The siege of Mandalore (Tier 3)

Lana: I'll be siding with Satine Kryze. She is the rightful ruler of Mandalore, her approach to pacifism might be a little strange, considering our ancient ways, but a little progress never hurts. I'll help here, even if it means I'll have to fight my own clan...

You enter the coordinates and travel to Sundari, Mandalore, to meet the duchess. Her throne room is full of military personnel, advisors, generals, all that matters.

Satine: Lana! It is so good to see you! I am glad you have answered my plea for help!

Lana: I'm always ready to do the right thing. What did your spies report? What are we up against?

She waves to one of her bodyguards, who activates a holoterminal, projecting the city's layout.

Satine: According to our intelligence, Pre Vizsla has gathered most of the clans together for an invasion of my city. I have absolutely no idea what he could have told them to make them unite, such a thing has not occurred ever since they lost the last civil war and were exiled from Mandalore by my house.

Lana: Glory and fame could be a powerful motivator for those who follow the old ways. And, there are those, who just want the physical gains, like Clan Dar'Manda.

Satine: At any rate, their numbers are quite threatening. We are outnumbered at least 10 to 1, given that no more clans will appear and join them. All the major ones are there already, including Clan Ordo, your family.

Lana: I was expecting nothing less. My father is a high-ranking lieutenant in **** Watch.

Satine: That is one of the topics I wanted to discuss with you. Is there any chance you could convince your clan to switch sides?

Lana: Absolutely no chance with that. They would rather die than betray their fellow Mandalorians, with whom they had been training and fighting for years. I wouldn't even count on them sparing me the fighting, should they attack the city. I expect myself to be their first target, to eliminate the "renegate".

Satine: I see. How unfortunate. I understand all too well how certain family ties can get quickly overwritten by political alignment.

Lana: Yeah, I know you have first hand experience with that. Are you ready to fight Bo-Katan? She certainly won't shy away from the fight and the chance to kill you.

Satine: As Duchess of Mandalore, I must do things I would have never done, had I been born an ordinary citizen of the planet. Such are the responsibilities of a monarch. As for the pending invasion. Captain, please elaborate on the situation to my friend.

Captain (zooming and pointing to the key locations on the dome's projection): Of course, your highness! According to our sources, **** Watch intends to surround the dome of Sundari and attempt a multi frontal ****. They have the numbers on their side, dividing out forces like that, would thin our lines so much so, that they could easily bunch through with a minimal concentration of firepower.

Lana: I have been in their base of operations, I know they have top quality equipment. Do we have anything to counter that?

Captain: They have fighters, bombers, and thousands of well trained and armed men at their disposal, not to mention their advanced beskar weaponry and armour. My police forces are not soldiers, they were trained to fight bandits and such, not to go to war against technologies like those. They can handle themselves, but not for long against such opposition. Without backup, our lines will crumble within hours at most.

Lana (scratching your head): Pretty bad odds if you ask me. I'm a general of the Republic only in name because I'm a Jedi, I'm not good with military strategies or tactics. Do we have anything we could use to at least slow them down?

Captain: We could plant traps and automated defences into the underground tunnel system, we already have those at the entrances of the dome. But besides that, we do not have much to go on. The area is simply too huge to cover efficiently. We have reports about a plan to use the tunnels to infiltrate the city, but also about an attempt to bomb a section of the dome once the shield generators are down and fly right in with their jetpacks. Our air defences could hold off an aerial attack for some time, but we just lack the fighters and cannons to mount a lasting defence.

Lana: This battle seems totally hopeless to fight. What is it exactly you ask of me to do here, Satine? You must be aware that one Jedi cannot turn a tide this disadvantageous. There must be something else on your mind.

Satine: Yes, the battle may seem hopeless, but I have tried to pull some favours from all my acquaintances, if they agree to help us, we will have far better chances of victory. As for what I truly intended for you... I want to share that with you in private. Leave us!

Her bodyguards and military advisors bow their heads and leave the room.

Lana (eagerly): So, what's so secretive and important to send them all out?

{if CON2 = false}

Satine (pulling out a holodisc from her pocket): I have recently discovered this old disc in my archives, it contains information that might be vital for you, and our survival here. I saw it fit to let you know what it contains.

Lana (crossing your arms): I'm all ears.

She inserts the disc into her throne, activating a recording in the projector.

Mandalorian (with some corruption in the file): This is Eketh of Clan Caderra. Mandalore the Unifier, previously called Canderous Ordo is dead...

Lana: Canderous...! My greatest ancestor who united the Mandalorian Clans...! I never thought I would hear from him again besides the history classes and files in the libraries...!

Satine: Great men rarely go without some lasting legacy of words.

Eketh (sighing): He had been killed in a battle with Czerka, aiming to free some of our brothers, on whom Czerka scientists were testing freshly developed adrenals and cybernetics. Those butchers were treating them like lab rats! We killed every single one of them and helped our kin escape by carrying them out on out shoulders, but not without casualties. Mandalore himself led the charge, all went well, until one of the test subjects, a bull Rancor got released somehow. Our blasters were ineffective against its thick skin, only a vibroblade could have pierced it, but none of us were able to get anywhere near it without being trampled or crushed. It was tearing us apart one by one, a terrible memory... Mandalore sent us all out of the compound and attempted to kill the giant monster himself. He had the idea of flying up to its mouth and throwing a bunch of thermal detonators into it, detonating the monster from within, bypassing its impregnable skin. The plan worked, he had flown up to its head and made the monster open its mouth by flying near it. However, when throwing the detonators into the opening, the Rancor managed to bite onto Mandalore's right arm. Not bitting it off due to Beskar but being unable to free himself of the monster's grip, he made a tough decision. He could activate the detonators in the Rancors's mouth, killing them both, or wait some more and hope to free himself before the monster crushes him with its giant hands and dooming us all without his success. Mandalore the Unifier never backed away from danger, nor did he abandon his honour at the face of ****. He activated the thermal detonators without second thought, being engulfed by the flames and going down with the Rancor. We honoured his sacrifice by carrying his body back to the base on Duxon and burning him with all honours.

