Trench was a male Harch and was seen as a very successful fleet admiral in the Separatist armada during the Clone Wars. Trench's command style demanded respect from his subordinates, elicited dread from his adversaries and his ruthlessness was known throughout the Republic. He was given the task of blockading the peaceful planet of Christophsis. However, he was defeated when Jedi General Anakin Skywalker maneuvered a stealth ship to make torpedoes, fired by Trench's ship, return to their source, destroying the cruiser.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early career 1.2 Clone Wars 1.2.1 The Blockade of Christophsis 1.2.2 The final stand 2 Personality and traits 3 Admiral Trench's ships 3.1 Trench's first ship 3.2 The Invincible 4 Behind the scenes 5 Appearances 6 Sources 7 Notes and references 7.1 In other languages

Biography

Early career

Early in his career, Trench made name for himself during the Andoan Wars of 57-39 BBY. During that war, Trench fought against the Andoan Free Colonies when his homeworld allied with Ando, Trench defended Secundus Ando from raiders from the Free Colonies and lead counter-raids up the Horos Spine to Andosha. By the time the war ended at the Battle of Raquish in 39 BBY, Trench came out as Ando's greatest military leader, besting his enemies numerous times during the Andoan Wars.^[2]

Over a decade before the Clone Wars, Admiral Trench and his homeworld seceded from the Republic. Trench then joined the Corporate Alliance, helping it destroy pirate bases at Ord Namurt, Engira, and seized the Kurosti Merchant fleet in a daring raid at Prospera Jang. In 34 BBY Trench masterminded a battle that would later become known as the Battle of Malastare Narrows.^[2][3][8] It was here that he made himself a part of military history. The Corporate Alliance^[7] blockaded the planet Malastare and Trench was given command over the fleet, which had been provided by the corporation, despite problems with fuel allocation.^[2]

During the battle, Trench's presence and action left a lasting memory to all those who were involved, including Admiral Wullf Yularen, who had commanded a fleet at that time. Many lives were lost and many ships were torn apart by the fleet of the Harch admiral. However, a Jedi-led task force was brought in and the battle ended with Trench's ship supposedly being vaporized. He was assumed to have gone down with the destroyed vessel, but survived thanks to a pressure suit of Andoan mineral fish armor and his own tough Harch hide.^[2]

At a later period during the Clone Wars, Trench resurfaced at the Blockade of Christophsis.^[3]

Clone Wars

The Blockade of Christophsis

During the start of the Clone Wars,^[6] the Grand Army of the Republic sent a relief effort for the people of Christophsis. This mission to send aid to the Christophsians was led by Bail Prestor Organa from Alderaan. However, the planet had fallen under attack from Admiral Trench and his command units.^[3]

Trench's first priority was to cut off any supplies that were headed to the relief effort on the planet below. Commanding his fleet from his war-painted Separatist dreadnaught that had been dubbed the Invincible, the massive fire power of his cruiser allowed the Admiral to cripple any attempt by incoming supply ships to get to the surface.^[3]

Such an attempt was made by Anakin Skywalker and the cruisers under his command. The Jedi were met with suppressive fire from Trench's destroyer and were forced to retreat behind the moon of Christophsis. While the Jedi retreated and regrouped, Trench felt that he had won this round. His tactical droid was puzzled and asked Trench if they should pursue. The Admiral instead ordered his troops not to follow the enemy, as per the commands he was issued by higher authority; after which, Trench commanded his droids to recycle the ship's shields and allow the cannons to recharge to full power. The Admiral, satisfied with the proceedings, seated himself at the bridge and awaited for the return of the enemy ships.^[3]

The Republic's counter-attack eventually came in the form of a stealth ship, piloted by Anakin Skywalker himself and Admiral Yularen. Unaware of the existence and capabilities of the cloaked ship, Trench became impatient and ordered a squadron of Hyena-class bombers to attack the surface, particularly the command center of Bail Organa. The bombing was planned by Trench to draw the Republic "cowards", as the Harch admiral viewed his adversaries, out of hiding.^[3]

Although the stealth ship was undetected by the Admiral, Trench suspected that there was something odd going on. His suspicions proved correct, when Skywalker's ship presented itself and fired its torpedoes at Trench's cruiser. This move proved the Admiral's suspicions to be true; however, the maneuver had little effect and Skywalker failed to do any damage. Admiral Trench responded quickly and raised his ship's thermal shields to prevent his bridge being destroyed by the Republic's sneak attack. Angered by this act of foolishness, Trench countered by firing his own torpedoes at the stealth ship. Skywalker managed evade the torpedoes by ordering flares shot in four different directions. As a result of the successful trick, Skywalker saved himself and his crew for the moment.^[3]

After the engagement, the stealth ship went into hiding again. Unsure of where the targeted ship was, the furious Admiral fired a spread of lasers, but to no avail, as Skywalker managed to navigate the "wave" of laser fire. Seeing how the short skirmish played out, Trench was now sure that he was not dealing with mere clone pilots, but with a Jedi. He made an open-frequency transmission on the comlink channel so that he could demonstrate himself to his adversaries. Threatening the crew of the stealth ship and advising them to retreat while they still could, Trench ended the transmission with a warning that he would be their doom.^[3]

