Darth Azard

The Quarren Sith Lord known as Darth Azard was a member of the One Sith, serving Darth Krayt and his Galactic Empire, after Krayt deposed Emperor Roan Fel at the end of the Sith–Imperial War. During the Second Imperial Civil War, Azard was selected to oversee the Outer Rim Third Fleet. In 137 ABY, the Imperial Outer Rim Third Fleet was charged with capturing the fugitive commander of the Galactic Alliance Core Fleet, Admiral Gar Stazi, as well as destroying the unified fragments of the Alliance military, dubbed the Galactic Alliance Remnant. Emperor Krayt had placed Kel Dor Admiral Sha Dun in charge of the mission, and despite minor victories, Dun had failed to stop Gar Stazi's attacks. On the command deck of the Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer Relentless, Lord Azard executed Admiral Dun for that failure; he lifted and choked the Kel Dor with the Force before cutting the admiral down with his double-bladed lightsaber. Azard then replaced Dun with the Humanocentric Admiral Dru Valan, who had faced Stazi seven years before in the Battle of Caamas, the last major battle between the new Galactic Empire and the Galactic Alliance in the Sith-Imperial War. During the Battle of Caamas, Stazi had led a fighting retreat while the rest of the Alliance forces had surrendered, and Valan had been blamed for Stazi's escape. Azard told Valan not to underestimate Stazi as Sha Dun had, and warned the admiral not to fail him.

Admiral Valan attempted to bait a trap for Stazi using the Imperious-class Star Destroyer Imperious, which was under construction at the shipyards of the planet Dac; however, Stazi had prepared his own trap with the aid of the Mon Calamari. The battle resulted in the Alliance capturing the Imperious, destroying a third of the shipyards, and devastating Valan's fleet. Disgraced, Valan gave command to Captain Hoge and retired to his quarters to commit suicide rather than face Darth Azard.

After the defeat of the Imperials at the Battle of Mon Calamari, Darth Krayt wanted retribution against the Mon Calamari for their betrayal in supporting Gar Stazi. The Emperor traveled to Dac with a number of Sith Lords, including Darth Azard, to exact his revenge. Meeting with the Mon Calamari Council, Krayt presented the recently captured former Galactic Alliance Triumvir Gial Gahan, explaining that he had long known that the Mon Calamari had been secretly supporting Stazi and that he had had enough. As punishment for their actions, Krayt ordered the execution of ten percent of the Mon Calamari population of Dac—starting with the members of the Mon Calamari Council—and the placement of Dac's remaining citizens in internment camps. As soon as Krayt gave the order, Darth Azard, the other Sith Lords, and Krayt's stormtroopers began to execute all of the Mon Calamari present. Many of the Quarren members of Mon Calamari Council who opposed or questioned the Emperor's will were also executed.

One of the Quarren members pleaded with Darth Azard, stating that although the Mon Calamari were not one of their people, they did not deserve to be slaughtered. Darth Azard replied to the Quarren that he was not one of their people—he was a Sith—and cut the other Quarren down with his lightsaber. With the massacre underway, Darth Krayt personally executed Gial Gahan.

As a result of the massacre and the beginning of Krayt's genocide, the Mon Calamari began a resistance movement. To encourage a possible alliance with the Galactic Alliance Remnant, Emperor-in-exile Roan Fel ordered Imperial Knights Treis Sinde and Sigel Dare to warn Admiral Gar Stazi about the explosives they had placed within the stolen Star Destroyer Imperious while unaware of Stazi's plan. The two Knights contacted Rogue Squadron pilot Monia Gahan and helped her fellow Rogues escape from prison by influencing the mind of the Imperial guarding Darth Azard's personal shuttle to commandeer the vessel.

Darth Azard sensed a disturbance in the Force and tracked it back to his shuttle. The Imperial officer standing outside informed Azard that the Alliance prisoners had boarded per the Sith Lord's orders. Realizing the officer had been a "weak-minded fool" that got mind-tricked, Azard killed the officer and rushed to his shuttle.

In order to buy time for their escape, Imperial Knight Treis Sinde jumped out of the shuttle to engage the Sith Lord. The two dueled, with Azard using only a single blade of his lightsaber. Azard was disappointed that he was dueling an Imperial Knight instead of a Jedi, believing an Imperial Knight would be no match for him. When several stormtroopers tried to intervene and bring down Sinde, Azard dismissed them and ordered them to focus on the shuttle instead. Sinde, however, Force pushed all of the stormtroopers, impressing Azard. As they dueled, Azard stated that Sinde would not be able to defeat him and that they both knew it. He was also aware that Sinde was trying to delay him long enough to allow the shuttle to leave. Azard assured Sinde that he had enough time to kill him and destroy his friends, however the duel was abruptly ended by a well-timed explosion set off by blaster fire from the shuttle. The explosion allowed Sinde to escape, and Azard was forced to protect himself from both the explosion and a fall with the Force. Azard was furious that he had failed to stop the escape of the Imperial Knights and the Rogues.

Despite his failure to stop the Rogues escape, Darth Azard was appointed to oversee the extermination of the Mon Calamari people. Givin Sith scientist Vul Isen was sent to aid Azard in his task and speed the extermination along. The Sith Master Darth Wyyrlok had provided Isen with the knowledge necessary to create a Sea Leviathan, a semi-sentient bio-weapon which was the product of Sith alchemy. After adapting it to undersea use, Isen and Azard invoked the Force to awaken the monster, which was hibernating in the depths of Soheras Trench. The Leviathan rose from the depths and attacked the Mon Calamari being held in the Imperial Extermination Camp 28, absorbing their life energy and sentience, leaving nothing but empty husks. By absorbing the Mon Calamari's sentience, the Leviathan would start to think like a Mon Calamari, enabling it to better locate their hiding places. Azard was concerned that the Leviathan might start to think too much like a Mon Calamari, and attack the Imperials, however Isen assured him that it would not. Azard and Isen sent the Leviathan to exterminate the Mon Calamari refugees who were in hiding, believing it would draw out the Mon Calamari Rangers led by Imperial Knight Treis Sinde, who had attacked the Sea Lion, an Acklay-class mobile fortress which had been tracking the refugees. Azard believed that by doing so, they could wipe out the Rangers all at once, a plan which impressed Isen.

Azard and Isen followed the Leviathan in their Aquatic Terrain Armored Transport, and soon encountered two Mon Calamari rangers piloting underwater Krakana fighters. The Mon Calamari tried to evade the creature, but the Sith transport managed to damage one which had escaped the Leviathan's reach. The creature proceeded to absorb the life energies of the damaged fighter's occupant, but one Krakana managed to escape, and its pilot sped back to her comrades in the rangers' base. Isen allowed the Mon Calamari to escape so that she could inform the Rangers of the Imperials' impending attack, which would lead the Rangers to swarm out to meet them, rather than the Imperials having to search them out. The Givin remarked that he would be glad when the extermination was complete, as he preferred breaking a population's will. Azard believed that Lord Krayt's commands were all that a true Sith required and made as much clear to Isen. He also expressed his contempt for any Sith who was not a Darth, commenting that Isen questioned too much.

The two Sith continued to follow the Leviathan as it led the way toward the rangers' base. During the long journey, Isen became impatient, regularly asking Azard whether they had arrived at their destination, which agitated the Sith Lord. When they finally reached the base, swarms of Krakana came out to meet them. The Mon Calamari had developed a plan; they avoided the Leviathan, and instead targeted the shuttle, hoping that by doing so they could stop the Leviathan. Isen believed this tactic was foolish, as the Krakana's plasma weapons could not penetrate the shuttle's shields, and the Krakana—built for speed as they were—had no missiles or shielding of their own.

Azard ordered the crew to kill all the Mon Calamari, and the transport's weapons opened up, spraying blaster fire in all directions. The rangers were undeterred, however; even as the Leviathan continued its pursuit of the escaping refugees, they continued to attack the transport, searching for chink in its armor. Things turned against the Sith, however, when Azard's adversary, Treis Sinde, entered the battle with a large group of devilsquids. Under Sinde's command, the squids swarmed around the Leviathan, attacking it. In response, Azard ordered the deployment of the transport's Shark fighters to deal with the Krakana, while the transport would kill the devilsquids. Though the shields had to be lowered to launch the Sharks, Azard was confident that by concentrating fire on the area of the launch, they would be able to clear out the Krakana. Azard believed the Mon Calamari were not aggressive and they valued life too much, something he considered a weakness. This assumption was proven wrong moments later, as a lone Mon Calamari ranger made a suicide run on the Sith transport, crippling it and disconnecting the bridge area from the rest of the vessel. Isen managed to avoid serious injury, but Azard was pinned to his chair. Isen used the Quarren's lightsaber to free him, and smashed one of the vessel's windows with the Force, allowing them to escape. This act surprised Azard, but Isen explained that they were both part of the One Sith and that it was what Krayt would have wanted him to do. The two Sith then swam through the hole Isen had created, escaping the wreckage. The Leviathan they had unleashed upon the Mon Calamari was defeated by the devilsquid, who dragged the beast into the Devil's Crevasse.

Darth Azard and Isen continued to oversee the Sith Imperial occupation of Dac. The pair were contacted by Lord Wyyrlok, the voice of Darth Krayt, who announced that it was time to finish Krayt's order to exterminate the Mon Calamari species. Wyyrlok ordered Isen to execute the Final Protocol, a plan that saw the oceans of the Mon Calamari homeworld Dac poisoned and all of the inhabitants executed within one week. Azard questioned Wyyrlok on the fate of the Quarren and other species on Dac, however, Wyyrlok ordered them to allow the Quarren to leave, but offer them no aid. Isen released the viral spores he had put in place, beginning the poisoning of the planet. Alliance Admiral Gar Stazi responded to the genocide by launching a rescue operation that succeeded in saving twenty percent of the planet's population.

After returning from Dac, Azard and Isen continued their mission of eradicating the Mon Calamari species, leading the First Sith Imperial Strikeforce, which was under the command of Moff Rulf Yage, to Napdu, the fourth moon of Da Soocha. The moon was home to the Hutt crime lord Azzim Anjiliac Atirue, who the Sith suspected was harboring Mon Calamari refugees.

From aboard the Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer War Hammer, Azard and Isen communicated with Atirue via holo, informing him he was charged with giving Mon Calamari refuge on Da Soocha, which the Hutt denied. Cutting the communication, Azard ordered Yage to deploy the strike force's bombers to unleash the same toxin that poisoned Dac upon Da Soocha, before beginning the bombardment of Napdu. The strikeforce began its assault on the moon, destroying most of the moon's population. After the bombardment was completed, stormtroopers were deployed to ensure there were no survivors on the planet. Considering the mission a great victory, the Sith ordered the recall of their forces.

Following up on their success at Napdu, Azard and Isen moved on to the planet Utapau, with Isen establishing a laboratory within one of the worlds many sinkholes. They intended to ensure the native Pau'ans and Utai—who were providing aid to the Alliance and those wounded during the evacuation of Dac—were completely wiped out. Isen also had an agent ready to assassinate Admiral Stazi, who was on Utapau with part of his Alliance armada in orbit. While Isen prepared his poison for Utapau's population, Jedi–turned–bounty hunter Cade Skywalker, the descendant of Grand Master Luke Skywalker, and his former Master Wolf Sazen arrived on Utapau, planning to eliminate the threat Isen posed to the galaxy.

Just as Isen announced his toxin was ready, Skywalker and Sazen launched their attack on the two Sith. Engaging both Skywalker and Sazen, Azard ordered Isen to release the toxin on the planet's population; however, Sazen was able to hold Azard off to allow Skywalker to pursue Isen. As Azard dueled the Jedi Master, the Sith Lord felt the call of Lord Darth Krayt—whom Azard believed to be in stasis due to serious injuries—through the Force. Using Azard's distraction to his advantage, Sazen killed the Sith Lord with a spinning cut from his lightsaber. Meanwhile, Skywalker was able to stop Isen from unleashing his toxin, killing the Sith scientist in the process.

As a member of the One Sith, Darth Azard considered himself a Sith first and not one of his own species. He followed Darth Krayt's commands unquestioningly, believing his Lord's commands were all that a true Sith required. When Azard was working with Sith scientist Vul Isen, tension developed between the two as Azard believed Isen's inquisitive nature was contradictory to the ways of a true Sith, and displayed contempt for any member of the One Sith that was not a Darth. As a result of this view, Azard was surprised when Isen saved him in the wreckage of their shuttle. Azard also demonstrated his ignorance of Sith lore and history, having little knowledge of the Leviathan. While on the planet Utapau, Azard realized Isen was now in command of their mission, much to the Sith Lord's disdain.

Azard was a Quarren with yellow eyes, and like most members of the Order, his face and body were fully covered in red and black Sith tattoos. Darth Azard studied the history of Sith Lord Darth Vader, and held many of the same philosophies particularly in his military command style. He was aggressive and short-tempered, executing subordinates instantly for failure. He was feared by those under his command; Admiral Dru Valan chose suicide over facing the Sith Lord following his failure. He was also arrogant, believing the Imperial Knight Treis Sinde to be beneath his abilities.

Darth Azard was a skilled wielder of the double-bladed lightsaber in combat, using an unusual curved hilt similar to that of Asajj Ventress. He also showed his skill in using his lightsaber with only a single blade during his duel with Imperial Knight Treis Sinde. Despite Sinde being a Master in the Imperial Knights, he was not able to defeat Azard and was saved by an explosion set off by the Rogues.

Apart from his skill with lightsaber, Azard was a proficient wielder of the Force. He was capable of telekinetic uses of the Force such as Force Choke, and like many of the One Sith, was proficient in the use of Force lightning. Darth Azard was also able to sense disturbances in the Force and track them back to their source, as well as invoking the Force to awaken a Sith Leviathan with the help of Vul Isen. Defensively, Azard was able to protect himself from damage by projecting a shield of Force energy around himself.

The character of Darth Azard was created by writer John Ostrander, and first appeared in the twentieth issue of the Star Wars: Legacy series, Indomitable, Part 1, in February 2008. He later appeared in a subsequent issue, The Wrath of the Dragon, and was one of the antagonists of the Fight Another Day story arc in 2009. Azard reappeared in the 47th and 48th issues of the series in 2010, continuing his ongoing story of carrying out the eradication of the Mon Calamari species. In The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia released in 2009, a picture of Azard was included among images of other One Sith Darths. Lord Azard is the third Quarren Sith Lord portrayed in Star Wars: Legacy after Darth Maleval and an unidentified Quarren Sith.

• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Legacy Era Campaign Guide