Defense of Ralltiir

"Commander Skywalker! The Imperials have returned."

- Then-Captain Bren Derlin

The Battle of Ralltiir was one of many conflicts which took place on the planet, from its brutal subjugation in 1 BBY to its liberation following the Battle of Endor.

Prelude
This battle occurred in 0 ABY, when the Empire received word that scientists affiliated with the Rebel Alliance were hiding on Ralltiir. After rescuing the defector Tycho Celchu, Red Squadron was redeployed to the planet after Celchu informed them of the battle. The scientists were trapped under a deflector shield generator, which was the only thing protecting them. A force of AT-AT walkers was deployed on the surface near the scientists' location, while two Star Destroyers commenced an orbital bombardment of the capital city, causing much of the destruction. Red Squadron members Wedge Antilles and Lieutenant Sarkli, under the command of Luke Skywalker, were sent to help defend the city with T-47 airspeeders and aid the scientists' escape. At one point, one of the Red Squadron members managed to trip up an AT-AT.

The battle
Using their towcables to carry bombs that the scientists developed for the Rebels use, Red Squadron engaged the Imperial walkers and transports attacking the shield. Skywalker knew they had to cut off the Imperial advance, and ordered the destruction of the three bridges around the city, of which one of the bridges' destruction also caused an AT-AT crossing it to fall into the moat in the process.

During the battle, some of the AT-AT walkers managed to arrive at the main city and proceeded to fire on the city-wide shield. Red Squadron, thinking fast, proceeded to use the tow-cable bombs to blow up the "heads" of the AT-ATs, ending their attack on the shields. In addition, they also blew up an Imperial Transport near the northeast bridge, also recovering an advanced targeting computer for future use.

The Rebel operatives then landed in the city itself to escort the scientists to safety and help defeat the Imperial troops that had managed to get through the Ralltiir Rebels' defenses. Skywalker commandeered an AT-ST walker and blasted his way to a waiting Blockade Runner under the command of Captain Derlin.

As Skywalker commandeered the AT-ST, Lieutenant Sarkli ran to a nearby Imperial Armored Personnel Carrier, thereby defecting to the Empire and taking one of the scientists with him. He and the scientist boarded it. Sarkli also revealed to Skywalker that he had walked right into the Imperials' trap when boarding the APC. Skywalker and a team of Rebel troopers beat off the last of the Imperial force who attempted to board the transport.

During the escorting of the scientists, Luke managed to pick up Homing proton torpedoes from a corner.

After escorting the scientists to Captain Derlin's CR90 corvette, Skywalker blew a hole in the wall to create an escape route. He then dismounted and led the scientists to meet with Captain Derlin. Derlin then informed Skywalker that Imperial stormtroopers had boarded the ship. While Derlin was ordered by Skywalker to guard the scientists, The Rebel crew fought off the stormtrooper contingent and Skywalker gave permission for Derlin to leave the planet. The corvette took off and flew past the Imperial blockade, with Skywalker remarking that they just barely managed to succeed in their mission.

Aftermath
The scientists were afterwards escorted offworld to the Rebel base on Hoth.

Sarkli, meanwhile, would become one of the Empire's most talented spies, gaining personal favor of even Emperor Palpatine, as well as becoming an elite Storm Commando. Han Solo, when confronting Sarkli for the last time at Endor, would refer to his defection by stating that he "chose the wrong side."

Behind the scenes
"Locate and defend scientists trapped on the besieged planet of Ralltiir"

- Mission briefing for "Defenders of Ralltiir"

The Defense of Ralltiir was first showcased in the game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, where it was composed of two missions: Defenders of Ralltiir and Extraction from Ralltiir.

According to the audio commentary for "Defenders of Ralltiir", the level was made to take advantage of light scattering, and was cited as an underappreciated aspect for the players, especially as it was difficult to animate the environment. In addition, the Defenders of Ralltiir mission was cited to have been inspired by the war in Afghanistan, using images taken from CNN on the war coverage as models for the war-torn and desolate environment. Likewise, the Extraction from Ralltiir level was largely based on World War II, specifically scenes from Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan, and were aiming for a more "bombed-out Berlin" effect, and was also given more detail due to it being the ground portion of Ralltiir. The Blockade Runner portion was also inspired by the beginning of A New Hope, and used footage from the films as a reference for the details. Both "Defenders of Ralltiir" and "Extraction from Ralltiir" were originally planned to be sublevels of a single level, but the size of each level, particularly the former, led to them being split up. As a result, a level where Luke Skywalker had to infiltrate an Imperial-class Star Destroyer in the aftermath of those missions also ended up cut. A similar cut was later made for Deception at Destrillion.

"Rescue scientists hiding in the ruins of Ralltiir."

- Mission briefing for "Extraction from Ralltiir"

The player could also take out several of the AT-ATs by tripping them up with tow-cables, although because of the mission taking place long before the Battle of Hoth, which was where the strategy was first created chronologically, that can be chalked up to non-canon gameplay elements. However, at least one of those instances was canon, due to it appearing in the beginning cutscene of Defenders of Ralltiir.

In order to gain a gold medal for the mission "Defenders of Ralltiir," the players will need to use the tow-cable bombs on the AT-AT heads to take them out quickly. Similarly, to get the Advanced Targeting Computer upgrade, the player needs to blow up the Imperial Transport at the northeast landing point before picking it up.

In "Defenders of Ralltiir", The Sheild Generator model from the "Battle of Hoth" level in "Rouge Leader" is recycled as the Shield Generator for the City.

The Bridges that the Players destroy in "Defenders Of Ralltiir" are based off of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, some shots based around those seen in the Trailer for Twister.

In the Level; "Extraction from Ralltiir", the player comes across a Statue of a Jedi Knight with the Logo of the "Jedi Knight" Game Series at the base of it.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike