Skirmish aboard the Coronet

|width=
|prev=Skirmish on Concordia
|conc=
|next=Bombing on Kalevala
|image=
|name=Skirmish aboard the Coronet
|conflict=War of the Ring
|date=November 7th, 1981
|place=Coronet
|result=*Galactic Republic victory
*Senator Tal Merrik killed
|side1=*Galactic Republic
*Jedi Order
|side2=*Confederacy of Independent Systems
*Death Watch
|commanders1=*High General Sam Gamgee
*General Frodo Baggins
*Commander CC-2224
*Captain CT-7567
*Captain Gray†
|commanders2=*Pre Vizsla 
*Senator Tal Merrik†
|forces1=*2 Hobbits
*Clone troopers
*Senate Commandos†
*1 Duchess
*Satine's guard
*1 astromech droid
**R2-D2
|forces2=*1 senator†
*3 SD-K4 assassin droids†
*SD-K4a mini-assassin droid†
*3 Droch-class boarding ships
*18 B2 super battle droids†
|casual1=*Clone troopers
*All Senate Commandos
*Gray
*Satine's Guard
|casual2=*Tal Merrik
*All B2 super battle droids
*All assassin probes and probe killers
}}
In 1981, Jedi Knights Sam Gamgee and Frodo Baggins were sent to escort Duchess Satine Kryze and several senators to Middle-Earth so the Duchess could defend herself against the claims that she was in league with the Confederacy of Independent Systems. During the trip, the Duchess's ship, the Coronet, was attacked by the Death Watch, which was aided by the Confederacy. As clone troopers searched the ship for anything that might threaten the Duchess, they were attacked by numerous SD-K4 assassin droids and probe killers, which killed the clones Mixer and Redeye. Though the probes were eventually defeated, Frodo and Sam had strong suspicions that there was a traitor aboard the ship. Gamgee used one of the probe killers to reveal the traitor, by presenting the probe to each of the four senators in turn. While the probe was hostile toward three of them, but remained calm around Tal Merrik, Gamgee revealed Merrik to be the traitor. Escaping Sam's attempted arrest, Merrik contacted Pre Vizsla via hologram. Vizsla sent three Droch-class boarding ships filled with B2 super battle droids to attack the Coronet so Merrik could escape with Kryze as his hostage. Frodo, the clone troopers, and Satine's guard held off the droids, while Sam pursued Merrik through the ship. After defeating the droids, Frodo killed Merrik, who had threatened to destroy the ship and everyone aboard. The Coronet made it safely to Middle-Earth on the Gondor capital of Minas Tirith, where three more assassination attempts were made against the Duchess.
==Prelude==
In 1981, during the War of the Ring, rumors began spreading that Duchess Satine Kryze, the leader of the Council of Neutral Systems, was in league with the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Jedi Master Sam Gamgee was sent to Mandalore to ascertain the truth. An assassination attempt against the Duchess on the world led Sam and Kryze to Concordia, Mandalore's moon. There, Gamgee investigated the Deathwatch hideout, and uncovered a plot by Pre Vizsla, the Governor of Concordia—and secretly the leader of the Death Watch—to overthrow the Duchess and enter the war on the side of the Confederacy. After Gamgee and Kryze narrowly escaped a confrontation with Vizsla and other members of the Death Watch, Jedi Knight Frodo Baggins and several clone troopers, including CC-2224, CT-7567—nicknamed "Cody" and "Rex," respectively—"Mixer," and "Redeye," were sent to Mandalore to help Sam escort the Duchess to Middle-Earth, where she could defend herself against the accusations against her in the Senate.
==The skirmish==
===The probes===
Aboard the Duchess's ship, the Coronet, the clone troopers were ordered to search for any sign of suspicious activity. As they scoured the dark rooms of the cargo hold, the clone trooper Redeye was attacked by an SD-K4 assassin droid. The clone Mixer became suspicious when he tried to contact his comrade via comlink and received no response. However, before he could discover what had happened, he was also attacked by a probe.
Elsewhere in the cargo hold, astromech droid R2-D2 also searched the ship with his sensors, which told him something was amiss. In response to R2's worry and the disappearance of two clone troopers, Captain Rex contacted Frodo and Sam via comlink and explained the situation. While Gamgee joined Duchess Kryze and the Senators for a meal, Frodo joined the clones. In their search for Mixer and Redeye, Frodo and the clones discovered a cargo crate with the cover open and the contents missing. Becoming increasingly suspicious, Frodo and the clones searched the area to find what might have been inside.
As the search continued, Frodo noticed Redeye slowly walking toward him. However, when Frodo asked where Redeye had been, he received no response. Frodo then noticed an assassin probe behind the clone, and ignited his lightsaber. The droid tossed the corpse of the clone at Frodo, though the Hobbit managed to dodge the attack. He then severed some of the droid's legs, and the clones finished it off with their rifles.
