Taris Siege The Taris Siege was the name given to the Mandalorian invasion of the Outer Rim planet of Taris in 3963 BBY , one of the first major offensives in the Mandalorian Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Mandalorian Neo - Crusaders . A world filled with Republic business interests , Taris was threatened by the growing Mandalorian empire on the Outer Rim and was subsequently granted full Republic membership and an unreasonably long , undermanned security cordon in the months leading up to the battle . Taris ' security situation was untenable , and after the massacre of several Jedi Padawans at Taris ' Jedi Tower led to the removal of Jedi presence on the world and the breakdown of social order , Mandalore the Ultimate finally took the initiative to attack . After opening a path to Taris by invading nearby Vanquo as a diversionary tactic , the Mandalorian forces met a reformed , weakened Republic armada hurriedly put together by Admirals Jimas Veltraa and Noma Sommos over Taris . Veltraa was killed and Sommos grievously wounded in the failed Republic defense — no further Republic help ever came , and the Mandalorian force commenced with a massive bombardment of Taris ' Upper and Middle Cities . Weeks of bombing were followed by a full - scale ground invasion personally coordinated by chief Mandalorian strategist Cassus Fett , as the invaders captured the Upper and Middle Cities without serious opposition . They faced much greater difficulty in trying to seize the Lower City , where local swoop gangs such as the Hidden Beks used their familiarity with the environment to their advantage , and Senator Haydel Goravvus went to battle with his owned armed resistance force , which had aid from surviving law enforcement and a Jedi Master , Raana Tey . Goravvus ' resistance and the Hidden Beks wound up joining forces with the help of Republic fugitives Zayne Carrick and Marn Hierogryph , and together plotted to assassinate Fett — however , Fett beat them to the punch , launching a devastating surprise attack on the Resistance ' s base in the Lower City and effectively crushing Goravvus ' band . Left without serious resistance , the Mandalorians succeeded in conquering Taris and occupied the planet for several years , until the Jedi Knight Revan liberated the planet in a Republic counteroffensive in 3961 – 3960 BBY . Prelude . In 3976 BBY , the warrior clans known as the Mandalorian Neo - Crusaders , at the command of leader Mandalore the Ultimate , began to carve out an empire by conquering unaligned worlds on the Outer Rim . After these exploits earned no reaction from the Galactic Republic , the Mandalorians lurched out towards the Core , threatening resource worlds near the valuable Outer Rim ecumenopolis of Taris . With Republic business interests in that region threatened , the Republic granted full membership to Taris in 3966 BBY after a long bribery campaign by local executives . Despite the better judgment of some in the Republic Navy ' s command structure , the Republic set up a long , undermanned security cordon known as the Jebble - Vanquo - Tarnith line to protect the world , as the two sides entered into an uneasy months - long stalemate . That equilibrium was shattered in 3964 BBY , when the graduating class at Taris ' Jedi Tower was killed in a high - profile massacre . The blame was pinned on surviving Padawan Zayne Carrick and local Snivvian criminal Marn Hierogryph , who managed to elude heavy pursuit and flee Taris . Their escape plunged Taris into riots and chaos , and the five Jedi Masters stationed at the Tower were pulled off the planet . Mandalore the Ultimate took the unrest as a signal to attack , and he launched the first great stab of the Mandalorian Wars : a three - pronged assault aimed at Taris . The Jebble - Vanquo - Tarnith line — which proved too distant from the Republic center of power and too overextended to be properly defended — was broken at the mining world of Vanquo , where Mandalore the Ultimate and his chief strategist , Cassus Fett , managed to draw away the Republic Navy ' s left flank and clear open the way to Taris , seizing the planet in the process . Their line shattered , Republic Admirals Jimas Veltraa and Noma Sommos pulled together the remnants of their Outer Rim forces in a makeshift force to defend Taris , in what would prove to be a last - ditch effort . The battle . Onslaught . Although Veltraa and Sommos managed to effectively reform their forces into a coherent defense , they soon found themselves overwhelmed by enemy forces in an offensive barrage popularly known in the Republic as " the Onslaught . " Once the Mandalorians arrived at their target , they crushed the Republic forces over Taris — Admiral Veltraa was killed when his flagship , " Reliance " , was destroyed with all hands lost , and Admiral Sommos suffered injuries severe enough to necessitate her