Mission to Dantooine

The Mission to Dantooine was a skirmish that took place following the Battles of Yavin 4 on the planet Dantooine. An Imperial named Tycho Celchu had secretly contacted the Rebel Alliance regarding his planned defection, though this was quickly discovered by his superiors and he was arrested at his extraction site.

Prelude
After the Galactic Empire obliterated his home planet of Alderaan, TIE pilot Tycho Celchu became disillusioned with his career and decided to jump ship. He contacted the Rebel Alliance and agreed to meet on Dantooine to defect.

The rescue mission
Red Squadron is then sent over to Dantooine to meet up with Tycho Celchu and extract. Upon arrival at Dantooine, however, Sarkli alerts the squadron with the fact that a large concentration of Imperial forces were within the area. Tycho Celchu then contacts Red Squadron desperately telling them to abort the mission, as his defection had been discovered by the imperials, with his TIE interceptor also having been shot down by the time he attempted to warn them before his capture.

As a result, Red Squadron revised their extraction mission for it to become a rescue mission. The strike team landed on the planet, and also ambushed two Scout Troopers nearby. Sarkli managed to take them out by causing a rockslide with his blaster, and the Red Squadron leader Luke Skywalker congratulated Sarkli before he went off on his own on a 74-Z speeder bike. Sarkli wanted to come with, but was convinced by Skywalker to guard the landing zone with the rest of the team, while updating Luke via comm link. When he had reached the destination point, Celchu had already been loaded on an APC by unknown stormtroopers, threatening that any secrets that Celchu managed to uncover while spying for the rebels will die with him, and was moving toward a transport by Storm commandos. Skywalker dismounted and ran on foot towards an E-web emplacement. Heavy blaster fire from the cannon disabled the vehicle and allowed Celchu the chance to escape.

The escape
Celchu grabbed another speederbike, and the two pilots raced toward the other side of the canyon, where the other members of the strike team were waiting. The route was bombarded by TIE/sa bombers, resulting in the deaths of several strike team members. Skywalker and Celchu had to avoid more Imperials and the bombers, jumping their bikes over a chasm. During their escape, Sarkli contacted them telling them that they were currently under attack and telling them to hurry up and get out of there. When they arrived at the encampment, they discovered the only survivor was Sarkli. The pilots left the planet and returned to the Rebellion. When Luke asked who was trying to arrest Celchu, Celchu explains that they were members of the Storm Commandos, elite soldiers tasked with stealing weapons useful against the Rebellion.

Aftermath
Celchu would supply the Alliance with intelligence that several scientists situated on the planet Ralltiir wished to defect to the Alliance, but had been discovered. They were trapped in the main city, protected by a forcefield, the only thing protecting them. Celchu requested that the squadron help extract them before the Imperials got to them. Luke then commented that he knows of a pilot who could rescue the researchers in time after deciding that they should alert the Alliance to send a rescue team to Ralltiir.

Likewise, Darth Vader reported to Emperor Palpatine about Celchu's defection, although Palpatine believed that whatever information he gave to the Rebel Alliance about their plan to capture scientists on Ralltiir was of no consequence, as they already blockaded the planet.

Celchu would become a successful member of the Rebel Alliance, later flying for the successor to Red Squadron, Rogue Squadron.

Behind the scenes
This article was created based on a mission in the video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike. The mission illustrates how Tycho Celchu became a member of the Rebel Alliance, albeit in a more dramatic fashion than had previously been alluded to.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike