Battle of Kessel (0 ABY)

"Looks like Ackbar hasn't reached Kessel yet. We need to get him off that Star Destroyer before it's too late."

- Han Solo

The Second Battle of Kessel was a minor skirmish fought by the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire during 0 ABY over Kessel.

Under the command of General Han Solo and Commander Col Serra, a Rebel fleet and Renegade Squadron ambushed an Imperial fleet in the space over the prison colony of Kessel. The operation was developed to free the captured Mon Calamari Admiral, Ackbar, from being transported to Kessel. The Rebels were eventually able to rescue Ackbar from Imperial custody.

Prelude
When the Rebel Alliance recovered a holocube during the First Battle of The Graveyard that contained perspective locations for new Rebel bases, Admiral Ackbar took a small scout party to check out the planet of Saleucami, which was on the list. When Ackbar and his small team arrived in the Saleucami system, they were ambushed by the bounty hunter Boba Fett. Ackbar and his crew were captured by Fett and the Mon Calamari was sold to the Galactic Empire, while the rest of his crew were given over to the Hutt Cartel on Tatooine as slaves.

When Renegade Squadron returned to Alliance command from a short leave, their commanders, Han Solo and Col Serra were informed of Ackbar's capture and detention by Imperial forces. Alliance spies had been able to discover that the Empire were transporting him to their prison colonies on Kessel for interrogation. Mon Mothma gave Solo and Renegade Squadron the mission to take a small fleet to the Kessel system and retrieve Ackbar before he reached his destination. The Rebels knew if they did not get there in time, Ackbar would become the subject of Imperial torture methods, and that all of the Alliances' secrets would be in jeopardy.

The battle
The Alliance fleet jumped out of hyperspace just as the Imperial fleet were entering the system. Commander Serra knew the importance of their mission, and thus ordered Renegade Squadron to destroy the communications array on the lead Imperial-class Star Destroyer, thus preventing any Imperial reinforcements from being called. During the Renegade's initial sweep, they were also able to incapacitate both Victory-class Star Destroyers in the Imperial fleet by destroying their laser cannons. With the Victory-class Star Destroyers unable to contribute to the battle, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer began to launch its complement of TIE/ln starfighters. With the majority of the Renegades engaged with in dogfights, Han Solo ordered a member one of the Renegade's soldiers to gather a transport from their hangar so that the rescue Ackbar could take place.

After landing in the enemy's hangar, the Rebels found Ackbar in a small room near the launch bay. Escorting the Mon Calamari back to their starship, the Rebels found that they were unable to leave, due to the Imperials having deployed a force field over the magnetic field&mdash;the Renegades and Ackbar were effectively sealed in. Serra, however, was aware of his soldier's plight and managed to locate a shield generator at the side of the Imperial launch bay, and was able to radio its location to the Renegades. With Serra's help, one of the Renegades was able to destroy the generator, thus allowing the rebels and Ackbar to get into their transport and flee the Star Destroyer. Once Ackbar had been transported by the Rebel fleet successfully, Han Solo ordered his forces away Kessel, jumping into the safety hyperspace.

Aftermath
When Solo and his fleet arrived back at the Alliance high command, Ackbar reported to those present what had led to his capture, and the events surrounding his captivity. He also informed gathered Rebels that Fett had not given the rest of the captured scouting party to the Empire. Using his knowledge from his days as a smuggler, Serra concluded that the Mandalorian had sold captured Rebels to the Hutt slave market on Tatooine. As a result, Renegade Squadron launched an attack on Mos Eisley aimed at freeing the captured soldiers.

Behind the scenes
Due to the fact that the battle takes place only a short time after the Battle of Yavin, it is likely that the A-wing starfighters that served in this battle are actually the R-22 Spearhead. However, an official explanation for this has not been presented yet.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron