Invasion of Sarrassia

Sarrassia was the center of two prominent religious groups: the Grumani Hierophants and the Spumani Crusaders. These two groups had been at war for almost two and a half millennia, dating back to the Cold War. During the Republic Dark Age, Mercia Holt, an archaeologist, and her spouse Aron journeyed to Sarrassia in search of the Helm of Ieldis, an ancient Sith artifact created by Sith Lord Ieldis before the Great Hyperspace War. Sith Lord Odion had coerced the couple into participating in Project Pandemonium and tasked them with locating the Helm for his own purposes. With assistance from the Grumani Hierophants, the pair successfully located the Helm within a temple beneath Mount Diligence, but they decided to conceal it from Odion on Skarpos, a desolate desert planet under the rule of Lord Malakite. In exchange, the Hierophants pledged to defend Mount Diligence at all costs, designating it as sacred ground.

Around 1039 BBY, the Sith Lord Ayanos Bactra conquered Sarrassia and established his own principality known as the Bactranate. Bactra effectively controlled the Grumani Hierophants and prevented Spumani Crusaders from engaging in their typically sanguinary pursuits. However, this stability only facilitated the Bactranate's exploitation of the planet's Sarrassian iron deposits. This resulted in a brief period of peace until the Bactranate collapsed in 1032 BBY during the Second Charge Matrica, an internal conflict between rival Sith Lords in the Grumani sector.

By the conclusion of the Battle of Darkknell, Odion and his Sith Lord brother Daiman had divided the former Bactranate between themselves. Odion's growing fanatical nihilism prompted him to revive Project Pandemonium. He assigned the task of finding the Helm of Ieldis to a group of Novitiates selected by the Claimer Wayman. This group included Jedi Knight Kerra Holt, disguised as "Mercy," a young woman who had embraced Odion's nihilistic beliefs. Following the First Battle of Skarpos, Odion gathered and briefed this task force at his capital in Jubalene. He also assembled a war fleet under the command of General Beld Yulan, a former mercenary who had also adopted Odion's death cult.

Having rearmed and resupplied his fleet at Vanahame, General Beld Yulan initiated an invasion of Sarrassia. An Odionate military fleet entered the Sarrassia system and deployed an invasion force, which swiftly eliminated resistance from the Sarrassian sects and occupied the planet's major population centers. During subsequent operations, Mercy's team arrived aboard a fleet of gunships used to transport Grumani prisoners. The captives were categorized based on their species' skills, and children were forcibly separated from their parents. Simultaneously, Mercy's team, led by Ulan and the Twi'lek Doyan, was part of an assault force dispatched to Mount Diligence to eliminate a group of Grumani Hierophants still resisting the Sith invasion.

The Grumani had established a trench, and some wielded lightsabers. During a skirmish, Kerra attempted to prevent fellow Sith acolyte Doyan from killing a Hierophant. However, Yulan witnessed this and ordered his cannons to fire on all combatants, resulting in friendly fire that killed and wounded several of his own troops. Yulan again criticized Mercy's perceived compassion and reluctance to die in combat. Mercy countered that Yulan's cannons nearly vaporized his own troops and argued that Odion would be displeased if the mission to find the Helm of Ieldis was hindered by the deaths of its members. Yulan grumbled that Odion would simply find more Novitiates and then proceeded to assess the situation on the ground, quickly discovering that several Sith troopers had been killed or wounded by his friendly fire.

One of Yulan's officers reported that his Sith troopers had cleared the cave entrance and killed the defending priests who were making a final stand. Yulan speculated that something was inside and ordered Mercy and her comrades to explore the caves, remarking that he wanted to return to Vanahame while he still remembered its location. While in the cave, Kerra became separated from her fellow Novitiates and discovered a secret entrance accessed by the symbol on her mother's pendant. She found a temple separated by an underwater river and was subsequently ambushed by the alien Hierophant Aunt Zoojoo, who initially mistook her for a Sith acolyte. However, Aunt Zoojoo quickly recognized Kerra as a light-sider despite her Sith attire. Later, at the underground temple, Zoojoo revealed the last known location of her parents and confirmed that the Helm of Ieldis was actually located on Skarpos.

Their meeting was interrupted by the arrival of Yulan and several Sith, who had entered the chamber by using explosives to create a hole. In a panic, Zoojoo detonated an explosion that buried the temple under an avalanche of rubble, crushing herself to death but denying the Sith access to valuable information. Yulan and his companions managed to escape the debris caused by the cave collapsing from the explosion. Mercy subsequently surfaced, and Yulan inquired about her reasons for speaking with the woman. Mercy claimed she was merely seeking intelligence and revealed that the Helm was located on Skarpos, ordering Yulan to take them there since he was responsible for their transportation.

Following Mercy's revelation about the Helm's location, Yulan began making arrangements for hyperspace travel to Skarpos, which was currently under siege by Odion's forces. Kerra could only mourn the loss of her family friend Zoojoo but vowed to continue her quest to find her parents. The Odionate task force returned to Skarpos, where they were stationed at the Odionate garrison in the Morbollon Mesa. However, Lord Malakite did not tolerate any violation of his sovereignty over the Menagerie and began planning to retake Skarpos.

Within days of the initial invasion, Malakite launched a counter-offensive to expel Odion's forces from Skarpos. He dispatched a large invasion fleet carrying thousands of Mutate reinforcements and a large phalanx of Stenaxes, a race of winged reptilian humanoids. Due to his aversion to technology, Malakite preferred to use overwhelming force to swarm foes with superior technology. Malakite himself led a planetary assault force of Mutates riding Stenaxes. Odion's forces were stationed at the foot of the mountain and deployed artillery against Malakite's hordes. The battle was further complicated by the arrival of Sith Lord Daiman, Odion's estranged younger brother, with yet another battle fleet.