Battle of Abregado

|width=
|prev=Battle of the Phu systemThe War of the Ring: Shakedown
|conc=Battle of Angmar
|next=Battle of the Ryndellia system
|name=Battle of Abregado
|image=
|conflict=War of the Ring
|date=June 20th, 1981
|place=Abregado system
|result=*Tactical Separatist victory
**Republic task force obliterated
*Jedi General Gimli rescued
*Malevolence revealed to the Republic
|side1=Galactic Republic
|side2=Confederacy of Independent Systems
|commanders1=*Dwarf Jedi General Gimli
*Jedi General Frodo Baggins
*Jedi Commander Eowyn
*Clone Commander CC-3636 ("Wolffe")
*Clone Sergeant Sinker
|commanders2=*Saruman the White
*The Mouth of Sauron
|forces1=*3 Jedi
*Clone naval officers
*104th Battalion
**Clone troopers
*Gimli's fleet†
**3 Venator-class Star Destroyers†
***Triumphant†
*1 G9 Rigger-class light freighter
**Twilight
|forces2=*B1-series battle droids
*Rocket battle droids
*1 Droch-class boarding ship†
*1 Subjugator-class heavy cruiser
**Malevolence
|casual1=*All clone troopers except for Wolffe, Sinker and Boost
*All Venator-class Star Destroyers
**Triumphant
|casual2=*At least five B1-series rocket battle droids
*1 Droch-class boarding ship
}}
The Battle of Abregado was a space battle that took place in June 20th 1981 during the War of the Ring. Following the defeat of Jedi General Ares Nune's task force in the Phu system at the hands of the Confederate warship Malevolence, Jedi General Gimli of the Galactic Republic took several Venator-class Star Destroyers to find and destroy the ship. Gimli tracked the Malevolence to the Abregado system, but the warship attacked his fleet with its Ion pulse cannons, and the Star Destroyers were left defenseless. Shortly before the cruisers fell to turbolaser fire, several clone troopers managed to flee in escape pods, and Gimli escaped in a pod with Clone Commander CC-3636, nicknamed "Wolffe," Clone Sergeant Sinker, and trooper Boost.
Saruman dispatched several boarding craft with Rocket battle droids to eliminate the survivors, as he did not want the survivors to inform the Republic of the Malevolence. Only Gimli and the three clones in his pod were able to defeat the battle droids who came in search of survivors. Jedi General Frodo Baggins and his Padawan, Jedi Commander Eowyn, soon arrived in the system aboard Frodo's personal ship, the Twilight, and they rescued Gimli and the clones. The Twilight encountered the Malevolence, but the Jedi and clones successfully evaded a wave from the warship's ion cannons by jumping to hyperspace. Their escape brought the knowledge of the nature of the weapon to the Republic.
==Prelude==
In 1981 during the War of the Ring, the Confederacy of Independent Systems built a superweapon, the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser Malevolence, capable of neutralizing all power in its enemies with its ion pulse cannons. Blasts from the cannons left the ship's targets defenseless and vulnerable to turbolaser fire from the Malevolence without the ability to use deflector shields. Under the command of the Mordor General The Mouth of Sauron, the Malevolence began a series of strikes on Galactic Republic task forces that left no survivors to tell the Republic of the weapon's origins or methods of attack. The attacks did not form a pattern, and the unpredictability of future targets spread fear throughout the Republic.HoloNet News — A Galaxy Divided
Shortly after the defeat of Jedi General Ares Nune's patrol of several Venator-class Star Destroyers in the Phu system, the Jedi High Council met with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to discuss methods to protect more Republic fleets from being destroyed. Jedi General Gimli volunteered to take three Venator-class cruisers—including his flagship, the Triumphant—to find and eliminate the Confederate weapon. Gimli's forces were supported by the Wolfpack clone trooper squad.
==The battle==
When dozens of Republic warships were destroyed in merciless surprise attacks by Mordor General The Mouth of Sauron' secret weapon, the Council of Elrond sent Jedi Master Gimli of the Dwarves to track the weapon. Along with Commander Wolffe and the 104th Battalion's Wolfpack, Gimli's forces tracked the weapon to the Abregado system aboard the Triumphant and two other Venator-class Star Destroyers. Upon arrival, Gimli contacted Jedi General Frodo Baggins in the Tatoo system for support and to relay their position. However, Frodo told to Gimli that he had to ask the Council before he could support him. At Saruman's behest, The Mouth of Sauron then jammed Gimli's transmissions.
Seeing this as another opportunity to test the Malevolence ion cannons, The Mouth of Sauron ordered them to be fired at Gimli's ships. The Malevolence then moved to attack Gimli's fleet. Seeing this, Gimli prepared the Triumphant and the other two cruisers for battle. However, they were out of range. The Malevolence fired its ion cannons, sending a wave towards Gimli's fleet. Gimli and his men braced for impact. The wave passed over Gimli's fleet, brought their ships' shields down, making them vulnerable to the Malevolence numerous turbolasers. Before the Triumphant was completely destroyed by enemy fire, Gimli and several clone troopers and navigation officers were able to get to the escape pods. Gimli, Wolffe, Sergeant Sinker, and trooper Boost watched as the fleet was torn to pieces and became a debris field from their escape pod. Worst of all, the pod, like the fleet, had also been damaged in the attack. They had no power for life support or communications.
