Rom Mohc

General Rom Mohc was a Human male who was a hero of the Clone Wars, serving in the Grand Army of the Galactic Republic and later the Galactic Empire. Having developed an obsession with cybernetics and personal combat during the Clone Wars, Mohc was the architect of the Dark Trooper Project that arose in the wake of the destruction of the first Death Star. Despite initial successes in field testing, the project was destroyed by Rebel Alliance agent Kyle Katarn, who defeated Mohc in single combat.
==Biography==
===Early career===
Rom Mohc was born in the insular culture of Atrisia, and was one of the few Atrisians who excelled off-world.The Essential Atlas
A non-clone officer in the Grand Army of the Republic, Rom Mohc fought in the Clone Wars under the command of General Locus Geen. A cybernetics specialist, Mohc gained a reputation for fighting battle droids in hand-to-hand combat and proved invaluable during the Invasion of Coruscant by the droid army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.Star Wars: The New Droid Army
Mohc's bravery during the Clone Wars made him a celebrated hero over the HoloNet, and his loyalty put him on the fast track to success in Palpatine's New Order. On many worlds, Mohc fought in Palpatine's name, earning three Imperial Medals of Valor and the Distinguished Medal of Imperial Honor. Mohc continued his fascination with droids, often pitting himself against various deadly droids, including a prototype IG-97, a ZQ Infantry Support Unit, and several Mark IX-XI Executioners. His eccentric taste for combat culminated in a trophy room of battle droids that he had defeated. The Death Star project was something that was against his martial philosophy and career he was following, and was one of those who protested against it.The Essential Guide to WarfareThe Essential Guide to Droids
===Battle droid research===
Mohc found his inspiration while fighting as a Zero-G assault stormtrooper, and came to believe more and more that the ultimate warbot could be built. He started an extensive historical and technological research, based on the designs of mechanical soldiers, from the Pre-Republic war-robots of Xim and the ancient Sith to the more recent Republic Iron Knights.
Mohc's research yielded the initial designs for what would become the dark trooper. Allying with Baron Orman Tagge, Mohc designed the Z-X3 experimental droid trooper, designed to supplement stormtroopers in dangerous radiation or vacuum. An experimental batch of seventy droids proved deadly and adaptable, but the Imperial Military viewed the use of battle droids with distaste and the Z-X3 was rejected.
Mohc refused to admit defeat and kept pushing his ideas. His perseverance finally paid off when he won support from the Imperial Department of Military Research, and in 17 BBY young Lieutenant Mohc was stationed aboard the Empirical, a hidden space station in the Dominus sector that belonged to the Sith Lord Darth Vader, to oversee the Phase Zero Dark Trooper project, an attempt to restore aging clone troopers to battle-worthiness by remaking them into cyborgs. However, as the subjects were forcibly recruited into the project, many Phase Zero Dark Troopers could not cope with the state of being more machine than man and attempted suicide. The project was eventually shut down as the Empire grew in power and the recruitment rate of non-clones rose, though the successful subjects of the project became the Purge Troopers, which would later inspire the design of the Phase III dark trooper.
===Imperial general===
Having been a prominent figure during the Empire's rise to power, Mohc was eventually promoted to the rank of general in the Galactic Empire's military forces, where he oversaw the Imperial Dark Trooper Project.The Essential Guide to Warfare During the year 1 BBY,The Essential Reader's Companion places the events of Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire during the year 1 BBY. General Mohc worked as an administrator at the Imperial Academy of the planet Carida. During his term, Mohc installed a high-tech surveillance system meant to act as a deterrent for misbehavior among cadets.Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire audio drama Even so, General Mohc was well-respected by the academy's students due to his status as a combat veteran and not just another officer. Mohc was particularly impressed with cadet Kyle Katarn, who acted with bravery on his Omega Exercise, which involved the taking of asteroid AX-456 from the forces of the Rebel Alliance. To honor the the cadet's bravery, Mohc personally commended Katarn at the latter's bedside. Later that same day, General Mohc hosted dinner for the High Inquisitor Jerec (who had executed Katarn's father sometime earlier for being an Alliance militant) and expressed his interest in meeting the cadet. The two Imperials later, using Mohc's surveillance system, spied on Katarn as he shared his strange experiences during the mission, to Meck Odom.
