Trench/Legends

"I smell fear, and it smells good."

- Trench

Trench was a male Harch and a very successful fleet admiral in the Separatist armada during the Clone Wars. Trench's command style demanded respect from his subordinates and dread from his adversaries. His ruthlessness was known throughout the Republic. He was given the task of blockading the peaceful planet of Christophsis. However, he perished when Anakin Skywalker used a maneuver with a stealth ship to make the torpedoes&mdash;which were fired by Trench's ship&mdash;to follow right back to the source, destroying the cruiser and killing Trench.

Early career
"A corporate fleet was blockading Malastare, a fleet led by Trench."

- Wullf Yularen

Over a decade before the Clone Wars, Admiral Trench was present at the battle that became known as the Battle of Malastare Narrows. It was here that he made himself part of military history. A corporate entity blockaded the planet Malastare and Trench was given the command over the fleet, provided by the corporation. During the battle, Trench left a lasting memory to all those who were a part of it, including Admiral Wullf Yularen, who had commanded a fleet at that time. Many lives were lost and many ships "torn apart" by the fleet of the dreaded Harch admiral. However, a Jedi led task force was brought in and the battle ended with Trench's ship being vaporized. He was assumed to have gone down with the destroyed vessel, but later during the Clone Wars he resurfaced at the Blockade of Christophsis.

The Blockade of Christophsis
"Our orders are to blockade, not chase. I have won this round."

- Trench

After the start of the Clone Wars, the Grand Army of the Republic sent a relief effort for the people of Christophsis. The mission to help the Christophsians was led by Bail Prestor Organa from Alderaan. Unfortunately, the planet had fallen under attack from Admiral Trench and his armies.

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

Such an attempt was made by Anakin Skywalker and his cruisers. 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 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 he had orders not to chase. 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, sat down back in his seat at the bridge and gladly awaited for the return of the enemy ships.

The Republic's counter-attack eventually came in the form of a stealth ship, piloted by Anakin Skywalker himself and Admiral Yularen. Not knowing of the cloaked ship, Trench became impatient and ordered a number of Hyena-class bombers to attack the surface, particularly the command center of Bail Organa. The bombing was planned by Trench to draw out the hiding Republic "cowards", as he put it.

Although the stealth ship was undetected by the Admiral, Trench suspected that there was something odd going on. His suspicions proved correct, when Anakin's ship presented itself and fired its torpedoes at Trench's cruiser. This move proved the Admiral's suspicions were true. Unfortunately, the maneuver had little effect and Skywalker failed to do any damage, because Admiral Trench reacted quickly and raised his ship's thermal shields to prevent his bridge being blown away by the Republic's sneak attack. Angered by this act of foolishness, Trench responded 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, Anakin Skywalker saved himself and his crew for now.

After the engagement, the stealth ship went into hiding again. Unsure where the targeted ship was, the furious Admiral fired a huge 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.

The final stand
"Turn back now. Retreat while you can. For I... am your doom!"

- Trench to Anakin Skywalker and his crew

Having displayed himself to his enemies, he awaited the next Republic attack as he pointed out that the Jedi could have passed the Blockade easy but decided to attack. This gave the Admiral a sense of what the Jedi is capable to do and what kind of enemy he is 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 with ship cloaking devices. Trench tracked the magnetic signatures of ships so he could follow and destroy them. The stealth ship opened fire upon Trench's flagship, the attack itself was only a diversion and Anakin'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 was forced to lower his shields to do so. In a moment of compulsive anger and against his droid's advice, Trench gave the order and the torpedoes were launched.

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 not sure 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.

At that crucial moment, one of the most successful Confederate fleet Admirals died for the Separatist cause.

Personality and traits
"I smell fear, and it smells good."

- Trench

Trench was an Admiral that had no mercy or remorse towards 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. Two of his war trophies included the battle cruiser The Righteous and the frigate Swift Return. 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 none other than Admiral Yularen.

Admiral Trench had a distinctive crest, resembling his face, on all of his ships.

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.

Trench's first ship
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.

The Invincible
The Invincible served as the Harch Admiral's flagship at the Battle of Christophsis. It offered great range of attack and a heavy defense of the blockade itself. That is because the ship was 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 to 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.

Trench's name was originally going to be "Taranch". 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, just spelled in Aurebesh.

It should be also noted that Trench's death is not mentioned in the episode guide. 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. But as there is no confirmation on his survival, this article sides with what was seen in the episode and assumes that Admiral Trench was killed during the destruction of his flagship.

Notes and references
Trench Trench (almirante) Trench Trench Тренч