Mandalore system/Legends

"Mandalore must remain a neutral system!"

- Duchess Satine Kryze

The Mandalore system was a star system located within the Mandalore sector of the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories. Positioned in the galactic north-east, the Mandalore system could be found at the galactic grid coordinates O-7. The Mandalore system was comprised of nine planets—Nog, Akaan, Tracyn, Kalevala, Mandalore, Mandallia, Bonagal, Shukut, and Werda—and their numerous moons, all orbiting the star, Mandalore.

Through the Mandallian Giants were originally the system's only sentient inhabitants, the Mandalore system gained its name and notoriety from the Mandalorian Taung, who arrived from Roon to conquer not only the system, but the entire sector of surrounding space. From that point in time onward, the Mandalore system became a powerbase for the Mandalorian warrior culture. Around 730 BBY, the system bore the brunt of a Galactic Republic assault that left Mandalore and portions of the surrounding sector damaged. From this disaster arose the pacifistic New Mandalorian faction, who established a presence on two of the system's worlds, Mandalore and Kalevala. Several hundred years later, in 4 ABY, the Mandalore system came under attack by the Nagai people, who launched assaults on both Mandalore and Mandallia. The Mandalorians were able to repel the Nagai, and later the attacks of the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong, before entering a period of economic resurgence after discovering a large lode of beskar iron on Mandalore.

Description
The Mandalore system was one of several star systems that comprised the Mandalore sector. Located within the Outer Rim Territories, in the north-east region of the galactic plane, the Mandalore system resided at the galactic grid coordinates O-7. Centered around the cognominal star, Mandalore, the Mandalore system consisted of nine planets and their combined total of seventy-three moons. Of the system's nine worlds, Nog, Akaan, Tracyn, Kalevala, Mandalore, and Mandallia were terrestrial, Bonagal and Shukut were large gas giants, and Werda was an ice ball planet located farthest from the system's sun.

History
Long before the establishment of the Galactic Republic, the then nameless Mandalore sector had given rise to a single sentient species, the Mandallian Giants of Mandallia. However, when the Taung—simian Humanoid warriors from the galactic Core World of Coruscant —were forced to flee their homeworld by the Human Battalions of Zhell, they eventually found their way to the uninhabited world in the would-be Mandalore system that they came to call Mandalore, in honor of their leader, Mandalore the First. The Taung also chose to recast themselves as the Mandalorians, or Mando'ade in their language, meaning "Children of Mandalore". Once these warrior nomads had settled their new home and slaughtered the native mythosaurs that had previously dominated the planet, the Mandalorian Taung set out to conquer the worlds in the surrounding system. Their only resistance came from the neighboring Mandallians. These powerful warriors withstood the Mandalorians' assault, earning the respect of their attackers in the process. Because of their prowess, the Mandallians became among the first to fight alongside the Taung and gain equal acceptance in the Mandalorian culture.

As Mandalorian-controlled space grew, the Mandalore system and the planet Mandalore itself were left largely idle as the Mandalorian Crusaders sought new conquests under Mandalore the Indomitable. During the Crusaders' campaign, Mandalore was joined by other star systems such as the Concord Dawn system, the Ordo system, and the Vorpa'ya system, as the Mandalore sector began to take form. Nevertheless, Keldabe—capital city of the planet Mandalore—became the acting center of government for much of Mandalorian space from at least 3,960 BBY onward. The Mandalorians' conquest reached its height during the Mandalorian Wars, an all-out Mandalorian attack against the Galactic Republic initiated by Mandalore the Ultimate. When the wars were brought to a devastating conclusion and Mandalore the Ultimate was slain by the Jedi Knight Revan, many Mandalorian warriors returned to Mandalore and its system.

In the aftermath of the Republic's victory over the New Sith Empire's Brotherhood of Darkness at Ruusan, and the subsequent Republic reformation that marked the end of the New Sith Wars, Mandalorians inhabiting Mandalore elected to remake their society into a more rigid, technologically adept, militant one. The growth in Mandalore's militancy so soon after the war with the Sith alarmed both the Republic and Jedi alike, and unwilling to suffer through a second Mandalorian War, the Jedi led a Republic strike force in a brief and targeted conflict with the Mandalorians around 730 BBY that brought devastation to the Mandalore sector and transformed parts of Mandalore into deserts of white sand. Out of this disaster arose a pacifist sect calling themselves the New Mandalorians; the reformist political faction renounced violence and instead preached peace, neutrality, and tolerance. They used their talents as builders and inventors to create grand cube cities in Mandalore's desert, forging a new society isolated from Mandalore's warrior clans. To the New Mandalorians, Mandalore was known as "New Mandalore", and the peaceful group also moved to establish themselves on the nearby world of Kalevala. A royal bloodline was founded on Kalevala, and the New Mandalorians retained a presence on both worlds in the Mandalore system for centuries after.

Around 60 BBY, not long after the ascension of Jaster Mereel as Mand'alor, the Mandalorian Civil War broke out between Mereel's loyalist True Mandalorians and the radical splinter group Death Watch, led by Tor Vizsla. The civil war drew in Mandalore's full-time army and several prominent clans, yet was fought by two factions that were relatively small in comparison with the overall Mandalorian population, and had little effect on Mandalorian territory beyond the planet Mandalore. It was also around this time that an epidemic of the wirt-cough erupted across the worlds of the Mandalore system, spread through inter-planetary Mandalorian travel.

During the Clone Wars, a pan-galactic conflict between the Galactic Republic and the separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems, the New Mandalorian senator Tal Merrik of Kalevala represented the Mandalore system in the Galactic Senate. However, Merrik was a supporter of the radical Death Watch group who sought to destroy the peaceful New Mandalorian government and take over Mandalore for themselves. In his collaboration with the Death Watch, Merrik was slain while attempting to take the New Mandalorians' leader—Duchess Satine Kryze—hostage, and the Mandalore system was nearly subjected to a Republic occupation in order to pacify the Death Watch threat. It was only the combined effort of Kryze, and the posthumous testimony of New Mandalorian Deputy Minister Jerec before the Galactic Senate, that allowed the Mandalore system to remain free of occupation. However, when Mandalore the Resurrector came to power, he elected to ally Mandalore with the Confederacy, and fought on the Separatists' behalf during several key engagements.

Following the end of the Clone Wars, the Mandalore system came under the eye of the newly established Galactic Empire. After purchasing land from the Mandalorian clans, an Imperial base and garrison was established on Mandalore, within the failed adventure park known as the "City of Bone". Though relations were initially tepid but peaceful, the Empire eventually proved hostile, turning to enslaving the Mandalorians and lording over the Mandalore system and its sector by instilling Grand Admiral Miltin Takel as Imperial overseer. It wasn't until 3 ABY that the Mandalorians under Mand'alor Fenn Shysa, were able to bring an end to the Imperial occupation of their homeworld, and break the Imperial hold over Mandalorian space when they ousted Admiral Takel.

However, more trouble came to the Mandalore system soon after, in the form of Nagai invaders from the satellite galaxy, Companion Besh. The Nagai struck first at Mandallia, where the Mandalorians were able to expel the invaders at a high cost, though they would shortly move on to attack Mandalore. While the Mandalorians were initially defeated, Mand'alor Shysa led his people into a coalition with the Alliance to Restore the Republic in order to take back Mandalore, personally accepting a commission with the fledgling state to aid in the campaign against the Nagai and their own pursuing enemy, the Tof. Once peace had been restored, the Mandalorian Protectors began to live up to their name in more literal capacity: patroling the Mandalore system and its surrounding sector of space, if any hostile ship entered Mandalorian territory, the Protectors would board and capture the vessel, taking it back to Mandalore.

Years of peace followed the conflict with the Nagai, only to be broken by the advent of another extra-galactic invasion, this time by the Yuuzhan Vong race. Though the Mandalorians initially allied with the Vong forces to stall the threat they posed to the Mandalore system and all of Mandalorian space, while secretly seeking to undermine their efforts, the Yuuzhan Vong came to learn of the Mandalorians' treachery and launched an attack on the Mandalore system, specifically targetting Mandalore in retaliation. The battle tolled significant casualties on both sides, with the population of Mandalore being reduced by nearly a third as Mandalore's surface was severely damaged. However, the Mandalorians managed to repel the Vong assault, forcing them to retreat from the system, and earning a reputation as one of the only groups to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong alone.

After the war with the Yuuzhan Vong came to an end and the galaxy was left in peace as the Vong relocated to the living world of Zonama Sekot, the Mandalore system turned to the slow process of recovery. However, true prosperity came only with the discovery of a fresh lode of beskar iron on Mandalore in 40 ABY. With half commissioned for domestic use and the other for commercial sale, Mandalore's economy surged.

Inhabitants
Native to the Mandalore system were the Mandallian Giants of Mandallia. These beings were immense in stature, and covered with scales in shades of green. Mandallians were trained from nearly infancy in several forms of combat, honing powerful martial skills during their lifetimes. The Mandallians' high martial proficiency allowed them to repel the attacks of the Mandalorian Taung who sought to conquer their world and the other planets of the Mandalore system.

The Mandalorians—beginning with the culture's Taung founders, and continuing with the members of countless other species who later joined—have dominated the Mandalore system since approximately 7,000 BBY. A population of around four million individuals lived on Mandalore for much of the world's occupied history, with a significant number of further Mandalorians living on the planet's moon, Concordia, which came to exist as an agricultural settlement and later a base for mining beskar iron ore. The peaceful New Mandalorian faction had established itself within the white-sand deserts of Mandalore, as well as on the neighboring world of Kalevala.

Nog
Nog resided closest to the Mandalore system's star, occupying the first of the system's nine orbits. This close proximity rendered the terrestrial Nog a searing rock of a world. Nog boasted an inhospitably hot climate, and was without any orbiting moons.

Akaan
Akaan occupied the second orbit of the Mandalore system, between the orbits of Nog and Tracyn. Akaan was a barren terrestrial world without an atmosphere, orbited by two moons. The planet's name came from the Mando'a word akaan, meaning "war".

Tracyn
Tracyn circled its star in the Mandalore system's third orbit, placing it between the orbits of Akaan and Kalevala. Tracyn possessed extensive volcanic activity across its terrestrial surface, and a total of four moons. Tracyn took its name from the Mando'a word for "fire".

Kalevala
Kalevala inhabited the fourth orbit of the Mandalore system. A neighbor of the Mandalorians' traditional homeworld, Mandalore, Kalevala was a terrestrial world whose terrain was primarily comprised of a toxic desertscape. Following the rise of the peaceful New Mandalorian faction, Kalevala became home to a number of New Mandalorians. Kalevala produced such luxuries as expensive wines and rich fabrics. It was also the home to the starship manufacturing company, Kalevala Spaceworks.

Mandalore
The fifth planet in the Mandalore system, the planet Mandalore was the adopted homeworld of the multi-species cultural group known as the Mandalorians. A terrestrial world, Mandalore possessed two moons, including the one time mining base and agricultural center, Concordia. Unique to Mandalore and Concordia was beskar iron ore, a nearly indestructible metal used by Mandalorian metalsmiths to forge armor, weapons, and starships. Before the rise of the Mandalorians, Mandalore was dominated by the gigantic mythosaurs, but when the Taung warriors arrived on Mandalore, they set to slaughtering the creatures as part of their conquest of the new world. Native veshok trees covered much of Mandalore's northern hemisphere, and herbivorous animals called shatuals could be found living within the veshok forests, as could the six-legged strills that preyed upon them for food. Forty-five degrees north of Mandalore's equator, sat the city of Keldabe. Since at least 3,960 BBY, Keldabe had served as the capital of Mandalore, and the center of government for much of Mandalorian space, while following the foundation of the New Mandalorian faction, the reformist sect declared the domed city of Sundari, located in one of Mandalore's expansive white-sand desert regions, to be their capital. Most of Mandalore's settlements were built within a heavy fortification that contributed to the ease with which they could be defended from potential invaders, and most roads on Mandalore were rarely straight, designed so as to grant Mandalorians the advantage in ambushing and pinning down hostiles as they traveled.

Concordia
One of two moons of Mandalore, Concordia was an agricultural center turned mining base. The only other known location aside from Mandalore to find the nearly-indestructable beskar iron ore, Concordia's lush forests were devastated by the extensive mining efforts that took place. When the New Mandalorian faction arose on Mandalore, the pacifist sect banished any Mandalorian in their growing society who refused to yield to their reformist ideals to Concordia, where they were left to die out.

Mandallia
The homeworld of the Mandallian Giants, Mandallia occupied the sixth orbit of the Mandalore system, between Mandalore and Bonagal. A terrestrial world, Mandallia possessed a single moon.

Bonagal
Bonagal claimed the seventh orbit around the Mandalore system's star, taking its place between the orbits of Mandallia and Shukut. Bonagal was a gas giant world—one of two in the Mandalore system—and found itself surrounded by a total of thirty four moons.

Shukut
The second of two gas giants within the Mandalore system, Shukut held the eighth orbit within the system, placing it between Bonagal and Shukut. Like Bonagal, Shukut possessed a large number of moons, amassing thirty in total.

Werda
At the farthest edge of the Mandalore system, and occupying its ninth orbit, was the planet Werda. So far from its sun, Werda was a frigid ice ball of a world, and it lacked any orbiting moons. The planet's name came from the archaic Mando'a word werda, which in Basic meant "darkness".

Behind the scenes
"As descent threatens to tear apart the peaceful Mandalore system, Duchess Satine struggles to protect her people against the escalating violence."

- Duchess of Mandalore opening news reel

The Mandalore system has made numerous appearances in Star Wars canon, including several episodes of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series and the multi-novel Republic and Imperial Commando series by author Karen Traviss. Details concerning the system and planets that comprised it, were provided in the 2009 reference book, The Essential Atlas, by Jason Fry and Daniel Wallace.

Appearances

 * Republic Commando: True Colors
 * Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel
 * Imperial Commando: 501st
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
 * Star Wars 99: Touch of the Goddess
 * Boba Fett: A Practical Man
 * Bloodlines
 * Sacrifice
 * Revelation
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
 * Star Wars 99: Touch of the Goddess
 * Boba Fett: A Practical Man
 * Bloodlines
 * Sacrifice
 * Revelation