Occupation of Mon Cala

"The arrival of the Mon Calamari city-ships was a shocking (and perhaps, given our limited effectiveness against the occupation of Mon Cala, undeserved) boon, emphasizing the significance of winning the hearts of the galaxy's civilians above all else."

- Mon Mothma, in "Short Notes on the History of the Rebel Alliance Navy"

The occupation of Mon Cala began when Darth Vader came to investigate a possible Jedi on Mon Cala. Shortly after his arrival, an Imperial Ambassador was assassinated by the Jedi and his superiors sent forces down to invade Mon Cala. War broke out across the surface and oceans of the planet and the Imperial forces were pushed back multiple times by Gial Ackbar and Raddus. However, Vader went to capture King Lee-Char and was confronted by Barr. The two fought and Barr revealed he kick-started the war, causing Lee-Char to panic and order a cease-fire. Vader killed Barr and arrested Lee-Char but Raddus escaped with a handful of merchant ships.

After the war had ended, the Empire began subjugating Mon Cala. However, the peaceful Mon Calamari, having learned harsh and costly lessons during the Clone Wars, were ready. The Imperial occupation heralded a mass exodus, triggering a launch of spaceworthy structures that the Empire mistook for city buildings, which disappeared into hyperspace. In retaliation, the Mon Calamari became one of the key species of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, supplying capital ships to the Alliance Fleet, despite its limited effectiveness against the occupation, which were converted for war by rebels in deep-space facilities located in the remote Telaris system, far from Imperial naval patrols.

Barr's struggle
At the end of the Clone Wars, the Jedi Order was almost wiped out by the clones of the Grand Army of the Republic. Coinciding with their destruction was the reoganizement of the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire by it's new Emperor, Sheev Palpatine. Palpatine was keen to make sure all the Jedi were dead and sent founded the Inquisitorius, a group of former Jedi who were tasked with hunting their former brethren. At the head of them was Darth Vader, a Sith and apprentice to Palpatine. Among the few Jedi survivors was the Iktotchi Padawan, Ferren Barr. Barr began investigating the reason for the swift defeat of the Jedi and discovered a conspiracy involving Palpatine, Vader and a few others. Barr was angered by this and decided to take action against the Empire.

Barr began recruiting his own acolytes. They included Nipaltoo&mdash;whose sister was among the Jedi victims; Orvek&mdash;whose home was bulldozed by the Empire; Rebb and Stell&mdash;who wanted the Empire out of their city; Daren&mdash;who had been rescued by a Jedi before; and Verla&mdash;a force-sensitive who Barr swore to teach. Barr took the six of them to Mon Cala, where Barr met with the King, Lee-Char. Barr told Lee-Char that he had foreseen the Mon Calamari being at the forefront of a great rebellion and saving the Galaxy from the Empire. Barr said to Lee-Char that he could help make it happen.

Deteriorating negotiations
"It all boils down to one question, King Lee-Char. A question that only you, as leader of this planet, have the power to answer. Does Mon Cala wish to remain a part of the great Galactic Empire?" "The Empire that demands our resources at a fraction of rate which they are valued on the open market, Ambassador Telvar. Your trade proposal requires us to sell our kelpite strand beams to Imperial shipyards at any quantity required. Under this deal, you could take it all, and leave us in poverty!"

- Ambassador Telvar and King Lee-Char negotiating a trade deal

Barr therefore began influencing the negotiations between the Empire and Mon Cala which helped greatly with avoiding the harsh rules the Empire set on their trade. This caused Moff Wilhuff Tarkin to park his Imperial-class Star Destroyer, the Sovereign, above Mon Cala. There, Tarkin sent Ambassador Telvar down to negotiate with Lee-Char. But even Telvar's negotiating had no effect with Lee-Char's subordinates, especially Raddus, being angered by the fact a Star Destroyer loomed over Mon Cala. Lee-Char continued to defy Telvar's offers pointing out how the Empire would use them to exhaust Mon Cala's resources and leave it bankrupt.

