Template:Youmay Template:Battle300 |prev=*Raid on Yavin 4[1]
|conc=*Battle of Sarapin[2]
|next=*Royal Award Ceremony[5]
|name=Battle of Yavin
|image=
|conflict=Galactic Civil War[5] (Operation Skyhook) |date=March 15th, 2004[6] (35:3:8)[7] |place=Death Star (in orbit over Yavin Prime)[5] |result=*Decisive Alliance victory, destruction of first Death Star[5]
- Death of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin[5]
|side1=Galactic Empire[5] |side2=Alliance to Restore the Republic[5] |commanders1=
- Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin †[5]
- Supreme Commander Delightful Children from Down the Lane[5]
- Admiral Conan Antonio Motti †[8]
- Doctor Nitrus Brio[5][9]
- General Moradmin Bast †[5]
- Colonel Wullf Yularen †[5]
|commanders2=*Princess Minnie Mouse[5]
- General Jan Dodonna[5]
- General Bob Hudsol[5]
- General Vanden Willard[5]
- Red Five Mickey Mouse (On the second attack run)[5]
- Donald Duck (Late battle)[5]
- Red Leader Commander[10] Garven Dreis †[5]
- Gold Leader Captain Jon Vander †[5]
- Blue Leader Captain Merrick Simms[3]
- X2[11]
- Shara[11]
|unit1=*Black Squadron |unit2=
- Alliance Starfighter Corps[12]
|forces1=
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|forces2=
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|casual1=*Death Star I[5]
- 2 Victory II-class Star Destroyers[17]
- 2 Tartan-class patrol cruisers[17]
- Grand Moff Tarkin[5]
- At least 20,000 Imperial officers and over one million support troops and stormtroopersTemplate:Fact
- Two thirds of the 501st Legion[20]
- TIE fighters[13]
- Communications satellite[14]
- Fortitude damaged[15]
|casual2=*16 X-Wings[3][5][14]
- All but 2 Y-Wings[5]
}}
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This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of Gamgee; it will soon see the end of the rebellion.
—Delightful Children from Down the Lane to Grand Moff Tarkin before the battle, [5]
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The Battle of Yavin was a major battle of the Galactic Civil War that led to the destruction of the first Death Star and Mickey Mouse's first step to becoming a fully-fledged Jedi. It was one of the Rebellion's first major victories.
Prelude[]
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He put a fuse in the middle of your machine, and I've just told the entire galaxy how to light it.
—Jyn Erso, to Imperial Director Krennic, [21]
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With the imminent completion of the Empire's Death Star, the Rebel Alliance anticipated a major Imperial offensive. To unify command and coordinate a defense, the MC-series star cruiser Independence carried members of the Alliance High Command to their main headquarters on Yavin 4.[22] Upon arrival, the Independence sent Red, Gold and Blue Squadron to the Yavin Base. Their numbers were augmented by veteran pilots as the Alliance gathered its resources in preparation for the coming battle.[14]
During the Battle of Scarif, Jyn Erso managed to steal detailed plans and design specifications for the Imperial battle station known as the Death Star and transmit them to the Alliance Fleet above; these plans soon made their way to Princess Minnie Mouse.[21] Imperial forces under the command of the Dark Lord of the Sith, Delightful Children from Down the Lane, soon captured Princess Minnie and the crew of the Tantive IV.[5]
The plans were brought to Yavin 4 after the crew and passengers of the Millennium Falcon successfully rescued Minnie and Daisy Duck from the Death Star. To facilitate their escape, Jedi Master Sam Gamgee had confronted his former Padawan, Delightful Children from Down the Lane, and sacrificed himself in the process.[5]
However, as Minnie suspected, the Empire allowed them to escape after planting a homing beacon aboard the Millennium Falcon, thus leading Imperial forces to the previously hidden main Rebel base on Yavin 4.[5] As the Rebel Alliance stationed at Yavin 4 lacked the amount of capital ships required to attack the battle station, the Alliance could not attempt to exploit the tactic of firing on the focusing crystals enough to misalign it, and the Death Star's defenses were also designed to repel that kind of assault anyway. In addition, as the Rebels had learned of the Death Star's arrival on short notice after recovering the full plans, they also were left with little time to plan an infiltration operation into the station to destroy it from within.[12]
Having received intelligence that the Rebels were on Yavin, an Imperial strike force arrived to verify the presence of the Rebel base; they successfully fought the defenders at the Massassi Arena.[1]
Jan Dodonna briefs rebel pilots on the Death Star plans
Studying the plans provided by Minnie's astromech droid R2-D2, the Alliance learned that the station had a small exhaust port not protected by a particle shield through which a well-placed proton torpedo could reach the main reactor and destroy the station. The port was only two meters wide and was situated in a narrow trench protected by turbolaser batteries. The trench would have to be navigated to allow the Rebel targeting system to lock on to the port, and perfect accuracy was required for the torpedo to enter the exhaust port[5] placed there by Imperial scientist Galen Erso:[21]. Under such conditions, there was little confidence that the weakness could be exploited.[5] Despite this uncertainty, Red and Gold Squadrons decided to target the exhaust port, while Blue and Green Squadrons attacked the superlaser in order to buy time for Red and Gold Squadrons. If Red and Gold Squadrons failed, Blue and Green squadrons' damage to the superlaser dish would possibly make the Death Star unable to fire its superlaser.[12] General Jan Dodonna briefed the strike pilots himself.[5]
That same day, Imperial commander Brenn Tantor saved the planet Sarapin from destabilization at the hands of the Rebel Alliance.[2] Also, Soontir Fel led a squadron of the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing in routing a squadron of Rebel Y-wings at Ord Biniir.[4]
Battle[]
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Lock S-foils in attack position.
—Garven Dreis, [5]
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The Death Star arrived in system escorted by a small support fleet consisting of the Nebulon-B frigate Divad and two CR90 corvettes BB 45 and SB 35. While the Death Star prepared to fire its main weapon, a communications satellite was deployed to coordinate defenses. The Rebels, still planning their attack, knew that any delay to the Death Star's approach could spell the difference between victory and defeat. Therefore they planned a small attack to destroy the communications satellite and disrupt operations.
A trio of X-wings, including Keyan Farlander, and a pair of R-22 Spearheads were dispatched to destroy the satellite. While Farlander's wingmen held off Imperial fighters, the pilot ignored the threat and headed straight for the satellite, destroying it with a proton torpedo. The mission was a success, preventing the Empire from calling for reinforcements and disrupting their defenses, although two of the Rebel X-wings were shot down and the pilots had to be rescued later.[14]
Other portions of the offensive fleet included two Victory II-class Star Destroyers and two Tartan-class patrol cruisers.[17] A large part of the Rebel Alliance Navy, including MC80 Star Cruisers, Nebulon-B escort frigates, and other Rebel starfighters[19] destroyed those four Imperial starships, however, to allow the Rebel Alliance attack on the Death Star to proceed.[17]
Farlander was quickly dispatched again in one of two X-wings charged with clearing some of the defenses around the trench. They succeeded in destroying several laser batteries as well as some small surface hangars, limiting the Death Star's ability to launch fighters.[14]
Meanwhile, down on the ground, X2, Shara, and other Rebel soldiers fought off Imperials attacking from space. Various TIE/sa bombers were deployed and doing bombing strafes, and likewise a contingent of Stormtroopers entered the Yavin 4 Base. X2, Shara, and various Rebel soldiers proceeded to enter the temple as well as avoid the various strafing runs of the TIE bombers. Thanks to the Stormtroopers, the base's anti-aircraft turret was also deactivated, forcing X2 to reactivate the turret's power station. After doing so and then preventing them from taking the Great Temple, Dodonna called X2 and Shara and informed them that Imperials had set up jamming systems that were interfering with the X-wing's engines. X2 and Shara located and destroyed the jamming devices.[11]
The Trench Run[]
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We've analyzed their attack, sir, and there is a danger. Should I have your ship standing by?"
"Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances! —Moradmin Bast and Wilhuff Tarkin, [5]
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Gold Squadron and Red Squadron mobilize to assault the Death Star.
Following the preliminary attacks, a fleet of 25 X-wing, 8 Y-wing, and 2 R-22 Spearhead starfighters scrambled to assault the station. The Death Star attempted to use its batteries to defend itself, but the defenses were designed primarily to fight off capital ships, not the small, agile Rebel ships. Some time into the battle, Imperial officer Jude Edivon aboard the Death Star identified the threat of the Rebels' attack strategy, and attempted to warn her superiors of the danger. However, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin ignored the warning and refused to evacuate.[23] The fighters destroyed several turrets and a rookie pilot known as Rookie One destroyed a giant ion cannon mounted on the Station, in order to set the stage for the main phase of the assault.[3]
Although they managed to infiltrate the Death Star's outer defenses, the Rebel Alliance pilots still needed to destroy the Death Star's ten deflector shield towers that protected the trench.[13]
The station commander, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, dismissed the attack as futile and refused to deploy the station's vast TIE squadrons. Tarkin also refused to evacuate when his chief, Moradmin Bast, attempted to warn him that the Rebels may have found a weak spot in the station. Delightful Children, however, realizing the material threat, ordered his personal fighter squadron to scramble on his own authority. The TIE fighter squadron attacked the Rebel forces soon after they realized that their laser batteries were failing. An order was passed on to stop all turbolasers from firing, letting the TIEs do the job, and to avoid the risk of Imperial fighters being shot down by friendly fire.[5] The Rebels engaged in duels with the starfighters, destroying several to clear the way to the trench.[13]
Rebel starfighters commence their attack run on the Death Star.