Mohc later addressed the year's graduating class, where he was given the cadets' full attention. After the speech's conclusion, and according to Jerec's wish to meet Katarn, the General and Jerec presented awards to the students who graduated in the top ten percent of the class, which included presenting Katarn with the Imperial Medal of Honor. Special awards of valor and merit were also distributed to cadets Rand Nalleck, Dana Cory, Chad Longko, and Ben. However, as the ceremony progressed, Mohc wished for it to end so he could entertain a mistress.
Despite the Imperials' praise for Katarn, the cadet abandoned the Empire upon realizing that he had been lied to about the circumstances of his father's death, having been told rebel insurgents killed his father rather than being executed by an Imperial official. Katarn joined the Rebel Alliance and quickly partook in a mission where he stole information regarding the Death Star project that helped the Alliance destroy the battle station during the year 0 BBY.The New Essential Chronology places the destruction of the Death Star during 0 BBY. Ironically, General Mohc had previously opposed the construction of the Death Star due to his distrusting nature of technology that separated soldiers from battlefield glory.
===The Dark Trooper Project===
Ever since his promotion to the rank of general, Mohc used the resources available to him to complete the technical designs and implementation plans for his own dark troopers, thinking that infantry units should prove themselves in battle. He believed his creation would please the Emperor, but the latter was obsessed with Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin's Death Star project. He was one of the few officers to oppose the Death Star as Mohc had a distrust of any technology which separated warriors from their enemies in battle. With the failure of the first Death Star at the Battle of Yavin, Mohc seized the opportunity to pitch his program to Palpatine. Infuriated with the late Governor Tarkin's failure and recognizing the partial success of the Phase Zero project, the Emperor granted General Mohc authorization to begin his new program.
The Dark Trooper Project was given billions of credits to support the research and development of Mohc's brainchild. Mohc established a mining facility on Gromas 16 to acquire the near-indestructible metal phrik, a weapons research facility on Fest, a robotics construction facility on Anteevy, and the massive starship Arc Hammer to act as a construction and mobile launch base for the dark troopers.
====Test on Talay====
During the year 0 ABY, General Mohc met with Supreme Commander Darth Vader aboard the latter's flagship, the Executor, in order to officially test the dark troopers with a combat scenario. A Rebel base was located on the planet Talay: Tak Base. Mohc gave the order to unleash phase II dark troopers upon the base via hyperspace pods, which were reinforced by ground troops under the command of Captain Nonam. Tak Base was obliterated, and all Rebel personnel were killed. In addition, the surrounding city of Tak was razed, and civilian casualties were high. The dark troopers were subsequently recalled while an Imperial garrison remained in the city. However, one dark trooper left its prototype weapon behind in the Tak Base. Nonetheless, Lord Vader was impressed with the show of force, and General Mohc was given the go-ahead to continue with the project.
Despite the destruction, the Rebel officer General Toka had managed to send the Alliance a distress message before he was killed. Although no footage of the dark troopers was recorded, the video-message did capture the sounds that the droid troopers made. The message was received by Alliance high-command, who in turn dispatched agents Jan Ors and Kyle Katarn to investigate the battle's aftermath. During the investigation, Katarn discovered the dark trooper weapon. With Rebus' initials on it, the Rebels had a lead, and set out to end Mohc's ambitions.
====A worthy opponent====
Mohc's assembly line began to falter when the Alliance operation began with the capture of Moff Rebus, the dark trooper project's weapon designer, on the planet Anoat, whose subsequent interrogation led to Katarn infiltrating and destroying dark trooper facilities on Fest and Gromas 16. With Katarn's actions directly threatening Mohc's operation, the general hired the famed bounty hunter Boba Fett to deal with the Rebels. Shortly thereafter, Crix Madine's role as a rebel spy was rooted, and Mohc arrested the traitor before both Vader and Fett aboard the Arc Hammer. Although Mohc's own identity was a mystery to the rebel agents, the Imperials were well aware of Katarn. Mohc even recalled the agent's past Imperial career for those present. Despite Vader's growing doubts about the project, Mohc firmly claimed that Katarn would never near the Arc hammer.
Madine was sentenced to execution and was incarcerated at the Imperial Detention Center located on the planet Orinackra. However, he was rescued by Katarn only a short while later during the year 1 ABY, after which Madine told the Rebels what he knew about Mohc and the dark trooper project. Madine's information resulted in Katarn tracking Jabba the Hutt's loaned smugglers from the planet Cal-Seti to Ice Station Beta on Anteevy, which was also destroyed by Katarn. The rebels later stole a nava card from the moon Nar Shaddaa which, after being cracked in the Imperial Security Operations building on Coruscant, revealed information on the routes that the smugglers used. It was during the latter mission that Katarn encountered Fett and, after a heated battle, defeated the bounty hunter. After that, Katarn used the information from the nava card to follow the smugglers to the Executor.
Although Mohc had believed that the Arc Hammer was beyond Katarn's competencies, Katarn nonetheless infiltrated the Executor, stole a cargo container, and boarded the Arc Hammer. Realizing that Katarn was far more capable than anticipated, Mohc decided to regard the rebel agent as an adversary of merit. In response to rebel infiltration, Mohc donned his phase III dark trooper armor and lay in wait near the Arc Hammer hangar for a final confrontation with Katarn.
Meanwhile, Katarn fought Mohc's forces and planted an explosive device on three of the Arc Hammer exchange couplings that were built along the ship's main power grid. As Katarn made his way to the ship's hangar bay to find an escape, he found the massive ante-chamber where Mohc was waiting. The general only revealed himself, however, after Katarn destroyed the seven dark troopers that guarded the arena.
A massive door opened revealing Mohc atop a pedestal and the final battle commenced.Dark Forces Official Player's Guide The General fought the rebel he had personally commended and decorated on Carida to the point that Katarn had need to only outlast Mohc's barrage of attacks. Ultimately, General Mohc was slain and Katarn escaped the Arc Hammer before the explosives detonated and destroyed all that Mohc had worked for.
==Personality and traits==
Mohc appeared to Kyle Katarn, during his graduation, as a relatively short man with barrel chest, and a bulldog face, traits he had up to his death a couple of years later.
Mohc was infamous for his eccentric and violent intelligence, and obsession for personal hand-to-hand combat. His keen understanding of cybernetics gave him the ability to ascertain the weaknesses of various droid designs of the Separatists and use this knowledge against them during combat.
Having fought and defeated many battle droids over the years, he made a personal collection of them in his personal trophy room. Mohc's passion for personal combat became almost obsessive, and he came to insist that every soldier had the right to face the enemy man-to-man, to the point of protesting the Death Star project.
He had the reputation of a real soldier, who only followed orders, even unpleasant ones. He believed in the authority of the Emperor, the consistency of a single voice, instead of the "chaos" of different opinions. He believed that the Empire is attacked from within, and as he said to his graduation speech, the duty of the fledgie officers was to "find the rot, cut it out, and restore order".
He ascribed defection as a "weakness", such as defector Kyle Katarn too weak to remain with the Empire. However in his final challenge, he recognised him as a worthy opponent.
==Behind the scenes==
Mohc is the main antagonist of the video game Star Wars: Dark Forces and is mainly seen during cutscenes which advance the plot.
His voice in Star Wars: Dark Forces was provided by Jack Angel. Tim Russell voiced Mohc for the audio adaptation of Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire.
Mohc is seen again in the story "Sand Blasted" which extrapolates on one of the game's cutscenes, but his appearance differs somewhat from that of the game, showing him with receding but long, red hair.
In the cancelled The Clone Wars Sourcebook by Daniel Wallace, Rom Mohc would have clashed with General Grievous on "the spike-stone plains of Mendig," with Grievous refusing to kill him in favor of having Mohc return to Coruscant in shame. This encounter would have inspired Mohc's obssession with personal combat and the subsequent creation of the dark troopers.
An action figure of Mohc was given with one of IG-97 with a reprint of Sand Blasted as a part of a "Comic Pack".IG97 & ROM MOHC in Rebelscum.com
==Appearances==
*Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire
*Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire audio drama
*Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
*Star Wars: Dark Forces 
*Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster
*
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
Category:Atrisians
Category:Combat instructors and training officers
Category:Galactic Empire science and engineering personnel
Category:Grand Army of the Republic personnel
Category:Imperial Army generals of the Galactic Empire
Category:Individuals with he/him pronouns
Category:Males
Category:Stormtrooper officers of the Galactic Empire