Attack on Samwise Gamgee's fleet

|width=
|prev=Raid on the Crucible
|conc=Battle of Moria
|next=Rescue on Florrum
|name=Attack on Samwise Gamgee's fleet
|image=
|conflict=War of the Ring
|date=July 9th, 1983
|place=Space in the Sertar sector
|result=*Confederacy of Independent Systems victory
**Jedi General Sam Gamgee's fleet is routed
*Sam Gamgee and his surviving fleet elements escape
*Gamgee's rescue attempt of stranded Jedi younglings is cancelled
|side1=Galactic Republic
|side2=Confederacy of Independent Systems
|commanders1=*Jedi General Samwise Gamgee
*Clone Marshal Commander CC-2224 ("Cody")
|commanders2=Supreme Commander The Mouth of Sauron
|forces1=*1 Jedi Master
*Clone troopers
**212th Attack Battalion
*Clone trooper pilots
*Clone naval officers
*Clone trooper flight crews
*Sam Gamgee's taskforce
**At least 3 Arquitens-class light cruisers
**2 Consular-class cruisers†
**3 Venator-class Star Destroyers
***Negotiator†
**At least 4 BTL-B Y-wing starfighters
**At least 5 Clone Z-95 Headhunters
|forces2=*1 Mordor general
*Battle droids
**B1-Series battle droids
**B2-series super battle droids
**2 Nazguls
*Droid tri-fighters
*HMP droid gunships
*Hyena-class Bombers
*Vulture-class droid starfighters
*3 Munificent-class star frigates
*2 Providence-class carrier/destroyers
*1 Recusant-class light destroyer
*1 Sheathipede-class transport shuttle
|casual1=*Majority of the forces
**Many clone troopers and starfighters 
**Several clone navigation officers
**1 Venator-class Star Destroyer
***Negotiator
**2 Arquitens-class light cruisers
**All Consular-class cruisers
|casual2=*Moderate
**Many battle droids and droid starfighters
***Entire boarding party brought aboard the Negotiator
**Damage to capital ships
}}
During the War of the Ring in 1983, the Galactic Republic task force commanded by Jedi General Sam Gamgee was attacked by a fleet of Confederacy of Independent Systems warships led by the Mordor Separatist General The Mouth of Sauron. Upon Mouth of Sauron's arrival, his fleet gained a swift advantage over Gamgee's forces as they bombarded the Republic fleet with turbolaser fire, while also eliminating several of his supporting light cruisers and frigates, as well as his starfighter squadrons. While the capital ships continued to engage one another, the Mordor general boarded the Republic flagship, the Venator-class Star Destroyer Negotiator, alongside several droid gunships, droid starfighters and bombers, which deployed dozens of battle droids in an attempt to kill Gamgee. In the fighting aboard the Negotiator, the two generals confronted one another in lightsaber combat.
Despite his attempts to prevent Mouth of Sauron's invasion of his ship, Gamgee's clone troopers of the 212th Attack Battalion, including Clone Marshal Commander CC-2224, nicknamed "Cody," were unable to repel the Mordor's droid forces and lost control of his flagship. After coming to the realization that the Negotiator was lost, the Jedi Master ordered his crew and troopers to evacuate, while he and the Clone Commander rigged the Star Destroyer to self-detonate rather than allowing its capture by Mouth of Sauron. Following Gamgee's escape from the ship, Mouth of Sauron entered the command bridge and attempted to acquire the information stored within its databanks, but upon learning that the Star Destroyer was to self-destruct, the Separatist Mordor general fled the vessel before it could explode.
The failure of the Republic Navy detachment to hold its ground ended hopes of a rescue mission directed at several Jedi younglings aboard the Crucible, who had lost their leader, Padawan Eowyn, to the Ohnaka Gang during a raid on their ship. Simultaneously, the victory achieved by the Separatist Navy flotilla granted free rein over nearby areas of space like the Florrum system to The Mouth of Sauron, who would later seize the headquarters of the Ohnaka Gang on the planet Florrum.
==Prelude==
In 1983 during the War of the Ring, Jedi General Sam Gamgee and his fleet were on patrol when Gamgee's flagship, the Negotiator, picked up a distress signal from the Jedi starship Crucible. The Crucible, returning from a journey to Ilum so its youngling passengers could undergo the ritual of the Gathering, had been attacked by the pirates of the Ohnaka Gang, looking to steal the younglings' recently-claimed kyber crystals.
Padawan Eowyn, chaperoning the six younglings, fought off the pirates, but was been sucked onto the Acushnet in the process and taken prisoner, which the younglings only realized after the Crucible had escaped via a hyperspace jump. After hearing the young Jedi's plight, Gamgee ordered them not to attempt a rescue mission, and told them he would be sending Clone Commander Cody to pick them up from the damaged Crucible, after which he would deal with Hondo Ohnaka and rescue Eowyn himself.
