Konopka

Konopka was a Sith Lord of the Sith Order of Decreto and a member of the House of Ni during the War of Twelve Heirs. The eldest member of the Sith Council, and possibly the entire Order, Konopka fought alongside during the  of 5,000 BBY. Konopka was responsible for helping the Sith Order of Decreto survive those tumoltuous times, and effectively gave birth to the seperate Sith Order.

Following the destruction of Devastator during the Konopka escaped with many of his subordinates, but retained the coordinates for the crash site. This information was later critical in Sam Sinays mission to uncover the Devastator.

The only true Sith on the Council, Konopka was considered second only to the Emperor in terms of authority and influence.

Early years
Born on in 5,112 BBY, Konopka was ridiculed by his peers for his lack of interest in joining the military, instead preferring to focus on Command & Control. One of the few pure blooded Sith still alive during these years, Konopka saw this as a weakness, and hid the fact, even from his Sith Masters.

Taken as a Sith apprentice early on in his years, and easily mastered the s, relying little on his training with the and s. Konopka instead found solace in meditation, finding little interest in his other duties in the academy, which often lead to him being punished severely. On one occasion, such a punishment lead to Konopka nearly killing his Sith Master. Konopka was bothered little after this.

In the year 5,150 BBY Konopka was confronted by a Sith/Human hybrid named Naga Sadow, a leading figure in Sith society. Sadow had been watching Konopka's training with great interest, and had decided that the time had finally come to make his proposition.

Sadow would make Konopka head of his personal guard, the "conquerors" and in exchange, Konopka could utilize his Command & Control capabilities to the fullness, commanding from the newly built Devastator. Konopka agreed almost instantly, and the Sith Order of Decreto was born.

Birth of the Sith Order of Decreto
Naga Sadow revealed to Konopka that he had chosen exactly nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine others to join the Sith Order of Decreto, and that Konopka was the oly one to have had his rank chosen. As head of the Decreton Knights, Konopka was tasked with building up and training his forces with little to no assistance from either Naga Sadow, or anyone else.

Sadow had chosen his prospective guard based upon their willingness to die for the cause, and their skills, but they still had to be trained to meet with Konopka's approval.

For one-hundred and fifty years Konopka trained his Decreton Knights into a battle-hardened, well equipped and superbly skilled military force, who were totally loyal to their Master, Naga Sadow. The Sith Order of Decreto rejoiced greatly in 5,000 BBY when their Master became Emperor, and were the first to join him when he went to war with the Galactic Republic.

Great Hyperspace War
During the Great Hyperspace War, the Sith Order of Decreto's responsibilities ranged from protecting the Dark Lord, to committing various acts of assassination, reconnaissance and bog-standard military combat.

Konopka found a penchant for leading his own military operations from the front, which even he could not explain. He became an after his first combat mission, and then a  during the battle of Coruscant.

Follwoing the battle, Konopka's Sith Order of Decreto was tasked with hunting down and eliminating but had great difficulty finding any trace of Kreesh. Konopka's failure to find Kreesh also meant that he was unable to attend the battle of Kirrek, a key engagement during the conflict.

By the time Konopka finally gave up on his quest to locate Kreesh, it was too late for Sadow. The Devastator was already engaged in battle at Primus Goluud by the time Konopka arrived in his fighter, and within minutes of his arrival a solar flare emanating from the burning star below tore through the port side of Devastator, ripping the aft section of the vessel away and into the sun.

Within minutes, Devestator was a burning wreck, slowly drifting into the star. Many aboard what was left of Devastator made it aboard their escape pods, and were picked up by other Sith vessels.

Escape from Primus Goluud
Fleeing the burning wreckage of Devastator in his fighter, Konopka realized that the destruction of the ship he helped build meant defeat for the Sith Empire, but the Sith Order of Decreto was not dead.

Using secure Decreto transmission frequencies, Konopka arranged for as many of the Decreton Knights to meet with him as possible. Konopka knew that many of the Decreton Knights would return with Sadow to Korriban, but the members would follow Konopka to the end.

Shortly after the disastrous Second Battle of Korriban, Sadow fled the Sith Empire, leaving his Massassi followers, and many in the Decreton Order feeling betrayed and angry. Many attempted to return to Konopka, but few found him.

Re-birth of the Order
Settling on a small world in the Unknown Regions called Ni by the natives, Konopka set about enslaving the local populous and setting the Decreton Knights up as demi-gods. Quickly securing control over the numerous warring nations, the Sith Order of Decreto jump-started the technological evolution of their slave populous, allowing for a small interstellar empire to begin forming. Konopka's armies spread across the sector, creating a fleet of warships to carry supplies and men across the empire.

But Konopka was never one for total control, Konopka liked fighting, and knew that being an Emperor limited his chances of getting out into combat. So he decided to elect his apprentice as the new Dark Lord of the Decreton Empire. But his apprentice refused, instead nominating Konopka. Reluctantly, Konopka accepted and, in 4,997 BBY, became the first Dark Lord of the Decreton Empire.

