Battle of Turkana

The Battle of Turkana was a conflict between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance that occurred above Turkana during the Galactic Civil War.

Background
The Rebels were secretly massing their forces in orbit of the planet Turkana. The task force, under the command of Admiral Ackbar, consisted of several donated Mon Calamari Star Cruisers. The cruisers were equipped with the new Rebel starfighter, the T-65 X-wing, the prototypes of which had been previously stolen during the Battle of Fresia. With the help of defected staff from Incom, the Rebels had been able to produce X-wings in sufficient numbers and they were now ready to start service with the Rebel Alliance fleet.

A fleet of ten Imperial-class Star Destroyers under the interim command of Captain Lennox was conducting a search for the Rebel forces. The Alliance forces had been alerted by Alliance Intelligence to a possible attack and were preparing a defense against the incoming Imperial fleet. However, when a patrol of experimental TIE/In interceptors prepared for combat tests, located the Rebels at Turkana, Lennox gave the order to attack and the Imperials arrived sooner than Alliance Intelligence expected, allowing them to surprise the Rebels. Having caught the Rebel forces unprepared, the Empire underestimated the ease of their objective.

The battle
The Imperial fleet first launched their fighters while the main group moved into position. However, the Imperials were surprised when the Alliance fleet suddenly launched the new X-wing fighters. The Imperial forces were unprepared for a counterattack from the combined firepower of the rough Calamari militarized ships and the new Rebel starfighters and, after the loss of several starfighters including TIE/ln starfighters, TIE/sa bombers, and even a handful of the limited produced TIE Interceptors for combat tests, were forced to withdraw in order to avoid a major conflict.

Aftermath
After the battle, the Rebel Alliance, pleased with the performance of the X-wing, proceeded to manufacture the fighters in greater numbers and to enter them into service throughout the fleet. The discovery of the new TIE Interceptor prototype side project for the TIE Advanced x1 alerted the Alliance High Command for the need to acquire limited numbers of the new updated version of the R-22 Spearhead as an experimental testbed for their new interceptor needs. The small starfighter was nicknamed "A-Wing" by the Rebels who piloted what became the basis for the famous RZ-1 A-wing interceptor. Angered and embarrassed by the loss at Turkana, the Emperor responded with Operation Strike Fear which would torment the Rebellion for some time.

Behind the scenes
The intro cutscene uses a shot taken from The Empire Strikes Back, in which Lennox talks to an officer. It is not known if the cutscene has just 'borrowed' the screenshot from the movie, or actually intended to portray that particular character as present in that event.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: X-wing