removal from the front lines to a field hospital on Wayland . Once the skies over Taris were clear , the Mandalorians commenced a heavy bombardment of the Upper and Middle Cities , causing significant casualties and damage and leaving significant swaths of the Middle City in ruins . one notable landmark to be destroyed was the historic Lhosan Industries plant in the Middle City ' s Machineville neighborhood — known as the birthplace of the swoop bike — which had become a shelter for many locals who were killed when the factory ' s walls caved in . The weeks - long bombardment left many civilians at risk , and rescuers at work in the Middle City soon found themselves overwhelmed . The Taris Home Guard planetary defense force attempted repeatedly to engage an increasing number of Mandalorian " Kandosii " - type dreadnaughts in the skies above Taris but were completely outgunned , failing to make it past the invaders ' perimeter — soon , the local police force , led by Constable Noana Sowrs , would also be called into battle . After weeks of aerial bombardment , the Mandalorians finally launched a full - scale ground invasion , starting with nighttime landings on Taris ' polar areas — by the next morning , Basilisk war droid s were sweeping through the Upper City with warriors on their backs . By then , the Tarisian public had grown not to expect any help from the Republic , which had deemed Taris " indefensible " despite the fact that the planet was a full member of the galactic government . The invasion was personally guided by Mandalore the Ultimate ' s top strategist , Cassus Fett , and swiftly overwhelmed what was left of Taris ' civil defense . The Mandalorians seized the Upper City neighborhood of Highpoint , from where the " Taris Holofeed " news outlet had continued to cover the siege . The destruction of the " Holofeed " office forced operations to shift to the Junavex Hotel , until the Mandalorians stormed the building and terminated the broadcast . Much of the Upper City was abandoned in the early stages of the Mandalorian invasion , with looters taking advantage of the chaos to plunder Upper City locales such as Market Street before clearing out as the invaders moved in . Once Mandalorian control of the Upper City was sufficiently consolidated , the " Taris Holofeed " was reactivated to broadcast a special message from Cassus Fett himself : a proclamation releasing the people of Taris from their obedience to the Galactic Republic . Before shutting down the " Holofeed " for good , Fett announced that Taris was now a Mandalorian world , and its citizens now owed allegiance to the Mandalore . Tide of resistance . Although some Tarisians left to join the Neo - Crusader army , there nevertheless continued to be dogged resistance to the Mandalorians in the Lower City . Local swoop gangs such as the Hidden Beks and Black Vulkars had only put up token resistance as the Mandalorians took the Upper and Middle Cities , but as the invaders encroached on their homes in the Lower City , they fought the Neo - Crusaders tooth and nail . Meanwhile , a more organized and well - armed force arose under the command of Taris ' Senator , Haydel Goravvus , who had disappeared from the public eye in the days after the Padawan Massacre . Although Goravvus ' Taris Resistance was largely composed of armed locals defending their homes , it had the aid of Constable Sowrs and surviving remnants of Tarisian law enforcement , and a Jedi Master , the Togruta Raana Tey , who had been ordered to help defend Taris by Supreme Chancellor Tol Cressa of the Republic . Rather than rest on his laurels in the Upper City , Fett continued to push down into the lower levels of the Taris cityscape , with some Mandalorian warriors seeing the continued siege effort as a trial run for what they ' d face once the Mandalorian force reached the Republic capital of Coruscant . Although the Hidden Beks and the Taris Resistance had the same aim , the two sides had been fighting parallel wars after Constable Sowrs shut down any ideas of the two joining forces — she suspected the Beks to be culpable in the disappearance of her children , and still saw them as criminals to be punished , despite the circumstances . However , the two sides would soon come together via the efforts of Bek leader Gadon Thek and the fugitives Zayne Carrick and Marn Hierogryph , who had met Thek in the Lower City . Carrick and Hierogryph had been separated during the Mandalorian bombardment of Serroco , and Hierogryph — who had earned significant fame for saving the lives of numerous Republic soldiers on Serroco — linked up with the Beks after receiving a mission from Lhosan Industries chairman Jervo Thalien to find Goravvus . Carrick returned to Taris after hearing his friend was involved in the fight against the Mandalorians , and his discovery of Sowrs ' children proved to be the bargaining chip