==The battle==
===Space combat===
However, immediately after signing off with the Crucible, a Separatist fleet dropped out of hyperspace in front of Gamgee's forces, forcing his fleet into a battle. The Separatist fleet was commanded by Gamgee's old enemy General The Mouth of Sauron, which consisted of three Munificent-class star frigates, two Providence-class carrier/destroyers and one Recusant-class light destroyer. The Separatist Navy detachment thus outnumbered the three Republic Venator-class capital ships and the array of sub-capital vessels. Vulture droids were launched immediately as the Separatist ships began firing on the Republic fleet. At the outbreak of battle, an Arquitens-class light cruiser pushed forth towards the Separatist fleet, passing a heavily damaged Consular-class frigate which promptly exploded in a fireball. Republic Z-95 headhunters and BTL-B Y-wing starfighters engaged the Separatist starfighters.
A trio of Republic starfighters, chased by vulture droids, flew by the Recusant-class light destroyer while a smoking, damaged Arquitens-class light cruiser drifted past and fiery explosions broke out on the hull of the light destroyer. As this Arquitens-class light cruiser blew to pieces, one of the clone Z-95s was also shot down and crashed into the light destroyer near one of its hangars. Vulture droids continued to pursue the retreating Z-95 and Y-wing, piloted by "Engle", flying past the Separatist vessels and towards the Republic ships. The gunner of Engle's Y-wing managed to down one of the vulture droids.
Clone pilot "Killer", flying the Z-95, reduced his fighter's speed and dropped behind the vulture droids, just as Separatist turbolaser fire tore up the starboard hull trench of one of the Republic Venator-class cruisers; Killer persisted to shoot down the vulture droids. By this point, one of the Munificent-class star frigates had advanced closer to engage the Republic cruisers at short range, though the Separatist frigate itself was also hit.
On the bridge of Gamgee's flagship, the Negotiator, a clone naval officer explained to the Jedi General that the Republic forces were being overrun while Mouth of Sauron was sending a boarding party, as the ship shuddered as it came under attack. Samwise soon departed for his ship's main hangar to repel the Separatist boarding party. Soon, Killer's starfighter was overwhelmed by Separatist laser fire, and exploded, and not much later, Engle's Y-wing was struck by enemy fire and careened, on fire and in a violent spin, towards the main hangar of the Negotiator.
Whilst the Separatist boarding forces, comprised of Mouth of Sauron' Sheathipede-class transport shuttle and six HMP droid gunships, which were guarded by vulture droids, droid tri-fighters and Hyena-class bombers, trailed closely behind, Engle's Y-wing crashed in the central takeoff passage of the Negotiator in a fireball, with the wreck of the bomber grinding against the metal plating.
===Skirmish aboard the Negotiator===
General Gamgee, arriving at the right-side hangar, rushed to defend against the Separatist battle droids, deployed from the droid gunships. While Mouth of Sauron disembarked his shuttle with two Nazguls, Samwise dragged Engle away from the burning Y-wing as two astromech droids tried to extinguish the flames. Scores of B1-series battle droids crossed the airtight fields of the hangar, as a firefight started in the hangar spaces of the Negotiator. Clone troopers of Gamgee's 212th Attack Battalion took positions behind parked starfighters and crates, firing both their blasters and blaster cannons. Mouth of Sauron, now assisted by vulture droids that had also entered the fight in walk mode, advanced towards Gamgee. Despite the efforts of several clone troopers to wrestle him, the Mordor general knocked some of them down with superior strength and slashed others with his lightsaber.
A standoff soon began with General Gamgee, Commander Cody and the clone troopers facing down The Mouth of Sauron and his droid forces. Mouth of Sauron, holding a clone trooper under his leg, killed him by crushing his neck, to which Gamgee remarked that he would regret doing so. As the two leaders locked sabers, blaster fire erupted again. Mouth of Sauron kicked Gamgee into the door of an LAAT/i gunship, where Cody had taken up a position. The clone commander pointed out the fuel barrels nearby as a means of striking The Mouth of Sauron; the Jedi General hurled one of these barrels at Mouth of Sauron by way of the Force, which Cody proceeded to shoot, sparking a fiery explosion that left Mouth of Sauron recoiling and his mask charred. Having thus bought some time, Gamgee and the clones retreated.
In the hallways of the Negotiator, the Separatist droids pushed back the Republic clones. Several members of the clone trooper flight crew took up arms and fought alongside General Gamgee and the other clone troopers. But Gamgee ordered his men to fall back and abandon ship, having judged that his flagship was already lost; he resolved to instead give Mouth of Sauron a parting gift by activating the Negotiator self-destruct mechanism.
In space, several Separatist starfighters made a bombing run on the starboard side of the Negotiator, tearing breaches in the hull as the stricken vessel's DBY-827 turrets unleashed a flurry of turbolaser fire. The droid starfighters additionally made a run past an Arquitens-class light cruiser and a Consular-class frigate, the latter of which was cruising above one of the other Venator-class Star Destroyers and, damaged by the Separatists, exploded. The wreckage of another Arquitens-class light cruiser, in front of this Venator-class, was smouldering and breaking up.
The Mouth of Sauron, flanked by his two Nazguls, arrived at the command bridge of the Negotiator, where two of the clone naval officers had been killed. A B1 battle droid notified Mouth of Sauron that the Separatists had secured the ship while another operated the controls of the central holotable. Just as Mouth of Sauron finished his command that the droids should retrieve all information from Gamgee's vessel, a hologram of the Jedi General appeared, in which he conceded defeat and the loss of his ship. In the hologram, Gamgee also communicated that he was boarding an escape pod and would be at a safe distance from the ship, which was about to explode; Gamgee had activated the Negotiator self-destruct system. Mouth of Sauron, groaning at this message, quickly departed the bridge, much to the dismay of his droids.
The Jedi and his clone troopers, including Cody, rushed aboard escape pods and jettisoned in the direction of a battle-damaged Munificent-class star frigate. Meanwhile, Mouth of Sauron dashed to his Sheathipede-class shuttle, knocking over two B1 battle droids who were guarding it and abandoning them to their demise. His shuttle safely fled the Negotiator as its hangar was rocked by a fiery explosion. Numerous other explosions soon tore through the ship, scattering debris everywhere as the Negotiator was reduced to a burning hulk. Gamgee, observing through the viewport of his escape pod, witnessed his flagship ripped apart by several more explosions, before being completely destroyed in a massive fireball. He admitted that the Jedi younglings whom he was planning to rescue were now on their own.
==Aftermath==
The Galactic Republic defeat forced General Gamgee and Commander Cody to abandon the plan to rescue the Jedi younglings. These younglings landed the Crucible on Florrum due to engine complications. Despite lacking the help of the Republic, the Jedi younglings attempted to rescue Eiwyb from the captivity of the Ohnaka gang by joining Preigo's Traveling World of Wonder and performing at a circus at the pirate compound. This mission ultimately failed when the younglings and Eowyn, fleeing from pirate forces, were captured.
Now without Republic contest in the areas surrounding the Florrum system, The Mouth of Sauron made a landing on the planet Florrum. By order of Saruman the White, who had previously been imprisoned and held for ransom to the Republic by Hondo Ohnaka, Mouth of Sauron seized the pirate compound, capturing Ohnaka and several other pirates for their past transgressions against Saruman. In order to escape Florrum, the pirates and the Jedi teamed up to break out of the pirate base. A skirmish and a chase ensued, with Mouth of Sauron pursuing the Jedi. Ohnaka, several pirates and all Jedi, along with their droids, fled to Republic-controlled space.
Gamgee and Ohnaka were reunited on another Venator-class Star Destroyer when the latter returned the Jedi to Republic protection. Mouth of Sauron demolished the pirate base and melted down much of the equipment there for the Separatist war machine. The remaining pirates eventually returned to Florrum and dwelled in the ruins of their base.
==Behind the scenes==
The attack on Samwise Gamgee's fleet featured in "Bound for Rescue," the eighth episode of the fifth season of the animated television series The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring. For this scene, the clone trooper pilots with nicknames "Killer" and "Engle" were created as starfighter pilots serving in the Galactic Republic Navy. Both pilots were given unique markings on their Phase II armor.
There are some inconsistencies in this battle sequence, including those pertaining to the damage visible to the warships during the battle, the positioning of the ships, and the number of particular ships. One instance of this involves the Separatist Munificent-class frigates. Although the scene where the Separatist fleet comes out of hyperspace only shows two Munificent-class frigates, the holotable on the Negotiator depicts three, and in one frame near the end of the battle, three Munificent-class frigates can be seen. Hence, this article accounts for three star frigates.
The positioning of one of the ships in space during the earlier part of the battle also contradicts what appears on the hologram, and this article refers to the scenes in space. Additionally, when Mouth of sauron and his boarding party are approaching the Negotiator, the Venator-class Star Destroyer to the left of it can be seen exploding. However, a few frames later, when Killer is shot down, this Venator-class does not appear to be destroyed. This article thus does not count that cruiser as a destroyed ship.
Footage for the Separatist fleet exiting hyperspace and launching droid starfighters at the beginning of this battle was reused during the introduction of "Aftermath," the first episode of the first season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, the successor animated television show to The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring. Although this scene was intended to accompany the narration that Mouth of Sauron had launched "a desperate and brutal counterattack across several star systems" after losing the Battle of Minas Tirith, the battle between the fleets of Gamgee and Mouth of Sauron did not occur during the final days of the War of the Ring, which were portrayed by the episode "Aftermath."
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==Notes and references==
Category:War of the Rings battles
Category:Duels