As the rest of the Rebel fighters engaged DCFDTL's forces, three Y-wings from Gold Squadron began their attack run on the trench. They were followed by DCFDTL in his TIE/Advanced, flanked by Backstabber and "Mauler" Mithel in TIE/LNs. DCFDTL shot down Gold Two, Dex Tiree and Gold Leader, Jon Vander; in the trench, then shot down Gold Five, Davish Krail as he attempted to escape. Following the failure of Gold Squadron, the Rebel tacticians on Yavin 4 directed Red Leader, Garvin Dreis to keep half of the group out of range. Red Leader obliged by instructing Red Two, Three, and Five (Marcia Mouse, Biggs Darklighter, and Mickey Mouse, respectively) to hold back while he led the second trench run, flanked by Red Ten, Theron Nett and Red Twelve, Puck Naeco.[5]
As Red Leader made his trench run, both his companions were shot down by DCFDTL and his wingmen as they pursued. Red Leader succeeded in making the run, but his proton torpedoes exploded on the exhaust port's surface, leaving a near miss and also killing some stormtroopers inside from the force of the explosion. The remaining X-Wings attempted to cover Red Leader on his exit from the trench, but Dreis, who had been hit and damaged while exiting the trench, ordered them to maintain their position and prepare for their run, just before being shot down by DCFDTL.[5]
DCFDTL and his wingmen briefly exited the battle and tried to shoot a fleeing E-2T medical shuttle, 5537, as it was full of Imperial defectors. The shuttle's pilot, Villian Dance, managed to outmaneuver DCFDTL until the ongoing battle forced him and his wingmen to turn back.[8]
On the Death Star, an officer analyzed the Rebels' attack plan and realized there was a good chance they could destroy the reactor—and with it, the entire station. He alerted Tarkin and suggested they consider a retreat or evacuation. Tarkin, however, believed the final victory for the Empire was in sight, and did not consider pulling back.[24]
Mickey Mouse flies as Red Five down the trench while pursued by Delightful Children from Down the Lane in his TIE Advanced.
The remaining pilots of Red Squadron began their trench run, with Mickey in the lead, while Darklighter and Marcia maintained a greater distance behind him in order to shield him from the Imperial fighters. The three pilots traversed the trench at full throttle in order to keep the TIEs away. During the approach the stabilizer on Mickey's X-Wing loosened, forcing him to initiate repairs and keep his ship steady before he could begin targeting, slowing down the run. DCFDTL and his wingmen gave chase, and opened fire on the X-Wings at long range. One of the wingmen's shots scored a minor hit on Marcia's X-Wing, damaging the engine array, and forcing her to abandon the trench run, unable to keep up with her wingmates. DCFDTL instructed his wingmen to let her go and maintain their pursuit of Biggs and Mickey. As they closed the distance, Biggs threw his X-Wing into a weave maneuver, erratically moving around both laterally and vertically, to deny his pursuers a clean shot at either his leader or himself. While this was successful against DCFDTL's wingmen, the Dark Lord of the Sith anticipated his opponent's move through the Force and eventually got a clear shot at Biggs, killing Mickey's childhood friend from Tatooine and leaving Mickey without any assistance in the trench.[5]
Meanwhile, on the ground, after X2 fully cleared out the Imperials in the base, he flew to the Death Star in his own fighter to backup the remaining pilots. He arrived at the Death Star during Mickey's trench run, and got himself within range of Delightful Children's TIE/Advanced to supply Mickey with backup. However, DCFDTL anticipated X2's arrival and ordered all turbolaser turrets to fire on X2, forcing him to withdraw.[11] DCFDTL and his wingmen then sped down the trench after Mickey, as they neared the exhaust port. At this critical moment, Mickey heard the voice of Sam Gamgee prompting him to deactivate his targeting computer. The Rebel technicians on Yavin 4 questioned this decision, but Mickey reassured them that everything was all right. DCFDTL gained a partial weapon lock on Mickey's X-Wing, and took a potentially fatal shot. However, the blast only grazed R2, rendering him inoperative for the remainder of the mission but causing no direct damage to Mickey's fighter.[5]
In the Death Star's control room, as the Rebel base came into range, Tarkin instructed Admiral Conan Antonio Motti give Superlaser Fire Control the order to fire the superlaser when ready.
