Sliro Barsha

Biography

Early life

Sliro's childhood was spent as a member of the affluent Barsha family, prominent Corellian industrialists. His father viewed him as a disappointment, favoring his brother, Jaylen Vrax, as the designated heir to the Barsha family legacy. The burden of expectations and the constant feeling of being underestimated by his family created a challenging upbringing for Sliro, fostering a deep-seated animosity towards his father and brother.

Revenge and promotion

Following the conclusion of the Clone Wars, the Barsha family was poised to secure a lucrative contract for Star Destroyer production for the newly formed Galactic Empire, potentially elevating them to the most influential family on Corellia. However, Sliro fabricated accusations against his family, claiming they were plotting against Emperor Palpatine. In exchange for this fabricated service, he was appointed as a Director in the Imperial Security Bureau. Around this time, he programmed BX-series droid commando ND-5 to eliminate every member of the Barsha family. However, his brother Vrax managed to reprogram ND-5, using him as his bodyguard and embarking on a mission to locate Sliro and exact revenge for his family's demise. During his tenure as Director of the ISB, his identity remained largely unknown, with only his shadow visible when he appeared in hologram communications.

Undercover crimelord

Sliro Barsha ascended through the ISB hierarchy, and after the Battle of Hoth, he was tasked with establishing a specialized unit disguised as an underworld syndicate. This unit was intended to provoke a response from the Rebellion, which was known to employ smugglers and criminals for its operations, especially after Captain Amilyn Holdo was sent to forge alliances with the criminal element to replenish supply chains during and following Operation Starlight. The primary objective of this division, named Zerek Besh, was to pinpoint the Rebellion's location, enabling Commander Ellian Zahra and her Hunter Fleet and raider crew to dismantle its fleet divisions and capture its leadership, as Sith warlord Darth Vader sought his son, Jedi Commander Luke Skywalker. Barsha assumed the role of "crime lord," taking command of the Zerek Besh.

Within a matter of weeks, the syndicate rapidly expanded its influence and activities. Fueled by millions of Imperial credits from the ISB's clandestine budget, the Zerek Besh quickly became a formidable competitor to established criminal organizations like Crimson Dawn, solidifying Barsha's reputation as one of the most infamous crime lords in the galaxy. He maintained a private resort, Westhill Palace, on Canto Bight, and secretly amassed information on Imperial assets, installations, and callsigns, which he compiled into a codex secured in his vault, unbeknownst to his superiors.

Syndicate War

In 3 ABY, the Syndicate War commenced as part of Crimson Dawn's leader Lady Qi'ra's scheme to eradicate the Sith. Due to his position as the supposed leader of a major syndicate, Barsha was uniquely positioned to observe the events unfolding in the underworld. He was summoned to Coruscant by Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine to provide insights into the conflict's origins. Barsha explained that the crime lords believed Palpatine was seeking a replacement criminal syndicate for the Hutt Clan to form an alliance with the Empire after their Council’s unexpected betrayal when they attacked Vader’s flagship when he tried to take his son’s friend Captain Han Solo from Crimson Dawn, and understood the mastermind behind the rumor to be Crimson Dawn.

Hunting Kay Vess

At some point during that year, Barsha apprehended a rebel operative, Asara Deyn, whom he suspected of being a spy sent by one of the syndicates to infiltrate his palace. Inviting representatives from the Pyke Syndicate, Crimson Dawn, and the Hutt Clan to his palace, he announced that while the Galactic Civil War raged on, the underworld stood to gain, before accusing his guests of sending a spy into his residence. After displaying a hologram of Deyn, the Pyke representative denied the accusation, reminding Barsha that the Zerek Besh had been raiding the Pykes' spice routes, to which the Hutt enforcer countered that the spice routes belonged to the Hutt Cartel. Barsha then recounted an incident from his childhood, where Jayden frequently deprived him of food at dinner, noting that the Weequay seemed to exhibit similar behavior. The Pyke representative failed to grasp the point of his anecdote, while the Crimson Dawn agent criticized Barsha for what appeared to be a failed attempt at forming a partnership. However, the crime lord calmly clarified that he was hungry for power before his enforcers executed his guests.

Westhill Palace was later infiltrated by Canto Bight criminal Kay Vess who was hired by Alliance undercover operative Dennion as part of a crew they were putting together to rescue Asara Deyn from Barsha's mansion under the pretext of an inter-syndicate vendetta robbery. Vess successfully infiltrated one of Barsha's vaults, but upon discovering that it contained no credits, she demanded the promised payment upfront. Deyn and Dennion attempted to reason with her, but Vess threatened them with her blaster. In response, Dennion stunned her and fled, leaving her to be discovered by Barsha and the Zerek Besh. Finding Deyn missing and Vess alone in the vault, Barsha interrogated her about her Rebel contact, but Vess escaped with the assistance of her pet merqaal Nix, trapping Barsha in the vault where he had held Deyn. Despite being pursued by Westhill security, Vess reached Barsha's private hangar and commandeered his EML 850 light freighter, the Trailblazer, escaping Cantonica.

Enraged by Deyn and Vess' escape and the loss of his personal shuttle, Barsha used his authority as the head of the Zerek Besh to place a death mark on her. He also contracted the assassin Vail Tormin to personally track down Vess and either return her to him or eliminate her. Tormin managed to locate Vess on the moon Toshara, where the Trailblazer had crashed, but she was ambushed by ND-5, who abducted Vess. Barsha expressed his disappointment with Tormin's failure and threatened to "discard" her, just as his family had done with the EMLs they manufactured, if she failed to fulfill her task.

Meanwhile, Kay Vess, now collaborating with Barsha's brother Vrax, was assembling a crew across the galaxy with the intention of robbing his main vault and stealing his entire Zerek Besh fortune. During one of these missions, Vess and Tormin temporarily joined forces to expose one of Barsha's spies planted in Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine. Upon learning of his spy's execution, Barsha traveled to Tatooine to meet with majordomo Bib Fortuna, whom Jabba dispatched in his stead. Barsha explained that he intended for the spy to be discovered to understand the weaknesses of Jabba's security based on how long it would take them to find him, and proposed a deal: Fortuna would provide him with all the information he had on Kay Vess, and Barsha would assist him in expanding his influence to succeed Jabba as the leader of his empire.

Sometime later, Barsha journeyed to an ISB space station where he contacted Vail again. The assassin complained that her straightforward mission to capture Kay Vess had become significantly more complicated due to her mark's involvement in something substantial. However, when she declared her intention to abandon her mission, Barsha simply stated that if she chose to do so, he would recoup his losses by seizing the fortune she had hidden on Niamos, compelling Vail to comply.

As he began to admire his collection of weapons, just then, Darth Vader arrived at the facility to personally announce Emperor Palpatine's displeasure with the Zerek Besh's failure to uncover any significant rebel networks despite the massive resources they collected from the Empire to do so. Barsha tried to argue that the syndicate successfully infiltrated the underworld and done more in weeks than the Imperial Military failed to do during the Galactic Civil War, reminding how their "mindless show of force" allowed the rebel fleet to escape Hoth. Losing his patience with Barsha's posturing, Vader shattered the glass in Barsha's office and pointed the pieces at him, giving him one last chance to find the rebels, for the Emperor was waiting.

Unbeknownst to both, Kay Vess had infiltrated the facility to steal Barsha's master key and had witnessed the confrontation, discovering Barsha's true allegiance. Upon returning to Vrax, she and Riko Vess confronted him before the rest of the crew, forcing him to admit that he knew Barsha was an Imperial but the money they would be stealing from him was still enough to cover the increased risk.

Vail's betrayal

The crew agreed and they proceeded with the robbery, successfully infiltrating Westhill and the vaults. However, after opening the main vault, the Zerek Besh ambushed them. Barsha, accompanied by Vail, emerged after the initial waves of attackers were defeated, remarking that he never thought he'd get the opportunity to claim his own death mark. Ignoring Vess' taunt to take her himself, Barsha ordered Vail to kill her. Vail, however, eliminated his enforcers and turned her weapon on him, choosing to side with Vess for a share of the loot. Shocked, Barsha reminded Vail and the crew that killing an ISB Director would have dire consequences for them and their families. Vail simply knocked him unconscious, stating that she didn't want his death on her conscience, before joining Vrax's crew and stealing the memory core containing all of Barsha's stolen Imperial information.

Failure and death

Barsha was subsequently summoned to the Star Destroyer Revelator, much to his dismay. As he was about to enter a turbolift that would transport him to the bridge, an approaching stormtrooper, secretly Kay Vess in disguise, informed one of his escorts that he was relieved. An impatient Barsha complied with Vess' deception and dismissed the other stormtrooper, allowing Vess to join him.

Upon arriving on the bridge, Barsha was greeted by a hologram of Darth Vader, who was aware that he had suffered a security breach. The ISB Director attempted to dismiss it as a personal matter, but Vader expressed his dissatisfaction that he had allowed the theft of sensitive Imperial intelligence, thus rendering him useless to the Emperor. Barsha then turned to see Jaylen Vrax, ND-5, and a captive Asara Deyn standing behind him as Vader informed Vrax that the Empire had accepted his terms.

As the Revelator jumped to hyperspace to the coordinates of the Akivan rebel base Vrax provided, a stunned Barsha asked his elder brother what terms Vader was referring to. Vrax answered that in exchange for both the Akivan rebels and the return of the codex, he'd control of Zerek Besh and would be free to do with Barsha as he pleased. Barsha nervously assumed Vrax informed Vader that they're brothers but was told it was an irrelevant detail. The ISB Director condemned his brother for undermining him only to be reminded of his own betrayal of their family, to which he responded shamelessly and reminded that Vrax always made him feel inferior. Vrax then declared that for destroying their family's empire, he's going to take the one Barsha had built himself. He then reintroduced Barsha to ND-5, the droid originally meant to kill every last Barsha, whom the ISB director remarked had a new scar on his chest. Before Barsha could speak again, Vrax ordered ND-5 to shoot him in the chest, ending the Director's life.

Personality & traits

Sliro Barsha possesses a cold and ruthless demeanor. When dealing with subordinates, such as Kay Vess or the syndicate representatives, he prefers to delegate their executions to his underlings, avoiding direct involvement in the violence. As an ISB director, Barsha held his position in high regard, believing that his strategies were crucial to securing victory in the Galactic Civil War.

However, beneath his exterior, Barsha harbored resentment stemming from his older brother Jaylen's mistreatment of him during their youth. He would occasionally recall anecdotes from his past. Having developed a deep-seated hatred for his family, Barsha had no qualms about betraying and ruining them to advance his own interests.

Behind the scenes

Sliro Barsha made his debut appearance in the fifth issue of the 2021 comic miniseries Star Wars: Crimson Reign. The issue was authored by Charles Soule, illustrated by Steven Cummings, and published by Marvel Comics on June 22, 2022. Prior to the issue's release, the director was revealed in a preview article of the issue released on StarWars.com on June 15 of the same year. Barsha's actual appearance was obscured by shadows in the issue, appearing just as a black silhouette from the shoulders up; his finalized appearance was eventually featured in the 2024 video game Star Wars Outlaws, where he serves as a major antagonist and was given the first name of Sliro. He was portrayed by Caolan Byne.