Taris Resistance

The Taris Resistance, based in a dilapidated factory within the Lower City of the planet Taris, stood as the most formidable, organized, and well-equipped faction opposing the Mandalorian invaders during the Taris Siege of 3963 BBY. Under the leadership of Haydel Goravvus, the Republic Senator representing Taris, the Taris Resistance comprised a diverse group of armed locals and surviving law enforcement personnel who had been forced into the Lower City by the Mandalorian offensive. Despite the prevailing Humanocentrism within Tarisian society, these desperate times gave rise to a fighting force that included numerous non-Humans, led by Goravvus, who himself had Hamadryas ancestry. Although the Resistance was predominantly non-Human, its foundation in the planet's law enforcement and the leadership position granted to Constable Noana Sowrs alienated many other Tarisians fighting for their lives—although Taris was on the brink of subjugation, Sowrs still had every intention of enforcing the law against local criminals.

Despite this, the ranks of the Resistance were augmented by the swoop gang known as the Hidden Beks, who contributed fighting prowess and a collection of swoop bikes and speeders. The Beks constituted a significant portion of the Resistance's forces during their alliance, as the Resistance was heavily outnumbered and outmatched in terms of technology, lacking the means to overcome Mandalorian communication jamming, for instance. Members of the Taris Resistance typically employed blasters, with one notable exception: the Togruta Jedi Master Raana Tey, who wielded her green lightsaber in combat alongside the Resistance. Much of the Resistance's equipment, particularly explosives, was salvaged from the Mandalorians during periodic raids on the invaders' territory. While the Resistance was reasonably well-armed, it was comparatively ill-equipped in terms of vehicles, possessing common swoops and speeders but lacking interstellar craft, with the exception of a stealth-equipped shuttle belonging to Raana Tey.

The year 3964 BBY marked the beginning of the Mandalorian Wars, a conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders. Following months of indecisive fighting along the Jebble-Vanquo-Tarnith line—a Republic Navy security cordon intended to safeguard Taris, a critical Outer Rim ecumenopolis and a full member of the Republic—civil order deteriorated on Taris after the widely publicized massacre of the graduating class of Jedi Padawans at the planet's Jedi Tower, supposedly by the one surviving apprentice, Zayne Carrick. The Tower's five Jedi Masters were recalled from the planet after the deaths, an occurrence the Mandalorian chief, Mandalore the Ultimate, interpreted as a signal to launch an attack. The Mandalore initiated a three-pronged assault aimed at seizing Taris, and after the nomadic warriors encountered minimal resistance in conquering nearby worlds such as Vanquo, the stage was set for the assault on Taris itself. Under the command of master strategist Cassus Fett, the Mandalorian forces first appeared in orbit above Taris, and following a period of siege lasting several days, the warriors descended onto the planet's surface, encountering only token resistance from swoop gangs and various looters as they seized the planet's Upper City.

With no Republic forces present, Tarisian Senator Haydel Goravvus vanished from public view, retreating to the Lower City to organize a resistance movement in the planet's depths. Establishing a base in a run-down factory in the Lower City, Goravvus managed to assemble a considerable force composed of surviving law enforcement personnel and armed Tarisian citizens, including Constable Noana Sowrs, one of Taris' top law enforcement officers, and Jedi Master Raana Tey, who had been ordered back to Taris by Republic Supreme Chancellor Tol Cressa. Tey's arrival was crucial for the Resistance's survival, as she provided them a much-needed healer. Although the stealth-outfitted shuttle she arrived in could have provided Goravvus with a way off the planet, he elected to stay and fight, and continued to use the shuttle in operations against the Mandalorians. As the Mandalorians descended deeper into the planetwide cityscape, Goravvus' band quickly earned a reputation as the best-equipped and most well-organized faction fighting against the invaders. Other groups, separated from the main resistance by the Mandalorian invaders, continued to wage their own separate battles—chief among these was the swoop gang known as the Hidden Beks, led by a man named Gadon Thek.

