| abstract
| - For two years the Mandalorians tore through the Galactic Republic unchallenged. The Republic forces scattered under the ferocious onslaught of the Mandalorians. At the beginning of the third year of the war, that all changed. The jungle world of Onderon was one of the first to fall to the Mandalorians after they claimed its moon, Dxun, as their own and all but enslaved the population of the world that the moon orbited. The jungle world was also the first world to be taken back from the Mandalorians. The monastic Jedi Order had finally joined the war after two years of slaughter. The Mandalorians met the Jedi gladly, wanting to test themselves against the legendary and mythical figures that most people had only heard tales of. Onderon fell from the grasp of the Mandalorians in less than two months, as the natives united and rebelled against their Mandalorian overlords. Dxun; however, was another story. The Mandalorians seemed to have a deep connection to the jungle moon and did not give in easily. A brutal stalemate began in the thick jungles as the Jedi and the Galactic Republic fought the Mandalorian warriors and the wildlife of Dxun. Onderon and Dxun had been what some would refer to as a clean war. The Mandalorians seemed to be so fixated on fighting the Jedi that the slaughter was reserved mainly for the opposing military forces to bear. The fact that Onderon had fallen so quickly and Dxun was largely devoid of settlers helped that. Amidst the thousands of warriors and soldiers that fought against each other on that moon, one man stood out above all the others. Silently, the armored man moved through the treetops, stalking his prey. Two brown eyes looked through his crimson and obsidian mask as a deep scowl lit his face. It had been six months now since the fighting on Dxun had began and almost seven since the Jedi had joined the war effort, and already the effect was evident. The constant advance of the Mandalorian juggernaut had ground to a halt in the wake of a crucial Republic victory overe Corellia that had been led by the Jedi Order. The Mandalorians had become enthralled by the Jedi and their power, largely ignoring the Republic forces and attacking the Jedi head on. Of the hundred thousand Jedi in the galaxy at the time of Exar Kun, only about half that had survived the initial rift in the Jedi Order and only several thousand had chosen to fight alongside Revan. The Jedi Knight watched twenty armored Mandalorians move swiftly through the thick jungle to their fortress and his scowl deepened. Wondering where they were headed, the Jedi Knight quietly leapt to another tree and followed them. The young Jedi Knight soon discovered where the Mandalorian warriors were heading when he caught sight of a Mandalorian fortress hidden in the deeper regions of the jungle. Taking a moment to scout the area, the Jedi Knight found several anti-air defense positions and what looked to be an ion cannon capable of firing into orbit. Using the Force, Revan could feel that there were thousands of Mandalorian warriors resting and training within the buried fortress and he could faintly make out the outline of the shield that protected the base from aerial and orbital assault. This was the last stronghold the Mandalorians held on the moon. Onderon had since joined their fleet with Republic's in orbit and had successfully cut off the possibility of retreat and had cut off reinforcements from reaching the stranded Mandalorian forces on the moon. The Siege of Dxun as it had become known as, had been bloody and of nearly two hundred thousand Mandalorian warriors that had been garrisoned on the moon at the beginning of the battle, Revan estimated that only three or four thousand remained, entrenched in the fortress before him. Until this moment, the fortress had remained hidden and the Mandalorians had continually struck from their hidden base, leaving horrendous Republic casualties in the wake of their attacks. Of nearly one hundred Jedi that had taken part in the battle, seventy had fallen in the first six months of guerilla warfare. Revan could not help but admire the determination of his enemy, though a foreign feeling of hatred slowly began burning in him each time he came upon the mangled corpses of his comrades. Revan attempted to use the Jedi Code to calm himself, but it only brought forth a new surge of anger. Revan had met the Mandalorians on the battlefield and had seen firsthand what the Jedi Council had failed to see, he knew the Mandalorians were too strong for the Republic too stand against alone. The Basilisk war droids alone were too fast, too agile for the Republic gunners and fighters to shoot down. Only a Jedi could track and destroy the nimble Mandalorian craft effectively and even then with some difficulty. The twenty year old Jedi Knight moved to activate the homing beacon on his wrist communicator, before he suddenly stopped, pulling his hand away from the activation switch Revan realized that the Mandalorians would trace the signal to him if he activated it. Of the thirty Jedi that remained, only a few dozen would be nearby to answer his call and even Jedi could not stand against the thousands of Mandalorians Revan sinced within the base. Making a quick decision, the Jedi lowered himself from his perch in the tree overlooking the Mandalorian base and used the Force to speed his return