Now Emperor, Konopka set about, evaluating his empire, and strengthening it where needed. He organized the Empire into Houses, each of which ruled a sector of the empire. Amongst the Houses was the noble House of Taral, which ruled from the Taral estate, on the planet Tasipar.

Pax Millenia
For almost one thousand years, Konokpa ruled the Sith Order of Decreto absolute. During his reign the Sith Order of Decreto had survived by the skin of its teeth, constantly battling pirate organizations and the for control of the region.

Over the years, the Empire had grown, its populous and army expanded. The empire had spread its influence into many of the galaxy's ruling governments. Humans had found their way into Sith space and become the majority species, dominating many of the ruling Houses, including the House of Taral and the House of Ni, Konopka's own House.

The Decreton Order had become infamous through-out the Unknown Regions for its military effectivness, brutality and sheer will to survive in the face of overwhelming odds; both in the form of pirates and the Chiss. So skillfull in combat were the Sith, that the Chiss government even took to adopting the idea of ruling Houses in their own government.

Konopka set up outposts and Temples on numerous worlds, including Nerezza.

Towards the end of the millenia however, the years of peace began to collapse. Infighting within the House of Ni caused the planet's seclusion from the rest of the empire, and what started as a practical challenge erupted into a full on duel between Konopka, and the Human Hekas-ni.

Commander of the Home Fleet
Konopka was defeated in his duel with Hekas-ni, but had survived. Hekas-ni, knowing that killing Konopka would ignite civil war allowed him to live, and serve as the first Commander of the Home Fleet; a position Konopka held until the end of the War of Twelve Heirs.

During Hekas-ni's reign, Konopka served faithfully; doing his Emperor's bidding wherever possible. Konopka also became the Head of the Academy on Ni, traning many of the Order's most powerful Sith Lords. Students of Konopka's included Kell and Sekal Phasas'a, both of whom later joined Konopka on the newly formed Sith Council.

Konopka parlayed with his Lord's apprentice, Shalbacca much during his years as Commander of the Home Fleet, bulding up a close relationship with the and helping in the training of the Emperor's son, Setal-ni.

Over the years, Konopka steadily rebuilt his powerbase, leeching of the funds provided him by the Emperor, and using the far-sightedness of his old apprentice, Kell. Hoping to once again challenge the Emperor for control of the empire, but before he could launch his campaign, the Emperor had declared Setal-ni his heir, and died.

Despite this clear-cut declaration of heirship, many on the Sith Council challenged the ex-Dark Lord's ruling. Head among these were Mythos, and the ex-Jedi Sam Sinays. Konopka however was bound to Hekas-ni's son both by law and honor, and was one of the two members of the Council not to leave the Council.

War of Twelve Heirs
In 3,963 BBY Mythos, Corae and Korin, Shalbacca's old apprentice launched a surprise attack on the capital world of Ni. Shalbacca and Konopka had anticipated the attack however, and had prepared the defense of the world.

When the House of Mythos did finally arrive, they were quickly surrounded by Shalbacca and Konopka's forces and repelled. Konopka's flagship was damaged during the battle, and his life was saved by Setal-ni. That single action secured the respect of Setal-ni in Konopka's eyes.

Following the battle, the ageing Konopka was rushed into a medical facility on Ni where he was diagnosed with Delayed Death Disorder.

Personality and traits
Konopka was born into an Empire that valued strength above mind. Not the most physical of his species by far, Konopka was one of the few Sith to find his foray in the complicated area of military command and strategic operations.

This, coupled with a mastery over the Force and impressive skill with the Sith sword led to Konopka being made head of the Decreton Knights during the years precedding the Great Hyperspace War.

Konopka, although part of the sub-servient majority on Zoist, found himself in great favor amongst the ruling and this rubbed off on him, giving Konopka a sense of importance and just.

Loyal to the end. His skill as a military tactician, and later, as a government figure lead to Konopka being considered by many of his peers, as the perfect Sith Lord.

Talents
A talented warrior and skill combatent, Konopka's preference of the Force forms over melee-combat set him apart from his peers and was a key factor in his drawing the attention of Naga Sadow.

Konopka always carried a Sith sword with him, should he have need of it but very rarely did. His short military service to Naga Sadow was full of great victories, and Konopka showed himself to be a skilled pilot and strategist.

Unafraid of taking advatage of any given situation, Konopka did not fear his Master's wrath during the Great Hyperspace War, and on at least one occasion disobyed a direct order. The only thing keeping Konopka alive after this infraction was the fact that by disobeying the order, Sadow's forces won the battle.

Behind the scenes

 * Konopka was written by the author almost totally at random, as with most in the War of Twelve Heirs story.
 * The idea of Konopka being known for his age and influence was set in stone from the beginning of the story, but the fact that Konopka founded the Sith Order of Decreto was made up during the author's writing of this article.
 * Konopka's name is a homage to a friend of the author.