Thek, as leader of one of the most powerful and well-organized gangs on Taris, believed that Taris only had a fighting chance if he could join forces with Goravvus' resistance, but was wary of the fact that his group would still be seen as lesser criminals. With violence increasing, a dialogue commenced between the resistance and the Beks, although Constable Sowrs put the kibosh on the talks as she blamed the gangs for the disappearance of her two young children. Things changed in 3963 BBY, when Thek discovered that one of his number, Brejik, had indeed kidnapped Sowrs' children against his orders—although Thek was furious, he recognized that he had been delivered the perfect bargaining chip with the Resistance. With Sowrs' son Nahk and daughter Tallie in hand, Thek and his gang fought their way through Mandalorian forces to the Resistance's base. Once Thek arrived and reunited the Sowrs family, Goravvus struck a deal with the Hidden Beks, although there was nearly violence upon their arrival, as accused Padawan killer Zayne Carrick was part of the Bek party and his death was demanded by both Tey and Resistance agent Shel Jelavan, younger sister of slain Padawan Shad Jelavan. Goravvus personally stayed their hands, as neither side could afford bloodshed—Goravvus needed the numbers and skills the Beks could provide, and the Beks desperately needed medical treatment for their wounded. With that, the two factions joined forces.

The Resistance's situation at that time was precarious, with its territory confined to a few city blocks and its attempts to communicate with the outside world consistently thwarted by Mandalorian jamming. The arrival of the Hidden Beks was a much-needed boost, as was the presence of one of Thek's acquaintances: Carrick's Snivvian accomplice, Marn Hierogryph, who possessed a transmitter capable of bypassing Mandalorian jamming. Although Hierogryph's presence was merely part of a scheme by Lhosan Industries chairman Jervo Thalien to eliminate Goravvus—and the transmitter concealed a powerful bomb—the explosive's failure to detonate allowed Goravvus to blackmail Thalien into providing aid to the front and to the Resistance. Encouraged by this development and the arrival of the Beks, Goravvus set his sights on inflicting significant damage to the Mandalorian war effort. The Resistance discovered that Cassus Fett, a key lieutenants of Mandalore the Ultimate, had established a base of operations at the former Jedi Tower to personally oversee planetary operations. With this information, Goravvus, Sowrs, and Thek devised a plan to eliminate Fett and disrupt the Mandalorian siege effort—while they lacked the numbers for a direct assault on the Tower, they had salvaged demolition charges during a recent raid on Mandalorian territory, and Hierogryph's transmitter-cum-bomb contained a detonator that Hierogryph's acquaintance Del Moomo was able to get working again. Although it seemed like a simple task to simply destroy the Jedi Tower with the newfound munitions, Carrick argued that a same-day reconnaissance mission on the Tower was needed, in order to ensure that Fett was still at the Tower and wasn't holding captives. As the three people present with the most experience in the Jedi Tower, Carrick, Jelavan and Master Tey were dispatched to the Tower, although Tey and Jelavan secretly plotted to eliminate Carrick once there.

Disguised as a Mandalorian warrior and a captured saboteur, Carrick and Jelavan gained entrance to the Jedi Tower as Thek, Moomo, Brejik and Hierogryph set up the charges down below. Jelavan, who was having doubts about Carrick's guilt, hesitated when the time came to strike him down and allowed him to go on ahead, and Carrick reached the top only to find that Fett had pulled out an hour before—he had determined where in the Lower City the Resistance had holed up, and had gone to carry out a decisive strike. The Mandalorian ambush was devastating, scattering the Resistance survivors, many of whom attempted to fall back to the Hidden Bek hideout known as the Pit. While Brejik and Del Moomo veered off to join the fight in the Lower City, Thek and Hierogryph made a daring run through Mandalorian fire to the top of the Jedi Tower in an attempt to save Carrick and Jelavan. The two Resistance agents managed to grab hold of Thek's speeder's tow cable—but after Hierogryph saw a wounded Tey ignite her lightsaber in an apparent attempt to attack Carrick, he detonated the charges anyway and destroyed the Jedi Tower.

