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Battle of Yavin (80)![]() |
First appearance: A New Hope![]() | |
Relations: Yavin Prime, Yavin IV, The Great Temple | |
Dialog transcript |
Darth VaderSeveral fighters have broken off the main group. Come with me! |
The Battle of Yavin was a major battle of the Galactic Civil War that led to the destruction of the first Death Star and Luke Skywalker's first step to becoming a fully-fledged Jedi. It was one of the Rebellion's first major victories. While Rebels analyzed newly acquired Death Plans to find some weakness in its defenses, The Death Star arrived in system escorted by a small support fleet. Following the preliminary attacks, a fleet of 22 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. The fighters destroyed several turrets and a giant ion cannon mounted on the Station, in order to set the stage for the main phase of the assault. 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. But Vader, 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. The Rebels engaged in duels with the starfighters, destroying several to clear the way to the trench. As the rest of the Rebel fighters engaged Vader's forces, three Y-wings from Gold Squadron began their attack run on the trench. They were followed by Vader in his TIE Advanced, flanked by Backstabber and "Mauler" Mithel in TIE Fighters. Vader shot down Tiree (Gold Two) and Jon Vander (Gold Leader) in the trench, then shot down Davish Krail (Gold Five) as he attempted to escape. Following the failure of Gold Squadron, the Rebel tacticians on Yavin 4 directed Red Leader to keep half of the group out of range, and Red Leader instructed Reds Two, Three and Five (Wedge Antilles, Biggs Darklighter, and Luke Skywalker, respectively) to hold back while he led the second trench run, flanked by Reds Ten and Twelve. Red Squadron made a second bombing run, with Garven Dreis (Red Leader) making the attack itself, while Red Ten and Red Twelve attempted to hold off Vader and his fighters. While both his companions were shot down, 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 Vader. Skywalker was in the lead, while Darklighter and Antilles 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 Luke's X-Wing loosened, forcing him to initiate repairs and keep his ship steady before he could begin targeting, slowing down the run. Vader and his wingmen gave chase, and opened up on the X-Wings at long range. One of the wingmen's shots scored a minor hit on Wedge's X-Wing, damaging the engine array, and he was forced to abandon the trench run, unable to keep up with his wingmates. Vader instructed his wingmen to let him go and maintain their pursuit of Biggs and Luke. Soon Vader shot down Biggs, leaving Luke without any assistance in the trench. Vader and his wingmen then sped down the trench after Luke, as Luke neared the exhaust port. At this critical moment, Luke heard the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi prompting him to deactivate his targeting computer. The Rebel technicians on Yavin 4 questioned this decision, but Luke reassured them that everything was all right. Vader gained a partial weapon lock on Skywalker'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 apparent direct damage to Luke's fighter. In the Death Star's control room, master chief gunnery officer Tenn Graneet prepared to fire the Death Star's superlaser. With the Death Star primed to fire, he hesitated, feeling the guilt of the destruction of Alderaan. He called to standby as the others in the control room urged him to shoot. Vader, sensing that the last pilot, Skywalker, was strong in the Force, prepared to kill him (unaware at the time that Skywalker was his own