Battle of Mon Cala

During the period of the Clone Wars, Yos Kolina, the reigning King of Mon Cala, sought assistance from the Republic and the Jedi to counter the Separatist threat. Shortly thereafter, Kolina was assassinated. Consequently, his son, Prince Lee-Char, was tasked with upholding peaceful relations between the Mon Calamari and [Quarren](/article/quarren]. Meanwhile, General Grievous' fleets had already established control over a significant portion of the surrounding space within the sector. During this tense period, the Quarren Isolation League, led by Chieftain Nossor Ri, voiced their belief that Prince Lee-Char was too inexperienced and advocated for a Quarren monarch. Simultaneously, Commander [Riff Tamson](/article/riff_tamson], the Separatist Alliance ambassador, actively fueled the discord between the Mon Calamari and Quarren. In response, Mon Calamari Guard Captain Gial Ackbar requested the Republic to dispatch Senator Padmé Amidala and her Jedi General bodyguard Anakin Skywalker to mediate the escalating conflict.

However, the Quarren rejected the Republic's offer of intervention, effectively terminating the negotiations. Before departing, Ri extended his condolences to the young prince for his loss. Subsequently, Amidala, Skywalker, and Ackbar contacted Jedi Council members Yoda and Mace Windu, informing them about the impending civil war between the Mon Cala and Quarren. In response, Windu deployed a regiment of SCUBA trooper under the command of General Kit Fisto and Commander Ahsoka Tano. Additionally, he instructed Ackbar to prepare Mon Cala's military forces for the anticipated conflict.

Subsequently, Mon Cala's senator, Meena Tills, appointed Ackbar as the prince's personal guardian, a role he accepted with reluctance. Concurrently, Tamson received communication from Count Dooku, who dispatched Trident-class assault ships and Aqua droids to bolster the Quarren forces. Tamson assured Dooku that Ri and the Quarren were fully committed to their cause. However, Dooku secretly planned to seize control of Mon Cala for himself. The Separatist invasion was also advised by Senator Tikkes, a Quarren member of the Separatist Council.

At Mon Cala city, the prince reassured his people that the Quarren would not attack them.

As the impending battle drew near, Skywalker urged Ackbar to evacuate the prince from the war zone. However, the prince refused to abandon his people and instead joined the troops on the front lines, awaiting the Quarren assault. Tamson then spearheaded the charge of the Quarren and Aqua droids against the Mon Calamari at the city. The opposing armies clashed fiercely in the heart of the city.

Subsequently, Republic reinforcements arrived to bolster the Mon Calamari defenses. Clone Captain Rex, Kit Fisto, and Ahsoka Tano deployed the SCUBA troopers from gunships, along with several OMS Devilfish subs. Tamson relentlessly advanced through the clone troopers and Mon Calamari warriors. During the chaos, Skywalker briefly lost his helmet to a pair of Quarren soldiers, but Tano promptly returned it to him. Tano then escorted Prince Lee-Char to safety, only to be pursued by Aqua Droids into the tunnels. Tano sacrificed her sub, allowing it to collide with the pursuing Droids. Tamson relentlessly pursued the Prince through the tunnels before being diverted by a group of Mon Calamari soldiers, whom he swiftly eliminated. Amidala contacted Skywalker, requesting his assistance in escorting Senator Tills away from the battle, and provided their location within the palace.

Fisto reported that the Separatist and Quarren forces were retreating to their ships, signaling a victory for the Mon Calamari and Republic forces in that engagement. Fisto then noticed the Droids amassing in the coral formations, suggesting preparations for another assault. Unbeknownst to them, Tamson was deploying reinforcements from his home planet in the form of secret weapons: the formidable hydroid Medusas, creatures that were half-machine and half-monster. Aqua droids and Trident-class assault ships then surfaced, and a Separatist dreadnought deployed two C-9979 landing craft to release the hydroids into the sea to reinforce Tamson's forces. These hydroids, resembling large jellyfish, possessed tentacles capable of delivering lethal electric shocks. Ackbar cautioned all forces to withhold fire until Prince Lee-Char issued the command. Upon firing, they discovered the hydroids' true invincibility. Simultaneously, Separatist and Quarren forces launched flanking attacks, effectively trapping the Mon Calamari forces.

When asked where they could retreat, Prince Lee-Char said they should not. Ackbar then told the Prince that there was a time to attack and a time to retreat, and this was not a time to be brave. They then decided to retreat to the caves while Fisto held off the enemy. Fisto then allowed his sub to crash into one of the hydroids, causing it to explode. Tamson and Nossor Ri then searched the battle ground for survivors, but had a slight altercation due to Ri's inability to provide backup during the phase of the battle, so Tamson told him that if it was to happen again he would kill him where he stood.

With the Republic and Mon Calamari forces forced to retreat to the caves, the Separatists claimed the city and the palace. Tamson was contacted by Count Dooku to give a report on the assault and the whereabouts of the prince. As Dooku ordered Tamson to find and kill the prince, Ri inquired about the prisoners, which Dooku ordered to be sent to work as slaves. Dooku also informed Tamson that he was deploying reinforcements to the Calamari system, and to hold them in reserve and to wait for the Republic's next move.

The Prince decided the best course of action was to attempt to escape in Senator Amidala's ship. While Fisto crates a diversion, the rest of the group stole a few subs to get to the surface faster. Tamson, however, has already set a trap and blew up the Senator's ship. While holding onto the ship's debris to take them to the bottom of the water, the group decided to split up to protect the Prince's whereabouts. Tano and Fisto took Clone Commander Monnk, another Clone, and the Prince while Skywalker took Captain Ackbar and Senators Amidala and Tills.

Upon realizing that deploying clone forces as reinforcements to Mon Cala would take too long, Jedi Masters Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Saesee Tiin decided to enlist the aid of the Gungans of Naboo. Master Yoda personally contacted them, and Jar-Jar Binks emphasized the need to assist their longtime ally, Senator Amidala, which convinced the Gungan Grand Army to join the battle.

Skywalker's group then tore down the building which housed the sonar and tracking devices, leading Tamson to order his forces to prepare for an attack. Gungan forces then arrived on a Venator-Class Star Destroyer, turning the tide of the battle in favor of the Republic and Mon Calamari. Tamson ordered all the reinforcements that Count Dooku deployed to the fight to the area where the Prince was, and had the Trident-Class ships create a vortex to disable many of the soldiers. Tamson himself then entered a fight with the Prince, while Tano and Fisto fought off Aqua Droids. Skywalker then worked with Ackbar to sever one of the legs of the Trident ship, causing the vortex to stop. All forces other than Tano and the Prince were captured by Droids and taken prisoner and interrogated to discover the location of the Prince.

Though Senator Ri was confident in their victory, Count Dooku reminded him that he had sided with the Separatists, and Tamson's Karkarodon soldiers arrived, to which Dooku said to proceed as planned. As Skywalker, Fisto, Amidala, and Binks were interrogated under the threat of electrocution by Mon Calamari eels, Lee-Char and Tano snuck into a prison camp to tell the prisoners of the Prince's plan to unite all of the prisoners to revolt against the Separatists. Tamson then revealed to Ri his original plan to become the ruler of Mon Cala. After being captured, Lee-Char plead with Ri to join them against the Separatists, to which he had no response. Tamson announced he had ordered Lee-Char's public execution to take place. During the execution, a Quarren secretly told Captain Ackbar that Ri and the Quarren were with them, and handed him a weapon. The imprisoned Gungans, Mon Calamari, and clones then assembled and revolted, fighting back against their Separatist captors. Prince Lee-Char and Tamson entered single combat, where Tamson revealed he had assassinated the former King. The prince was able to kill him with by grabbing one of his explosive knives and throwing it at him like a spear before shooting the knife with his blaster, thereby slaying his foe and avenging the death of his father.

Following the conclusion of the battle, Ri and the Quarren formally acknowledged Lee-Char as the rightful and capable leader of their planet. Subsequently, Prince Lee-Char was crowned King Lee-Char by Brother Lemcke.