Skirmish on Florrum

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|prev=Raid on the Cybloc Transfer Station
|conc=Battle of MoriaStar Wars Character Encyclopedia
|next=Mission to Mustafar
|name=Skirmish on Florrum
|image=
|conflict=War of the Ring
|date=July 26th, 1983
|place=Florrum
|result=*Reunification of the pirate forces
*Gollum and Claude Frollo escape
*Death of Jedi High Council member Adi Gallia
|side1=*Former Sith Lords
*Ohnaka Gang renegades 
|side2=*Jedi Order
*Ohnaka Gang
|commanders1=*Gollum
*Claude Frollo
*Jiro 
*Goru 
|commanders2=*Jedi Master Samwise Gamgee
*General Frodo Baggins
*Jedi Master Adi Gallia†
*Captain Hondo Ohnaka
|forces1=*2 former Sith Lords
*Weequay pirates 
*3 Corona-class armed frigates
*3 Flarestar-class attack shuttles
*1 YV-865 Aurore-class freighter
**ALC-9
|forces2=*3 Jedi Masters
*Weequay pirates
|casual1=*ALC-9
*Claude Frollo's left arm cut off
*Many pirates
|casual2=*Jedi Master Adi Gallia
*Many pirates
}}
A skirmish on the Outer Rim planet of Florrum took place during the War of the Ring in 1983. The battle was fought between the pirate forces of Hondo Ohnaka, backed by the Jedi Order, and the secessionist pirate forces swayed away from Ohnaka's leadership by the Assassins Gollum and Judge Claude Frollo. Being self proclaimed crime lords determined to seize control of the criminal underworld, Gollum and Frollo traveled to Florrum with the intention of seizing Ohnaka's pirating empire by force. After an initial scuffle with pirate forces in orbit of Florrum led by Lieutenant Jiro, Gollum successfully bribed Jiro and his men with a promise of great wealth, keeping them alive in exchange for unquestioned devotion to Gollum's cause. After unsuccessfully ordering Ohnaka to stand down, Gollum and Frollo, along with their newly acquired pirate army, laid siege to the pirate headquarters to eliminate anyone still loyal to Ohnaka.
The Jedi Masters Samwise Gamgee, Frobo Baggins and Adi Gallia soon arrived to arrest the two assassins. While the split pirate forces battled it out, Frodo, Samwise and Gallia fought Gollum and Frollo, respectively. Gallia eventually fell to Frollo's sheer brute strength, being stabbed by his Knife before being finished off with his lightsaber. Outnumbered, Frodo, Sam and Ohnaka's forces retreated indoors, with Gollum and his men in pursuit. Ohnaka managed to lure the surviving pirate opposition into a trap and force them into a surrender, reunifying the pirate gang. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam fought both ring-hunters by dual-wielding his and Adi Gallia's lightsabers, managing to sever Frollo's left arm. Gollum and Frollo soon fled to their ship, being pursued by the newly reunified pirate forces; Gollum injured his left leg in the process. After takeoff, the pirate forces destroyed one of their ship's engines, forcing the two to evacuate in an escape pod.
==Prelude==
The recently resurfaced Gollum and the Judge Claude Frollo began making a name for themselves in the Outer Rim. Murdering and pillaging at every turn, the two assassins caught the attention of the Jedi Order, who thought they extinguished the threat of Gollum during the Duel on Mount Doom a decade prior. Then, Gollum had an army to back him, in the form of the droid armies of the Trade Federation. Now, Gollum found himself displaced and on the run from an enemy that drastically outnumbered him and his new apprentice. In order to survive, Gollum deduced that they would need an army of followers. During a raid on a space station owned by the InterGalactic Banking Clan, Gollum and Frollo came into possession of a large sum of Republic credits. With their newly acquired wealth, the two refashioned themselves as "crime lords" and planned to take control over the criminal underworld of the galaxy. They decided on taking their wealth to Florrum, home of the pirate gang of Hondo Ohnaka, in order to seize Ohnaka's pirate empire.
Meanwhile, Jedi Masters Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee and Adi Gallia inspected the aftermath of the Cybloc station raid, where they questioned the Morlimur Snugg of the station about the assailants' description. The supervisor confirmed to the Jedi that the assailants were, much to Frodo's suspicion, the assassins, and that they had stolen the supervisor's shuttle before making a jump to hyperspace; an employee thought he heard a reference to the Sertar sector. Gamgee immediately associated the sector with Florrum because of his repeated encounters with Ohnaka, and the Jedi set off for the pirate captain's base. Florrum itself recently suffered from a devastating attack by General The Mouth of Sauron of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and Ohnaka was still reeling in the damage and losses.
==The skirmish==
===Pirate turncoats===
Upon entering Florrum's orbit, the villains deactivated their transport's hyperdrive, main reactor, and communications systems in order to feign being stranded in space. Falling for the bait, Lieutenant Jiro of the pirate forces, who was commanding the planet's perimeter defenses set up in the wake of Mouth of Sauron's previous attack, formed a boarding party with his men with the intention of boarding the ship, killing its crew, and looting it of whatever valuables it contained. Jiro set up a docking tunnel between his Corona-class frigate and the seemingly damaged transport, and boarded the ship with two other men. They discovered a wealth of supplies in the cargo hold, including a number of firearms and a large crate containing pure spice. Overjoyed, Jiro stated that they would drink tonight to their newfound wealth. However, the two assassins emerged from the shadows and ignited their lightsabers. Believing the two figures to be Jedi, Jiro and his men opened fire. Gollum and Frollo deflected all of the pirate's shots, disarmed Jiro using the Force, and held the pirate lieutenant at bay using a force choke.
Frollo and Gollum revealed the large fortune they acquired from their raid on InterGalactic Banking Clan territory, and offered to bestow it upon the pirates if they were to devote themselves to the Nightbrother cause. The two explained that they were not Jedi; however, they skirted the topic of their Sith and Dark Jedi training, instead referring to themselves as "crime lords". Jiro was initially reluctant to betray Hondo, but after the two villains explained that money was of no issue, dedicated himself, as did two other lieutenants; however, one pirate was still on the fence, and he requested that they contact Ohnaka and give him the chance to turn himself over as well. Contacting the pirate captain via hologram, Gollum explained that three of his lieutenants had betrayed him, and executed the indecisive pirate with his lightsaber to demonstrate the penalty for insubordination. Ohnaka refused to surrender himself, calling Gollum a "laser-sword wielding maniac" and explaining that he has survived everything the galaxy had thrown at him. As such, Gollum readied his newly acquired pirate army for a ground assault.
Soon after, Frodo, Sam and Gallia arrived in the system, and contacted Ohnaka via hologram. Ohnaka explained the situation to the Jedi Master; Frodo offered to deal with Gollum while Ohnaka handled the traitors.
===Ground battle===
Three of the Ohnaka's starfighters landed on Florrum, launching an aerial assault. As the cargo ship and the transports landed, the traitorous pirates quickly ejected from the ships and began shooting at Ohnaka loyalists; Ohnaka's pirates immediately took defensive positions. Laser fire flew in all directions and pirates on both sides fell. As Gollum and Judge Frollo stepped out of the cargo ship to observe the battle, they spotted the Jedi shuttle landing down on Florrum. Realizing the Jedi had come too soon, Gollum and Frollo dashed to their position to confront them. Samwise briefly sarcastically spoke to Gollum; lightsabers ignited and fury building, Gollum charged at Frodo and Sam with a few saber strikes. Frollo then launched himself at Master Gallia with a furious array of saber strikes. After a quick flurry with both duels, Frodo, Samwise and Gallia jumped off the cliffside and separated.
Frollo then ramped up his assault on Gallia with aggression. Gallia stayed on the defensive as she lost footing and ducked. Frodo dueled on top of a ruined engine with Gollum, while Frollo attacked with sundering strikes down below at Gallia. She threw a kick at Frollo's left leg, which failed to affect the Judge from France, which caught her off-guard: using this opportunity, Frollo barraged her with lightsaber strikes and threw a powerful Force push that catapulted Gallia into the side of the ruined engine. Frollo then charged at Gallia and stabbing with his knife into her body, mortally wounding her. As Frodo and Sam watched in horror, Frollo brought his blade down on Gallia's wounded form, killing her. Furious, Samwise leapt down and kicked Frollo to the ground. Gollum parried a blow that would have killed the judge, and both ring-hunters ganged up on the hobbits.
Ohnaka, realizing that his men were slowly dying and outnumbered, called out to Frodo and Sam to follow them back into the base. The hobbits complied, but not before collecting Gallia's lightsaber. Ohnaka ordered some of his men to carry a large turret deeper into the tunnel. As they set up the ambush, Frodo and Sam rendezvoused with Hondo: the next part of the plan was the hobbits would draw the villains away. As the assassins and the traitorous pirates met up with Hondo and Frodo's position, Hondo ordered a retreat into the base. The assassins and the pirates followed. Frodo and Sam turned left while Hondo turned right. Then, as Gollum and Frollo followed the hobbits, Hondo shot his blaster at the ceiling, sealing themselves in with the pirates. While Gollum and Frollo dueled the hobbits, the traitorous pirates were about to open fire on Hondo and his men, but as the big turret was about to open fire, Jiro and his people surrendered, openly admitting they were bribed and persuaded by the brothers. Hondo wouldn't kill them, knowing that Gollum and Frollo only bribed them for their interest in Baggins. The pirates once again reunited, Hondo and his men decided to congratulate their reunification by going out to the cargo ship and taking the cargo.
