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- "And we have had no further contact with General Plo Koon. The absence of distress beacons indicates that his fleet was… that his fleet was destroyed, like the others. We are about to prepare a rescue mission."
- ―Anakin Skywalker, to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the Jedi High Council
The Battle of Abregado took place early in the Clone Wars, when Jedi General Plo Koon's fleet discovered General Grievous' warship the Malevolence, and was destroyed by its ion cannon. Plo Koon and a few clone troopers were rescued in an escape pod afterwards.
The Battle
When dozens of Republic warships were destroyed in merciless surprise attacks by Separatist General Grievous's secret weapon, the Jedi Council sent Jedi Master Plo Koon to track the weapon. Along with Commander Wolffe and the 104th Battalion's Wolfpack aboard the Triumphant, Koon's fleet tracked the weapon to the Abregado system. Koon then contacted Anakin Skywalker in the Bith system for support and to relay their position. However, Skywalker had to ask the council before he could support him. Grievous then jammed Koon's transmissions at Count Dooku's behest.[4]
Seeing this as another opportunity to test the Malevolence 's ion cannons, Grievous ordered them to be fired. The Malevolence then moved to attack Koon's fleet. Seeing this, Koon prepared the Triumphant and the other two cruisers for battle. However, they were out of range. The Malevolence then fired its ion cannons, sending a wave towards Koon's fleet. Koon and his men then braced for impact. The wave passed over Koon's fleet, brought their shields down, and made them vulnerable to the Malevolence's numerous turbolasers. Before the Triumphant was destroyed, Koon and several clone troopers and navigation officers were able to get to the escape pods. Koon, Wolffe, Sergeant Sinker, and trooper Boost watched as the fleet became a debris field from their pod. The pod, like the fleet, had also been damaged in the attack. They had no power for life support or communications.[4]
Following Koon's last transmission, Skywalker and Padawan Ahsoka Tano spoke with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the Jedi Council. Skywalker told them of Koon's position in the Abregado system before his transmission was cut and that without signals from the distress beacons, Koon's fleet was destroyed like the others, with no survivors. Skywalker was assigned to protect the Republic's supply convoys and ordered not to search for survivors. However, Skywalker left Admiral Wullf Yularen and Captain Rex to deal with the supply convoys while Skywalker, Tano, and R2-D2 would scout ahead for enemy activity in the Twilight. In reality, Skywalker went to the Abregado system to search for survivors. Once there, they searched for survivors in the debris field, but found none. However, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi discovered his mission and urged him to return to his fleet. R2-D2 then picked up an emergency signal and Skywalker and Tano went to investigate.[4]
Hunt for the pods
- "Send out the hunters. I want all of those life pods destroyed."
- ―Count Dooku
To ensure the secrecy of the Malevolence's ion cannons, Count Dooku dispatched rocket droids using a boarding ship to hunt and kill any survivors. The droids, known as the hunters, split several pods open for the clones to die in the vacuum of space. During this time Koon and his men were able to restore their pod's power and communication. They then received a distress signal from Pod 1977 and then spotted it. They watched as a droid cut into the pod and the officers were sucked into space. The droids then spotted Koon's pod, seeing it as the last one.[4]
Koon, knowing he could survive the pressure, decided to destroy the enemy. Sinker and Boost went out with him while Wolffe stayed in the pod to keep their signal going as their only chance to survive. As the hunters' ship closed in and latched onto the pod, Koon and his men attacked the droids. However, the droids retreated to their ship and squeezed the pod. Koon then Force-pushed Sinker behind the ship and he destroyed all but one of the battle droids.[4]
Wolffe then picked up a transmission from Tano, but was unable to respond due to the hunters' ship. Koon then cut the hunters' ship's pincers, pulled Sinker back to the pod and force-pushed the hunters into the debris, destroying the remains of the boarding ship. However, Grievous and Dooku became suspicious when they lost contact with the pod hunter.[4]
Rescue
- "I know he's alive! I can sense it!"
"Ahsoka!" - ―Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker, on Master Plo Koon
Chancellor Palpatine then contacted him and urged him to return to his fleet. Skywalker thus conceded to his wishes and ended his search. However, Tano then sensed Master Koon and was able to find his pod and bring him and the others aboard the Twilight. Wolffe and the other clones were then treated by TB-2 while Koon joined them on the bridge, telling them of the Malevolence's ion cannons.[4]
The Twilight then detected the Malevolence approaching their position. Koon then shut down all the Twilight's systems and R2-D2 to avoid detection. However, they forgot to turn TB-2 off and were detected. As the Malevolence moved in to attack, Skywalker, Tano, and Koon turned all the systems back on and made their escape through the debris field. Dooku wanted Grievous to make sure there were no witnesses, ordered Grievous to destroy the Twilight. Thus Grievous fired the ion cannons, and the wave made its way through the debris field towards the Twilight. Skywalker, however, was able to get through the debris field and activate the hyperdrive, thus escaping the wave.[4]
Aftermath
- "Your failure is most unfortunate. I will have to discuss this with my Master."
- ―Count Dooku, to Grievous
Koon, Skywalker and Tano were able to inform the Council of the secret weapon. Because of this, Dooku saw this battle as a defeat now that the Republic knew about the Malevolence. Dooku lost faith in General Grievous's skills. Thus he would speak with Darth Sidious.[4]. Despite his setback, Grievous continued his swath of destruction by attacking medical convoys.[3]
Following his attack on a medical convoy in the Ryndellia system, the Galactic Senate authorized Skywalker to lead Shadow Squadron's Y-wing bombers to destroy the Malevolence before it could attack. Skywalker's mission was able to disable the Malevolence's weapons and hyperdrive.[3] However, Grievous was able to use Senator Padmé Amidala to stop the Republic's attack. Skywalker and Kenobi were then able to sneak aboard, rescue Amidala, and reprogram the hyperdrive. The Malevolence was destroyed when it crashed into the moon.[7]
Appearances
Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Ambush" (First appearance) (In flashback(s))- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Rising Malevolence"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Shadow of Malevolence" (In flashback(s))
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Jedi Crash" (In flashback(s))
Sources
- "Rising Malevolence" Episode Guide - The Clone Wars on StarWars.com (backup link (tv-shows/clone-wars/rising-malevolence) not verified!)
- Admiral Coburn in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Clone Commander Wolffe in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Escape pod in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Plo Koon in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Malevolence in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Militaries of Star Wars (Pack: Wolfpack Clone Trooper: 104th Battalion) (backup link (/Wolfpack-Clone-Trooper-104th-Star-Wars-Sixth-Scale.asp) not verified!) (First identified as Battle of Abregado)
- Ultimate Star Wars
- Battle Droid in the Databank (backup link)
- Clone Commander Wolffe in the Databank (backup link)
Notes and references
- ↑
Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Ambush"
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Supply Lines"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Shadow of Malevolence"
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 4.27 4.28 4.29 4.30 4.31 4.32 4.33 4.34 4.35 4.36 Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Rising Malevolence"
- ↑ Star Wars: Galactic Atlas
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Rising Malevolence" Episode Guide - The Clone Wars on StarWars.com (backup link (tv-shows/clone-wars/rising-malevolence-episode-guide) not verified!)
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Destroy Malevolence"