to the Republic base camp. Revan winced slightly at a mental picture of the Republic forces on the moon. To say that they were pitiful would be an understatement. The men had arrived in the earliest days of the fighting without reinforcements due to some foolish debate in the Senate about the cost and effectiveness of the lengthy siege. Revan snorted in disgust at the short-sightedness of the Senate. The Mandalorians had lost thousands of men and dozens of ships trying to break through the Republic blockade and though the Republic had lost nearly twice as many men on the moon as the Mandalorians had, the losses in space were far more to the Republic's favor, and a victory and the total destruction of the Mandalorian forces on the moon would be a symbol to the Mandalorians of the Jedi Order's resolve. What better way to break your enemy's will than to take what they have claimed as their own, to take the moon that the fierce, armored warriors had seemed to call home. With pride as great as the Mandalorians' it would be a slap in the face and it would severely break their morale to know that their stronghold had fallen to the Republic. It would also show the Mandalorians the effect the Jedi could have on the remainder of the war. Sighing in frustration, Revan ran the countless battle plans through his mind, too distracted to notice the perimeter sensor he had tripped, or the ten Mandalorians that stalked him expertly within the cloak of their stealth fields. One man cannot bear the full burden of a war or even a battle and this was to become painfully clear to Revan. Warriors and soldiers cannot suffer distractions on the battlefield and as Revan planned for the coming battle, he was ignorant of the one that was already upon him. The force screamed a warning to Revan as the Jedi's eyes widened in surprise. Revan ducked below the invisible strike of the Mandalorian's vibroblade, pulling his lightsaber and activating its azure blade. The blade shot through the Mandalorian, tearing him cleanly in two as four other warriors appeared to challenge the Jedi Knight. Revan deflected the blaster fire that rained down on him from the distance, leaping to the treetops and slicing through the branches, allowing them to rain down on the Mandalorian warriors below. Revan's mind chastised himself. He could almost hear the voices of his Masters Kreia and Zhar joining the scolding as he leapt from the tree and descended on two dazed Mandalorians. Revan chose to attack without his saber, kicking one Mandalorian across his face and sending him to the ground and catching the other with his fist, knocking him unconscious. The Jedi had no wish to kill the Mandalorians, but he would if he had to. Vaulting himself from a tree trunk, Revan grasped a low hanging vine and rocketed to the treetops, away from his pursuers. The sound of a repulsor firing startled the young Jedi, who's main concern was escaping and relaying his position to his comrades. A Mandalorian swoop squadron hovered above the treetops, carrying a dozen armored and burly warriors. The Mandalorians immediately opened fire on the Jedi Knight and Revan was thrown to the ground by the concussion of a nearby explosion. The blaster bolts whizzed overhead as he lay on the ground, struggling to gain a painful intake of breath after the nearly twenty yard fall. Spots swam in the young Jedi's vision as he grunted with effort and pulled himself to his feet, feeling a blaster bolt tear through his thigh. Revan dropped to the ground and winced, reaching for his lightsaber, only to have a hard, metallic boot slam down onto his hand, no doubt shattering the brittle bones. "Over here," the Mandalorian shouted to his companions as several other Mandalorians approached. Revan used the Force to dull the pain in his hand as he kicked the Mandalorian's legs out from under him and slammed his booted heel into the Mandalorian's throat, earning a sickening crack. The other Mandalorians gawked momentarily, stunned by the swift movement of the injured man before one raised his blaster rifle and fired a stun blast into the injured Jedi. "Check him for comms and get him back to base camp," the Mandalorian's gruff voice snapped as two Mandalorians moved to disarm the armored Jedi. Revan's azure beamed saber was taken as a prize by one of the Mandalorians while his armor was stripped away, revealing the deep black of his Jedi robes. The Mandalorian captain at the base did a double take when his patrol and search team brought back a Jedi, not to mention which Jedi they brought back. "Is that who I think it is," the Mandalorian asked in disbelief as he looked over the armor that was taken away from the young man. "He wears his armor anyways." Another Mandalorian commented as he looked down in disbelief at the youthful features of the young man, "He's just a brat, I have a son as old as he... this is Revan." The Mandalorians nodded silently as they allowed themselves to look on to the young Jedi in respect and awe. "We lost four men out there to him," a Mandalorian in crimson armor commented as he slowly lifted the demonic crimson and obsidian mask of the Jedi. "Who'd we lose," the Mandalorian captain asked as he examined the young Jedi laying on the floor of the Mandalorian compound. "Intari, Daren, Harin and Amiel." "Amiel," the captain asked in disbelief. The Mandalorian sergeant that spoke nodded. "He was the best we had here aside from his old man." The next week was a blur for Revan as he was mercilessly beaten by an older Mandalorian. The murderous rage burning in the older man was easily sensed by the young Jedi as well as the pain in the man's aura. Revan knew then as he was beaten for what seemed to be the hundredth time that this man had shared a bond of some kind with one of those he had killed. "Look at me when I talk to you, Jedi," the man hissed as he struck Revan across the face with his armored hand. Revan spat the blood, turning his eyes to the man with something resembling pity. "I. Pity. You. Old. Man," Revan said wearily through painfully earned breaths. He knew his ribs were broken and he felt as though every other bone in his body was following suit. Only the Force had kept him conscious during most of the beatings and he knew it frustrated his Mandalorian torturer to no end. "Did you contact your Jedi friends," the older man hissed, accompanying his question with a swift and hard punch to Revan's gut. Had he not been chained to the wall, Revan would have doubled over in pain. The Jedi coughed violently as he cursed the disruptor field that surrounded the room, weakening his connection to the Force. Just as the Mandalorian was about to strike again, the fortress shuddered violently under a powerful explosion. The base's alarmed blared loudly as the lighting flickered and shifted to red. A Mandalorian in yellow armor rushed into the room, tossing a blaster rifle to the older man. "Garr, the generator's been destroyed. Some Jedi got through our scanners and sabotaged it. We need to move. Now" the younger Mandalorian shouted. The Mandalorian turned back to Revan and sneered as he pointed his blaster rifle at the young Jedi. "There's no time, the Republic and Jedi are destroying our turrets and overrunning our positions. Move it!" Growling in frustration, the Mandalorian fired a blast into Revan and took a moment to revel in the feeling of killing the man who had killed his son before rushing to battle. The younger Mandalorian gave the man a disapproving look before leading him to their defensive positions. Revan's fists were clenched into tight fists as his face twisted in pain. The blaster bolt the Mandalorian had fired had burned its way into his abdomen, causing the acid in his stomach to spill painfully forth and burn his insides. His legs would not move despite his body's wish to writhe in agony and his vision soon swam in red as he fought to remain conscious and reached to the Force to numb the pain, or heal it on some level. The Force disruptor was still firmly in place after the loss of power and Revan knew that any assault on the fortress would be bloody and likely draw out for hours. Opening his eyes, Revan saw the switch to the disruptor field and reached to the Force, feeling it as if it were an echo, calling to him. The switch tremored for a moment, but did not move and Revan snarled in frustration as the pain shot through him in another wave. The young Jedi took that moment to reflect on his captors, recalling the angry arguments his captor had exchanged with other Mandalorians that had stopped by. He recalled the disapproval in their tones though they always relented, stating it was his right according to their code to seek retribution. Revan slowly felt a fire within him. One that did not burn through his abdomen and he curiously reached for it, realizing it was hatred. He did not hate the man who had tortured him, he pitied him. What he hated was something much less obvious. He hated the Jedi Council. Each and every last one of the Twelve Masters. None of them knew what it was like on the battlefield. It was true some had fought against Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma, but none, none had fought against the Mandalorians, had seen the ravaged worlds they left in their wake and all for some warrior code and glory. The ones that had fought, were so detached from what was going on to even recall what it had been like and scolded him in a condescending manner as to the evils of fighting. "I hate them," Revan struggled for his words as his vision darkened. He painfully shook his head as he looked down to the blood flowing freely from his stomach. How could they be so blind. The Mandalorians were slaughtering worlds to goad them into an attack. The Mandalorians wanted to fight the Jedi, so why keep them waiting? Revan knew that in a way he was giving the Mandalorians what they wanted, but what were his alternatives? To let another Cathar happen? He had seen the worlds the Mandalorians ravaged as a young Padawan, being sent on missions with his Master Kreia until she had finally had enough and left the Order to try to help those worlds. He was later taken by Master Zhar and the Twilek had quickly proclaimed him as being ready for the trials of Knighthood. Revan's thoughts drifted to his friend, Malak and he wondered if his companion was here now, looking for him. He had known the tall Jedi Knight since they were both children and they had been like brothers, always causing trouble and always doing something to gain the ire of the Jedi Masters. A short laugh escaped Revan as he relived his childhood antics with his friend before his consciousness slipped and he fell to the peace that darkness offered him.
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)