Battle of Thule

|prev=First battle of OssusStar Wars: The War of the Ring game
|conc=Mirgoshir campaign
|next=Battle of Kamino (War of the Ring)The New Essential Chronology
|image=
|name=Battle of Thule
|conflict=War of the Ring (Dark Reaper Crisis)
|date=April 13, 1981, 19 days after the Battle of Isengard
|place=Thule
|result=*Republic victory
*Destruction of the Dark Reaper
|side1=*Galactic Republic
*Jedi Order
*Gondor
|side2=Confederacy of Independent Systems
*Isengard
|commanders1=*High General Aragorn
*General Luminara Unduli
*General Sam Gamgee
*Captain Faramir
*Commander Frodo Baggins
*High General Bilbo Baggins
|commanders2=*Saruman the White
*Cydon Prax †
|forces1=*5 Jedi
*Clone troopers
*Gondorian forces
*Clone trooper pilots
*Clone engineers
*AT-XT walkers
*TX-130 Saber-class fighter tanks
*AT-TE walkers
*LAAT/c gunships
*LAAT/i gunships
*Acclamator-class assault ships
*Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptors
|forces2=*1 Sith
*B1-Series battle droids
*B2 super battle droids
*Uruk-Hai forces
*STAPs
*AATs
*GATs
*IG-227 Hailfire-class droid tanks
*DSD1 dwarf spider droids
*OG-9 homing spider droids
*HAG-M
*2 Protodekas †
*1 Dreadnought battle tank †
*Dark Reaper †
*Vulture Droids
*Hardcell-class interstellar transports
|casual1=*Very Heavy
|casual2=*Most of the Separatist forces
*Both Protodekas
*Cydon Prax
*The Dreadnought tank
*Dark Reaper}}
The Battle of Thule was the final battle during the Dark Reaper crisis during the War of the Ring, in which the Republic managed to locate and destroy the Separatist superweapon.
==Moon assault prelude==
As the Republic fleet neared Thule, Padawan and Ringbearer, Frodo Baggins diverted a single Acclamator-class assault ship down to the surface of the planet's barren moon Sivvi to deal with the Separatists' shield complex, landing in a large crater. Unfortunately, they were quickly detected by the CIS forces and two C-9979 landing craft touched down around the crater's edge and deployed GAT fighter tanks, Armored Assault Tanks (AATs), and armored mortar tanks to destroy the assault ship before it could offload all of its troops and artillery. Frodo took control of a TX-130S fighter tank and fought off the Separatist attack, allowing the Republic AT-XT walkers and Republic Troop Transports to disembark.
Taking to the cockpit of an AT-XT himself, Frodo led a squadron of the bipedal walkers in escorting the convoy of Troop Transports carrying clone engineers to the shield complex north of the crater. He and his men combated further attacks from GATs and AATs, but lost one of the three Troop Transports in the convoy to mortars. When they approached the complex, further resistance was mounted in the form of Separatist gun towers and OG-9 homing spider droids in addition to continuing assault from several AATs. When they were finally destroyed, Frodo proceeded to take down three auxiliary reactors outside the complex as the clone engineers managed to slice their way into the control systems outside, bringing down the thick, armored doors. Their task completed, the engineers and the Troop Transports peeled off from the entrance as Frodo piloted his AT-XT walker through the heavily defended generator complex and destroyed the four charger couplings that supplied power to the shield, disabling it and allowing the bulk of the Grand Army's forces to land on Thule.
