Difference between revisions of "Vodo Bonias"

Revision as of 13:11, 14 November 2011

Vodo Bonias
Biographical Information
Race	Unknown
Homeworld	Unknown
Mother	Unknown
Father	Unknown
Spouse	Unknown
Siblings	Unknown
Children	Unknown
Born	Unknown
Imperial Service
Branch	COMPNOR
Positions	Sith Lord
Prior Service	Emperor
Awards	Unknown

Vodo Bonias was the third and tenth Emperor of the Galaxy. He also ruled as Emperor of the separatist Dark Empire and was a well known Sith Lord.

History

Bad Youth

Vodo Bonias was an orphan who never knew his birth parents and was adopted by a Corellian family of smugglers. When he was only ten years old, the Galactic Republic raided their home on Corellia and executed his adoptive parents, who had been aiding enemies of the Republic and even caused the death of a Republican officer. His little sister of five years old was taken away to protect her from the dangerous influence of her family, leaving the young Vodo alone with his grandmother, who took care of him until he reached the age of sixteen and considered himself old enough to take care of himself.

He had always known he was force sensitive, but his family discouraged him from developing his skills out of fear that the Galactic Republic would send troops to kill him, or that perhaps he would grow too powerful and fall to the Dark Side. After leaving his grandmother, he met a young Jedi named Barak Golan who offered to teach him the ways of the Force. Together, they travelled to Tatooine to train. His training progressed well until a few years later, a Republic commando unit raided the Meleenium shop owned by Golan and killed him for crimes committed against the government, including several acts of terrorism. Not considering the young Vodo a threat, they left him unharmed. But inside, the anger burned at the loss of both his parents and master.

Fall to the Dark Side

He recognized how powerful his hatred and anger had made him and in order to protect himself from the Republic, he left Tatooine for the Obsidian Temple, where he studied under Gita Nareek. He joined the Order of the Dark Hand and continued to train for several years until Gita Nareek expelled him from the Order for unknown reasons, although his disobedient behaviour was probably a key factor in his expulsion. Only a few days later, he was contacted by a man named Natah Matrus, who had been expelled from the Order as well. Natah encouraged Vodo to enlist in the newly formed Galactic Empire, while secretly training under him. Matrus was a disturbing figure. He murdered people only so he could drink their blood and he was always accompanied by a Dathomir witch. But his personality would clearly affect Bonias, who would later start to resemble his former master. During his time in the Empire, he would frequent cantinas, where he met a girl named Kammy, who was married to a General in the Empire. The two worked together to kill her husband, so that they could marry each other instead. However, Vodo would slowly realise that she weakened him, by showing that he could still love somebody. It wasn't long before she gave birth to a son, but the child would not survive for long, because his father killed the child as soon as possible, fearing that Kammy Bonias would use the child to manipulate him and weaken him even more. She never forgave him for this act and they parted ways.

One dark night at the cantina, Matrus ordered Vodo to his side, as usual. Nobody knows what they discussed that day, but a few hours later, Vodo betrayed his master and murdered him. Around this time, he was a Captain in the Imperial Navy. His commanding officer, Admiral Drayson, took control of the Empire and became the new Emperor. Emperor Drayson appointed Vodo as commanding officer of one of his fleets.

First Reign

Vodo considered himself to be superior to the Emperor in every way possible and plotted against him. Drayson's fleet had begun a routine deployment to fend off another unidentified attack on Imperial territory. Commanding one of the sections of the fleet was Captain Vodo Bonias. Having won the battle, Drayson's ship was fired upon by forces loyal to Bonias. Suffering critical damage, Drayson's forces were driven off for parts unknown, while Bonias' forces acclaimed him Admiral and he returned to Coruscant triumphant. Bonias would not return to the position he might have expected. With the flight of Drayson, the throne nominally fell to his Naval Commanding Officer, Admiral Suntzu. Attempting to mollify Bonias and consolidate his rule, Suntzu approved Bonias' rank of Admiral and additionally appointed him Moff of the Boeus Sector. At the same time, he initiated projects favouring the Imperial Navy, drawing the ire of General Balseraph, Commander of the Imperial Army. This soon resulted in a rebellion lead by the General, with the intention of taking the throne for himself, claiming Suntzu was nothing but a pawn of Vodo. The resulting campaign was short and brutal, but eventually the newly appointed Moff Bonias would force Balseraph and his forces to retreat, taking as many assets and officers with them as possible. Heavily beset with troubles, and his popularity with the public rapidly decreasing, Suntzu gave up the throne after a mere month and retired into obscurity. After all this time, Vodo Bonias finally had the throne he had so heavily desired.

Shortly after Bonias' ascent, Drayson revealed that he had survived the attempted coup against him. With Bonias refusing to surrender the throne, Drayson declared the formation of the Order of Darkness, while revealing a great secret: he was a disciple of one of the many Sith Orders that had been established since the Battle of Ruusan nearly a thousand years ago. General Balseraph, together with his followers, decided to support Drayson, giving the Order the military resources it required to present a real challenge to the Emperor on Coruscant. Shortly thereafter, Admiral Dyvel Price consorted with Evax, one of her officers, to defect to the Order of Darkness. This was successful, and the Imperial Navy was deprived of a significant portion of its force. Near simultaneously, many senior military officers were purged. The Order would only achieve a few minor victories before disappearing following Drayson's death however.

Vodo's first reign saw no relief for the Empire. Years of infighting had caused economic ruin on many worlds, and corruption was entrenched in the Imperial bureaucracy. The new Emperor proved to care more about himself than about the Empire and was not capable of controlling himself. When a young female Imperial Army officer was raped in front of, and by, the Imperial High Command, the citizens turned against Emperor Bonias. With the citizenry and Imperial Army posing a constant threat and with only the increasingly deserting Imperial Navy to defend him, Bonias abdicated in favour of his Executor, Spytek, after ruling the Empire for a year.

The Banished Warlord

Vodo continued his Imperial service under Emperor Spytek and during this time, he created his own organisation: the Majestic 12, also known as MJ12. This organisation consisted of several secret agents who were loyal to only Vodo and who had to ensure that he always maintained power. It was around this time that Vodo claimed the title of "Warlord" for himself.

When Admiral Piett, a Sith Lord and former apprentice of Vodo, led his followers in the Navy to overthrow the young Emperor, the Empire saw a new age of strength and stability. However, his reign was a conservative one, and many officers wished for drastic reforms to be made. It was the traitorous Warlord who once more sought to overthrow the Emperor, not because he wanted advancements to be made, but because he had lost control over his old apprentice, and he encouraged many high-ranking Imperials to start a revolt against Piett. The coup was unsuccesful and its ring leaders, Grand Admiral Gorn Veynom, Admiral Gunther von Esling, and Surface Marshall Trey Connel were arrested and accused of treason. The Sith Master pulling the strings escaped and fled Imperial territory with the help of Captain Machkhit and Fleet Admiral Simms, who were ordered to arrest him but pretended that he couldn't be found. In the end, his failed coup would be one of the reasons of Piett's retirement though. The Emperor was unable to identify the many others who were working secretly for Vodo and eventually became paranoid. Fearing further revolts and attempts on his life, he chose to flee the Empire, seeking a peaceful retirement on the Outer Rim.

Rise of the Sith

Warlord Vodo would reappear later, when his Sith Order merged with the Imperial Core, forming the Dark Empire. He claimed the title of Emperor once more and together with his Dark Lord, Simms, who had taken on the name of Darth Knyte, he prepared the reunification of the Galactic Empire, lead by Emperor Charon. Charon, ever distrustful of the deceitful Vodo and his followers, stayed on the Throne after the merger, but appointed Count Greyson Uebles, a member of the Dark Empire, as his Executor, as part of the compromise. Vodo in turn created a secretive fleet, the Dark Hand Fleet, outside the chain of command that incorporated many loyal and high ranking officers as well as several Dark Jedi and Sith, this fleet would later become known as the Order of the Dark Hand. Vodo also managed to preserve the secretive MJ-12 intelligence branch which had been essential in the Dark Empire's success.

There was a lot of conflict and competition between the supporters of Charon and Vodo. When Emperor Charon ordered ISB-General Matrel Byden to arrest the Commanding Officer of the Dark Hand Fleet, Vice Admiral Jennifer Dreighton, and to dissolve the fleet, the "Vodoists" rose up against the Emperor. Count Uebles revealed himself to be a Sith Lord and claimed the Throne for himself, offering Charon a position on his High Command. The overthrown Emperor turned down the offer and incited his followers to defect. The Charonists would eventually form the New Imperial Order. Uebles remained as the new Emperor, but many considered him to be yet another puppet of Vodo, and in many cases, this was true. Vodo served as his Executor until he stepped down on Year 5 Day 158, letting his master take the Imperial Throne.

See also

• Emperors of the Galaxy

Succession