Battle of Sundari

"We meet again, Kenobi! Welcome to my world!"

- Darth Maul

A battle was fought in the city of Sundari, capital of the New Mandalorian faction on Mandalore around 20 BBY between the Shadow Collective led by the Sith Lord Darth Maul and the Nite Owls, led by Bo-Katan. In addition to this, the battle drew the attention of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Sith Master Darth Sidious.

Prelude
"I claim this sword, and my rightful place as leader of Death Watch!" "Never! No outsider will ever rule Mandalore!" "If you will not join me, you will all die." "You're all traitors!" "Unfortunately for you, history will not see it that way. ''Execute them!"

- Darth Maul and Bo-Katan Kryze

In the year 20 BBY, New Mandalorian territory throughout the deserts of Mandalore, in which the pacifistic people made their home, was overrun by the criminal assembly known as the Shadow Collective. Across the New Mandalorians' capital city, Sundari, gangsters from Black Sun, the spice-dealing Pyke Syndicate, and the Hutt Cartels gunned down police officers and civilians alike in order to cause panic. At the height of the people's desperation, the renegade Mandalorian group known as the Death Watch came forward to defend the New Mandalorians against the offworld crime lords; unknown to the public, Death Watch was secretly in league with the criminals besieging Sundari, having forged an alliance with their leader, the Sith Lord Darth Maul, in order to topple the New Mandalorian government. Throughout the city, Death Watch systematically defeated and arrested the aggressors, winning the favor of the New Mandalorian populous. With the will of the people on their side, Death Watch marched into the Sundari Royal Palace and there, the group's leader Pre Vizsla deposed the ruler of the New Mandalorians, Duchess Satine Kryze. Kryze, Prime Minister Armatan, and the other New Mandalorian leaders were imprisoned, while Vizsla replaced the former duchess as Mand'alor, the traditional ruler of the Mandalorians.

Vizsla's reign proved short, however. With his own goals met, Death Watch's commander turned upon his Sith ally, and had both Darth Maul and his Sith apprentice Savage Opress jailed. Maul had foreseen Vizsla's betrayal, and planned for it: easily freeing themselves from their cell, within the prison's walls the two Sith came across the former New Mandalorian Prime Minister, Almec, who had been arrested on charges of corruption. Selecting Almec as a suitable replacement for Vizsla in his schemes, Maul broke free of the prison and stormed the Royal Palace, where he challenged Vizsla to a duel for the right to lead. Honor-bound by the ancient codes Death Watch and Vizsla venerated, the Mandalorian leader engaged the Sith Lord in a furious battle throughout the throne room, though he ultimately could not match Darth Maul's prowess. Vizsla was slain, and Maul proclaimed himself to be the Mand'alor and leader of Death Watch, yet he was not met with unanimous approval: Vizsla's lieutenant, Bo-Katan Kryze, refused to follow a non-Mandalorian, and she fled the palace with a squad of other like-minded soldiers amidst a hail of blasterfire. Almec was instituted as the new Prime Minister, a puppet ruler to who would publicly lead in the place of Darth Maul, while the Sith Lord remained in the shadows, unknown to the populous.

Early skirmishes
"Get the Duchess clear!"

- Bo-Katan Kryze, while under fire from Darth Maul loyalists

Weeks after Darth Maul's rise to power, Bo-Katan was able to infiltrate the prison where Satine—her estranged sister—was being held. Together with her nephew Korkie Kryze and a group of his close friends, Bo-Katan freed Satine and rushed her to a waiting Buirk'alor-class airspeeder, intending to flee the city escorted by a cadre of Death Watch soldiers still loyal to Bo-Katan. Not far from the prison complex, however, the airspeeder was spotted by one of the Mandalorian super commandos loyal to Maul and quickly came under attack. A brief shootout ensued between the two groups of Mandalorian warriors, with Bo-Katan staying behind to stave off the attackers while Korkie continued onward toward Sundari's outer docks. Despite the efforts of Death Watch to stall the Maul loyalists, the speeder shuttling the former Duchess Kryze was struck and damaged by blasterfire, necessitating a crash landing at the docks. In the midst of a firefight between her nephew's friends and the super commandos that had pursued her to the docks, Kryze transmitted a request for aid to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant in the hope that it might reach her friend and one-time lover, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Kryze was shortly surrounded and recaptured, taken back to her cell at the prison, though her message would indeed find its way to the intended recipient.

