Darth Azazel

"Lord Azazel is not driven by such desires as political influence, military domination, wealth or love. His only need in life is to see a peaceful and strong galaxy, ruled by the capable elite."

- Darth Azazel

Darth Azazel, once known as Kuro Zorn, was a extraordinarily powerful and deadly Sith Lord born in prelude to the great conflict known as the Clone Wars. He was a unique Sith, in that he had absolutely no desire to dominate the various populations of the galaxy; instead he was driven by a vision of a "perfected galaxy", a wish to eliminate weakness, corruption, and conflict through the systematic murder of all sentient life, which would then be replaced by his own creations. Once a member of the infamous Mandalorian pirate group known as the Sand Kings, Azazel remained largely unaware of his tremendous power and destructive potential in the Force for the majority of his formative years, despite displaying obvious dark side abilities on several occasions, notably during his coming of age trials. After discovering a ancient Sith holocron during his coming of age trials with the Sand Kings, Azazel finally learned of his sensitivity to the Force and the true source of what he had always thought of as simply exceptional luck. After his adoptive father died on the day of his trials, Azazel left the Sand Kings and roamed the galaxy for several years, eventually working for the crime syndicate Black Sun for a time, then joining the Imperial Navy after Prince Xizor's death in 3 ABY, at which point he had also begain to school himself in the ancient Sith arts and lightsaber combat, gaining a considerable understanding of numerous basic Force abilities and training himself in Form V/Dejem So.

At this time, Azazel also begain drawing out his plans for galactic domination and the eventual extermination and replacement of all sentient life. Realizing that he would require not only a massive army and fleet but a army and fleet superior to anything that might be thrown against his troops-as he intended to declare war on the entire galaxy-Azazel covertly infiltrated the Blue Sun Corporation's secret supersoldier program, having learned of the megacorporation's amoral ambitions through a bit of industrial espionage. Posing as a brilliant scientist, Azazel helped solve the numerous probelms that the company had been encountering with their previous attempts and perfected their process of using recombiant DNA and other methods to create a superior being. Unbeknowest to Blue Sun's executives, Azazel also engineered into these soldier's psychology a prohibition against deicide and a command code that would allow him virtually complete control over their minds. Additionally, Azazel schooled them to become his own private army from birth by secretly adding his own instruction material to the propaganda they were exposed to daily, so that by the time the first class of Ash'raks, as they would come to be called, graduated from training they were fully faithful to Azazel and only Azazel, believing him to be a god. With this sizable force behind him Azazel assassinated the leaders of Blue Sun and took over the companie's great wealth, power, political influence, and resources, covertly dedicating them to the production of his growing army and fleet of powerful warships.

After declaring war on the galaxy in 22 ABY, Azazel was largely successful in his personal quest for several years, causing unbelievable destruction and driving several species to extinction. However, he would eventually be overwhelmed and defeated by, ironically, a mutated strain of a virus he himself created for use in his genocidal campaign. After his death, Azazel's forces scatterd and retreated to various remote bases and colonies in the Deep Core and Unknown Regions, confused and lost with out the iron dominion of their mutual leader to lead and command them. However Azazel's spirit had survived the death of his body and in 74 ABY he would return as a incorporeal being and once again attempt to gain control over his empire and exterminate the galaxies population of non-Ash'rak species.

Early Life
"Only the strong survive...the weak are left behind to become the dust of history. Always remember that."

- Azazel to Helo Ezekiel

Darth Azazel was born in 44 BBY at a small, remote in the  of. Even as a infant, he inspired fear. Ugly and malformed, he was abandoned by his parents to die in the harsh desert sun. However a roving band of pirates, calling themselves the Sand Kings, happened accross his parents farm, slaughtered his family and ranshacked their home, taking anything of value. Their ruthless leader, Baal 'Kas Zorn, found the child crying in rage. Most of the Mandalorians, too, thought the infant should die, though Baal, a, recognized the potential power in the child. He named him Kuro and raised him as his own son.

As Kuro grew and learned the Mandalorian fighting arts and culture, he quickly surpassed the other members of the clan in intelligence, strength, and skill. Everyone in the clan except for Baal hated and feared him for his inhuman looks and great abilities. Kuro did not understand their fear, but hardened his heart against it. Moreover, he strongly believed the principle that Baal and his clan lived by, that only the fittest, the toughest, most ruthless and pitiless, tested by hardship, would, and should, survive. On the day of his rite of passage into manhood, the seventeen-year-old Kuro killed twenty-five armed Mando warriors useing only his bare hands and, which shocked and frightened the other clan members and caused them to hate Kuro even more.

