Moments before his execution, the Autarch of the Helghan Empire made a promise.
In death, he would become a martyr.
Without him to lead the nation, Helghan would dissolve into chaos, and even the war machine
of the ISA would be powerless to resist the will of his people.
He promised madness, and the truth of his words would haunt his enemies for decades
to come.
Even as his blood began to pool around him and his dying words echoed in his throne room,
the invasion of his world began to collapse.
Hidden Helghan reinforcements appeared over the skies of his capital, the ISA fell into
disarray, and everywhere, the Helghan people choked the streets with their dead, refusing
to surrender.
In his last words, he proved that no one understood the Helghan Empire so completely as its founder:
Scholar Visari.
In contrast to his omnipresent visage within the modern Helghan nation, the details of
Scolar Visari’s early life remained mostly shrouded.
He was born in 2307 into a place of modern nobility, heir to the Visari Corporation which
was left one of the largest Helghan corporate entities following the First Extrasolar War.
That same war left the Helghan corporate colonists banished to the world that shared their name,
and years of hardship awaited them.
Visari was unique amongst his people, better suited to the environment of his new planet
and able to breathe without the use of a powered respirator.
As he witnessed firsthand the struggle to survive the environment of Helghan, he came
to believe that his people had evolved beyond mere humans.
He professed the understanding that his race which he termed “the Helghast” had grown
to be superior, and that their exile on a hellish world had robbed them of their birthrights.
The filtration masks, pale skin and all the markings of the Helghast race were not symbols
of shame, but badges of honor.
By appealing to broad populist sentiments and outage, while extolling the values of
militarism, xenophobia and nationalism, Visari earned broad support.
He quickly ventured into the world of politics, where his natural oratory skills and charisma
brought him further attention.
Capitalizing on the economic crisis that gripped his planet, and the lingering resentment towards
the United Colonial Nations that had abandoned them on Helgan, Visari rallied his supporters.
In speeches and rallies, he fiercely criticized the Helghan Administration and labeled them
ISA collaborators.
In 2347, an attempt was made on Scolar Visari’s life.
While evidence exists the assassination attempt had been staged by Visari himself, the act
galvanized the will of the population of Helghan against its traditional elites.
The Administration was forced to accept his demands, including granting him the title
of Autarch, with unfettered control over the entire government.
Amongst his first acts was the declaration of a new Helghan Empire.
On his order, the entire society of his planet was transformed and the concept of the Helghast
ingrained as an absolute.
English and other Earth dialects were prohibited, replaced with a new manufactured alphabet,
the first step in the creation of an entirely new language.
Pervasive propaganda extolled both the glory of the Helghast race and Visari himself, creating
a cult of personality unseen in generations.
Visari’s ultimate goal was the reconquest of neighboring Vekta, the world his people
had been displaced from years earlier.
From there, he could construct an armada equal to Earth’s itself before blockading the
planet and subjecting its populace to the same starvation and death that had ruled over
Helghan for decades.
Having honed Helghast nationalism and their forces finally equal to his ambitions, Visari
launched an invasion of Vekta, igniting the Second Extrasolar War.
While initially triumphant, the death of Joseph Lente, General of the Helghan 3rd Army and
personal confidant of Visari, proved to be a deciding factor in the attack.
The invasion of Vetka was repulsed, and Helghan prepared for a retaliatory invasion of their
own world.
When the ISA counter-attack arrived, many of its forces were directed towards the capital
city of Pyrrhus, in the hope of capturing Visari alive.
Concentrated into a single point, Visari ordered the detonation of a nuclear device smuggled
off Vetka, cripping the ISA and destroying his own city in a single strike.
Despite this extreme measure, a lone squad of ISA special forces managed to confront
Scolar Visari in his throneroom.
What occurred next is the subject of some debate, but left Visari, the Autarch of Helghan
executed in cold blood.
In the wake of the Second Extrasolar War and the terracide of Helgen that left billions
dead, the legacy of Scolar Visari remains conflicted.
To most within the UCN and ISA, he was an unabashed tyrant, a merciless dictator who
exploited his people to achieve personal gain.
Across the survivors of the New Helghan Republic however, Scholar Visari remains venerated
by the Helgast, with statues and monuments erected in his honor, celebrated by both his
people and daughter as an eternally loving father, whose name shall never be erased.