Battle of Near Harad

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|prev=Battle of AxionThe New Essential Chronology
|conc=*Battle of Muunilinst
*Duel on Fangorn
*Battle of Dantooine
*Ambush on Ilum
*Battle of Mirkwood
|next=*Battle of Brentaal IV
*Battle of Esseles
|name=Battle of Near Harad
|image=
|conflict=War of the Ring
|date=May 16th, 1981, 2 months after the First Battle of Isengard
|place=Harad, Middle-Earth
|result=*Confederacy of Independent Systems victory
*Jedi escaped
|side1=*Galactic Republic
*Jedi Order
|side2=Confederacy of Independent Systems
*Mordor
*Haradrim
|commanders1=*General Daakman Barrek†
*General Gandalf the White
*General K'Kruhk
*General Shaak Ti
*General Aayla Secura
*Captain ARC-77 (Mid to late Battle)
|commanders2=The Mouth of Sauron
|forces1=*7 Jedi
*Clone troopers
**Advanced Recon Commandos
**Advanced Recon Commando heavy gunners
**An Advanced Recon Commando pilot
*Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantrys
*Acclamator-class assault ships
|forces2=*1 Mordor general
*B2 super battle droids
*Haradrim warriors
*Easterlings
*8 OG-9 homing spider droids
*8 Oliphaunts
|casual1=*3 Jedi
**Daakman Barrek
**Tarr Seirr
**Sha'a Gi
*Shaak Ti wounded
*Secura wounded
*K'Kruhk wounded
*Most clone troopers
**4 Advanced Recon Commandos
*All Acclamator-class assault ships
|casual2=Portions of the battle droid army
}}
The Battle of Near Harad of the War of the Ring took place on Near Harad on the planet Middle-Earth two standard months after the First Battle of Isengard. Notable as the first public appearance of General The Mouth of Sauron, Supreme Commander of the Separatist Mordor Army, the battle was initially intended as a Republic raid on Mordor foundries on Harad, based on intelligence gathered by Jedi Master Daakman Barrek, who led the attack. However, the Haradrim forces were waiting for the Republic assault, and it quickly turned into slaughter, with the Republic forces shot down.
As the Mouth of Sauron's ground forces advanced on the wreckage where the Jedi survivors were holed up, The Mouth of Sauron personally defeated Daakman Barrek as he called for help before calling off his forces. The Mouth of Sauron entered the wreckage himself and engaged the Jedi, killing Sha'a Gi and Tarr Seirr and besting Aayla Secura, K'Kruhk and Shaak Ti. As the Mouth prepared to finish the last Jedi standing, Gandalf, a squad of Advanced Recon Commandos sent by Sam Gamgee on Muunilinst burst in on the duel. Their superior firepower forced the lone general to retreat, and all the Jedi survivors were extracted, save K'Kruhk, who was thought dead. The Mouth of Sauron was ultimately unconcerned by their escape, feeling that it was little more than prolonging the inevitable.
==The battle==
The Battle of Near Harad was the result of intelligence gathered by Jedi Master Daakman Barrek and his Padawan, Sha'a Gi, which indicated the presence of a large orc outpost on Harad. A Jedi task force, consisting of Barrek and his Padawan, along with the white wizard Gandalf, Aayla Secura, Shaak Ti, K'Kruhk, and Tarr Seirr, was dispatched to Mordor to destroy the factory, reinforced by an army of clone troopers. They were to be led by Barrek, due to his superior knowledge of industrial matters.
As the Republic ships emerged from hyperspace, orbital mines caused the majority of the transports to crash behind the Separatists' lines. The task force was quickly surrounded by the massive Haradrim army that was stationed on the region, and all the clone troopers present were quickly slaughtered. The seven remaining Jedi retreated to an area of Near Harad where a large number of the Acclamator-class assault ships had crash landed. As they were retreating, Master Barrek attempted to send out a distress call to any nearby Jedi. As Barrek was doing this, he was suddenly attacked by the Supreme Commander of the Separatist Mordor Army, The Mouth of Sauron. Barrek was able to make contact with General Sam Gamgee and Commander Frodo Baggins on Muunilinst and requested an "immediate evac" from Near Harad, telling the Hobbits that they were being hunted before being slain by The Mouth of Sauron.War of the Ring Chapter 20
===Jedi versus the servant of Sauron===
The six remaining Jedi were left surrounded by the hordes of B2 super battle droids produced by the factory. Announced to by The Mouth of Sauron that they would receive a "warrior's death," the Jedi waited as The Mouth of Sauron approached. As The Mouth of Sauron drew near, his footsteps became consistently louder until Sha'a Gi was overwhelmed with fear and charged into the open. The Mouth of Sauron quickly crushed him with his metallic armor in his body before leaping back out of sight.
As the Jedi retreated into the wreckage, The Mouth of Sauron suddenly attacked, dropping from the wreckage above and brandishing two lightsabers. After a few moments of fencing, The Mouth of Sauron began to focus his efforts on Gandalf. The Jedi Wizard promptly leaped onto a ledge above and launched a powerful Force push at The Mouth of Sauron. The general quickly dodged, leaping onto one of the larger pieces of wreckage and using it as a springboard to launch himself back at the Jedi.
Landing in a crouch, The Mouth of Sauron was promptly engaged by K'Kruhk. Despite the Whiphid's tenacity, The Mouth of Sauron defeated him with a quick slash across the belly and a rapid overhand blow. Leaving K'Kruhk for dead, The Mouth of Sauron turned to the other Jedi. Defending himself against a telekinetic assault by Shaak Ti, The Mouth of Sauron grabbed Tarr Seirr with his big foot and crushed the young Cerean's head against the ground. As Aayla Secura charged, The Mouth of Sauron grabbed her with his other foot and performed a backflip, throwing her into the ceiling along with Seirr's corpse.
Left with only Gandalf and Shaak Ti to battle, The Mouth of Sauron fended them off by spinning his hands, rotating his dual-lightsabers in a buzzsaw-like fashion. As the two were temporarily taken aback by this, The Mouth of Sauron used the distraction to kick Gandalf into a nearby pillar before unleashing a frenzy of blows against Shaak Ti. As Gandalf rushed to her aid, The Mouth of Sauron disarmed her and sent a massive finishing blow her way.
While Shaak Ti was able to protect herself from the slash with the Force, the kinetic energy it imparted was enough to throw her off her feet and hurl her into a wall of wreckage. As The Mouth of Sauron turned on Gandalf, the wizard attempted to retrieve his dropped lightsaber, but the general pounced on it, seizing it with one of his feet. In response, Gandalf telekinetically summoned one of the blades hanging on The Mouth of Sauron's belt. The Mouth of Sauron, not being a Force-sensitive, nor a Ringwraith, was unable to prevent this. As Gandalf lifted the weapon and his staff into a guard, the two, Wizard and Mordor's general, eyed each other.
The Mouth of Sauron broke the stare and charged at Gandalf.
===ARC rescue team===
While the wizard had been engaging The Mouth of Sauron, a group of 10 Advanced Recon Commando lieutenants led by Captain Fordo had been rushing to Near Harad via gunship. As the ship approached the battlefield and wreckage—flying so low that the ship clipped the heads off several battle droids—it dropped a series of command detonation explosives, which the droids ignored as they fired at the gunship. Blowing a hole in the side of the wreckage and swooping in, the gunship dropped off Fordo and his team before hovering up to a large hole in the wreckage to fend off the droid reinforcements.War of the Ring Chapter 21
Fordo and his team charged into the wreckage, coming upon the final bout between The Mouth of Sauron and Gandalf. Just as he was about to finish the disarmed Gandalf, he noticed the ARCs, who promptly began firing. As Gandalf reclaimed his discarded lightsaber, The Mouth of Sauron quickly retreated into the wreckage. Dodging fire, The Mouth of Sauron ran up the wall of the wreckage before leaping down at the ARCs.
Landing in their midst, The Mouth of Sauron viciously cut down four of the ARCs before Fordo called in for backup. Backup took the form of the gunship, which began firing on The Mouth of Sauron. Again retreating into the wreckage, The Mouth of Sauron dodged the blasterfire and missiles with a number of dazzling leaps and flips, cutting his way through the half-burned durasteel.
With The Mouth of Sauron thus occupied, the surviving ARCs and Jedi retreated, despite Gandalf's objections. The ARC troopers, covering their withdrawal, activated the command detonation explosives that their gunship had dropped earlier, destroying many of the droids surrounding the crashed ship to clear an escape path.
==Aftermath==
Other than Gandalf, the surviving Jedi included Shaak Ti and Aayla Secura. K'Kruhk was thought dead but had in fact gone into a deep healing trance, during which his heart-beat and breathing had decreased to barely noticeable levels.Leland Chee's comments on StarWars.com
While they retreated, The Mouth of Sauron quietly claimed his trophies from the slain and defeated Jedi, notably the lightsaber of the fallen K'Kruhk. As he watched their gunship vanish into the distance, The Mouth of Sauron mused that they were only prolonging the inevitable.
The Mouth of Sauron' actions that day led Master Gimli of the Dwarves to dub him as the Butcher of Mordor.The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring: Lightsaber Duels
After the battle, Aayla Secura was assigned to the 327th Star Corps.
Jedi Knight Etain Tur-Mukan later thought that it was unfair that clones had been sent to rescue Jedi on Harad, as Jedi were never sent to rescue clones.Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel
==Behind the scenes==
Originally, the last chapter was going to involve Frodo and Sam having to fight a regenerated Durge. This was changed when Peter Jackson requested that they introduce The Mouth of Sauron.Genndy Tartakovsky on the Star Wars: War of the Ring Volume One audio commentary
==Appearances==
* 
*
*The Lord of the Rings: Battle for the Republic
*The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring: Lightsaber Duels 
*Star Wars: The Mouth of Sauron 
*Labyrinth of Evil 
*Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel 
*The Lord of the Rings: Revenge of the Sith novelization 
*Star Wars: The Force Unleashed comic 
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
Category:War of the Rings battles
Category:Duels