Author's Note: Due to length, Chapter Two has been broken up into four parts beginning with this one...
Chapter Two: The Fall at Iziz
The trip from the moon Dxun to the planet of Onderon was made tremendously easier by the fact that the two galactic bodies shared an atmosphere. Sometime ago planet and moon drew close enough to share their atmosphere. Actually, Dxun could almost be considered a twin planet to Onderon if not for its slightly smaller size. It was because of this atmosphere chain that some of the beasts native to Dxun managed to make it to Onderon. The drexl, native to the jungle moon, had merely flown to Onderon through space via the atmosphere chain connecting the two.
Fifteen Basilisk War Droids rushed through the atmosphere chain on their way to Onderon followed by three Mandalorian Destroyers, two Mandalorian Dungeon ships, and two frigates. Coming around the moon to join them was a Mandalorian Capital Ship which held another sixty Basilisk War Droids in reserve. This was the extent of the Madalorian fleet, brought together by clans from all over the galaxy. It had taken them some time to construct a capital ship and they had taken great pains to keep it hidden from Onderon by keeping the system's single sun, Prael, between it and the planet.
The idea that the Mandalorians would be able to take on the Republic with such a small fleet and seemed ludicrous to even the most loyal of Mandalorians, though they would never say as much. It had honestly seemed impossible to Mandalore himself. After all, the Republic, weak as it was, still had over fifty such capital ships and hundreds of frigates and destroyers, not mention the hundreds of thousands of snubfighters making up its fleet. Were they ever to bring the full might of their Navy to bear, they would be able to crush the Mandalorians outright.
Mandalore knew this but he also knew some other things about the Republic. Because of their weakness bred by complacency and arrogance bred by not having been truly challenged in some time, the Republic would not see the Mandalorians as a threat. At most Mandalore expected them to send one, maybe two of their capital ships to stop them, in addition to the few Republic ships already in this sector which would need to be dealt with very soon. This would not be enough for them to stop the Mandalorians. A part of the goal of taking Onderon was also to take Onderon's fleet which itself contained Queen Talia's capital ship The Drexl as well as several frigates and cruisers. These could then be added to the Mandalorians' own fleet. Though these ships were mostly a show of Onderon's supposed "military might", under the command of battle hardened Mandalorians they would serve well enough. Mandalore then planned on continuing the trend to other planets and systems as they made their way toward Coruscant, slowly building his fleet until it could match anything the Republic could throw at it.
When Mandalore had revealed this plan to his men they had no more doubt. The only thing better then defeating your enemy, was to defeat your enemy with their own weapons. What Mandalore had not told his men was that he also was expecting a reinforcement of several more capital ships, frigates, and cruisers from his "suppliers" who had insisted on remaining in the shadows, even to Mandalore's own trusted soldiers. He had no real problem with keeping this information from them. After all, Mandalore didn't necessarily trust those who had made the promise of reinforcements to him. They weren't Mandalorian after all. Because of this he didn't want his men expecting something that might not arrive. This would not do him any favors as far as leading them into battle went. There was also the fact that Mandalore knew that if his men thought they were working with such a reduced fleet it would make them fight that much harder in order to gain victory. A Mandalorian with a stun stick would still fight an opponent with a blaster rifle, he would just fight much harder, and smarter, in order to defeat his enemy. His men would still win the day, even without a larger fleet, and they would gain more glory for it, and more glory for them meant more glory for him.
Mandalorian Commander Canderous Ordo flew point for the squadron of Basilisk War Droids, known as Kinrath Squadron, hurtling towards Onderon. The name was a reference to the sizable (growing to between 1.2 and 1.5 meters in height) predatory arthropods that could be found on many some of the more "untamed" planets from Kashyyyk to Dantooine. They possessed six main legs and a seventh "stinger" leg that protruded from the top of their bodies and introduced deadly poison into anyone they struck with it. Kinrath were quick, violent, very hard to kill, and tended to swarm, a perfect name for his squad as far as Canderous was concerned. He kept the fourteen other Basilisks in seven rows of two lined up behind him in order to help reduce their visible numbers to the planet below. Of course Canderous knew that the Onderonians weren't watching the skies for them.
During the Great Sith War of Exar Kun almost thirty-three standard years earlier, the Mandalorians had first attempted to take Onderon and were defeated. They had retreated, ending up in the jungles of Dxun, and had begun their colonization of the jungle moon. Most Mandalorians blamed this defeat on their Sith overseers rather then their leader, Mandalore the Indomitable, though many thought him to be an unworthy Mandalore in the end. It was he who had been defeated by Exar Kun's then apprentice Ulic Qel-Droma. The wager of the battle was that if Mandalore was defeated, he would swear his allegiance, and that of his men, to Ulic Qel-Droma. Mandalore not only did this, but he became one of Qel-Droma's most fiercely loyal followers during the war, recognizing a superior warrior in Ulic Qel-Droma. Some saw this as Mandalore submitting his rule to an outsider. And after all, if Mandalore was the greatest of all Mandalorians, how could he be subjugated by another who was not Mandalorian? In the end, when Mandalore the Indomitable's ship had crash landed on Dxun after the Mandalorian retreat from Onderon, he had been set upon and devoured by the beasts of Dxun, further proof for some that he was unworthy to lead the Mandalorians. One of his warriors took his helmet, after killing the beasts that had killed Mandalore, and became the new Mandalore, Mandalore the Ultimate.