son). However, at the last moment, Han Solo and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon surprised Darth Vader and, with a laser blast, destroyed one of his wingmen, Backstabber. In the confusion, the other wingman, Mithel, panicked and collided with Vader's fighter, sending himself crashing into the trench and Vader careening out of control into space. With the Force aiding him, Luke fired his torpedoes, both of which entered the port perfectly. On the Death Star's bridge, Admiral Motti called out that torpedoes were in the main shaft and would hit the reactor. The Death Star exploded just seconds before its main gun would have destroyed Yavin 4. Grand Moff Tarkin and almost the battle station's entire crew were killed. Vader himself managed to regain control of his fighter and fled the Yavin system with his life. The Rebel Alliance had won a spectacular victory. Because of these actions, Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca were awarded medals after the battle.Following event: Yavin award ceremony | ||
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Yavin Prime | Yavin IV | The Great TempleOperationsCharactersGeneral Jan Dodonna operated as Strategist and Tactician (Rebel Alliance)Pashna Starkiller operated as Tactician (Rebel Alliance)Leia Organa SoloRolesStrategistGeneral Jan Dodonna (Rebel Alliance)TacticianGeneral Jan Dodonna (Rebel Alliance)Pashna Starkiller (Rebel Alliance) |
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ChewbaccaSpeciesWookieeMembership / Duties / LocationsMillennium FalconPilotRelationsWorked in partnership with Han Solo | VaderMembership / Duties / LocationsBlack SquadronCommander (Black Leader)Imperial MilitaryLord Vader, Supreme CommanderTIE Advanced x1Pilot (Black Leader) | Luke SkywalkerMembership / Duties / LocationsRed SquadronRed 5Rebel AllianceT-65 X-WingPilot (Red 5)Weapons and EquipmentWeapons, equipment and toolsModel 57 Blaster PistolArmorK-22995 Light Flight HelmetDiagnostech Life Support Unit | Han SoloMembership / Duties / LocationsMillennium FalconPilot and CaptainRelationsWorked in partnership with Chewbacca | Leia Organa SoloMembership / Duties / LocationsRebel AllianceThe Great Temple | Wedge AntillesMembership / Duties / LocationsRed SquadronRed 2T-65 X-WingPilot (Red 2)Weapons and EquipmentArmorK-22995 Light Flight HelmetDiagnostech Life Support Unit | Wilhuff TarkinMembership / Duties / LocationsGalactic EmpireDeath StarCommander | Nera Dantels | Biggs DarklighterMembership / Duties / LocationsRed SquadronRed 3T-65 X-WingPilot (Red 3)Weapons and EquipmentWeapons, equipment and toolsDH-17 Blaster PistolArmorK-22995 Light Flight HelmetDiagnostech Life Support Unit | Jan DodonnaMembership / Duties / LocationsRebel AllianceGeneral Jan Dodonna, Strategist and Tactician, The Great TempleThe Great TempleGeneral Jan Dodonna operated as Strategist and Tactician (Rebel Alliance) |
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Garven DreisMembership / Duties / LocationsRed SquadronCommander (Red Leader)T-65 X-WingPilot (Red Leader)Weapons and EquipmentArmorK-22995 Light Flight HelmetDiagnostech Life Support Unit | Keyan FarlanderMembership / Duties / LocationsGold SquadronGold 7BTL Y-WingPilot (Gold 7) | Jek PorkinsMembership / Duties / LocationsRed SquadronLieutenant Jek Porkins (Red 6)T-65 X-WingPilot (Red 6)Weapons and EquipmentArmorK-22995 Light Flight HelmetDiagnostech Life Support UnitRelationsEmployed R5-D8 as Astromech | Cassio TaggeMembership / Duties / LocationsImperial ArmyGeneral Cassio TaggeDeath StarPassenger | Wullf YularenMembership / Duties / LocationsImperial Security BureauColonel Wullf YularenDeath StarPassenger | BackstabberMembership / Duties / LocationsBlack SquadronBlack 3TIE FighterPilot (Black 3) | John D. BranonMembership / Duties / LocationsRed SquadronRed 4T-65 X-WingPilot (Red 4) | Dark Curse (DS-61-4)Membership / Duties / LocationsBlack SquadronBlack 4TIE FighterPilot (Black 4) | Davish 'Pops' KrailMembership / Duties / LocationsGold SquadronGold 5BTL Y-WingPilot (Gold 5) | "Mauler" MithelMembership / Duties / LocationsBlack SquadronBlack 2TIE FighterPilot (Black 2) |
