Belia Darzu

Belia Darzu was a   who reigned as  of the Sictis Imperium during the later years of the. Born on in the  of, Belia lived as a  within the 's rainforests before leaving her  and becoming a. Hoping to unravel her with, she eventually joined an  of the Sith Dominion where she was trained to harness the power of the.

After graduating, Belia participated in the Dominion's campaign against the, earning renown among her peers for her sadistic battlefield tactics. Due to her accomplishments, Belia became a prominent servant of Darth Vermis, the founder and leader of the Sith Dominion. As a result, Belia was eventually bestowed the title of. With the new privileges that this position allowed, Belia studied the art of, producing a number of creations that she used to further her agendas.

After Vermis suddenly disappeared from the Dominion, Belia planned to overthrow the remaining leading member, Darth Noctus, in a plot to ascend as the new ruler of the. While planning her takeover, Belia discovered that Vermis had been desperately searching to restore her rapidly decaying body. Upon learning this, Belia exploited Vermis's desperation by offering her a cure. In the process, the Shi'ido employed a Force technique that allowed her to exert control over Vermis's mind.

With Vermis now working under her influence, Belia orchestrated a coup against Darth Noctus that ultimately resulted in his death. Afterwards, Belia used Vermis's return to inspire loyalty throughout the Dominion in her favor. As such, Belia declared herself the new Dark Lord of the Sith, also reorganizing the Dominion into the Sictis Imperium and assuming the title of Empress. In this new position of power, Belia sought to expand her empire and solidify her powerbase, beginning a conflict called the Sictis Wars.

Early life


Belia Darzu was a  who, like all members of her species, possessed the ability to. She was raised in the thick rainforests of, a in the , where she lived by  for her own food. As Belia grew older, she became more exhilarated by the perils she met within the forests. It was due to this that Belia came to be regarded as an aggressive savage by her fellow Shi'ido, who tended to live less primitively in comparison. At some point in her early life, Belia discovered that she was ; the exhilaration she experienced was actually the call of the, fueling her desire to hunt and.

In time, Belia aspired to explore other parts of, hoping to discover more about her potential. As such, she ventured away from her and traveled into the  region of the galaxy. While roaming between planets, Belia used her shape-shifting ability to disguise herself among the native civilizations. Despite her attempt to integrate peacefully, she succumbed to her natural hunter's instinct and worked as a, selling her abilities to whoever would pay for them. As a mercenary, Belia often worked in small cadres who were paid to engage larger forces using guerrilla-style tactics, such as raids, and.

Throughout her years of wandering, Belia learned more about her Force-sensitivity, becoming fascinated by the power she felt it could grant her. Despite this, the Shi'ido had a limited understanding of the Force, lacking the means of harnessing its power. Determined to tap into her potential, Belia pursued any sources that could offer her training. This led her into the where she discovered the Sith Dominion, an interstellar empire controlled by dark side practitioners called s. While the Dominion's turbulent reputation made her hesitant to join, Belia decided it would be worth the risk, hoping to use the  to realize her potential with the Force.

Becoming a Sith
Belia joined one of the Sith Dominion's on the planet of. In order to conceal her species, she used her shape-shifting ability in an attempt to blend in with the other students. Like all who attended the academy, Belia became an adherent of the Sith Order, learning to harness the power of the dark side, and training to become a lethal force in battle. Over the course of her, Belia was subjected to a series of trials that tested her both physically and mentally. In particular, the physical demands put considerable strain on Belia's body. As a result, her shape-shifting ability began to cause her a significant amount of pain, making it more difficult to sustain.

Despite the demands of the training, Belia's previous combat experience allowed her to live up the expectations of her instructors. As such, she ultimately completed her training and graduated from the academy. Immediately after her graduation, however, Belia was subjected to a dark side ritual known as the Rite of Binding. Through the power of the Force, this ritual effectively bonded Belia to her new Sith masters within the Dominion, forcing her to obey their commands in times of battle. To prevent any form of desertion within the Sith Dominion, the academy purposely kept Belia and the other recruits uninformed about the Rite of Binding until graduation.

With her induction officially deemed complete, Belia took part in the Sith Dominion's campaign against the, eventually earning a leadership role. Still reeling from the ordeals of her Sith training, Belia endeavored to keep the pain of her shape-shifting ability at bay. To do so, Belia learned to embrace what she perceived as her negative emotions, using them to block out the pain and maintain her dark side power. Instead of relying on her own emotions, however, Belia began to revel in the suffering of her opponents. To achieve this end, she often deliberately employed tactics that singled-out civilian targets, usually involving their capture and exploitation as hostages.

