Star Wars: X-Wing (film)

Star Wars: X-Wing is a 1993 animated epic space opera film directed by, produced by and its animation division Lucasfilm Feature Animation in association with Golden Harvest Animation and TVE Animación and distributed by. Based on, it is the second fully animated film in the franchise and precedes and parallels the events of. The film stars David Stone as Keyan Farlander of Red Squadron, a Rebel pilot who served in Independence and fought in a number of key battles before, during and after the Battle of Yavin.

The film premiered in Hong Kong on February 15, 1993 and in on February 16, and was released theatrically by  four days later. It received positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $540 million against a $22 million. At the, it won for Nancy Tso and Richard Lo,  and.

Plot
"It is a period of Civil War. Using fear and intimidation, the Empire seeks to impose a New Order on the galaxy. Only the Rebel Alliance stands in the way of their evil plans.

Not yet willing to confront the Empire directly, the Rebels are marshalling their forces in secrecy. Even now a group of their prized Calamari Cruisers is being intercepted by a squadron of Imperial Star Destroyers.

The Rebel Fleet is outnumbered but, they have a surprise… the X-Wing Starfighter!"

- The film's opening lines

Amid a galactic civil war, Alliance Intelligence agents notice that the Galactic Empire is taking precautions to make Talon look unimportant and that it actually contains important cargo, though whether this is information or a passenger was unclear. However, Darth Vader himself is known to be on the move and it is believed that he may, possibly, have been onboard. They also learn that it would be traveling to Celanon City with a skeleton crew and would have minimal escort. It is scheduled to be making a brief stop near Turkana. Unbeknownst to them, the Rebels had just recently procured a secret weapon: the X-Wing space-superiority fighter - a well-shielded and well-armed fighter capable of easily outmatching Imperial TIE Fighters. It was provided to the Rebels by a group of INCOM engineers who had defected when their company was about to become absorbed by the Imperial military industries.

As expected, the battle is a glorious success for the Rebels, having lost none of their capital ships. The X-Wing fighter proves itself more than a match for Imperial fighters, and the Rebels begin drawing plans for more audacious attacks elsewhere in the galaxy. The Rebels estimate that the Imperial fleet plans to retaliate for their loss at Turkana with an even stronger attack. The Rebels respond by sending the Calamari Cruiser Defiance to raid Imperial resupply convoys in the area, which are presumably headed for the massing Imperial fleet.

During a raid on a convoy leaving the Dellalt system, the Imperial Corellian Corvette Bixby which is escorting the freighters signals its intention to defect to the Rebellion. The Rebels, hoping to recover important intelligence about the Empire's plans in the sector, send a young pilot by the name of Keyan Farlander as part of an X-Wing squadron to destroy the freighters and protect the Corvette as it is boarded and evacuated from the area. As the Bixby is boarded by Rebel commandos, and while Farlander is busy chasing down the remaining freighters, the Imperial frigate Gorgon jumps in to chase them off. Farlander combats several wings of TIE Fighters from the Gorgon as the Bixby makes its escape, whereupon all remaining Rebel forces withdraw.

The captain of the Bixby confirms the Rebellion's assessment: the Empire is intending to strike back with force, and will arrive shortly in the Dellalt system to begin its operations in the sector. Given his performance during the previous operation, it is decided that Farlander will fly a reconnaissance mission to determine the size and strength of the incoming fleet. He is dispatched in the Rebellion's newest craft: the A-Wing fast interceptor.

On arriving at the Nav Bouy, Farlander discovers the Imperial frigate Warspite already on station. Failing to recognize the A-Wing as a serious threat, the Warspite launches TIE Fighters to intercept Farlander as Imperial Corellian Corvettes and freighters begin arriving in the area. Farlander utilizes his craft's superior speed to evade the fighters altogether and manages to scan all of the incoming ships. By the time the Imperial capital ships realize the threat and begin to open fire with their turbolasers, Farlander has already scanned most of them and determined that some of the ships are carrying equipment to construct a new Imperial base in the system. Two additional Imperial frigates arrive and are scanned by Farlander, when suddenly the Star Destroyer Invincible jumps in and launches TIE Interceptors to take him down. With the mission considered a success, he is ordered to return to the Defiance.

The Rebels on the Defiance quickly analyze the data and come to the conclusion that the Imperials have launched a serious offensive aimed at destroying their bases in the Pakuuni sector - dubbed "Operation Strike Fear". Calculating that the Imperials' first target — the Rebel base on Briggia — would surely be destroyed in such an offensive, the base is given an order to evacuate entirely. Farlander is assigned to an X-Wing squadron which escorts the Frigate Fugazi and a convoy of corvettes and shuttles away from the planet. As Farlander and his flight leader arrive, the Fugazi jumps to hyperspace leaving the rest of the convoy behind. Just then, the Star Destroyer Invincible arrives at the rear of the convoy and immediately takes out the trailing transports and a Corvette. It begins to launch waves of TIE Fighters and Bombers to destroy the shuttles carrying the Alliance commanders, but Farlander intercepts and destroys them repeatedly until the shuttles finally can jump away from the battle.

The evacuation may have prevented a defeat at Briggia, but the convoys have been coming under heavy attack from Imperial forces. Wounded from the various battles are taken to the Rebel medical frigate Redemption. Farlander and a number of other X-Wings are scrambled to defend the frigate from any possible attack as medevac ships stream in to dock with it. Sure enough, the Imperial frigate Warspite shows up and launches a handful of TIE Fighters and Bombers, but quickly jumps out of the system when the Rebel X-Wings respond. While the X-Wings are busy shooting the enemy down, the Warspite jumps back into the system - this time on the far side of the Redemption - and begins launching its fighters in earnest. Farlander hurries back to defend the unloading ships. One by one the Rebel ships dock with the Redemption, but the X-Wings are also slowly whittled away by the enemy onslaught. Eventually, Farlander is left alone to defend the final medevac ship. The Warspite, having finally exhausted its bombers, finally withdraws. While this is taking place, the Imperials make their first major move in their campaign of terror, attacking the Rebel base at Orion IV with AT-AT walkers and Assault Gunboats and leveling it to the ground. Any remaining Rebel personnel are taken captive.

The Imperials decide to attack the Rebel base at Rudrig next. However they've paid too high a price for the battles at Briggia and Orion IV, rendering their forces too weak to continue. The Star Destroyer Invincible stops to await resupply and reinforcements. The Rebels, realizing this, decide to attack the resupply convoy in order to delay the renewal of the Imperial offensive. Farlander is sent in an X-Wing to engage the convoy's escorts and draw them away, allowing Rebel Y-Wings to jump next to the freighters and take them out. Though the Invincible attempts to react by launching waves of its own fighters, even the fast TIE Interceptors do not manage to reach the freighters before they are all destroyed.

Now that they've gained some precious time to prepare, the Rebels scramble to resupply themselves for the upcoming battle. They analyze their inventory and determine that they are running low on R2 droids for their starfighters. In a stroke of luck, an Imperial freighter carrying R2 units loses power in deep space within the Rudrig system. The Rebels decide to raid and capture the freighter. Farlander is sent to scout ahead with a flight of A-Wings, as a shuttle carrying a repair crew attempts to dock with the disabled freighter. Unfortunately, others have taken interest in the same freighter; Farlander arrives just in time to spot several pirate Y-Wings and Transports attempting to board the freighter and take it for themselves. More and more pirate ships stream in, but the A-Wings put up a strong fight. As additional Rebel A-Wings arrive to reinforce Farlander, the Rebels finally manage to drive the pirates away.

