The year was 3,640 BBY. Krenton IV was a lush jungle planet with exotic wildlife found nowhere else in the galaxy. It was also rich in petroleum. A few months before, Krenton IV became the headquarters of the Mandalorians per order of Shaall Ordo aka Mandalore the Wealthy, the leader of the Mandalorians.
Krenton IV was a key supplier of fuel to the Republic and Mandalorian fleets. The Sith Empire knew that taking the planet would help boost their fuel supply, as well as deal a critical blow to that of the Republic and Mandalorian fleets. The Empire was also interesting in studying the wildlife of the planet.
Suddenly, an Imperial invasion force, led by Sith Lord Saarr Zamet, jumped out of hyperspace above Krenton IV and attacked the Republic fleet, led by General Var Suthra, and the Mandalorian fleet, led by Shaall Ordo/Mandalore the Wealthy.
Meanwhile on Krenton IV...
It was a beautiful night on Krenton IV. Shaall Ordo was sitting on the back deck of the Mandalorian base in a chair, a cup of tea in hand, watching the dark night sky filled with stars and lush jungle treetops. The only sources of light nearby were the perimeter lights and the Mandalorian bonfire behind him, with several Mandalorians sitting around it, singing songs in Mando'a and cooking Mandalorian food. Birds could be heard softly cawing and pecking as they made their homes in the treetops. Occasionally, a bird would fly overhead, screeching.
"Fire!" a voice suddenly cried out. Shaall and his lieutenant, Jargus Fett, looked at each other, then looked off into the jungle to Shaall's left. There, several dozen yards away, was a fire, with Mandalorians frantically trying to put it out. Shaall quickly put on his helmet and then tore through vines alongside Jargus to reach the site of the fire. Other Mandalorians from the base put out the bonfire and followed behind them.
The fire was not a pretty site. There were several Mandalorians, Republic soldiers, and animals lying dead. The carcasses of fallen trees were burning, smaller trails of fire dancing towards them from the center of the fire. This fire was definitely not caused by nature. Somebody deliberately caused this to attack the Mandalorians and the Republic.
Shaall walked over to a Mandalorian, clearly shaken by what happened. "Tell me, warrior, what happened?" Shaall asked. The Mandalorian removed his helmet. "The name's Arador Skirata, sir," he replied. "Leader of the main hunting group. We were out hunting with two other groups when suddenly there was a big flash of light. Next thing I know, there's a blazing fire engulfing several trees and wildlife, and two of my men and I are the only ones left. That's when I yelled there was a fire." Shaall sat on the burnt log of a fallen tree, which had been extinguished. "Did you catch sight of your attackers?" he questioned. "No..." Arador replied. "There was no sign we were in danger until the explo..." Suddenly, a masked Sith Lord leaped out from some nearby plants and cut down a Mandalorian. Shaall shot the Sith with a rocket, then quickly ran over to the body to examine it. "Sith!" Shaall said. "I should've known. They're probably here to take our fuel and deliver a heavy blow to our fleet and the Republic fleet. Get my starship ready, and keep a lookout. There's probably more Sith." Shaall, Jargus Fett, and a few other Mandalorians then quickly ran back to the Mandalorian base.
Tar'kyramud Skirata.
Tar'kyramud Skirata, Blood Assassin, knelt down and dipped his hand into the pool of clear water, letting it sit there for a moment, and then he let it pour back into the pond it came from, and Tar'kyramud -- at least that was what he was known as by the Mandalorians, as he was Blood Assassin to his enemies -- removed his helmet, setting it down beside him, so that he could drink of the pond. He drank of it, then taking his helmet from the bottom and standing up again, putting the helmet on, and taking his rifle from his back, and holding it at waist level.