It had been because of this defeat over three decades ago, that the Onderonians had grown arrogant about their abilities in war. They would never expect the Mandalorians to attack again because they would never believe themselves capable of defeat at the hands of the Mandalorians. To the Onderonians it would be so much foolishness on the part of Mandalore to even think to attack them again.
This time it would be different, Canderous thought. They had no Sith to bungle their plans with their obsession with the "Dark Side" or their hatred of the Jedi, and Mandalore the Ultimate would not debase himself by allowing outsiders to usurp his leadership.
Canderous opened a channel to his squadron through his Basilisk which was still blazing a course for Iziz. For him a lot was riding on the success of this battle. Though he had distinguished himself many times over in other battles, this one would be the beginning of a greater glory for Clan Ordo and for Mandalore.
"This is Kinrath Leader, all Basilisks report battle readiness," he said through his helmet comm. system that was linked through his Basilisk. It was the first thing that had been spoken on the squadron channel, Mandalorians did not engage in idle comm. chatter.
"Kinrath Two, ready."
"Kinrath Three, ready."
"Kinrath Four, ready."
Down the line all fourteen pilots reported their readiness. Many had to fight to keep from adding a report of their willingness. Canderous knew that all his men were anxious to get to the battle. Mandalorians weren't the type to enjoy the journey much, it was all about the battle, and the Basilisks were the front line. They would be the first to engage. It was their job to take out any snubfighters that were launched or any Air Defense towers that would pose a threat.
"Alright, form up on me and keep the line tight. Kinraths Two through Nine prepare to break formation on my mark!" Canderous heard eight clicks over the comm. system signaling that the wings had received and understood orders.
The plan was simple but effective. The eight Basilisks directly behind Canderous would break off on his orders and form four groups of two Basilisks each. Two groups from either side would break into port and starboard flanking positions. Each group with their pair of wing mates would then target all Air Defense towers in the path of the remaining Basilisk flight as well as any peripheral ADTs that might cause problems later. The job of the remaining seven Basilisks, including the one Canderous himself flew, was to act essentially as a fist that would come smashing into the walls of Iziz, causing as much destruction and confusion as possible and then landing in the most defendable spot and unloading the Mandalorians to start pushing their way to the Palace. The initial eight Basilisks in the air would then work as air support for the ground troops as well as continuing to take out any ADTs or snubfighters the Onderonians managed to launch. The reason for having groups of two was to allow each Basilisk to watch the other's back, increasing the chances of both surviving.
Each Basilisk bomber contained two Mandalorians, one to pilot and one to man the guns and bombs. Canderous's Basilisk was the only one in the squad that contained just himself, but he was enough of a Mandalorian, in his opinion, to handle both flight control and weapons systems effectively. Besides that, he had flown this same Basilisk War Droid in his last ten engagements. He and it had a special bond, and Canderous Ordo shared his Basilisk with no man. Of course all Basilisks had a measure of intelligence and could perform limited maneuvering and fighting on their own if its pilot needed to be occupied with something else for a moment, but it was the Mandalorian or Mandalorians attached to it that made it a truly spectacle weapon of mass destruction.
With two Mandalorians in each Basilisk bomber plus Canderous himself who would lead the ground troops, there would be a total of seventeen initial ground troops. This would be more than enough to secure the landing area and start making an advance until reinforcements could be deployed. Canderous though was betting his men wouldn't even need the reinforcements by the time they took the Sky Ramp to the Palace.
Canderous Ordo loved war, and he was very, very good at it. This battle would be over before it was begun and he would receive much praise from its success. Maybe even Mandalore himself would honor him. In the end that really didn't matter. Even if no one recognized his success, he knew, and that's all that mattered to Canderous.
His Basilisk alerted him that the drop point was fast approaching and Canderous started double-checking his system to ensure final battle readiness. His system showed green across the board and Canderous reopened the squadron channel.
"Alright men, this is it. Anyone feel like wetting 'em do it now and then go find yourself a hole to crawl into. The rest of you get ready for insertion. Kinraths Two through Nine break off on my mark…" Canderous looked again at the rapidly descending count down on his heads up display that told him how close he was from the surface of the planet. "Three, two, one…Mark! Alright men, lets take what should have been ours in the last war!"