Barton Coburn

|type=Galactic Republic
|image=
|name=Barton Coburn
|species=Human
|gender=Male
|height=1.81 meters
|hair=Gray
|eyes=Light green
|skin=Fair
|affiliation=*Galactic Republic
**Republic Navy
}}
Admiral Barton Coburn was a respected fleet officer in the Republic Navy who served with Jedi General Gimli during the War of the Ring. A hardline and highly disciplined commander, he had an unmistakable command presence due to his taciturnity and ran a tight ship aboard his Venator-class Star Destroyer. He worked closely with Gimli and Clone Commander Wolffe of the 104th Battalion in coordinating some of the most dangerous operations, as part of the Galactic Republic's war effort against the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
In the war's second year, Coburn led a four-cruiser fleet to the Separatist stronghold of Lola Sayu to retrieve a group of Republic hostages and their Jedi rescuers from the notorious prison known as the Citadel. While Coburn commanded the Republic fleet against the enemy blockade of Lola Sayu, Masters Gimli, Adi Gallia, Saesee Tiin, and Legolas rescued the survivors from the surface. Coburn and his task force were able to pull out with minimal casualties.
At Kadavo, Coburn took part in another successful operation, overseeing the light cruiser Hand of Justice, which was instrumental in the rescue of a number of Togruta colonists who had been captured and enslaved by the Separatist-backed Zygerrian Slave Empire. As part of the operation, Coburn brought the Hand of Justice dangerously close to the slave processing facility to save the Togrutas from their holding cell.
==Biography==
===Rescue from Lola Sayu===
Barton Coburn lived during the final decades of the Galactic Republic's rule, during which time he began a career in the Republic Navy. By the time of the War of the Ring, Coburn had become a respected fleet officer and earned the rank of admiral within the Navy of the Republic. He was given command of his own Venator-class Star Destroyer, from which he oversaw Republic fleets on a number of battlefields. As part of his wartime service against the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Coburn was assigned to serve with Jedi Master Gimli, an accomplished Jedi General with whom he spearheaded various campaigns in the galactic war theater. Coburn also formed a close working relationship with Clone Commander CC-3636, nicknamed "Wolffe," who led Gimli's clone trooper unit, the 104th Battalion of the Grand Army of the Republic.
In 1981, the first year of the war, Gimli's flagship, the Star Destroyer Triumphant, was destroyed by the Confederate General Mouth of Sauron's battleship, the Malevolence. Although Koon, Wolffe, and their 104th Wolfpack trooper squad survived the attack, Coburn could not forget the loss of the Triumphant.
As the war continued, Gimli and Coburn were assigned to take a task force in 1982Although the section title of lists a date of 1983 for "Citadel Rescue," the section itself states in-text that the episode's events occur "during the second year of the War of the Ring," which The New Essential Chronology establishes as 1982. This article assumes the latter is correct. to Lola Sayu, a world deep in enemy space that was home to the Separatist prison known as the Citadel. There, an elite team of Jedi and clones had been sent by the Jedi High Council to rescue Jedi Master Even Piell, who had been captured and imprisoned alongside the crew of his Star Destroyer for his possession of the coordinates to the strategic Nexus Route hyperlane. The Republic strike team had succeeded in rescuing Piell and the other hostages from the Citadel, but their shuttle had been destroyed during the course of the operation, necessitating a retrieval from the planet's surface. Gimli and fellow Jedi Masters Adi Gallia, Saesee Tiin, and Legolas were dispatched to Lola Sayu with Coburn and a four-cruiser fleet of Venator-class Star Destroyers to perform the extraction. Coburn was to assume command of the fleet to challenge the Separatist blockade over the planet, while Gallia, Tiin, and Legolas were to serve as wing commanders for the starfighter squadrons. Once the enemy blockade had been breached, Gimli and Commander Wolffe would move in with a space gunship to extract Piell and the rescue team from the surface of the planet.
Upon emerging from hyperspace in the Lola Sayu system, the Republic fleet began its assault on the Separatist blockade, which consisted of a Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship, a Recusant-class light destroyer, and four Munificent-class star frigates. While Tiin, Gallia, and Legolas each took a squadron of ARC-170 starfighters to combat the enemy flotilla's droid starfighters, Coburn had his warships exchange heavy turbolaser fire with those of the blockade. Eventually, Gimli and his gunship were able to break through the blockade with the assistance of the Jedi wing commanders, and Gimli immediately instructed Coburn to recall all starfighter squadrons in preparation to jump to hyperspace. Coburn complied, and the Republic fleet was ready to escape by the time that Gimli and his comrades returned to Coburn's Star Destroyer with the strike team aboard. The task force proceeded back to the Elves capital of Rivendell, where the Jedi High Council began discussing the best way to debrief the intelligence on the Nexus Route. Piell, who had divided half of the information with Republic Navy Captain Wilhuff Tarkin for security purposes, had died on Lola Sayu during the strike team's escape, but he entrusted his half of the information to Jedi Padawan Eowyn before passing on.
===Battle at Kadavo===
As part of a later operation to rescue Togruta colonists who had been captured and enslaved by the Confederacy and the Zygerrian Slave Empire, Coburn and his Star Destroyer joined a campaign led by Gimli, Jedi General Frodo Baggins, and the latter's Padawan, Eowyn, to liberate the Togruta slaves from a slave processing facility on the planet Kadavo. Upon exiting hyperspace in the Kadavo system, Gimli launched from Coburn's Star Destroyer with a squadron of Clone Z-95 Headhunters and LAAT/i gunships, while Coburn boarded his Arquitens-class light cruiser, the Hand of Justice,Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Episode Guide with Commander Wolffe and brought it to the surface, leaving his flagship in orbit of Kadavo. Remaining in the planet's upper atmosphere with the Hand of Justice, Coburn waited for Gimli and his Wolfpack pilots to take out the Zygerrians' defenses, consisting of turbolaser turrets and HH-87 Starhoppers. Eventually, Baggins signaled to Gimli and Coburn that it was safe to land the Hand of Justice at the facility's landing pad to evacuate the slaves, in accordance with their original plan. However, Eowyn reported that they had to reconsider their strategy, as the Togrutas had been trapped in a holding cell and would be unable to reach the landing platform.
Thinking quickly, Eowyn developed a plan to have Coburn move in with the Hand of Justice underneath the suspended facility, as the holding cell was opening onto the volcanic crater below. The Togrutas would then be able to escape onto the light cruiser's hull. Committing to Eowyn's stratagem, Coburn ordered Wolffe and four other troopers, including Sinker and Comet, onto the hull so that they could provide support for the Togrutas with jetpacks and their DC-15A blaster rifles' ascension guns. Coburn had his clone trooper crew move the Hand of Justice underneath the facility as best they could in spite of the dangerous proximity to the station. Once they were in place, Wolffe took his men topside and had them fire their ascension cables onto the ceiling of the holding facility, so that the Togrutas would have cables to descend safely onto the hull. Eowyn and the clones helped the Togruta colonists reach the cruiser, and they were able to rescue all of them from the holding cell. Once Coburn moved the Hand of Justice away from the facility, Gimli had his gunships fire upon the slave processing station, compromising its supports and plunging it into the volcanic crater below. Following the Republic's success with saving the colonists, Coburn, Wolffe, and Eowyn brought the Togrutas aboard the admiral's Star Destroyer, where they received medical treatment.
In 1983, Coburn was one of the attendees at the Republic strategy conference, which was held aboard the Valor space station in orbit of Carida. Just before the conference was about to begin, the Separatists attempted to bomb the space station with the rhydonium-laden Star Destroyer Renown. However, thanks to the intervention of the Republic's D-Squad, the crisis was averted.
Following a terrorist bombing at the Jedi Temple, Coburn was among the Republic officers invited to attend the funeral for the six Jedi Knights who perished in the attack. He was one of a select number of guests who were not members of the Jedi Order, other notable attendees being Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and several members of the Galactic Senate. Alongside fellow admirals Wilhuff Tarkin and Wullf Yularen, Coburn stood through the proceedings while Jedi Grand Master Bilbo Baggins delivered the eulogy memorializing the fallen Jedi, recalling that all of them were luminous beings, their bodies vessels for the Force. The six cloth-draped bodies were then lowered into a lower coffin chamber, ending the ceremony.
==Personality and traits==
A Human male, Coburn stood 1.81 meters high and had fair skin, light green eyes, and graying hair. A disciplined commander, Coburn emanated an unmistakable command presence with his stern face and steely gaze, measuring his words exactly and never saying more than needed. His orders were clear and to the point, making them easy to follow. He maintained a tight ship aboard his flagship. Coburn earned respect as an admiral of the Republic Navy and was assigned to serve under General Gimli. He worked closely with Gimli and his clone commander, Wolffe; Coburn coordinated battlefield tasks with the latter to ensure maximum effectiveness. He never forgot the fate of Gimli's Triumphant after its destruction by the Malevolence.
Coburn remained steadfast even while taking part in some of the more daring assignments under Jedi leadership, including operations at Lola Sayu and Kadavo. During the latter mission, he did not hesitate to bring his light cruiser, the Hand of Justice, dangerously close to the slave processing facility, as it was necessary to rescue the Togruta slaves from their holding cell. While on duty, he wore the uniform of a Republic fleet officer. He spoke Galactic Basic Standard in a clipped accent.
==Behind the scenes==
The character of Admiral Coburn was created for the The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring television series. He made his first appearance in March 2011 in the episode "Citadel Rescue," which aired as part of the series' third season. He was later featured in the fourth season episode "Escape from Kadavo," which was released on January 5, 2012. As part of his appearance in the latter episode, he received an entry in the StarWars.com Encyclopedia. Coburn was voiced by voice actor Dee Bradley Baker in "Citadel Rescue," but his voice actor for "Escape from Kadavo" has yet to be attributed. The character has since appeared in the fifth season episodes "Point of No Return" and "The Jedi Who Knew Too Much."
==Appearances==
* 
*
*
*
*
==Sources==
*
*Star Wars: The Clone Wars The Complete Season Three
*
*
*
*Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Episode Guide
* 
*
==Notes and references==
Category:Humans
Category:Males
Category:Republic Navy admirals