User:Junta Chan/sandbox

"[...] the ability to transform the flesh of living beings into metal and machinery."

- Hetton

Mechu-deru was a dark side Force power that bestowed an intuitive understanding of mechanical systems upon the user. Invented by the Sith, the technique allowed its practitioners to exert their influence over inanimate and robotic constructs in a variety of ways. Through mechu-deru, mechanized structures could be bound to the will of the user and imbued with the power of the Force itself. The dark side power of mechu-deru also enabled the creation of machine-organic Sithspawn mutants called technobeasts.

The Sith origins of mechu-deru led to its avoidance by members of the Jedi Order, relegating its use to a small number of Jedi tech specialists. Even among the followers of the Sith, mechu-deru was an obscure technique practised by only a few. During the New Sith Wars, the Dark Lord Belia Darzu used her own variant of mechu-deru—dubbed mechu-deru vitae—to create an army of technobeasts by means of a nanogene virus. Centuries later, the secrets of Lord Darzu were discovered by Cronal and Roganda Ismaren, two darksider servants of the Galactic Empire who practised mechu-deru to suit their own goals.

Description
A dark side technique, mechu-deru allowed the user to manipulate mechanical systems through the power of the Force. By means of a specially-designed cybernetic brain implant, it was possible for a Force-sensitive individual to develop a mastery of mechu-deru at an accelerated rate.

Applications
"[Belia Darzu] used this power to create an army of technobeasts: organic-droid hybrids bound to her will."

- Hetton

The application of mechu-deru allowed the user to instinctively comprehend the inner workings of machinery and circuitry. Through mechu-deru, technology could be upgraded to suit a purpose beyond its original intended role. Users were bestowed the ability to convert droids into extensions of their will, overwhelming the internal circuitry of the machines. The droids themselves could also be granted the ability to sense the power of the Force. In addition, mechu-deru was used to combine both the inanimate and the living, allowing the creation of part machine, part organic hybrids known as technobeasts. Using mechu-deru, it was possible to imbue the technobeasts with the dark side of the Force, binding them to the will of their creator. The technique allowed the applicator to rebuild and replace parts of their own body with cybernetics.

Sith invention
"Maggot of metal, rust, and rot. Sith life draws breath, old life does not."

- Incantation of mechu-deru vitae, a variant of mechu-deru

Thousands of years before the Great Sith War, followers of the dark side-worshipping Sith discovered a way to manipulate mechanical structures through the power of the Force, devising a technique known as mechu-deru. Only a small number of Sith actually practised this technique, causing its secrets to fade into obscurity. Nonetheless, the Sith practitioners of mechu-deru used the ability to create hybrids of metal and flesh known as technobeasts.

During a subset of the New Sith Wars called the Sictis Wars, a Dark Lord of the Sith known as Belia Darzu researched mechu-deru alongside the dark side art of Sith alchemy. In doing so, Lord Darzu created a technovirus capable of transforming living organisms into technobeasts of her own. To produce these Sithspawn creatures, Darzu devised and employed an alternative form of mechu-deru called mechu-deru vitae. Using the power of mechu-deru, Darzu imbued the creatures with the dark side, binding an army of them to her will. During her reign, the Dark Lord recorded her knowledge of mechu-deru inside a Sith holocron. The creation of Darzu's technobeasts ended when she was assassinated by the Mecrosa Order, after which her secrets were thought to have been lost.

Years prior to the Ruusan campaign that ended the New Sith Wars, the Sith commonly utilized the DRK-1 Dark Eye, a probe droid with the capacity—granted through mechu-deru—to track Force-sensitive individuals. In the time succeeding the New Sith Wars, the machines were recreated by a Sith Lord known as Darth Maul. In addition, Maul employed the discipline of mechu-deru to modify a protocol droid designated C-3PX, transforming it into an assassination droid.

Jedi avoidance
Compared to the Sith, members of the Jedi Order were less willing to accept the idea of a relationship between technology and the Force. Not wishing the tread the same path as the Sith, the Jedi diverted their attention away from mechu-deru and the study of droids. Despite this, certain members of the Order would still practise the technique of mechu-deru, specifically Jedi Sentinels operating as tech experts. Such specialists were a rarity among the ranks of the Jedi Order, known for their ability to strip down and reassemble various types of technology.

Cronal
"Flesh will be deconstructed into fuel. Machine will be reconstructed into art. Art will transform the galaxy!"

- Cronal



Centuries after the New Sith Wars, a number of Sith scrolls containing the knowledge of Belia Darzu entered the possession of Cronal, a dark side practitioner who served the Galactic Empire. Intending to use the scrolls for his own purposes, Cronal practised mechu-deru during his tenure as the Emperor's Hand, a personal agent of the Galactic Emperor Palpatine. Using his knowledge, Cronal upgraded the thaissen crystals that were installed into the Force detecting devices used by Imperial Jedi hunters. This allowed the devices to determine the Force-sensitivity and alignment of a specific target.

Following Cronal's failed Imperial campaign on the planet Mindor, the Dark Side Adept used mechu-deru to replace most of his body with cybernetics, leaving his head and neck as the only remaining organic parts. Around this time, Cronal spent years experimenting with both mechu-deru and Sith alchemy on the planet Trailia, blending them to form his own method of creation dubbed the Stygian Art. In doing so, Cronal transformed the native inhabitants into technobeasts, eventually travelling away with his creations to the world of Coruscant.

At a later date, Cronal, having fully embraced mechu-deru under the new identity of "Perek", resided on the industrial planet known as Andooweel. While basing his activities in an abandoned droid depot, the Dark Side Adept was pursued by the Jedi Knight known as Luke Skywalker. During a previous encounter with the reborn Emperor Palpatine, Skywalker's own cybernetic hand had been replaced with a new one that was polluted through mechu-deru. While being confronted by Skywalker himself, Cronal infected the circuitry of the Jedi Knight's hand with technobeast nanodroids, hoping to possess him. This attempt backfired, however, when Skywalker's robotic hand turned against Cronal and strangled the Dark Side Adept to death.

The Ismarens
The power of mechu-deru was wielded by Roganda Ismaren —an Imperial adherent and dark side practitioner —along with her son, Irek Ismaren. In the aftermath of Roganda's thwarted scheme against the New Republic, she would somehow acquire a number of Sith scrolls comprising the knowledge of the deceased Dark Lord Belia Darzu. Around this time, Irek was granted an accelerated mastery of mechu-deru by means of a cybernetic brain transplant, the subelectronic converter. With Roganda's newly-gained knowledge of mechu-deru and Irek's proficiency with the power, the pair had the potential to create and unleash a horde of part machine, part organic mutants upon the galaxy.

Behind the scenes
Mechu-deru was first mentioned—albeit as an unidentified Force ability at the time—by George R. Strayton in Tales of the Jedi Companion, a roleplaying supplement published by West End Games in 1996. This reference were later retconned as mechu-deru by author Abel G. Peña. The ability was first identified by its name in "The Lost Art", an adventure seed created by Peña as part of the 2001 article entitled The Emperor's Pawns. The name of mechu-deru was taken from The Essential Guide to Episode I, a cancelled addition to the Essential Guide series. In 2003, mechu-deru was depicted unnamed in Collapsing New Empires, a comic featured in the nineteenth issue of the Star Wars Tales series. This appearance was retconned in the third and final part of The Imperial Warlords: Despoilers of an Empire, a StarWars.com blog series detailing the exploits of a mechu-deru practitioner named Cronal.

Appearances

 * Darth Bane: Rule of Two
 * Darth Plagueis
 * Darth Plagueis