With word of the criminal takeover on Mandalore, Obi-Wan Kenobi set out for Mandalore; alone and acting without support from the Galactic Republic due to Mandalore's status as a neutral system, Kenobi arrived at Sundari aboard an old freighter borrowed from his former Padawan, Anakin Skywalker. Stealing a suit of Mandalorian armor from one of Maul's soldiers, Kenobi sneaked into the city and infiltrated the prison where Satine Kryze was being held, freeing the deposed leader from her cell and stealing a Balutar-class swoop bike on which the two then made their escape. Pursued by a Maul-loyalist commandos, as Kenobi and Kryze reached the docks they hastily boarded Kenobi's waiting starship, and made use of its onboard laser cannons to defend against the Mandalorian attackers as they lifted off. Once in the air, however, the ship was struck by a pair of missiles fired by the enemy soldiers, causing it to crash and both Kryze and Kenobi to be violently ejected onto the docks while attempting to jump clear of the wreckage. Subdued by the arrival of Darth Maul at the docks, Kenobi and Kryze were taken back into custody and delivered to the Royal Palace. There, intent to make Kenobi suffer for the wounds he had sustained at the Jedi's hands nearly a decade prior, Maul murdered Kenobi's former lover before his eyes and left the Jedi Master to mourn Kryze's death on his way to prison, preferring to let Kenobi live with his pain than kill him outright.

Conflict escalates
"Sorry, I don't believe we've met. You are...?" "Bo-Katan. I'm here to rescue you. That's all you need to know."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bo-Katan Kryze

As Obi-Wan Kenobi was being transported to Sundari's prison, his team of guards came under attack by Bo-Katan Kryze and a unit of the faction of Death Watch that refused to surrender to Darth Maul's authority. One by one, the Sith loyalists were killed in a brief skirmish, and Kryze freed Kenobi, offering him a jetpack to make use of in order to escape Sundari. Shortly after taking off from the prison, Kenobi's escort were assaulted by a pursuing unit of Maul's soldiers; Kryze's troops formed a rear guard, firing backward onto the attackers as the in-flight battle reached an egress to Sundari's outer docks. There, Kenobi, Kryze, and her soldiers elected to make a stand, landing and opening fire on the super commandos from solid ground. Several members of Kryze's Nite Owls—a unit of soldiers handpicked by the Death Watch lieutenant —primed gauntlet-mounted portable energy shields to defend themselves, while another struck at their foes with a jetpack-launched missile. Suffering losses as quickly as they were inflicting them, Maul's warriors moved to close the gap between themselves and Kryze's troops, and the fight quickly turned to a close-quarters melee from which Kryze's soldiers emerged victorious.

Pushing out of the city and onto Sundari's docks, Kryze and Kenobi found themselves in the midst of a larger battle between the portion of the Death Watch that had sided with Bo-Katan, and the others who had pledged their service to Darth Maul. Across the docks, Mandalorians clashed with blaster rifles and fists in equal measure, as Kom'rk-class fighters battled in the skies over Sundari. One of the Kom'rk fighters slowed to a halt over the docks, decanting Death Watch soldiers equipped with jetpacksfrom the ship's ventral drop bay to aid Kryze's ground forces, only for the vessel to be shot out of the air moments later by their former comrades. While Mandalorians on both sides flew overhead, trading blaster shots and striking their enemies with their armored bodies, Kryze rushed Obi-Wan Kenobi to the docks edge and a waiting Kom'rk fighter prepared to take the Jedi Master offworld. In their final moments together, Kenobi deduced Bo-Katan's familial relationship with his deceased former lover and offered his condolences. Kryze, in turn, advised Kenobi to inform the Republic of Maul's presence on Mandalore, preferring the prospects of a Republic invasion over allowing a Sith Lord to rule the New Mandalorians. With those last words, Kenobi boarded the transport and was taken from Sundari, leaving Kryze behind to continue the fight.

Showdown in the Palace
"Remember, the first and only reality of the Sith: there can only be two. And you are no longer my apprentice. You have been ''replaced."

- Darth Sidious taunting Darth Maul

In the middle of the battle, a starship landed at the docks, and Darth Sidious himself exited the vessel, using the Force to choke two Mandalorian soldiers that were to deny him to go any further. Sidious had arrived at Mandalore with the intention of confronting Maul and Opress, having sensed their presence on the planet via a disturbance in the Force. Sidious proceeded to a speeder which took him straight to the palace.

There, he confronted Darth Maul and Savage Opress. With two lightsabers, Sidious dueled the two brothers in the palace. Eventually, Sidious was strained only once in the duel, but he managed to kill Opress by impaling him. He allowed Maul to rush to Opress' side, and the two watched as Opress withered back to his original form, with Talzin's energies leaving him. In addition to this, Sidious soon gained the upper hand and he managed to subdue Maul and subject him to Force lightning. Maul begged Sidious for mercy, with Sidious replying that there was no mercy, and continued to unleash lightning on Maul, citing that he was replaced by another. However, he did indicate that he wouldn't kill Maul, as he had other plans in store for his former apprentice.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy