Battle of Aiqin 4

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The title of this article is conjectural.

Although this article is based on official information from the Star Wars Legends continuity, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.

The Battle of Aiqin 4 was a Rebel effort to capture Airam clan leader Ilay during a meeting with the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Rage.

The Battle

Rogue and Green Squadrons performed a hyperspace jump into the Aiqin 4 system just in time to see the Dreadnaught-class cruiser Kala'din arrive. However, the Star Destroyer Rage was positioned between the Dreadnaught and the Rebel strike team, forcing Rogue Squadron to engage the Rage's fighter screen prematurely, while Green Squadron made a run for the Airam cruiser in its B-wing assault starfighters.

Unloading a few proton torpedoes onto both Dreadnaught and Star Destroyer, the B-wings brought down the shields of Kala'din relatively quickly. Green Squadron proceeded to disable the ship, then turned its attention to the Rage. Rogue Squadron fought valiantly to fend off any attackers bothering the B-wings during their attack runs. The Rage absorbed a beating from the Slayn & Korpil starfighters, but was ultimately forced to withdraw from the system or risk suffering heavy damage.

Meanwhile, the Rogues dueled both Imperial and Airam starfighters to protect the Rebel blockade runner Storm during its boarding operation. Alliance Special Forces succeeded in fighting their way through the disabled Kala'din and capturing Ilay, who was taken on board the Storm as a prisoner of the Alliance. After the successful capture of the Imperial-aligned Airam leader, the Storm proceeded to exit the system. Even the late arrival of the Super Star Destroyer Vengeance could not prevent the Rebel corvette from completing its mission. When the Storm finally entered hyperspace, Rogue and Green Squadrons withdrew, avoiding further losses in the face of rapidly mounting Imperial opposition.

Aftermath

Ilay's capture provided a wealth of information for clan leader Tamaron and the Rebel Alliance. One piece of information was that conscripts from Ilay's clan would be sent to the Vengeance soon, accompanied by fresh supplies. How desperate the supply situation of Task Force Vengeance had become was shown by Rage's deployment of TIE/sa bombers barren of concussion missiles against the rebel starfighter force.

Behind the scenes

The name of the Aiqin system is somewhat in dispute. Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter: Balance of Power Campaigns, the computer game in which this battle takes place, calls it the Aiqin 4 system. This is somewhat unusual nomenclature for a star system, which may contain planets or stars numbered by orbit or otherwise, but generally contains no numerals; furthermore, most numbered planetary bodies in the Star Wars universe are done so using the Romanic number system ("IV" instead of "4"). The Essential Atlas names the system as simply the Aiquin system.

Appearances

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Notes and references

  1. ↑ The game Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and its expansion Balance of Power Campaigns do not provide any information about their timeline other than it takes place during the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance (2 BBY ― 4 ABY). Nevertheless, some clues permit to place the game and its expansion around 3 ABY. X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter shows the Empire making extensive use of TIE/ad starfighters. The previous game of the series, Star Wars: TIE Fighter, established that the TIE/ad starfighter was introduced during the Sepan campaign (which is set in 3 ABY per the reasoning here). We can conclude that the game is set between 3 ABY and 4 ABY. Moreover, the most advanced Imperial starfighters from Star Wars: TIE Fighter (the TIE/d "Defender" starfighter and the Missile Boat) were not present in X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, suggesting that the game takes place before their introduction, also dated to 3 ABY as the entire TIE Fighter game is set in 3 ABY (per the reasoning here).
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