Mandalorian Wars

"The Mandalorian Wars were a series of massacres that masked another war, a war of conversion. Culminating in a final atrocity that no Jedi could walk away from... save one."

- Kreia



The Mandalorian Wars erupted after two decades of relative peace following the Great Sith War. The conflict was set in motion by the ambitious Mandalore the Ultimate who reconsolidated the Mandalorian clans under the Neo-Crusader banner. Due to contradictory historical accounts from the period, the exact date of the war's beginning would remain a point of contention among historians. The wars could be said to have begun in the year 3,976 BBY as it marked the beginning of Mandalorian aggression, but many published histories tend to emphasize the time period after the Mandalorians invaded the Galactic Republic proper circa 3,963 BBY after which the Republic military and a faction of the Jedi Order entered the war. The wars concluded in 3,960 BBY with the Republic victory at Malachor V. The Mandalorian Wars were widely viewed as a violent prelude to the Jedi Civil War as the two massive conflicts were closely intertwined.

Origins
"He wants to conquer. I believe he feels a burning need even he doesn't understand."

- Aleema Keto



The roots of the Mandalorian Wars lay buried deep in the turmoil of the Great Sith War. At that time, the restless Mandalorian Clans had roamed far from their home world of Mandalore, scouting the known galaxy for worthy foes. In 3,996 BBY, their nomadic wanderings brought them to the Empress Teta System which was at that time ruled by the Krath sect. Upon arrival, their leader Mandalore the Indomitable challenged the Krath's commander, a fallen Jedi turned Sith Lord named Ulic Qel-Droma, to a duel. A bitterly fought melee battle ensued in which Mandalore was eventually defeated.

Impressed by the Krath Lord's prowess as a warrior and perhaps grateful for being spared his life, Mandalore pledged loyalty to Qel-Droma and to Exar Kun his Master, thereby allying the Mandalorian Clans with the Sith – a decision that would forever link the two groups in history. In the the following turbulent years of warfare with the Galactic Republic, the Mandalorians laid waste to countless worlds and earned the enmity of the Republic and its Jedi defenders. Then, in the wayning days of the Great Sith War, as the Brotherhood of the Sith hovered on the very brink of defeat, a fateful battle known as the Fourth Battle of Onderon took place.

Under orders from their Sith masters, the Mandalorians staged a surprise assault against the city dwellers of Iziz. In the skies of Onderon, the native Beast Riders and the Mandalorian's Basilisk war droids fought a frenzied aerial skirmish. Just as the tide had turned in the Mandalorian's favor, Republic reinforcements suddenly arrived in the system. Caught suddenly between the incoming Republic fleet and the Beast Riders, the Mandalorian forces were devastated.



Mandalore ordered a rapid retreat to the moon known as Dxun, believing that he could lose the Republic pursuit in its dense jungles. Unfortunately, whilst withdrawing, a Republic frigate fired upon his droid mount and he crashed into the canopy far from friendly aid. Rising from the wreckage, Lord Mandalore was immediately set upon by a pack of the ravenous Beasts of Dxun and in mere moments, he was torn apart and devoured. Initiating a search of the moon's dangerous forests, the remaining Mandalorian Crusaders scoured the landscape for signs of their leader. In a fateful moment, one shocktrooper stumbled across Mandalore's mask hanging, snagged in a patch of nearby foliage. In accordance with the rules and obligations of his people, he placed the leader's mask upon his head and became the new Mandalore, Mandalore the Ultimate, whose legacy would affect the galaxy for years to come.

Rise of the Neo-Crusaders


From his forward base of operations on Dxun, Mandalore recalled the disparate Clans, but few remained to heed his summons. Not to be deterred, he increased the recruiting of other species into the fold, thereby forming a new generation of Mandalorian warriors known as the Neo-Crusaders. In time, the Mandalorian ranks swelled with warriors from counless worlds. Humans soon made up the majority, but races as diverse as Togorians, Kerestians, and Mandallian Giants were well represented. The term 'Mandalorian' began to signify more than just a species; it now referred to a sect of warriors who defined themselves by their devotion to the Mandalorian ideal of earning honor and glory through combat.

In 3,976 BBY, after being goaded by the remnants of the Sith Empire, Mandalore led his renewed forces in a brutal campaign of conquest along the Outer Rim Territories on the edge of Republic Space. Sacking independent worlds and colonies such as Althir, the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders were able to carve out a clan territory greater than that ruled by the Hutts in the span of little more than a decade.

The Republic Senate initially failed to respond, choosing not to act in the defense of planets outside of the government's borders. The war-weary senators were reluctant to get embroiled in another galaxy spanning conflict. They would take no part unless the Mandalorians threatened to invade the Republic itself. Meanwhile, Mandalore prepared to do just that. He reordered his conquered provinces to better serve as warehouses and foundries for his growing armadas. The Clans grew more powerful than ever before as they accumulated a huge slave labor force and conscripted subject peoples into their ever growing ranks. As world after world fell before their advancing fleets, swarms of refugees began to pour into Republic space – flocking to rich border worlds such as Taris in the hopes of escaping the Mandalorian's wrath.

In 3,963 BBY, the appointed day had come and Mandalore was at last prepared. The invasion of the Republic began with a rapid conquest of nearby Onderon. The Republic subsequently committed forces to combat the Mandalorian incursion, but they were unable to halt their advance. In the midst of the fighting, Mandalore unleashed his long-prepared forces. His fleets poured into Republic Space through three invasion corridors in adjacent quadrants along the Outer Rim, catching the Republic navy completely off-guard. Iridonian colonies along the Outer Rim were some of the first worlds to fall and in response many infuriated Iridonians, including a gifted tech specialist named Bao Dur, enlisted in the Republic military seeking vengeance. Years after, Canderous Ordo would reminisce that in the initial days of the Republic's entry into the war, the Mandalorians believed that its enemy utilized "shameful" defensive tactics, such as placing major military bases within and adjacent to major civilian population centers. The Republic felt that the Mandalorians would not use "appropriate force" against their bases in the major cities. The Mandalorians quickly proved the theory wrong as they completely annihilated such cities with nuclear devices and other weaponry of mass destruction.

The Mandalorian war machine proved to be ruthless, tenacious, and largely unscrupulous – willing to achieve victory regardless of the cost. The Mandalorians revealed their reckless determination in the battles of Serreco, Duro, and Eres III, in which they shocked the galaxy with the sheer carnage they were willing to inflict on worlds that dared to fight back. In the opening battles of the conflict, the Republic armadas proved to be entirely outmatched by the sheer ferocity of the Mandalorian's attacks. Time and again, the Republic navy was soundly beaten, yet the Jedi Council refused the Republic's desperate pleas for aid. Though the youngest members of the Order were eager to combat the Mandalorians, the Masters would not allow it. They sensed that some unknown hand was at work behind the new war.

The Jedi intervene
The Battle of Cathar would change everything. Under the leadership of Cassus Fett, Mandalore the Ultimate's greatest tactician, the world of Cathar was conquered and the Cathar species was enslaved and massacred. Later, it would be theorized that the flagrant attack was truly planned by the remaining Sith and calculated to draw the Jedi into the conflict. The gamble paid off. Spurred by the genocide of the Cathar, the young and charismatic Jedi Knights Revan and Malak defied the Council and led a faction of the Jedi to war.

The two Jedi proved to be extremely capable commanders in the field and they rose swiftly through the ranks. Soon, they were given direct control over one-third of the entire Republic fleet. Revan used his new-found authority to spearhead the Republic war effort and under his ingenious leadership, the all-but-defeated Republic Navy began to push the Mandalorians back. To the Jedi Masters, however, Malak and Revan were only offering easy solutions to the galaxy's problems and they feared that much woe would result from their recklessness.



Once Revan took control of the Republic forces, he proved himself to be one of the finest tactical minds in galactic history. In numerous desperate engagements, he simply outthought and outmaneuvered the Mandalorians on the ground and in space. Revan's keen tactical abilities completely turned the Republic's war effort around, but he did not achieve such success without paying a price. As the war dragged on, Revan began to take certain moral shortcuts – committing several "unsavory" acts, such as leaving "non-strategic" planets completely undefended in order to accomplish the "greater goal" of speedily winning the war. Revan and Malak adapted to their enemies' merciless tactics, fighting fire with fire, and in time, they developed a cold and calculating dispostition uncharacteristic of Jedi. They grew to despise weakness and indecisiveness in all its forms. Though Revan’s tactics were flawless and Malak’s righteous fury was unmatched, the pair slowly began to mirror the merciless Mandalorians they were fighting.

Republic forces took enormous casualties throughout the war. For instance, in the Second Battle of Dxun they lost as many as ten soldiers for every Mandalorian killed, but Revan's leadership managed to carry them through victory after victory. He pushed the Mandalorians back to Taris and beyond, off of Dxun and Onderon and back into Mandalorian space. Even Cassus Fett's stunning victory at the Battle of Jaga's Cluster could not turn the momentum back in the Mandalorian's favor. Pursuing the roving Mandalorian fleets, Revan ventured into territories outside the Republic's borders. In an effort to draw them out, his forces assaulted the Mandalorian regime on Althir, and in the resulting battle much of the remaining Mandalorian army was decimated.

The war ends
During the war, Revan visited the ancient Sith world of Malachor V while scouting for new outposts along the embattled Outer Rim. He had learned that the planet was anethema to the Mandalorians and wished to know the reason why. Upon landing on its surface, he was nearly destroyed by the resonance of ancient Sith power. He managed to survive the encounter through sheer force of will but he did not escape unscathed. The dark side beckoned and Revan fell under its influence. While unearthing the planet's buried secrets, Revan discovered evidence that the ancient Sith still existed beyond the boundaries of known space and continued to pose a threat to the Galaxy.

