Battle of Endor/Legends

"An explosion bright as a star. A forest world, intrepid defenders, escaping ships, and...you, I think, somehow at the center of it all. Skywalker, it won't matter if you find them. It won't matter if you find and kill every Jedi who survived Order Sixty-Six. I understand now...the Force will never die."

- Roan Shryne explains his vision of the battle to Darth Vader on Kashyyyk

The Battle of Endor was one of the largest and most important engagements of the Galactic Civil War fought by the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire. It would signify the decline of the Empire upon the death of Palpatine, and the destruction of Death Star II, as well as key Imperial personnel. In addition, it would see Darth Vader redeemed to Anakin Skywalker by his son Luke, who was being tortured by the Emperor's deadly Force lightning. Vader would rise up, and throw the Emperor down a ventilation shaft, killing him. Vader died shortly after, his breathing apparatus short-circuited by Palpatine's lighning. This battle led to the death of the Empire, formation of the New Republic, and rise of the Jedi, who had been decimated by Order 66 and the subsequent Great Jedi Purge two decades ago.

Background
"The Emperor has made a critical error and the time for our attack has come."

- Mon Mothma

The prelude to this battle came when the Rebel Alliance learned that the Galactic Empire was constructing a second version of the Death Star space station (under supervision by Moff Jerjerrod). The Alliance leadership soon discovered that this version had corrected the design flaws in the original Death Star that the Alliance had exploited in the Battle of Yavin. It was decided that the station would have to be destroyed before it became operational.

In operations that cost the lives of many Bothans, the space station was found to be orbiting the forest moon of Endor. In addition, the rebels learned that, although the station was protected by a powerful deflector shield projected from a base on the moon, the station's weapons were not yet ready for service. Furthermore, they also learned that the Emperor himself was personally overseeing the final construction of the station. Destroying the station while he was still aboard would deliver a crushing blow to the Galactic Empire, perhaps the blow that would free the Galaxy.

With a golden opportunity too good to miss, the Alliance planned a two pronged attack. A commando squad, led by appointed General Han Solo and coordinated by General Brenn Tantor, a former Imperial general who had set up the shield generator, would land on the moon in a stolen Imperial Shuttle and disable the Imperial base's deflector shield projector. This would allow a Rebel fleet to attack the station and destroy it.

Meanwhile, Rebel ships launched an attack on Imperial forces near the planet of Sullust in an attempt to lure Imperial ships away from Endor. It was a miscalculation made by the rebels, as Palpatine had devised a strategy to maintain the fleet close to Endor, to provide security and support for the second Death Star, instead of engaging the Rebel Fleet. This was later revealed in the battle above Endor's forest moon.

The Rebels were unwittingly falling into a grand trap devised by the Emperor himself. In an attempt to effectively eliminate the Rebellion, Palpatine planned on drawing the Alliance to Endor using simple disinformation: he hid the fact that the station's primary systems were already operational (and had dispatched Darth Vader earlier on to ensure that the systems were ready on time).

With a large naval force hidden on the far side of the moon and an elite legion of Imperial troops standing by on the moon's surface, he was ready to crush the Rebels once and for all. The Emperor also predicted that the young Rebel Luke Skywalker would surrender to Imperial troops in an attempt to bring his father Anakin Skywalker back from the dark side. Knowing this, Palpatine planned to turn the young Jedi to the dark side, installing the youth as his new apprentice, in much the same manner as Anakin had supplanted Count Dooku at his side 23 years ago.

The Battle
"You rebel scum!"

- An Imperial officer to Han Solo.

The Ground Assault


"An entire legion of my best troops awaits them."

- Emperor Palpatine

The Rebels took the Emperor's bait and the trap was sprung as the commandos were captured at the moon's base and the Rebel fleet was trapped by the Imperial Navy, which was ordered to hold position and prevent the Rebels from escaping. To make things worse, the Death Star's superlaser was already fully operational and was re-designed to be an irresistible anti-ship weapon, able to recharge within minutes rather than hours, and capable of destroying Rebel ships at will.

The situation seemed hopeless. The Rebellion had never thought that the station had the capacity to fire its main weapon system at all, let alone with as great frequency and accuracy as it did.

In an effort to give the fleet more time, General Lando Calrissian suggested to Admiral Ackbar that the fleet attack the Imperial Navy at point-blank range, in hope the Death Star would hold it's fire to avoid destroying Imperial ships. Ackbar agreed, seeing as the Rebellion had no alternatives. The strategy ended up working, as the Death Star held its fire. Although many Mon Calamari cruisers were destroyed, so were many Star Destroyers. Despite their hard attack, the rebels came under limited fire from the Imperial Fleet, as Fleet Admiral Firmus Piett was under direct orders from the Emperor to not engage the Rebels. Still outgunned though, many Rebel frigates and corvettes were lost in the engagement, and Imperial TIE fighter wings decimated the Rebel fighter force.



However, unbeknownst to the Emperor, the Rebel commandos had made an alliance with an indigenous Ewok tribe on the moon. Their warriors ambushed the Imperial force soon after the Imperials took the Rebel commandos into custody. Although initially surprised by the ambush, Tempest Force regained the upper hand and squads of stormtroopers pursued the Ewoks into the forest. Despite being outnumbered by the natives, the stormtroopers were forcing the Ewoks back, and Imperial AT-ST scout walkers were decimating Ewok holdouts.

Hoping to take the upper hand, a pair of Ewoks, led by the Wookiee Chewbacca, was able to capture Tempest Scout 3, one of the scout walkers. The tide of the battle began to turn as Chewbacca used this AT-ST to take out isolated Imperial units as well as other Imperial walkers. The sight of this rallied the remaining Ewoks, who had been retreating into the woods, and they doubled their efforts behind the stolen AT-ST.

This allowed the Ewoks to spring a number of traps that had been set up with hopes of toppling any Imperial walkers. The tactic worked and together the traps and the commandeered walker defeated the remaining scout walkers. With the Imperials in disarray, General Han Solo posed as an AT-ST pilot, informing the Imperials within the bunker that the battle was over and reinforcements were needed to continue the pursuit.

Three squads of reinforcements were sent to help search for the rebels. The Rebels, however, were waiting and the Imperial reinforcements, sorely outnumbered and under the guns of an AT-ST, surrendered to the Rebel/Ewok force. The Rebels proceeded to infiltrate the Imperial facility and destroyed the bunker with several proton charges, killing several notable officers. Storm commando captain Sarkli attempted to intercept Solo and stop him from escaping the burning bunker, but failed and was shot dead. The destruction of the facility brought down the deflector shield surrounding the forest moon and the Death Star.

The Space Battle
"Admiral! We have enemy ships in sector 47!" "It's a trap!"

- Captain Verrack and Admiral Ackbar

Taking advantage of the new tactical situation, swarms of Rebel fighters targeted the Death Star. Although many were destroyed by TIE fighters and the Death Star's surface guns, a small group of fighters and the Millennium Falcon dove into the incomplete superstructure, leading them to the main reactor. Several TIE fighters and TIE interceptors went after the Rebels. This threat drove some of the Rebel Fighters to pull back to the surface of the station luring some of the Imperial fighters away from the primary mission; protecting the main reactor.



In order to dissuade more Imperials from swarming the Rebel fighters within the Death Star's superstructure, Ackbar ordered a concentrated assault on the Imperial flagship, the Executor to buy Calrissian more time. Green Squadron A-wings provided support for the Home One by disabling the ion cannons on three star destroyers. One frigate was severely damaged by a kamikaze CR90 corvette. With a combined effort of an entire Rebel flotilla of capital ships her bridge shields were temporarily brought down.

This allowed several fighter squadrons to target the Executor's main sensors and its bridge deflector-shield projectors. After A-wing squadrons destroyed one of the giant sensor spheres, Green Leader, after taking critical damage, steered his fighter into the bridge and killed much of the command staff (including Admiral Piett). The Executor then lost all navigations and crashed into the surface of the Death Star, exploding into a ball of fire and killing every officer on board.

Meanwhile, Moff Jerjerrod had orders from the Emperor to destroy the forest moon should the Rebels manage to deactivate the shield. As the Death Star began to rotate its primary weapon towards its target, the Rebel fighters sped towards the main reactor. Jerjerrod responded by flooding the area with interference to hinder the Rebel's progress, and (presumably) issued an evacuation order to non-essential crew.

First Death of the Emperor


In his tower, the Emperor, who was attempting to turn Luke Skywalker with the dark side of the Force and seemingly unaware of the events outside, was killed when Darth Vader rebelled against him in order to save his son from Palpatine's Force-lightning barrage. Ultimately, that final act was one of self-sacrifice, as Vader, reborn again as Anakin Skywalker now free from the evil that had consumed him throughout the Galactic Civil War, died in the arms of his son before he could board his shuttle.

All the while Lando Calrissian and Wedge Antilles were approaching the main reactor. Using concussion missiles and proton torpedoes, they detonated the Death Star's power regulator, and the main reactor itself, causing a massive explosion which led to a chain reaction that destroyed the station. Luke was able to escape in Vader's shuttle just before the explosion reached the equatorial docking bays. Gold Leader narrowly made it out of the superstructure as the fireball ripped through the doomed space station.

Demoralized by the loss of the Executor, the Emperor, the Death Star, and the majority of the Imperial Fleet, the remaining Imperials retreated deeper into Imperial space, believing that the Rebels could not take the war deeper into Imperial space or to the Imperial Center itself.

With the Death Star's destruction and the cessation of fleet combat, the Rebels landed a force of tanks and other armor. These were placed under the command of General Tantor, who successfully mopped up the last of the Imperial presence on the planet with a direct assault on their base.

After the battle's conclusion, the Rebels command staff celebrated on the forest moon of Endor in Bright Tree Village, while the remains of the Rebel Fleet screened the space directly above Bright Tree Village to avoid any debris from the Death Star blast from harming that area.



Grand Admiral Osvald Teshik escaped the destruction of the Death Star and instead of fleeing as his colleagues Takel and Makati did, unsuccessfully tried to rally the fleet and fought on alone for three more hours until his flagship, Eleemosynary succumbed to barrages of Ion Cannon fire and was captured. He was later executed for war crimes by Rebel authorities.

Final actions
"They did it!"

- C-3P0 to R2-D2

After the destruction of Executor, command should have properly passed from Fleet Admiral Piett to Admiral Harssk or the commander of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Chimaera which was serving as the secondary command ship. Gilad Pellaeon, acting captain of the Chimaera ordered a retreat from Endor, without the consent of Admiral Harrsk (which would later lead to the Admiral's defection) and abandoning Teshik to capture and eventual execution.

This action is most curious: despite the loss of Executor, the numerical and qualitative advantages of the Star Destroyers should have permitted the Imperial fleet to maintain tactical superiority over their Rebel foes. It is even more curious that the retreat order from an XO who was out-ranked by most other present Imperial commanders was widely heeded, though the Chimaera's role as second-in-command ship probably had something to do with it.



The battle was thus sealed for the Rebellion. It has been theorized (by none other than Grand Admiral Thrawn) that with the death of Emperor Palpatine, the subtle influence he exercised on his troops through the Force (battle meditation) was removed and the Imperial Navy's fighting ability was dramatically reduced, allowing the Rebel fleet to scatter them; it is known, however, that Grand Admiral Nial Declann perished with Palpatine aboard the Death Star, and that he had been using the rare Force-skill of battle meditation to aid the Imperial Fleet.

Had the Rebels failed to destroy the station, the end result would have been far worse than anticipated- surprisingly, it would have been an ill turn of events for Empire, as well. In the years beforehand, the assassin droid IG-88 had prepared to launch a droid revolution. The last surviving model, IG-88A, built a duplicate of the Death Star's computer core and switched its fake one for the real system, downloading its consciousness as well. When the Imperials installed the core, IG-88A literally became the Death Star, with complete access and control to all systems. None of the Imperial personnel knew, although Palpatine suspected a foreign presence when a series of doors in his throne room opened and closed wildly.

When the Rebels arrived, IG-88A fired the superlaser at the Rebel fleet, letting the Imperials believe they were in control, while he prepared to transmit his master control signal that would cause all droids to turn on their masters. When the Death Star core exploded, all power was lost and the destruction of the station wiped out IG-88A for good. It is unknown what would have been done to stop the rogue droid entity if the Empire had been victorious at Endor. One would think the Empire could simply replace the Death Star's computer core and dispose of the infected one, though with the nearly impenetrable defenses outside (and mostly likely inside), this may have proven to be extremely difficult.

As for Rebel losses, they were quite severe. One-fifth of the Alliance fleet was destroyed, along with at least several Mon Calamari cruisers (one a sister ship of Home One) and many smaller ships. At some point Admiral Ackbar was apparently forced to transfer his flag from RAS Home One to RAS Independence, probably due to severe battle damage in combat with Executor.

With the Death Star's destruction and the cessation of fleet combat, the Rebels landed a force of tanks and other armor. These were placed under Tantor, who successfully mopped up the last of the Imperial presence on the planet with a direct assault on their base.

Aftermath
The Imperial Fleet regrouped and repaired near Annaj following the battle; several days after the defeat, Admiral Prittick notified the rest of the Empire of the crushing defeat. Presumably by that point, Prittick assumed command of the Fleet, however temporarily.

The disintegration and collapse of the Galactic Empire began shortly after the Battle of Endor as news of the Emperor's death became widespread. As Palpatine deliberately did not plan for succession of rule, numerous Imperial leaders began carving out personal fiefdoms. This decay and collapse accelerated approximately six years after Endor during the events surrounding the clone Palpatine and his eventual defeat. Years later, the small (and mostly ignored) Imperial Remnant signed a peace treaty.

As for the Alliance to Restore the Republic, they would go on to form the Alliance of Free Planets and, soon thereafter, the New Republic, which would carry on as a strong member of the galaxy before the election of Borsk Fey'lya, when it would be crushed by the Yuuzhan Vong and reformed into the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.

