Rom Mohc

"It's been a long time since I've challenged a man to battle. I'm glad my opponent is so worthy."

- General Mohc prepares to face Rebel agent Kyle Katarn

General Rom Mohc was a Human male who was a hero of the Clone Wars, serving in the armies of the Galactic Republic and later the Galactic Empire. Having developed an obsession with cybernetics and personal combat during the Clone Wars, Mohc was the architect of the Dark Trooper Project that arose in the wake of the destruction of the first Death Star. Despite initial successes in field testing, the project was destroyed by Rebel Alliance agent Kyle Katarn, who defeated Mohc in single combat.

Early career
A non-clone officer of the Grand Army of the Republic, Rom Mohc fought in the Clone Wars with a passion for personal combat under the command of General Locus Geen. Mohc gained a reputation for fighting battle droids in hand-to-hand combat and developed a keen understanding of cybernetics. His ability to ascertain the weaknesses of various droid designs proved invaluable at the Invasion of Coruscant by the droid army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Mohc also had a healthy respect for the clone troopers and relished working with them.

Mohc's bravery during the Clone Wars and loyalty put him on the fast track to success in Palpatine's New Order. On many worlds, Mohc fought in Palpatine's name, earning three Imperial Medals of Valor and the Distinguished Medal of Imperial Honor. Mohc continued his fascination with droids, often pitting himself against various deadly droids. His eccentric taste for combat culminated in a trophy room of battle droids that he had defeated, including a prototype IG-97, a ZQ infantry droid, and several Mark IX-XI Executioners. Mohc's passion for personal combat became almost obsessive, and he came to insist that every soldier had the right to face the enemy man-to-man, to the point of protesting the Death Star project.

Battle droid research
As a Zero-G assault stormtrooper, Mohc grew frustrated with the limitations of Imperial cybernetics. Mohc believed that with his experience fighting droids and knowledge of their weaknesses, he could develop an ultimate battle droid, and "studied the designs of mechanical soldiers throughout history, from Xim to the Sith to the Iron Knights of the Old Republic."

Mohc's research yielded the initial designs for what would become the dark trooper. Allying with Baron Orman Tagge, Mohc designed the Z-X3 experimental droid trooper, designed to supplement stormtroopers in dangerous radiation or vacuum. An experimental batch of seventy droids proved deadly and adaptable, but the Imperial Military viewed the use of battle droids with distaste and the Z-X3 was rejected.

Mohc refused to admit defeat and kept pushing his ideas. His perseverance finally paid off when he won support from the Imperial Department of Military Research, and in 17 BBY young Lieutenant Mohc was stationed aboard the Empirical, a hidden space station in the Dominus sector, to oversee the Phase Zero Dark Trooper project, an attempt to restore aging clone troopers to battle-worthiness by remaking them into cyborgs. However, as the subjects were forcibly recruited into the project, many Phase Zero Dark Troopers could not cope with the state of being more machine than man and attempted suicide. The project was eventually shut down as the Empire grew in power and the recruitment rate of non-clones rose, though the successful subjects of the project became the Purge Troopers, which would later inspire the design of the Phase III dark trooper.

Mohc continued his career and later became one of the administrators of the Imperial Academy on Carida. He was particularly impressed with the way Cadet Leader Kyle Katarn handled his Omega Exercise, whom he and Inquisitor Jerec presented with an Imperial Medal of Honor.

The Dark Trooper Project
"The Emperor is most pleased with your project."

- Darth Vader

When Mohc was promoted to the rank of general, he used the resources available to him to complete the technical designs and implementation plans for his own dark troopers, thinking that infantry should prove themselves in battle. He knew his creation would please the Emperor, but Palpatine was obsessed with the Death Star project. He was one of the few generals to oppose the Death Star as Mohc had a distrust of any technology which separated warriors from their enemies in battle. With the failure of the first Death Star at the Battle of Yavin, Mohc seized the opportunity to pitch his program to Palpatine. Infuriated with Wilhuff Tarkin's failure and recognizing the partial success of the Phase Zero project, the Emperor granted Mohc authorization to begin his new program.

The Dark Trooper Project was given billions of credits to support the research and development of Mohc's brainchild. Mohc established a mining facility on Gromas 16 to acquire the near-indestructible metal phrik, a weapons research facility on Fest, a robotics construction facility on Anteevy, and the massive starship Arc Hammer to act as a construction and mobile launch base for the dark troopers.

Finally, Mohc was told by Darth Vader himself that the Emperor had approved his test demonstration. Immediately, Mohc released the Phase II dark troopers on the planet Talay which housed a Rebel base. The dark troopers proved their efficiency obliterating the Tak Base during the attack. Worried, the Rebel Alliance sent Kyle Katarn, who had defected from the Empire and joined the Rebellion, to investigate and put an end to the Dark Trooper Project.

Mohc was alerted by the movements of the Rebel operative but discovered the role of Imperial officer Crix Madine in informing the Rebel Alliance for the Dark Trooper Project. At gunpoint he apprehended Madine who was sent to Orinackra awaiting execution. By that time Mohc not only had put a bounty on Katarn's head, making several bounty hunters and criminal figures, including Jabba Desilijic Tiure to look out for him, but he also employed the services of Boba Fett.

However, Katarn proved very resourceful and Mohc soon found out that Katarn made his way to the Arc Hammer. With this news, Mohc donned his prototype of the Phase III dark trooper, which he intended to use to complement his droids with stormtroopers in exosuits. He battled Katarn in single combat and despite his prowess, Katarn bested Mohc.

Shortly after, Katarn destroyed the Arc Hammer, atomizing Mohc and his team, costing the Empire dearly and resulting in Emperor Palpatine angrily canceling the project.

Behind the scenes
Mohc is the main antagonist of the video game Star Wars: Dark Forces and is mainly seen during cutscenes which advance the plot.

His voice in Star Wars: Dark Forces was provided by Jack Angel. Tim Russell voiced Mohc for the audio adaptation of Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire.

Mohc is seen again in the story Sand Blasted which extrapolates on one of the game's cutscenes, but his appearance differs somewhat from that of the game, showing him with receding but long, red hair.

An action figure of Mohc was given with one of IG-97 with a reprint of Sand Blasted as a part of a "battle pack". 

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The New Droid Army
 * Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire / audio
 * Star Wars: Dark Forces
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption