Mission to Mandalore

During the Imperial Era, Sabine Wren, a Mandalorian, demonstrated great promise as a cadet at the Imperial Academy of Mandalore. She conceived a devastating weapon referred to as the Duchess, designed to target the beskar alloy present in Mandalorian armor, effectively incinerating those who wore it. Later, Sabine grew disillusioned with the Galactic Empire and aligned herself with the Spectres rebel cell, which subsequently joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic. She acquired the Darksaber, an age-old symbol of Mandalorian leadership, after discovering it within the Nightsister lair on Dathomir. Previously, the weapon had been wielded by Darth Maul, a Sith Lord who had taken control of Death Watch, a Mandalorian faction formerly under the leadership of Pre Vizsla. Death Watch had overthrown the pacifist Duchess Satine Kryze to seize control of the planet near the end of the Clone Wars. Maul was ultimately ousted from power and forced into exile following the Siege of Mandalore and the rise of the Empire. After mending fences with her family and defeating the Imperial puppet Governor Gar Saxon, Sabine successfully swayed her clan to support the rebel cause. However, she discovered that her father, Alrich Wren, had been taken captive by the Empire to ensure Clan Wren's compliance. Sabine proved her right to wield the Darksaber by defeating Gar Saxon, who was wielding it at the time, in single combat, technically making her the rightful leader of Mandalore. However, she did not desire the responsibility and pledged to pass the sword on to someone capable of leading Mandalore.

In return, Clan Wren aided Phoenix Cell and the Spectres in escaping the Battle of Atollon and regrouping. Sabine then agreed to repay a debt to her mother, Ursa Wren, as the clan was embroiled in a civil war against the Imperial-aligned Clan Saxon. Although the Rebel Alliance couldn't dispatch forces to assist Clan Wren, Phoenix Leader Hera Syndulla granted Sabine permission to return and support her family. Sabine was accompanied by several of her Spectres comrades: the Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus, Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger, and Chopper. The Spectres members, along with the Mandalorian forces who had traveled to Atollon, separated from the remaining Rebel ships in deep space. Ezra's Gauntlet and the Fang fighters made their way toward Mandalore, while the Rebel ships headed for Alliance headquarters on Yavin 4. Given the Spectres' importance to the Alliance, Hera faced difficulty in convincing Mon Mothma to allow two-thirds of her crew to depart, and they were instructed to return after Sabine's father had been rescued.

In 1 BBY, Clan Wren, the Spectres, Lady Bo-Katan Kryze, warriors from Clan Kryze, and Fenn Rau, a surviving Mandalorian Protector, embarked on a mission to liberate Alrich Wren from Imperial captivity. Receiving intel from spies located in Sundari, the capital, indicating that Alrich was being held at an Imperial outpost, Sabine and her allies launched a surprise offensive on the outpost, with Sabine leading the charge wielding the Darksaber. During the assault, the Empire deployed Jumptroopers and All Terrain Defense Pods, but they were ultimately defeated.

However, after securing the outpost, Alrich was nowhere to be found. Sabine, Rau, Bridger, and Jarrus then met with Kryze, the former regent of Mandalore. Sabine attempted to recruit Kryze to become the new wielder of the Darksaber and Mandalore's new leader. However, Kryze refused, citing Clan Saxon's conspiracy with the Empire to depose her and her belief that she had already had her chance to govern. Sabine contacted her mother, who informed her that the Imperials were transporting Alrich back to the capital for a public execution. Sabine and her comrades then formulated a plan to intercept the Imperial convoy transporting her father before it reached the capital.

The convoy consisted of three Imperial Troop Transports, accompanied by several scout troopers on speeder bikes, and several Imperial Super Commandos riding on the transport carrying Alrich. Captain Hark led the convoy, receiving his orders directly from Governor Tiber Saxon. A plan was devised to separate the middle ITT carrying Alrich from the rest of the convoy to isolate it, making it easier to board and rescue Alrich. Bridger volunteered, and the rebels soon ambushed the convoy. Sabine fired a paint bomb, obscuring the window of the middle ITT, while the other rebels eliminated the other transports, stormtroopers, scout troopers, and Imperial Super Commandos. During the attack, Bridger infiltrated the ITT holding Alrich and rescued him, forcing Hark to flee.

With the convoy cleared, the now-unmanned ITTs drifted towards a cliff overlooking a canyon. Unfamiliar with Mandalorian jetpacks, Bridger gave his to Alrich, and while Alrich escaped, Bridger Force jumped out of the transport toward the cliff. He nearly missed his grip, but Sabine managed to grab his hand. Hark contacted Saxon, informing him that Alrich had been freed. However, Saxon told him not to worry, as he would be deploying their new weapon. After a brief reunion with her father, Sabine contacted her mother, who, along with Sabine's brother Tristan Wren, had engaged Imperial forces and forced them to retreat.

However, while all Imperial forces were in full retreat, Tristan informed the others that a Gozanti-class cruiser had deployed what appeared to be a modified AT-DP, which soon began charging its primary weapon. Listening through Rau's comlink, Sabine recognized the sound as the Arc Pulse Generator, the weapon she had designed during her time at the Imperial Academy, which she had named the Duchess after the late Satine Kryze. She tried to warn her mother and brother to get off the battlefield, just as the weapon began firing.

Sabine, her friends, and fellow Mandalorians soon arrived at the battle site, finding only the remnants of the defeated. Many bodies had been vaporized by the weapon, leaving behind only scorched Mandalorian armor. Unable to locate her mother and brother, Sabine feared the worst and fell to her knees in tears. While the others discussed the nature of the weapon that could inflict such damage, Sabine blamed herself for designing the weapon that had seemingly killed her mother and brother.

However, just as Sabine was losing hope, she heard her brother call out to her and saw them emerge from behind the wreckage of an ITT, wounded but alive. Relieved, Sabine reunited with them, but only briefly, as Imperial aerial forces, including Jumptroopers, Imperial Super Commandos, and TIE Fighters, arrived to eliminate the survivors. A Clan Kryze–affiliated Kom'rk-class fighter/transport emerged from behind the TIE fighters, shooting one down and rescuing the group. As the Kom'rk-class fighter made its escape, it was hit by a TIE fighter, causing it to lose power and its weapons systems. While Sabine repaired the ship's systems, Kryze and Bridger launched from the ship and engaged the TIE fighters. After destroying the remaining two, they returned to their ship and headed for their camp.

As Sabine and the others landed at a camp, Clan Kryze warriors threatened to kill Sabine for her role in creating the weapon. They accused her of betraying her fellow Mandalorians. However, Sabine took responsibility for her mistakes, and Kryze convinced the others that Sabine would destroy the Duchess. The Wrens, Jarrus, Bridger, Rau, and Kryze met at the command center to discuss a strategy for destroying the Duchess. Kryze and Rau discussed on the sidelines while observing Sabine, that she should lead Mandalore. Alrich believed that Saxon would keep the Duchess in the most secure place on Mandalore, aboard his own Imperial I-class Star Destroyer, which was docked outside of Sundari. Sabine and Kryze would find the Duchess and destroy it, while Bridger, Jarrus, and Chopper would find and erase all memory of the weapon from Imperial systems, and Rau and the remaining Mandalorian warriors diverted Imperial reinforcements to their location.

They infiltrated the Star Destroyer via jetpack during the night through the hangar bay but they were noticed by a TIE fighter pilot. The Mandalorians and rebels were then attacked by Imperial stormtroopers. Sabine, noticing that the arc generator was not mounted on the Duchess, deduced that they must have moved the arc generator to a more secure location. She and Kryze found the arc generator in a control room overlooking the hangar bay. Before Sabine could disable it, the weapon fired in low-power mode, knocking her and Kryze to the ground. Saxon and Hark revealed themselves with Saxon demanding that she upgrade the arc generator to full capacity or he would kill Kryze. When Sabine refused and Hark warned that the Empire could use the weapon against all Mandalorians, Saxon fired the arc generator at Hark, Sabine, and Kryze.

Meanwhile, AT-DPs were engaging Rau and Mandalorian warriors. Elsewhere, Bridger, Jarrus, and Chopper reached the databanks and Chopper began erasing all data. Bridger attempted to contact Sabine but received no response. Jarrus then sent her to help Sabine while he and Chopper finished erasing the data. Bridger entered the hangar and found Rau in the middle of a firefight. Rau sent Bridger towards the control room where Sabine and Kryze had headed. Meanwhile, Saxon managed to force Sabine to upgrade the arc generator despite Kryze's pleas. However, Sabine modified the arc generator to to target the material found in stormtrooper armor, which Saxon was also wearing. This had the effect of incapacitating Saxon and the stormtroopers., which allowed Hark to escape.

With the tables turned on Saxon and the Empire, Sabine vowed to kill Saxon but Kryze managed to restrain her by telling her to be better than the Empire. Heeding Kryze's words, Sabine activated the Darksaber and sliced through the arc generator just as Hark escaped and Bridger arrived to help. As the arc generator overloaded, Sabine, Kryze, and Bridger met up with Jarrus, Rau, and the others in the hangar, escaping with their jetpacks just as the arc generator exploded, engulfing the Star Destroyer soon exploding and sending it crashing down towards the surface.

At dawn, they arrived back at their camp. During the return journey, Kryze warned Sabine and Ursa that Mandalore would now face the full might of the Empire. After landing, Sabine stated that Kryze should lead them. When Kryze countered that Sabine had made the difficult decisions, Sabine thanked her for guiding her and told Kryze that she was worthy of wielding the Darksaber. Sabine added that the other clans shared her opinion that Kryze was a worthy leader. The various Mandalorian clans Clan Vizsla, Clan Rook, Clan Eldar, Clan Kryze, Rau representing the Mandalorian Protectors, and Clan Wren all pledged allegiance to Kryze, who accepted her position on behalf of her sister, her clan, and all of Mandalore. Shortly afterwards, Sabine, Ezra, Kanan, and Chopper returned to the Rebellion, travelling to Yavin 4 on Ezra's Gauntlet.