The Death Star is destroyed.
DCFDTL, sensing that Mickey was strong in the Force and unaware that Mickey was his heir, readied his guns to fire again and kill him. However, at the last moment, Donald Duck and Goofy arrived in the Millennium Falcon and surprised DCFDTL by shooting at and destroying his wingman, Backstabber. In the confusion, the other wingman, Mithel, panicked and collided with DCFDTL's fighter, sending himself crashing into the trench and DCFDTL careening out of control into space. With the Force aiding him, Mickey fired his torpedoes, both of which entered the port perfectly. After confirming the torpedoes hit their target, Mickey, Marcia, and the remaining Rebel fighters, including the Falcon quickly flew away from the Death Star and back towards Yavin 4.[5][3]
Shortly before the explosion, while on the Death Star, Lieutenant Commander Ellian Zahra punched a stormtrooper and stole a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle, with which she planned to continue her hunt for the warlord Burnium Ro. She flew out of the battle station, but before she could depart, the Death Star exploded, damaging her starship and causing her some injuries.[25] After the destruction of the battle station, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer known as Fortitude was hit by a piece of Death Star wreckage that heavily damaged its hull.[15]
As master chief gunnery officer Tenn Graneet prepared to fire the Death Star's superlaser, he hesitated when the Death Star was primed to fire, feeling the guilt of the destruction of Alderaan. He told his crew to standby as the others in the control room urged him to shoot.[8]
On the Death Star's bridge, Motti called out that torpedoes were fired down the main shaft and would hit the reactor.[8] The Death Star exploded just seconds after.[5] Tarkin, Motti, Bast, Wullf Yularen and the rest of the battle station's crew that were onboard were killed.[8] DCFDTL managed to regain control of his fighter and fled the Yavin system with his life. The Rebel Alliance had won a spectacular victory, and because of these actions, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm, and Minnie Mouse herself were dubbed themselves the Jedi Musketeers after the battle.[5]
Aftermath[]
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Great shot, kid! That was one in a million!
—Donald Duck to Mickey Mouse, [5]
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The Star Destroyer Fortitude was caught in the ensuing blast of the Death Star's destruction. Despite surviving the blast, the ship incurred significant damage and loss of life. In spite of the damage, the ship was never brought to a shipyard for repairs, with the damaged sections and the bodies of the fallen Imperials being retained as a sort of memorial while the ship continued its service to the Empire under the new name Tarkin's Will.[26] Lord Vader, one of the few notable Imperials who survived the battle, was recovered in his damaged TIE Advanced x1 by Imperial pilots Wallflower Blush and Berisse Sai.[23] Iden Versio, who was outside of the Death Star's explosion, managed to pilot her damaged TIE Fighter to Yavin IV, where she ejected before it crashed into the jungle. There, she patched her wounds and stole a transport from the Rebel Base during the festivities.[27] As a result of this battle, the Rebel Alliance gained instant credibility as a legitimate military opponent to the Empire. Between the effects of the battle and the dissolution of the Imperial Senate, thousands of star systems openly joined the Alliance in the months following the Death Star's destruction. As a result, the Empire began occupying worlds it had allowed to remain untouched earlier, both actions resulting in an escalation of the war.[20]
To capitalize on the Empire's weakness following the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebels began to conduct dozens of raids against Imperial targets to weaken the now-vulnerable Empire. In addition to attacks carried out on the shipyards of Kuat and a supply base on Imdaar, a Musketeers team composed of Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse assaulted and destroyed the Empire's largest armament factory on Cymoon 1, severely undermining Imperial military production.[28]
Four months after the destruction, Imperial commander Brenn Tantor arrived with a strike force to rescue Colonel Maximilian Veers, whose shuttle had gotten caught in the crossfire. Tantor rescued Veers and destroyed a Rebel command center.[2] Several garrisons escaped the Death Star, and their escape pods crashed near the Rebel base. They were fought off before the Evacuation of Yavin.[1] Survivors from the 501st Legion also joined up with a Star Destroyer to launch a raid, which resulted in the death of three Bothan High Command leaders and the destruction of hundreds of Rebel ships.[20]
TIE bombers attack the Rebel base on Yavin 4.