Lana (thinking): So this is how his life ended... I'm sorry for him, yet, he died a noble ****, saving his brothers in exchange for his life. That is how all Mandalores must live their lives.

Eketh: This story isn't the reason I'm recording this though. He had the Mask of Mandalore, the single most important Mandalorian artifact, hidden in a safe location to be left there forever. He had hoped we would find another way to remain united, not only by a shiny trinket. He had seen how devastating the mask's loss was during his wars with Revan and wanted to ensure that would never happen again. I was the one tasked with hiding it. He made me swear an oath to never take the mask away from there and I am a man of my word, I will never take it. However, following Mandalore's ****, without the mask, there was little to keep the clans united any longer. They slowly began to leave our base, clan by clan, as there was no consensus on the new Mandalore. All were selfishly vying for power, but none were truly worthy of it. What is going to happen to us? I do not know, all I know is, that if things continue to go like that, maybe the Mandalorian name itself will be lost forever. That I cannot allow, yet maybe I am too late already and you have no idea what a Mandalorian is. In that case, forget about this message entirely and delete it. Having no worthy candidates for the title of Mandalore in my lifetime, I leave this message behind to the times when there'll be one. We need that mask, our people aren't ready yet to fight without something to rally behind. I have left it to be hidden in a chest, on board the destroyed Mandalorian capital ship, floating above Malachor V. Mandalore picked it, because that's the place where our people suffered the greatest defeat and humiliation of our history, no Mandalorian would ever get within that sector out of shame. The mask was taken from us there, and he was planning to leave it there. It is on board his predecessor's, Mandalore the Ultimate's flagship. In that wreckage, you may find it at the bridge, or rather, what's left of it... The orbit is filled with hundreds of destroyed ships, it will be the biggest one there, so you cannot miss it. I will hide this disc in the archives on Mandalore, that's where we have the highest chance of somebody of our descent finding it. It might be years, decades, centuries, or maybe a longer time may pass before somebody finds it... For me, all that matters is that the Mandalorians must be preserved, one way, or another. For Mandalore! Eketh out.

Lana: Wow...! Does the mask still exist...?! I thought it had been melted down or something long ago...! And it's floating above Malachor V? I don't think any Jedi is allowed to go anywhere near that dark planet, it's said the **** of the tens of thousands of Jedi, Mandalorians, and Republic soldiers in orbit would still drive any **** sensitive mad, as their screams and pain is still echoing through the ****... Not to mention, the personal hatred the Mandalorians feel towards the place, as the darkest point of our history so far... Definitely not my favourite place in the galaxy, imagine a Mandalorian Jedi wandering around that planet... Sounds crazy enough to be true though...! I'll check it out!

Satine: I knew you would not turn down a chance to find something that precious! It seems destiny is on our side, that disc resurfacing right now, after such a long time! Unbelievable, is it not?

Lana: Hmm, indeed, what a coincidence... It's either the will of the ****, or...

Satine: Or?

Lana (thinking): Or somebody has been withholding information... Potentially Satine, to ensure the clans couldn't unite against her by finding the mask. In any case, I won't give it any further thought. For now.

Lana (lying): Nothing, it must be destiny indeed!

Satine: The mask and the darksaber are the two most important relics of Mandalorian unity. Pre Vizsla possesses the darksaber, giving him some form of authority over the assembled clans. But without the mask, he will not be able to keep them united without results. Their unity is a fragile one at best.

Lana: That much is clear.

Satine: If you could find the mask somehow, we could further deteriorate their unity and possibly dissolve their alliance and scatter them without a fight! Or, turn them against each other even!

Lana: And you expect me to find it before the pending invasion?

Satine (sarcastically): I do not expect you to be sharpening your lightsaber in the meantime. There would be little with which you could help during the preparations, yet, if you returned with the mask, it would significantly increase our chances of victory!

{endif}

{if CON2= true}

Satine: Have you heard about the Mask of Mandalore?

Lana: Naturally, every Mandalorian child is being told stories about it. What of it?

Satine: The mask and the darksaber are the two most important relics of Mandalorian unity. Pre Vizsla possesses the darksaber, giving him some form of authority over the assembled clans. But without the mask, he will not be able to keep them united without results. Their unity is a fragile one at best.

Lana: That much is clear. I have found a clue about its location some time ago, but never tried to look for it so far.

Satine: If you could find the mask somehow, we could further deteriorate their unity and possibly dissolve their alliance and scatter them without a fight! Or, turn them against each other even!

Lana: And you expect me to find it in like, 3-4 days, which we have until their invasion? No small task.

Satine (sarcastically): I do not expect you to be sharpening your lightsaber in the meantime. There would be little with which you could help during the preparations, yet, if you returned with the mask, it would significantly increase our chances of victory!

{endif}

Lana: Well, it really would be boring to just sit here and wait for **** Watch to attack, sooo... I might give it a shot.

Satine: Excellent! I will provide you with anything you need! Supplies, a few men to back you up, you name it.

Lana: I won't need anything really, it's something I must do on my own. Alright, I better be going, we'll have a battle to win soon, I best be back as soon as possible.

Satine: Good luck Lana, I will eagerly await your return!

Lana (nodding): Your highness.

Lana (thinking): Well, it seems it's time to hunt some old treasure!