Battle of Death Star III

The Battle of Death Star III was a space battle fought a few months after the Battle of Endor. During the battle, the New Republic's Red Squadron attacked a Death Star-like space station near Endor. The station was defended by a fleet of Imperial-class Star Destroyers and its contingent of TIE fighters.

A similar weakness to the first Death Star had been discovered in the unfinished superstructure, and the Republic starfighters made their way past the Imperial escorts, fought TIE squadrons and made a trench run to their designated target. The unit was forced to defend a Star Tours travel agency StarSpeeder 3000 after the civilian vessel's inexperienced droid pilot accidentally stumbled into the midst of the battle.

Firing proton torpedoes into a hole similar to the thermal exhaust port on the Death Star I, the starfighters and the Star Tours ship withdrew from the battle, leaving the station to be destroyed.

Prelude
In 4 ABY the Rebel Alliance, having learned of the development of the Death Star II at Endor, as well as Emperor Palpatine overseeing the construction, prepared to attack the battlestation, both to destroy another Death Star threat and at the same time to depose of the dictatorial ruler of the Galactic Empire himself. The battle was eventually revealed to be an elaborate trap composed by the Emperor himself, although the Rebel Alliance nonetheless succeeded in its goal. That victory, along with a battle at the Kuat Drive Yards, also led to the Rebel Alliance formally changing its name to the New Republic.

The Battle
At some point, the New Republic uncovered evidence of the construction of a third Death Star being developed somewhere close to Endor. They then dispatched Red Squadron to take it out. Before attacking the station directly, however, they had to deal with a fleet of Star Destroyers and a TIE fighter squadron. Because of this, the sector was coroned off from civilian travel due to the combat situation. At some point during the dog-fight, a StarSpeeder 3000, ST-45, belonging to the Star Tours travel agency, unintentionally arrived in the middle of the battle after escaping a nearby comet storm (the droid pilot, RX-24, in a calculation error due to inexperience, inadvertently bypassed Endor completely due to exiting Hyperspace too late from their destination). The ship was later caught in one of the Star Destroyer's tractor beams, although it managed to escape after one of the Red Squadron pilots advised RX-24 to ease up on the main thruster. The ship was later damaged by a TIE fighter shot, although the ship was spared from destruction after R2-D2 repaired the stabilizer. Eventually, Red Squadron allowed it to participate in the actual battle on the Death Star, where it observed the group's X-wings maneuvers and also aided them by shooting down pursuing TIE fighters. Red Squadron then reached its target: a hole in the incomplete hull of the station that led directly to the core of the station, which the squadron then proceeded to fire a salvo of proton torpedos into. The station was then destroyed.

Aftermath
After the battle, the StarSpeeder 3000 returned to its docking area with minor damage. This event, however, was only the beginning of similar incidents that later forced the Star Tours agency to be shut down.

Behind the scenes
The Death Star III idea was created to explain why a Death Star is present on the Star Tours ride when both of the stations in the movies were destroyed. However, a third Death Star has yet to be seen, or even mentioned, in canon.

Appearances

 * Star Tours