Battle of Malastare

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|prev=Skirmish on FeluciaStar Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded
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|next=Zillo Beast incident
|name=Battle of Malastare
|image=
|conflict=War of the Ring
|date=September 23-24, 1981
|place=Malastare
|result=Republic/Dug victory
*Fuel reserve treaty signed
*Zillo Beast transported for study on Minas Tirith
|side1=*Galactic Republic
*Jedi Order
*Dugs
|side2=Confederacy of Independent Systems
|commanders1=*Supreme Chancellor Palpatine 
*General Aragorn
*General Frodo Baggins
*Doge Nakha Urus
*Commander CT-411Star Wars: The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia
*Captain CT-7567
|commanders2=TN-123†
|forces1=*2 Jedi
*Clone troopers
*Dug cavaliers
*Dug debris loaders
*Dug rail guns
*At least 16 RX-200 Falchion-class assault tanks
*At least 13 All Terrain Tactical Enforcers
*At least 10 BTL-B Y-wing starfighters
*At least 12 Aggressive ReConnaissance-170 starfighters
*At least 12 V-19 Torrent starfighters
*LAAT gunships
*4 LAAT carrier gunships
*1 electro-proton bomb
*At least 1 Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptor
|forces2=Hundreds of battle droids and vehicles
*B1-Series battle droids†
*B2 super battle droids†
*DSD1 dwarf spider droids†
*LR-57 combat droids†
*LM-432 crab droids†
*Hyena-class bombers†
*Vulture droid starfighters†
*1 T-series tactical droid†
*Armored Assault Tanks
*NR-N99 Persuader-class droid enforcer†
|casual1=Heavy
|casual2=All droid forces
}}
The Battle of Malastare, one of the fiercest engagements of the War of the Ring, took place in 1981 on the planet Malastare. Hostilities commenced when an invasion force of the Confederacy of Independent Systems assaulted the Mid Rim world, which had fuel reservoirs necessary for the Galactic Republic to maintain its offensive. After an extended period of fighting, the battle appeared to conclude with a Separatist victory, so Republic Supreme Chancellor Palpatine authorized the use of an untested superweapon, the electro-proton bomb, which was capable of deactivating technology by means of an electromagnetic pulse.
As the Republic forces and Malastare's native Dug units occupied a final position near Doge Nakha Urus' palace, a flight of bombers dropped the electro-proton bomb on the advancing Confederate droid columns. The weapon successfully deactivated the enemy army, but it also created a sinkhole, which swallowed Republic men and equipment. Rescuers led by Jedi Master Aragorn discovered that a gargantuan creature—the Zillo Beast—had been awoken by the blast. Although the Dugs attempted to kill the beast, fearing that it would destroy their civilization, Palpatine desired to save the monster for possible experimenting, as its armor could not be penetrated by lightsabers or blasters. Eventually, a force of stun tanks subdued the beast, which was then taken to the Gondor capital of Minas Tirith for study, and a treaty was signed with the Dugs, providing the Grand Army of the Republic with fuel.
==Prelude==
In 1981, the first year of the War of the Ring, the rich natural fuel reservesStar Wars: The Clone Wars Official Episode Guide Series 1 & 2 of the Mid RimThe Essential Atlas, p. 25. See also p. 76 planet Malastare became crucial for the Galactic Republic, whose war effort would have suffered a severe setback without them. Therefore, Palpatine, the Supreme Chancellor of the RepublicStar Wars: The Clone Wars: New Battlefronts: The Visual Guide—who was secretly a Sith Lord called Darth Sauron—intended to secure the world. This made the planet a strategic target, as the Confederacy of Independent Systems was also interested in these natural resources. To ensure the fuel supply of the Grand Army of the Republic and prevent Malastare from joining the Separatists, Palpatine wished to sign a treaty with the Malastarian council. The Dugs' leader, Doge Nakha Urus, headed this body, and, therefore, he and the council had control of the fuel reserves.
==The battle==
===Beginning battle===
After September 23 combat, the Confederacy's droid units were on the verge of capturing Malastare. In an attempt to turn the tide of the battle, Palpatine authorized the Republic Army to utilize a new superweapon called the electro-proton bomb, which could release an electromagnetic wave capable of disabling droids and vehicles within its explosive radius. The weapon had never been tested before, and Nakha Urus and Jedi Master Aragorn initially feared the possibility of the weapon affecting Malastare's ecosystem. The pair eventually agreed to the deployment of the bomb at the urging of the Chancellor. Doctor Sionver Boll, the female scientist who developed the bomb, also assured the two that the weapon would impact neither the world nor its inhabitants negatively.
Meanwhile, TN-123 led the Confederacy's invasion force—consisting of B1-Series battle droids and B2 super battle droids supported by LR-57 combat droids, Armored Assault Tanks, LM-432 crab droids, Vulture-class droid starfighters, and Hyena-class bombers—toward the Doge's Palace, where Aragorn, Urus, Boll, and Jedi KnightStar Wars: The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide, pp. 12-13 Frodo Baggins were gathering.
As clone troopers, led by Commander CT-411 and Captain CT-7567, and supported by All Terrain Tactical Enforcers supplemented with Dug forces that included cavaliers riding Insectomorphs and artillery, went on the defensive, several Y-wing bombers and ARC-170 starfighters escorted by V-19 Torrent starfighters took off from the Doge's palace under orders from Frodo. While the ARCs began strafing the Confederate army, the bomber carrying the superweapon—piloted by clone pilot "Goji," the leader of Red Squadron—maneuvered over the target area and dropped its load. The ensuing explosion and electromagnetic pulse damaged and deactivated the droid army, along with several Republic vehicles and pieces of technology.
===Zillo Beast===
The detonation of the bomb caused parts of the surface to collapse, creating a sinkhole. Several clone troopers, AT-TEs, and LAAT gunships fell into the pit, which also damaged pipes coming from a fuel facility. The Jedi dispatched search parties to retrieve the men, but contact was soon lost with them, so Urus, Aragorn, and Frodo traveled to the hole in a gunship to investigate. Aragorn assigned Frodo to Urus, while he and CT-411 flew down the crater with a group of clone troopers. After finding some survivors, the king continued his search with three clones, also calling Frodo to the spot.
When the surface they were standing on began to move, the team members realized they were standing atop a creature. The clones opened fire on the creature to no avail, as their blasters could not pierce the beast's skin. The clones fell off the beast, which killed one trooper, but Frodo arrived in his starfighter and began circling around the monster's head to distract it. Aragorn and his escort were airlifted by an arriving LAAT/i gunship, but Frodo's fighter was damaged by the creature, causing the vehicle to crash. The hobit attempted to engage the beast, only to find that its skin was lightsaber-resistant. Frodo was forced to jump on R2-D2, his astromech droid,Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide, pp. 18-19 who used his thruster jets to flee the scene. Urus later informed the Jedi that the creature was none other than the last surviving Zillo Beast—a ninety-seven-meter-long monster that used to prey on the ancestors of the Dugs before its species was supposedly driven into extinction when the harvest of the fuel began.
Soon, Dug rail guns and debris loaders arrived and spent the rest of the night bombarding the beast, illuminating the sinkhole. The two Jedi quarreled with Urus on the matter, as the latter intended to kill the creature due to the danger it presented to the Dugs, as a prophecy said that one of the creatures would eventually eradicate the Dug species. The Jedi stated that ending the life of the last member of a sentient species was against the Jedi Code, but the Dug leader did not allow interference into the subject, dubbing it an internal affair and threatening to reject the fuel reserve treaty if he was not allowed to kill the Zillo Beast with Republic support. This meant that he was using his position to enforce the Republic to accept it. Seeing that there was no hope in convincing the Doge, Aragorn and Frodo left.
The Jedi then contacted Chancellor Palpatine, showing him a holorecording of the creature. Aragorn insisted that the beast be carried off-planet and settled in the Outer Rim Territories, while Boll suggested further study of the monster due to the ability of its skin to resist most weaponry. Frodo then proposed that the gaps in its armor be targeted with stun cannons, which would put the animal into an unconscious state similar to death. This would allow the Republic to transport the beast away and examine it and satisfy the Dugs as well. The Chancellor, amazed by the monster, accepted Frodo's plan.
Upon approaching Urus with stun tanks, the Jedi found that the Dugs had already begun their operation; the sinkhole was being filled up with Malastarian fuel, which was said to be lethal to the creature. Aragorn attempted to convince Urus by threatening him with his lightsaber, but the Zillo Beast climbed out of the sinkhole, destroying the Dug rail guns set up around the perimeter. Seeing this turn of events, the stun tanks opened fire and eventually managed to daze the beast, albeit at the cost of several tanks.
==Aftermath==
Although the victory was costly, and the battle was one of the fiercest engagements of the Clone Wars, Urus was satisfied and signed the treaty, which provided the Republic war machine with fuel necessary to continue its offensive. The unconscious beast was loaded onto transports after being airlifted by a flight of LAAT/c gunships, but Palpatine and his scientific advisors altered the original plans—which would have had the monster transported to the Outer Rim Territories—and ordered the Zillo Beast transported to Minas Tirith, Gondor's capital,The Essential Atlas, p.52 so that its armor could be studied for possible use. The Chancellor tasked Aragorn and Frodo with escorting the creature to Middle-Earth.
Studies of the Zillo Beast on Minas Tirtih found that its scales could not be removed without hurting or killing the creature. An angered Palpatine ordered Boll to kill it, but the beast broke free from the facility in which it was analyzed and wrought havoc on the city of Gondor. As the beast made its way to the White Tower, Palpatine, Frodo, Senator Padmé Amidala, and R2-D2 attempted to flee on the Chancellor's shuttle. Their efforts to escape were foiled, however, when the Zillo Beast grabbed the shuttle and attempted to kill the Chancellor, as it recognized him as a Dark Lord. Frodo, however, managed to cut the ship in two, thus allowing them to escape. Not long after, LAAT/i gunships arrived, which dropped Malastarian fuel bombs on the creature, killing it. As the lifeless body of the Zillo Beast was transported away, the Chancellor ordered Boll to clone the creature—a command that surprised her.
==Behind the scenes==
The battle made its debut in the eighteenth episode of the second season of the The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring television series, titled "The Zillo Beast." It eventually received its official name in the next episode, "The Zillo Beast Strikes Back," and also made a non-canonical appearance in the video game LEGO Star Wars III: The Lord of the Rings, serving as the game's epilogue.LEGO Star Wars III: The Lord of the Rings
In LEGO Star Wars, the level depicting the Battle of Malastare is divided into two parts. The first part is one of the game's several real-time strategy levels, in which the Republic and the Confederacy battle on the surface. Both sides control a number of ground bases, which allow the controlling side to build defensive weapon emplacements and troop barracks and to call vehicle reinforcements. The playable characters Aragorn, Frodo, CT-411, and CT-7567 are required to capture one of the enemy bases, which allows the Republic to build a targeting paddle for the electro-proton bomb. The second part of the level is the battle against the Zillo Beast. In order to unlock the option to call in RX-200 tanks, several ground cannons must be built first. After the player has deployed several tanks on the battlefield and has concentrated their fire on the Zillo Beast, the creature is knocked down. It tries to attack again but is calmed with a giant pacifier. The Zillo Beast is then carried away by an LAAT gunship, while another gunship carries a giant rattle, and clone troopers follow behind with an equally giant baby bottle.
==Appearances==
* 
* 
*LEGO Star Wars III: The Lord of the Rings 
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
Category:War of the Rings battles