The Rebels quickly install the new R2 droids in several X-Wing starfighters, but to their great dismay they discover that the entire affair was an Imperial ruse: The droids were trojan horses, programmed to take over the fighters they're installed in. The droids hijack three X-Wings and attempt to take them and their pilots to Imperial hands. Farlander is sent with a Y-Wing group to intercept and disable the hijacked X-Wings, so that shuttles can replace their R2 units. The Imperial Star Destroyer Invincible arrives at the scene first, but is at quite a distance from the hijacked X-Wings. It launches masses of TIE Interceptors, but the Y-Wings disable the X-Wings andhave enough time to intercept the Interceptors while the X-Wings are recaptured and brought on board the Mon Calamari Cruiser Maximus. As soon as the X-Wings are recovered, the entire force disappears back into hyperspace.

Meanwhile, Rebel Intelligence has concluded that the Empire's "Operation Strike Fear" may in fact be a prelude to an Imperial invasion of the planet Sullust, which has so far managed to remain unaligned in the conflict. Imperial forces have captured a team of Sullustan technicians, whose expertise they hope to use in the coming invasion. Rebel ships are sent to intercept and capture the prisoner convoy before it can reach a pair of Imperial frigates, in the hope that the rescued Sullustans can convince their government to join the Rebel Alliance.

The operation goes without a hitch, and the Sullustans are convinced to open negotiations with the Rebels. A meeting is arranged in secrecy to hand over the Sullustans rescued from Imperial hands, while simultaneously exchanging ambassadors between the two parties. The Sullustan frigate Sor-Sull II and two Alliance corvettes meet in deep space, while transports and shuttles dock to transfer the relevant personnel. As expected, Imperial spies learn of the meeting and dispatch the Star Destroyer Invincible to assault the meeting. However, Farlander's A-Wing flight manages to stop TIE Bombers from shooting down any of the craft, and the meeting is concluded successfully before all forces scramble away to Hyperspace.

While this meeting takes place, however, the Empire performs a special operation to capture the leader of Sullust on the planet itself, taking him as a hostage to threaten the Sullustan government back into line. The Rebels, still desperate to turn the Sullustans into their allies, attack the convoy carrying the Sullustan leader to the Invincible and retrieve him. The Sullustans, grateful for the return of their leaders and now aware of the Empire's evil plans, finally agree to forge a strong alliance with the Rebels.

The Sullustans argue that the only way to stop Operation Strike Fear would be to take out the Invincible itself. Sullustan engineers meet with Rebel General Crix Madine, and together they devise a plan to eliminate the Star Destroyer by sabotage, instead of a head-on assault. To this end, they must make special modifications to a Lambda Class shuttle, but they also require the help of engineers from the Cygnus corporation - the company that manufactures the shuttles.

Fortunately, the Rebels learn that Cygnus is currently carrying out a test of their latest spacecraft out in deep space. Imperial officials are also present, as well as a contingent of Imperial fighters. The Rebels decide to attack the testing area, with Farlander in an A-Wing to take down the fighters and identify the transport carrying the Cygnus engineers, which is then assaulted by Madine's special forces and taken captive. During the battle, Farlander catches a glimpse of the craft being tested: a fighter resembling a Shuttle, but significantly better armed and shielded. Unfortunately, the fighter is destroyed in the test just before Farlander can inspect it more closely.

The second phase of the Sullustan/Rebel operation is to acquire a very large explosive device, which will be installed in a Lambda Class Shuttle modified by the captured Cygnus engineers to appear as an Imperial ship. A large nuclear bomb is located by Rebel intelligence aboard the Imperial freighter Gafra, which is then immediately and disabled by Rebel starfighters. The disabled freighter deploys a mine-field around its position while waiting for Imperial reinforcements to come to its rescue. Before this can happen, Farlander is sent in a Y-Wing to destroy the minefield, clearing the way a Rebel capture crew to repair and abscond with the ship.

With the warhead installed in the modified shuttle, the ship loads some cargo containers taken from another Imperial shuttle that were bound for the Invincible. The bomb is attached to one of the containers. The shuttle flies to rendezvous with and board the Star Destroyer, where its cargo is unloaded. The shuttle takes off only moments before a gigantic explosion rips the Invincible to shreds, leaving nothing but a field of debris. With the destruction of their flagship in the area, the Empire is forced to cancel Operation Strike Fear. For his valiant service in securing an alliance with the Sullustans and the destruction of the Invincible, Keyan Farlander is promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and awarded the Corellian Cross.

The Rebellion is emboldened by their victory over the Empire in the Pakuuni and Sullust sectors, but Rebel intelligence is worried due to rumors of a new Imperial super-weapon that could pose a major threat. While spies attempt to gather more information on this topic, word arrives that two Rebel prisoners have managed to escape a well-guarded prison called Star's End, and have boarded a freighter headed to Kashyyyk. The Imperial Navy has set up checkpoints to inspect every single ship traveling through the area, and have finally stopped the freighter in question.

The Star Destroyer Intrepid arrives to oversee the operation and take in the freighter. Farlander is scrambled immediately to halt the Imperial boarding action and clear the way for Rebel ships to take over the freighter themselves. The rescued pilots reveal that an Imperial ship will soon depart Kashyyyk with a cargo of Wookie slaves that are being taken to some sort of secret construction project. The Rebels are keen to save the Wookies, but also to discover the nature of this secret project and whether it has anything to do with the rumors they've been hearing.

The battle over the freighter turns out to be significantly more difficult than expected, as the Empire brings in the Intrepid to the battle, and also debuts its new starfighter - the Assault Gunboat. With its heavy shields and weaponry, it poses a serious challenge for Farlander's X-Wing, but ultimately the Rebel forces subdue to freighter and take it over, escaping to hyperspace with the Wookies. Besides the Wookiee slaves, the captured freighter also contains documents indicating that it was scheduled to join a much larger convoy on its way to the Imperial construction project - which in turn indicates that the project is indeed massive in scope. The Rebels reason that whatever the Empire is building, every effort must be spent depriving it of materials. Therefore, the Rebels pinpoint the location of the freighter's planned rendezvous, and lay and abmush to destroy the remainder of the convoy. A number of ships, including corvettes, freighters and shuttles are taken out in one swift blow, despite the appearance of nearly a dozen Assault Gunboats.

Though the size of the Imperial secret project is becoming clearer due to the size of the destroyed convoy, the raid has revealed nothing new about the project itself or its exact location. Rebel High Command formulates a plan to tap into the Imperial communications network to try and acquire the information. The plan involves destroying existing Imperial communications relay satellites in the Cron Drift asteroid field, and installing "fake" relays in their stead that would transmit information back to Alliance command. The first stage in this action involves stealing an Imperial communication relay, but Imperial convoys carrying such devices are far too well-protected. Fortunately, a number of relays have been stolen from Orron III by a neutral third party. Both the Rebels and Imperials locate the freighter Phoenix carrying the stolen devices, and both sides rush to capture it. Farlander is scrambled immediately, alone, in a Y-Wing. He manages to destroy the pursuers, allowing a shuttle to board the freighter and capture it. However, the Star Destroyer Intrepid arrives before the freighter can leave, requiring Farlander to fight off waves of TIE Bombers before they can destroy the Phoenix. For his daring performance in this raid, Farlander is promoted to the rank of Captain.

After a week of hyperspace jumps and evasions, the Phoenix finally reaches its rendezvous point with the Calamari Cruiser Maximus, where it will finally unload its precious cargo. The Maximus is delayed for a few minutes, so Farlander is sent out in a lone A-Wing to protect the freighter until the cruiser can arrive. However when Farlander arrives, the Star Destroyer Intrepid is already present, launching fighters and bombers against the Phoenix. Farlander puts himself between the two ships, screening against wave after wave of incoming craft. Many minutes later, the Maximus jumps in and launches its X-Wing squadron, driving the Intrepid away. The freighter Ojai, which accompanied the Maximus, docks with the Phoenix to retrieve its cargo and jump away to hyperspace.

The Ojai makes its way to yet another rendezvous, this time with the corvette Jeffrey inside the Cron Drift asteroid field. It is set to dock with the Jeffrey, which will in turn distribute the relays throughout the entire field. The chosen rendezvous location, however, is close to Imperial shipping lanes, and the Imperials discover it. Waves of Assault Gunboats, backed with torpedo-laden transports, attack the meeting place and attempt to destroy the Rebel ships. Farlander, flying escort for this mission, keeps the incoming craft occupied long enough for the transfer to be completed, and all Rebel ships evacuate the area. The Jeffery proceeds to distribute the captured communication satellites near the Cron Drift. It's not long before a high-security transmission is intercepted - encrypted in the best Imperial codes. The transmission is finally decoded, and reveals the Empire's plans: A battle station of immense proportions and terrifying firepower. The transmission includes blueprints for the station - blueprints that might reveal a weakness if properly analyzed.

The information is deemed too valuable to transmit over any radio frequency. Instead, the data is loaded into an X-Wing starfighter, and the craft is sent back to Rebel High Command. Unfortunately, partway through the journey the X-Wing becomes disabled in deep space. A whole squadron of A-Wings lead by Farlander is sent to assist it against potential Imperial attacks while other Rebel craft rush to assist in repairs. Multiple waves of Imperial gunboats attack the location, with Imperial shuttles attempting to dock with the X-Wing, but to no avail. After a few minutes of combat, the Rebel corvettes Tantive I, II and III arrive to defend the area, clearing out the remaining gunboats. The X-Wing is finally repaired, and the entire group jumps to hyperspace to evade any additional Imperial forces.

The Star Destroyer Intrepid and its fleet begin to scour the area relentlessly for the Rebel ships, which cannot safely jump away to deliver their crucial cargo. Fortunately, the Intrepid has an accident with one of its escorts and becomes stranded in space. A convoy of freighters arrives with repair crews and a replacement hyperdrive. The Rebels mount an assault to find and destroy the freighter carrying the replacement hyperdrive. As the Rebel forces close in on the Star Destroyer, it launches every single TIE Interceptor squadron in its arsenal to protect the freighters. Nevertheless, Farlander manages to identify two freighters carrying replacement hyperdrives, and destroys them both. The next stage of the attack requires depriving the Intrepid of its escort reinforcements. Farlander leads an attack on three Imperial corvettes headed towards the Star Destroyer and eliminates them all, as well their copious Assault Gunboat defenders.

It is finally time to finish off the Intrepid. The ship has been stripped of its mobility, escorts, and some of its fighter defenses - and now a sizable force of Rebel starfighters is about to make its first ever frontal attack on a Star Destroyer. Rebel engineers have pored over footage and scans from previous missions, determining that the weak point of the collosal ship are the two round shield generators on top of the superstructure. Y-Wings, A-Wings, and Farlander's X-Wing squadron assault the ship, blasting through its remaining fighter defenses to destroy the shield generators and take out the ship in a barrage of torpedoes. While this great victory is celebrated on board the Defiance, the Rebellion has no time to rest on its laurels; Now that the Intrepid is out of the way, it is time to transfer the Death Star plans to someone who could get them to Alliance High Command. The chosen courier for this mission is Princess Leia Organa, a Senator from the planet Alderaan. She is currently traveling on a disguised Rebel corvette, the Tantive IV, hidden in a convoy of civilian ships.

Farlander leads a group of X-Wings to locate the Tantive IV within the convoy, protect the shuttle that brings the Death Star data to it, and then protect Leia's ship as it breaks off towards Alderaan to deliver the plans.However the sudden arrival of the Star Destroyer Immortal, which launches several groups of Assault Gunboats before jumping away, indicates that the Empire is aware of the exchange and will be chasing the Tantive IV. The corvette attempts to make a rendezvous with the Mon Calamari Cruiser Liberty, to transfer Leia over to the capital ship. However the Immortal appears again, attacking the Tantive IV and forcing it to jump away before the transfer can be accomplished.

The Rebellion can no longer help Princess Leia. Their only recourse now is to hope that she completes her mission safely as her ship heads towards Alderaan by way of Tatooine. Farlander returns to the Defiance, where he is promoted to the rank of Captain and awarded the Medal of Mantooine for his valiant efforts in defending the Princess against superior odds. The Rebellion has confirmed the existence of the Imperial super-weapon project, the Death Star, but the detailed plans of its construction have disappeared together with Princess Leia. The Rebellion must now enact its backup plan: It must determine which companies are building the Death Star for the Empire in an effort to delay its completion, and learn the project's exact location before it can become operational. Any time they can buy now gives more time for Leia to get the stolen plans back to Rebel High Command.

Rebel patrols locate and attack an Imperial convoy carrying military-grade materials and equipment to a suspected construction site. Farlander flies an A-Wing to defend a disabled freighter as the Rebel corvette Frazier arrives to take its captured cargo for analysis. The Star Destroyer Immortal arrives once again to try and stop the Rebels, but fails to do so before they can abscond with the cargo. Analyzing the cargo, Rebel Intelligence determines that it had passed through an Imperial repair facility not far from Coruscant. The facility appears to be servicing ships bound for the Death Star project. Although such a target would surely be well-defended, the Rebels are adamant that destroying this facility would set the entire Death Star project back significantly. They utilize the element of surprise by sending two Y-Wings, one piloted by Captain Farlander, to engage the facility's escorts and defensive emplacements, then destroy the facility itself. The mission is accomplished just as the Imperial frigate Vulture arrives to save the facility, and the Y-Wings hurry to escape into hyperspace.

Meanwhile, an Imperial transport is sabotaged and disabled in deep space by the Rebels. It is carrying high-ranking military advisors who are suspected of having knowledge of the Death Star project. Farlander is immediately scrambled back into space to protect the transport until it can be boarded, secured, and taken on board the Rebel frigate Inad. Assault Gunboats attack the Rebels partway during the boarding process, and after the Inad arrives the Imperials send in the Immortal to join the fight, as well as multiple enemy transports jumping in to intercept and destroy their own captured ship. The battle is long and arduous, but the Inad manages to escape with the captured ship on board before it can be destroyed.

As Farlander jumps back to the Defiance, the cruiser begins preparing to launch a defense of the Inad, believing that the Immortal will attempt to chase down the frigate. However, the Immortal instead tracks Farlander himself, arriving near the Defiance and launching an attack against it. With Farlander's Y-Wing damaged from the previous battle, he is quickly transferred to a fresh X-Wing, and takes off with a full squadron and another group of A-Wings to intercept the incoming TIE Bombers and Interceptors. They scramble just in time to see torpedoes being launched at the Defiance and immediately engage the fighters and bombers. The Immortal drops several more squadrons of TIE Bombers, and jumps away. The Rebels shoot down many bombers, but just as they are about the clear the area of enemies, the Immortal reappears on the other side of the Defiance and launches a whole new fighter attack. Farlander immediately moves to intercept and engages the craft long enough for the Defiance to reach the jump point and escape the system. The Rebel fighters follow suit.

As the Defiance makes an additional series of jumps to evade its pursuers, the Imperial officers captured earlier are finally interrogated. Though they have no new information about the Death Star project itself, the reveal that the design team was led by Bevel Lemelisk, and that part of his team had met with Grand Moff Tarkin on Coruscant and are now being ferried over to the Immortal for some unknown purpose. The Rebels decide to launch a daring raid to disable the corvette Godar carrying this team before they can reach the Star Destroyer. It is hoped that the members of the team can help decipher the Death Star plans, once Leia delivers them.

With the design team captured, the Rebels are confident that the construction of the Death Star has been sufficiently stalled for now; But the project's location is still a mystery. To rectify this, General Dodonna devises a plan whose purpose is to capture an Imperial capital ship — perhaps a frigate or even a Star Destroyer — fully intact. To achieve this, Dodonna directs the fleet to attack a deep space supply & repair depot near Kalla VII, where ships heading to the Death Star have been observed stopping. The idea is that once the facility is destroyed, the next capital ship to arrive there for emergency repairs would become stranded. Farlander leads a formation of X-Wings to clear out a huge minefield surrounding the facility, then attack and destroy the containers as well as a pair of resupply freighters that arrive during the attack.

It is not long before an Imperial capital ship falls into the trap, the frigate Priam. Unable to jump away, it quickly deploys a minefield for protection and launches a wing of TIE Fighters for defense. The Rebels attack it in two stages: first destroying its escort corvettes and part of its fighter force; Then destroying the minefield, and attacking the ship itself to disable it. Once the ship is disabled, a convoy of Rebel boarding craft enter the ship and subdue its crew. The Empire retaliates immediately with several wings of Assault Gunboats, culminating with a large taskforce of armed transports attempting to re-disable the ship once the Rebels repair it, but they are too late, and the Priam jumps to hyperspace.

Careful examination of the Priam's computers finally reveals the location of the Death Star construction site: It is in the Horuz system, close to a prison planet aptly named "Despayre". The Rebels dispatch corvettes to scout the area immediately, but as soon as they arrive they report that the prison planet has been completely destroyed and turned into a debris field. The Death Star is nowhere to be found. Worse yet, the corvettes are then jumped by Imperial forces and captured. Farlander is sent to assault the Imperials and regain control of both ships. The operation is carried out under constant attack by Assault Gunboats, but eventually both ships are retaken and the Rebels escape to hyperspace.

It is now clear that the Death Star is operational. To make matters even worse, the Imperial Navy begins a full-scale assault on known Rebel assets on multiple fronts, apparently with the hope of exterminating the Rebels entirely. As hasty defensive operations are drawn up, Farlander is assigned to protect an important weapon cache that lies directly in the path of an oncoming Imperial fleet. His A-Wing group flies a patrol around the cache when suddenly the Imperial frigate Retsub jumps in, parks itself close to the cache, and begins to drop multiple groups of TIE Bombers. The Rebel fighters weave between the turbolaser shots from the frigate while shooting down the bombers, who nevertheless manage to damage and destroy many of the containers. A pair of Rebel freighters who arrive at the cache for resupply are nearly shot down before they can escape. Eventually, having run out of bombers, the Retsub jumps away.

Before long, the Empire's primary offensive begins with a strike against the Rebellion's most valuable target: the Mon Calamari Cruiser Independence itself - Admiral Ackbar's flagship - carrying Mon Mothma and many other members of the Rebel High Command. All available Rebel forces in the vicinity are called in to protect the ship as it is assaulted by the Star Destroyer Immortal, which launches multiple bombers and gunboats. The battle is grueling and the Independence is nearly destroyed, but eventually manages to make its hyperspace jump, heading towards the Rebel headquarters at Yavin for a final showdown with the Empire.

At Yavin IV, the Rebels are relieved to see that Leia has escaped from the Death Star and made her way to the Rebel base on a civilian ship, together with the Death Star plans. However she also tells the Rebels about the destruction of Alderaan, and explains that her ship has been carrying a tracking device that would surely lead the Empire to Yavin. Soon enough, the Death Star indeed arrives and begins its approach towards the moon. The Rebels hastily begin to analyze the Death Star plans with the knowledge acquired from Bevel Lemelisk's captured team, and determine that the Death Star has a potential weak spot that might be exploited with a fighter attack.

To make way for the fighters, Farlander is sent ahead with a group of X-Wings to destroy a communications satellite that the Empire could use to call for reinforcements. The Death Star's escort ships launch a slew of various TIE craft and gunboats against the incoming X-Wings, forcing Farlander to avoid a confrontation and simply punch right through the defenses to get to the satellite. However at one point, a group of completely new fighters are launched against him - TIE Advanced fighters - an extremely fast, heavily-shielded and well-armed craft. Despite the overwhelming odds, and the loss of both his wingmen, Farlander makes it through the defensive screen and takes out the satellite with a torpedo, heading home immediately.

It is now time to execute the final attack on the Death Star. A large number of X-Wings and Y-Wings are launched from Yavin base to exploit a hole in the Empire's defensive screen and head for the surface of the space station. Farlander's group is tasked with taking out multiple laser towers and TIE Fighter hangars near the entrance to the Death Star trench. He blows up as many targets as he can, taking out TIE Fighters launched against him, and finally is given the order to withdraw to the Independence. It's all up to Red Team now.

Luke Skywalker, a young moisture farmer from Tatooine, who had reportedly assisted in the rescue of Princess Leia from execution on the Death Star, is the last member of Red Team to have survived. In a last-ditch effort, he flies his X-Wing into the Death Star trench, avoiding gunfire from every side and the TIE Fighters launched to pursue him. Finally faced with the exhaust port - the Death Star's only weak spot - he fires a pair of torpedoes which slide right into the open shaft. All surviving fighters immediately break off and retreat, as the Death Star explodes spectacularly behind them. For his incredible performance in protecting the Rebellion against the Empire, and for his daring action in assisting the destruction of the Death Star, Keyan Farlander is promoted to the rank of Commander and awarded the Star of Alderaan - the Rebellion's highest honor.

The Rebels have dealt the Empire a massive blow, but this has only served to make the Imperial Navy furious. The Rebels have little time to celebrate, as a vast Imperial fleet is on the way to crush the Rebel base at Yavin IV. Rebel ships are hastily loaded and launched in different directions away from the planet. The Rebellion must scatter before it is annihilated. Farlander is assigned to escort the final convoy leaving Yavin Base: freighters carrying food and water, and corvettes carrying the High Command staff. He arrives just in time to witness gunboats destroying the entire freighter group, and soon enough the Imperial invasion begins with the frigate Red Wing arriving and launching many squadrons of TIE Bombers. Farlander intercepts and destroys the bombers and gunboats, allowing the corvettes to finally escape to hyperspace - completing the evacuation of the base.

The loss of the supply freighters is a serious problem, but further loss of life must be averted first. Farlander takes a pair of X-Wings to a transit point in space where parts of the convoy must pass for their next jump away from Yavin. As soon as they arrive, Farlander spots an Imperial probe far from the transit area, indicating that the Imperials have been observing the area and know of the Rebels' arrival. Imperial ships jump in as soon as the convoy itself arrives. Farlander shoots down multiple gunboats, and then intercepts Imperial transports attempting to fire torpedoes at the convoy. The Star Destroyer Assassin arrives as well, but is too far to assist the attack on the convoy. Eventually, all ships make their jumps and Blue Squadron arrives to relieve Farlander.

