Mandalorian Wars

From the Encyclopedia of Speculative Fiction - http://encyclopedia.wizards.pro

The Mandalorian Wars began around 3,963 BBY, and were concluded around 3,960 BBY. They were fought between expansionist Mandalorian forces active in the Outer Rim and the Galactic Republic, which feared further incursions. The Mandalorian Wars were a prelude to the Jedi Civil War.

Origin

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A blue armored Neo-Crusader

The Mandalorians were a clan-based warrior culture known for their advanced weaponry, incredible training, and unmatched tenacity in combat.

The Mandalorian Wars started after remnants of the Sith Empire urged the Mandalorian clans, who had conquered many Outer Rim worlds, to invade Republic space. The Mandalorians first conquered Dxun, a moon of Onderon. The Republic would not face the invaders, so the Mandalorian leader Mandalore the Ultimate began ruthless attacks on helpless civilians on the planet Onderon. The Republic subsequently committed forces against the Mandalorians, but were unable to stop their advance.

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The Jedi Intervene

Despite appeals from the Republic, the Jedi Council was reluctant to intervene. The Council believed that the true threat had yet to reveal itself, and thus forbade the Jedi to go to war. Two young Jedi, Revan and Malak, decided to take action, calling for support from the ranks of Jedi who considered the Council to be making a mistake. Many Jedi Knights answered this call to follow the ingenious, charismatic Revan. The Republic eagerly accepted this rogue support, and so the war truly began.

During 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 miltary bases within and adjacent to major civilian population centers. The Jedi felt that the Mandalorians would not use "appropriate force" against their bases in the major cities...a theory proven fatally wrong when the complete annihilation of these cities by nuclear devices and other weaponry of mass destruction began.

Revan proved to be one of the greatest tactical geniuses in history, for his cool-headed ability to make beneficial sacrifices. He frequently outmaneuvered the Mandalorians both on the ground and in space. Revan's gift of tactical genius completely turned the war around, but he also committed several rather "unsavory" acts, such as leaving "non-strategic" civilian planets completely undefended -- stripped of their forces and open to attack -- in order to accomplish the "greater goal" of winning the entire war more quickly than otherwise.

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Mandalore the Ultimate

Some Jedi, such as Bastila Shan, manage to ignore Revan's call to war at first, but are later drawn into the conflict against the Council's protests. To the Jedi Masters, Malak and Revan were only offering a "quick answer" to the galaxy's problems, fearing that much woe would come from the entire affair and the easy solutions they were offering.

Republic forces took enormous casualties throughout the war, in many cases losing as many as ten soldiers for every Mandalorian, but Revan's leadership managed to carry them through victory after victory, pushing the the Mandalorians back to Yavin, across Korriban, out of Dxun and Onderon and back into Mandalorian space.

The war ended at the Battle of Malachor V. Revan deployed a massive fleet of Republic soldiers and Jedi, especially those whose loyalty was in question. Unknown to either side, Revan had hidden a weapon known as a "Mass Shadow Generator," designed by Zabrak engineer Bao-Dur, on the planet. Overseeing its use was the Jedi Exile, one of the Jedi who followed Revan to war and became one of his top Generals. The Exile gave the command to Bao-Dur to activate the weapon, and in doing so, watched as the Mandalorian and Republic fleets alike were crushed by the weapon, crashing into and nearly destroying the entire planet.

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Aftermath

Few in either fleet survived this final battle. It marked Revan's final move before truly falling to the dark side. This terrible act of destruction caused the Jedi Exile to lose his connection with the Force, thus causing a hole within it. He was the only person out of all who followed Revan to turn from the dark side, and returned to the Jedi Council on Coruscant. The Council exiled him for following Revan to war, but their true reasons were quite different. They feared the hole within the Force that formed within him, and furthermore feared the failings in Jedi teachings that he represented. Defiantly stabbing his lightsaber into the centerstone of the Jedi Council, the Exile left for the Outer Rim.

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Result of the Jedi Civil War

On the surface of Malachor V, Revan found the ancient Trayus Academy, a former Sith stronghold deeply marked with the dark side. Here he was corrupted by the Sith teachings. Revan and Malak were hailed as heroes within the Republic. Revan left with his fleet, reportedly to pursue the final remains of the Mandalorian fleet, but in truth searching for the ancient Star Forge. One year later, Revan and Malak returned at the head of a massive Sith armada, the Jedi and Republic soldiers who had once followed him now Sith. So began the Jedi Civil War.

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