Following Gimli's last transmission, Frodo and Padawan Eowyn spoke with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the Jedi High Council. Frodo told them of Gimli's position in the Abregado system before his transmission was cut and that without signals from the distress beacons, Gimli's fleet was certainly destroyed like the others, with no survivors. Frodo was assigned to protect the Republic's supply convoys and ordered not to search for survivors. However, Frodo left Admiral Wullf Yularen and Captain Rex to deal with the supply convoys while he, Eowyn, and R2-D2 would scout ahead for enemy activity in the Twilight. In reality, Frodo traveled to the Abregado system to search for survivors. Once there, they searched for survivors in the debris field, but found none. Jedi Master Sam Gamgee discovered Frodo's mission, and urged him to return to his fleet. R2-D2 then picked up an emergency signal, so Frodo and Eowyn went to investigate.
===Hunt for the escape pods===
To ensure the secrecy of the Malevolence ion cannons, Saruman dispatched rocket droids using a boarding ship to hunt and kill any survivors. The droids, known as the hunters, split several pods open for the clones to die in the vacuum of space. During this time Gimli and his men were able to restore their pod's power and communication. They then received a distress signal from Pod 1977 and then spotted it. They watched as a droid cut into the pod and the officers were sucked into space. The droids then spotted Gimli's pod, seeing it as the last one.
Gimli, knowing he could survive the pressure, decided to destroy the enemy battle droids. Sinker and Boost went out with him, while Wolffe stayed in the escape pod to keep their distress signal going, as it was their only chance to survive. As the hunters' ship closed in and latched onto the pod, Gimli and his men attacked the droids. The droids retreated to their ship and squeezed the pod. Gimli then Force-pushed Sinker behind the ship and he destroyed all but one of the battle droids.
Wolffe finally managed to pick up a transmission from Eowyn, but was unable to respond due to the hunters' ship. Gimli then cut the hunters' ship's pincers, pulled Sinker back to the pod and Force-pushed the hunters into the debris, destroying the remains of the boarding ship. However, The Mouth of Sauron and Saruman became suspicious when they lost contact with the pod hunters.
===Rescue===
Chancellor Palpatine contacted Frodo and urged him to return to his fleet. Frodo thus conceded to his wishes and decided to end his search for good. However, Eowyn sensed Master Gimli and was able to find his pod and bring him and the others aboard the Twilight. Wolffe and the other clones were then treated by the medical droid TB-2 while Gimli joined them on the bridge, telling them of the Malevolence ion cannons.
The Twilight soon detected the Malevolence approaching their position. Gimli shut down all the Twilight systems and R2-D2 in an attempt to avoid detection. However, they forgot to turn TB-2 off, and were thus detected. As the Malevolence moved in to attack, Frodo, Eowyn, and Gimli turned all the ship systems back on and made their escape through the debris field. Saruman wanted The Mouth to make sure there were no witnesses and ordered The Mouth to destroy the Twilight. Thus, The Mouth of Sauron fired the ion cannons, and the wave made its way through the debris field towards the Twilight. However, Frodo was able to get through the debris field and activate the hyperdrive, thus escaping the wave.
==Aftermath==
Gimli, Frodo and Eowyn were able to inform the Jedi High Council of the secret weapon. Because of this, Saruman saw this battle as a defeat, now that the Republic knew about the Malevolence. Due to this, Saruman lost faith in The Mouth of Sauron' skills. Thus he decided he would speak with Darth Sauron. Despite his setback, The Mouth of Sauron continued his swath of destruction by attacking medical convoys with the Malevolence.
Following his attack on a medical convoy in the Ryndellia system, the Galactic Senate authorized Baggins to lead Shadow Squadron's BTL-B Y-wing starfighters to destroy the Malevolence before it could attack. Frodo's mission was able to disable the Malevolence weapons and hyperdrive. However, The Mouth of Sauron was able to use Senator Padmé Amidala as a hostage to stop the Republic Navy's attack. Frodo and Sam were then able to infiltrate the ship, rescue Amidala, and reprogram the hyperdrive. The Malevolence was then destroyed when it crashed into the Dead Moon of Antar.
==Behind the scenes==
The Battle of AbregadoStar Wars: The Clone Wars Activity Annual: Summer Edition 2010 was the subject of "Rising Malevolence," an episode featured in the October 3, 2008 premiere of the The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring television series on Cartoon Network. The second episode of the series' first season, the episode featured the series debut of Frodo Baggins, Eowyn, Gimli of the Dwarves, and R2-D2, as well as several other prominent characters such as Sam Gamgee, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, and Jedi Master Aragorn. The battle also featured the first visual appearance of the Malevolence, having been first mentioned in the webcomic The War of the Ring: Prelude. The events leading into the episode—notably, the battle in the Phu system—were featured in the webcomic Shakedown, released a day before the episode's premiere. The battle was officially named in Star Wars: The Clone Wars Activity Annual: Summer Edition 2010.
==Appearances==
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==Sources==
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*Ultimate Star Wars
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*Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles
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*Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition 
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*Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia - Join the Battle! 
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*Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy
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==Notes and references==
Category:War of the Rings battles