While the Rebels' attention is fixed on their fleeing convoys, the Empire makes its winning move: A direct attack on the Mon Calamari cruiser Maximus. The Star Destroyer Nihil jumps in close to the cruiser and pummels it with lasers and bombers. Farlander is immediately redirected to the ship's location, only to see the ship destroyed just as its captain and officers evacuate on their shuttles. The frigate Anvil, which was escorting the Maximus, makes a hasty jump out of the system to avoid being the next ship destroyed - leaving Farlander to fend off the attacks on the fleeing shuttles. Thanks to his help, the entire crew of the Maximus is saved as they jump after the Anvil, but the loss of the Maximus itself is a major victory to the Empire nevertheless.

The Anvil picks up the escaped crew at its next stop, but is in bad shape from the previous battle and in dire need of supplies to continue its escape. The Rebel corvette Lauhu is immediately dispatched to deliver those supplies, but the Rebels expect an Imperial attack to arrive at any moment. They launch Farlander in an A-Wing to fly a patrol around the wounded frigate. The Imperials show up as expected, with the frigate Firelance. It launches multiple bomber wings, jumps out of the system, and then jumps back in at another location to launch more bombers. The resupply operation is completed under fire, and the Anvil launches what few fighters it can muster for its defense. In its last jump, by sheer luck the Firelance arrives just out of turbolaser range of the retreating Anvil. The Anvil takes significant damage from the bombers, but jumps away before it can be destroyed.

With the Imperial Navy looking for it in force, and with the heavy damage it has sustained from the Firelance's attack, the Anvil simply cannot afford to stop for repairs. Its commander decides to scuttle the ship entirely to prevent it from falling into Imperial hands. The Rebel corvette Hart arrives to pick up crew and equipment. Farlander flies defense for this operation, as Imperial corvettes and gunboats finally discover the Anvil's location and arrive to destroy the fleeing vessels. The ship's crew is safely evacuated to hyperspace, and Farlander turns his guns on the Anvil to put it to rest.

With most of the Rebel manpower now safely away from Yavin, the Rebels must address the food shortage caused by the destruction of their freighters during the initial evacuation. Firstly, one of their last remaining grain freighters breaks down in deep space and comes under attack by the Imperials, requiring X-Wings to guard it against multiple waves of enemy gunboats as crews arrive to repair the ship. During the battle, a pair of commercial freighters and their armed escorts happen to arrive at the same hyperspace transit point; Luckily, the Imperials mistake them for additional Rebel ships and attack them too - prompting the escort Y-Wings to join the fight on Farlander's side.

Simultaneously, the Rebels carry out an operation to retrieve a grain container that was dropped by one of their ships during the escape. The Imperial frigate Avenger attacks the container with TIE Bombers, drawing its defenses away. Once the container is left undefended, the corvette Assassin jumps in to finish the job. However, with the assistance of Farlander coming in at the last second, the Assassin is destroyed and an attack by additional gunboats is thwarted long enough for the Rebel freighter Trips to arrive and recover the precious cargo. Despite all this, the Rebellion's food situation remains dire, pushing them to take more daring action - namely raids on Imperial shipping. Farlander is sent in a Y-Wing to ambush an Imperial convoy passing by a small debris field, identify the transport known to be carrying a shipment of food, and signal for a Rebel raiding unit to come capture the craft. The operation is quick and efficient, barely allowing the Imperials any time to counter-attack. The Rebels disappear into hyperspace just as an Imperial frigate arrives and launches a wave of bombers and TIE Advanced fighters.

Similar raids are carried out in nearby systems, but the overall take is too small to solve the food crisis. The Rebellion is forced to open negotiations with Overlord Ghorin, the tyrannical ruler of the Plooriod Cluster where much of the recent action has been taking place. Ghorin is himself a ruthless dictator, but the planets under his control are major grain producers, and he has declared his sympathy for the Rebellion. The Rebels, facing starvation, simply have no choice. While the negotiations are taking place, the Rebels detect Imperial movements indicating that they are expanding their communications network to better track Rebel ships within the Plooriod Cluster. An attack on a new communication station is devised, with Farlander leading an X-Wing and Y-Wing squadron to take out a pair of corvettes laying mines around the comm sat, then destroy it. It is hoped that this diversion will also draw Imperial attention away from the Plooriod Cluster while the Rebellion handles its negotiations with Ghorin.

Finally, the Alliance manages to arrange its first grain shipment from Ghorin. Unfortunately, the Rebels soon discover that a transit point on their freight convoy's planned route has been mined by the Empire, and it is too late to recall the ships. Farlander flies an emergency mission to clear the vast minefield before any Rebellion ships run into it. The first couple of freighters arrive before he can clear the field, and suffer significant shield damage. Nevertheless, they make it through without significant hull damage, followed by the rest of the convoy. With the route now clear of mines and Imperial surveillance, the first handoff can take place. Alliance freighters and Ghorin's freighters rendezvous in deep space to transfer the grain. Farlander flies defense for this operation, expecting either an Imperial attack or some sort of double-cross from the dictator Ghorin. The Empire detects the meeting and sends a dozen gunboats and armed transports to destroy the freighters, but the Rebel A-Wings intercept and destroy them - finally allowing the Rebels to secure a large quantity of grain.

Sadly, the Alliance's suspicions were well-founded: Ghorin was working with the Empire this whole time, and his grain shipment is poisoned and unusable. The Rebels have wasted time and resources on this endeavor, and are now desperate for food. Farlander is sent in an A-Wing to scout an Imperial storage facility to see whether any of the freighters parked there is carrying food. After fighting a slew of TIE Fighters defending the facility, Farlander scans all the cargo containers in the area and discovers that none is carrying any food. Just then, an Imperial freighter arrives and drops off a container full of food, and the Rebels decide to go after it immediately. However, once the Rebel freighter arrives to steal the container, an Imperial trap is sprung: the Star Destroyer Badi Dea arrives and destroys the freighter, forcing Farlander to retreat immediately.

Rebel High Command comes up with a plan to simultaneously get themselves the food they need and punish Ghorin for his betrayal. First, the Rebels identify one of Ghorin's ships, the corvette Halifax, carrying a shipment of gold ingots that were paid to Ghorin by the Empire for his assistance in their plans. The Rebels assault the Halifax and disable it, while also attacking and disabling its escort Y-Wings. Shuttles arrive to capture all of the disabled craft, at which point the Calamari Cruiser Maria arrives to pick them all up. The Halifax itself is quickly scuttled, and the Rebels escape to hyperspace just as Imperial forces arrive to check out what's happening.

The next step is to attack the Empire's food supplies using the captured Y-Wings, to make it seem like Ghorin has double-crossed the Empire. Two attacks take place simultaneously: One on a convoy of corvettes carrying a grain shipment from Ghorin, the other on a large Imperial storage facility. The second attack also provides the Rebels with the opportunity to destroy an Imperial frigate, the Sentinel, which is guarding the facility; The Calamari Cruiser Cathleen arrives in person to blast the Sentinel away.

