Battle of Minas Morgul

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|conc=*Battle of MoriaStar Wars Character Encyclopedia
*Siege of SaleucamiThe New Essential Chronology
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|name=Battle of Minas Morgul
|image=
|conflict=War of the Ring
|date=September 16-18, 1983 (16:4 GrS)
|place=Minas Morgul, Middle-Earth
|result=Galactic Republic victory
|side1=Galactic Republic
*Gondor
*Elves
|side2=*Confederacy of Independent Systems
*Mordor
*Trade Federation
|commanders1=*High General Samwise Gamgee
*General Frodo Baggins
*General Legolas
*Captain Faramir
*Commander Jan Dodonna
*Marshal Commander CC-2224
*Commander CT-65/91-6210
*Captain CT-7567
|commanders2=*Viceroy Nute Gunray
*Lieutenant Sentepeth Findos
|forces1=*5 Jedi
*Clone troopers
**Third Systems Army
***442nd Siege Battalion
****Squad Seven
*35,000 Gondor soldiers
*18,000 Elves warrior and archers
*Gunboats
*LAAT/i gunships
*Self-Propelled Heavy Artillery walkers
*Numerous starfighters
*3 Venator-class Star Destroyers
**Integrity
|forces2=*B1-Series battle droids
*26,35 Orcs
*B2 super battle droids
*Droidekas
*14 NR-N99 Persuader-class droid enforcers
*Single Trooper Aerial Platforms
*Neimoidian tanks
*Neimoidian Home Defense Legionnaires
*Lucrehulk-class battleships
|casual1=*2 JediLabyrinth of Evil
*Numerous clone divisions
*Numerous LAAT gunships
|casual2=
}}
The Battle of Minas Morgul, also known as the siege of Minas Morgul, was an attempt by the Galactic Republic to capture Nute Gunray, Viceroy of the Trade Federation and a prominent member of the Separatist Council, during the War of the Ring.
==Prelude==
With a large Republic counterattack against the Core World gains made in Operation Durge's Lance, The Mouth of Sauron had ordered all members of the Council to retreat to a rendezvous point in the land of Mordor. Gunray, however, fled to the tower of the Nazguls, Minas Morgul, with a battle group of Federation warships, intending to loot his personal citadel before it fell to the Republic onslaught. Republic Intelligence obtained information as to his whereabouts, and a task force led by Samwise Gamgee and Frodo Baggins was pulled from the Middle-Earth Sieges and sent to wait in ambush.
==The battle==
A trio of Venator-class Star Destroyers commanded by Jan Dodonna engaged the Trade Federation armada in the upper atmosphere and provided air support, while the two Jedi led their army of clone troopers in an assault on the citadel, where Gunray and the Trade Federation elite were trapped. The battle raged throughout the skies of the planet's western hemisphere, and on the peninsula upon which the viceroy's tiered stronghold—the inspiration for the command towers of the Trade Federation core ships—was located.
After an initial aerial bombardment, the main clone force attacked from the northeast shore and hammered the citadel's energy shields, but took heavy fire from turbolaser cannons in the lower ramparts. Generals Gamgee and Baggins led a smaller force of clones through an orchard of Manax tree outside the fort, and with the help of Commander Cody and the elite Squad Seven, infiltrated the fungus farms located underneath the structure. From there the Jedi accessed the upper levels and began pursuing Gunray and his entourage as they tried to reach their shuttle.
During the mission, some complications arose where Gamgee, having left his rebreather with Frodo earlier, accidentally inhaled from a box of hallucinogenic spores that he unintentionally released from a container when deflecting blaster bolts from various droids, which affected his mental state. Cody then tried to contact Frodo for assistance, initially confusing the latter because Samwise and Cody's force was larger than his own and thus wouldn't have needed assistance until he realized he still had Sam's rebreather on him and proceeded to rush towards their location. He then noticed that Gamgee was stumbling over himself from the effects of the spores, causing Frodo to jokingly state that Gamgee created a new lightsaber form of combat. However, at the same time, it also allowed Samwise to exercise his inner potential, with Frodo being informed that Gamgee managed to wipe out fifty droids in this state, and later saving Frodo from Gunray's Mechno-chair. Although the Neimoidian leader managed to escape, the battle still raged on in some parts of the planet.
==Aftermath==
Although Gunray just managed to escape, Minas Morgul—one of the Mordor Separatist strongholds within Gondor—was captured. More importantly, Republic forces captured Gunray's mechno-chair containing a message from Darth Sauron, which thus linked the Dark Lord of the Sith to the Confederacy, as well as the communication codes that the Separatist Council used to communicate with him and each other.
Frodo and Sam, along with their forces, were withdrawn for use in Mordor to hunt down the makers of the mechno-chair in order to track down Darth Sauron, although they ended up sidetracked due to Chancellor Palpatine's abduction by General The Mouth of Sauron. Samwise also preferred to not count this battle as one of the times Frodo rescued him, which he reminded him after rescuing the Chancellor.
Despite the Republic victory on Minas Morgul, the Separatist forces were not defeated and they continued to fight off the Republic troops. Jedi Masters Gimli and Ferroda were later sent to the planet to coordinate mopping-up operations against continued resistance, and Ferroda was killed, but Gimli escapes during Order 66.
==Appearances==
*Labyrinth of Evil 
*Reversal of Fortune 
* }
*Millennium Falcon 
==Sources==
*Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide
*The New Essential Chronology
*The New Essential Guide to Droids 
*
*Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Special Edition
*
*The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
*Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 8
*Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 23
*The Essential Atlas
*Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 32
*Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 33
*
*
*
*The Essential Guide to Warfare 
*Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded
*The Essential Reader's Companion
*Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook
==Notes and references==
Category:War of the Rings battles