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View Full Version : [Star Wars] What would a Mandalorian occupation look like?



Kiero
2009-02-20, 10:38 AM
I think for Taris Resists! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105043) it's important to establish just what the Mandalorian (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mandalorian)occupation of Taris (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Taris)(approximately 3963-3961BBY) is like. Because their tyranny is going to be a major backdrop and theme for the game. They are, after all, invaders and occupiers who seized the world, crushed all resistance mercilessly, and then drained it of people to feed their war machine.

But here's the thing; the Mandalorians aren't ideological conquerors, they don't have a political system of their own they seek to impose on the conquered. They're a nomadic horde who sweep aside everything in their path, absorbing species, technologies and ideas they encounter to add to their strength. Taris was something of a test-bed for how Mandalorians might not just take, but hold as well. It was part of Cassus Fett (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cassus_Fett)'s grand plan to turn the Mandalorians into something resembling an army, rather than a mob. Before that, they weren't really familiar with things like logistics, areas of operation, procedures and so on.

From the scenes in the KotOR comics, one thing is fairly obvious: at least initially there's martial law. That means armoured Mandalorians patrolling the streets in large numbers, ready to respond to any sign of resistance. I'm not sure if that would ever end - their activities are hardly conducive to arriving at a harmonius equilibrium with the local population.

Because one of the major activities on a captured world is rounding up segments of the population to become new Neo-Crusaders. The Mandalorian war effort depends on new bodies to continue it's momentum. Even after the initial organised resistance has been crushed (which is what happened once the Siege of Taris (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Siege_of_Taris) was over), I'd imagine there would be flare-ups of trouble as people are shipped out.

But given their lack of experience in governing an occupied world, would they leave the existing power structures in place, and hope to keep things running through them? Because if people aren't to starve to death, they need to keep that world viable, producing food, keeping the populace occupied in jobs and such. Would that mean some kind of accomodation with the old order? Or establishing a puppet ruler who only rules at Mandalorian forebearance? Perhaps with some form of proxy government with limited rights, who's primary concern is producing the things the Mandalorians need?

What proportion of the population could be safely shipped off before things would start to fall apart?

Taris wasn't an equitable or ideal society to begin with. Before Revan eventually arrived to liberate it, they were not only a socially stratified society, where the aristocracy lived (literally) above everyone else and concentrated power in their hands, but they were a slave-owning society too.

Slavery doesn't conflict with Mandalorian ethics; I don't think they care, ultimately about the plight of non-Mandalorians, and probably co-opted whatever local practices were in place. There are also Exchange slavers active, perhaps encouraged to take away malcontents and dissidents. They'll work with anyone if there's profit in it.

Thing is, I want to get the tenor of the occupation right. I don't think the Mandos are unnecessarily cruel in the way they do things - just utterly and ruthlessly pragmatic. They don't have qualms about freedom or humanity or any of those things the Republic stands for, all that matters is serving Mandalore and furthering the Mandalorian people.

We've already seen that unlike the Galactic and Sith Empires, they're not racist. Anyone who follows the Resol'Nare is a Mandalorian, regardless of their species. And that brings rights as well as responsibilities; they're not monsters the way the Sith and Galactic Empire were. I think portraying them as such is overly simplistic, and loses something.

Would we have informers and such? Would that be the sort of thing ordinary people do in an attempt to ingratiate themselves with the occupiers, and assert some measure of control over their lives? Would such behaviour be tolerated by the occupiers (given ?

Specific to Taris, how would they approach the Undercity, where the vestiges of the Resistance is driven? It's full of rakghouls as well as the Outcasts, and doesn't really have any resources worth exploiting. Would they just ignore the survivors and focus on keeping the rest of the plant in check? Perhaps posting checkpoints at all the entrances?

I also need some thoughts about who might be left in charge. Fett himself has more important things to do than governing a nominally pacified world. So some other warrior would be left in charge. As before, possibly with some native-Tarisian ruler or body underneath them to enact things.

Mando Knight
2009-02-20, 11:45 AM
It would probably be primarily a military occupation, with martial law and all that... much like the Sith occupation of Taris in KotOR 1. At least on the surface. The Mandos are, like you said, primarily nomadic, and won't dig too deep into the social infrastructure of the planet, and the same societal norms from before the occupation will show in the citizenry. The officials would probably be replaced with either Mandalorians or Mando-sympathizers, as with all occupations. The official structure would be more feudalistic with Mandalorians, with the strong in leadership positions and the weak beneath them.

You're right about them not caring about rights or humanity... unless it interferes with them and their sense of honor and glory. However you play them out, you should remember the two driving factors in most Mandalorian warriors: the Resol'nare and the idea that glory and honor come from combat. Interestingly enough, this is similar to a somewhat oversimplification of the codes of chivalry in the Middle Ages: those of similar strength and renown must be treated with honor and have the right to honorable combat, but those of lesser standing have no inherent rights, and may be dealt with however you choose.

Telonius
2009-02-20, 12:42 PM
I'm not up to date on Star Wars mythology, but from everything you've just described, you can probably look up "Mongol Empire" in the history books and find your answer (though the Mongols were a lot more attuned to logistics and tactics than most people realize).

In general, here's what the Mongols would do to an area when they wanted to conquer it. Spread rumors about how ruthless the Mongol armies were, how they took no prisoners, etc.* Basically scare the pants off of the rural communities surrounding a city, who would then flee into the cities with stories of OMG Mongols! just a few miles away. Then, send an emissary to the city and demand surrender. If the city surrendered, then they got off easy. They'd provide soldiers, expertise, and tribute; and the Mongols would promise not to sack the city. The city would tell its neighbors that it's best to surrender. The Horde would move on, strengthened by the new recruits.

If the city didn't surrender, and the city was strong enough to withstand a direct assault, the Mongols sat outside and waited. The siege usually wouldn't last long, since the city had all of the outlying farming communities to feed, plus no way of getting new supplies in (since the farmers had all taken refuge in the city). The city would be ruthlessly pillaged, with or without the siege. The city would be an example to its neighbors, who would then be more likely to surrender without a fight.

Somewhat like the Mandalorians, the Mongols had a hard time holding onto their gains. The empire only lasted a couple generations after Temujin (Genghis Khan). Because the Khan - being a steppe warrior to begin with - traveled with his armies most of the time, there really wasn't anyone minding the store while he was gone. Fear kept most of the empire in line, but whenever the Hordes fared too far out from the Mongol and Chinese heartlands, local leaders would start causing trouble. In "surrendered" towns, the local leaders - in particular, local religious leaders - were indeed left in place. Somebody needed to be in charge of things, and the warriors of the Horde were too valuable to waste on petty matters like tax collecting and recruiting.

* - those propaganda stories were the basis of the Mongols' truly awful reputation. They weren't exactly saints, but if they'd really killed as many as they were reputed to have killed, there would have been no one left in China. A later ruler, Timur (Tamerlane), heard the stories and set out to match them. He actually did make pyramids out of skulls.

SydneyLosstarot
2009-02-20, 02:47 PM
I second the idea of resemblance with the Sith occupation.
I'd put it this way:

1) Basically, we have a star destroyer in the orbit, a military base on-planet(maybe serving as an information, tactics and logistics facility - like, the HQ for the sector).
2)we have martial law and command economy: that is, any enterprise potentially useful for the army is left intact and operates at the will of military officers. They get next to no payment(maybe just enough to get going), but retain relative safety and most of their property
3)posessing a lot of things(such as weapons and high-quality transmitters) is illegal and punishable. well, a lot of actions are punishable
4)the Mandalorians recruit freely. so apart from a tactical base there should be training camps for fresh Neo-Crusaders.
important note: they recruit without any racial or social prejudice(do they? haven't seen a Wookie Mandalorian, but why the hell not, they'd end up in slavery instead. broad support by alien species ensues.)
5)the streets are patrolled by armed groups of Ubermenschen in heavy armor, who despise and detest everyone else who is not a warrior(see point 2))
6)everyone not willing to participate in Mandalorian ventures seeks refuge in the Undercity, where both an organized Resistance and loose survivor communities are formed. The Exchange(and any other local gangs, the Gamorreans included) are considered lowlife and vultures by the Mandos, so they go downtown or are eliminated.
7)fresh recruits raid the Undercity as part of their training: Undercity makes a nice training ground, since it's a fairly dangerous place, crawling with rakghouls, remnants of Republic soldiers, possibly Jedi, remnants of the gangs and bunches of angry people, not to mention the general unhealthy atmosphere(one could include ecological problems because of factories destroyed during the siege).
So, they raid to get experience and capture slaves.

They aren't any more cruel than any civilian leader. They just go on and push everyone out of their way.

Kiero
2009-02-20, 02:59 PM
important note: they recruit without any racial or social prejudice(do they? haven't seen a Wookie Mandalorian, but why the hell not, they'd end up in slavery instead. broad support by alien species ensues.)

This quite strongly distinguishes them from the racist Sith (and later Galatic) Empire. The Mandalorians were originally Taungs, who were supplanted by humans, and since then will accept anyone. Just look at the variety of Crusaders at the capture of Vanquo in the comics. There's a clear shot of a Twi'lek Mandalorian, and there's images of Rodians and many others.

In their own brutal way, they believe in both merit and equal opportunities.

One thing I disagree with is the treatment of the Exchange; there seems to have been some kind of accomodation made with them, whereby they can continue their slaving practices on Taris (the planet already had widespread slavery, apparently that was no bar to Republic membership...). So while the Mandos might despise them, they appear willing to work with them.

Which also means I can bring in the odd Force-user, since it's unlikely we'll see Mandalorian Force-users.

I also think new recruits would be immediately shipped off-planet. If there's anything the Carthaginians of old learned very fast about co-opting people, you don't leave them where they consider home. Gives them far too much opportunity to think about mutiny.