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Yavin. Yavin (also known as " Yavin Prime ", to distinguish it from its moons) is a fictional planet in the Star Wars galaxy. It first appeared in the 1977 film Star Wars [a] and is depicted as a large red gas giant with an extensive satellite system of moons. The hidden military base of the Rebel Alliance is located on its fourth moon, Yavin 4 ...
Jan 28, 2024 · Summary. The Battle of Yavin is a significant event in Star Wars history, leading to the destruction of the Death Star and major victories for the Rebel Alliance. The Battle of Yavin altered the ...
- David Grove
- Mark Hamill
- George Lucas
The Battle of Yavin takes place in the fictional universe of Star Wars. It pits the Galactic Empire against the Rebel Alliance around the gas giant planet Yavin and its fourth moon . In a previous battle, the rebels managed to steal the plans for the Death Star, a gigantic Imperial battle station equipped with a laser capable of destroying planets.
- Overview
- Prelude
- Battle
- Aftermath
- Calendrical impact
- Squadrons
- Casualties and survivors
- Behind the scenes
"This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of Kenobi; it will soon see the end of the rebellion."
―Darth Vader to Grand Moff Tarkin before the battle — Listen (file info)
"Any attack made by the Rebels against this station would be a useless gesture, no matter what technical data they've obtained."
―Conan Motti
With the imminent completion of the Empire's Death Star, the Rebel Alliance anticipated a major Imperial offensive. To unify command and coordinate a defense, the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Independence carried members of the Alliance High Command to their secret base on Yavin 4. Upon arrival, the Independence sent Red, Gold and Blue Squadron to the Yavin Base. Their numbers were augmented by veteran pilots as the Alliance gathered its resources in preparation for the coming battle.
The Rebels' Mission to Danuta accomplished by rebel agent Kyle Katarn had resulted in the resistance movement obtaining a complete technical readout of the battle station. The plans were placed into the hands of Rebel leader Princess Leia Organa, but she was captured by Imperial forces over the planet Tatooine.
The plans were brought to Yavin 4 after the crew and passengers of the Millennium Falcon successfully rescued Organa from the Death Star. To facilitate their escape, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi had confronted his former Padawan and Organa's birth father, Darth Vader, and sacrificed himself in the process.
Around the time of the rescue, several pilots of Red Squadron were on a mission to Commenor to pick up astromech droids. They were successful, although the raid resulted in the death of Cesi Eirriss.
"Lock S-foils in attack position."
―Garven Dreis
The Death Star arrived in system escorted by a small support fleet consisting of the Nebulon-B frigate Divad and two CR90 corvettes BB 45 and SB 35. While the Death Star prepared to fire its main weapon, a communications satellite was deployed to coordinate defenses. The Rebels, still planning their attack, knew that any delay to the Death Star's approach could spell the difference between victory and defeat. Therefore they planned a small attack to destroy the communications satellite and disrupt operations.
A trio of X-wings, including Keyan Farlander, and a pair of R-22 Spearheads were dispatched to destroy the satellite. While Farlander's wingmen held off Imperial fighters, the pilot ignored the threat and headed straight for the satellite, destroying it with a proton torpedo. The mission was a success, preventing the Empire from calling for reinforcements and disrupting their defenses, although two of the Rebel X-wings were shot down and the pilots had to be rescued later.
Other portions of the offensive fleet included two Victory II-class Star Destroyers and two Tartan-class patrol cruisers. A large part of the Alliance Fleet, including MC80 Star Cruisers, Nebulon-B escort frigates, and other Rebel starfighters destroyed those four Imperial starships, however, to allow the Rebel Alliance attack on the Death Star to proceed.
Farlander was quickly dispatched again in one of two X-wings charged with clearing some of the defenses around the trench. They succeeded in destroying several laser batteries as well as some small surface hangars, limiting the Death Star's ability to launch fighters.
"Great shot, kid! That was one in a million!"