Imperials

 * Councillor Sim Aloo
 * Lieutenant Arnet
 * Corporal Avarik
 * Councillor Kren Blista-Vanee
 * Captain Brandei
 * Admiral Chiraneau
 * Corporal Drazin
 * General Freja Covell
 * Lieutenant Creb
 * Grand Admiral Nial Declann
 * Captain Dorja
 * Colonel Dyer
 * Sergeant Elsek
 * Baron-Colonel Soontir Fel
 * Imperial Navy Trooper Fenson
 * Commander Gherant
 * Councillor Janus Greejatus
 * Lieutenant Grond
 * Admiral Harrsk
 * Lieutenant Hebsly
 * Major Hewex
 * IG-88A (inside Death Star II computer core)
 * Moff Jerjerrod
 * Controller Jhoff
 * Lieutenant Kiviett
 * Myn Kyneugh
 * Grand Admiral Afsheen Makati
 * Major Marquand
 * Major Mianda
 * Emperor Palpatine
 * Captain Gilad Pellaeon
 * Major Turr Phennir
 * Admiral Firmus Piett
 * Admiral Prittick
 * Major Rhymer
 * Captain Sarkli
 * Commander Gherant
 * Lieutenant Suba
 * Grand Admiral Miltin Takel
 * Sergeant Tarl
 * Grand Admiral Osvald Teshik
 * Darth Vader
 * Corporal Vandolay
 * Major General Maximilian Veers
 * Sergeant Wallen

Rebels and Ewoks

 * Admiral Ackbar
 * Wedge Antilles
 * Ace Azzameen
 * Corporal Beezer
 * Lieutenant Blount
 * Blue Wing
 * Sergeant Bruckman
 * C-3PO
 * General Lando Calrissian
 * Sergeant Brooks Carlson
 * Tycho Celchu
 * Chewbacca
 * Chief Chirpa
 * Colonel Airen Cracken
 * Arvel Crynyd
 * Lieutenant Delckiss
 * Corporal Delevar
 * Major Bren Derlin
 * Green Wing
 * Grizz Frix
 * Graak
 * Lieutenant Greeve
 * Major Haash'n
 * Ibtisam
 * Wes Janson
 * Sergeant Junkin
 * Kazak
 * Corporal Kensaric
 * Keoulkeech
 * Kin Kian
 * Derek Klivian
 * Leektar
 * Logray
 * Lumat
 * General Crix Madine
 * Captain Tessa Manchisco
 * Corporal Marmor
 * Corporal Midge
 * Chief of State Mon Mothma
 * Karie Neth
 * Nien Nunb
 * Ten Numb
 * Orrimaarko
 * Princess Leia Organa
 * Lieutenant Judder Page
 * Paploo
 * R2-D2
 * Randi
 * Morgan Raventhorn
 * Red Three
 * Lieutenant Gayla Riemann
 * Romba
 * Colonel Horton Salm
 * Lieutenant Nik Sant
 * Keir Santage
 * Captain Merrick Simms
 * Lak Sivrak
 * Commander Luke Skywalker
 * Captain Syub Snunb
 * General Han Solo
 * General Brenn Tantor
 * General Tyr Taskeen
 * Lieutenant Telsij
 * Thaneespi
 * Lieutenant s'Too Vees
 * Warok
 * Wicket W. Warrick

Fleets


Over 500 starfighters from the Rebel fleet participated in the battle. There were five main attack groups: Gold, Red, Green, Blue and Gray Squadrons. The known pilots assigned to them are:

Gold Squadron (Millennium Falcon):


 * Gold Leader: General Lando Calrissian/Nien Nunb/Airen Cracken (Gunner)/Lt. Blount (Gunner)/Ace Azzameen

Rogue Squadron (as Red) (X-wings and A-wings):
 * Red Leader—Wedge Antilles
 * Red 2 - Name unknown (A-wing)
 * Red 3 - Name unknown (A-wing)
 * Red 4—Derek "Hobbie" Klivian
 * Red 7—Keir Santage
 * Snoke Loroan
 * Wes Janson
 * Lak Sivrak
 * Grizz Frix
 * Randi
 * Gayla Riemann
 * Dorovio Bold

Green Squadron (A-wings):
 * Green Leader: Arvel Crynyd
 * Green 3: Tycho Celchu
 * Other Pilots: Commander Jake Farrell
 * Green Wing

Blue Squadron (B-wings):
 * Blue Leader: Merrick Simms
 * Blue 5: Ten Numb
 * Other pilots: Ibtisam
 * Bowman Gavin

Gray Squadron (Y-wings):
 * Gray Leader: Colonel Horton Salm / Kin Kian
 * Gray 2: Lt. Telsij / Karie Neth
 * Gray 4: Name unknown

Notes and references
Schlacht von Endor Batalla de Endor