Battle of Abregado/Legends

"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 was a space battle that took place in the Abregado system around 22 BBY during the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Following the defeat of Jedi General Ares Nune's task force in the Phu system at the hands of the Confederate warship Malevolence, High Jedi General Plo Koon of the Jedi High Council took several Venator-class cruisers to find and destroy the ship and its ion cannons. Koon tracked the Malevolence to the Abregado system, but the warship attacked his fleet with its ion cannons, and the cruisers were left defenseless. Shortly before the cruisers fell to laser fire, several clone troopers managed to flee in escape pods, and Koon escaped in a pod with Clone Commander Wolffe, Clone Sergeant Sinker and trooper Boost.

Dooku dispatched several boarding crafts with rocket battle droids to eliminate the survivors, as he did not want the survivors to inform the Republic of the Malevolence. All but Koon and the three clones were killed; however, Koon and the clones were able to defeat the battle droids. Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano, soon arrived in the system aboard Skywalker's personal ship, the Twilight, and they were able to rescue Koon and the clones. The Twilight encountered the Malevolence, and the Jedi and clones able to evade a wave from the warship's ion cannons by jumping to hyperspace.

Prelude
"I have recommended an increase in patrols along the region. I will lead the sweeps in the Triumphant and maintain constant communication."

- Plo Koon volunteers to lead a hunt for the Malevolence

Around 22 BBY during the Clone Wars, the Confederacy of Independent Systems built a superweapon, the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser Malevolence, capable of neutralizing all power to its enemies with its ion cannons. The cannons left the ship's targets defenseless and vulnerable without the ability to use deflector shields. Under the command of General Grievous, the Malevolence began a series of strikes on Galactic Republic task forces that left no survivors to tell the Republic of the weapon's origins or methods of attack. The attacks did not form a pattern, and the unpredictability of future targets spread fear throughout the citizens of the Republic.

Shortly after the defeat of Jedi General Ares Nune's patrol of several Venator-class Star Destroyers in the Phu system, the Jedi High Council met with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to discuss methods to protect more Republic fleets from being destroyed. High Jedi General Plo Koon volunteered to take several Venator-class cruisers&mdash;including his flagship, the Triumphant&mdash;to find and eliminate the Confederate weapon.

Malevolence attack
"That energy field has left us defenseless!"

- Commander Wolffe, shortly after the Malevolence fires its ion cannons at their fleet



Plo Koon and his forces tracked the Malevolence to the Abregado system and approached the vessel. Koon intended to report as much information on the weapon in case of his defeat, and before proceeding, he contacted Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano, who were keeping the nearby Bith system secure. The Confederate Head of State, the Sith Lord Count Dooku, had arrived aboard the Malevolence to watch General Grievous' progress, and ordered the Republic task force's transmissions to be jammed. After Koon and Clone Commander Wolffe reported their position to Skywalker and Tano, their communications were cut.

Seeing this as an opportunity for another test of the Malevolence ' s ion cannons, Grievous ordered the weapon to be fired. The Confederate warship moved to attack Koon's fleet, and because they were out of range, the Republic Venators were unable to open fire. The Malevolence discharged its cannons; as the wave approached, Koon and the clone troopers braced themselves for impact. The wave passed over the fleet and neutralized the cruisers' shields, and the vulnerable cruisers fell to fire from the Malevolence ' s numerous laser cannons. Shortly before the Triumphant was destroyed, Plo Koon and several clone troopers were able to flee from the cruiser in escape pods. As Koon's fleet was ripped apart, a debris field of the three destroyed cruisers was erected in the Abregado system. The power of the escape pod containing Koon, Commander Wolffe, Sergeant Sinker and Boost depleted, leaving the pod without life support or access to communication channels.

Following the loss of contact from Plo Koon, Skywalker and Tano entered into a holo-meeting with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the Jedi Council. Skywalker reported Koon's position in the Abregado system before communications had been cut, and suggested that the absence of distress beacons implied that his fleet had been destroyed. Battle groups were reassigned to protect the Republic's supply convoys, including Skywalker's fleet. Skywalker ordered Admiral Wullf Yularen to protect the convoys while he went to scout ahead for enemy activity with Tano in his personal ship, the Twilight. However, the two headed for the Abregado system, as Skywalker intended to search for survivors, against the Jedi Council's orders.

Skywalker, Tano and the astromech droid R2-D2 arrived in the system aboard the Twilight. Entering the debris field, R2-D2 activated the ship's scanners, seeking to search for life forms still alive in the battlefield. High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi contacted the ship, and upon hearing that Skywalker and Tano had not found any survivors, Kenobi ordered Skywalker to rendezvous back with his fleet. R2-D2 picked up a signal on the emergency channel, and Tano began to put out a signal through the emergency communication channel, trying to make contact with any remaining survivors of the battle.



Hunt for the pods
"Send out the hunters. I want all of those life pods destroyed."

- Count Dooku

Count Dooku did not want to risk the chance that the survivors would inform the Republic of the Malevolence ' s ion cannons, and dispatched boarding crafts with rocket battle droids aboard&mdash;nicknamed "pod hunters"&mdash;to destroy the escape pods. The battle droids split several of the pods open, leaving the clones inside vulnerable to the vacuum of space. The clones restored the power in Koon's pod, and were able to gain access to the communication channels. Receiving a signal from another escape pod, Pod 1977, the Jedi and the troopers soon witnessed its destruction at the hands of the hunters. By this time, the droids had destroyed all the pods except for the one containing Koon and the clones. Noticing the remaining pod, the battle droids approached it and prepared to destroy it.

As the Confederate craft neared the pod, Koon decided to confront the droids, as his species was able to withstand the pressure of space for a brief amount of time. Sinker and Boost accompanied the Jedi, leaving Wolffe inside the pod to keep the communication signal alive, as it was the only chance for their rescue. The craft latched onto the pod with its "pincers", and as the rocket droids approached and prepared to slice the pod's view hole open, Koon and the two clones attacked the droids. The droids retreated into the craft and activated the craft's squeeze mechanism, intending to crush the pod with the craft's pincers. Koon used the Force to push Sinker behind the craft where the droids were situated, and the clone eliminated most of the battle droids with his blaster.

In the pod, Wolffe picked up Tano's signal, but was unable to return a message, as the crushing of the pod caused it to lose the signal. The Jedi severed the craft's legs, breaking its grip on the pod, and as Koon Force-pushed the craft away, he pulled Sinker back toward the pod. The craft hit a piece of debris from the destroyed Venator cruisers and exploded, and the loss of contact with the craft alerted the Malevolence to the possibility of remaining survivors.

Rescue
"I know he's alive! I can sense it."

- Ahsoka Tano, on Master Plo Koon



After Chancellor Palpatine learned of Skywalker's absence from the command of his battle group, the Chancellor contacted Skywalker and ordered him to cease his search for survivors, as the displacement of his fleet had left other Republic fleets out of position. However, Tano was able to sense Koon with the Force and took control of the Twilight, piloting it toward Koon's location. Finding Koon and the clones, the Twilight deployed its tow cable and pulled the pod into its hangar. The clones were tended by a medical droid, while Koon joined Skywalker and Tano on the bridge of the ship, briefing them on the Malevolence and its ion cannons.

The Twilight ' s scanners picked up the approaching Malevolence, and to avoid detection, Koon quickly ordered all power to be shut down. All systems of the ship were deactivated, including R2-D2; however, the Jedi forgot to power down the medical droid. The Malevolence ' s scanners detected the medical droid, and prepared to confront the survivors. As the warship maneuvered to attack the ship, the Jedi realized that they had overlooked deactivating the medical droid. Immediately restoring all power, Skywalker piloted the Twilight away from the Malevolence, seeking to jump to hyperspace and avoid the Confederate warship's cannons. Koon reactivated R2-D2, and the droid began to plot a hyperspace course out of the system. Grievous ordered the ion cannons to be fired, and as the ion wave approached, Skywalker was able to pilot the Twilight out of the debris field. Skywalker engaged the ship's hyperdrive engine, and the Jedi were able to evade destruction at the hands of the Malevolence, taking the knowledge of the warship's weapons to the Republic.

Aftermath
"Your failure is most unfortunate. I will have to discuss this with my master."

- Count Dooku to Grievous

The battle caused a ship graveyard to be erected in the Abregado system from the three destroyed Venator-class cruisers; all of Plo Koon's forces except for a few clones and the Jedi himself had been killed. However, Koon, Skywalker and Tano were able to give a report to the Jedi Council on the Malevolence, and the Republic learned of the warship and its ion cannons. Despite the fact that most of Koon's forces had been eradicated, Dooku considered the battle to be a defeat, as several survivors had escaped the battle and informed the Republic of the warship and its weapon. The Sith Lord was extremely displeased with Grievous' failure to prevent the Republic from learning of the warship. His trust in Grievous shaken, Dooku left to discuss plans with his Sith master.

Following the revelation of the Malevolence, Skywalker acquired several experimental Republic BTL-B Y-wing starfighters from a testing facility on the planet Bormus with Shadow Squadron, and planned a counterattack on the Confederate warship. The defeat of a Republic medical convoy in the Ryndellia system revealed that Grievous planned to target a secret Republic Outer Rim medical center. Intending to engage the Malevolence before it could attack the medical base, Skywalker was accompanied by Tano and Koon as he led Shadow Squadron on a shortcut to intercept the warship.

Behind the scenes
The Battle of Abregado was the subject of "Rising Malevolence," an episode featured in the October 3, 2008 premiere of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series on Cartoon Network. The second episode of the series' first season, the episode featured the series debut of Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Plo Koon and R2-D2, as well as several other prominent characters such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, as well as Jedi Master Mace Windu. The battle also featured the first visual appearance of the Malevolence, having previously appeared in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film novelization. The events leading into the episode&mdash;notably, the Battle of Phu&mdash;were featured in the web comic Shakedown, released a day before the episode's premiere.

Notes and references
Schlacht im Abregado Batalla de Abregado