Disaster on Jebble

Prelude

The Mandalorian survey vessel Mar'eyce made its return from Taris. On board were Pulsipher, previously an assistant to the imprisoned Demagol, and his Mandalorian team, who had located the ancient Sith artifact known as the Muur Talisman. Unbeknownst to Pulsipher, Zayne Carrick, a fugitive Jedi Padawan, Marn "Gryph" Hierogryph, and Celeste Morne of the Covenant Shadow were also aboard, secretly attempting to secure the Talisman. Celeste attempted to trick Pulsipher into discarding the Talisman through an airlock, but he resisted its influence. The Talisman immediately began to ensnare his right arm and assaulted the nearest Mandalorians, resulting in one fatality and others marked with red on their armor.

As Mandalorians recruited new forces for the Alderaan invasion, awaiting Cassus Fett's transports, the Mar'eyce landed. Unfortunately, the marked Mandalorians rapidly transformed into rakghouls, swiftly infecting others and turning them into rakghouls at an accelerated rate. Adding to the horror, the Muur Talisman enabled the rakghouls to retain their former skills, rendering them more intelligent and capable of utilizing weapons and equipment like basilisk war droids.

Battle

Consequently, Mandalorians found themselves battling other Mandalorians who had been transformed into rakghouls. Zayne Carrick contacted Cassus Fett, who was en route with the transports, to warn him of the plague. Despite Cassus's distrust of Zayne, stemming from his involvement in the group that attempted to assassinate him, Zayne insisted that he still valued the Mandalorians as people and urged him to conduct a survey before landing.

Pulsipher, wielding the Talisman to command the rakghouls, captured Zayne and demanded he reveal its secrets. However, the Talisman desired a Jedi, abandoning Pulsipher to the rakghouls and attacking the Padawan. Zayne contemplated claiming the Talisman to control the rakghouls and safeguard the galaxy, but Celeste intervened, becoming the Talisman's new host and vessel for the spirit of Karness Muur. Blinded by the dark side, Celeste began to lead the rakghouls in battle against all the Mandalorians. Zayne soon convinced her that she was furthering the Sith's agenda, the very antithesis of her mission as a member of the Jedi Covenant to prevent the Sith's resurgence. To neutralize the Muur Talisman's power, Celeste permitted Zayne to confine her within the oubliette of the Sith Remulus Dreypa until he could find Jedi capable of assisting her, thereby sealing the Talisman's influence.

With the Talisman removed, the rakghouls reverted to mindless creatures, discarding their weapons and attacking indiscriminately, even turning on each other. Zayne and Gryph narrowly escaped aboard the Moomo Williwaw, hoping to return for Celeste, but Cassus Fett's ships arrived. Rather than landing, Fett ordered a nuclear bombardment of the planet, annihilating all structures, rakghouls, and any remaining troops.

Aftermath

Witnessing the destruction, Zayne presumed Celeste had perished, but she survived, remaining in stasis within the oubliette. Centuries later, a historian documented the disaster's significance in the Mandalorian Wars, and Gryph recounted his experiences in his hologram. Approximately two thousand five hundred years later, ice miners on Jebble discovered the intact oubliette.

Behind the scenes

The Jebble disaster was depicted in the Knights of the Old Republic arc within the Star Wars: Vector comic series, authored by John Jackson Miller and illustrated by Scott Hepburn.