===Nightbrother retreat===
As the Force-wielders came to a halt, Gollum sneered at Frodo to surrender, considering how outnumbered the Ringbearer was, but Frodo and Sam ignited both Frodo's and Gallia's lightsaber. The Jedi Masters used the Jar'Kai style against the villains, leaping back and forth between the brothers, throwing kicks at Gollum and Frollo one by one. Afterwards, Gollum Force-gripped Gamgee and threw him into a wall, leaving him vulnerable. As Gollum and Frollo were about to kill Frodo, the Ringbearer barely blocked both killing strikes. During the saber lock, the hobbit glanced at Frollo's front leg and landed a kick at his knee joint. As Frollo yelled out in pain, Frodo broke off the saber block by cutting Frollo's left arm. Frollo collapsed to the ground in pain. Gollum then turned to Frodo and with a rage fired a powerful Force push at the hobbits, throwing them to the end of the corridor and causing the ceiling to cave in. Gollum, realizing his plan has failed, picked up his apprentice as Frollo's arm spilled out blood.
The assassins made a run for the cargo ship as the newly reunified pirates fired on Gollum and Frollo. They attempted to deflect all the lasers, but Hondo shot Gollum in the leg, causing Gollum to limp. Jiro then fired on Gollum's leg again. As Gollum howled in pain, his leg from the left was also wounded. Frollo quickly lifted Gollum over his shoulder and continued running, while Gollum continued deflecting laser bolts. Then Gollum looked over on the cliffside to the Jedi shuttle. He used the Force and pulled it off the cliffside, obstructing the pirates and the hobbit's pursuit. As the villains boarded the ship, they attempted to fly, but a pirate fired on the ship with a rocket launcher, compromising the engines. The two ring-hunters limped over to the escape pod and fled Florrum, while the rest of the cargo ship landed down onto the surface, exploding.
==Aftermath==
Ohnaka, his pirates, Frodo and Sam drove over to the wreckage of the cargo ship on speeders. Ohnaka and his pirates took the riches of the cargo ship for themselves. The pirate leader deduced that since the ship exploded, the villains were dead. Frodo disagreed, considering how Gollum had survived his previous defeat.
Later, back on Minas Tirith, Frodo and Sam reported the events that took place to Chancellor Palpatine in a meeting with them, Elrond and Bilbo Baggins. Palpatine merely ignored it and urged the hobbits to forget it ever happened, despite Gollum and Frollo being responsible for the murder of two Jedi Knights and a High Council member, and returned to his office. However, Bilbo swore that if Gollum was still alive, the Jedi would act as soon as he revealed himself again. After the Jedi left, Palpatine returned to his office with a sinister grin. Now that he was aware of Gollum's survival (with this being the second time he had been made aware of such after Frodo told him he'd have to miss the Senate War Rally to hunt for a Sith that wasn't SarumanThe War of the Ring: The Sith Hunters), he knew the evil creature would be a boon to the Rule of Two, considering Saruman was now Palpatine's apprentice.
Gollum and Frollo were later found and nursed back to health by Pre Vizsla and Bo-Katan Kryze of the Death Watch. An alliance was forged between the brothers and the Death Watch, concluding with Gollum killing Vizsla in a duel and becoming the Death Watch's new leader after they all took control of Erebor. With his new minions, he and Frollo captured Sam Gamgee, only for him to be rescued by Kryze, who refused to acknowledge Gollum as Mandalore's ruler. As Gamgee escaped amidst a battle between the divided Death Watch forces, Palpatine, under the guise of Darth Sauron and transformed into a cat, personally traveled to the Lonely Mountain to tie up loose ends. He confronted the rivals in an intense duel and ultimately defeated them, killing Frollo and subduing his former apprentice for "other uses."
==Behind the scenes==
The skirmish on Florrum appeared in the first episode of the fifth season of The War of the Ring TV series. The battle depicts the death of Jedi Master Adi Gallia at the hands of Claude Frollo; this directly conflicts with the previous depiction of her death in Star Wars: Obsession, in which she is killed by The Mouth of Sauron during the Battle of Osgiliath. Leland Chee, the official Lucasfilm Ltd. keeper of Star Wars continuity, states that her death in The War of the Ring takes precedence.
==Appearances==
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==Sources==
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*Star Wars Character Encyclopedia
==Notes and references==
Category:War of the Rings battles
Category:Duels