―Han Solo to Skywalker
Vader managed to make it to the nearby listening post on Vaal. As a result of this battle, the Rebel Alliance gained instant credibility as a legitimate military opponent to the Empire. Between the effects of the battle and the dissolution of the Imperial Senate, thousands of star systems openly joined the Alliance in the months following the Death Star's destruction. As a result, the Empire began occupying worlds it had allowed to remain untouched earlier, both actions resulting in an escalation of the war.
The next day, Skywalker took his X-wing for a flight, and fought a TIE fighter survivor.
Soon after the destruction, Imperial commander Brenn Tantor arrived with a strike force to rescue Colonel Maximilian Veers, whose shuttle had gotten caught in the crossfire. Tantor rescued Veers and destroyed a Rebel command center. Several garrisons escaped the Death Star, and their escape pods crashed near the Rebel base. They were fought off before the Evacuation of Yavin. Survivors from the 501st Legion also joined up with a Star Destroyer to launch a raid, which resulted in the death of three Bothan High Command leaders and the destruction of hundreds of Rebel ships.
Darth Vader became obsessed with finding the pilot with the Force presence who had fired the conclusive shot and led Death Squadron in his search.
25 years later, the New Republic Historical Council decided to set a new calendar. Some already used a calendar that set year 0 as the fall of Palpatine. However, due to the significance of the destruction of the Death Star, and its significance in the eventual overthrow of the Empire, the Council set year 0 as the year when the Battle of Yavin happened; therefore they established the BBY/ABY calendar.
The Galactic Alliance, as the legal successor to the defunct New Republic, continued to use this calendar, but it is unknown what calendar was used by the Fel Empire or the new Sith Empire.
Rebel squadrons
32 Rebel starfighters launched from Yavin 4. The whole fleet was composed of Red, Gold, Blue, and Green Squadrons. The known pilots assigned to them are: •Red Squadron (12 T-65 X-wings): •Red Leader - Garven Dreis† •Red Two - Wedge Antilles •Red Three - Biggs Darklighter† •Red Four - John D. Branon† •Red Five - Luke Skywalker •Red Six - Jek Tono Porkins† •Red Seven - Elyhek Rue† •Red Eight - Bren Quersey† •Red Nine - Nozzo Naytaan† •Red Ten - Theron Nett† •Red Eleven - Wenton Chan† •Red Twelve - Puck Naeco † •Gold Squadron (7 BTL Y-wings): •Gold Leader - Jon Vander† •Gold Two - Tiree† •Gold Three - Ryle Torsyn† •Gold Four - Lepira† •Gold Five - Davish Krail† •Gold Six - Hol Okand† •Gold Seven - Keyan Farlander •Blue Squadron (6 T-65 X-wings): •Blue Leader - Merrick Simms (T-65 X-wing) •Blue Two - Ru Murleen (T-65 X-wing) •Blue Three - Rookie One (T-65 X-wing) •Blue Four - Thurlow Harris (T-65 X-wing) •Green Squadron •Pilots unknown •Grey Squadron •X2 •Other pilots (squadrons unknown): •Hamo Blastwell (Survived, but reported MIA) •Jake Farrell (R-22 Spearhead) •Ernek Marskan •Talos Merkin† •Samuel Raider •Doyle Skims† (BTL Y-wing) •Shara •Millennium Falcon •Han Solo •Chewbacca
Imperial squadron
Only a single elite squadron of TIE fighters was deployed. The members of the squadron were formed by, and under the direct command of, Darth Vader. •Black Squadron (8 TIE/LN starfighters, 1 TIE Advanced x1): •Darth Vader •Qorl •Black Two - "Mauler" Mithel† •Black Three - "Backstabber"† •Black Four - "Dark Curse"†
Rebel Alliance
"Attacking that battle station ain't my idea of courage. It's more like suicide." ―Han Solo to Skywalker The Alliance's desperate assault on the Death Star was successful, but costly. Of the twelve members of Red Squadron,[source?] only two—Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles—survived the assault. All members of Gold Squadron except Keyan Farlander reportedly died as well. A Rebel Sullustan named Dr'uun Unnh was killed on the ground by a TIE Fighter that crashed into the jungle during the battle; the TIE fighter pilot died. Commander Hamo Blastwell was presumed dead by other pilots following the battle, but was officially listed as missing in action. Blastwell had in fact survived, as later reports placed him working as an undercover agent for the Alliance, posing as an Imperial officer. A number of other Rebels stationed at Yavin 4 were either unable or unwilling to participate in the battle. Both Jal Te Gniev and Derek Klivian were grounded due to illness. Wes Janson would have joined the pilots at Yavin 4 some time before the battle, but stayed behind at his previous assignment due to illness. His replacement, Jek Porkins, was killed in the battle. Tyler Lucian fled Yavin 4 prior to the Death Star's impending arrival, fearing for his life.