==The battle==
===Air strike===
After the Battle of Sivvi, Jedi Master Sam Gamgee and a clone crew flew a LAAT/i gunship into battle on Thule, to clear a Separatist landing zone of all anti-aircraft emplacements and droid presence, including several OG-9 homing spider droids. When the grounds had been cleared, Aragorn landed a pair of Acclamator assault ships and began offloading gunships and armored walkers, and disembarking Gondorian troops. Among the new trooper arrival was a division of clone engineers that Aragorn tasked with disabling the internal shields of the energy farms surrounding and supplying power to the Separatists' Command Installation. Each was well guarded by droid tanks, requiring Sam to clear the perimeter of each before deploying the engineers aboard his gunship and then safeguarding them as they worked. When the farms' shields were down, they became easy targets for the LAAT/i gunship's weapons and were soon destroyed; Gamgee then turned his attention toward the Separatist main command center. With the loss of power resulting from the energy farms being brought down, there was little the command center could do to withhold the attack and quickly fell, crippling Separatist communications and their ability to mobilize forces across the planet.
===Ground attack===
After the fall of the communication command center, Aragorn teamed with fellow Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, leading a squad of AT-XT walkers to attack two droid starfighter hangars that were allowing the Separatist the advantage in the air. Once they were destroyed and the Separatists' air presence neutralized, the two Jedi Generals left their walkers in favor of piloting Saber-class fighter tanks and turned their attention toward the droid foundries that still churned out AATs and mortar tanks. Unable to penetrate the thick armor with the weapons aboard their tanks, the two Jedi instead took up defensive roles for the more heavily armed and slower-moving AT-TE walkers, protecting them from the incoming fire of more nimble craft while they moved to destroy the foundries. When the walkers had obliterated the foundries and cut off the Separatists' supply of reinforcements, Unduli, Faramir and Aragorn pushed forward toward the gates of the ancient Sith city and capital of Thule: Kesiak. On the way, however, the two encountered a pair of Protodekas that they had to fight their way past before finally arriving at Kesiak's outer wall.
There, Unduli informed Windu that Master Bilbo Baggins had sent in an additional Acclamator assault ship to land reinforcements. But just as Aragorn and Faramir approached the gates, Saruman's hired mercenary, Cydon Prax, attacked him in his personal Dreadnought battle tank, destroying Aragorn's own fighter tank. Though he managed to escape the blast and survive, Aragorn was forced to fight on foot as he made his way across the battlefield and into an underground tunnel complex that led to the gate controls. After cutting down countless Uruk-Hai and destroying numerous dwarf spider droids, Aragorn reached the controls and opened the city gates to the Republic forces en masse.
As Faramir's forces began entering Kessiak, Frodo's own strike force arrived from Sivvi and launched an attack from the opposite side of the city. While legions of clones battled overwhelming numbers of battle droids and AT-TE walkers clashed with homing spider droids, Frodo raced toward the city center in a fighter tank, blasting through roadblocks and Separatist forces alike. Eventually, he came across Saruman and Cydon Prax, guarding the Dark Reaper in his Dreadnought tank. Saruman took his leave—claiming "more important tasks" requiring his attention—though not before ordering Prax to kill the Hobbit. The two dueled in their respective vehicles and Frodo emerged victorious, destroying Prax and moving on to engage the Dark Reaper without awaiting backup, with the spirit of Ulic Qel-Droma as his guide. Piece by piece, the Hobbit first crippled the Reaper and then finally destroyed the Force Harvester—the source of the Reaper's power. With the Harvester destroyed, the Reaper could no longer function and quickly fell from the air, powerless and defeated.
==Aftermath==
The Reaper was, for a second time, destroyed. However, the knowledge Frodo gained from Ulic Qel-Droma, including immunity to the Reaper's effects, was yet another thing that set him together from his master and caused him to act more kindly towards Sam. It was possible that the battle and the power Frodo had gained throughout the Dark Reaper Crisis indirectly led him to take a step towards the path of the light side of the Force. Saruman had escaped, eluding capture yet again, and the Republic forces prepared to depart for the Mirgoshir system. Aragorn regarded the battle as a turning point in the war, but Bilbo was less convinced, pointing out that the war was still far from over.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars: The War of the Ring game 
==Sources==
*The New Essential Chronology
*The Official Star Wars Fact File
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==Notes and references==
Category:War of the Rings battles