Lana Beniko

"You're unusual for a Sith. You don't even have a title.''" "Knowledge, answers, truth, the Force: these'' are the things I hold dear. Titles don't interest me."

- A spacer and Lana Beniko

Lana Beniko was a Human female Sith Lord of the Sith Empire. During the Galactic War against the Galactic Republic she served as a key advisor to Dark Council member Darth Arkous. Investigating Arkous' unusual activities in the wake of the Korriban Incursion, Beniko discovered that Arkous was a traitor, secretly working for the Order of Revan. To expose Arkous, Beniko teamed up with some unusual allies, which included Republic SIS agent Theron Shan, a Wookiee smuggler named Jakarro, and other figures of importance on the galactic scale. The group tracked Arkous and his Revanite ally Rian Darok to Rakata Prime, where both were killed, only for Revan himself to enter the scene and attempt to kill Beniko and her allies. Proclaimed a traitor to the Empire, Beniko was forced into hiding along with Theron Shan and Jakarro. The three eventually tracked Revan and his allies to Rishi and with the help of their allies were able to expose the conspiracy to Darth Marr. To stop Revan from resurrecting the Sith Emperor, Beniko and Marr joined forces with Jedi Grand Master Satele Shan and traveled to Yavin 4, forming a temporary coalition between the Republic and the Empire. After it became clear that the Emperor was planning on consuming all life in the galaxy, Beniko stood against Revan himself alongside Darth Marr, Satele and Theron Shan, Jakarro and Shae Vizla. Though Revan was defeated, the Emperor nevertheless returned to life. In the aftermath of the confrontation, Darth Marr appointed Beniko as the new head of the reformed Sith Intelligence.

Early life
Born into the family of one of the most celebrated entrepreneurs on Dromund Kaas, Lana Beniko's Force-sensitivity meant she was to undergo training in the Dark side of the Force by the laws of the Sith Empire. She became an Acolyte in the Sith Academy on Korriban, training under Overseer Harkun. As part of her final trial Beniko was sent into the Valley of the Dark Lords to retrieve the helm of Tulak Hord along with a group of other acolytes, which included Greck, Kagan and Bensyn. Knowing that Harkun deemed the task before them impossible, Beniko told the other acolytes that they could only survive by working together. Upon entering the Tomb of Tulak Hord the group was overwhelmed by k'lor'slugs, which left Greck dead and Kagan severely wounded. Beniko eventually found Tulak Hord's helmet among the rubble, but before they could leave, Kagan was killed by an insane Zabrak acolyte. Beniko and Bensyn were the only two acolytes to survive their trials and leave the tomb alive.

At the time the Treaty of Coruscant was established, Lana Beniko was stationed on Hoth while the fighting was still raging. She called for an end to hostilities, but when an Imperial commander refused to obey, she responded by chopping off his right hand.

With and against Darth Arkous
Lana Beniko was eventually given the title of a Sith Lord and was appointed as an advisor to Darth Arkous, a member of the Dark Council and the head of the Sphere of Military Offense since the death of Darth Arho during the Battle of Ilum. Unknowingly to Beniko, Arkous was part of the Order of Revan and sought in her potential to become a recruit as well. In 3640 BBY, Beniko assisted Darth Arkous in planning the Assault on Tython, unaware that other members of Arkous' team - such as Lord Goh and Sergeant Tarsten - were Revanites as well. Beniko recruited a promiment figure in the Empire to lead the assault on the Jedi Temple, though she was unaware that its true goal was to allow Goh to recover a piece of a Rakatan artifact from the Jedi Council chamber. While the assault was still in progress, the Galactic Republic launched its own Korriban Incursion, which was not a retaliation strike, but part of the plan of Revanites within the Republic as well. Though the Dark Council Chambers were reclaimed, Beniko confided in her Imperial ally about her suspicions regarding Arkous' motive for the attack on Tython. The fact that their assault on Tython coincided with the Republic's invasion on Korriban, as well her sensing a "growth" in the Force, added credence to her theory that Darth Arkous was involved in a conspiracy that could threaten the Sith Empire. She spied on Arkous while updating her Imperial ally on his suspicious activities. Initially, her investigation didn't go too well and Lana failed to discover any foul play on Arkous' part.

A proper lead emerged when Beniko traced Arkous' movement to a secret laboratory on Manaan. She secretly followed her superior to the planet's surface and urged her droid A7-M1 to alert their Imperial ally to the location as well. Upon discovering that Colonel Rian Darok, the Republic commander who had overseen the attack on Korriban, had traveled to the same location as Arkous, Beniko send her ally to investigate. Meanwhile, she came in contact with with Republic SIS agent Theron Shan, who was investigating a similar ploy on the part of of Darok. Shan alerted Beniko's associates to the location of Jakarro, a Wookiee smuggler imprisoned by the Selkath geneticist Gorima. The Imperial freed the Wookiee and his droid C2-D4 and together discovered that Gorima had received Rakata technology from Arkous and Darok, and was using them to build self-repairing cyborg warriors for an "Infinite Army". Arkous and Darok themselves escaped and tried to flood the facility, though Beniko's new allies managed to make it to the surface. Through her cooperation with Shan, Beniko discovered that Arkous and Darok were both members of the Order of Revan, once believed to be a minor cult operating in the Empire, now seeking to destroy both Republic and Empire to establish a new order.

Continuing her collaboration with Shan, Jakarro, and C2-D4, Beniko uncovered a number of other Revanite traitors within the ranks on the Empire, while Shan and Jakarro tracked Arkous and Darok to Rakata Prime, the homeworld of the Rakata and capital of their Infinite Empire, where the Revanites were building their new Infinite army based on Gorima's research. Shan and Beniko arranged for a strike team to assault the Temple of the Ancients, while they provided tactical intel from onboard Jakarro's XS stock light freighter. Staging a diversion for Shan, Beniko secretly asked her Imperial allies to retrieve a piece of Rakata technology from one of the cyborgs for further study. Jakarro and the strike team confronted the Revanite leaders on the roof of the Temple and killed them when it became clear they would not cooperate. It was then that the true leader was revealed - none other than Revan himself, the "growth" in the Force that Lana had sensed. His Harrower-class dreadnought bombarded the Temple of the Ancients, though Beniko's allies made it out alive.

Against the Conspiracy
Regrouping on Manaan, Beniko discovered that the Revanites had used their influence to place a bounty on her head for the murder of Darth Arkous, a charge she could not contest unless the Revanites were exposed, while it had become clear that their influence would not make it easy. She was forced to go into hiding along with Shan and Jakarro, who faced similar charges. She advised her Imperial ally to go on with their life, but to remain on the watch for the Revanites and above all avoid contacting her. In an attempt to find lodging, Lana and her companions traveled to Tatooine. However, Beniko sensed Imperial agent Sharack Breev attempting to shadow her and thus returned to Jakarro's ship to depart the planet.

Eventually, the trio discovered that the Revanites had allied themselves with the Nova Blades pirate gang based out of Rishi, having them target key hyperlanes. Requiring their allies to find out what the Revanites were up to without being revealed, Lana made contact with Corellian Run Scoundrels leader Kai Zykken, using a mind trick to persuade him to spread rumours that their ally was a fearsome leader part of a pirate gang, while Theron remotely sliced their ally' navicomputers to draw them to Rishi. Once the hero followed the trail of breadcrumbs left by Lana and Theron, the duo revealed themselves and explained their current situation. They needed to manually slice the files on the Nova Blades' base of operation while avoiding drawing the Revanites to themselves, hence the masquerade to make it look like a common pirate rivarly. Theron and Lana send their ally, masquerading as the faux pirate gang, out to harass the Nova Blades, attacking their operations and slave camps, threatening the pirate' alliance with the Revanites. Eventually, they targeted the Blades' base at the crashed Aggressor, killing Commodore Dael Margok and recovering intel on Revanite agents. While Theron got to decoding the intel, Lana send their ally to meet with Shae Vizla, whose Mandalorian clan was formerly allied with the Blades and Revanites, to acquire more information. Meanwhile, Lana joined Jakarro and Theron in infiltrating a Revanite safehouse, but their attempt went sour and Theron was spotted. Lana allowed Theron to be captures and restrained Jakarro from itervening and revealing themselves, judging that Shan could gain more information in captivity and wouldn't betray their secrets - she herself had probed his mind with the Force to no effect.

When her ally returned, Lana and Jakarro were told that the Revanites had a fleet waiting somewhere on the planet. Lana then realized that by changing the hyperlanes the Revanites were drawing the Empire and Republic fleets to Rishi, luring them both into an ambush. Thankfully, by that time C2-D4 decoded that the Revanites were based on the Sky Ridge Island nearby and suggested taking up lodging with the Rishii village based there. The trio traleved there and met with the local named Arankau, who allowed them to stay in the village. Lana stayed behind to help with slicing, sending her ally to scout the Revanite camps. Learning that Theron was being kept at their main base, Beniko's ally went on the rescue mission, though Shan was able to escape captivity by himself. He then revealed Revan's plan - upon both fleet's arrival at Rishi, Revanite sleepers on both sides would sabotage key systems while the signal jammer on the ground would prevent the fleets from coordinating, at which point the Revanite fleet would move in and massacre the survivors. With his plan exposed, Revan remotely set his stronghold to self-destruct, but Lana was able to remotely abort the sequence.