The final phase of the plan is particularly cunning: The Rebels assault a large grain convoy sent from Ghorin to the Empire, disabling all of the ships and exchanging the grain on board with the tainted grain Ghorin had sold to the Rebels. The crews are then replaced with Rebel operatives, who will claim that they "fended off" a Rebel attack. With Farlander's help, the entire operation is completed in just a few minutes - just before the Star Destroyer Badi Dea shows up to assist Ghorin's ships.

Now that the cargo has been delivered, Rebel Intelligence wants to determine whether the bad grains are actually being distributed to the Imperial fleet in this sector. Farlander and a group of A-Wings fly reconnaissance around the Imperial frigate Elite, scanning every supply transport that arrives until one carrying the poisoned grains is detected. The mission is complicated by the Elite's complement of TIE Advanced fighters, capable of outperforming the A-Wings. Nevertheless, the experienced Rebel pilots defeat them and make their escape. Once the Empire realizes that the food it purchased from Ghorin has been tainted, Darth Vader is personally sent to visit Ghorin on Plooriod III and kill him.

With the food shortage problem finally solved, the Rebels can now go on the offensive again. Their new objective is to research the Empire's new TIE Advanced, a craft that has been plaguing the Rebels ever since the Battle of Yavin. Rebel Intelligence locates a testing and training facility for the TIE Advanced, and decides to attack it during a shift change, when new pilots are brought in to train. Farlander clears a minefield protecting the facility, destroys a couple of active TIE Advanced, and finally the freighter Ashanti arrives to steal a whole container of fighters. Elsewhere nearby, the Rebels working to secure the alliance of another race, the Leafar, who have begun to resist the Empire themselves. However, with the Empire surely on its way to retaliate for this behavior, the Rebels decide to send their fighters to protect a busy Leafar shipping lane they believe will come under attack by Imperials at any moment. The attack comes even before the Rebels can arrive - in the form of the Star Destroyer Badi Dea, which launches wings of TIE Bombers escorted by TIE Advanced. Ships passing through the lane come under attack, but Farlander and his squadron intercept and destroy waves and waves of them. Eventually, the Calamari Cruiser Maria and its escort frigate Whitehawk arrive and launch a few squadrons to assist, finally depleting the Badi Dea's squadrons and driving it off.

Meanwhile, efforts to locate a new base for the Rebellion are underway, but the convoy carrying the base supplies and construction equipment from Yavin is constantly hounded by Imperial attacks. Farlander is sent to protect the convoy along a hyperspace transit lane, where it is attacked by the Imperial frigate Red Wind which jumps in behind the Rebel freighters. Fortunately, the combined firepower of the A-Wings and escort corvettes is enough to take down waves of TIE Interceptors and Bombers until the convoy is safely on its way. Following the attack, Rebel scouts notice the Red Wind coming to a full stop in deep space, after which it deploys a minefield. This is a clear indication that the ship has suffered some sort of malfunction, and is stranded in deep space for repairs. The Rebels decide to strike the ship, using multiple waves of corvettes to whittle its shields down and finally destroy the Imperial ship.

Rebel Intelligence completes its analysis of the TIE Advanced craft captured recently. They conclude that the Empire is developing a new experimental shield system of some sort. The Empire is planning to install the new shield in a corvette, and the Rebels draw up a plan to capture it before it is deployed. This would require the use of Imperial gunboats, so a number of them are stolen from an Imperial system patrol base in a daring raid. The Calamari Cruiser Cathleen arrives to pick up the stolen gunboats just as an Imperial response force arrives to drive the Rebels off.

Farlander flies a Y-Wing into an Imperial research facility disguised as an ordinary patrol station. The gunboats stolen in the last mission fly as his escorts, under the pretense that they are bringing in a Rebel defector. Once within the perimeter, Farlander breaks off and begins scanning the various ships orbiting the facility to determine which one is carrying the new shields. The Imperials respond with copious turbo-laser fire and wings of gunboats, but Farlander manages to locate the corvette Blade 5 and disable it, allowing Rebel commandos to fly in and capture the ship. Once the shield is studied by the Rebels, they determine that it is significantly stronger than any known shield system in existence. Furthermore, analysis of in-flight footage from a previous mission where Farlander fell into an imperial trap while attempting to capture a grain container from the Empire reveals that the Rebel freighter destroyed in that mission - the Sarsuma - was not destroyed by turbo-lasers; It actually rammed the Badi Dea's bridge and nearly destroyed the Imperial ship entirely. The Rebels decide to consider staging another similar situation, arming a small ship with the new shield and using it to ram a Star Destroyer's bridge. The operation is dubbed "Ram's Head".

Operation Ram's Head begins with preparing a Rebel corvette to carry the new shield. Farlander flies an escort for the Corvette Blade 5 — now renamed the Ram's Head — as it makes its rendezvous with the corvette Libra carrying the new shield and a team of technicians. As expected, the Imperials interrupt this rendezvous with their frigate Darkness, which launches bombers and TIE Advanced against the corvettes. At one point during the battle, an Imperial corvette called Assassin 8 full of explosives jumps near the Rebel corvettes and attempts to ram them both - showing just how desperate the Empire is to prevent the new shield technology from falling into their hands. Fortunately, a large group of Rebel Y-Wings arrives to help Farlander stop the corvette, and after that all Rebel forces turn their attention towards the Darkness and destroy it with a barrage of torpedoes. The rendezvous is complete, and both the Libra and Ram's Head jump to hyperspace.

In the final stage of operation Ram's Head, the Ram's Head jumps close to an Imperial repair facility where multiple Star Destroyers are moored for repairs. Activating the Shield X system and setting the ship to auto-pilot, the crew bail in a small shuttle. The Ram's Head proceeds to ram straight through the bridge sections of several Star Destroyers in a row - crippling or destroying them all. With the incredible damage done to the Imperial fleet in Operation Ram's Head, the Rebellion is finally free to travel the Outer Rim to look for a new site for their main base. For his help in protecting the fleeing Rebel fleet, Farlander is awarded the Shield of Yavin medal.

Now that they are free to operate unimpeded in the Outer Rim, the Rebels take the opportunity to resume one of their most important projects: to create the B-Wing Heavy Starfighter. Construction of the new fighters is carried out in hidden deep-space facilities. Farlander's unit is assigned to guard such a facility where assembled B-Wings are being prepared for service. X-Wings escort freighters to and from the facility regularly, with only a single X-Wing group present at any given time to actually guard the B-Wings themselves. During such a shift change in the patrols, an Imperial attack occurs with gunboats and multiple corvettes attempting to destroy the B-Wings. Farlander only barely manages to destroy the incoming Imperials before they can destroy the facility.

Since the Empire has obviously discovered the facility, it will need to be evacuated immediately. Some of the station crew have been given a very basic crash course in powering up the B-Wings and steering them, so they can fly them out of the system. A race called the Habassa, whose homeworld is somewhere nearby, has sent a corvette to assist evacuating personnel out of the facility itself. The second Imperial attack — in the form of the Star Destroyer Relentless — arrives just as the B-Wings are being boarded by their temporary pilots. The Habassa make good on their promise, as their corvette Habatok 2 arrives to pick up the station's crew. All ships make it out before the base is destroyed. Despite the destruction of the facility, the results of previous mission bode well for the Alliance, as the Habassa are highly familiar with their region of space and may be able to locate a planet suitable for the Rebellion's new base. In the meanwhile, Farlander is sent to protect the rescued B-Wings as they are picked up by the Calamari Cruiser Maria. Soon after they arrive however, the Imperial frigate Juvaini follows and launches fighters and bombers. Shortly after that, the Imperial frigate Metternich joins the fight, with interceptors and bombers of its own. The Rebels are quick to react with X-Wings arriving to bolster Farlander's defense, and soon the area is full of dogfighting spacecraft. Nevertheless, most of the B-Wings make it safely on board the Maria, and the whole fleet jumps away.

The Rebellion now seeks a live strategic target on which to test the new B-Wing fighter. They determine that the Empire has been setting up TIE Fighter staging area throughout the sector, in order to allow their capital ships to reinforce quicker and thus maintain a stronger presence in otherwise remote systems. Farlander receives the honor of flying the B-Wing on a mission to destroy one such facility near Yunkor IX. The B-Wing demonstrates its awesome firepower and endurance, flying alone against vastly superior numbers. Having easily destroyed the entire base, Farlander is only driven off by the arrival of three tightly-grouped corvettes.

Emboldened by their new starfighter's success, the Rebellion decides to make the final test a more well-defended target. In this case, they select an Imperial facility where the Empire is attempting to continue its research into the Shield X technology that was used in the Ram's Head. For this demonstration, one of each Alliance fighter model participates in the assault, comparing an A-Wing/B-Wing team to a traditional X-Wing/Y-Wing team. The force destroys both corvettes guarding the facility as well as everything else they can find. When another pair of corvettes appears, the Rebels audaciously destroy both of those as well before escaping to hyperspace. New B-Wings arrive at the main Rebel fleet, and are added to the arsenal of both the Independence and Defiance cruisers. Luke Skywalker himself congratulates Farlander on a job well done, helping secure this powerful new weapon for the Rebel Alliance.

The Rebels are still attempting to secure an alliance with the Habassans, who are skeptical about the danger posed by the Empire due to their limited contact with that totalitarian force. An opportunity to convince them otherwise arises when the Rebels discover a convoy of freighters carrying enslaved Habassans, headed to a rendezvous with the frigate Mayhem. While Rebel commandos arrange for the Mayhem to be delayed, Farlander is sent in a Y-Wing to disable the slave freighter for capture. The Mayhem does indeed arrive to disrupt the operation, but is thwarted by Farlander.

The rescue of the slaves helps convince some of the Habassans of the danger of the Empire, but not enough to create a political change. However, soon enough a Habassan convoy comes under attack from two Imperial corvettes, and all Rebel starfighters nearby are scrambled to help. Four X-Wings and two A-Wings respond immediately, with an additional squadron of B-Wings quickly readied and sent into the fight as well. However the Empire sends their frigate Avenger to finish the job, launching nearly a dozen waves of TIE Advanced and Bombers after the convoy and its new Rebel escorts. Thing turn even grimmer when the Imperial frigate Hunter arrives to assist the Avenger, launching TIE Interceptors to take down Farlander and the other fighters. The tide only turns when the Habassan response force arrives in the form of several Y-Wings, who join the Rebel B-Wings in destroying both the Avenger and Hunter and allowing what remains of the convoy to limp back home safely.

With this action, the Habassa are finally prepared to join the Rebel Alliance. They send a delegate to the Rebel cruiser Independence aboard their transport Bardictol. The Habassa were so impressed with Farlander's performance during the last mission that they outright request the Rebels that he escort their delegate personally. However it seems that the Empire has been diligent in scattering probes throughout the entire sector, as they detect the location of the meeting and send no fewer than two frigates - the Havoc and Riptide - to attack the Independence and the Bardictol. Fortunately, the Rebels were prepared for this; They send in two additional corvettes to intercept the enemy bombers and fighters, and launch every fighter on board the Independence. With Farlander's help intercepting the craft going after the Bardictol, the transport makes it to the Independence intact, while Rebel bombers destroy both Imperial frigates allowing the entire force to escape into hyperspace before additional Imperial ships arrive.

Despite an alliance with the Habassa secured, the Empire is obviously monitoring their movements too closely, so they cannot appear to be openly assisting the Rebellion just yet. Nevertheless, they agree to sent a large shipment of food to the Rebels, who are once again running short. The meeting is interrupted by the frigate Anjisan, which launches bombers against the docked freighters. The Rebels react by sending a group of B-Wings to destroy the Anjisan before it can hurt either of the two freighters, and the food shipment gets away safely.

It is clear, however, that the Imperial probe network would be a thorn in the side of the Rebellion if allowed to propagate. The Star Destroyer Relentless, under direct orders from Darth Vader, is using it to try and locate the Rebel fleet and then attack it directly. Before they can do that, Rebel Intelligence decides to capture a load of probes and alter their programming to send false signals, thus confusing the Empire and masking actual Rebel movements throughout the sector.

The raid to capture one such shipment of probes occurs at Bofa II, where a probe distribution station has been constructed by the Empire. Farlander, flying a B-Wing, attacks the site and scans each container, though none contain anything of interest. The Empire sends a couple of corvettes to defend the facility, but the hardy B-Wing makes short work of them. It seems as though the whole affair was a waste, but then another freighter arrives, bearing Imperial probes. It is quickly disabled, and a Rebel transport arrives to capture the craft, but the Imperial frigate Boltthrower arrives to try and thwart the operation. The B-Wing tackles enemy Interceptors and Bombers, allowing the commandos to finish the job and abscond with the freighter.

Throughout the sector, Rebel GR-75 medium transports working together with X-Wings quickly destroy and replace Imperial probes with the doctored probes. Unfortunately, replacing the probes is not enough; The Empire also relies on physical reconnaissance using gunboats and corvettes. To ensure that they must rely solely on the probes, the Rebels must attack and destroy as many corvette patrol stations in the area as possible. Farlander participates in two such attacks, one in the Feenicks system and another in the Farfeld system.

The attack on the Feenicks system goes fairly smoothly. The B-Wings attack the base's defenders and minefield, when three Assassin-class corvettes jump in, firing not only a screen of turbo-lasers but also launching TIE Bombers that attempt to fire missiles at the B-Wings. Nevertheless, the well-armed B-Wings torpedo the corvettes to oblivion, destroy the base, and leave unharmed.

In comparison, the attack on the Farfeld base is nearly a disaster. The B-Wings take out the corvettes Cutlass and Olrac Etnom before they can power up and escape, then destroy the corvette Oramac as it returns to the base for resupply. However before they can attack the base itself, multiple gunboats arrive to intercept them, as well as the Imperial frigate Dark Eye which launches dozens of TIE Fighters. Two of the B-Wings are overwhelmed and destroyed, but fortunately the Habassan frigate Melisse jumps in and engages the enemy, launching Y-Wings of its own. As Farlander takes out the base, the Habassan Y-Wings eliminate the Dark Eye, and all forces withdraw.

Unfortunately for the Habassans, who had attempted to keep up neutral appearances despite joining the Alliance, their assault on the Dark Eye has not gone unnoticed by the Empire. A large Habassan trade convoy comes under attack by a massive number of gunboats, who manage to disable one of the freighters - the Jess 6 - and attempt to capture it. A squadron of Rebel B-Wings is scrambled to assist, barely managing to stop the Imperials from boarding the disabled freighter. A Habassan crew arrives with Y-Wing escorts to try and repair the ship, but once the Imperials realize they won't be able to capture the Jess 6, they simply destroy it. The other freighters just barely manage to get away thanks to Farlander's intervention.

