▼ E A R L Y L I F E ( 1 2 9 7 - 1 3 1 3 P R E )▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔"Life before Dxun is nothing more than a fleeting shadow. I've always been Mandalorian."
An orphan from the twin planets of
Kiffex and
Kiffu,
Sabata Eldar has no memory of his life before adoption. Though was not something Sabata ever felt the need to dwell upon as one's place of birth had no relevancy in Mandalorian society. Raised from near-infancy on the Demon Moon of
Dxun, Sabata breathes the
Resol'nare; the Six Actions which make up the tenants all Mandalorians swear to live by. From the moment he could talk, he could recite the tenants despite being far too young to fully comprehend the depth of their meaning.
Reaching the age of eight, the young Mandalorian began to accompany his father,
Declan, into the jungles of Dxun. It was around this time that Sabata first discovered his psychometric abilities inherited through his biology. It wouldn't be for many years later that Sabata would learn that only one in every one hundred Kiffar were born with psychometry; the ability to read the memories of inanimate objects — including formerly animate objects such as the deceased — through physical touch. Despite having this advantage, Declan refused to allow his son to rely on his unique talent and taught him instead to hunt the same way his father had taught him.
The jungles of Dxun were a dangerous place which made them the perfect training grounds for any young Mandalorian. Like others his age, Sabata cut his teeth fighting the native fauna such as the
booma and
cannok. By the age of thirteen, Sabata was deemed ready to face his
verd'goten; a Mandalorian rite of passage to adulthood. For his verd'goten, Sabata was tasked with killing a
maalraas; a dangerous predator capable of rendering itself invisible using the Force. As Maalraas hunted in packs, half the challenge laid in getting one alone.
Sabata's vert'goten lasted nearly seven standard weeks. Day and night spent in storming jungles of the Demon Moon with nothing but his father's
beskad, a single blaster and a rucksack containing limited rations. It wasn't until Taungsday of the third week that Sabata finally found a lone maalraas. Managing to get the drop on the predator, he nearly spent all of his blaster's magazine in that first encounter only to barely escape with his life. For the remaining four weeks, he played a game of cat and mouse with the beast. Both Sabata and maalraas spent time between their encounters licking their own wounds. For Sabata, this meant relying on the herbs and ointments he was able to harvest from the jungle to ward off infection and fever.
Finally, the pair had their final fateful encounter. By this point, Sabata was nearly two weeks without rations and his blaster ruined from the jungle's humidity, mud and constant rain. The fight came down to beskad versus claws, instinct versus raw ferocity. The maalraas held the advantage over the majority of the fight. It was better rested, better fed and better prepared. For Sabata, the beast was like nothing he had ever faced before. He would go on to retell the story from a perspective where he had held the upper hand. But the truth was that Sabata got lucky.
With a final pounce, the maalraas pinned the young Mandalorian to the ground. Its snapping jaws falling just short of Sabata's face. To this day, he can still feel the warm saliva running down his brow. But with that fateful pounce, the maalraas had impaled itself upon Sabata's ancestral blade. The beast's body was heavy and Sabata was exhausted. But the adrenaline of his triumph allowed him to push the corpse off of him and sever its head before returning home.
His mother's
uj'alayi had never tasted as good as it did that night. Returning home, his Clan celebrated his ascent to adulthood, reviling through the night in a way only Mandalorians could. That night was also the first time that Sabata met
Amira of Clan Deshra, the woman who would go on to become his wife.
Now deemed an adult, Sabata was expected to take on more responsibilities within the clan. Apprenticing under the Clan's weaponsmith, Sabata showed a natural talent for the forging and maintaining of both weapons and armours. While under this apprenticeship, Sabata forged his first set of
beskar'gam.
At the age of sixteen, Sabata was wed to Amira Deshra. The pair enjoyed a private ceremony before joining the rest of their clans to celebrate their nuptials as was traditional. No longer a part of Clan Deshra, Amira would integrate into Clan Eldar and with Sabata's help find a place to use her skills to the benefit of the Clan. Though content with their new lives, Mandalorians often crave battle, especially those with youth still within them. The Mandalorians had yet to enter the Great War raging between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic, but that was all about to change when a new Manda'lor arrived.
▼ T H E G R E A T G A L A C T I C W A R ( 1 3 1 3 - 1 3 2 7 P R E )▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "There's nothing a Mandalorian loves more than a good fight, except maybe their child."
Shortly after the matrimony of Sabata and Amira, the call of the Mand'alor,
Mandalore the Lesser, reached Dxun. The Mand'alor, an infamous gladiator from the sands of Geonosis, had set out to unite the Clans. Rallying them together, he aimed to align them with the Sith Empire in order to push back to the Republic and finally destroy the Mandalorains' greatest enemy, the Jedi.
