Koth Vortena

Koth Vortena was a male Human from Zakuul, the capital world of the Eternal Empire. He joined the military and reached the rank of captain by the time Immortal Emperor Valkorion was assassinated and his son Arcann took the Eternal Throne, launching an invasion of the larger galaxy. During the Occupation of Denon, Vortena and his crew were ordered to fire on the crowds of rioting civilians and refused, for which Vortena was thrown into brig and relieved of command. His subordinate Len Parvek helped him escape and joined in opposing the new Emperor's rule, after which they spend months escaping Senya Tirall of the Knights of Zakuul who hunted them for the desertion. Later Vortena met and befriended former Sith Intelligence Minister Lana Beniko and the two spend a lot of time opposing the Eternal Empire together on Arron Prime and Altair 3.

Five years into Arcann's rule, Beniko convinced Vortena to free the Outlander responsible for killing Valkorion from being frozen in carbonite. Vortena joined Beniko's bodyguard droid HK-55 in piloting their escape shuttle, though it was shot down, requiring Vortena to improvise and quickly steal a new one. While escaping the pursuit of High Justice Vaylin in the Endless Swamp, the group located the Gravestone - a legendary vessel that could rival the might of the Eternal Fleet - which Vortena quickly grew attached to. They restored the ship to working condition and used it to escape Zakuul along with Senya Tirall, whom Beniko brought in to assist them. The Gravestone possessed an omnicannon that could destroy dozens of Eternal Fleet warships in a single shot, but the vessel was still damaged and Vortena took it for repairs to Asylum shadowport, where his crew joined him in working on the ship. Vortena briefly returned to Zakuul to assist the Outlander and Senya Tirall in their search for the Lady of Sorrows, who turned out to be an advanced artificial intelligence called SCORPIO, returning with her to Asylum. The shadowport was attacked by Arcann's forces, who locked down the docking clamps keeping the Gravestone in place and Vortena fought through Zakuulan forces to free the ship, after which everyone used it to escape into hyperspace and traveled to Odessen where Lana Beniko started an Alliance to oppose the Eternal Empire.

Vortena piloted the Gravestone during a failed mission to take over control of the GEMINI droids that controlled the Eternal Fleet and later led it to face the Fleet again after SCORPIO betrayed the Alliance and revealed the location of the Alliance base to Arcann. During the Battle of Odessen Arcann was dethroned, only for his sister Vaylin to take his place and strike against the Alliance with renewed fervour. Shortly after the Invasion of Voss Vaylin and SCORPIO used subterfuge to get onboard of the Gravestone along with a host of Zakuulan Knights and Horizon Guards. Vortena escaped capture and called the Alliance forces for help, assisted by the Alliance Commander in disarming the quantum bomb that he had installed on board as a last precaution. Vortena was then trapped on Iokath by ARIES along with the rest of the Alliance leadership, and worked on improving the Gravestone with new upgrades obtained on Iokath after everyone escaped that worlds and safely returned to Odessen. He continued working on the upgrades until Vaylin launched another assault on Odessen, forcing everyone to rush to get the ship airborne to provide the Alliance with a fighting chance. During the battle the Alliance Commander struck down Vaylin, after which Vortena took the Alliance leadership to Zakuul on the Gravestone, where he used the Iokath upgrades to break the blockade by the Eternal Fleet, allowing the Commander to claim the Eternal Throne and proclaim the age of the Eternal Alliance.

Text and facts from the “Koth Vortena” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.