Battle of the Sixela system

This battle in 1 ABY took place in the Sixela system as a result of the machinations of Imperial Commander Rezi Soresh, who had drawn the Alliance to Restore the Republic Fleet and Imperial Fleet to the system to destroy them both in revenge. The Imperial and Rebel fleets engaged each other until Soresh's resonance torpedos set off a chain reaction in the system's star.

Prelude
"Don't think that you can disobey me just because I'm halfway across the galaxy. As of now, I'm watching you. And my reach is further than you might expect. Perhaps you'd appreciate a little demonstration...."

- Rezi Soresh to Luke Skywalker before the Glymphid messenger dies.

Twenty-seven days after his exile from the Galactic Empire, Commander Rezi Soresh fled to the Outer Rim Territories, eventually ending up in the Sixela system, landing on a moon around the third planet of the system. Once there, he set about rebuilding his power base with his stored data, in many cases resorting to bribes and blackmail. Eventually, Soresh captured a colony vessel with 100 civilians on it to lure the Rebel hero Luke Skywalker to him. Along with some Arkanians, Soresh took other people and drugged them, turning them into uniformly mindless bodyguards.

In other parts of the galaxy, Skywalker and his Rebel companions went on a mission to the planet Nyemari. Their attempts to steal access codes to an important Imperial Installation succeeded, but they were forced to escape the capital city and returned to where they had hid their starship, the Millennium Falcon and were told they were being followed. The Rebels confronted the mysterious messenger, who gave Skywalker a hologram from Soresh. In the message, Soresh "invited" Skywalker to the Sixela system in return for the hostages, giving a deadline of twelve hours. As a warning, Soresh demonstrated his power when the messenger died in front of Skywalker as a result of a delay-activated poison. Skywalker knew he had to go to Soresh, but his companions did not let him go alone.

Skywalker captured
"You see? Everything according to plan. He's tracking our coordinates as we speak. If I've calculated correctly--and I always calculate correctly--he'll arrive just in time to greet your Rebel Fleet. I'm almost tempted to delay a bit, just for the joy of watching Vader blown up by a sky full of Rebel scum...But that would be indulgent. No, I can't let personal feelings interfere with carefully set timing. Vader will burn along with the rest of them, that will have to be enough for me."

- Rezi Soresh bragging to his "audience," namely a brainwashed Luke Skywalker just before the battle

Before the deadline passed, the Millenium Falcon arrived at Soresh's barren moon. Han Solo disembarked and met a hooded man. The man claimed to be Soresh and demanded Skywalker. Solo stated Skywalker may or may not be onboard, but two T-65 X-wings flew down and attacked Soresh's outpost, destroying the laser cannons aimed at the hostages. Angered, the hooded man raised his triple blaster, but Solo gunned him down first. The X-wings landed, and Skywalke and Leia Organa disembarked to join Solo and his copilot, the Wookiee Chewbacca. The Rebels were then surprised by exploding mines in the compound, and they raced to assist the hostages. Skywalker was grabbed by a hostage, who revealed himself as Soresh. Soresh used a force pike to subdue the young pilot. Soresh's bodyguards then captured the other Rebels, even though Chewbacca took out six or seven of the drugged guards; the Rebel droids C-3P0 and R2-D2 remained hidden.

Alone in his cell, Skywalker tried to escape but was stopped by the shocked bars. Soresh visited him and told Skywalker would replace his last assassin, X-7. Solo and Organa later tried to stage an escape, with Solo acting sick. The Rebels got ahold of their guards, but more guards with blasters arrived. Solo grabbed a blaster and took one of the guards hostage. Another guard shot the weapon out of Solo's hands, then executed the guard Solo was holding. The Rebels surrendered and were placed back in the cell.

Over the next two weeks, Skywalker was tortured and Soresh occasionally visited and gave him a temporary reprieve. Eventually, Skywalker grew to hope for his appearance. One day, Soresh told him his friends had been killed. Going back to his office, Soresh then used his holoplayer to contact Darth Vader. Soresh prepared his trump card: resonance torpedoes, which would cause the sun to go supernova and vaporize everything in the system. Soresh next gave Skywalker a chemical serum, of his own design used to break down a man's spirit by targeting memories. Visions of his friends helped Skywalker through the procedure, and he vowed to himself to hold on. Afterward, Soresh gave him back his lightsaber, and Skywalker pretended to be mindless, obeying all of Soresh's commands. Afterwards, the guards took the other three Rebels out into the open air. There they met Skywalker and Soresh. Skywalker stared blankly ahead. When he asked who they were, Soresh called them miscreants and handed Skywalker a blaster, telling him it was their time to die. Soresh told Skywalker to fire, so Skywalker did. The shot missed, slamming into the wall above Solo's head. Then Aridinian folk music started blaring. When the guards were distracted, Solo and Chewbacca attacked them and grabbed a blaster. A speeder truck appeared, piloted by the Rebels' droids. Solo rescued Organa from two guards, and C-3PO was firing a blaster in the air as a further distraction, under fire from the guards. Solo then found a hiding spot, 50 meters from the others. He found a blaster shoved into the back of his head, and the guard behind him said to get on his knees. Then there was a blast behind him, and the guard was dead. Skywalker had saved him, acting normal. Skywalker told him about the ruse, and told him he had to stay with Soresh to find out what the Imperial was planning. Solo promised the others would be waiting for him, and asked for a favor. Solo needed to shoot him to make it seem the Rebels had escaped.