The Empire
"When the Death Star was destroyed about half of the 501st legion were still in the hangar getting into their ships. Of those who made it out another third were caught in the explosion. I'd fought with some of those men for 20 years." ―Entry from the Journal of the 501st All personnel on-board the Death Star were killed when the station exploded, including Tarkin, General Cassio Tagge, Admiral Conan Antonio Motti and other high ranking officers on Tarkin's staff. Over one million other officers, troops and staff were killed as well. Nearly all Imperial fighter pilots involved in the battle itself were killed.[source?] Exceptions included Darth Vader, whose fighter was sent hurtling off into space and eventually crashed into the planet Vaal, and a TIE Fighter pilot named Qorl, who crashed on the surface of Yavin 4. Qorl would survive alone in the jungles for decades before being discovered by students from Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum. About half of the 501st Legion were still on-board the Death Star when it was destroyed. Another third were killed when their ships were destroyed by the explosion. Maximilian Veers was on his way to report to the Death Star for his new assignment when the battle began. His command shuttle was attacked and crash landed on Yavin 4. He was rescued by Imperial forces some time after the battle. A small band of deserters escaped the Death Star shortly before it was destroyed. They included Villian Dance, Teela Kaarz, Celot Ratua Dil, Kornell Divini and Memah Roothes.
""It is a great day for the Empire"
―An Imperial and Darth Vader in the alternate history version of the Battle of Yavin in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
The battle is based heavily on the battle scenes in the British war film The Dam Busters.
The timeline of Star Wars fiction is most often based upon this event, where events are dated as happening so many years "before the Battle of Yavin" (BBY) or "after the Battle of Yavin" (ABY).
In the novelization of the film, Luke Skywalker's X-wing squadron is called "Blue Squadron," while the Y-wing squadron is called "Red Squadron." In the film, these colors are changed to Red and Gold, respectively. This change was necessitated because the blue paint on the X-wings had to be removed for blue-screen purposes.
reveals that Keyan Farlander is the pilot of the Y-wing fighter seen leaving the Death Star alongside Luke, Wedge and the Millennium Falcon.
This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of Kenobi; it will soon see the end of the rebellion.Darth Vader, to Wilhuff Tarkin before the battle The Battle of Yavin, also known as the Battle of the Death Star or the Miracle of Yavin, was a major and decisive battle of the Galactic Civil War, in which the Rebel Alliance was able to destroy the Death Star and was seen as one of the ...
May 26, 2015 · Description. After tracking the Millennium Falcon to the secret rebel base on Yavin IV, Grand Moff Tarkin orders the Death Star to manuever around the gas giant of Yavin in order to destroy the ...
Yavin 4,[2] also known as Yavin,[19] was the jungle-covered fourth moon in orbit around the red gas giant Yavin Prime. Prior to and during the Galactic Civil War, it hosted the headquarters of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, a group of resistance fighters that opposed the dominant Galactic Empire.[2] Following a major battle that took place around Yavin,[9] the Alliance went on the run ...