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The Battle of Yavin was a major battle set in the fictional Star Wars universe, during the Galactic Civil War. The opposing sides were the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance. The battle was the climactic scene of the 1977 film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and was based heavily on the battle scenes in the British war film The Dam Busters.
Prelude During the Battle of Danuta, Kyle Katarn stole the plans to the Death Star, ensuring the first Rebel victory. The battle was arranged after the crew and passengers of the Millennium Falcon seemingly successfully rescued Princess Leia Organa from the Death Star, along with detailed technical plans of the massive space station. The Falcon's crew members were actually allowed to escape so as to lead the Empire to the main Rebel base, from which it was finally discovered on the fourth moon of Yavin. Studying the plans, the Rebels learned that the station had a small exhaust port which led to the main reactor, allowing a solid projectile to reach the main reactor and destroy the station. However, the port was only two meters wide and situated in a narrow trench protected by heavy turbolaser batteries. The trench would have to be navigated through to allow the Rebel targeting system to lock on to the port. Furthermore, the port was ray shielded so only proton torpedoes could be used. There was little confidence that the weakness could be exploited in such conditions. Battle of Yavin The Death Star soon arrived at Yavin, however, and prepared to fire its main weapon, which would destroy the Rebel base. A fleet of 30 X-wing and Y-wing starfighters, which included Luke Skywalker (designated "Red 5") as a pilot, scrambled to assault the station. Half of the fighters (Yellow and Blue Squadron) created a diversion by attacking surface targets, hangar facilities and heavy gun emplacemnts (an event not shown in film), while Gold and Red Squadron focused on the attack of the exhaust port. In the film, a security officer is directly quoted as saying "We count 30 Rebel ships, Lord Vader, but they're so small they're evading our turbolasers." The Death Star attempted to use its batteries to defend itself, but the defences were designed to fight off primarily capital ships, not the small and agile Rebel starfighters. The station commander, Grand Moff Tarkin, dismissed the attack as futile and refused to deploy the station's vast TIE squadrons. But Darth Vader, realizing the threat this force was, ordered his personal fighter squadron to scramble on his own authority, while he and his men take out every rebel fighters attempting to attack the station's vulnerable positions. An order was passed, later on during the battle, to stop all turbolasers from firing on the rebels. Vader's squadron continued the attack and took down almost all the rebel fighters. During the battle, the Rebel casualties were heavy, with ninety percent losses both from station guns and Vader's squadron. The first attack run was started by three Y-Wing pilots, including Gold Leader. However, Darth Vader, in his customized Tie Fighter, along with two hand-picked and best pilots, was able to destroy the Y-wings before they were able to get off a shot. When the first bombing run proved unsuccessful, Red Leader made a second attack run, this time leaving his wingmen farther behind him so as to buy more time. All alone in front, Red 1 was able to fly the length of the trench and fire his proton torpedoes. However, the shot missed the thermal exhaust port, detonating on the surface and causing little else besides superficial damage. Red 1 was then shot down, as his starboard engine was disabled, and he crash landed on the surface of the death star. Once this attack had failed, the remaining fighters—three X-wings, led by Luke Skywalker; lined up for the second attempt. The other two pilots were Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles. Vader pursued and picked them off one by one, first damaging Wedge's ship enough that he had to pull out, and then destroying Biggs' X-Wing,leaving Luke vulnerable to Vader's guns. To the Rebel Command, all seemed hopeless; time was running out with the Death Star getting into firing position, almost all the fighters were lost and the remaining pilot able to make the run, Skywalker, had senselessly deactivated his targeting computer during his run. Skywalker, however, was advised by the spirit of his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi to use the Force to make the seemingly impossible shot. Vader, sensing that the last pilot was strong in the Force, prepared to kill him. However, at the last moment, Han Solo and Chewbacca of the Millennium Falcon surprised Vader, destroyed one of his wingmen, and in the confusion that followed, his other wingman collided with Vader and sent him careening out of control into space. With the Force aiding him, Skywalker made the shot, his torpedoes entering the port perfectly. The Death Star exploded just seconds before its main gun would have destroyed Yavin 4; Tarkin and most of his staff, including some of the Empire's best personnel, were killed in the explosion. The Rebel Alliance had won their second victory. Several officers aboard the Death Star survived, including (then-Colonel) Maximillian Veers, General Tagge and Chief Bast, who originally warned Tarkin of the danger the Rebel fighter attack posed. Bast's survival is evidenced in that he was later seen reporting to Darth Vader on the blockade of Kashyyyk in The Star Wars Holiday Special, which takes place approximately a year after A New Hope, when the Battle of Yavin occurred. Aftermath As a result of this battle, the Rebel Alliance gained credibility as a legitimate military opponent to the Empire. A few months after the Battle of Yavin, the Empire launched a number of small raids at the Yavin moon, in an attempt to destroy the Core Group of the Rebellion as they did quite literally. These raids were carried out by small TIE squadrons launched from a small outpost near the Yavin system. They often maintained reconnaissance patrols rather than retaliatory attacks. The Rebel Alliance still had to evacuate Yavin 4 to escape retaliation from the Imperial Starfleet and eventually settled on Hoth. The last raid carried out by the Empire was a crushing assault consisting of a massive planetary blockade. Several battalions were dispatched to the moon to capture the fleeing rebel personnel. General Dodonna, mastermind of Yavin's defense, was captured by Imperial forces and later presumed dead in the battle. The newly launched Executor was dispatched to destroy the Rebel fleet. But Admiral Griff's squadron of Star Destroyers came out of light speed and collided with the Executor. By the time the crew regained control, the last Rebel ship jumped into hyperspace. Only three Rebel pilots escaped with their lives from the battle: Skywalker, Wedge Antilles and Keyan Farlander. (Some believe it may actually have been Horton Salm instead of Keyan Farlander, though the novel Wraith Squadron may have ruled Salm out.) The Millennium Falcon, although not an active participant, also survived. The Empire would make the Rebels pay later on, though, mainly in the upcoming battles Massacre on Talay and the Battle of Hoth. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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