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MottiMembership / Duties / LocationsImperial NavyAdmiral MottiDeath StarPassenger | ChaserMembership / Duties / LocationsBlack SquadronTIE FighterPilot | Pashna StarkillerMembership / Duties / LocationsRebel AllianceTactician, The Great TempleThe Great TempleOperated as Tactician (Rebel Alliance) | Ryle TorsynMembership / Duties / LocationsGold SquadronGold 3BTL Y-WingPilot (Gold 3) | Jon 'Dutch' VanderMembership / Duties / LocationsGold SquadronCommanderBTL Y-WingPilot (Gold Leader)Weapons and EquipmentArmorK-22995 Light Flight HelmetDiagnostech Life Support Unit | R2-D2ModelR2-series Astromech DroidMembership / Duties / LocationsT-65 X-WingAstromech (Red 5) | R2-F2ModelR2-series Astromech DroidMembership / Duties / LocationsT-65 X-WingAstromech (Red 3) | R5-D8ModelR5-series Astromech DroidMembership / Duties / LocationsT-65 X-WingAstromech (Red 6)RelationsWorked for Jek Porkins as Astromech | R5-K6ModelR5-series Astromech DroidMembership / Duties / LocationsT-65 X-WingAstromech (Red Leader) | R2-series Astromech DroidSub-models or named unitsR2-D2R2-F2 |
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R5-series Astromech DroidSub-models or named unitsR5-D8R5-K6 | WookieeMembers of the speciesChewbacca | YT-1300 Light FreighterSub-classes or named shipsMillennium Falcon | Death StarCrew, Passengers and CargoCharacters† Wilhuff Tarkin (Commander)† Cassio Tagge (Passenger)† Wullf Yularen (Passenger)† Motti (Passenger)RolesCommander† Wilhuff TarkinUsed by / Part of complement / OperatedGalactic Empire | BTL Y-WingCrew, Passengers and CargoCharacters† Jon 'Dutch' Vander (Pilot) (Gold Leader)† Ryle Torsyn (Pilot) (Gold 3)† Davish 'Pops' Krail (Pilot) (Gold 5)Keyan Farlander (Pilot) (Gold 7)RolesPilot† Davish 'Pops' Krail† Ryle Torsyn† Jon 'Dutch' VanderKeyan FarlanderUsed by / Part of complement / OperatedGold SquadronGold Leader, Gold 3, Gold 5, Gold 7 | T-65 X-WingCrew, Passengers and CargoCharacters† Garven Dreis (Pilot) (Red Leader)† R5-K6 (Astromech) (Red Leader)Wedge Antilles (Pilot) (Red 2)† Biggs Darklighter (Pilot) (Red 3)† R2-F2 (Astromech) (Red 3)† John D. Branon (Pilot) (Red 4)Luke Skywalker (Pilot) (Red 5)R2-D2 (Astromech) (Red 5)† Jek Porkins (Pilot) (Red 6)† R5-D8 (Astromech) (Red 6)RolesPilotWedge Antilles† John D. Branon† Biggs Darklighter† Garven Dreis† Jek PorkinsLuke SkywalkerAstromechR2-D2† R5-D8† R2-F2† R5-K6Used by / Part of complement / OperatedGreen SquadronRed SquadronRed Leader, Red 2, Red 3, Red 4, Red 5, Red 6 | TIE Advanced x1Crew, Passengers and CargoCharactersVader (Pilot) (Black Leader)RolesPilotVaderUsed by / Part of complement / OperatedBlack SquadronBlack Leader | TIE FighterCrew, Passengers and CargoCharacters† "Mauler" Mithel (Pilot) (Black 2)† Backstabber (Pilot) (Black 3)† Dark Curse (DS-61-4) (Pilot) (Black 4)Chaser (Pilot)RolesPilot† Backstabber† "Mauler" MithelChaser† Dark Curse (DS-61-4)Used by / Part of complement / OperatedBlack SquadronBlack 2, Black 3, Black 4Imperial NavyImperial Starfighter CorpsImperial Starfighter Corps | Millennium FalconModelYT-1300 Light FreighterCrew, Passengers and CargoCharactersHan Solo (Pilot and Captain)Chewbacca (Pilot)RolesCaptainHan SoloPilotChewbaccaHan Solo | |
Full unit name: Battle of Yavin Last updated: 07.04.2025 19:13:35