In accordance with the tenants of the Resol'nare, the Mandalorians were to answer the call of the Mand'alor. Sabata, like many others, felt compelled to comply and when the Mand'alor called to Dxun, the House of Bralor answered. Mandalorians were almost singular in their efficiency when it came to waging war and the village of Clan Eldar was no exception. Within hours of receiving the call, Sabata had already begun to modify his beskar'gam for active combat.
At this time, the Great War was considered to be at a stalemate. But the addition of the Mandalorian Clans was the first step in tipping it in the Sith's favour. This was solidated with the
Mandalorian Blockade of the Hydian Way. Boarding the Clan Eldar warship, Sabata found his place working to help maintain the ship's weapons systems. Along with others of similar talents, Sabata was charged with keeping the weapons calibrated and serviced. Any damage that came to the ship's system, Sabata was to aid in the repairs, even if it meant taking a walk onto the ship's exterior. This was a service he would provide for the next long year.
The
Adenn'parjai saw action in almost every major battle over the course of the year. Sabata had never been aboard a ship before this time, let alone left Dxun. He only had limited experience with the village's defences and working aboard the
Adenn'parjai required a lot of on the job training. This was most apparent during the ship's first actual engagement.
Sabata had calibrated the ship's weapons, but he had failed to take into factor the differences in space and ground warfare. He hadn't accounted for the numerous other systems onboard the ship and had diverted the majority of the ship's reactor power to the turbolasers. When the
Adenn'parjai opened fire, she obliterated her targets in a single blow at the cost of nearly shutting down all but essential systems across the massive vessel. While the ship ceased fire, Sabata and the other weapons technicians scrambled to repair his mistake but it was too late. The
Adenn'parjai suffered heavy damage due to Sabata's miscalculation.
Heavily reprimanded for his mistake, Sabata was temporarily reassigned to aid with medical and dressing the injured in order to learn the consequences of his actions. He was not returned to his original position until the repairs to the
Adenn'parjai had been completed nearly three months later. However, by the end of the blockade, Sabata would go on to earn the respect of his peers. His mistake had provided a learning experience and a life lesson. The weight of the dead and injured sat on his shoulders and at the end of each rotation, before Sabata slept, he would say aloud the names of those who had been harmed by his actions. No longer a wet behind the ears recruit, Sabata had gained seniority over his fellow weapons techs and worked hard to ensure none repeated his error.
Still, the young Mandalorian longed to have his boots on the ground. A wish that wouldn't come true under the
Battle of Ord Radama. When the Blockade was broken, so too was the united Mandalorian front. But that didn't mean their services weren't still desired. Shortly after returning to his family on Dxun, Sabata was recruited by his father to aid the Imperial attack on Ord Radama. Declan had been approached with a rather lucrative sum to put together a squad of Mandalorian warriors. Departing Dxun, the group flew to join the Imperial Assault.
Storming the planet's capital of
Livien Magnus, the Imperial forces lay siege to the city. The city's defences held against the Imperials' initial assaults but eventually, they fell to the Sith's deception. On the orders of Sith Lord Adraas, a team of battle droids were sent as a distraction while Darth Venemal led a team of commandos to penetrate the thus far impregnable city. The small group of well-paid Mandalorians were brought in to aid the Imperial efforts and bolster their ranks. In addition to both Sabata and his father, the Mandalorians also included Amira, Sabata's wife, among their ranks.
Once inside the city, the team made their way towards the city's shield generator. Led by a pair of Sith, Sabata had never seen such raw ferocity as that wielded by the two Dark Lords. He couldn't help but note what a formidable foe such a person would be. It was no wonder that the Crusaders had sought the Jedi for combat. But if the Jedi were a challenge, then the Sith were a whole other
meshgeroya game. Watching their lightsabers cut through both sentient and inanimate without discrimination made Sabata realize just how much honour killing a Sith would bring both himself and his Clan.
Destroying the shield generator allowed the Sith and their soldiers to take the city without further difficulty. Regrouping with his Clansmen, Sabata reviled in their victory, celebrating throughout the night unaware of the hardships to come. The Sith reorganized their forces the following day, their strategy no longer taking the city but rather holding it. But if taking the city was considered difficult, then holding it was impossible.
The locals refused to lay down their arms leading to days on end of open conflict throughout the city. The Imperials pushed back and Sabata himself was tasked with taking down members of the local resistance. Gathering information and taking names, the Mandalorians were more interested in targeting leaders than engaging in open conflict alongside the Imperial Soldiers. It was here that Sabata's unique talents came into play, tracking the resistance members out of the city and deep into the planet's wetlands. Remembering his errors from his verd'goten, Sabata never failed to clean his weapons, ensuring they were kept dry while wandering the planet's numerous swamps.
Still, even with resistance leader after leader meeting their end, the constant guerilla attacks continued to pick away at the remaining Imperial forces and while the Mandalorians were capable of surviving on the limited rations, the Imperial Soldiers had a harder time making due. Several weeks had gone by without Imperial resupply. Even with the miserable conditions, Sabata found himself to be content on the battlefront. At least until Amira revealed a recent development to him.
She was pregnant with their child.
No longer was service on Ord Radama was Sabata's primary desire. Torn between his desire to return to Duxn with Amira and that to keep fighting on Ord Radama, it was the first time that Sabata felt torn to comply with the tenants of the Resol'nare. The choice, however, was made for Sabata after eighty-six long days on Ord Radama when Darth Malgus' capital ship was taken out of the sky by the Republic's forces. Unfortunately, the falling destroyed devastated the city beneath it, killing the majority of those within it, including Sabata's father.
There was no time to mourn or search the city for his father's body with the Republic army quickly descending on what was left of the Imperial forces. Still, once Sabata had ensured Amira was safely off-world, he ventured back into the devastated city. Evading Republic forces, Sabata searched among the dead and the wreckage hoping to find something, even just a gauntlet to give his father a proper send-off. After the third day, Sabata began to believe his efforts were in vain until he found a memory in the debris.
Using his gift to follow the memory, Sabata came across a group of scavengers who had already unearthed his father. A short altercation later, and he had reclaimed that which belonged to Clan Eldar. However, the blaster fire had attracted the attention of the Republic soldiers. Overburdened, Sabata was forced to evade conflict and narrowly escaped the remains of Livien Magnus.
Returning to the Demon Moon, Sabata remitted his father's armour to the Clan while retaining Declan's beskad for himself. Resuming his former duties as a weapons' smith, Sabata remained on Dxun throughout much of Amira's pregnancy despite the war still raging on throughout the galaxy. Time passed and Amira gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Upon her birth, Sabata bestowed the child with the name,
Tyri and soon little else in the universe mattered to him but his child. Warming to life as a father, Sabata grew content with life on Dxun. At dawn, he would venture into the jungles and hunt for the day's meat. Throughout the day, Sabata worked the forge, maintaining the warriors' weapons and armours against the harsh conditions of the jungle and in the evening he inspected the village's defences to ensure no harm came to its occupants throughout the night.
▼ D A R ' Y A I M ( 1 3 2 7 - 1 3 3 3 P R E )▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔"Joining the Crusader's Schism was my worst failing. It left me dar'buir."
Sabata would return to activate combat during the twilight of the Great Galactic War. Using false pretenses, the Sith Empire extended an offer of peace negotiations to the Republic. Despite fearing a ruse, the Republic knew the war could not be won and reluctantly accepted the Empire's offer. That was when the Mand'alor reached out again, attempting to unit his dwindling support to storm the Republic Capital. Leaving his daughter and wife, Sabata once again heeded the call of his Mand'alor and departed from Dxun for Coruscant.
A Mandalorian from Clan Vizla had gone ahead of the fleets, infiltrating the planet's defences and disabling the Republic's planetary shields. Arriving shortly after with the rest of the Imperial Fleet, Sabata stormed the capital with a score to settle. But something was different from Ord Radama. Despite seeking vengeance for his father's death at the hand of the Republic forces, sacking the city no longer brought the thrill of combat. There was no glory to be found in destroying families and their lives, this was not what the Resol'nare described. The Mand'alor was wrong to support this.
The
Sacking of Coruscant proved to be a transformative experience for the now thirty-year-old Mandalorian. It shook his very interpretation of the Resol'nare and his return home saw him spent a lot of time in silent reflection. Had any of his actions throughout the war brought him honour or glory? Had he defended himself or his family? These thoughts preyed on Sabata more so than the beasts of Dxun's jungles. He had lived his life leading his family into danger and it had cost him his father.
But Sabata wasn't alone in questioning the decisions made by the current Mand'alor. Mandalore the Lesser's support was at an all-time following the signing of the
Treaty of Coruscant. Though he had started strong in reuniting the clans, the Mandalorians' defeat at the Blockade of the Hydian Way had fractured the support for the Mand'alor and it had continuously dissolved from that point. To rectify this, the Mand'alor called one of the Mandalorians oldest tradition;
The Great Hunt.