Soresh later found him with a wound in his left shoulder. Soresh promised he'd be punished for failing, but he had proved his loyalty.

The now-escaped Rebels were met on the surface by Div, a mercenary, and Ferus Olin, former Jedi and now Rebel operative. He had been suspicious of the information from the start, and went down to the surface to rescue the others in Div's Firespray-31-class patrol and attack craft. They immediately found Solo and his companions. Soresh contacted Darth Vader again, to draw him towards the system. Vader threatened his doom, but Soresh laughed when Vader ceased to transmit, and bragged to Skywalker about his grand plan. After two weeks of training in which the five attack points and need for precision were continually rehashed, the Rebel Alliance Fleet reverted from hyperspace into the Sixela system, only to discover they had flown into a trap. Then Soresh told Skywalker about the resonance torpedoes he had, and gave Skywalker his lightsaber back, if Skywakler would press the button to launch the torpedoes at the sun. Skywalker kicked Soresh's knees out from under him. He Force grabbed the lightsaber ands started reflecting the blaster bolts. The guards forced him back. Skywalker used the Force to mind trick and subdue the guards, forcing them to flee. In the distraction Soresh made it to the computer terminal and launched the torpedoes before fleeing. Skywalker's companions then arrived to "rescue" him.

An Imperial fleet arrived, complete with an Interdictor Star Destroyer to prevent escape. As the two fleets started a massive engagement, the plan became clear to the Heroes of Yavin.

Soresh's goal was not only to take his revenge on Skywalker, but to destroy the Rebellion and this arch-rival, Darth Vader. To the Rebels, he used a drugged scout to "intercept" a secret Imperial transmission saying Emperor Palpatine would be arriving in the Sixela system with a minimal guard for a meeting of the Imperial High Command. It was a chance the fledging Rebellion did not refuse.

Initial maneuvers
"Princess Leia! What a relief you're safe.''" "None of us are safe for much longer. In two hours, twenty-seven minutes, this system's sun is going to explode." "How can you possibly know--" "It doesn't matter. The fleet will have to make the jump into hyperspace as soon as possible. " "Understood. But we can't go anywhere under such heavy fire. We're putting everything we have into holding off the Imperials." "Do what you can up there. And I'll do my best from down here." "May the Force be with you, Princess." "''And you."

- Commander Willard and Leia Organa

Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca then took off to join the battle; twelve of Soresh's guards were placed around the Falcon. Skywalker dispatched them with the Force, explaining it as "Jedi hokum" as the guards laid down their weapons.

When they reached orbit, Skywalker joined the fight in his X-wing, outmanuevering attacking TIE fighters. Organa attempted to contact the Imperial Fleet and reached an Imperial on Vader's flagship to warn him of the impending supernova, but she was met with an angry and determined response. Both sides were taking casaulties, so Div came up with a plan. He ordered the Rebel Mon Calamari Star Cruisers to launch plasma bombs at an area of space, creating a red cloud of ionized gas 1000 meters across. Skywalker, Solo, and Div, and other X-wings led a squadron of TIE fighters through the cloud; as the cloud interfered with electronic sensors, the starfighters were blind. At the other end of the cloud, the Rebels dived downward at Div's signal, but the TIES hit a Star Destroyer hidden by the cloud and causing serious damage.

In the middle of a skirmish with remaining TIES, Div, mercenary and partner to Olin, was hit by TIE-launched proton torpedoes. He was forced to take his Firespray down to the surface. Skywalker and company were forced to leave him behind.

Withdrawal
"This is Gold Leader. The Imperials are fleeing. Repeat, the Imperials are fleeing. All ships return to base."

- The Alliance's Gold Leader at the end of the battle.

The resonance torpedoes hit the star, causing a chain reaction which would explode in 40 minutes. With the threat of an impending supernova, the Imperial fleet left the system and the Rebel fleet soon followed.

Skywalker and Solo rejoined Organa on the surface of the moon to finish evacuating the hostages. Darth Vader had also landed on the surface in his shuttle to hunt Soresh. Olin told them to run while he distracted Vader. The aged Jedi was no match for the Sith Lord and was cut down. Organa paused long enough to say goodbye before they had to escape, taking his body with them. Soresh met the Rebels at the Millennium Falcon and attempted to blast Skywalker. In response, Solo gunned him down, ending his machinations and allowing the Rebels to escape.

The sun went supernova minutes later, but did not destroy the fleets as Soresh had intended. With the supernova, his compound and body were destroyed.

Aftermath
"When you're right, you're right, buddy. Okay, to absent friends--and present ones. No matter how annoying they may be."

- Han Solo gives a toast after the battle.

In a moment of catharsis aboard the Millennium Falcon, Solo led a toast to past and present friends. Although the battle had ended in a draw, the Galactic Civil War was still ongoing. The two factions would continue to fight for another three years. Skywalker would bear no permanent scars from Soresh's indoctrination, and in fact would continue to grow in power.

Behind the scenes
This battle takes place during the final installment of Alex Wheeler's Rebel Force series. It is the first chronological use of resonance torpedoes in canon. The battle saw the end of the series and the deaths of several characters: Soresh, Divinian, and Olin, the latter two who played prominent roles in The Last of the Jedi series. The book contains a number of errors relating to the identity of the hostages, the placement of Soresh's moon, and the final disposition of Olin's body. The TIE fighters in the battle are equipped with proton torpedos.

Appearances

 * Rebel Force: Uprising