Evacuation of Yavin 4

"...the Empire now knows our location. Therefore, our first priority is to find a new base of operations. To that end, all Rebel fleets have arrived to assist us in evacuating Yavin immediately."

- General Jan Dodonna

Following the Battle of Yavin, in which the Galactic Empire learned that the Alliance to Restore the Republic was headquartered in the Great Temple of Massassi on Yavin 4, the Rebellion evacuated the Great Temple in order to find a new base of operations. All Rebel fleets arrived at Yavin 4 in order to assist with the evacuation, and General Jan Dodonna began working to find a new planet to settle on.

In their haste, however, the Rebels neglected to destroy some of their data centers completely. Suspecting that the Imperials might be on their way to retrieve the secrets of the Alliance, Colonel Jennica Pierce ordered her Tatooinian agent to return to Yavin 4 and destroy the data before it fell in the Empire's hands. When the agent and his partner Saponza arrived at the former Rebel site, the Empire was already there, having massed forces and set up operations all over the moon. Despite the sheer number of Imperial troops opposing them, the Rebel operatives managed to destroy the data centers in time.

In the years that followed, the Rebels headquartered themselves on the small planet 5251977, and then in Echo Base on the snow planet Hoth.

Behind the scenes
The evacuation of Yavin was first mentioned in the opening crawl of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and it made it's first canonical appearance in the 2015 comic, Princess Leia, Part I.

Appearances

 * Princess Leia, Part I
 * Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure
 * Doctor Aphra 4: Book I, Part IV
 * Star Wars: Commander
 * Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back