the Beks needed to gain the Resistance ' s trust . Although Master Tey wanted Carrick dead — she was one of the true perpetrators of the Padawan Massacre which Carrick was blamed for — the two sides worked out a deal , with Tey providing aid for the Bek ' s wounded in exchange for the swoop gang ' s valuable skills . By then , Fett had arrived planetside , overseeing Mandalorian operations directly from a command center set up in the old council room at the Jedi Tower . Although the Mandalorians clearly had the upper hand , Fett was forced to personally rein in a massive logjam caused by rampaging Mandalorian forces unused to centralized organization , along with a morass attempted escapees and captured vehicles that threatened to bog down the Mandalorian siege effort . Meanwhile , the Resistance managed to carve out a stronghold of several blocks of the Lower City , and hit the Mandalorians hard with several raids that earned them valuable munitions . After getting word of Fett ' s presence on Taris , the Resistance put together a plan to take him out , wiring the Jedi Tower with explosives that they would blow if Carrick , Tey and agent Shel Jelavan could infiltrate the Tower and confirm that Fett was still there . However , by the time the saboteurs reached the Tower , Fett was gone , as the strategist had managed to work out the location of the Resistance ' s stronghold and had gone to launch a devastating surprise attack . The attack was swift , precise and effectively destroyed the Resistance , pushing the few survivors into the rakghoul - infested wasteland known as the Undercity — topside , Master Tey was killed when Hierogryph noticed her attempting to attack Carrick in the remnants of the Jedi Tower and blew the explosives . Although Goravvus managed to survive , any efforts to resist the Mandalorian invasion were dealt a critical blow , and the Mandalorians went on to conquer the planet . Aftermath . After seizing Taris , the Mandalorian force split in two directions : one galactic west around the Outer Rim destined for a battle at Ithor , and another headed for the ice world of Jebble . Many of the recruits the Mandalorians gained on Taris proceeded to Jebble , which became a major staging point for a planned raid on the Core World of Alderaan , but this army was destroyed by the mutating machinations of the ancient Sith artifact known as the Muur Talisman , which had been found deep in the Undercity by a Mandalorian excavation team during the Siege . Taris held many economic interests in the Republic , and the siege had significant economic impact in the Outer Rim : along with several other factors , the siege contributed to a sharp downturn in the mining sector . The invasion also scuttled local speeder producer Lhosan Industries ' plans to diversify and expand , and led chairman Jervo Thalien to pull operations from the planet and leave thousands in the Lower City out of work . Taris spent the next several years under Mandalorian occupation , and although local resistance was effectively crushed by Fett ' s sneak attack , several principal players in the fight against the Mandalorian invasion managed to survive the Siege . Although Senator Goravvus initially refused to leave Taris behind — a decision that inadvertently led to Constable Sowrs ' death at the hands of Undercity rakghouls — he eventually made it offworld and served as a champion of refugees and at - risk people throughout the war , as did Carrick , Hierogryph and Shel Jelavan . Meanwhile , Gadon Thek and the Hidden Beks , as well as their rivals , the Black Vulkars , persisted in the Lower City throughout the Mandalorian occupation and were still active as of the Jedi Civil War a decade later . The Mandalorian invasion eventually reached as far as the Core World of Duro , but the Republic managed to turn the tide from 3961 – 3960 BBY , behind the brilliant strategic leadership of the Jedi Knight Revan and his Jedi crusaders . Revan ' s massive counteroffensive eventually led to Taris ' liberation from Mandalorian rule . Behind the scenes . The Taris Siege was first mentioned in the 2003 video game " " , and was first shown in the , where writer John Jackson Miller made it the primary setting of the " " story arc . The name " Taris Siege " was first canonized in " " , a comic supplement also written by Miller . Miller added additional context to the Taris Siege through in - universe inserts of " The Taris Holofeed " news outlet , which present a portrayal of the battle that is often inspired by historical sources . " " presents a live report on the Mandalorian invasion that was inspired by famous " This is London " newscasts during the in 1941 , while " The Taris Holofeed Special Proclamation " contains Cassus Fett ' s message to the Tarisian people after the start of the invasion , which purposely mirrored the tone of proclamation claiming for the in .