As the negotiations with Telvar also deteriorated, the Palpatine looked into this and identified Lee-Char's negotiating as being similar to that of a Jedi's. Palpatine therefore sent Vader and three Inquisitors to Mon Cala to investigate this. With Vader and the Inquisitors were at least fourteen Inquisitor Troopers to support the group. Upon their arrival at Dac City, they were met by Lee-Char's Chief of Security, Gial Ackbar. Ackbar confronted them, asking of their business. One of the Inquisitors, Ninth Sister, gave Ackbar a writ legally protecting their group from harm. Despite this, Ackbar still demanded their business on Mon Cala, even when Vader intervened. Vader gave in and told Ackbar about a possible enemy on Mon Cala, to which Ackbar denied. However Ambassador Telvar's shuttle had been sabotaged by Barr and exploded in front of Vader and Ackbar, killing Telvar and the rest of the crew. Vader and his Inquisitors passed Ackbar and walked down the landing pad.

Battle of Dac City
As a response to Telvar's assassination, Moff Tarkin sent his forces down to Mon Cala and they attacked Dac City. Lee-Char warned Barr of this and Barr deduced Vader as the former Jedi Anakin Skywalker. Vader and his group turned on the Mon Calamari and began fighting them on the landing pad, soon liberating it from the defending Mon Calamari and Quarren. Lee-Char assigned Ackbar and Raddus to the defence of each hemisphere and they soon left the king alone in the palace. Lee-Char attempted to negotiate a ceasefire with Tarkin but the man refused. Vader and the Inquisitors soon arrived at the palace and Ninth Sister began to interrogate Lee-Char for the location of Barr.

As the surface battles on Mon Cala became hopeless, the Mon Calamari defences had a shoal of large creatures generate waves so large, they wiped the Imperial forces off the surface of Mon Cala. Although Ninth Sister managed to obtain the location of Barr from Lee-Char, she, Vader and the others were swept away as well. Tarkin was surprised of this and told his subordinate, Commander Jordo to investigate the Mon Calamari's tactic. Tarkin left the next wave of assaults to Colonel Bergon as her predecessor, Major Rantu was presumed lost from the waves.

The second wave
"Do not underestimate Raddus. He is a skilled tactician. While his movements seem purely defensive, he undoubtedly has a counterattack in mind."

- Wilhuff Tarkin warning Bergon of Raddus before she goes to lead the fight on Mon Cala

Vader awoke to find himself in the Great Ungeness Trench under Mon Cala's vast oceans. There he was attacked by a squid-like creature which he killed using the force. Vader was then picked up by the Inquisitors in an Imperial submarine. Vader's group had all survived the waves, excluding two Inquisitor troopers, and Ninth Sister told Vader of Barr's location, to which they travelled towards. Lee-Char too was rescued by his subordinates and tended to at a hospital bed.

Colonel Bergon began fighting above Mon Cala on her sky-base. Her campaign was however cut short when Ackbar attacked her base with over half a dozen aquatic vehicals. They emerged from under Bergon's sky-base and fired their missiles at it. Before Bergon could respond, she was incinerated as her sky-base exploded. By this time, the Sovereign had been joined by two more Star Destroyers above Mon Cala. Tarkin was soon informed of Bergon's demise and was unhappy with Commander Jordo for not alerting them to the Mon Calamari's vehicles. He had Jordo put into stormtrooper armor and sent down to Mon Cala. Tarkin's lieutenant asked him if they were to retaliate to this, to which Tarkin exclaimed they would instead escalate the war.

In pursuit of Barr
Upon waking up, Lee-Char realised Barr's location was in peril and immediately contacted him. Barr was shocked at this and told his acolytes to prepare to leave. As they all dressed into underwater gear, Barr set his refuge to self destruct and blew it up once they left. However upon leaving the refuge, the acolytes were cut off by Vader's submarine. They immediately scattered, except for Nipaltoo who attacked Vader's submarine until Vader crushed his helmet. The others made towards Bel City and Orvek sacrifices himself to slow Vader down. Eventually they made it to Bel City and Rebb decided to stay behind in order to slow Vader down even more. Stell pledged to stay with her and Barr and the other two made for a landing pad.

Overstretching conflict
"Reports from the surface suggest the additional forces we have brought to bear are having the desired effect Governor Tarkin. We are winning every engagement." "Yes lieutenant. That is clear. But there are too many engagements"

- A lieutenant and Moff Tarkin discuss the engagements on Mon Cala

Back on the Sovereign, Tarkin received word from his Lieutenant that the Imperial forces were succeeding in their engagements below. However Tarkin was worried that there were too many engagements. He had noticed that the Mon Calamari and Quarren defenders were either holing up in their underwater cities and forcing the Imperial forces to fight them corridor to corridor in unfamiliar territory; or they were scattering to the far reaches of the oceans in order for the Imperial forces to split up to hunt them down, requiring constant resupply.

