Belia Darzu was a female Shi'ido who reigned as a Dark Lord of the Sith during the waning centuries of the Draggulch Period. Formerly, Darzu travelled the galactic frontier as a mercenary while facing discrimination from those who distrusted—or sought to exploit—her inborn shape-shifting talent. Instilled with xenophobic hatred, she went on to embrace the dark side as a disciple of the Sith Empire. Rising to infamy as a Sith Lord, Darzu propagated the Sith teachings among other members of her species, hoping to elevate their place within the galaxy. This goal was eventually overshadowed, however, by her fervent fascination with the dark side, particularly Sith alchemy and an obscure technique known as mechu-deru.
The fall of the reigning Dark Lord—Darth Rivan—impelled Darzu to recreate an ancient superweapon in a plot to reinvigorate the Sith Empire's crusade. This scheme was abruptly foiled, however, when the Galactic Republic and the Jedi unveiled Darzu's project and enacted an attempt on her life. Narrowly evading death, she used the power of mechu-deru to repair her body with cybernetics. The damage inflicted upon Darzu's body virtually crippled her shape-shifting talent, embittering the Shi'ido and driving her to enact vengeance upon the enemies of the Sith. To fulfil this goal, Darzu—inspired by her cybernetic form—sought to bring about the return of the mythical part-machine, part organic technobeasts.
Entering a period of exile, Lord Darzu travelled to the abandoned world of Tython, unearthing remnants of the microscopic nanogene droids. Using this technology, Darzu created a virus capable of transforming organic victims into her own brand of mutated cyborgs—the Metanecrons. By means of a dark side ritual, she bound the Metanecrons to her will, mobilizing them into an obedient army. Confident in her alchemical creations, Darzu assumed the mantle of Dark Lord and set out to assume dominion over the Sith, intent on spearheading a new campaign of terror.
Biography
Dark marauder
Like all members of her species, Darzu was a natural-born shape-shifter.
A Force-sensitive female Shi'ido, Belia Darzu lived centuries before the end of the Draggulch Period, an era distinguished by a tumultuous conflict known as the New Sith Wars. An experienced warrior, Darzu harbored a yearning for danger and a fervent curiosity, leading her to travel the galactic frontier of Wild Space as a freelance mercenary. Like all of her species, she was a natural-born shape-shifter, driving her to mimic the different lifeforms and civilizations she encountered. The Shi'ido, however, fell victim to various forms of discrimination from those who learned of her inborn talent; some distrusted or reviled her abilities, while others attempted to enslave her to meet their own ends.
Living in constant fear of persecution, Darzu developed a resentful and paranoid outlook on other sentient beings. To avoid further negative treatment, she concealed her changeling heritage as a humanoid woman. Nonetheless, these trepidations continued to weigh on Darzu's mind, prompting her to rely on the bloody exploits of her mercenary career as an outlet for her growing hatred for other species. During this time, she also unearthed her latent Force connection, despite possessing only a rudimentary understanding of its potential at the time. Harboring xenophobic animosity and an addiction to the thrill of battle, Darzu unknowingly fell under the influence of the dark side.
Journeying through the Outer Rim Territories, Darzu eventually entered the employ of the Sith Empire, an interstellar dominion ruled by the dark side-worshipping Sith Order. Impressed by the mercenary's brutal efficiency and raw potential with the Force, the Sith offered Darzu a place among their Order as a fellow darksider. Allured by promises of greater power and dominance, she eagerly accepted and became a Sith Acolyte. Galvanized by the darwinistic teachings of the Sith, Darzu learned to properly harness the dark side by drawing upon her innermost anger and fear, channeling them into a weapon of spite to subjugate and torment the galaxy's inhabitants.
Owing to her extensive prior battle experience, Darzu came to specialize in the combat-focused role of the Sith Marauder. Upon completing her Sith training, she served the Dark Lord of the Sith—Darth Rivan—and partook in the Empire's campaign to destroy the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order. An ever-inquisitive being, she also began to delve into the secrets of Sith alchemy, allowing her to create a heavily modified battle armor suit. The armor not only amplified Darzu's combat prowess, but also obscured the Shi'ido's appearance from her peers and adversaries alike. Despite her secretive nature, she eventually earned the coveted title of Sith Lord.
Lord of the Sith
Darzu wearing her modified battle armor suit.
In her pursuit for power, Lord Darzu set out to recruit members of her species to the way of the Sith. To this end, she infiltrated a progressive movement among the Shi'ido which, like her, harbored a xenophobic fear of persecution. This led her to befriend a number of likeminded political figures among her species. Exploiting their lust for power, Darzu convinced these individuals to embrace their hatred for non-Shi'ido and unite against the greater galaxy, recruiting them to her cause. With the aid of these sympathizers, Darzu founded a new political faction—the Sictis League—with the goal of elevating the galactic presence of the Shi'ido through an alliance with the Sith.
Using her new political connections, Darzu forged a network of Shi'ido agents in a plot to infiltrate and subvert galactic governments, manipulating them in favor of the Sictis League. Driven to fufill this goal at all costs, she began coercing other members of her race into joining the League, willing or not. Through the dark side, she twisted the minds of her targets, effectively indoctrinating them to do her bidding. In time, Darzu's desire to ascend her species became overshadowed by her growing fascination with the power of the dark side; its corruptive influence began to take its toll on her sanity, fuelling her addiction and desire to unravel its true potential.
Craving a greater understanding of the dark side, Darzu spent years gathering ancient manuscripts written by the sorcerers and alchemists of the old Sith Empire. Studying the documents in earnest, she unearthed a number of arcane and alchemical techniques, most notably mechu-deru, an obscure Sith power allowing the manipulation of mechanical constructs. These writings included information regarding the technobeasts, mutated cyborgs capable of self-replication by rewriting a victim's genetic code. The documents, however, lacked specific details on how the technobeasts were created, leading Darzu to disregard the mutants as a myth.
Foiled machinations
Invoking the power of mechu-deru, Darzu survived the brink of death.
Some time following Darzu's ascension to Lordship, the crusade of Darth Rivan entered a phase of decline; the Jedi sabotaged the Force bonds that were used to control his army of Battlelords, sowing an unexpected wave of chaos among the Dark Lord's forces. In the wake of this downturn, Darzu—anticipating Rivan's impending doom—saw an opportunity to renew the Sith offensive on her own terms, allowing the Shi'ido to seize the mantle of Dark Lord. To fulfil this goal, she channelled her alchemical expertise into a project to recreate the Dark Reaper, an ancient superweapon capable of harvesting the essence of Force-sensitive beings.
Keeping her project veiled in secrecy, Darzu constructed the Dark Reaper on the Sith stronghold of Rhen Var, using the planet as a staging ground for her planned counteroffensive. The Shi'ido's plan abruptly fell apart, however, when Darth Rivan died in a Jedi-led surprise attack, leading to a concentrated assault against the Empire's strongholds—including Rhen Var—in an effort to throw the Sith into disarray. Refusing to accept failure, Darzu nonetheless persisted with her plans, hell-bent on using the Dark Reaper to wipe out the interlopers. This backfired and caused the unfinished device to grow unstable, trapping her in a cataclysmic inferno.
The ensuing devastation incinerated all living beings within the vicinity, leaving Darzu herself grievously injured and on the brink of death. Invoking the power of the dark side, Darzu managed to keep herself alive, buying time to enact a desperate survival plan. Using mechu-deru, she proceeded to repair her body with cybernetics, formed from nearby pieces of metallic debris. While escaping with her life, Darzu discovered that her ability to shape-shift had been crippled by the damage inflicted on her body. Enraged and embittered, she maintained her goal to reinvigorate the Sith crusade, now intent on imposing vengeance upon the Republic and the Jedi.
Disappearance
Darzu regarded her cybernetic form as a gateway to greater depths of power.
Growing obsessed with her transformation, Darzu gained a new perspective on the potential of mechu-deru; no longer viewing the technobeasts as a mere Sith legend, she adopted a new goal to bring the creatures into existence, providing a means to enact her planned vengeance. Hiding her activities, Darzu continued her research in self-imposed exile. While doing so, she learned that the Jedi—many years before her time—had once harnessed the power of mechu-deru, creating nanogene droids capable of manipulating living tissue on a cellular level. Remnants of this work were rumored to have existed on Tython, a long-abandoned Jedi stronghold.
Seeking Tython's whereabouts, Darzu used her Shi'ido agents to steal hyperlane coordinates from the Jedi archives on Coruscant, leading her to the planet's location in the Deep Core. Upon her arrival on Tython, she scoured the dilapidated ancient Jedi Temple, searching for the remnants of mechu-deru. Deep inside the temple's storehouses, she eventually uncovered the nanogene seeds—microscopic droids capable of cellular alteration. Fascinated by this technology, Darzu believed she had uncovered the key to realizing the Sith technobeasts. Using the temple as a laboratory, the Shi'ido drew upon Tython's Force nexus to amplify her experiments.
Inside her facility of research, Darzu tested the nanogene technology on living subjects, of whom she had abducted amongst Tython's scattered inhabitants. With her combined knowledge of mechu-deru and Sith alchemy, she reverse-engineered the microscopic droids into a technovirus called the nanogene spore. According to Darzu's design, the virus transmuted living tissue into metallic tumors, ultimately transforming its subjects into a new brand of Sithspawn mutants—the Metanecrons. To complete this process, she devised a variant of mechu-deru called mechu-deru vitae, using it to bind the Metanecrons to her will through the dark side.
With the nanogene spore at her disposal, Darzu intended to bring a new age of terror upon the Republic and the Jedi, ensuring the dominance of the Sith. For her first source of living templates to create legions of cyborg warriors, she infected the scattered inhabitants of Tython with the nanogene spore. Corralling them towards the abandoned Jedi temple, Darzu mobilized her subservient Metanecrons into an army. Over time, the Shi'ido's machinations corrupted the Force nexus of Tython, turning the planet into a bastion of dark side energy. Commanding her slaves, Darzu renovated the Jedi temple into a fortress, making Tython her secret seat of power.
Rise to power
Darth Teitan, the catalyst for Darzu's bid to rule the Sith.
During her self-imposed exile, Darzu kept acquainted with galactic affairs through her network of Shi'ido agents. To this end, she learned that remnants of the Sith Empire were being led by Darth Teitan, the self-proclaimed "vanguard of the true Sith" who rose to power following the vanquishing of Darth Rivan. Despite Teitan's rulership, Darzu overheard rumors surrounding his apparent mental instability; at random intervals, Teitan was known to undergo violent periods of psychosis, seeding doubts about his suitability to lead the Sith. Using her spies to investigate Teitan's past, Darzu learned that he once lived under the identity of "Daleth" as a member of Rivan's alchemically-created Battlelords.
Through careful study of Teitan's mannerisms, as well as her own alchemical knowledge, Darzu eventually came to understand the cause behind his psychological instability; it was a side effect of Rivan's infamously harrowing Battlelord transformation, which had fractured Teitan's mind and formed the alternate persona of an obedient, malleable slave—"Daleth". Upon realizing Teitan's mental vulnerability, Darzu devised a plan that would ultimately allow her to coerce him into serving her. To accomplish such a feat, she called upon the power of Tython's Force nexus, using it to project a series of powerful telepathic illusions into Teitan's mind.
Personality and traits
Darzu concealed her changeling heritage as a humanoid woman.
From a young age, Darzu took pride in her natural-born ability to shape-shift, instilling her with a sense of superiority over non-changelings. This pride gradually turned to bitterness, however, due to the heavy discrimination she faced from those who distrusted, reviled or sought to exploit her talents. These experiences soured Darzu's outlook on the galaxy, leaving her with a cynical distrust of other species. Although paranoid of others' intentions, she believed herself capable of controlling any individual she desired through deception, often burying her emotions behind a calm, polite facade. Despite this, Darzu never truly came to terms with her contempt for other species. Instead, she found an outlet for her repressed hatred through an often-violent mercenary career, developing a vicious and sadistic streak.
Inspired by the Sith doctrines, Darzu sought to use conspiracy and tyranny to elevate her species, an ideal that she propagated among other Shi'ido throughout the galaxy. Over time, however, she began to lose sight of this goal, becoming more consumed by a desire to steep herself into the mysteries of the Force—the dark side in particular. This desire originated from her deep-seated curiosity to explore the unknown, causing her to develop an obsessive fascination with the dark side. To this end, Darzu willingly subjected herself to its corruptive influence, driven to see how its power could bend the very fabric of reality to her will. These experiments eroded the remnants of Darzu's sanity, leading her to regard other living beings—including her own species—as mere tools to help satisfy her growing lust for power.
After sustaining life-threatening wounds in her attempt to engineer the Dark Reaper, Darzu replaced much of her body with cybernetics. Due to the desperate nature of her transformation, some of the implants became disproportionate with the rest of her body. Furthermore, the remnants of Darzu's organic self were left in a ravaged state, an affliction exacerbated by her frequent immersion in the dark side. These combined factors virtually crippled her shape-shifting talent, making the process extremely painful. While initially grief-stricken over her impairment, Darzu came to view it as a necessary sacrifice; by embracing her pain and grief, as well as her hatred for the Republic and the Jedi, the Shi'ido aspired to strengthen her attunement with the dark side even further, paving the path to greater depths of power.
Powers and abilities
Like all members of the Shi'ido race, Darzu was capable of altering her physical form, allowing her to assume a variety of humanoid and non-humanoid shapes. Additionally, she possessed inborn telepathic powers allowing her to project false impressions onto the minds of others, tricking them into believing she was someone—or something—else entirely. In the aftermath of her cybernetic transformation, however, Darzu's shape-shifting talent caused her a significant amount of pain, leaving the Shi'ido virtually unable to alter most of her body beyond her facial features. Furthermore, the malformed nature of the prosthetics—combined with Darzu's bodily injuries—left her physically frail and vulnerable. As such, she came to rely heavily on her illusive talents to conceal and compensate for these weaknesses.
After joining the Sith, Darzu was trained as frontline combatant in the New Sith Wars, specializing in the role of the Sith Marauder. For extra protection against multiple opponents in battle, Darzu wore a self-crafted, alchemically-enhanced battle armor suit. The suit not only supplemented her physical strength, but also harbored a personal cloaking device to catch her foes by surprise. A learned and powerful practitioner of the dark side, Darzu researched the discipline of Sith alchemy alongside mechu-deru, an obscure Sith technique allowing the manipulation of mechanical structures through the Force.