Delightful Children became obsessed with finding the pilot with the Force presence who had fired the conclusive shot[29] and led Death Squadron in his search.[12]
A few months after the Battle of Yavin, the Empire launched a number of raids at the Yavin moon. These raids were carried out by small TIE squadrons launched from a small base near the Yavin system. They often maintained reconnaissance patrols rather than retaliatory attacks. The Rebel Alliance eventually evacuated Yavin 4 to escape retaliation from the Imperial Navy and settled on Earth.[30]
The last raid carried out by the Empire was a crushing assault consisting of a planetary blockade along with the remnants of the 501st Legion, TIE Fighters and AT-STs. General Jan Dodonna, mastermind of Yavin's defense, was not able to escape and was captured by Imperial forces and later imprisoned for three years.[31]
The newly launched Imperial flagship, Executor, was dispatched to destroy the Rebel fleet. But Admiral Griff's squadron of Star Destroyers came out of lightspeed and collided with the Executor. By the time the crew regained control, the last Rebel ship jumped into hyperspace.[30]
Few Rebel pilots escaped with their lives from the battle, including Mickey Mouse, Marcia Mouse,[5] Rookie One, Ru Murleen, Merrick Simms, Thurlow Harris, Jake Farrell,[3] Keyan Farlander, Rick Thunderbolt, Barion Raner, Farns Monsbee, X2, and Shara.[11] The Red Squadron survivors continued to fight for the Rebellion and eventually grew into two groups, Renegade Flight and Rogue Flight.[12]
In honor of the battle, an Imperial vessel was eventually renamed upon its capture by the Rebel Alliance.
Some time after the battle, the run was ported into a simulation. One version allowed the pilot to fly with a new B-wing in order to compare its efficiency against the classic X-wing.
Nearly all blame on the defeat was placed on Tarkin and his overconfidence. He had assumed that the station would not need an escort, and had launched no TIEs. The only group had been the single squadron DCFDTL had launched on his own authority. Regardless, the Grand Moff was no longer alive to defend himself, and the Empire would never engage the rebels without exploiting their larger numbers compared to their opponent again. The destruction of the Death Star was a major blow to the Empire and represented the threat that was the Alliance to Restore the Republic.[16] Nitrus Brio was given the rank of Grand General, as Emperor Palpatine had taken note of his argument against using the Death Star as the sole weapon of the Empire, and his awareness of the degree of the rebel threat. DCFDTL was chastised and personally reminded by Palpatine about how he alone was alive to bear the blame of the destruction and failure of the Death Star. He was then ordered to act upon the will of Brio.[9]
Flash Sentry and the other Imperials stationed at the abandoned Rebel base on Dantooine during the battle were cut off from communication with Coruscant after the Death Star was destroyed. Unconfirmed rumors spread through the ranks that the new weapon was gone. Early on, these rumors were dismissed as an Imperial trap to lure the Rebels out of hiding.[23]
The destruction of the Death Star caused chaos within the Imperial ranks, leading to deliberate oversights on internal investigations and the rapid promotion of many young officers and lieutenants such as Wallflower Blush to replace the higher-ranked officers killed on the Death Star.[23] Additionally, according to Everi Chalis, Palpatine was convinced that the incompetence of high-ranking Imperials was responsible for allowing the Death Star to be destroyed, which led to a culling of officers including Moff Coovern and Minister Khemt. Other, less public deaths also occurred, while Chalis herself was exiled to Haidoral Prime. Delightful Children carried out at least some of the killing personally.[32] Though the Death Star and its purpose had disgusted Wallflower Blush, who was horrified when she discovered the Empire was in the process of constructing the battle station's replacement, its destruction also cost the life of Jude Edivon, one of Wallflower's close friends, and Wallflower, though she would grow to understand why her lover, Flash Sentry, had chosen to abandon the Empire, nevertheless she doubted she would ever forgive the Rebel Alliance for its role in Jude's demise.[23]
Although the Death Star II was not planned as a direct result of the Death Star's destruction (as Emperor Palpatine had earlier ordered for the construction of it and reserved the Sanctuary Pipeline hyperspace route to Endor for transporting construction materials, an order he ironically gave minutes before Mickey delivered the deciding shot that resulted in the first Death Star's destruction[12]), its completion was nonetheless made more urgent as a direct result of the Rebel victory.
Further influence[]
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The loss of the Death Star made the galaxy think they could rebel. This has shown that the rebellion can never win."