The Yavin Coalition
With the signal jammer protected from slicing and aerial bombardment, the strike team quickly moved in to deactivate the signal jammer, enabling communication with the fleets as they revealed the Revanite conspiracy. Theron uploaded the identities of double agents, resulting in their impromptu detainment. Grand Master Satele Shan and Darth Marr agreed to meet in Raider's Cove to discuss a temporary truce so they could deal with Revan. With the order exposed, Lana's name was cleared and she once again answered directly to a Dark Council member. Both Republic and Imperial sides agreed to form a temporary truce to stop Revan from resurrecting the Sith Emperor, who was intent to consume all life in the galaxy. The coaliton made their way to Yavin 4, where Lana lamented that what trust she had in common with Theron was gone after he learned that she was the one who allowed him to be captured.

The coalition forces established a staging area on Yavin 4 and were able to apprehend the Imperial Guard Commandant Iven. As their situation became clear and the time drew to a close, the coalition forces were able to overcome their vast differences an worked together to storm the Temple of Sacrifice and stop Revan's ritual. To deal with Revan himself, Beniko stood side by side with Darth Marr, Satele and Theron Shan, Jakarro and Shae Vizsla. After a prolonged fight, Revan was defeated, though the Sith Emperor was still able to return to life, fueling off the lives taken by Coalition forces during the fighting on Yavin. To the confusion of Darth Marr, the Emperor left without possessing a body or taking a physical form and had to be found in order to be defeated once and for all, while Revan finally became one with the Force. In the aftermath of the battle, Darth Marr appointed Beniko as the new head of the reformed Sith Intelligence. She said goodbye to Theron, Jakarro and her ally, before departing the jungle moon alongside with Marr. She later sent an e-mail to her ally, commenting on her new job as the head of the Intelligence.

Ziost
Beniko's responsibilities as Minister of Sith Intelligence were put to the test on Ziost. The former Emperor, Vitiate, began possessing the population of the capital city, New Adasta and used them to slaughter each other to fuel himself. Despite possessing both Imperial and Sith alike, Vitiate gave up trying to possess Beniko due to her mental defenses, making her suspect that the former Emperor was not as strong as he once was. As the Republic's invasion of the planet only added to the chaos, Beniko once again allied with Theron and their ally who previously aided them against the Revanites, to stop the Emperor. Theron had previously discovered that by shocking Vitiate's thralls into unconsciousness, it broke his control over them. Thus, he modified New Adasta's electrostatic weapon, originally designed to counter major civil uprisings, to be non-lethal. Though the plan worked, incapacitating Vitiate's pawns, one remained standing, Master Surro, Sixth Line commander, who subdued Beniko and Theron, only to be defeated by their ally.

Personality and traits
"There was something about her. Secretive. Conniving. I ignored it, and for that I cannot forgive myself."

- Sgt. Tarsten

Lana Beniko had very unusual personality for a Sith Lord. She spoke in a very serene and considerate manner, and possessed a keen mind with a preference to analyze the problem rather to charge it head on. She was a patriot of the Empire and seemed to care more about its safety than her own goals or achieving new titles. Her patriotism made her pragmatic enough to ally with unlikely allies against threats to the Empire, including a Wookiee smuggler, a Republic SIS agent and eventually even Jedi. Unlike practically every other Sith, Lana held no disdain for non-Humans, people without Force-sensitivity and even loyal citizens of the Galactic Republic, neither did she have the urge to remind them of their place. Her outward appearance showed no effect of Dark Side corruption and she possessed a healthy sense of humor, free from sadistic tendencies typical of Sith. She easily fit with unlikely companions for weeks, it took the combined force of an extremely stressful situation and the constant annoyance of the droid C2-D4 to get her to even raise her voice, a situation most Sith would choose to settle with either a Force-choke or their lightsaber. Despite all this, Lana remained a loyal Imperial even after she was branded traitor and refused an offer to defect to the Republic. Lana grew close to Theron Shan, Jakarro and her ally and sincerely regretted when Theron lost his trust in her, she parted with him on good terms though she already prepared to made his life difficult in her new role at the Sith Intelligence. Her calm outward demeanor was also contrasted by her prowess in combat, and she had no qualms of using Force lightning against Revan during the fight.

After becoming one of the owners of HK-55, Lana had become quite attached to the bodyguard droid. When SCORPIO insensitively labeled the HK-series droid to be inferior, Lana threatened to deactivate SCORPIO.

Behind the scenes
Lana Beniko is voiced by Lydia Leonard in Star Wars: The Old Republic. She first appeared as part of the Forged Alliances in game update 2.7, released by BioWare in April 2014. After the revelation of Revan's survival, the storyline was rebranded as Shadow of Revan prelude and led directly into the events of the Star Wars: The Old Republic: Shadow of Revan, where Beniko plays a major role.

Romance
Both male and female player characters of both the Republic and the Empire factions have the option to flirt with Lana on several different occasions during the storyline, potentially leading to a more developed romance and culminating in a passionate kiss at the end of the Shadow of Revan expansion.

Following the Ziost missions, the player can share another kiss with Lana on Vaiken Spacedock.

In the Knights of the Fallen Empire digital expansion, the player can reinitiate a romance with Lana during Chapter IX: Alliance.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Old Republic
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic