Battle of Cathar

"Unspeakable cruelty. Pain. The death of a species, boiled away in the sea."

- Ferroh

The Battle of Cathar was the second battle of the Mandalorian Wars before the Mandalorians invaded the Galactic Republic, as the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders under the leadership of Mandalore the Ultimate conquered worlds just outside of the Republic space. It resulted in the virtual extinction of the Cathar species.

Prelude
"My people had a great reputation as warriors... and that appealed to the Mandalore version of 'honor'. They sought to test themselves against us, I think... test themselves by bombing our world, slaughtering my people while they slept or while they ran."

- Juhani

During the Great Sith War, the Mandalorians, led by Mandalore the Indomitable, sided with the Sith, led by Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma. The Mandalorians ravaged many worlds under Qel-Droma's command. But the Cathar species were able to stand against the Mandalorians, and aided the Republic and Jedi in repulsing the Sith and Mandalorians. By the war's end, the Mandalorian numbers had been severely reduced.

Mandalore the Ultimate, Mandalore the Indomitable's successor, rebuilt the Mandalorians by not just reuniting the surviving Taungs, but opening membership to other species. Under his leadership, the Mandalorians became stronger. When the Sith suggested they invade the Republic, saying it would be a battle that would be remembered forever, the Mandalorians eagerly agreed.

To prepare for their invasion of the Republic, the Mandalorians began conquering planets outside Republic space. Meanwhile, the Mandalorians remembered the dishonor they had suffered at the hands of the Cathar during the war with Exar Kun. Because of this grudge, Cathar became one of their earliest targets. Cassus Fett, Mandalore's prime strategist, was assigned to lead the attack.

Battle
"They swooped down from space across the world, firing at anything that moved. They used ships in space to destroy all orbital facilities and bombard the surface. We did resist, and in spite of their violent attack we did stave them off for quite a while. But in the end we were doomed&hellip;"

- Juhani

The Mandalorians' attack caught the Cathar people completely off guard. Their military forces converged from space, bombarding the surface, first destroying all interstellar communications relays and orbital spacedock facilities, and then descending to the surface and slaughtering most of the planetary population while they slept or as they fled. Cassus Fett's Basilisk war-mounts decimated the more primitive Cathar settlements.

However, because they had stood against the Mandalorians in the past, the Cathar realized why they'd truly been targeted, and that there would be no mercy for their species or their world in the end. And because the Cathar were not members of the Galactic Republic, they were left to fend completely for themselves. Near the end of the battle, Cassus herded the surviving Cathar into the ocean and ordered that they be killed. One Mandalorian objected, saying the Cathar had already been defeated. But Cassus said the battle was about revenge, and he intended to kill all Cathar on the planet. He then gave the order to have the remaining Cathar killed, and the Mandalorian who objected died with them.

The final act of the Cathar race was to pack the last able-bodied survivors who were able to withstand spaceflight into what few ships remained, sending them off into the void as quickly as possible. Juhani's family escaped aboard one of these refugee flights, and landed on Taris. The Cathar species itself, though, was nearly rendered extinct as a consequence of the genocide of Cathar.

Aftermath
"Our interstellar communications were the first things the Mandalores hit. All other short-range communicators were jammed... we were on our own. We knew what was coming. We had fought the Mandalorians in the first war against Exar Kun and the Sith. We knew there would be no mercy for us. The most we could do was pack the few of our people who survived onto what few ships remained and send them off into space as fast as they could. Most did not make it."

- Juhani

The Mandalorians eventually invaded the Republic. The Republic was constantly slammed by the Mandalorians. The Jedi Order, however, refused to enter the war because the Jedi Council thought there was an unseen threat that was more dangerous than the Mandalorians.

This changed in 3,963 BBY. The Revanchists, a group of Jedi who wanted to enter the war, came to Cathar to find proof of the Mandalorians' atrocities. The Jedi Council sent a team of loyal Jedi, led by Council member Vrook Lamar, to confront them and order them to disband. Soon after that, the Revanchists' leader, found a discarded Mandalorian mask. All the Jedi present then received a vision of the battle, proving the Mandalorians had virtually wiped out the Cathar. Outraged at what he had seen, the Revanchists' leader, who took the name Revan, swore he wouldn't rest until the Mandalorians had been defeated. The Council, meanwhile, sanctioned the Revanchists' actions, but still condemned them. The knowledge of the battle proved to be the catalyst that convinced many Jedi to join Revan.

After the end of the Mandalorian Wars, Cathar began to resettle their world and by the time of the Galactic Civil War, it had fully recovered from the damage the Mandalorians had done.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 42: Masks
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 49: Demon, Part 3
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Notes and references
Schlacht von Cathar Batalla de Cathar Battaglia di Cathar Catharin taistelu