On the day of his rite of passage, Baal brought the young Kuro to a old cave whose entrance became blocked by a cave-in, trapping them underground. After a week of wandering without food or water, they found the remnants of a ancient vessel of a strange design. While exploring the ship, and finding a ancient and  in the process, Baal told Kuro that he believed him to be a conqueror whose coming he had seen in a dream nearly a decade before as a young man, and that Kuro was destined to overthrow the Emperor of a dark Empire and become the true and only ruler of the galaxy. Then Baal died from lack of nourishment, and Kuro, barely holding on to life and unknowingly drawing heavily on the Force to sustain himself, vowed to take vengeance on this dark Emperor and claim his destiny. A week later he finally made it back to the surface, the holocron in hand, and managed to find his way back to the Mandalorian camp, only to discover that Loka, one of the more power hungry Mandos among the Sand Kings, had taken Baal's posistion as leader of the clan and convinced the other Mandalorians that more wealth and opportunity for work lay beyound what Tatooine had to offer and left the camp in runins, taking the clans with him and leaving Kuro stranded in the Dune Sea.

However Loka had left a considerable amount of supplies and equipment behind in his haste to leave the desert planet behind and using various salvaged parts Kuro managed to build a functioning speeder bike. He used this to make his way to the space port. It was here, in the local cantina, that Kuro met for the first time. Highly attracted to her, and believing her to be a normal human woman, the young man approached her and offerd to buy her a drink with a few credits he had pick pocketed from a passing spacer before entering the cantina. Guri, although only at the cantina to deliver a package to a business partner of her master, accepted the youths offer as a experiment, wishing to see how male and female humans interacted with each other in regards to romance and dating. Half way though their conversation Xizor's partner, a, showed up and upon seeing what ever was in the package Guri handed him became angry and treatend to shoot her. Although Guri was more than capable of defending herself against the angry bussinessman, Kuro got to him first, breaking the Rodian's arm and snapping his neck all in one smooth movement. Impressed by the way Kuro had handled the alien Guri offerd to take him back to headquaters on. Kuro, still hoping to find out more about Guri, accepted, realizing also that if he could get a job with one of the largest and most wealthy criminal oganizations in the galaxy he would likely be able to make more than enough money to start his campaign to become ruler of the galaxy.

As a agent of Black Sun Kuro undertook various missions for Xizor, including the assassination of many of the crime lords enemies. Xizor would also commonly pair up Kuro and Guri, sending them on missions together. It was during this time that Kuro both discovered that Guri was a droid and began a relationship with her, which was purely physical in nature. At the time of Xizor's death in 3 ABY Kuro was at a Imperial recruitment center on Corellia attmping to enter the Imperial Navy and thus was not present at Xizor's castle at the time of its destruction. Kuro was accepted into the Imperial Naval academy within a month after the death of Xizor and advanced to the rank of Captain within half a year, a amazing feat. By the time of the Kuro had gained command of the Crimson Reaper, a Imperial I-class Star Destroyer, and a staggering amount of medals and commendations for exceptional service to the Empire as well as a great deal of combat experience fighting Rebels and other foes of the Emperor. It was during this time that Kuro began to train in several martial arts including Teras Kasi and. He also began schooling himself in the Sith arts and lightsaber combat, using the ancient holocron he had found on Tatooine as a teacher and guide.

Personality and traits
"A Sith is power's synonym, and now I shall wield mine to it's broadest extent. Let every being taste my wrath for I will allow no sanction, no quarter."

- Darth Azazel

Darth Azazel was described both by those who served him and those who fought against him as 'cold-blooded, calculating, and completely evil'. Even other Sith Lords, such as Darth Scourge, were hesitant to acknowledge him as a member of their, as his crimes were so unspeakable. He was known as a complete ; quiet, calm and appearing ordinary on the outside while psychologically he was devoid of the normal responses to the suffering of others or the deaths he inflicted. He felt no desire or need for companionship or friendship, needing only his own power, and was entirely unable to comprehend the idea of love or affection for another. He believed that he was superior to everyone around him, to the point that he would frequently refer to himself in the third-person as 'Lord Azazel'. He felt a violent hatred for all but his Ash'rak warriors, seeming to view ordinary beings as something akin to a virus, with him and his troops as the cure. In his view, any world inhabited by non-Ash'rak required a visit from a assault fleet, in order to cleanse one more planet of it's 'infection'. In spite of his cold, sadistic behavioral characteristics, Azazel frequently exhibited respect and admiration towards his warriors. He viewed them as his 'children' but refused to allow them to call him Father, insisting that they maintain the impersonal relationship of Emperor and troops/citizens. He believed that, if such a close and casual relationship were to form between them, it would only serve to weaken them both. Azazel was a extreme racist as well, viewing all sentient species, including his own race, as "wretched fools unworthy of life". In his option, the only species deserving to dominate and reap the benefits of a strong, secure, wealthy, and productive galaxy were his own creations. Additionally, he was naturally extremely arrogant and condescending, which resulted in a degree of carelessness and an inability to realize his own failures.

Depite his inner darkness and psychological flaws, Azazel was incredibly intelligent and charismatic, inspiring many influential politicians, scientists and prominent military leaders to assist him in his build up of warships, resources, and weaponry in the years before he would engage the galaxy through cunning manipulation. He also possessed a cynical sense of humour and enjoyed utilizing psychological warfare and taunting his foes; usually laughing at the expense of others but also capable of laughing at himself despite his normally narcissistic demeanour.

Force Attunement
"I have experimented and pushed the boundaries of the Force to degrees beyond your comprehension, little Jedi."

- Azazel to

Darth Azazel was born with a astounding connection to the Force and a natural gift for manipulating it. His skills were considered equal to those of, though several times he demonstrated abilities surpassing the. Azazel's proficiency in commanding the Dark Side of the Force were particularly formidable; he was able to kill twenty-two Mandalorian warriors of the Sand Kings using Force lightning during his coming of age trials, exhibiting no appearent effort in the process, and later, after being trapped in a underground cave, he not only managed to survive several days without food or water by utilizing the Force to sustain himself, but was able to create an exit by releasing a massive wave of telekinetic energy, which was powerful enough to blast through twelve meters of bedrock. Azazel continued to display exceptional power in the Force while working for Black Sun and during his service with the Imperial Navy, and was even capable of masking his power from both Palpatine and Vader, ensuring that the Emperor and his lackeys had no idea such a powerful individual existed literally right under their collective noses. After 'graduating' from his short duration of formal training under Darth Mantis by killing his master, Azazel was extremely well-versed in the techniques usual to all Force-users, but choose to specialize in aspects of stealth and mind control, recognizing the potential of remaining unseen by the galaxy. As such he frequently used, , and to great effect, often manipulating even powerful Jedi Masters, and holding a dominion over his troops which be referred to as indoctrination. This gave him complete control over the minds of his warriors and enabled him to communicate with them over vast distances without technological assistance, but allowed them to act independently and think freely, while being frantically loyal to him.

Azazel's Dark Side training included a wide range of techniques that covered both Dark Jedi and Sith teachings. However, he wasn't content to simply learn a power or technique and would study each power thoroughly and experiment in different ways to use it so as to take his opponents off guard. Many times this allowed him to invent new ways to use an established power, such as being able to direct where his spreads instead of firing it in a straight line.

Despite his ingenuity with using established powers, or perhaps due in part to it, Azazel has worked over the course of his life to develop new abilities. Through his impressive intelligence and knowledge, he was the first known Sith to use the following:Pain Strike, Spirit Assimilation, and Self Teleportation. During the Great Purging he also showed an ability to, which allowed him to predict the future with near perfect accuracy and study past battles and events to provide himself with a greater understanding of the present.

Azazel usually kept his full power suppressed. Aside from allowing him to avoid detection by other Force-users, it had also become a matter of necessity following his first death. Azazel's full power was so enormous that the many bodies he possessed following his return would eventually collapse upon themselves and any sudden deluge of his power would only serve to accelerate the process.

Battle Prowess
"There is no greater power in the galaxy than the Force, but rely on it too much and you limit yourself."

- Darth Azazel

Azazel's abilities in battle were equally impressive. He possessed an aptitude for tactics as well as physical combat; Broca Nu considered him the greatest fighter he had ever encountered. Through he also altered his physique, enhancing his strength, endurance, and regeneration capacity. He was able to catch a speeder bike mid-flight and proceed to use it as a melee weapon, and managed to not only survive prolonged exposure to vacuum but make a full recovery later on. Making use of his increased physical power, Azazel's first practiced style of lightsaber combat and the one he excelled in was, which he used quite effectively. The second style he specialized in was, so as to provide himself with a solid defense against all manner of threats. Azazel also made frequent use of, both as a way to dominate his opponents and to end a fight that much more quickly.

As a strategist and commander, Azazel was legendary. Although he was often discredited for his reliance more on mass brute force and the superiority of his technological inventions than ingenuity and subtly, Azazel was a brilliant contriver and a exceedingly clever exploiter of his enemie's weaknesses and impuissance. Much of his success was derived from his incredible mastery of. Almost preternatural, this ability, combined with his warrior's combat prowess and massively superior technology, were responsible for the near instantaneous decimation and occupation of numerous decisive systems across the galaxy during the early hours of the Great Purging. Azazel also made great use of his specialized Commandos to infiltrate and destroy an enemy from within; planets such as, , , , and were among the first to be infiltrated and sabotaged by these troopers, allowing Azazel's fleets to simply jump into orbit and begain bombardment and planetary eradication efforts.