A plan soon took shape in Revan's mind, a way to end the war before the Galaxy was too far weakened by the conflict. In the year 3,960 BBY, Revan forced a final confrontation with the Mandalorians above Malachor V. He deployed a massive fleet to the planet consisting mostly of those whose loyalties to himself were in doubt. In utter secrecy, Revan had prepared a superweapon known as the "Mass Shadow Generator," designed by the Zabrak engineer Bao-Dur. Overseeing the device's use was the capable and jaded Jedi General (later known as the Jedi Exile) who had commanded the recent bloody battle on Dxun.

Revan lured the Mandalorians to the cursed planet and during the battle he drew upon the Sith energies haunting the surface below to manipulate the Jedi fighting in orbit. One by one, he overpowered them and drew them to the dark side. As the frenzied battle continued, Revan and Mandalore met amdist the swhirling chaos and the corrupted Jedi struck the great Mandalorian leader down in single combat. Meanwhile, as the fighting grew intense, his Jedi general gave the command to Bao-Dur to activate the secret weapon. The Jedi watched as a large portion of both fleets were drawn from orbit into a vast gravity vortex powerful enough to crush the countless ships into the planet's crust and fracture the world to its very core.

After slaying Mandalore the Ultimate and winning the war with a sweeping victory at Malachor V, Revan and Malak were hailed as heroes and saviours of the Republic, yet at that time, the Sith teachings were already sweeping through the ranks of those who had followed the young Jedi to war. Soon after, they led the remainder of their forces into the Unknown Regions under the pretense of tracking down the remaining Mandalorians. They did not come back and sent no word of their whereabouts. In time, the Republic feared them lost in some tragic disaster.

Aftermath
Few ships from either fleet survived the battle of Malachor V, but the Mandalorian sustained the worst damage and the highest casualties. Their armadas were almost entirely wiped out. The few shell-shocked survivors rapidly transmitted their unconditional surrender. After the battle, Revan had a singular chance to end the threat of the Mandalorians once and for all, but he chose not to do so. It may be that he had future plans in mind for the legendary warriors, but in any case, he simply disarmed and disbanded the Clans and allowed them to scatter in disheartened groups across the Outer Rim. There, devoid of leadership and honor, they degenerated. Many humbled their pride and became Mercenaries for hire while others became outright bandits in a futile attempt to bring back the glory days. Yet, the majority of the Mandalorians did not blame Revan for their post-war troubles. Revan had beaten them at their own game and so had earned their hightest respect.



The Jedi general who had triggered the superweapon that had brought the war to its cataclysmic conclusion proved incapable of withstanding the psychic backlash of the terrible destructive energies he had unleashed. Sealing himself away from the dying screams of friend and foe, he lost all connection with the Force. The one known as the Exile was the only Jedi out of all those who had followed Revan to turn from the dark side and return to the Jedi Council on Coruscant. There, the young Jedi was charged with following Revan to war in rebellion against the Council and for that crime he was exiled from the Jedi Order, but the Jedi Master's true reasons for such an extreme sentence would remain hidden. They feared the hole within the Force that the rogue Jedi had created within himself and the failings in their own teachings that had led him down that path. Upon hearing his sentence, the Exile defiantly stabbed his lightsaber into the centerstone of the Jedi Council chamber, stalked out of the room, and fled from known space.

In 3,959 BBY, one year after their disappearance, the lost heros Revan and Malak suddenly returned to the Galactic Republic at the head of a massive Sith invasion fleet. The Jedi and Republic soldiers had abandoned their old loyalties and become conquering Sith. So began the Jedi Civil War.

Battles

 * First Battle of Althir
 * First Battle of Onderon
 * First Battle of Dxun
 * Battle of Flashpoint Station
 * First Battle of Suurja
 * Second Battle of Suurja
 * Third Battle of Suurja
 * Fourth Battle of Suurja
 * Battle of Vanquo
 * Battle of Serroco
 * Battle of Cathar
 * First Battle of Taris
 * Battle of Iridonia
 * Battle of Dagary Minor
 * Battle of Eres III
 * Battle of Duro
 * Second Battle of Althir
 * Second Battle of Taris
 * Battle of Jaga's Cluster
 * Second Battle of Onderon
 * Second Battle of Dxun
 * Battle of Malachor V

Galactic Republic

 * Revan
 * Malak
 * Saul Karath
 * Jedi Exile
 * Derred
 * Mon Halan
 * Cede
 * Forn Dodonna
 * Bao-Dur
 * Carth Onasi
 * Arren Kae
 * Vaklu
 * Xaart

Mandalorians

 * Mandalore the Ultimate
 * Cassus Fett
 * Canderous Ordo
 * Jagi
 * Bralor
 * Ergeron
 * Dhagon Ghent
 * Xor

Appearances

 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Flashpoint