Darkness is the natural state of the galaxy. We cloak ourselves and our civilizations in blinding light, and claim it is simply for illumination; yet it is to hide from what we fear the most. We hide beneath the lone street lamp in the rain, rather than brave the dark path to reach the safety and warmth of home. No light can shine forever. Darkness will inescapably extinguish such brightness. Embrace what you fear, hold it close to your heart, allow it to chill your skin, and that fear will become your power.
—Darth Azazel
Kuro Kass' Zorn was a Human male from the Dune Sea of Tatooine. Born in prelude to the outbreak of the Clone Wars, he was taken in and raised by the vicious Mandalorians known as the Sand Kings, and taught the more barbarous mindset of that clan. This was subsequent to the slaughter of his family by the Sand Kings, yet Kuro would come to regard this fact as essential for his growth into the man he would become. After the death of his father and the desolation of the Sand Kings, he deserted the desert planet and traveled the galaxy alone for several years; the mastery of his preternatural powers his goal. He trained extensively to achieve mental and physical perfection, in addition to studying both arcane teachings and novel theories on aspects of the Force. Dressing as a shadow to prey on the fear in others and constructing a pair of unique lightsabers, he took on the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith, thus becoming Darth Azazel in conclusion to his travels.
Intelligent and cunning, Azazel was a man who sought the annihilation of the natural galaxy, to be replaced by a perfected offshoot of Humanity as the singular inhabitants of the stars. To this end, he became affiliated with the Allied Systems Alliance as one of its most promising researchers, and at the same time participated in illicit activities on multiple fronts by infiltrating the Galactic Empire as one of its elite Strom Commandos. Over the course of the first Galactic Civil War, Azazel began experiments on his new race; having weaved together Mysha Zhao as his first prototype. Obsessed with his experimentations, he had little time to waste on furthering his actual military forces and so dispatched Zhao on many missions to groom the galaxy for its coming cleansing in his stead. Through the course of his campaign to remake a galaxy that he saw as on the threshold of desolation, he was dogged almost endlessly by the Ex-Jedi Master Kostya Vo, who attempted on several occasions to bring the Dark Lord to justice for the death of his family.
When the first death of Palpatine concluded the Battle of Endor, Azazel began subtly moving against the New Republic and Imperial Remnant, the two most obvious barriers to the realization of his vision. Finally, he openly declared war on the galaxy in 19 ABY with the bombardment of Empress Teta, and the occupation of several key worlds throughout the space lanes. However, his Great Purging, as it would come to be called, was transitory, in spite of the massive devastation to his enemies and several planets. Nevertheless, his troops were slowly beaten back between a combined counterattack by both New Republic and Imperial forces, helped considerably by Mysha Zhao, Azazel's very own apprentice. After much intense battle, the coalition fleet managed to trap Azazel and his last ships above Coruscant, as the Sith Lord made one last drive at the galactic core. Following a short dual aboard his flagship, Azazel was tricked into a moment of weakness by Zhao and subsequently impaled on one of his own blades by Kara Socrata.
Though the Sith Lord's body had been brought to death, Zhao would later claim that he had witnessed the spirit of his father escape his flagship and flee into the vastness of space. This claim was never proven byound a doubt, but many were said to have seen a cloaked shadow of a man wandering the undercity of Coruscant. His body was taken to Helios by the Ash'rak following the Treaty of Mozia, where it was strung up by a hangman's noose above the entrance to the Enclave Temple that had served as his base of operations from the early days of the Purging, as a confirmation of his demise.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Only the strong survive, the weak and unimaginative are left behind, to be cast aside into oblivion. My childhood taught me that very quickly, among other things.
—Azazel describing his formative years to Mysha
Kuro's homeworld, Tatooine.
Darth Azazel was born in 40 BBY, to an unknown moisture farmer and his wife, on the back-water desert planet of Tatooine. Though he initially had little memory of his parents, later in his life he would flow-walk back to the days of his infancy, to discover that had it not been for the Sand Kings raiding his farmstead, he would have grown up into a loving and close family. However, this was not the case, and before he was little more than a year old, before he had even been named, the Sand Kings, led at the time by Jebb Cass Zorn, hit his parent's small moisture farm, quickly murdering everyone inside and ransacking everything for anything valuable. Though his mother attempted to escape the slaughter with her son, she was cut down before she could make it very far, at the outskirts of the farm. It was here that two of the Sand Kings found the child, and brought him to their leader. While many of his underlings thought the child should be killed along with his family, Jebb was uneasy about allowing the death of one so young, and so instead, and to much protest, he chose to adopt the baby and raise him as his own son, giving the boy the name of Kuro Kass Zorn. Even as a baby, Kuro exuded great power, and it was this power that had convinced Jebb not to kill him more than anything else, for he believed that one day the boy would become an incredible Mandalorian, greater than any before him.
As Kuro matured and entered his training, learning not only the Mandalorian fighting arts, but also their culture, he quickly established himself as a prodigious warrior, easily outmatching men and women with countless years of experience on him by the age of fourteen. However, despite his combat skills and willingness to kill without hesitation, he was also adventurous and somewhat naive, his training having failed to fully harden him into a heartless and ruthless soldier, and he often questioned his orders and refused to deliver the killing blow to comrades who he had defeated during the countless duels he was challenged to, as was the custom of the Sand Kings. When it came time to gun down his first victims, however, he did not hesitate, cutting into those which the Sand Kings attacked with such ferocity that he terrified not only his opponents, but his fellow warriors as well, to the point where all but Jebb avoided him and regarded him with suspicion and fear. At the age of sixteen, Kuro was cut off from his unit for several days following a less than successful run in with a group of Tusken Raiders, and, nearly dead after wondering the open desert for three days, subconsciously harnessing the Force to keep himself alive, he found his way to a small cave, where he was able to rest and recover. After resting for the night, Kuro awoke only to discover that he had been buried alive by a sand storm, and so was forced to venture further into the depths of the cave he had taken refuge in, hoping to find another entrance. Rather than finding an escape route, however, he only found himself going deeper into the planet's crust, and yet he for some reason continued, feeling that he was on the right track even if he could not see it yet. In this manner, Kuro discovered the wreck of an ancient vessel buried partially in the bedrock of the cave. The ship was of a design he had never seen before, and within he discovered the ancient mummified remains of a Human male, which clutched a Holocron within its weathered hands.
Curious, Kuro proceeded to began a detailed examination of the corpse, and eventually attempted to free the Holocron from its deathly hands. As he did so, he was suddenly attacked by an unseen force and hurled out of the ship. Quickly regaining his feet, Kuro faced off against this invisible entity, which, while powerful and immune to his physical weapons, could only offer his own power meager resistance, which Kuro was once again drawing upon by pure instinct. Due to his quick mind, Kuro quickly realized that his weaponry and bare hands where useless, and so, in a sudden burst of rage at this, he released a blast of Force-lightning so powerful it obliterated the ghost with a single strike. Shocked at what he had accomplished, and impressed, Kuro wearily approached the crashed ship once again, and after making sure no more "entities" were within, he returned to the corpse, and removed the Holocron from its hands. It was of an antiquated design, and so old it seemed that it would crumble within his hands if he handled it roughly. Although Kuro had experience with such technology, he was unable to discover an activation switch or any other means to actuate it, and so, perplexed, spent several hours pondering over how to turn the device on. Remembering what he had drawn upon before to destroy his attacker, Kuro realized there might be an unapparent method of activating the Holocron, and so began attempting to think such an occurrence into action; though unsuccessful at first, Kuro eventually feed a degree of what he thought to simply be his will into the device, which was in fact the Force, and was first surprised and then delighted when it worked, revealing the static-ridden holographic appearance of a cloaked and cowled figure, who instantly seemed to recognize Kuro for what he was, a blinding beacon of power, and offered him it's survices. Kuro, unknowning that he had just activated an ancient Sith Holocron, asked the obvious question of who, or what, the hologram was, to which it's answer was the representation of Darth Mantis, a Dark Lord of the Sith from a time before the Jedi Civil War. For several days, Kuro remained within the cave, learning that what he had released against the spirit of the Sith's ghost was Force-lightning, and that he possessed enough raw power to rival anything the Holocron's Gatekeeper could call up from its databanks. Under the Holocron's tutelage, Kuro learned much of the nature of the Force and of his own power, to the point where he could release small bursts of lightning and levitate several boulders at once, after only six days of practice.
Though he had become enthralled with the Holocron and his new powers, Kuro eventually realized that he should attempt to find a way out of the cave and return to camp, and so with another effort if his will, he shut the Holocron down, carefully wraped it in his pack to protect it, and set off to find a means out of the cave and back to his fellow warriors. After another day of searching, Kuro came to small crevasses in the cave's ceiling, through which he could clearly discern daylight, which meant it was a way to the surface. An experienced climber, he was able to slowly but surely haul himself out of the cave and onto the sand, where he found himself within only a half-mile of the Sand King's camp. With the weather relatively calm and the sun low in the sky, Kuro was able to quickly make his way forward, even in his weakened state. Upon reaching the camp, however, he did not find the shelter and nourishment which he had been expecting, but only the remains of the hastily abandoned camp. After picking through the wreckage, Kuro came upon his father, Jebb, who was gravely wounded but still clinging to threads of life. As he held his dying father in his arms, he learned from Jebb that Mukass, a rather ambitious and particularly ruthless Sand King who had always aspired to Jebb's position, had staged an uprising against his leader and all those loyal to him, at last stabbing Jebb with his own blade after having him watch the slaughter of his closest and most loyal warriors, and then taking everything of value from the camp, abandoning it, and leaving Jebb to slowly die among the butchered remains of those loyal to him. After giving his father a proper Mando' burial, Kuro collected what supplies he could scavenge from the ruined camp, and set off to Anchorhead, the nearest spaceport and area of civilization, intending to hunt down Mukass and make him pay for his crimes.
Recruitment to Imperial service[]
I despised Mukass for a considerable time, and I had intentions to torture him to death upon capturing him. After I fought through his defenses, though, I couldn't bring myself to do it, as I watched the miserable being that was Mukass cower with terror. Although I still executed him, it was quick and clean. Life is too short for hate.
—Azazel's thoughts on his pursuit of Mukass
After reaching Anchorhead, Kuro immediately traveled to the local cantina, seeking to locate information on Mukass, knowing that the treacherous Mandalorian would have had to stop for fuel somewhere, as well as hoping to secure some type of transport for himself, with which to chase Mukass through the depths of space if necessary. After speaking to several locals, sumgglers, and other various spacers within the cantina's dark confines, he had managed to gather a vague description of a small detachment of Mandalorians, who had recently touched down just outside the space port, at a small refueling station just two kilometer's journey, which had been set up specifically to accommodate larger vessels. With this information in mind, Kuro moved towards the station, having stolen a speeder bike rather than spend his meager amount of credits on buying a transport. Traveling at a speed which would be suicidal for anyone else, Kuro was able to reach the station just as Tatooine's twin sun's were lowering to the horizon, stopping at the edge of the station's protective fences and moving in silently on foot, not wishing to encourage Mukass to depart the planet any quicker. By the time he had stealthy moved throughout the station's maze of buildings and reached the landing pad, Kuro found that once again his luck had won out; the Carrack had been refueled already, but was still on the landing pad, as Mukass's men loaded it with the supplies they had purchased in addition to the fuel. Kuro was able to deduce that Mukass had plans of expanding indeed; if the military equipment, foodstuffs, and heavy weaponry he observed being loaded upon the Carrack was any indication, Mukass was either planning an assault upon some heavily fortified planet or was intending to entrench himself upon another world, establishing a camp far more elaborate and well-defended than that which Jebb Zorn had commanded.
Kuro, however, had little concern for Mukass's plans, his only thought being the slow death of the man who had murdered his father. For the men who had participated in the uprising and chose to side with Mukass, Kuro deemed the only mercy they deserved was a quick death, and so began his assault upon the ship, first quietly sabotaging the Carracks engines, so as to keep Mukass from fleeing. Following this, Kuro opened up on Mukass's men with everything he had. Although they out-numbered him nearly a hundred-to-one, Kuro's superior skill and proficiency with his newly discovered abilities allowed him to draw Mukass's men out into the open, sniping their lietenants, and thus causing temporary disorganization along the chain of command, which allowed Kuro ample time and opportunity to rush the remaining defenders, utilizing lightning once again, blasting the powerful dark side energies from his hands to literally disintegrate those unlucky enough to be caught within each blast. Aside from the lightning's sheer destructive power, Kuro's display of his power gave him another advantage over Mukass's men:fear. Though well-trained, hardened killers, every one of them, this did not keep their minds from instructing them to flee the unstoppable force of destruction which Kuro had become, and so they attempted to instigate a fighting retreat back into the relatively safe confines of the Carrack. However, Kuro was not of a mind to allow retreat; lost in the bloodlust of the battle, he unleashed the full, horrifying potential of his power upon what remained of Mukass's men, leaving only lifeless husks or burnt embers behind.
After successfully battering through what resistance his former comrades-in-arms could offer him, the whole battle having only lasted a few minutes, Kuro boarded their ship, seeking out the one man he did not intend to allow death to come to quickly. Within just a few minutes, Kuro was able to locate Mukass upon the bridge, cowering before what he perceived to be some type of devil. Though he offered some resistance in the form of a few shots from a blaster pistol, Kuro was able to easily deflect them and telekinetically wrench the weapon from Mukass's hands, crushing it into a harmless lump of metal by sheer will power. Gathering a ball of pure lightning within his hand, Kuro was fully prepared to make Mukass's death a slow and excruciatingly painful one. However, as he raised his fist and prepared to unleash his will upon Mukass, Kuro was struck by a sudden image of his reflection in the bridge's forward, transpristeel windows, for the man he observed staring back at him was not a man at all, but something Kuro could not clearly understand, yet something which terrified him, something he did not want to become. With his intention to make Mukass's death a slow one abated, Kuro released the destructive energies he had gathered into the deck plating, where his gathered power only caused damage to circuitry and metal. Believing his life had been spared, Mukass attempted to escape his executioner, only to be shot in the back by Kuro, who, while he no longer had any desire of prolonging his former ally's death, he still had no intention of allowing the man he considered a traitor and murderer to live.
After executing Mukass, Kuro remained seated within the Carracks cockpit for a time, reflecting on what he had seen within his reflection and on what he had been about to do to Mukass, but eventually realized that he should abandon the scene of the crime and rose to leave the ship, only to find himself looking down the barrel of a blaster, with an Imperial Major holding the weapon. Though the Imperial was prepard to kill Kuro, he nevertheless had been impressed by his slaughter of the Carracks entire crew, which the Major had witnessed, not realizing that Kuro had been utilizing the Force the whole time. Instead of putting the man in the red Mandalorian armor down, the Major offered Kuro a deal. Apparently, a detachment of the Empire's intelligence services, led by the Major, had been about to hire the Sand King's to assist them with eradicating a large Rebel cell which they believed had been active on Tatooine for some time, running guns and harassing Imperial ships within the sector, using Tatooine as a homebase. Believing Kuro to be the last remnant of the Sand King's, and highly impressed by what he had just accomplished, the Imperial offered Kuro a very large sum of credits, what he had been planning on paying the Sand King's with, and perhaps the chance of joining the Imperial Military in the future, where the Major felt some one with Kuro's obvious talents could be very useful indeed. After some consideration, Kuro accepted the Major's offer, and in this manner began his first years of military service to the Galactic Empire.
Combating Rebels[]
I'm going to assume that you and your friends had some type of disagreement, other than that I don't care about your business. What I do care about is what you can obviously do, and that makes you useful to me. Remain useful to me throughout this operation and you walk away with a pocket-full of credits, don't, and well, I'm prone to kill those who prove useless.
—Major Elizba Ezzley
After agreeing to the Imperial Major's offer, Kuro was escourted to the man's shuttle, a Sentinel-class Landing Craft, and given all information on the immediate situation. Major Ezzley, as the Imperial would reveal himself to be, estimated that the Rebel cell, which they had been pursuing for several weeks, was considerably larger than his superiors had first thought, and, worse yet, they had recently raided an Imperial supply convoy and stolen a considerable amount of Strormtrooper gear, which not only made them well armed, but made it difficult for Ezzley and his men to tell the difference between friend and foe, which had made their operation even more difficult for the past few days. With his men down to half strength and the Rebels seemingly disppearing into nothingness after each hit, Ezzley had chosen to hire the Sand Kings out of his own pocket, believing that a force as capable and dangerous as the Kings who knew the local terrain could be very useful at finally eradicating the Rebel cell.
However, Ezzley's plans had been down sized somewhat by Kuro's slaughter of the remaining Sand Kings, but the Major was still adamant about completing his mission. With Kuro's knowledge of Tatooine's surface and Ezzley's intelligence on the Rebels, the two were able to draw out a rough estimate of where their mutual quarry might be hiding, which was possibly somewhere in the Dune Sea, within an old cave system with numerous egress points to the surface and other tunnels leading almost throughout the entirety of the Dune Sea. This increased the difficulty of simply pouncing and eradicating the Rebels, as Ezzley's men were two few to effectively cut off every potential escape route that the Rebels might run for. However, Ezzley had one distinct advantage over the Rebels; his shuttle had been equipped with several dispersal canisters of an experimental new nerve agent, codenamed DC5, which could cause instant paralysis upon contact with an individuals lungs or merely their skin. So, Kuro suggested a stealth approach, led by himself, where the Stromtroopers would infiltrate the cave systems silently on foot, get into an advantageous position for a surprise attack, than release the canisters of DC5 on the Rebels, who would theoretically be relaxed within their apparently unknown 'hidey-hole', as the Major put-it, and most likely not fully prepard for a sudden chemical attack.
Putting this plan into motion, Kuro, Ezzley, and a squad of three Stormtroopers, who carried the canisters containing the nerve agent, were dropped off at a distance of one one hundred meters from the nearest entrance to the cave system, while similar groups were dispatched to other entrances. With Kuro in the lead, Ezzley and his men were able to gain entrance into the cave system without being detected, and without running into any form of sentries, which raised Kuro's suspicions a bit, but Ezzley was quick to dismiss the lack of perimeter guards as "typical Rebel sloppiness", which did not sit well with Kuro, but Ezzley was still in operational command of the mission, so it was at his order that the mission continued. When all teams were able to reach the internal caves where the Rebels were thought to have established camp without any problems and set up their canisters, Kuro only became further agitated, but still, despite the evidence of a trap, Ezzley insisted on continuing.
With each squad in position, Ezzley ordered the release of the DC5 into the air. The effect was almost immediate upon the complete surprised Rebels; although one or two managed to get their helmets on before being overcome by the gas, they were qyuickly shot down by Ezzley's men. With every Rebel who had not been quick enough to grab for their helmets immobilized by the gas, Ezzley believed that the mission was a success, but Kuro could still not shake the feeling that something was wrong with the situation. As the Major's men moved into the central area of the cavern to restrain and collect the paralyzed Rebels, Kuro would discover that his suspicions had indeed been correct, and both he, Ezzley, and his men were trapped within a forcefield upon reaching the center of the cavern, discovering also that the Rebels had in fact been only an illusion, cast by an unknown source, and that the only thing ramaining inside the force field with them was a large mound of thermal detonators, all linked to a central timer.
Although Ezzley was quick to panic, Kuro, facing certain death, remained calm and collected, not because he was not afraid, but because he understood, somehow, that everything would be fine, at least for him. With this in mind, Kuro quietly retrated to the outermost confines of the forcefield, as Ezzley and his men tried frantically to disarm the detonation device. However, the thermal detonators were rigged in such a way that only an experienced demolitions tech could have a chance of disarming it, and Ezzley's explosives expert had been killed by a Rebel sniper the day before. Despite the Major's efforts, the device exploded within a minute, but instead of being incinerated by the balst, they were rather plunged downwards, as the cavern's floor collapsed, since the bomb had apparently been rigged to blow in such a way so as to collapse the ground right out from underneath the Imperials, effectively burying them alive. However, while the majority of Ezzley's men, especially those closest to the explosion, where killed instantly, several managed to survive with only a concussion or a few broken bones, thanks to their armor. Kuro himself, barely understanding what he was doing, had instinctively thrown up a shield with the Force, which protected him both from the shock of the explosion as well as the falling debris and subsequent drop further into the soil of Tatooine.
When the dust cleared, Kuro discovered that he had indeed managed to survive impossible circumstances once again, his shield having allowed him to come to rest ontop of the rubble pile, while those few troopers that had survived were all but buried. By a sheer stroke of luck, Ezzley had also survived the blast and managed to not be buried by the massive collasp of rock and dust, as his body had been thrown upwards by the blast, coming to rest atop the rubble. However, the Major's body was wrecked, with his legs severed by the blast and the majority of his skeleton shattered, he should have been dead, but he was somehow still alive and conscious. As Kuro approached him, Ezzley recognized him and began pleading for help, but instead, Kuro recognized a potential opportunity.
Reaching out for the Force once again and utilizing an ability he had never learned, Kuro took on the appearance of the Major, uniform and all. By the time that the Major's few surviving men were able to dig themselves out of the rubble and locate him, they found not Kuro and a dead Ezzley, but rather an unharmed Ezzley, standing over the crushed body of the Mandalorian he hired to assist them in their mission. Believing Ezzley to have somehow survived the blast without armor, the Strormtroopers were quick to follow his orders. After scouting out their situation, Kuro-Ezzley and his troopers were able to surmise that the detonation of the explosives had plunged them into a crater within the cavern's floor, which was actually rather small. Due to this, the Stormtroopers were able to combined two grappling lines together and form a makeshift ladder out of the pit, which they quickly utilized. Fortunately, the detonation had not collapsed the cavern itself, and they were able to find their way out the same way they had entered, discovering evidence that the Rebels had fled along the way. Upon reaching the surface, Kuro contacted the single trooper who he had left aboard their Sentinel and had him as close to the cave entrance as he could and, once aboard, ordered immediate departure from the planet, twisting the minds of Ezzley's troopers so they would understand the mission to have been a success. As the Sentinel achieved orbit and calculated a hyperspace jump, Kuro settled back and began thinking out plans for a successful career as Major Elizba Ezzley.
Personality and traits[]
Every day, this galaxy comes one step closer to ultimate destruction. Through my efforts, I am not destroying it, but saving it. Improving it. The body that is the galaxy has become diseased, sickly, and it must be purged of it's sickness. Make no mistake, this is something that will happen one way or another, either with everything succumbing to the diease, or a remainder surviving to rebuild.
—Darth Azazel
Darth Azazel (7 ABY)
Extensively educated in multiple subjects, Darth Azazel was considered to have possessed the most gifted mind of his generation. By the time he was five years old, he could perform complex trigonometry equations in his mind without any outside assistance. At the age of eight, he was already fluent in six languages and could recite detailed chemical compositions from memory. At the age of ten, he was proficient enough with computer systems that only the most sophisticated of electronic defenses could prove a challenge for him. Able to converse easily with philosophers and accomplished veterans in various professions since childhood, he was only truly at home when within his own personal laboratory. When combined with his habitual method of speaking in grammatical perfection and his quietness, his intelligence had the common effect of distancing him from most groups.
Standing at one point ninety-five meters, Azazel was considered to have been easily discouraging. Merely his height by itself could allow him to be remarkably terrifying, but he could also be seemingly meek if he chose. His slenderness and aristocratic style caused many to believe him to be an affluent yet physically weak person, and this was something that he purposely reinforced. His obsidian hair generally was slicked backwards and his skin was naturally pallid, while his eyes glowed a pale yellow or red, depending upon his mood, and were often the only thing which could be discerned from beneath his concealing cowl. Several scars littered his body, throphies of battles where he was not sufficient enough to avoid injury. Thorough and nothing if not a swift assimilator, these injuries always served as merely a way of strengthening his resolve, rather than preventing him from attaining his distination. He kept these gashes to his physicality hidden, however, beneath his clothing.
Despite his quiet disposition, he could command with extraordinary charisma. When situations demanded it and when he thought it appropriate, he could be a brilliant leader, often capable of inspiring those beneath him by merely being present beside them. Even without assistance from the Force, he could subtly influence others, controlling them not through total domination, but rather by elusive manipulation. Extraordinarily intelligent and naturally cautious, Azazel would not reveal himself or attack unless he felt that he possessed every advantage necessary to achieve victory. He would often concoct schemes which had many layers to them, as he attempted to take into account every possible factor. Contrary to his insistence on success, he enjoyed being surprised even if it resulted in a complete downfall to his plans. Surprise was a novel concept for him, because it simply was a very rare occurrence. It wasn't uncommon for him to allow an opponent to retreat instead of killing them when he clearly possessed the advantage, for this reason. However, he would never unnecessarily put his life or the lives of those underneath his command at risk.
Primarily, however, Azazel was a utopian idealist. He passionately believed in a perfected galaxy, and considered every sentient species to be a scourge upon the galaxy. Within his point of view, the sentient beings of the galaxy, both Human and otherwise, had become flawed and parasitical; basically put, they consumed and corrupted everything they touched and could not survive in harmony with anything. For Azazel, the approach to this problem was rather simple; complete eradication. As he considered the galaxy to be populated by 'vicious parasites', his endgoal was similar to what a scientist might consider effective against a dangerous virus, to locate and fabricate an antibody and attack the infection without mercy, until it had been completely destroyed. For Azazel, his antibody against the perceived virus of sentient life would be the Ash'rak Super-Soldier, a biological weapon with the intelligence and creativity to challenge even the Sith Lord himself. Following the war to end all wars, Azazel envisioned a galaxy where militarism and discipline reigned supreme, and only a singular, perfected species populated the galaxy, the Ash'rak. To achieve this end, he would go on to utilize any means necessary, regardless of how reprehensible, until his death at the Battle of Anakaa.
Contrary to his militant disposition towards the peoples of the galaxy, when off the battlefield, Azazel's true self was generally shown. He was compassionate and just, especially towards his Ash'rak, who he considered to be his children. Despite his insistence on purging the galaxy of its infection, Azazel was not sadistic or disposed towards drawing out his enemy's death. Like an efficient hunter, he always believed in a quick and clean kill, and only utilized such tactics as torture when it was ultimately necessary to pry information from a subject. Azazel was also not merely content with obedient minions; he insisted that his soldiers of eradication possess both the capacity for independent thought and the ability to apply creativity to their duties. Rather than punish an Ash'rak for performing a task as they saw fit instead of how he saw fit, Azazel was more inclined to punish failure to utilize such simple creativity.
Despite his unassuming stature, Azazel could prove to be a truly frightening creature of the dark side.
Azazel was well known for his somewhat morbid and cynical sense of humor; often laughing at the expense of others, he had a prominent love of witticism throughout his life, and appreciated a sense of humor in his soldiers. Though he was usually as quiet and focused in combat as he was when in his laboratory or commanding troops, it wasn't uncommon for him to utilize Don Moch in a duel, if he felt that he required the extra assistance. Even when events were not flowing according to his plans, Azazel would possess a slight smile upon his lips, something which he discovered had a charming effect on others. Regardless of weather conditions, Azazel was normally seen garbed in his distinctive form-fitting combat suit and a hand tailored, all-encompassing cloak and cowl, as well as leather boots.
Powers and abilities[]
No worries. Even without the Force, I am never without options, my son.
—Darth Azazel to Mysha Zao
Contrary both to his aristocratical characteristics and tendency to believe most opponents to be unworthy of his time and effort, Darth Azazel was more confrontational than might be expected when it came to combat. He regularly would choose to fight even when the odds seemed to be stacked against him, and it was a testament to his incredible fighting prowess that he was able to emerge from the majority of these battles with little more than a scratch. This wasn't to say that he would not flee if it was clear that he was going to lose a given engagement, but instead that he was more willing to rely on his combat skills than might be derived by his habitual method of using cat's-paws and psychological manipulation to achieve his ends whenever he could get away with it. However, he would not hesitate to remain out of mind and forsake direct intervention if it suited his needs.
Consistent with his quiet, disciplined personality and adherence to economy of movement, Azazel was a calm, practical, and extremely efficient fighter in battle. His blows were always powerful and incredibly accurate; designed to inflict sudden death or incapacitate with very little effort on his part and deliver the most damage possible per a strike. He was an almost unparalleled master in both Makashi and Soresu, the first of which was his favored form, while he regularly utilized Soresu only when pressed by multiple opponents or when exposed to a barrage of blaster fire. Despite what many might have believed, Azazel was definitely not physically weak, despite his thin body and aristocratic stature; rather he was actually lean and sinewy beneath his concealing cloak. Though he always focused on ending most fights as quickly as possible, he was not unable to persist in a confrontation of pure strength, rather physical or in the Force. He would also frequently utilize Sokan to give him the edge he required for victory in a battle, as well as Dun Moch when he needed to distract or raise his opponent's wrath, something he was quite capable at doing.
Azazel decimates the forces of Darth Scourge.
Although he was completely trained in Juyo, it was both the form that he was weakest with and the one he utilized to a lesser extent, rarely using it except when desperately in need of something new to outdo an opponent in a duel. Azazel felt that Juyo lacked the sophisticated control and preciseness he favored bringing into a battle, but he would use it against a particularly formidable or massive adversary. Azazel's knowledge of martial arts was particularly formidable, as well. Through Jebb Kass Zorn, he became a deadly practitioner of Teras Kasi. Using this style, he could prove equally lethal with his bare hands as he could be with his twin blades. To compliment his already powerful unarmed combat skills, he also endeavored to become masterful with K'tara as well. Though Teras Kasi appealed to him to more so, as it allowed him to project massive amounts of power with his bare hands, he utilized K'tara most frequently, especially when on the battlefield, as he considered it to be more efficient and practically quick than his firstly mastered martial art.
Though he possessed a vast understanding of both the light and dark sides of the Force, Azazel's power in the dark side was most considerable. However, rather than allow his passion and rage to control his actions while it fueled his powers, he practiced a level of control that had been considered admirable by many of the Jedi he slaughtered. Chiefly, he specialized in Sith Magic and the majority of his power in the dark side was typically channelled through this medium. He was a fully accomplished sorcerer, but he was particularly adept with wraping reality to his whims and projecting raw power against his enemies. Most commonly, he would utilize the summoning of darkness, especially when overseeing the invasion of a world. Where most practitioners of this power could only create limited waves of this darkness, Azazel was able to, through concentration and meditation, project massive, black strom clouds across an entire continent, smothering all enemy troops within range and striking at them with devastating blasts of raw lightning.
However, his proficiency with the power also had it's drawbacks, as his own troops would inevitably be effected by the storm's effects as well, unless he only dispatched his most conditioned soldiers to the planet's surface. He could also project small portions of this darkness against an opponent in a duel, through which only he himself could navigate while his adversary was cut off from all senses. However, he could only project this type of darkness for brief periods, as it could drain his reserves considerably if he maintained it for a sizeable quantity of time. This power allowed him to make a sudden escape on many an occasion.
Azazel was also an extraordinarily difficult Sith to track down and locate. His proficiency with the spell of concealment was such that he could not only hide himself from plain sight and sensors, but could also include several of his children within the spell's circumference as well. Amongst his most commonly utilized powers, Azazel was able to invoke the spell of concealment to disappear seemingly at will, cloaking himself in the dark side to become less than nothingness. In addition to merely concealing his physical presence, he could also cloak his Force signature, effectively making him undetectable to both Jedi and Sith alike. Through constant meditation and practice, he was able to develop this ability to the point where concentration was unnecessary; merely by invoking his will, he could become a true ghost, completlely undetectable unless he choose to reveal himself. Alongside this ability, he could cast highly convincing illusions as well. While not as powerful as his abilities with self-concealment, he could seemingly transform ordinary objects into monstrous constructs, terrifying less disciplined adversaries. These illusions could also translate into the taking of another being's external appearance, though those sensitive to the Force could perceive Azazel beneath his mask with some concentration, which made this ability truly only effective against ordinary persons and most droids.
Alongside his mastery of concealment, Azazel also exhibited incredible proficiency at telepathy. Simultaneously, he could either merely subtly influence or totally dominate several minds at once with only slight concentration. This proficiency included both the ability to perceive and twist the thoughts and emotions of others, as well as the capability of completely dominating and enthralling either singular or multiple individuals, something which came naturally to him. A byproduct of his proficieny with telepathy was his ability to project an aura of dread before himself and leave absolute terror in his wake, tormenting and demoralizing enemy troops on the battlefield. This aura was extremely subtle, and few could realize what was happening to them until it was too late. Even those with a heavily reinforced will, such as Jedi Masters, were vulnerable to the effects of Azazel's aura of dread. Even beasts as ferocious as Rancors were known to shy away from the Sith Lord. Despite the great difficulty one could have at resisting this power, however, it could be done by those with a truly iron-clad will.
Azazel often displayed enormous destructive power with the Force, most notably when using telekinesis.
Although he typically focused on subtly, direct intervention, and manipulation, Azazel could wield extraordinary destructive power against his foes in battle. Most often, his ture power was demonstrated by telekinesis. Aside from mastering the common abilities of projecting invisible blasts of kinetic energy and tugging opponents and objects towards himself, Azazel held a level of sharp control which allowed him to not only levitate massive objects, but also manipulate several small tasks and otherwise perform delicate work merely through concentration of will alone. He was able to conform his telekinesis into a razor sharp blade as well; from the decapitation of opponents to delicately performing surgery and controlling small laboratory instruments, Azazel's telekinesis could allow him to perform practically any task he could set his mind to without leaving a seated position. In addition to the absolute control he exercised over his telekinesis, Azazel was also able to generate and project massive levels of raw power against his adversaries. Perhaps his most impressive feat with telekinesis was when he pulled an entire Star Destroyer down from orbit during the Battle of Paschendale, crashing it into the New Republic's main field head quarters and eliminating his opponent's entire command staff in one swift blow. Although doing this weakened him to the point of exhaustion, it nevertheless served to display to the attacking Jedi the raw power he possessed, as well as terrifying the troops they commanded.
Finally, Azazel's domination of the Force was completed by an appreciable mastery of physical enhancement, which could allow him to easily match any of his children in personal combat, and a frightening proficiency and talent with Force Absorb. Using this ability, he was able to absorb blaster bolts, grip and drain lightsabers, and even withstand the most devastating of energy-based Force powers such as Force-lightning without any discernable problem. His talent with this power was such that he did not have to rely on his hands to absorb the energy; he was able to take it in anywhere it touched his body. However, he could still be overwhelmed by a massive, sustained barrage, and certain levels of power were simply beyond his ability to absorb, such as blasts from an AT-AT walker.
Other Knowledge[]
I have experimented and expanded my knowledge to dimensions far beyond your comprehension, Master Jedi.
—Darth Azazel to Nihlus Nryik
Electronic Expertise[]
So...naive, aren't they? So dependent upon a network of defenses that require only a singular sophisticated instrusion to topple, and once those defenses are brought down, what do they do? They run before the coming fire like animals, unconcerned with the truth, of that you cannot outrun your inevitable fate.
—Azazel to Maysha Zhao
Azazel's oldest and perhaps his most prominent ability was his mastery of electronics and computer systems. He was incredibly skilled, able to bypass even the most secure systems within minutes; even if such a system was defended by multiple layers of code, he was able to discern precisely where it's weak point was located, much as he could do when dueling or commanding a fleet. His skill was such that he even managed to slice into the Emperor's most well-defended archives, and later remotely hacked into the New Republic's central intelligence records multiple times, without being detected.
By 11 ABY, Azazel's interest in slicing had expanded into a sophistication with programming. He was particularly adept at creating elaborate viruses, some rather simple and ment to be only a distraction, while he designed others with the capability to crash the defense network of an entire planet. Often, any of a multitude of his viruses could go hand-in-hand with his slicing efforts, with either the virus intended to befuddle a system's defenses or weaken them sufficiently so as to make infiltration quicker and easier. Azazel made great use of these viruses on a number of worlds, including Coruscant, where he dispatched several Forgotten ahead of his main fleet, armed with a datapad holding one of the most powerful and destructive viruses he had ever conceived, which allowed his forces to shut down all defenses and take Coruscant with little resistance. Other expamles of his viruses were demonstrated often during the Great Purging, often disabling entire fleets and space stations.
Scientific/Technological expertise[]
Although unpolished when compared to his other abilities, Azazel possessed an impressive knowledge of various applied sciences, among them biochemistry, xenobiology, astrophysics, and aerospace engineering, to name but a few. He was responsible for fabricating the blue-prints of several very successful warships, military vehicles, energy weapons, and armor systems. Though not unable to be matched or outdone, his creations were very innovative, and gave his troops a superior edge in many situations. Perhaps the most impressive feat he accomplished in the field of science was his creation of the Ash'rak; though it was Teatriarch Grammaton who originally conceived the species, Azazel nevertheless demonstrated great skill when he not only improved upon the Anzati's methods, but also ingrained a psychological deposition towards serving him within the minds of his Ash'rak, a process which he performed with such sublty that even Grammaton's best researchers were unaware of his treachery, until it was too late.
Azazel's great abilities with Sith magic also translated into an impressive understanding of Alchemy, which he repeatedly used upon his children, seeking to improve any weaknesses they displayed. He was also able to improve his own body to levels beyond Human capability, increasing his strength and speed, and even implanting himself with a several thousand cleverly designed nanomachines, capable of healing literally any injury which he might suffer, unless it was instantly fatal. This allowed him to survive many situations which would otherwise have seen him dead, as well as brave various extremes without protection, at least for a limited period of time. These nanomachines did not make him invulnerable to harm, however, and he was quickly forced not to depend on them, after doing so early on nearly proved disastrous for him. Among Azazel's most famous creations, beside his Ash'rak, were the Edict of Retribution, a modified Sulaco-class Cruiser which served as the Sith Lord's personal flagship throughout his campaign against the galaxy, and CreationBoxes, terraforming constructs which utilized the actual energies of The Living Force to transform worlds laid barren by warfare into lush, habitable planets ripe for recolonization. It was unknown exactly how these Boxes worked, and one was never recovered to be subjected to a complete examination.
Equipment[]
Azazel always has a few suprises up his sleeves.
—Nihlus Nryik
Before he took up the lightsaber, Azazel first became proficient with various military equipment, including blasters, vibroblades, grenades, and many types of heavy weaponry. Although he would later become a dedicated and almost matchless lightsaber duelist, he still carried with him a variety of tools, as well as several concealed weapons in addition to those which he carried in plain sight.
Azazel's unique, twin sabers made him very deadly in blade-to-blade combat.
Azazel's primary weapons where his two curved hilted, dual-phase, crimson bladed lightsabers. Very similar in appearance to those which had been wielded by the Dark Jedi Ventress, they were each interwined with cortosis, which made them very durable and provided Azazel with yet another advantage, for if an opponent attempted to deprive him of his weapons by slicing through them with their own blade, the cortosis-construction of the Sith Lord's blades would cause his opponent's weapon to short out, giving him the momentary upper hand over his enemy. Azazel also built his blades without an external activation switch, and they instead required an effort of will through the Force to activate. This ensured that only someone both aware of this feature and sensitive to the Force could activate either of his blades. Azazel's blades also utilized a dual-phase feature, which allowed him to add a component of surprise into a duel at will, alongside his already deadly mastery of combat and very difficult to defend against weapons. Upon learning that his lightsaber would potentially short out when it came into contact with water, Azazel also added a bifurcating cyclical-ignition pulse to both of his blades, which allowed him to continue fighting even when underwater. When confronted by several opponents, Azazel often combined the twin blades together, forming a single weapon of devastating destructive potential, with which he could easily become a rapidly rotating vortex of death. Along with his two main lightsabers, Azazel also carried two back-up shoto sabers with him, which he could use in the event that he either loss his primary weapons or had them disabled in some fashion. As Azazel was also very proficient with telekinesis, he would occasionally use these two shotos in combat, controlling them telekinetically to flank his opponent and force them to face seemingly three attackers at once.
Azazel also carried a WESTAR-34 blaster pistol, with which he could accurately put down practically anything with just a single shot. His expert marksmanship, honed by years of training and experience, allowed him to be just as deadly even at long-range. By using a blaster in place of his powers or blades when facing lesser opponents, Azazel was able to conserve his stamina and reserve of energy within the Force for dueling more powerful and challenging opponents, such as Jedi or fellow Sith. Azazel kept a pair of daggers on him as well, specially forged from cortosis and laced with some type of unspecified poison, which could induce a heavy sickness within a target even if Azazel could only manage to open a slight cut upon his target. Azazel was very skilled at throwing these daggers, capable of hitting an individual's chest from up to ten meters away. Azazel made great use of various defensive equipment as well, including small smoke pellets which allowed him to either seemingly disappear, bufuddle his opponent, or establish a concealing screen to render long-range shots ineffective, such as from a sniper. He was known to utilize various chemicals and gases in addition to simple smoke as well, which could allow him to incapacitate or kill a small group of individuals by merely flicking his wrist.
Since he was a commander who favored being on the front lines, especially throughout more important engagements, Azazel took to habitually wearing a close-fitting, cortosis weave bodysuit underneath his cloak. Designed to offer him maximum protection without sacrificing his mobility or flexibility, the bodysuit consisted of a black, insulated body glove, capable of protecting him from both extremes of heat and cold. This allowed him to travel without a more encumbering form of bodily protection even when fighting on worlds such as Rhen Var, Hoth, and Anakaa. Arranged over the top of this body glove where multiple braces of buffed cortosis alloy, which covered his chest, ribs, shins, outer thighs, hips, lower back, forearms, biceps, and shoulders. The bodysuit also came equipped with a helmet of the same material, designed to inspire terror in Azazel's opponent's, but he rarely took to wearing it, unless doing battle in an area where the vacuum of space would need to be braved. When fully sealed, it could provide him with clean air for up to fifteen minutes, after which it needed to be refilled. Over his suit, Azazel wore a utility belt made from the skin of a krayt dragon, which he had killed himself as a young man, at least according to rumor.
Aside from his usual equipment and holsters for his blaster and lightsabers, Azazel also carried a pair of electrobinoculars for long distance scouting of the battlefield, as well as multiple food pellets, a small canteen of water, and a medkit, at least when traveling into battle, in case of the event that he was cut off from his troops, and thus resupply. Azazel usually wore a personal data assistant on his right forearm as well, similar to the ones he had designed for his children, yet with increased communications range and a better uplink feature to allow clearer remote transmission of video, images, and other data. Lastly, even Azazel's cloak served to provide him with some protection; woven from shell spider silk, it allowed Azazel decent protection from various battlefield hazards and he could shield not only himself, but others as well from blaster bolts, light debris, and even the thrust of a vibroblade. The cowl also acted as something of a helmet, protecting his head from enemy fire in lieu of more standard headgear.