The four survivors returned to the Lower City to find the Resistance in chaos. Although Tey's stealth-equipped shuttle might have provided an escape for Senator Goravvus, he refused to abandon Taris—instead, Shel Jelavan took the ship off the planet with Constable Sowrs' children. Meanwhile, the Mandalorians relentlessly pushed on, driving the Resistance down even further, into the rakghoul-infested wasteland known as the Undercity. The diseased beasts spelled death for many of the scattered Resistance survivors, including Constable Sowrs. Although the Resistance was effectively crushed, some managed to outlast the Mandalorian assault: Carrick and Hierogryph escaped certain death at the hands of the rakghouls and make it off the planet with the help of Jedi Shadow Celeste Morne, while Gadon Thek and Brejik survived to keep the Hidden Beks going through the siege and in the years after.

Haydel Goravvus, the half-Human, half-Hamadryas politician representing Taris in the Galactic Senate during the Mandalorian invasion, led the Taris Resistance. Despite initially securing his position through a corrupt alliance with Jervo Thalien and Lhosan Industries, Goravvus discovered a greater interest in serving the people rather than pursuing profits, evolving into a selfless public servant against all odds. When the Mandalorians attacked and social order collapsed on Taris, Goravvus withdrew from public view and established the Taris Resistance in the Lower City, drawing upon survivors and law enforcement personnel willing to defend their homeworld. Despite having multiple opportunities to escape the planet during the Mandalorian siege, the Senator refused to abandon his people, even after Cassus Fett's surprise attack effectively dismantled his rebel group. Goravvus was eventually compelled to leave Taris as the Mandalorians tightened their control over the planet, surviving in exile to become a prominent advocate for refugees and individuals residing on occupied worlds.

Goravvus' resistance heavily relied on the remnants of Taris' law enforcement, which was overseen by Sector Constable Noana Sowrs. While Sowrs complicated Goravvus' efforts to negotiate with local swoop gangs due to her unwavering commitment to upholding the law during the Mandalorian siege, she faithfully served Goravvus as one of his key lieutenants throughout the Taris Siege. The fate of Sowrs' two children, Nahk and Tallie, played a pivotal role in the Taris Resistance's eventual alliance with the Hidden Beks gang, despite Sowrs' animosity toward those she perceived as underworld criminals. Sowrs' children had been kidnapped by Hidden Beks member Brejik against the order of gang leader Gadon Thek—once Thek discovered that his protege had done this, he grudgingly realized that he had been handed the perfect bargaining chip with the Resistance, and returning the Sowrs children helped ensure a partnership would be struck. Sowrs' reunion with her children was, however, brief. Cassus Fett's ambush forced Sowrs to send her children offworld, and the Constable was killed soon after by Undercity rakghouls.

Alongside Constable Sowrs, the unstable Togruta Jedi Master Raana Tey joined Goravvus' ranks. Tey had been one of the five Jedi Masters initially stationed at the Taris Jedi Tower before the Padawan Massacre. Unbeknownst to the wider galaxy, Tey and the Jedi Tower Masters were part of a secret Jedi cabal known as the Jedi Covenant that was dedicated to foreseeing the return of the Sith. Shortly before the Mandalorian attack, a misinterpreted vision led Tey and her compatriots to murder their Jedi Padawans and pin the massacre on the lone survivor, Zayne Carrick. The Jedi were pulled offworld after the attack, but Tey was ordered back to Taris alone by Supreme Chancellor Tol Cressa after the siege began. Tey linked up with Goravvus' Resistance and served a vital role as a healer, but lacking the support system she needed due to her uncontrolled Force visions, she descended into insanity during the battle. Tey befriended Resistance agent Shel Jelavan—whose brother Shad was one of the murdered Padawans—and Tey plotted to use Jelavan to murder Carrick once she re-encountered the fugitive former Padawan on Taris. However, Jelavan turned on Tey when she realized the truth, and Tey was killed in the explosion of the Jedi Tower.

The Taris Resistance made its debut in Knights of the Old Republic 22, an issue of the comic book series Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, authored by John Jackson Miller and released in 2007. The Resistance, which originally mentioned in the series' previous issue, played a central part in the Knights of Suffering story arc and would later be mentioned in several more issues of Knights of the Old Republic.