The final stand

Having displayed himself to his enemies, he awaited the next Republic attack. Trench pointed out that the Jedi could have easily passed the blockade, but rather decided to attack. This gave the Admiral a sense of what the Jedi was capable of and what kind of enemy he was facing. Trench prepared himself for the Jedi's inevitable second offensive. Eventually the cloaked vessel revealed itself, but this time, the crew had knowledge of Trench's tactics when dealing with ship cloaking devices. Trench tracked the magnetic signatures of ships so that he could follow and destroy them. The stealth ship opened fire upon Trench's flagship (the attack itself was only a diversion) and Skywalker's ship again cloaked itself. Trench then locked on to the ship's magnetic signature and ordered his tactical droid to fire a torpedo at the source of the signature on his command. However, he would forced to lower his shields to do so and the droid advised that such a maneuver would be unwise. In a moment of compulsive anger (and against his droid's advice), Trench gave the order and the torpedoes were launched.^[3]

This had been the moment Skywalker was waiting for. The stealth ship, with torpedoes on its tail, turned around and headed towards the bridge of Trench's command ship. Surprised by the bold attack, the Admiral ordered the shields to be raised, but Trench's tactical droid reported that the shields were still recharging and the ship was left defenseless. Trench was caught off-guard and, seeing the Republic ship speeding towards him, the Admiral was unsure of what to do or how to react. Accepting his defeat, he closed his six eyes and awaited his demise. The stealth ship narrowly missed Trench's ship and the torpedoes slammed straight into the bridge, destroying Trench's flagship and bringing chaos to the blockade. Although believed dead,^[3] Trench in fact survived the battle, and returned to fighting the Separatist cause, albeit with cybernetic arms and an eye.^[5]

Personality and traits

Trench was an admiral who held no mercy or remorse toward his adversaries, which in turn made him a terror to all those who came across him and his fleet. He was a military genius and his tactics and maneuvers on the battlefield made him responsible for the destruction of many Republic fleets.^[3] Two of his war trophies included the battle cruiser The Righteous and the frigate Swift Return.^[3][9] His genius was also evident in his method of hunting cloaked ships, which was recorded in a intelligence record, which was studied during the blockade of Christophsis by Admiral Yularen.^[3]

Admiral Trench had a distinctive crest, resembling his face, emblazoned on all of his ships.^[3]

Having won many victories in war, Trench had developed an overconfident personality and prided himself on always being one step ahead of his opponents. However, this overconfidence led to his own demise. Even when his death drew near, Trench did not panic or show distress; he simply accepted his fate.^[3]

Admiral Trench's ships

Trench's first ship

Main article: Trench's flagship

This ship was present at the Battle of Malastare Narrows, where it was commanded by Admiral Trench. It managed to keep Malastare blockaded until it was destroyed by a Jedi-led task force. Trench himself was believed to have gone down with this ship; however, this information was later proven false.

The Invincible

Main article: Invincible (dreadnaught)

The Invincible served as the Harch Admiral's flagship at the Battle of Christophsis. It offered a great range of attacks and a heavy defense of the blockade itself. That was due to the ship being very well-equipped with deflector shields and thermal shields, which offered a powerful defense, allowing the vessel to emerge completely unaffected by hostile fire. The cruiser had the upper hand, but a bad turn of events brought its downfall at the hands of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker.

Behind the scenes

Admiral Trench made his appearance in the sixteenth episode of season two, "Cat and Mouse". The Harch Admiral was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, who also voices all the clones on the show.^[9]

Trench's name was originally going to be "Taranch".^[9] This would have been a more obvious nod to the name of the arachnid species tarantula, from which his design is derived. Even though the name was dropped, it is still present in the Trench's record, though spelled in Aurebesh.^[3]

It should be also noted that Trench's death is not mentioned in the episode guide.^[9] That ties perfectly with the discussion between Anakin Skywalker and Admiral Yularen about Trench's "first death" and his return. This has led many fans of the series to assume that that part of the episode was intentional and that Trench may have survived again. This was confirmed in a clip shown on StarWars.com, where Trench was shown alive with half his body consisting of cybernetics. It is unknown when or if the content will be released.

Appearances

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Cat and Mouse" (First appearance)
• Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures – "Starfighter" (Mentioned only)

Sources

• "Launch Pad"—Star Wars Insider 116 (First mentioned)
•  The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Cat and Mouse on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link on Archive.org)
•  Dataclip: Cat and Mouse on CartoonNetwork.com
•  Anakin Faces Off Against An Infamous Separatist Strategist on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link on Archive.org)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic UK 6.8
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: New Battlefronts: The Visual Guide
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars Official Episode Guide Series 1 & 2
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic UK 6.21 (Indirect mention only)
•  Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Pack: Commander Blackout (Stealth Operations Clone Trooper)) (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Incredible Vehicles
•  Cat and Mouse on StarWars.com (archived original article; backup link on Archive.org)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Head-to-Head
• Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side
• The Essential Guide to Warfare
•  "Chronicling The Clone Wars," The Official Star Wars Blog
•  A New Direction for Lucasfilm Animation on StarWars.com (backup link on Archive.org)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Episode Guide
•  Christophsis in the Encyclopedia
•  Separatist dreadnought in the Encyclopedia
•  Stealth ship in the Encyclopedia
•  Admiral Trench in the Encyclopedia
•  Admiral Yularen in the Encyclopedia

Notes and references