Competing in the Great Hunt gave Sabata awakened a thrill within Sabata that he hadn't felt since he first stepped foot onto Ord Radama. Through the Hunt he found a way he could seek glory and honour in combat while still being able to protect and provide for his family. In many ways, the Hunt brought about change for all of the Mandalorians. The winner of the hunt,
Artus Lok, challenged the Mand'alor to a gladiatorial duel on the world of Geonosis. The fight was over in minutes, with Lok taking the mantle of Mand'alor for himself. Consolidating his power, the new Mand'alor sought out to unite the clans and give them a fighting chance at prospering off of the Cold War.
Following the conclusion of the Great Hunt, Sabata began to hunt for sport, travelling from system to system in search of the most formidable predators. Between planning his hunts, Sabata took other work. Mostly odd jobs here and there, sometimes he would take wealthy thrillseekers on their own hunts, other times he would work as an overpaid bodyguard. There was no shortage of individuals willing to part with a fistful of credits to merely appear to have a Mandalorian warrior at their beck and call. Sabata was even approached with the occasional bounty and if he deemed the opponent enough of a challenge and the fee lucrative enough, he'd take the job.
By this point, Tyri had reached the age of eight and as Sabata and Amira had borne no further children, Tyri began to train under her father. The family enjoyed their new lives, they met interesting people and travelled to interesting places. It was through these travels that Sabata was introduced to
Jicoln Cadera.
Tired of being aligned with the Sith and believing the Mand'alor and the Clans should follow the example set by
Mandalore the Preserver, Jicoln had reached out to several clans, including Clan Ordo, for support in overthrowing the current Mandalore. Through conversation and drink, Jicoln eventually learned of Sabata's feeling towards their alignment with the Sith, the Sacking of Coruscant and Sabata's skill set as a weaponsmith. While Sabata couldn't pledge Clan Eldar's support to Jicoln's cause, he and Amira both pledged theirs and offered to help.
But the
Crusader's Schism, as Jicoln's faction was dubbed, was promptly crushed by Mandalore the Vindicated. The Clans involved were nearly wiped out with only the women and young children being left alive. Sabata had been on a hunt when Jicoln took action thus leaving his involvement unknown.
At least, until someone talked.
A surviving member of Clan Kelborn,
Jedys, knew of Sabata aid to Jicoln's warriors and swore revenge against his fellow Mandalorian. He felt that Sabata had dishonoured the Resol'nare by not standing on the battlefield with the rest of Jicoln's soldiers and that the Son of Delcan needed to suffer like the rest of the Crusader's Schism had.
And so Jedys began to hunt Sabata and his family.
Once again, Sabata had failed the Resol'nare and endangered his family. Blissfully unaware, the family continued their travels, arriving on the remote world of Naboo. The untamed frontier allowed Sabata to resume Tyri's training, teaching her to hunt and survive in unfamiliar surroundings. It was a life they had all desired, free of the war, they were faced instead with the untamed wilds of Naboo. It was the type of glory that Sabata believed the Resol'nare intended for each Mandalorian to seek.
But nothing lasts forever and the family was eventually found.
Work was easy to come by on Naboo and Sabata's skills made him desirable to the settlers who wanted protection from the natives and the wild fauna. Accepting one such expedition, Sabata led the group deep into the lowlands only to realize too late it was a ruse. He had been misled, the entire expedition was a distraction, a way to separate the three Mandalorians. Realizing that their cover had been blown, the group turned their guns onto the Mandalorian. Overwhelmed and outgunned, Sabata was forced to rely on the terrain to change the outcome of the battle. It was a prolonged fight, but eventually, Sabata gained the upper hand. Ultimately, however, he was too late. Returning to the burning ruins of his family's
vheh'yaim, Sabata found only ash waiting for him.
Using his gift of psychometry, Sabata was unable to uncover the identity of his family's killer. Recognizing Jedys from Jicoln's forces, Sabata swore revenge on the other Mandalorian. The Resol'nare demanded justice for the dishonour Sabata and his family had suffered at the hands of the Kelborn. Unfortunately for Sabata, he was left stranded on Naboo. The family's shuttle had been taken by who Sabata could only have assumed was Jedys himself leaving him without any form of transport off of the remote planet. At least until he met
Captain Nel’ye Azole.
Nel'ye, or Nel as she preferred, was a Devaronian Smuggler who ran odd jobs under the radar of both the Republic and the Imperials. She agreed to take Sabata off-world but refused any monetary form of payment, instead, she requested that he pay for transport in the form of services rendered. In other terms, she needed muscle for a job. Hesitant to accept with Kelborn getting further away with each planetary rotation, Sabata was faced with the reality that he had no better options. Reluctantly accepting the Captain's offer, Sabata was brought aboard.
After all, what more did he have to lose?
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