"Someone watches..." he murmured as he turned, waiting for the stealthed figure to attack, "...come out wherever you are!" Tar'kyramud's voice was was very low and dangerous-sounded, surely his enemies would fear him if they had the guts. "Come on out...I am not going to hurt you..." He turned again and looked across the pond, which was fairly twenty yards in length, "...I am only going to kill you. The pain will seem to cease and pass quickly. It will only take a second, now come out." He waited, then snapped, "OUT!"
He waited another minute until he heard the cracking of a stick about ten feet to his right. Senses kicking in, he swiftly turned and fired at where the sound came from, only to see the scorched spot of where the laser of his rifle hit. He snarled and turned behind him, seeing nothing. He finally decided to continue walking through the lush jungle, away from the clearing that he had just stood in. Very well, but I know you will appear later, the assassin thought, walking a bit faster, prepared to strike if it was necessary.
Further through the jungle had Tar'kyramud walked. Looking up he saw that many trees were pushed close together, branches seemingly connecting to one another. He raised an eyebrow and looked to his jetpack, mounted behind him. He thought again and started climbing the nearest tree, thinking that using his jetpack now might warn other animals or anyone else that he was deadly enough, if truly that he was to them. Though, he'd rather there was a swift, silent fight. Assassination, more of. His enemies'.
Climbing the tree further he emerged through the topmost leaves, looking around him. Far out had the jungle on Krenton IV stretched out, the sight of Shaall Ordo's -- Mandalore the Wealthy's -- base far in the distance. Almost there, but I still wonder who stalks me... Suddenly something pulled him down, and he yelped, pointing his rifle below him, hoping to kill whatever it was that pulled him downwards.
"Die!" a sinister voice shouted as there was a releasing of Tar'kyramud's ankle, as he crashed down onto a thick branch. Looking above him he saw a man garbed in black robes, looming over him, a glowing red blade in hand. "For the Sith!" He raised his blade high and brough it down on Tar'kyramud. He threw the rifle at the Sith's face, in which it went through the lightsaber and broke in two, and one half of it hit the Sith Lord in the face. "Gah!" Tar'kyramud rolled off of the branch as the lightsaber hit beside him, and he wrapped his fingers around it, swinging under and above it, landing atop it again, causing the Sith Lord to topple. "You cannot best me, Sith Lord!" Tar'kyramud snapped, kicking the Sith.
The Sith fell back, landing on his rear, looking up at Tar'kyramud, who had a large pistol pointed straight at the Sith's face. "Remorse?" he waited. "No? Alrighty then!" He fired the pistol, and the Sith Lord toppled over the tree branch, plumetting onto the ground below, dead. Tar'kyramud scavenged what he could from the Sith and then started to continue his journey to Ordo's base once more.
Shaall Ordo was in the base's command center, waiting for the engineers to finish prepping his ship, when Jargus Fett sent the status report in from his datapad. Tar'kyramud Skirata was the only one unaccounted for. It had been two hours since Arador's hunting party had been attacked. The fire was long extinguished. All Mandalorians still alive had reported back to the base, and the dead were given a proper ceremony. "Try contacting Tar'kyramud's comm," Shaall ordered a Mandalorian Officer. "We need all Mandalorians accounted for and knowing that there's been an attack by the Imperials."
After a few minutes, Tar'kyramud responded to the calls from base. "Tar'kyramud, there's been an attack by the Imperials. We need you back at base," Shaall informed him. "Got it. I'm on my way," Tar'kyramud acknowledged.
About half an hour later, Tar'kyramud arrived at the base. "I'm sending two Mandalorian battle cruisers to help the fleet, as well as flying there in my starship myself," Shaall said as he walked through the hangar bay with Jargus, Arador, and Tar'kyramud. "That's why I'm putting you in charge of our ground forces while I'm gone, Jargus. Arador, I need you to get the hunting parties set up in case of ground attack. And lastly, Tar'kyramud, I want you to board one of the battle cruisers. If you see any Imperial cruisers that look like they need to get taken out, take a starfighter from the battle cruiser's hangar and assassinate everybody on board the Imperial ship." Shaall turned to see a Mandalorian engineer give a thumbs up, meaning his ship was ready to go. "Good luck everybody." He then hurried off to his ship.
Sith Lord Saarr Zamet stared out into space, watching the battle with the Mandalorians and the Republic. This was a day he had long-awaited. The first major battle he would participate in that he was in charge of. His fellow Dark Councilors had chosen him to plan out and lead this invasion, hoping to gain scientific knowledge, as well as fuel supplies for the Imperial fleet. Along with his new apprentice, who had just completed the Sith trials on Korriban, he would show the Republic the true power of the dark side.
Saarr turned to his Sith Pureblood apprentice, Ramak Khrone, who knelt before him. "Rise, my apprentice," he ordered. "At dawn, you will lead 400 Sith and soldiers to the planet and attack the Mandalorians and the Republic." Ramak looked at his master. "And how will we know when it is dawn?" he asked. Saarr looked at his apprentice. "It appears that not only do you have great power, you also have great thinking," he replied. "I have Sith Assassins and Imperial Spies hiding in the thick jungle. At dawn, they will send a signal to the bridge. It will be relayed to me. I will then give you and your forces the ok to go." Ramak nodded, bowed before his head, then hurried off to gather the forces.
Kahar Zamet finally awoke from his long sleep on the cruiser, thrown out of his bed by an explosion. He put his robes on over his tunic, grabbed his lightsabers, and hurried to the bridge. It looked, unfortunately, as if what had started as a fueling stop had become a battle with the Sith Empire. When he looked out the window of the bridge, his thought was right. "Boy, you Jedi can sleep through nearly anything," General Var Suthra said. "We're under attack by the Sith Empire, Jedi. Their fleet jumped out of hyperspace just hours ago. I need you to take care of them." Kahar nodded, and then looked out into space, towards the flagship of the enemy fleet. "What is it?" Var Suthra asked. Kahar stood there, silent, for a moment, then finally replied, "My brother's on that ship. He's the one leading this invasion. I can sense it."
Saarr stared out into space from under his mask. "So, we meet again, brother," he said to himself. "I know you're on that ship. Come and face me."
It was now dawn. The battle had progressed through the long night, the Republic and Imperial fleets hammering at the Sith Empire's fleet, as well as the other way around. And now, Ramak Khrone could lead his attack on the planet. It was so simple. His master was so briliant that he developed a plan to keep the majority of the Mandalorian and Republic forces distracted with the space battle, so the Empire could bypass the enemy fleets and take the planet swiftly.
It was time. Ramak Khrone stood in the hangar bay of Saarr's flagship. He checked his lightsaber and other tools, then boarded the lead shuttle. Within another few minutes, the shuttle took off, with numerous landing ships, gunships, and other shuttles following behind. The majority of the Republic and Mandalorian fleets didn't notice them, but some did, shooting down two shuttles.
Saarr received the signal from his apprentice that the invasion force was on its way to the planet. He decided it was time to activate the hidden weapons. "All ships, activate your cloaking shields," Saarr ordered over the comm channel. He then turned to a nearby bridge officer. "Fire a batch of EMP Torpedoes at the enemy cruisers closest to the planet."
Everything was going according to plan. Ramak's attack force was now entering the atmosphere of Krenton IV. They'd assault the Mandalorian base and take over it. From there, they'd spearhead an attack on the Republic base. After both bases were controlled, they'd end all drilling operations on the planet. Krenton IV would be theirs.
The shuttles, landing ships, and gunships deactivated their cloaking shields and landed in a batch of clear land on the planet. Some of the ships had to hover in the sky, however, while a couple of Sith Lords went around, chopping down jungle trees, in order to make room for them to land.
The Imperial forces got into formation, an Imperial Commander leading them. From there, they marched towards the Mandalorians.
Jargus Fett sat in the command center of the Mandalorian base. It was a bright, beautiful morning, with a mild temperature. To be continued...