Meanwhile, the Rebels continue outfitting their capital ships with B-Wing squadrons. One such squadron makes its way to the Calamari cruiser Cathleen on board the freighter Radley, when its escort suffers a shield failure and must return to base. Farlander is sent to escort the freighter while waiting for the Cathleen to jump to it. It seems that the hacked probes installed by the Rebellion have done little to prevent the Empire from detecting their movements, as the Imperial frigate Interceptor arrives and launches waves of TIEs to destroy the freighter. Farlander hold them off until the Cathleen arrives, launching Y-Wings to clean up the remaining TIEs and finally destroy the Interceptor itself.

Despite the losses suffered to the Star Destroyer Relentless's fleet of frigates, it appears that the frigates just keep coming. Rebel High Command wishes to push even more aggressively by capturing two important targets: A group of officers heading for the Imperial frigate Mayhem, and then the frigate itself.

In the first operation, Farlander ambushes and assaults a large group of transports waiting for a rendezvous with the Mayhem. As nearly 20 transports attack him and his wingman in a hair of laser fire, Farlander identifies the one carrying the officers, disables it, and then protects it while Rebel commandos captures it. The Mayhem arrives just as the transport is captured, but cannot stop the Rebels from escaping.

In the second operation, the Rebels set a trap for the Mayhem itself. Information is intentionally leaked to Imperial spies that a Habassa corvette carrying information about potential Rebel base locations is about to rendezvous with a Rebel corvette to transfer that information. As expected, the Mayhem arrives to capture or destroy the ships, but Rebel B-Wings attack the ship and disable it. Rebel commandos assault the ship and capture it under heavy gunboat assault. The Empire sends two corvettes to join the gunboats in assaulting the captured frigate, but all Rebel forces withdraw to hyperspace.

Interrogation of the captured officers yields an encouraging discovery: The Relenless's frigate fleet has indeed been whittled down as expected, and in fact has only one frigate remaining. It is the Juvaini - one of the frigates that attempted to prevent the B-Wing transfer to the Calamari cruiser Maria. B-Wings from the same squadron that was almost shot down in that action will now get their revenge, as a group of six of them attack the frigate while it is undergoing repairs, escorted by Farlander in an A-Wing. Though the enemy puts up a serious fight, it is no match for so many B-Wings, and the frigate is utterly destroyed.

The Habassa finally provide the Rebels with information about planets and moons in their sector that might be suitable for a new Rebel base. However, while the Relentless is still hounding them, the Rebels cannot perform any surveillance without giving away the planets' positions. Thus, Alliance High Command decides to take out the Relentless itself.

Firstly, the Empire has apparently discovered that the Rebels had replaced their probes with faulty ones. The Relentless is running some tests on a new set of probes, and the Rebels decide to attack and destroy these probes before they can be deployed. B-Wings are sent on this mission, as the Relentless is still present in the area. The run turns out to be a gauntlet, as gunboats close on the B-Wings from all sides while the Relentless jumps in behind them and sends out a group of TIE Advanced. The A-Wings escorts break off to keep the TIEs busy while the B-Wings hurtle down a long corridor of space to take out probes and probe containers. Farlander's wingmen are shot down by gunboats, but he survives long enough to complete the mission and escape.

Before the Relentless itself can be attacked, the Rebels must first weaken its fighter force. Fortunately, the Relentless has lost most of its TIE Interceptor and TIE Fighter squadrons in previous actions, and is now expecting deliveries of new fighters. The Rebels decide to strike both shipments near-simultaneously. The first attack occurs in deep space, with Rebel corvettes arriving to assault a convoy headed to the Relentless. The second is a riskier hit-and-run attack to destroy a convoy that has almost arrived at the Relentless itself. Despite significant losses on the part of the Rebels, they have effectively deprived the Relentless of most of its mobile defenses.

Finally, it is time to destroy the Relentless. Two groups of B-Wings jump in to do the job, escorted by A-Wings. Farlander takes out the Relentless's shield generators, while the other groups stay back until the shields are down and then attack the ship itself. The Relentless launches everything it has left, and multiple Imperial corvettes and gunboats jump in to defend it, but without TIE Interceptors and TIE Advanced fighters to guard it, the B-Wings can operate almost unimpeded - eventually taking out the Star Destroyer in a massive explosion.

With the Relentless removed, there remains no Imperial ship anywhere in the region that can coordinate the probe network, relay its data back to Imperial headquarters, organize replacement probes destroyed by the Rebels, or intercept the Rebel fleet whenever it is discovered. This victory comes at an opportune time, just as the Rebels complete their analysis of the Habassa data and locate a suitable planet for their base - the frozen world of Hoth VI, in a system that has already been marked as uninhabitable by stellar cartographers.

The only thing still standing between the Rebels and their new home is the vast imperial probe network, which is still able to detect their movements. To ensure that the Empire has no clue where the Rebels went, Alliance High Command enacts operation "Blunt Stick": a simultaneous attack on all known probe locations in the sector. Every Rebel starfighter is launched for this mission, each attacking a different site. Farlander is sent to attack a rather remote location, where a probe is protected only by a small minefield. However he arrives just in time to witness an Imperial convoy coming to build a larger minefield. Multiple gunboats, shuttles and corvettes assault Farlander, but he manages to stave them off as he works to destroy the probe. As more corvettes arrive to bolster the enemy's defense, Rebel X-Wings show up to kill Farlander's assailants, and together they destroy the corvettes, the mine convoy, and the probe.

The way to Hoth is finally clear, and all Rebel vessels begin their jumps towards the new base. However two Calamari Cruisers lag behind: the Cathleen and the Yali. While the Maria moves to assist the Yali, the Cathleen comes under attack by the Imperial frigate Dragon. While the Dragon takes severe damage and jumps away, it leaves behind a load of TIE Bombers. While Farlander the other fighters ward off the bombers, a group of Corvettes jumps in to form a fire screen, while a dozen transports attemp to torpedo the Cathleen. The B-Wings retaliate with torpedoes of their own, destroying the Imperial forces and allowing the Cathleen to finally jump to Hoth.

With the Cathleen underway, Farlander is immediately diverted to the Yali, and no sooner does he arrive when no fewer than three Imperial frigates - the Fear, Fury and Hate - jump in close proximity to the ship and begin launching bombers and interceptors. All Rebel starfighters available launch from the Yali and arrive from other ships to help in the battle. The cruiser Maria arrives just in time to block a fourth Imperial frigate, the Spite, from joining the pummeling of the Yali. With two cruisers together in the battle, the Rebels finally have the upper hand. With massed turbo-laser fire and Y-Wings launched from the Yali and Maria, all four Imperial frigates are destroyed - freeing the cruisers to make their jump without being observed.

The Rebel fleet finally makes it to Hoth intact, and its destination has successfully been kept secret. A base is erected under the snow, and quickly becomes operational. Snow-speeders and tauntaun patrols guard it on the ground, while the Calamari Cruisers fan out to protect its surroundings. The Rebellion has found a new home. For his valiant service in securing the way to Hoth, Farlander is finally promoted to the rank of General in the Rebellion, and is awarded the Talons of Hoth medal.

Voice cast

 * David Stone as Keyan Farlander
 * as Hamo Blastwell
 * as
 * as Captain Nogdra
 * as
 * as
 * as Sian Tevv
 * as Crix Madine
 * as
 * as
 * as General Jan Dodonna
 * Peter Geddis as Captain Raymus Antilles
 * Brandon Chow, Crispin Valenzuela, Isla Wood and as Rebel Pilots and Imperial Officers