landing platform in Copero City, from where they fought their way through House Inrokini security forces. During their advance, they were tasked with destroying supplies stolen from the Ascendancy and planting listening devices on House Inrokini communication relays. Believing she had the situation under control, Zenta instructed Copero's citizens to avoid the conflict, even as Temple and the Commander battled their way into the nearby shipyard. Inside, they hacked House Inrokini security terminals, revealing that Zenta had been gathering both Alliance and Ascendancy secrets for some time, and eventually confronted the Syndic herself.
Temple disarmed Zenta, confiscating her sniper rifle and establishing a holochannel connection to Saganu. Defeated, the Syndic confessed that she, like others, had been deceived by Shan and revealed his affiliation with a group seeking a powerful superweapon. She provided Temple and the Commander with the map's coordinates to enable them to stop him, but Saganu insisted on resolving her matter first, offering the Commander a promise of political alliance in exchange for killing the Syndic immediately. Meanwhile, Shan and Valss successfully accessed the map, with Theron discovering that Zildrog was located on Nathema. Subsequently, they detonated explosives to destroy the map and prevent anyone from following their trail.
The Commander declined to carry out Saganu's underhanded request, to the Aristocta's disappointment, and instead hurried to apprehend Shan alongside Temple. Exiting the shipyard through an exit on a mountain slope, the Commander had to tame a pantran whitefang beast, which the Chiss used to guard their secrets. They then faced a test of logic, utilizing a steam distributor to melt a wall of ice obstructing their path. After deactivating a security laser grid in the maze outside the temple, the Commander and Temple entered just as Shan's group was preparing to depart on a Zakuulan shuttle. Valss ordered the others to leave and, despite Shan's objections, engaged them in combat, allowing Shan to escape. The Commander and Temple fought Valss and ultimately killed him, after which they were compelled to return to Odessen without success.
Upon returning to Odessen, Temple informed the Commander of the political repercussions resulting from the exposure of Aristocra's actions and volunteered to join the Eternal Alliance, believing her connections to the Ascendancy would be valuable. Lana Beniko's team recovered the remains of the holomap from Copero, and Beniko tasked their best engineers with reassembling it. Meanwhile, Shan transmitted Zildrog's coordinates to Vinn Atrius, the Order's leader, while intentionally leaving the channel open so that the Alliance could intercept their conversation and learn of the Order's existence. The Order soon located Zildrog on Nathema and prepared to awaken it. Shan, still maintaining his cover, sent another encrypted message to the Alliance so that they could learn about the Order's plans and prevent Zildrog's threat.
During the "A Traitor Among the Chiss" flashpoint, players have three options for dealing with Syndic Zenta. The Light side options involve either returning her to House Inrokini or taking her prisoner for crimes against the Alliance, both of which lead to political turmoil and a potential war among the Chiss. The Dark side option is to kill Zenta on the spot, in which case Saganu will privately offer the Alliance his support, while officially the Ascendancy will blame the Alliance for the Syndic's death.