3660 BBY: The Mandalorian Blockade is Broken

With the Mandalorian blockade in full force, and the Empire’s strangle-hold on the remaining parts of the galaxy tightening, countless worlds being affected by the blockade have begun to capitulate to the Empire. The Sith emperor’s plans of galactic domination have now continued unabated. That is, until, Hylo Visz showed up.

From a good vs. evil, good guys vs. bad guys thing, the smuggler’s aligning with the Republic makes perfect sense. Putting aside any notion of Han Solo and the template of the smuggler with a heart-of-gold, in the Star Wars universe smuggler’s must necessarily be harassed by bounty hunters. Naturally a smuggler somewhere down the line will botch a job – through no fault of their own – and naturally some crime boss will place a bounty on that smugglers head. In this era of Star Wars history, there is no shortage of Mandalorian bounty hunters – Pre Mandalore – looking for work. This of course sets up the dichotomy of the bounty hunters vs. the smugglers. Since the Mandalorians have sided with the Empire, it’s natural for smugglers to align themselves with the Republic.

The sacking of Coruscant proved to be a bold and vital move for the Empire. This is the first time in Star Wars chronology that the sacking of Coruscant is referenced, the epic attack by the Empire on the Republic’s capital planet. I don’t want to engage with this important event too much, as it is the focus of the next piece in Star Wars history. Needless to say, Master Gnost-Dural says something very interesting of it. The sacking of Coruscant, it seems, was a last ditch effort by the Sith Empire to gain further control of the galaxy before it knew it would have to pause and consolidate its gains. But the emperor did not count on the criminal underground of smuggler’s coming to the aid of the Republic.

Enter Hylo Visz.

This is her second appearance in Star Wars history, and both times her presence brought excitement and bravery. She is a captivating hero to say the least.

With the Jedi Order’s dismal defeat at the hands of the Mandalorians, Hylo Visz saw a business opportunity. She convinced most of the smugglers from the criminal world that breaking the blockade was in their best financial interests. Her arguments made sense, as thousands of smugglers banded together to attack the blockade. With enormous frigates of supplies awaiting their victory, the smugglers would then sell to the citizens of the Republic all the goods they needed – for a nice mark-up of course.

Thus, a band of smugglers, which were later assisted by Republic military, broke the Mandalorian blockade and gave the Republic its second greatest victory in the Great Galactic War. Little did they know, however, that this event would then force the emperor to push his plans, and set-up the greatest military victory in the universe’s history: The Sacking of Coruscant.

This piece of Star Wars history ends on a sad note however. It seems Hylo Visz, sometime after defeating the Mandalorians and most likely taking her fortune and running like the wind, was killed. She double crossed some Hutts and was dispatched in some alley, on some planet, somewhere in a galaxy far far away. But I do hold out hope that rumors of Hylo Visz’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

But until we hear otherwise, Rest in Peace Hylo Visz.

For my next post I’ll be looking at the web comic The Treaty of Coruscant. Until them my friends, may the Force be with you.