Battle of Khorm/Legends

The Battle of Khorm took place during the Clone Wars in 22 BBY on the icy planet of Khorm. The Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems fought over a rare and valuable Agrocite ore.

Prelude
"An ambitious warlord cast his lot with Dooku in exchange for control of all we have. Now he enslaves his own people to mine for the Separatists."

- Adaroo

During the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, both sides struggled for resources to supply their armies. One such resource was the agrocite, a valuable mineral that could be used to exceptionally increase power to starfighters. The agrocite, however, was found only on three planets of the entire galaxy, one of them being the ice world of Khorm. Circa 22 BBY, the Galactic Senate dispatched Jedi Generals Plo Koon, Kit Fisto and Tauht to secure the agrocite. By the time the Jedi arrived at the planet, the Confederacy of Independent Systems&mdash;allied with the Khormai Warlord Unger Gout&mdash;had occupied Khorm, enslaving the Khormai and forcing them to mine agrocite. The Confederacy also built a weather-control station on the Kafiri mountain, which created a storm in the atmosphere of Khorm that prevented the enemy from using air support. The Republic was still able to land its ground troops, leaving Venator-class Star Destroyers commanded by Admiral Wieler in the orbit of Khorm. After landing, the Republic left some troops at a staging area, while the rest of the force commanded by Major Kendal Ozzel moved toward a Separatist-controlled agrocite processing facility. Before attacking the facility, however, Koon arranged a meeting with several Khormai in order to find out what the current situation was. One of the Khormai, Adaroo, told the Jedi about Gout's dealings with the Separatists. Having been informed of the enslaved Khormai, the Jedi decided that their main priority was to liberate them and ensured Adaroo in it. Joining the Republic forces in their attack, Adaroo promised his new allies to show a weakness in the droid lines.

Capturing the facility
"Bury them in ice!"

- Unger Gout gives an order to destroy the Republic forces

The Republic troops soon reached the agrocite processing plant, where they were attacked by the Separatist proton cannons. As the Republic AT-TEs fell under fire, Major Ozzel ordered the clone troopers to debark. Such move, however, only exposed the clones to the enemy fire. Realizing that the troopers could not survive the barrage, the Jedi drew fire upon themselves and used their lightsabers to deflect blaster shots aimed at the clones. Koon, Fisto and Adaroo then charged Gout's BX-series droid commandos and B2 super battle droids in the trenches that surrounded the plant, while Tauht proceeded to destroy the cannons.

Meanwhile, Ozzel's AT-TEs reached their position, and the major ordered to open fire at the Jedi's location, thus endangering their lives, but greatly reducing the Separatist defense. Seeing this, Gout fled the facility on a rail jet, accompanied by a droid commando. The Republic soon captured the facility and established a base there, while Gout retreated to an agrocite mine to await reinforcements from the Confederate leader Count Dooku. At the newly established Republic base, the Jedi started contemplating an attack on the mine, where the Khormai slaves were being held. Ozzel proposed a direct assault, but the Jedi declined as such an option would have resulted in too many clone casualties.

As the Jedi and the major started to argue, the Separatist commander and Dooku's Dark Acolytes Asajj Ventress arrived in her starship, the Trident, to assist Gout. Admiral Wieler tried to prevent her from reaching the planet and dispatched two V-19 Torrent starfighters to intercept Ventress's vessel. The Republic fighters pursued Ventress to the edge of the storm and witnessed it opening up for her. As they tried to pursue the Trident further, however, the storm closed again and both fighters were destroyed. Wieler immediately contacted the Jedi and informed them of what had transpired, leading the Jedi to realization that the Separatists possessed a weather-control station. If it was destroyed, the storm above Khorm would have disappeared, allowing the Republic to utilize air support during the assault on the mine and lessen the amount of casualties. To this end, Koon, Fisto, Clone Captain Sharp and Adaroo took the Devil Dogs unit of clone troopers and departed to destroy the station, leaving Tauht in charge of the Republic base.

Counterattack
Shortly after Koon and Fisto had departed, Ventress and Gout initiated a counterattack at the processing facility, although before proceeding with it, Ventress had a unit of DSD1 dwarf spider droids hidden beneath a layer of snow. Soon, Separatist Armored Assault Tanks besieged the plant, and Tauht rushed inside the structure to contact Koon and Fisto; on his way there, he ordered the frightened Ozzel to reinforce the lines and hold the facility. Ventress, however, was able to infiltrate the Republic base and, by detonating some explosives, made Tauht fall on the ground, where she confronted him. After a brief lightsaber duel, Ventress killed Tauht by manipulating one of her lightsabers behind his back and stabbing him with it.

Having been informed of Tauht's death via his comlink, Ozzel assumed command of the remaining Republic forces, but instead of staying put and holding the facility as the late Tauht had ordered him, the ambitious major ordered all troops to charge the enemy. Ozzel himself&mdash;alongside Clone Commander CC-3636, nicknamed "Wolffe"&mdash;boarded one of the AT-TEs and participated in the attack. At first, the Republic seemingly gained an upper hand and the Confederacy was retreating, until Ventress ordered Sergeant 126 to reveal the hidden Spider droids. The sudden appearance of the Confederate reinforcements caught Major Ozzel by surprise, and the Spider droids decimated the majority of the Republic force, including heavy armor.

As the remaining few troops became surrounded by the droids, the major panicked and told Wolffe to signal the Separatists that the Republic was surrendering. Having won the battle, the Confederacy once again occupied the processing plant, while Ozzel, Wolffe and four other clone troopers were taken prisoner by Ventress and interrogated by her on Koon's and Fisto's location. Citing the Convention of Civilized Systems, Ozzel refused to cooperate at first, but after Ventress killed two clone troopers and promised to do the same with him, the major revealed the Jedi's plans. Having received the information she needed, the Dark Acolyte wanted to kill Ozzel, Wolffe and the remaining troopers &mdash;Spitter and Comet &mdash;but Warlord Gout instead had them imprisoned. Ventress then took a detachment of droid commandos and set off to kill the Jedi.

Ambush
On their way to the weather-control station, the Jedi passed a Khormai village devastated by the storm. They decided to make a stop there in order to bury the bodies of the dead Khormai, although the Devil Dogs' Clone Captain Sharp did not understand for what purpose. The Jedi then explained to him that their mission was not only to protect the lives of the Khormai, but also to respect them. After burying the bodies in graves cut in the ice with the Jedi's lightsaber, the task force continued with their mission. Meanwhile, Gout contacted the commander of the weather-control station, the Aqualish Villpu Nagg, and ordered him to create a storm large enough to destroy the Jedi, even if it could kill Ventress as well. Ventress herself had her unit of commandos hidden beneath a snow on a mountain located at a half-rotation's hike from the station. When the Republic troops reached that mountain, the Dark Acolyte ambushed them, jumping from above and attacking Plo Koon.

At the same time, the droid commandos emerged from the snow and attacked the clone troopers. A firefight ensued, and Kit Fisto ordered Sharp and his men to hold off the droids while he rushed to assist Plo Koon. The two Jedi Masters confronted Ventress and offered her to surrender, but she declined. Instead, the Dark Acolyte used the Force to bring down an avalanche, burying the Republic forces underneath it. In order not to be crushed by the avalanche, the Jedi created that offered protection to them and the rest of the Republic strike team. Together with the droid commandos, Ventress initiated a search for any survivors and killed those she could find. In the meantime, Ozzel, Wolffe, Spitter and Comet attempted to escape from the agrocite processing facility they had been imprisoned in. Eventually, the three troopers were able to hot-wire a control panel controlling the doors to their cell, opening them. The clones and Ozzel then stole an AAT and started to make their way out of the facility in it, destroying all droid forces that stood in their way.

Having been attacked by the escaped prisoners, the droids contacted Ventress and called her to assist them. Ventress complied and set off to the processing facility in an AAT, leaving her droid to kill any surviving Republic troops they could find. As soon as the Dark Acolyte left the scene, however, the Jedi and the clones revealed themselves anв attacked the droids, destroying them. The encounter with Ventress cost the Republic the lives of four troopers&mdash;Sten, Deadeye, Blunt and Jark&mdash;the explosives with which they planned to destroy the weather-control station and Plo Koon's broken arm. Nevertheless, they decided to continued their mission, and Adaroo called several ice worms, Aelids, which the Khormai used as transportation, riding inside the beasts. The Jedi, the remaining clones and Adaroo soon boarded the worms and set off toward the weather-control station. Meanwhile, Ozzel and the three clones finally managed to escape from the processing facility, moments before Ventress arrived there, and went to the Republic staging area.

Turning the tide
Ventress, however, deduced Ozzel's intentions and took a force of AATs, Spider Droids and NR-N99 Persuader-class droid enforcers to kill everyone at the staging area, thus wiping out the Republic's foothold on Khorm. At the same time, the strike team led by Koon and Fisto finally reached the weather-control station.

Appearances

 * Star Wars The Clone Wars 7: In Service of the Republic, Part 1
 * Star Wars The Clone Wars 8: In Service of the Republic, Part 2
 * Star Wars The Clone Wars 9: In Service of the Republic, Part 3