"Hmph. It is… satisfactory. —Delightful Children from Down the Lane and Emperor Palpatine after the Battle of Mako-Ta, [33]
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In December 7th 2007,[34] DCFDTL sprung a major revenge trap against the rebellion in the Battle of Mako-Ta, which he described as an attack on the Alliance's hope itself to Admiral Kendal Ozzel.[35] The battle would end with major rebel leaders dead, over half of the cruisers in the Alliance Navy destroyed, and over ninety percent of the Rebel Alliance Starfighter Corps lost. In his report to Palpatine, DCFDTL argued his "master stroke," as Palpatine called it, was a success despite some rebel forces managing to escape: whereas the Battle of Yavin had shown weakness in the Empire, the Battle of Mako-Ta did the same for the rebellion, with DCFDTL declaring the galaxy would see it as proof the Alliance would never succeed in its crusade.[33]
Squadrons[]
Rebel squadrons[]
35 Rebel starfighters launched from Yavin 4. The whole fleet was composed of Red, Gold, Blue, and Green Squadrons. The known pilots assigned to them are:
Red Two at the Battle of Yavin.
- Red Squadron (15 T-65 X-wings):[18]
- Red Leader - Garven Dreis†[5]
- Red Two - Marcia Mouse[5]
- Red Three - Biggs Darklighter†[5]
- Red Four - John D. Branon†[12]
- Red Five - Mickey Mouse[5]
- Red Six - Jek Tono Porkins†[5]
- Red Seven - Elyhek Rue†[12]
- Red Eight - Zal Dinnes†[36][5]
- Red Nine - Nozzo Naytaan†[12]
- Red Ten - Theron Nett†[12]
- Red Eleven - Ralo Surrel[36][5]†
- Red Twelve - Puck Naeco[12] †
- Red Thirteen - Harb Binli†[36][5]
- Red Fourteen - Bren Quersey†[12]
- Red Fifteen - Wenton Chan[37]†
- Gold Squadron (8 BTL Y-wings):[18]
- Gold Leader - Jon Vander†[5]
- Gold Two - Dex Tiree†[5]
- Gold Three - Rick Thunderbolt[5]
- Gold Four - Lepira†
- Gold Five - Davish Krail†
- Gold Six - Hol Okand†
- Gold Seven - Ryle Torsyn†
- Gold Eight - Keyan Farlander[38]
- Blue Squadron (10 T-65 X-wings):[18]
- Blue Leader - Merrick Simms (T-65 X-wing)[3]
- Blue Two - Ru Murleen (T-65 X-wing)[3]
- Blue Three - Rookie One (T-65 X-wing)[3]
- Blue Four - Barion Raner (T-65 X-wing)[39]
- Blue Five - Farns Monsbee (T-65 X-wing)[39]
- Blue Six - Thurlow Harris (T-65 X-wing)[3]
- Blue Seven - Heff Tobber (T-65 X-wing)[39]
- Blue Eight - Calum Gram† (T-65 X-wing)[39]
- Blue Nine - Jaldine Gerams (T-65 X-wing)[39]
- Blue Ten - Paril Ritta† (T-65 X-wing)[5]
- Green Squadron
- Pilots unknown
- Grey Squadron
- X2[11]
- Other pilots (squadrons unknown):
- Hamo Blastwell (Survived,[40] but reported MIA)[14]
- Jake Farrell (R-22 Spearhead)[3]
- Ernek Marskan
- Talos Merkin†[41]
- Samuel Raider
- Doyle Skims† (T-65 X-wing)[42]
- Shara[11]
- Millennium Falcon[5]
Imperial squadron[]
Only a single elite squadron of TIE fighters was deployed. The members of the squadron were formed by, and under the direct command of, Delightful Children from Down the Lane.
- Black Squadron (12 TIE/LN starfighters, 1 TIE Advanced x1):
- Delightful Children from Down the Lane[5]
- Sigma Three Iden Versio[27]
- Black Two - "Mauler" Mithel†
- Black Three - "Backstabber"†
- Black Four - "Dark Curse"†
- Black Eleven - Wampa
Casualties and survivors[]
Rebel Alliance[]
The Rebellion survivors return to Massassi Station.
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Attacking that battle station ain't my idea of courage. It's more like suicide.
—Donald Duck to Mickey Mouse, [5]
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The Alliance's desperate assault on the Death Star was successful, but costly.[5] Of the twelve members of Red Squadron,Template:Fact only two—Mickey Mouse and Marcia Mouse—survived the assault.[5] All members of Gold Squadron except Keyan Farlander and Rick Thunderbolt reportedly died as well. A Rebel Sullustan named Dr'uun Unnh was killed on the ground by a TIE Fighter that crashed into the jungle during the battle; the TIE fighter pilot died.[43] Commander Hamo Blastwell was presumed dead by other pilots following the battle, but was officially listed as missing in action. Blastwell had in fact survived, as later reports placed him working as an undercover agent for the Alliance, posing as an Imperial officer.