As Tarkin explained this, Raddus emerged from hiding with his own strategy. Raddus had taken vessels from the Mon Cala Mercantile Fleet and linked them together. With their strong shields combined, the five MC80a star cruisers and the many smaller ships connected to them generated a protective bubble around them able to repel the Imperial forces without receiving a single dent. Tarkin called Raddus's strategy brilliant and claimed that the tactician had built himself a fortress.

Skirmish in Bel City
"The past matters. History matters. Truth matters. Once a Jedi, always a Jedi. Execute Order 66."

- Ferren Barr convinces the Inquisitor troopers to execute Order 66 on the Inquisitors

Vader and the Inquisitors reach Bel City and march through it with the Inquisitor troopers at their rear. Vader was then contacted by Tarkin who wanted him to capture Lee-Char and end the fighting on Mon Cala. Vader refuses at first but Tarkin insists telling Vader that he would own him a favour if he did so. Vader complied and left the Inquisitors to lead the hunt for Barr. Barr and his last two acolytes reach a landing pad to find it empty. Barr stressed that they must act quickly and keep searching but the Inquisitors had already found them. Sixth Brother threw his lightsaber and cut Daren in half. They then cornered Barr and Verla. Verla attempted to confront the Inquisitors but Barr already had a plan stepped in first, dropped his lightsaber to the floor.

Barr identified the Inquisitors by their Jedi names, Tenth Brother being Prosset Dibs and Sixth Brother and Ninth Sister being Bil Valen and Masana Tide. Ninth Sister denied that it mattered and identified Barr's name as well, calling him "Baby Barr". Barr ignored her and begins explaining his research on the role of the clones in Order 66. After saying this, Barr claimed that the Inquisitors would always be Jedi and used a mind trick on the troopers telling them to "execute order 66". The troopers programming forced them to comply as the Inquisitors were indeed former Jedi. Tenth Brother told the troopers to stand down but they all open fired on the Inquisitors forcing them to begin deflecting their shots. The Inquisitors managed to kill a couple troopers before Tenth Brother was hit in the chest and dropped dead on the floor.

Barr and Verla took advantage of the fighting and they leaped over the battle, landing and escaping on the other side. As the two sprinted down the hallway, Barr told Verla to leave Mon Cala and find another surviving Jedi. When Verla asked what Barr was to do, he said he had a fight ahead of him that he was intending to win. Sixth Brother was keen to pursue them and he and Ninth Sister force pushed the other troopers to the side to make way for them. Five troopers remained and Sixth Brother cut off Ninth Sister's leg, leaving her to fend off the troopers for Sixth Brother. Ninth Sister threatened to kill Sixth Brother and he wished her good luck, remarking that she was always his favourite.

Final actions
Vader made it to Lee-Char's command bunker where he quickly dispatched five Mon Calamari guards before disarming Lee-Char. Tarkin, who was in contact with Vader over his comms, then told Vader to bring Lee-Char to a window. Vader did so and Lee-Char watched as the three orbiting Star destroyers began bombarding the northen hemisphere of Mon Cala. Lee-Char refused to surrender Mon Cala despite this and his and Vader's argument was interrupted by Barr, who confronted Vader with an intention of fighting him. Meanwhile, Raddus had received word of the bombardment as a fifth settlement, Zeran Town, on Mon Cala's northern hemisphere had been destroyed. Raddus's commander told him that the Star Destroyers had not yet targeted the southern hemisphere and Raddus told him to ready his small force to de-link on his mark. When the commander asked what would happen in the meantime, Raddus told him they were to keep fighting.

Barr and Vader fought each other and Barr taunted Vader with his success over the Inquisitors and his assassination of Telvar to start the war on Mon Cala. Lee-Char heard Barr's words and realised that the Jedi had caused the fighting on Mon Cala. Without hesitation, Lee-Char ordered a planet-wide cease fire of all Mon Cala forces. Raddus received the transmittion and was shocked at Lee-Char decision. Lee-Char then contacted Tarkin saying he had surrendered and was ready to talk terms if Tarkin was to stop the bombardment. Tarkin accepted the surrender but continued the bombardment. The Star Destroyers began hitting targets in the southern hemisphere, forcing Raddus to take action and order his vessels to launch.

Vader and Barr continued to fight and Barr began laughing. Lee-Char looked back at the moment Barr said he foresaw the Mon Calamari saving the galaxy and recalled it to Barr in shame. Barr told Lee-Char that he wasn't wrong about that and he explained that the Mon Calamari vessels would be at the forefront of a great rebellion. At the sametime, Raddus's ships disconnected and charged for the blockade over Mon Cala. As they flew past the three Star Destroyers, two of the MC80 cruisers were destroyed. Tarkin let the final three go saying that they would be found eventually.

Meanwhile, the skirmish in Bel City had ended and at least one Inquisitor trooper had survived. The trooper had lost an arm and sat over the severed head of one of his brethren. Sixth Brother had left Bel City and was being taken back on a boat with three clone troopers. As he travelled across the oceans of Mon Cala, he passed many dead creatures that had been killed by the Sovereign's bombardment. Verla had also escaped Bel City and was hiding in a cave with two Quarren soldiers. Vader defeated and slew Barr in front of Lee-Char, leaving him sprawled face down on the floor as the clones arrived to arrest Lee-Char. Lee-Char told Vader that Mon Cala would rise again before he was taken away. Vader told Lee-Char that there was no Mon Cala and he escorted Lee-Char back into the shuttle where they left Mon Cala.

Aftermath
"Raddus left to rebel. Those who have stayed behind have felt Imperial fists for twenty years. They took our king. They still have him."

- Regent Urtya

Lee-Char was imprisoned on Strokill Prime following his arrest. As the Empire subjugated their world, the Mon Calamari launched a mass exodus by converting their buildings into city-ships. Before long, many of these ships escaped Mon Cala and were converted for war by rebels in deep-space facilities located in the remote Telaris system, far from Imperial naval patrols. These city-ships, including the Profundity and Aspiration, eventually became part of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, the great rebellion that Barr forsaw.

Raddus became an Admiral in the Alliance's fleet and organized the scatter of converted or donated vessels into an organized fleet. Raddus eventually led the Alliance fleet to Scarif in 0 BBY, where they assisted in the Alliance's first major victory. However Raddus was killed as Vader arrived to intervene on his Star Destroyer, the Devastator.

Ackbar was too an Admiral in the Alliance fleet and one year after Raddus's death, he went on a mission to Mon Cala to convince more vessels to defect to the Alliance. Ackbar and some of his best operatives went to meet the regent, Urtya, and convince him to help them. However Urtya refused, fearing the safety of the Mon Calamari. Ackbar's operatives, led by Leia Organa, took matters into their own hands and tried to break Lee-Char out of prison.

Upon arriving at Lee-Char's cell, they found him barely alive and on life support. They recorded a message from him to his people and stormtroopers intervened, killing Lee-Char. After his death, Leia attempted to broadcast Lee-Char's message out to the Mercentile fleet but Urtya stopped them and took it away. Urtya decided to broadcast it anyway and when the Mon Calamari witnessed Lee-Char get gunned down, they orchestrated a mass mutiny. The Empire responded by killing Urtya and attempting to destroy all the merchant ships. With the help of Ackbar, twelve of the merchant ships escaped and were converted for war at Mako-Ta Space Docks.

Ackbar eventually led the Alliance fleet into a battle that saw not only a victory but the deaths of Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader and the beginning of the end for the Empire. At least thirteen Mon Calamari vessels participated in the battle, leading the charge as Barr also forsaw. The Empire fell a year later and the galaxy was free under the rule of the New Republic.

Behind the scenes
The occupation of Mon Cala was first mentioned, albeit unidentified, in the new Star Wars canon in the Mon Calamari's entry in the now-discontinued Encyclopedia on StarWars.com, which was carried over to its replacement, the Databank. It was first identified in the novelization of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, written by Alexander Freed and released on December 16, 2016. The event was originally created for The Star Wars Sourcebook, a Star Wars Legends sourcebook written by Bill Slavicsek and Curtis Smith for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and released on October 1, 1987.

Appearances

 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 13: Burning Seas, Part I
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 14: Burning Seas, Part II
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 15: Burning Seas, Part III
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 16: Burning Seas, Part IV
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 17: Burning Seas, Part V
 * Rogue One: A Star Wars Story novelization
 * Star Wars 44: Mutiny at Mon Cala, Part I
 * Star Wars 48: Mutiny at Mon Cala, Part V