Voice of an Empire: The Memoirs of Darth Baras

The Voice of an Empire: The Memoirs of Darth Baras was a datafile accessible from the database of Colonel Senks that detailed Darth Baras' rise to power. Written by the Dark Councilor Darth Baras, the Sith Lord gave his personal account of himself in this memoir entry, though its contents were fictional and presented its author in a desirable light that detracted from what has transpired by then and was to come.

History

At around 3642 BBY,^[2] the Sith Lord Darth Baras had gained a new apprentice whose powers were utilized by the Sith Master to eliminate his rivals, including Baras' own Master, Darth Vengean. Taking his late Master's seat at the Dark Council, a ruling body of the reconstituted Sith Empire to which he served,^[4] Darth Baras then became fearful of his increasingly strong apprentice whom the new Dark Councilor thought threatened his personal ambitions. Thus,^[5] in 3641 BBY,^[6] Councilor Baras arranged for the fledgling Sith's death, though the apprentice escaped an early grave with the assistance of the Emperor's Hand, and was appointed by them^[5]—per the will of the Sith Emperor, who the agents of the Hand served directly^[7]—the Emperor's Wrath.^[5]

Meanwhile, elevated to a higher position of power, Darth Baras dismissed his apprentice's survival and continued his plot to seize control of the Empire^[8] via attempting to rescue his sister, an infamous assassin known as Darth Ekkage,^[9] and by bringing the Dark Council to his reins. To that end, Baras wrestled before its other members through bribery and other means for the recognition of his claim to the mantle of the Emperor's Voice,^[8] the liaison between the Council and their Emperor; the words of whom were communicated from and taken as the Sith Emperor's will.^[5] Though Baras' rescue of his sister was thwarted by his former apprentice, the Dark Councilor kidnapped the Voice of the Emperor and made efforts to establish himself as the new, legitimate one.^[8] Manipulating fellow Councilors to his side, Baras' bid for the Emperor's Voice went unopposed openly save for the spirited Councilor, Darth Vowrawn.^[10]

Operating alongside Darth Baras' former apprentice, now the Emperor's Wrath, Vowrawn laid out his plan for crippling Baras' power base,^[11] which included the elimination of an Imperial operative,^[1] a Jedi spy,^[12] as well as a prophet.^[13] As they all were located on Corellia, Vowrawn travelled to the world to coordinate the Wrath's strikes on these targets that formed the pillars of Baras' organization there and allowed him leverage over other Dark Councilors during the false Voice's coup.^[11]

Having already dispatched of Darth Baras' assassins sent to silence Vowrawn, the Dark Councilor's former apprentice moved for Colonel Senks, the Imperial operative. Implanted behind a Corellian resistance stronghold at Coronet City's Labor Valley, Senks, an expert of technology, held his masters most sensitive files in a database maintained through a console-filled chamber at the rebel stronghold. Senks' network of technology at the stronghold failed him, however, as the Sith outsmarted the Imperial spy's contingency measures, blocking the colonel's escape passages with ion pulse disruptors whilst cutting through Corellian rebels towards the trapped Senks' chamber.^[1]

Barging into Senks' sanctum, the Emperor's Wrath exacted revenge on Baras' servant, destroying the database that contained Baras' files, including the Sith Lord's datafile titled "Voice of an Empire: The Memoirs of Darth Baras." Darth Baras' wishes for his ultimate dominance of the Sith Empire as laid out in the memoir^[1] were dashed, however, as he was soon defeated by his former apprentice.^[14] Thus, the false Voice's account of history was proven wholly false, as the apprentice—directly anointed the Wrath by the Emperor's Hand—saw to Baras' death per the Sith Emperor's will after being betrayed by the Darth, who lost the Dark Council's support in his last moments.^[1][5][14]

Behind the scenes

The memoir entry appears in the 2011 video game Star Wars: The Old Republic, in which the Sith Warrior-class player would receive an in-game mail that includes a recovered file of Darth Baras' memoir intended for the Sith Warrior's perusal which is sent by Colonel Senks, who does so out of gratitude after renouncing his loyalty to Dark Councilor Baras and reaffirming his shift of servitude to rival Councilor Vowrawn.^[1]

This is only possible if the non-player character is spared by the player in the Sith Warrior-exclusive quest "Squeeze the Spy."^[1]

Appearances

• Star Wars: The Old Republic (First appearance)

Notes and references