Frodo noticed another probe making its way toward the turbolift, and warned Sam, who was dining with the Duchess and the Senators, via comlink. Satine's guards attempted to close the lift before the droid could enter the room, but they were too slow, and the assassin probe threw the guards aside, leaping onto the dinner table. Sam ignited his lightsaber and severed two of the droid's legs before destroying it with a stab through its head.
Suspecting that there may be another assassin probe left in the cargo room, Frodo ordered the clones to continue their search. When Commander Cody noticed that the destroyed assassin droid behind Frodo was releasing several probe killers from its innards, he shouted out a warning. Frodo and the clones began to fight the probe killers off, while R2-D2 used his droid shock arm against the probes.
The defunct droid in the dining area also released probe killers. Kryze, armed with a droid deactivator, helped Gamgee fight the machines. Soon most of the probes in both areas were destroyed, but Frodo and Sam both knew there was a traitor aboard the ship, and they were determined to discover who it was.
===Merrik's betrayal===
Frodo retrieved the ship's cargo manifest from a protocol droid to discover how the probes had gotten aboard the ship. Unfortunately, the manifest did not give a name, but it did have a Senate stamp, which meant that one of the four senators aboard the ship was responsible for the probes.
In the dining area, Sam discovered one of the smaller probe killers left alive, and decided that instead of destroying it, he would use it to discover the identity of the traitor. When he presented to the probe each of the Senators in turn, the probe appeared hostile toward three of them, but remained calm when near Tal Merrik. But before Sam could arrest him, Merrik knocked the probe out of Sam's hand. In the confusion that followed, Merrik took Duchess Kryze by the throat and held a blaster pistol to her head. He fled the scene as Gamgee destroyed the probe, which was attacking Senator Onaconda Farr.
Meanwhile, Frodo and the clones continued to search the cargo hold for any remaining probes. A probe killer attacked Cody and Rex, but it was destroyed by Artoo's shock arm. Then, the last of the larger assassin probes appeared and lunged at Rex. It landed on top of the clone, who held its razor-sharp arms away from him. He managed to kick the droid toward the wall, and Frodo threw his lightsaber at it. The droid fell to the ground as Rex climbed atop it and fired his blaster pistols into its head, destroying the droid and the probe killers inside it.
Merrik, with Kryze as his hostage, reached the bridge. Killing the crew and pulling the ship out of hyperspace, Merrik contacted Pre Vizsla via hologram, who sent three Droch-class boarding ships filled with B2 super battle droids toward the Coronet. As the boarding ships connected to the Coronet hull, Frodo, the clones, and Satine's guards rushed to meet the droids, while Sam went to find Merrik and Kryze.
Sam found Merrik on the Coronet bridge and attempted to arrest him, but Merrik had a remote, which was set to detonate the explosives Merrik had wired to the ship's engines. He warned Gamgee to stay back, or he would push the button and everyone aboard the ship would die. Kryze begged Sam to stand his ground; she would rather be captured than see everyone aboard killed. Merrik began to leave the bridge, and Gamgee followed at a distance as Merrik made his way to one of the boarding craft.
Elsewhere, the fight against the super battle droids continued. Frodo, the clones, and Satine's guards managed to kill all but the last three, which Frodo destroyed by Force pushing them against the wall. He then set off to find Sam.
Merrik reached the boarding craft, but before he could escape with Kryze, the Duchess stepped on his foot and was able to retrieve his blaster, which she pointed at his head. Merrik, knowing that Kryze's pacifist views would prevent her from pulling the trigger, promised he would blow the ship up once he was away. He taunted Sam, who he said could not kill him for fear of what Kryze might think. But before Merrik could make his escape, Frodo arrived and ignited his Eldar Sword through the Senator's back, instantly killing him.
==Aftermath==
The Coronet finally reached Minas Tirith in one piece. The ship's passengers were greeted by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who praised the Jedi for their bravery. Once on Minas Tirith, three more assassination attempts were made against the Duchess. In a session of Congress, the Senate was shown a hologram of Jerec, who asked for assistance from the Galactic Republic in the fight against the Death Watch. Persuaded by Jerec's plea, the Senate voted to occupy the Mandalore system, much to Kryze's dismay. However, the Duchess, with the help of Kenobi and Davu Golec, was able to prove that the hologram had been doctored, and the Senate rescinded their vote.
==Behind the scenes==
This skirmish first appeared in the The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring television series episode "Voyage of Temptation," the thirteenth episode of the second season of the series, which aired on Cartoon Network on February 5, 2010. While "Voyage of Temptation" is the second episode of the Mandalorian story arc, it was the first to be produced."
==Appearances==
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==Sources==
*Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic UK 6.1 
*
*Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded
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==Notes and references==
Category:Missions