Mission to Vjun (War of the Ring)

|prev=Battle of the Phindar SpaceportBilbo Baggins: Dark RendezvousThe New Essential Chronology
|conc=
|next=*Battle of Bomis Koori IV
*Battle of Rendili
|image=
|name=Mission to Vjun
|conflict=War of the Ring
|date=March 23-24, 1983 (2 years, 24 months after the Battle of Isengard)
|place=Château Malreaux, Vjun
|result=Stalemate
|side1=Jedi Order
|side2=Order of the Sith Lords
|commanders1=Grand Master Bilbo Baggins
|commanders2=Darth Tyranus
|forces1=*4 Jedi Masters
**Bilbo Baggins
**Maks Leem
**Jai Maruk
**Sam Gamgee (Late Battle)
*4 Padawans
**Frodo Baggins (Late Battle)
**Eowyn (Late Battle)
**Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy
**Whie Malreaux
|forces2=*Darth Tyranus
*Jinx
*A-series assassin droids
|casual1=*2 Jedi Masters
**Jai Maruk
**Maks Leem
|casual2=*Light
}}
The Mission to Vjun was Bilbo Baggins's attempt to bring back Saruman the White into the fold of the Jedi and the Galactic Republic. However, it was actually a trap set by Saruman to ensnare Bilbo and to deliver a deadly blow to the Republic's forces.
==Prelude==
The origins of the Mission go back to when Saruman was a White Wizard in 1920. During this time, Bilbo came across him in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, where the young man was toying with a sea shell. The two of them talked about the meanings of home and Saruman's fear of losing the Jedi Temple as a place to call home. he related it to the shell of a hermit crab that he had found, saying that a hermit crab constantly moved into bigger shells as it grew.
==The mission==
Since Bilbo suspected a trap, yet he didn't want to throw away the opportunity of bringing back the wizard to the fold of the Jedi and the Republic, he arranged with Republic Intelligence for an actor famous for playing Bilbo to make a public departure from Minas Tirith in a Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptor. Bilbo was accompanied by the Jedi Masters Jai Maruk and the Gran female Maks Leem, along with their respective Padawans, Scout and Whie Malreaux. Scout was an insubordinate girl with little Force-sensitivity and this was her first real mission while Whie had been the heir to the Château Malreaux on Vjun before the Jedi brought him to the Jedi Temple when he had been discovered to be Force-sensitive as a child. The planet had been in chaos in the past years as a result of generations of interbreeding to produce Force-sensitive traits in the population.
It turned out to be a trap after all since one of Saruman's Dark Jedi operatives Jinx tracked down the Bilbo decoy and captured him. Having realized that he was just a decoy, Jinx caught up with the real Baggins at Phindar Spaceport. During the confrontation, she slew both Jai Maruk and Maks Leem while her escort assassin droids went on a rampage in the concourse. Eventually, the two "orphaned" Padawans Scout and Whie caught up with Bilbo as they continued their journey to Vjun. At the Château Malreaux on Vjun, the mission ended in stalemate. Jedi Knights Sam Gamgee with his Padawan Ringbearer Frodo Baggins and his Padawan Eowyn arrived at the palace while Scout and Whie along with his family droid Fidelis survived a duel with Jinx; Saruman failed to turn Bilbo to the dark side or kill him. In the end, Saruman managed to escape Vjun while Bilbo, Sam, and the Padawans returned to the Jedi Temple on Minas Tirith.
==Aftermath==
Upon his return to Minas Tirith, Sam Gamgee was now renamed himself as Samwise Gamgee for his efforts, and was made a member of the Jedi Council for his heroism in the war to date. The seats of the Council, according to tradition, were reserved for Jedi Masters, so Gamgee was also promoted to that position. He used the opportunity to construct a new lightsaber.
For his heroic actions at the Battle of Praesitlyn, Bilbo and Jedi Master Aragorn had privately agreed to endow Frodo Baggins with the title of Jedi Knight.Jedi Trial However, they would first have to consult with their fellow council members for the decision to go through; thus, a Council meeting was arranged regarding the dwindling amount of Jedi Knights and the increasing demand for Generals on battlefronts in the War of the Ring. During the meeting, the topic of Separatist General The Mouth of Sauron was brought up, and Gandalf the White Wizard felt the need to remind his fellow council members of his encounter with Mouth of Sauron on Harad, believing the situation conveyed the General's threat to the Jedi Knights.
As he had promised to his Padawan after the Praesitlyn victory, Samwise then suggested that the traditional Jedi Trials be forgone in Frodo's case as to help them bolster these numbers. For months, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had been requesting that Frodo and Eowyn be promoted to Jedi Knights, but the request had been continually denied since politicians had no power over internal Jedi affairs. Even though Frodo lacked official trials, Gamgee nevertheless told the events for his apprentice's early promotion, citing his confrontation with Jinx on Fangorn Forest as a test of skill and the loss of his lightsaber duelling to Saruman on Isengard as a Trial of the Flesh. Furthermore, Gamgee had said that the war itself had provided numerous Trials of Courage, all of which Frodo had passed. This was a controversial suggestion; Legolas, Merry, Pippin, and Gandalf openly and zealously supported Skywalker, while Oppo Rancisis and Adi Gallia questioned whether he was mature enough, and the consensus was that he still had to face his last trial, in which his spirit would be tested. In the end, the decision fell to Bilbo, who decided to have Frodo and Eowyn Knighted in a ceremony.
Upon their arrival at the temple, Frodo was teased by Sam for being almost late. Master and apprentice bickered once again, resulting in the Ringbearer unfavorably comparing Gamgee with Boromir. Immediately realizing the severity of his insult, Frodo retracted his comment, but Samwise was not upset. He instead delightfully informed the Padawan that their relationship as master and apprentice would be coming to an end, as he ushered Frodo and Eowyn into the council chamber, which was darkened. As the two pair stood in the center of the chamber, the Jedi Councilmen, Gamgee amongst them, ignited their lightsabers, in a ritualistic display of honor for the Ringbearer. Bilbo beckoned Frodo and Eowyn to kneel before him, and the Grand Master dubbed them a Jedi Knights of the Galactic Republic, severing the young hobbit's Padawan braid and giving Eowyn her new Padawan beads to signify her growth as a Jedi to complete the ceremony. After the ceremony, Bilbo informed Frodo that his greatest test was still yet to come. Frodo later had the braid delivered to his wife, Padmé Amidala as a memento; Amidala returned the favor, bequeathing her astromech droid, R2-D2, to her husband. Frodo immediately put the astromech droid to use in his new Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor.
==Appearances==
*Bilbo Baggins: Dark Rendezvous 
*Labyrinth of Evil 
* 
==Sources==
*
*The New Essential Chronology
*
*The Essential Atlas
*The Essential Reader's Companion
==Notes and references==
Category:Missions
Category:Duels