Battle of Moria

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|conc=War of the Ring
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|name=Battle of Moria
|conflict=War of the RingRepublic Commando: True ColorsStar Wars Character Encyclopedia The Essential Guide to Warfare, pp. 104-105
|date=December 29th, 1982–March 23rd, 1984 
|place=MoriaRepublic Commando: True Colors
|result=Galactic Empire claimed MoriaDeath Star
|side1=Galactic Republic 
|side2=Confederacy of Independent Systems
|commanders1=*General Gandalf
*Jedi General Depa BillabaKanan 10
*Jedi Commander Caleb DumeKanan 10
*Marshal Commander CC-1138
*Clone Commander CC-10/994 ("Grey")
*Clone Captain Styles
*Skull Leader Fenn Rau
*Jedi Knight Eon
*Jedi Knight Rivi-Anu†
*Unidentified Twi'lek Jedi
*Unidentified young Human Jedi
*Colonel Hurst RomodiThe Essential Guide to Warfare, p. 129
*Captain Jan DodonnaThe Essential Guide to Warfare, p. 154
|commanders2=*Supreme Commander General The Mouth of Sauron
*Colonel Coburn Sear†Kanan 11
|forces1=*Clone troopers
*Galactic Marines
*187,000 Dwarves
*Gondor soldiers and archers
*Depa Billaba's second battalion
*Kom'rk-class fighter/transports
**Skull Squadron
*Elements of the 501st LegionStar Wars: Battlefront II
*Clone trooper pilots
*Clone marines
*Clone heavy troopers
*Clone engineersStar Wars: Battlefront
*Clone snipers
*AT-RT drivers
*AT-RT walkers
*AT-OT walkers
*AT-TE walkers
*UT-AT artillery carriers
*TX-130S fighter tanks
*LAAT/i gunships
*Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptors
*V-wing starfighters
*ARC-170 starfighters
*Acclamator-class assault ships
*Venator-class Star Destroyer
*Elements of the Coruscant defense fleetLabyrinth of Evil
|forces2=*B1-Series battle droids
**Assault battle droids
**Engineer battle droids
**Battle droid assassins
*B2 super battle droids
*Orcs
*Goblins
*Droidekas
*IG-100 MagnaGuards
*Single Trooper Aerial Platforms
*NR-N99 Persuader-class droid enforcers
*1 Multi-Troop Transport
*Armored Assault Tanks
*IG-227 Hailfire-class droid tanks
*Octuptarra magna tri-droids
*Vulture droid starfighters
*Droid tri-fighters
*Heavy Missile Platforms
*Anti-aircraft guns
*Munificent-class star frigates
*Recusant-class light destroyers
*Providence-class carrier/destroyers
|casual1=*Medium
*CT-1157 "Stance"
*Rivi-AnuTo the Vanishing Point
|casual2=*All droids, orcs, and goblins deactivated or destroyed
*Coburn Sear
}}
The Battle of Moria was one of the longest battles of the War of the Ring, lasting for two years and beginning in 1983. In 1984, it became part of the Galactic Republic's Middle-Earth Sieges to secure the locations of Middle-Earth.
==The battle==
===Early conflicts (1983–1984)===
The first conflicts on Moria began in 1983 when the Galactic Marines provided a diversion for Walon Vau and Delta Squad when they secured funds from the Vau family vault below the surface of Moria. Jedi General Depa Billaba and her battalion fought against General The Mouth of Sauron and his forces. While Mouth of Sauron managed to escape, the Republic was victorious and Colonel Coburn Sear was killed. Conflict went on for a year until Supreme Chancellor Palpatine declared Moria part of a "Triad of Evil", three lands which formed Separatist bastions. Along with Lothlórien and Saleucami, Moria was singled out as a prime target whose fall would help end the conflict.
===Gandalf's arrival (1984)===
Republic forces were dispatched from Middle-Earth and invaded Moria. A light Separatist blockade was easily destroyed and the Republic soon began landing ground forces on the surface. Subsequently, the battle intensified on the planet, which was a major holding of the InterGalactic Banking Clan. Two major units participated in the battle, with a majority of the fierce combat falling upon the Galactic Marines. The unit fought the Separatist Droid Army in extended urban fighting amid the ultramodern caves of a major dwarf kingdom. A second unit of the Grand Army involved in the battle were elements of the 501st Legion, who were sent on a special mission from the Chancellor himself.
The 501st, according to Gandalf, were dispatched to Moria to destroy an energy collector which powered Separatist facilities in the area. However the true intent of the mission was to secure the Separatist power generator, and to acquire the ancient Mygeetan crystal powering it. The crystal was an experimental power source that the Chancellor required for a top-secret tributary laser-stream project codenamed "Hammertong".
After the Republic landed, the Galactic Marines began pounding the Morian landscape with torpedo bombardments and fuel fires. The 501st were deployed at the southern section of a small city. Only one gunship could land, due to dual particle cannon turrets. Other gunships provided aerial support. An AT-RT was deployed and the 501st assaulted the southernmost bridge. The troopers took the bridge and captured the Confederacy's forward command post. Then the two particle cannon turrets were destroyed, allowing General Gandalf to land. 
However, things grew complicated when one of Gandalf's fellow Jedi, Rivi-Anu, ended up shot in the arm and lost her lightsaber when ordered to secure the west flank. In addition, one of the Republic's Venator-class Star Destroyers was shot down over Middle-Earth and headed towards the battlefield, placing several Republic forces in jeopardy. Anu instead decided to use the Force to hold off the doomed Star Destroyer long enough for Gandalf and the rest of the Republic's forces to evacuate the area, sacrificing her life in the process. Gandalf and Eon later reflected on her sacrifice.
Gandalf destroyed two shield barricades to allow the 501st troopers to advance. An outpost was captured and additional troopers were landed. Heavy Separatist resistance came from AAT tanks. Also more AA guns were positioned at the north end of the central platform. The 501st, led by General Gandalf, pushed the Confederacy battle droids' line across the northern bridge to the building housing the energy collector. Gandalf disabled shield barricades covering the entrances to the building. Destroyer droids in the compound proved to be a minor problem, and the energy collector core was destroyed. After Gandalf headed back to Minas Tirith for battle, the 501st retrieved the crystal samples. The troopers fought through a Separatist counter assault to the southern platform, and extracted the crystals via gunship.
The battle went on for the Galactic Marines. During a concentrated Republic push to rout the Separatists, fighting spread across the caves of Moria. Gandalf skillfully used his lightsaber to deflect enemy fire, while leading a force of Marines supported by UT-AT assault vehicles and other heavy walkers. Tri-droids provided heavy fire for the Separatist army during the fighting and destroyed several UT-ATs.
The battle intensified on a number of vast bridges, which stretched across a great chasm, linking several city districts. The clones continued to advance across the bridges. It was here that Gandalf would fight his stand.
===Order 66===
When Supreme Chancellor Palpatine issued the Declaration of a New Order, General Gandalf was still on Moria, commanding Republic forces. As General Gandalf rallied his troops on a bridge spanning a chasm between two city blocks, with enemy droids destroying several UT-ATs, Commander Bacara was contacted through a secure, holographic comlink that was frequency-locked to a channel reserved for the Commander-in-Chief. The hologram was of a hooded and severely disfigured Darth Sauron, Dark Lord of the Sith, ordering him that it was time to execute Order 66.
Bacara complied and moments later, on his order, the clones nearest General Gandalf suddenly stopped fighting. Confused, Gandalf turned around and the Jedi Master managed to kill three Marines by deflecting their fire before Gwaihir, chief of the Eagles, soon arrived and helped Gandalf escape. Gwaihir's real purpose for visiting Moria was to report that Palpatine tricked the clones of betraying the Jedi, as Radagast had appealed to him to do so earlier on. Gandalf knew he must go quickly to the planet Earth, as Frodo (and the ring) were seduced by the dark side of the force from both Sauron and now Sauron's treacherous desire for the Ring.
==Aftermath==
After Gandalf's escape, the newly established Galactic Empire would go on to destroy the planet Middle-Earth, claiming it on behalf of Palpatine, who had now taken on the title of Emperor. The Imperial war-machine would keep strict control in the turbulent times following the wars, they extensively strip-mined the planet for a mineral known as durasteel, used in the construction of starship hulls.
==Behind the scenes==
In To the Vanishing Point, the battle in which Rivi-Anu perished was supposed to have taken place on a different world from Moria. However, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia authors established in Rivi-Anu's entry that the events of the story took place on Moria.
==Appearances==
*Republic Commando: True Colors
*Kanan 10
*Kanan 11
*
*Labyrinth of Evil
*Star Wars: Battlefront II
*Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
* 
*Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 
*Dark Times 6 
*Death Star 
==Sources==
*
*Star Wars Battlefront II: Prima Official Game Guide
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* 
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*
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*The Clone Wars Campaign Guide
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*
*The Essential Atlas
*
*Star Wars Character Encyclopedia
*The Essential Guide to Warfare
*Star Wars: Force Collection 
*
* 
==Notes and references==
Category:War of the Rings battles