Rom Mohc

Born into the isolated culture of Atrisia, Rom Mohc stood out as one of the few Atrisians who thrived beyond their homeworld.

As a non-clone officer within the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic, Rom Mohc participated in the Clone Wars under the leadership of General Locus Geen. Specializing in cybernetics, Mohc earned a reputation for engaging battle droids in unarmed combat, proving to be an invaluable asset during the Invasion of Coruscant by the droid army belonging to the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

His courageous actions during the Clone Wars elevated Mohc to the status of a celebrated hero across the HoloNet, and his unwavering loyalty propelled him swiftly toward success within Palpatine's New Order. Mohc fought on numerous worlds in Palpatine's name, receiving three Imperial Medals of Valor and the Distinguished Medal of Imperial Honor. He continued his fascination with droids, frequently testing his skills against various deadly droids, which included a prototype IG-97, a ZQ Infantry Support Unit, and several Mark IX-XI Executioners. His unusual penchant for combat led to the creation of a trophy room filled with battle droids he had vanquished. He opposed the Death Star project as it went against his martial philosophy and career.

Mohc's inspiration struck while serving as a Zero-G assault stormtrooper, leading him to increasingly believe in the possibility of constructing the ultimate warbot. He initiated extensive historical and technological research, studying designs of mechanical soldiers ranging from the Pre-Republic war-robots of Xim and the ancient Sith to the more contemporary Republic Iron Knights.

Mohc's research efforts culminated in the preliminary designs for what would eventually become the dark trooper. Teaming up with Baron Orman Tagge, Mohc conceived the Z-X3 experimental droid trooper, intended to augment stormtroopers in hazardous environments such as radiation or vacuum. Despite an experimental batch of seventy droids proving to be both lethal and adaptable, the Imperial Military held a strong aversion to the use of battle droids, resulting in the rejection of the Z-X3.

Undaunted, Mohc persisted in promoting his ideas. His determination eventually bore fruit when he secured support from the Imperial Department of Military Research, leading to young Lieutenant Mohc being stationed aboard the Empirical in 17 BBY. This hidden space station, located in the Dominus sector and belonging to the Sith Lord Darth Vader, served as the base for overseeing the Phase Zero Dark Trooper project. This project aimed to restore aging clone troopers to combat readiness by transforming them into cyborgs. However, due to the forced recruitment into the project, many Phase Zero Dark Troopers struggled to adapt to their new state of being more machine than man, leading to suicide attempts. As the Empire's power grew and the recruitment rate of non-clones increased, the project was ultimately shut down. Nevertheless, the successful subjects of the project became the Purge Troopers, which would later inspire the design of the Phase III dark trooper.

Having played a significant role in the Empire's rise to power, Mohc was eventually elevated to the rank of general within the Galactic Empire's military forces, where he took charge of the Imperial Dark Trooper Project. During 1 BBY, General Mohc served as an administrator at the Imperial Academy of the planet Carida. During his tenure, Mohc implemented a sophisticated surveillance system intended to discourage misconduct among cadets. Despite this, General Mohc was held in high regard by the academy's students due to his status as a seasoned combat veteran, rather than just another officer. Mohc was particularly impressed by cadet Kyle Katarn, who demonstrated exceptional bravery during his Omega Exercise, which involved the taking of asteroid AX-456 from Rebel Alliance forces. In recognition of the cadet's valor, Mohc personally commended Katarn at his bedside. Later that same day, General Mohc hosted a dinner for the High Inquisitor Jerec (who had previously executed Katarn's father for being an Alliance militant) and expressed his interest in meeting the cadet. The two Imperials subsequently used Mohc's surveillance system to observe Katarn as he shared his strange experiences during the mission with Meck Odom.

Mohc later addressed the graduating class, commanding their undivided attention. Following the speech, and in accordance with Jerec's desire to meet Katarn, the General and Jerec presented awards to the top ten percent of the graduating class, including Katarn, who received the Imperial Medal of Honor. Special awards of valor and merit were also bestowed upon cadets Rand Nalleck, Dana Cory, Chad Longko, and Ben. However, as the ceremony progressed, Mohc grew eager for it to conclude so he could entertain a mistress.

Despite the Imperials' praise for Katarn, the cadet defected from the Empire upon discovering that he had been deceived about the circumstances surrounding his father's death. He had been told that rebel insurgents were responsible, rather than an Imperial official. Katarn joined the Rebel Alliance and quickly participated in a mission to steal information about the Death Star project, which ultimately aided the Alliance in destroying the battle station during the year 0 BBY. Ironically, General Mohc had previously opposed the construction of the Death Star due to his distrust of technology that distanced soldiers from the glory of the battlefield.

Since his promotion to general, Mohc dedicated the resources at his disposal to finalize the technical designs and implementation plans for his own dark troopers, believing that infantry units should prove their worth in battle. He believed his creation would please the Emperor, but the latter was obsessed with Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin's Death Star project. He was one of the few officers to oppose the Death Star as Mohc had a distrust of any technology which separated warriors from their enemies in battle. Following the failure of the first Death Star at the Battle of Yavin, Mohc saw an opportunity to present his program to Palpatine. Angered by the late Governor Tarkin's failure and recognizing the partial success of the Phase Zero project, the Emperor authorized General Mohc to proceed with his new program.

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

During 0 ABY, General Mohc convened with Supreme Commander Darth Vader aboard Vader's flagship, the Executor, to conduct an official combat test of the dark troopers. A Rebel base was discovered on the planet Talay: Tak Base. Mohc ordered the deployment of Phase II dark troopers upon the base via hyperspace pods, supported by ground troops under the command of Captain Nonam. Tak Base was completely destroyed, resulting in the deaths of all Rebel personnel. Furthermore, the adjacent city of Tak was razed, causing significant civilian casualties. The dark troopers were subsequently recalled, and an Imperial garrison was stationed in the city. However, one dark trooper inadvertently left its prototype weapon behind in Tak Base. Nonetheless, Lord Vader was impressed by the display of force, granting General Mohc permission to continue with the project.

Despite the devastation, Rebel officer General Toka managed to transmit a distress message to the Alliance before his death. While no visual recordings of the dark troopers were captured, the video message did record the distinct sounds produced by the droid troopers. This message was received by Alliance high command, who subsequently dispatched agents Jan Ors and Kyle Katarn to investigate the aftermath of the battle. During the investigation, Katarn discovered the dark trooper weapon. Identifying Rebus' initials on it, the Rebels gained a lead and resolved to put an end to Mohc's ambitions.

Mohc's assembly line began to falter when the Alliance operation began with the capture of Moff Rebus, the dark trooper project's weapon designer, on the planet Anoat. Rebus' subsequent interrogation led to Katarn infiltrating and destroying dark trooper facilities on Fest and Gromas 16. With Katarn's actions posing a direct threat to Mohc's operation, the general hired the renowned bounty hunter Boba Fett to eliminate the Rebels. Shortly thereafter, Crix Madine's role as a rebel spy was uncovered, and Mohc arrested the traitor in the presence of both Vader and Fett aboard the Arc Hammer. Although Mohc's own identity remained a mystery to the rebel agents, the Imperials were well aware of Katarn. Mohc even recounted the agent's past Imperial career to those present. Despite Vader's growing reservations about the project, Mohc confidently asserted that Katarn would never get near the Arc Hammer.

Madine was sentenced to execution and imprisoned at the Imperial Detention Center on Orinackra. However, Katarn rescued him shortly thereafter during 1 ABY, and Madine shared what he knew about Mohc and the dark trooper project. Madine's information led Katarn to track Jabba the Hutt's loaned smugglers from Cal-Seti to Ice Station Beta on Anteevy, which Katarn also destroyed. The rebels later stole a nava card from the moon Nar Shaddaa which, after being cracked in the Imperial Security Operations building on Coruscant, revealed the smugglers' routes. During the latter mission, Katarn encountered Fett and defeated the bounty hunter in a heated battle. Katarn then used the information from the nava card to follow the smugglers to the Executor.

Despite Mohc's belief that the Arc Hammer was beyond Katarn's reach, Katarn infiltrated the Executor, stole a cargo container, and boarded the Arc Hammer. Realizing that Katarn was far more capable than he had anticipated, Mohc began to view the rebel agent as a worthy adversary. In response to the rebel infiltration, Mohc donned his Phase III dark trooper armor and waited near the Arc Hammer's hangar for a final confrontation with Katarn.

Meanwhile, Katarn fought Mohc's forces and planted an explosive device on three of the Arc Hammer's exchange couplings located along the ship's main power grid. As Katarn made his way to the ship's hangar bay to find an escape, he found the massive ante-chamber where Mohc was waiting. The general only revealed himself, however, after Katarn destroyed the seven dark troopers that guarded the arena.

A massive door opened, revealing Mohc atop a pedestal, and the final battle commenced. The General fought the rebel he had personally commended and decorated on Carida to the point that Katarn had need to only outlast Mohc's barrage of attacks. Ultimately, General Mohc was slain, and Katarn escaped the Arc Hammer before the explosives detonated, destroying everything Mohc had worked for.

Kyle Katarn remembered Mohc, during his graduation, as a relatively short man with barrel chest, and a bulldog face, traits he had up to his death a couple of years later.

Mohc was known for his eccentric and violent intelligence, as well as his obsession with personal hand-to-hand combat. His deep understanding of cybernetics allowed him to identify the weaknesses in various Separatist droid designs and exploit them in combat.

Having fought and defeated numerous battle droids over the years, he amassed a personal collection of them in his private trophy room. Mohc's passion for personal combat bordered on obsession, leading him to insist that every soldier deserved the opportunity to face their enemy in direct combat, even to the point of protesting the Death Star project.

He had the reputation of a real soldier, who only followed orders, even unpleasant ones. He believed in the authority of the Emperor, the consistency of a single voice, instead of the "chaos" of different opinions. He believed that the Empire is attacked from within, and as he said to his graduation speech, the duty of the fledgie officers was to "find the rot, cut it out, and restore order".

He ascribed defection as a "weakness", such as defector Kyle Katarn too weak to remain with the Empire. However in his final challenge, he recognised him as a worthy opponent.

Mohc serves as the primary antagonist in the video game Star Wars: Dark Forces and is primarily featured in cutscenes that advance the story.

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

Mohc reappears in the story "Sand Blasted," which expands upon one of the game's cutscenes. However, his appearance differs somewhat from that of the game, depicting him with receding but long, red hair.

In the cancelled The Clone Wars Sourcebook by Daniel Wallace, Rom Mohc would have clashed with General Grievous on "the spike-stone plains of Mendig," with Grievous refusing to kill him in favor of having Mohc return to Coruscant in shame. This encounter would have inspired Mohc's obssession with personal combat and the subsequent creation of the dark troopers.

An action figure of Mohc was given with one of IG-97 with a reprint of Sand Blasted as a part of a "Comic Pack".[1]