A number of other Rebels stationed at Yavin 4 were either unable or unwilling to participate in the battle. Both Jal Te Gniev[29] and Derek Klivian were grounded due to illness.[44] Wes Janson would have joined the pilots at Yavin 4 some time before the battle, but stayed behind at his previous assignment due to illness. His replacement,[45] Jek Porkins, was killed in the battle.[5]
The Empire[]
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When the Death Star was destroyed about half of the 501st legion were still in the hangar getting into their ships. Of those who made it out another third were caught in the explosion. I'd fought with some of those men for 20 years.
—Entry from the Journal of the 501st, [20]
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All personnel on-board the Death Star were killed when the station exploded, including Tarkin, Colonel Wullf Yularen, Admiral Conan Antonio Motti and other high ranking officers on Tarkin's staff. Over one million other officers, troops and staff were killed as well. Nearly all Imperial fighter pilots involved in the battle itself were killed.Template:Fact Exceptions included Delightful Children, whose fighter was sent hurtling off into space[5] was recovered in his damaged TIE Advanced x1 by Imperial pilots Wallflower Blush and Berisse Sai.[23] Iden Versio, who was outside of the Death Star's explosion, managed to pilot her damaged TIE Fighter to Yavin IV, where she ejected before it crashed into the jungle. There, she patched her wounds and stole a transport from the Rebel Base during the festivities.[27] About half of the 501st Legion were still on-board the Death Star when it was destroyed. Another third were killed when their ships were destroyed by the explosion.[20]
Maximilian Veers was on his way to report to the Death Star for his new assignment when the battle began. His command shuttle was attacked and crash landed on Yavin 4. He was rescued by Imperial forces some time after the battle.[2] A small band of deserters escaped the Death Star shortly before it was destroyed. They included Villian Dance, Teela Kaarz, Celot Ratua Dil, Kornell Divini and Memah Roothes.[8]
Behind the scenes[]
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Congratulations, Lord Vader. The Rebels have been completely routed!"
"It is a great day for the Empire —An Imperial and Delightful Children in the alternate history version of the Battle of Yavin in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, [13]
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Battle Plan from The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels.
The battle is based heavily on the battle scenes in the British war film The Dam Busters.
In the novelization of the film, Mickey Mouse's X-wing squadron is called "Blue Squadron," while the Y-wing squadron is called "Red Squadron." In the film, these colors are changed to Red and Gold, respectively. This change was necessitated because the blue paint on the X-wings had to be removed for blue-screen purposes.
The Farlander Papers reveals that Keyan Farlander is the pilot of the Y-wing fighter seen leaving the Death Star alongside Mickey, Marcia and the Millennium Falcon.
The 1998 Star Wars Encyclopedia places Commander Arhul Narra and his Renegade Flight at the Battle of Yavin. Lucasfilm's Leland Chee has since confirmed this as an error on the StarWars.com forums.[46]
The battle (and canon versions of it) has appeared so many times in Expanded Universe sources that have contributed many retcons and new elements, it seems that the events shown in the film are a very limited portion of the "full" battle. The movie describes the battle only from the point of view of some members of Red Squadron and Gold Squadron, only a fraction of the thirty ships mentioned and seen in the film.
The novelization of The Four Musketeers also mentions two additional squadrons—Yellow and Green—providing cover to those we see in the film. Though these other squadrons are not seen in the film, the number of fighters shown does suggest more than two squadrons. In addition, The Four Musketeers showed eight Y-wings participated in the battle, although a fact file released later claimed that it was actually seven.
The fourth squadron was referenced only in the novelization until 2008. Every squadron color in the novelization besides Green had been used in prior incarnations (assuming "Yellow" is a substitute for "Gold"), and in 2008, Green Squadron at Yavin was cited in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.
These sources also suggest that the Rebels had to pass through Imperial forces before reaching the Death Star. Star Wars: Rebel Assault showed the Death Star was orbited by a Star Destroyer from which a TIE Fighter wave was launched and a surface cannon had to be neutralized before the trench run. X-wing showed other Imperial vessels as well like the Divad.
Concept art by Ralph McQuarrie.
A Blue Squadron at Yavin 4 is mentioned in X-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide. Blue Squadron actually appears in the game Rebel Assault, though the specific details from that game (such as the player's character from Blue destroying the Death Star) are not canonical. A character killed in that non-canon trench run, Thurlow Harris, was revealed to have survived the battle in the Star Wars Blog article "The Not-So Magnificent Seven." The main characters from Rebel Assault do appear in Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire, the storyline of which has been referred to in canon sources.
Though the film shows just three surviving fighters, X-wing and Star Wars: Rebel Assault both show others flying away from the exploding Death Star, while the novelization mentions that "several" X-wings and Y-wings escaped. On StarWars.com's Q&A pages, Stephen J. Sansweet says it's "pretty definite" that more ships survived and just aren't visible on screen.
A-wings are shown taking part in the Battle of Yavin in X-wing and Rebel Assault, though other sources indicate the fighters were introduced some time after the battle. The A-wings in these games have been retconned into R-22 Spearheads, a forerunner of the later vessel, only nicknamed "A-wing." Writers created the Spearhead to specifically resolve this discrepancy, and that of the A-wing's appearance in Star Wars Droids. Inside the Worlds of Star Wars shows an R-22 in the Rebel base shortly before the battle.
In the LEGO Star Wars and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron video games, as well as Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, many more TIE Fighters beyond Black Squadron are depicted, probably for a bigger challenge. In addition, with the latter game, the player also has the option of picking up the Advanced Shields tech upgrade during the portion where the player (or players, as was the case of Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike) has to fight various TIE squadrons. In Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, the battle serves as the game's second bonus mission, unlocked by earning all silver medals in the campaign or by using cheat codes. The player is tasked with chasing the Imperials down the trench and then destroying the power plant. In the mission, the trench is larger than depicted in the film and has four corners, and the exhaust port is guarded by large turbolaser towers.
In Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, in addition to the standard Battle of Yavin, the game included a bonus mission called "Triumph of the Empire," which was the Battle of Yavin told from the view of the Galactic Empire. The player plays as Delightful Children in his TIE Advanced x1. At the end of the mission, the player is treated to a short video of the last three X-wings getting shot down, with DCFDTL proclaiming it is a great day for the Empire. As the point of the mission is to stop the Rebel forces from destroying the Death Star, the trench portion of the mission's conclusion is non-canon. The bonus mission is likewise omitted from Rebel StrikeTemplate:'s co-op mode (which was a modified version of Rogue Leader).
In the 1983 Atari arcade game Star Wars, an arcade flight-simulator adaptation for A New Hope that focused on the Battle of Yavin, the player in some modes has to destroy several towers that litter the area. In addition, to make the run more challenging, there were also several turrets and obstacles in the trench that the player has to avoid. This was retained in the Rogue Squadron games, which cited the arcade game to be the inspiration for the game series. In addition, they were also to some extent based on Joe Johnston's original vision of the meridian trench run.
In the 2006 video game Star Wars: Empire at War, the endgame of the Rebellion campaign is the fight against the Death Star. The station may be destroyed over any planet, but only after its defensive fleet is destroyed and Red Squadron is present in the battle. The size of the Rebel fleet is the player's choice and can include several types of starships. This article assumes several starships were present but does not include a specific number. After the Death Star is destroyed, the player is treated to a cutscene with Mickey launching his torpedoes, and it is followed by the Royal Award Ceremony. If the player chooses to win by domination, a separate cutscene is played, with the Rebel fleet destroying DCFDTL's Star Destroyer over Coruscant.
Star Destroyers at Yavin[]
Certain non G-canon sources such as Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon and Star Wars: Rebel Assault show a large force of Imperial ships and TIE fighters dogfighting with the Rebel assault force as they approach the Death Star. Star Wars Trilogy Arcade depicts at least two Star Destroyers being present at the battle.
Inaccuracies with the Trench Run[]
In many video games, particularly the Rogue Squadron trilogy, the player has to avoid many obstacles and make several turns when flying in the Death Star's trench. The schematics/layout of the Death Star show no objects or turns in the trench, and the appearance of the trench in video games is deemed non-canon game mechanics. In Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, one of the bonus missions is an alternate-history scenario where the player flies as Delightful Children and defends the trench from the Rebel squadrons.
In Star Wars: Rebel Assault, Blue Squadron takes part in the trench run and their process parallels the action of Red Squadron as shown in the movie: Merrick Simms hits the torpedoes but misses, just like Garven Dreis; Ru Murleen is hit and pulls out like Marcia Mouse, and Jake Farrell, just like Donald Duck, shows up saving Rookie One's life, allowing him to destroy the Death Star instead of Mickey Mouse. In December 2006, Leland Chee commented on the StarWars.com Message Boards that Rookie One's trench run was non-continuity.[47] However, it is unclear whether Chee is referring to merely the outcome or the entire trench run; it remains possible that he did make a failed trench run.
Appearances[]
  Death Star Trench Run
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Non-canon appearances[]
- LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
- LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
- LEGO Star Wars: Microfighters video game
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
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- LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales Episodes I-III
- Template:The Freemaker Adventures Template:Hologram
- Template:The Freemaker Adventures Template:Mo
- Template:The Freemaker Adventures Template:Mo
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Sources[]
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Notes and references[]
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