The Skirmish at Klaatu was an operation by the Galactic Empire lead by the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Rage to lure the Alliance to Restore the Republic into a trap to capture high ranking members and reveal their secret base of operations.
Background
Admiral Senn had learned that the Airam Clans involvement with the Rebel Alliance wasn't full hearted, meaning that they weren't fully coordinated with the Rebel Alliance. Hoping to exploit this they arranged a convoy of freighters carrying Warheads and munitions to go through the Klaatu system with the information "leaked" to lure Airam forces into a trap. The Immobilizer 418 cruiser Compellor was not finished with the retrofit and as such the Rage decided to continue without it, believing that it would convince the Airam to go ahead without fear of being trapped by Gravity well projectors. The Rage also warned the pilots to be alert for any rebel starships believing that that they won't let their allies be taken prisoner.
The Battle
- "The Airam have taken the bait, lets "reel" a few in!"
- ―Unidentified Imperial Officer
As expected, the Airam rebels arrived to disable and capture the convoy. All Imperial fighters moved in and engaged the T-wings from Claw Squadron, while the convoy soon fell under attack from two Cargo ferries Lausbee and Nicko and the R-41 Starchasers from Jerrid Squadron. Although they lost quite a few fighters, the Imperials managed to punch the T-wings and inflict heavy losses, and started to attack the Cargo ferries. However the R-41 starchasers attacked both the fighters and the Rage in response. However before the ferries could board the convoy craft they suffered serious shield losses, combined with their fighter escorts being unable to stop the Imperial fighters caused them to surrender and power down. The Rage then sent stormtrooper transports to board and capture the ferries and to repair the convoy to make sure it reaches its destination. The Imperial fighters managed to provide cover against the remaining Airam fighters, eliminating the remnants and soon the transports boarded both the Airam ships and seized them while repairing the convoy craft to allow it to proceed with its mission.
Suddenly multiple Escort shuttles called Arrow arrived to launch torpedoe attacks against the Rage. Although the Rage took multiple hits its starfighters managed to destroy the shuttles before the ship would've been forced to withdraw from the battle.
Aftermath
- "Excellent, the Airam are proving to be completely predictable! The prisoners will soon reveal the location of the pirate base"
- ―Unidentified Imperial Officer
With the capture of the Airam ships and losses incurred the operation proved to the Airam that their involvement with the rebels was not without cost. The prisoners then revealed the location of the base and the Empire sent their forces to destroy it.
Appearances
- Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter: Balance of Power Campaigns (First appearance)
Notes and references
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter: Balance of Power Campaigns