Escape from Skystrike Academy

In 2 BBY, Sabine Wren went on an undercover mission to rescue several defecting Imperial cadets from the elite Skystrike Academy. She managed to find three cadets who were willing to defect to the rebellion: Wedge Antilles, Hobbie, and Rake Gahree. Sabine's mission encountered an obstacle when Governor Arihnda Pryce arrived with Agent Kallus to hunt down the defecting cadets. During their first escape attempt, Rake was killed while Sabine and the cadets were captured. However, Sabine managed to free herself, Wedge, and Hobbie and escaped with the help of Ezra Bridger's CR90 corvette. Wedge and Hobbie then joined the rebellion.

Prelude
In 2 BBY, Imperial forces attacked a rebel convoy near Teralov. The Imperials ignored the rebels' pleas for mercy, and massacred the entire convoy. Shortly after the attack, three disillusioned Imperial cadets at the elite Skystrike Academy named Wedge Antilles, Hobbie, and Rake Gahree decided to defect to the rebellion. They sent a transmission through the auspices of a rebel agent named Fulcum, who relayed their message to the Phoenix Squadron.

Reeling from the loss of the rebel convoy, Phoenix Leader Hera Syndulla dispatched Mandalorian former Imperial cadet Sabine Wren on a mission to infiltrate Skystrike Academy and extract the cadets. The former Imperial RA-7 protocol droid AP-5 prepared fake identification for Sabine, who adopted the persona Ria Talla. Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus, his apprentice Ezra Bridger, and the astromech droid Chopper were assigned to dispatch Sabine to the Academy and to await picking her up.

Going undercover
Sabine managed to infiltrate Skystrike Academy with little problems. She met Wedge during a simulator training session, and the two quickly befriended each other. Sabine and Wedge shared an unease with the Academy's curriculum, which encouraged Imperial cadets to take no prisoners and to shoot unarmed, surrendering transports. Later, Sabine overheard Wedge and his friends Hobbie and Rake talking in secret about the message they'd sent, which gave her confirmation that they were the would-be defectors. While alone with Wedge, Sabine disclosed that she was a rebel agent and reassured him that the rebellion had received his transmission. She told Wedge and his friends to be ready to leave at a moment's notice.

Sabine's plan to extricate the defecting cadets was complicated by the arrival of Governor Arihnda Pryce and Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus, who had received word about the defectors. Governor Pryce issued orders to Instructor Goran to lock down the Academy while Agent Kallus questioned the cadets. When Kallus' investigation yielded no evidence of defectors, Governor Pryce and Instructor Goran set a trap by ordering the cadets to engage in a mock combat exercise in space.

Sabine and the cadets took their chance to escape, attempting to rendezvous with Ezra's CR90 corvette. However, Governor Pryce then detached the four cadets' TIE fighters' solar collector panels; leaving them stranded in space. She then dispatched Captain Vult Skerris and three TIE interceptors into the fray. Skerris destroyed Rake's TIE fighter before leading an attack on Ezra's corvette, inflicting substantial damage to the hull. Despite Ezra's protests, Kanan and Chopper withdrew the corvette from the engagement.

Second escape
Sabine, Wedge, and Hobbie were brought before Governor Pryce, who demanded to know which one of them was the rebel agent. To save Wedge from being tortured, Sabine identified herself as the rebel agent. Wedge, worried about Sabine, accidentally let her real name slip while he and Hobbie were led out of the cell. While Pryce prepared to interrogate Sabine, Kallus led the other cadets into a holding cell. After identifying Sabine as a former Imperial cadet and telling her that she'd come "home", Pryce ordered her stormtroopers to fasten Sabine to the torture device. However, the former cadet broke free of her captors and engaged Pryce in a fist fight. Despite Pryce putting up stiff resistance, Sabine managed to knock her out by pushing her into the path of the torture device's stinger.

Sabine then went to Wedge and Hobbie's holding cell. After knocking out two stormtrooper sentries, she freed the two cadets. Together, the three fled down a corridor while dodging stormtroopers and blast doors. They encountered Agent Kallus, who, to Sabine's considerable surprise and suspicion, helped Sabine and the cadets escape by directing them to Hangar Bay 24. By way of explanation for his actions, he told Sabine to tell her Lasat friend Garazeb Orrelios that they were now even. The three cadets managed to commandeer a TIE bomber and fled into the atmosphere outside Skystrike Academy.

The cadets were pursued by Captain Skerris in his TIE interceptor, which inflicted damage on the slow-moving bomber. Fortunately for Sabine and the cadets, they were picked up by Ezra's CR90 corvette. After being safely evacuated aboard the corvette, the rebels and the defecting cadets escaped into hyperspace.

Aftermath
At Atollon's Chopper Base, Sabine presented Wedge and Hobbie to her commanding officer, Commander Jun Sato. When Wedge asked whether the rebellion had been looking for pilots, Sato confirmed that this was the case and welcomed the two young men into the rebellion.

Behind the scenes
The escape from Skystrike Academy first appeared in the Star Wars Rebels episode "The Antilles Extraction", which premiered on Disney XD on October 8, 2016.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: A New Hope (paperback novel)
 * Aftermath: Empire's End
 * Star Wars: A New Hope (paperback novel)
 * Aftermath: Empire's End
 * Aftermath: Empire's End