Through her tactics, Belia's intent was to incite feelings of despair in her enemies, allowing her to feed off these emotions to sustain her own power. Due to the nature of her methods, Belia earned a reputation among her peers as a sadistic commander in battle. During her time with the Sith, Belia's exploits in battle eventually earned her the attention of the Darth Vermis, the founder and leader of the Dominion. In time, Belia became one of the most valued servants of the Dark Lord, who respected her brutal methods against Republic forces. As such, Belia was granted the title of Sith Lord, a position which gave her more freedom and eminence within the Dominion.

Forbidden research
As a Sith Lord, Belia sought to use her newly given privileges to find a way of breaking her connection to the Rite of Binding. To uncover the secrets of the ritual, Belia used her shape-shifting ability to trick her superiors into transferring her to the administration of Darth Rivan, creator of the Rite of Binding. By doing so, she then managed to infiltrate Rivan's inner-circle, giving her access to his archives of Sith writings. From here, Belia ultimately discovered the means of breaking the Rite, effectively freeing herself from the control of her superiors. As Belia studied these archives further, she also gained insight into old forms of Sith and, learning of their potential.

In time, Belia grew fascinated by the knowledge she gained and began putting it into practice, learning to infuse objects with the power of the Force. In her pursuit for knowledge, Belia became familiar with, a that allowed her to sense the inner-structures of machinery and circuitry. Through her experimentation, Belia found a way of using this technique on s, modifying them to operate more effectively. Having grown distrustful of her Sith allies, Belia undertook a number of excursions outside of the Dominion's territory. By doing this, she hoped to discover locations that were strong with the dark side, allowing her to work in secret.

During her expeditions, Belia discovered charts that allowed for safe travel into the  of the galaxy. It was here where she located, a planet that had been largely abandoned due to the region's unstable routes. Attracted by the planet's remoteness and with the Force, Belia hoped to use it as a hidden sanctuary to house her creations. Using her droids, Belia oversaw the construction of her fortress in a deserted area, converting an abandoned of the. With her fortress complete, Belia began investigating ways of employing the techniques she had learned on living beings.

To supply live subjects for her new experiments, Belia abducted prisoners who had been captured during the campaigns she participated in. As a result of these experiments, Belia devised a technique, called mechu-deru vitae, that allowed her to exert control over organic beings who possessed implants. Seeing this as a major breakthrough in her research, Belia sought for a means of using this technique on a larger scale. This led to the development a virus capable of transmuting living tissue into mechanical cybernetics. Realizing the potential of this, Belia kept its existence hidden, hoping to utilize it as a contingency plan in case her power was ever threatened.

Plotting


Having grown wary of the frequent power-struggles among her peers, Belia developed a network of spies to maintain her newly-gained status. In order to find capable and reliable agents, Belia returned to her homeworld of Lao-mon. Over a number of years, she secretly abducted Shi'ido from the planet and had them taken to her fortress on Tython. There, Belia implanted them with cybernetics which, through mechu-deru vitae, allowed her to gradually influence their minds, coercing them into serving her cause. Per Belia's plan, these Shi'ido then infiltrated key sectors of the Sith Dominion, using their shape-shifting abilities to blend in.

In the midst of developing her spy network, Belia learned that Vermis had disappeared from the Dominion, and that the remaining Dark Lords, Noctus and Rivan, had assumed leadership in her place. Seeing this as an opportunity to rise as the new ruler of the Sith, Belia hoped to turn Noctus and Rivan against one another. After learning the location of Rivan's secret, Belia leaked this information to Noctus, hoping it would lead to open conflict between the pair. Instead, however, Noctus subsequently fed Belia's information to the Republic, resulting in a surprise attack against Rivan's base. With Rivan declared dead, Belia began her plan to overthrow the remaining Dark Lord.

While plotting her takeover, Belia came into contact with Vermis, ultimately discovering the reason for the Dark Lord's disappearance; Vermis's immersion in the dark side had caused her body to rapidly decay, threatening her life. Seeking to exploit her desperation for a cure, Belia convinced Vermis that cybernetics would be the best option to keep her alive. With Belia's aid, Vermis received a number of mechanical implants, successfully restoring the Dark Lord's body to full strength. By employing the technique that she had devised in her experiments, Belia used these implants to exert control over Vermis's mind, influencing her into joining the Shi'ido's campaign.

Takeover
In order to eliminate Darth Noctus without resorting to full-fledged civil war, Belia sought to lure him into a trap. To achieve this, she used her shape-shifting ability to assume the appearance of his apprentice, Aturus Kallun. By doing this, the Shi'ido aimed to exploit the trust Noctus held in his apprentice, allowing Belia to draw him out and leave him exposed. Hoping to attract Noctus's attention, Belia took advantage of the recent string of losses the Dominion had sustained against the Republic. Using her spy network, Belia created fabricated evidence implicating numerous Sith officials of attempting to undermine Noctus's leadership over the Dominion.

Under the guise of Aturus, Belia arrested these individuals for treason, and immediately after, she informed Noctus of her success. As a result, she was ordered to bring them aboard his personal, the Hecatomb, to be tried and executed. Unknown to Noctus, Belia had secretly infected these prisoners with her metacron virus. Once aboard the Hecatomb, as she intended, the prisoners were gradually transformed into Sithspawn creatures. After their transformation had reached its peak, Belia signaled Vermis, now under the Shi'ido's influence, to commence her part of the trap. In conjunction with Belia's outbreak, Vermis intercepted Noctus's forces with his own armada of warships.

The unexpected onslaught from Vermis triggered a bout of chaos on the Hecatomb, which Belia used as a chance to free the infected prisoners from their cells. The prisoners, now transformed into metacrons, sprawled throughout the ship under Belia's control, killing numerous personnel and infecting others with the virus. With Belia's metacrons slaughtering the Hecatomb's crew, the rest of Noctus's forces were thrown into chaos, allowing them to be overwhelmed by Vermis's assault. In the midst of the bloodshed, Belia eventually encountered Noctus, alone and mortally wounded. With Noctus unable to defend himself, Belia took the opportunity to complete her objective, ending his life.

Sictis Wars
In the wake of Darth Noctus's death and Vermis's reappearance, Belia used these events as a way of inspiring loyalty among the Sith in her favor. With the backing of Vermis, now working under the Shi'ido's influence, Belia ensured that she was accepted as the new leader of the Dominion, declaring herself the Dark Lord of the Sith. To signify the Dominion's change in leadership, Belia rechristened it the Sictis Imperium, also assuming the title of. From this point, Belia set into motion her plan to debilitate the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order. To begin her campaign, Belia orchestrated an attack against the Republic-held world of.

Rather than attempting to seize Caamas, Belia's intention was to demonstrate the new weapon of the Sictis Imperium: the metacron virus. In accordance with Belia's plan, the Imperium conducted a hit-and-run engagement, dispatching groups of metacrons into densely populated areas. As the Republic forces held off the attack, the Sith withdrew, leaving Belia's metacrons to spread the virus. As Belia intended, millions of were eventually transformed into the Sithspawn creatures. With Belia's virus spread on such a large scale, the resulting horde swarmed across the planet, continuously infecting and slaughtering even more citizens of Caamas.

Despite not conquering the planet, the aftermath of the Imperium's invasion had the impact that Belia hoped to achieve. By subjecting Camaas to this ordeal, Belia managed to frighten many faltering worlds within the Imperium into submission, particularly those who were still loyal to Darth Noctus. In the years that followed, Belia's strategy precluded a focused invasion of the Republic's home territory. Instead of committing her forces, Belia's regime focused on subjugating new worlds, allowing the Sictis Imperium to exploit new resources. At the same time, she sought to slowly destabilize the Republic through obstruction of trade, proxy wars, and outbreaks of her metacron virus.

As the ruler of the Sictis Imperium, Belia promoted the idea among Sith-held planets that she was all-powerful and divine, hoping to solidify her powerbase. Using her changeling talent to her advantage, Belia kept her true species a secret and avoided appearing to her subjects in person. Instead, Belia preferred to communicate holographically, or simply by sending her new enforcer, Vermis, to speak on her behalf. By keeping herself veiled in secrecy, Belia hoped to provoke rumors of her supposed power among the Imperium's citizens. At the same time, she wished to create uncertainty among the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order regarding her plans and motives.

Personality and traits
Throughout her life, Belia Darzu was highly cautious in her dealings with other beings. From a young age, she was taught by her fellow Shi'ido to remain suspicious about the agendas and motives of those outside of Lao-mon. After leaving her homeworld, Belia avoided showing her true physical form, instead preferring to disguise herself as a member of a different species. By doing this, she hoped to blend in with the galaxy's inhabitants rather than stand out. In Belia's mind, this gave her a certain amount of control over any individual she encountered. It was due to this mind-set that Belia derived pleasure from deceiving, manipulating and meddling in the affairs of others.

Powers and abilities
As a Shi'ido, Belia Darzu possessed the ability to alter her physical form at will, allowing her to impersonate other living beings.