Mission to Danuta

The Mission to Danuta was an early operation of the Galactic Civil War and the second phase of Operation Skyhook. After Rianna Saren informed the Rebellion about the Destruction of Despayre and the plans of the Death Star being held on Danuta, it was decided to steal those schematics in order to find a weakness to the new Imperial weapon. Rebel leadership decided that sending a team of commandos to fulfill the mission would risk too much collateral damage to the city of Trid, so they instead hired Saren and Kyle Katarn to infiltrate the facility and steal the plans. Katarn and Saren worked separately, having no contact with each other throughout the mission.

Prelude
When a librarian Atour Riten found the Death Star plans in the Death Star Library, he secretly sent a copy to the Imperial station on Danuta.

Katarn's mission
"This is too easy."

- Kyle Katarn



Kyle Katarn, a former Imperial-turned Rebel agent, was sent into an Imperial facility to take a supplemental set of the Death Star plans. He infiltrated the complex with the assistance of Meck Odom, an Imperial officer and longtime friend who gave Katarn information on when to pass through the south perimeter gate, how to enter through an air shaft, and what kind of security to expect inside the facility. Odom was further able to override the south perimeter gate's collateral security systems, which were his duty to watch.

Simultaneously, Jan Ors secured an escape route with the Moldy Crow by destroying the Imperial TIE Fighters at Trid's spaceport; all but one were destroyed on the ground. Guaranteed that no fighters would pursue them, Ors then staged a diversion at the Trid facility by detonating a small bomb near the north perimeter, forty-five minutes after Katarn was to enter the base, and then flying by in the Crow fifteen minutes later to fire upon any personnel who were sent to investigate. It was during this run that she destroyed the base's AT-ST and killed Major Horst, the facility's officer-of-the-day, who had decided to investigate the perimeter disturbance personally.



During this diversion, Katarn cut through the station's reduced defenses, reached its control room, and located the plans. Despite his skill and adrenaline, Katarn was on a few occasions saved by luck, and in the most intense moments of fighting he found himself beginning to draw on the Force to sense things before seeing them&mdash;a reliance he did not yet fully understand. Aiming to preserve his accomplice's anonymity, Katarn wounded Odom with a careful shot that incapacitated without killing him. After retrieving the memory matrix, Katarn then met Ors and the Moldy Crow at the rendezvous point on the roof, escaping with the plans that ensured the obtainment of a complete layout of the Death Star.

Saren's mission


Near the same time, an Imperial slavemaster Zarien Kheev arrived on Danuta with the updated battle station schematics. He was tasked to deliver those plans by Darth Vader himself, while being aboard the Death Star near Despayre. However, he was followed by Rianna Saren, who escaped the Death Star on a stolen Imperial ship. Rianna met Kheev, who was in his personal battle armor, on a landing platform. A fearsome firefight began between two of them. By destroying the battle armor's weapon emplacements one by one, Rianna defeated Kheev, but before dying, he managed to take a final shot at her. Rianna's droid Zeeo sacrificially took the shot and was seriously damaged. Rianna took the Death Star plans from Kheev's body, contacted Leia Organa and informed her that the plans were secure. Rianna, holding damaged Zeeo in her hands, departed Danuta.

Behind the scenes
The Mission to Danuta originally appeared in the demo to the video game Star Wars: Dark Forces, and it serves as that game's first level. The novella Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire expands on the background and mission itself, adding the contributions of Meck Odom and Jan Ors. It describes the Trid facility as much more heavily guarded than the gameplayer (who is only seeing a portion of the mission) might have believed.

The video game Star Wars: Lethal Alliance attributes Rianna Saren as having completed the Mission to Danuta and stolen the Death Star plans located there. It presents a different version of the mission than that described in the Dark Forces series. The relation between Katarn's mission and Saren's mission has not yet been clarified in official sources.

The briefing for the level in Star Wars: Dark Forces states that the mission belongs to the "second phase" of Operation Skyhook. It tells nothing about which was the first phase (although it would supposedly refer to the missions of Star Wars: X-wing) and what missions comprised the phases of the whole operation.

A scenario for the Dark Forces version of the mission was created for Star Wars Miniatures. Titled Destiny on Danuta, it is part of the Kyle Katarn's Tale series of scenarios.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Dark Forces
 * Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire
 * Death Star
 * Star Wars: Lethal Alliance
 * Dark Forces: Rebel Agent