Evacuation of Yavin

"Luke Skywalker had done the impossible; the Death Star was destroyed. But the Empire would not take such a blow lightly. The counter attack on Yavin 4 hit us like lightning. The Alliance would have to evacuate, or be wiped out."

- X2.

The Evacuation of Yavin was a battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire that took place six months after the Battle of Yavin in 0 ABY. It was to be the final clash of the long siege of the moon before the Alliance base was evacuated.

The siege


After the destruction of the first Death Star, the Rebel Alliance prepared to evacuate the jungle moon, fearing Imperial reprisals. Fortunately, most of the Rebel fleet, including the Mon Calamari Star Cruisers under Ackbar and the refugee ships containing the Alliance government, had not been present during the battle and were scattered throughout the galaxy.

General Dodonna supervised the evacuation of the Yavin base. However, before the base's support staff could be completely evacuated, an armada of Imperial ships including Immobilizer 418 cruisers appeared in the Yavin system. Instead of attacking, the Imperial ships formed a blockade that prevented the Rebels from escaping into hyperspace.

In fact, this blockade had been ordered by Darth Vader himself, who wanted to capture leading Rebels. The blockade was so extensive, it surrounded the entire Gordian Reach Sector.

Meanwhile, the Super Star Destroyer Executor was nearing completion at the shipyards of Fondor. This mighty ship could take on an entire armada of smaller vessels and would serve as Vader's flagship. In retaliation for the destruction of the first Death Star, Vader wanted to use the Executor against the Rebels.

Undercover missions
Throughout the siege, Luke Skywalker and other Rebels continually evaded the Imperial blockade. First, they tried to sabotage the completion of the Executor, though they were betrayed and most of the task force was killed. Luke, however, managed to escape and return to the Alliance with intelligence on the behemoth warship. During another mission, Luke discovered the arctic planet of Hoth. After returning, he suggested to the Alliance that they evacuate to Hoth and set up another base there. A third mission was the Battle of Dantooine, where Tycho Celchu defected to the Alliance.

Leia Organa, meanwhile attended a conference of uncommitted systems on Kabal, where she met with Silver Fyre, leader of the Aquaris Freeholders and convinced her to bring their considerable fleet of small ships over to the side of the Rebels. Leia also sent Han Solo on a quest for a near-fabled power gem, in an attempt to use it against the Executor.

Returning from another assignment Luke and Leia were ambushed by TIE fighters that seemed to appear from nowhere. In attempting to track their source, Luke stumbled upon a plan devised by Baron Orman Tagge to hide TIE fighters within the atmosphere of Yavin itself, and destroyed the Achtnak Turbine Station that was their base. This action resulted in Baron Tagge swearing vengeance on Skywalker for making him look weak in the eyes of the Empire.

These continued Rebel evasions angered and frustrated the Imperial armada's commanders who eventually persuaded Darth Vader to launch an assault on Yavin 4. Meanwhile, the Rebel leaders including Dodonna were concerned, because while smaller ships could slip through the blockade, larger ships would be destroyed or captured. Dodonna then contacted Mon Mothma and Ackbar and arranged for them to stage a diversionary assault.

The battle
"The surprise is mine, bucketheads!"

- Jan Dodonna before the destruction of the main base Rebel forces under Ackbar engaged Imperial ships in the Vallusk Cluster to trick the Imperial blockade into diverting ships to reinforce the attacked positions, leaving a space open for the Rebel fleet to go into hyperspace.

However, the completed Executor finally arrived at Yavin 4 with Lord Vader's Death Squadron fleet, as well as elements of the personal fleet of Baron Tagge, and the battle began. During the assault, the Empire launched an array of vehicles including A5 Juggernauts and AT-STs. TIE Fighters and TIE/sa Bombers would shell the jungle area.

Dodonna evacuated the base's fighters and transports though he refused to evacuate himself until everyone had left. Lord Vader personally led an attack on the main Rebel base, but he was caught in a fight with the Rebel forces from two other bases, Falcon base and Raven base. However, with the assistance of TIE Bombers, he managed to destroy them both. A smaller Imperial force had pushed their way through to the Massassi Temple. However, Commander Col Serra and his newly created fighting force, Renegade Squadron, pushed back the Imperials and set up a perimeter. During this offensive, however, an Imperial scout trooper infiltrated the temple and stole Alliance communications logs. Renegade Squadron hunted down the unlucky trooper, and brought the logs back to the temple. They then proceeded to destroy databanks with sensitive information to prevent them from falling into Imperial hands. Then, the main Imperial forces approached the Massassi Base. Darth Vader and his troops destroyed all outer defenses, including anti-air turrets, allowing TIE bombers to make a run on the Great Temple. Meanwhile, the general planted several concussion charges that decimated a whole squadron of TIE/sa Bombers. It was believed that he had died in action, though it was later revealed he had been captured and imprisoned in the Star Dreadnought Lusankya.

Many of the surviving Rebels eventually made their way to a trio of bases, including Tak Base on Talay, Ring Base on an asteroid belt, and Thila Command on Thila. Shortly afterward Luke discovered an ice world called Hoth. He suggested that a command centre for the Alliance, could be established there if necessary. One year later, the Rebels where forced to evacuate the three worlds, taking refuge on Hoth, beginning the construction of a new base.

Behind the scenes
In the game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Mara Jade can be spotted on the game map during the battle. After she is spotted, Vader exclaims "What's this?!" and Jade leaves on a Sentinel-class landing craft. However, since it is required to use cheat codes to see her, her appearance is likely an easter-egg and it's canon status is dubious.

A seeming continuity error was created by Imperial Spy, which placed Q-7N at the Evacuation of Yavin and the preceding evacuation preparation. This clashes with Star Wars Missions 20: Total Destruction, which shows Q-7N's destruction, and, subsequently, the Rebels returning to Yavin Four. However, in Imperial Spy, Q-7N does not appear in the last set of frames, which show the Rebels after the evacuation. It is possible that the events of the final Missions arc took place during the events of Imperial Spy, though this has not been confirmed. However, it is also possible that Imperial Spy shows an entirely different event, after which the Rebels returned to Yavin.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * Star Wars: Battlefront
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
 * Doom Mission
 * Race for Survival
 * Imperial Spy
 * Star Wars: Empire 19: Target: Vader
 * Star Wars: Empire: A Little Piece of Home
 * Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * X-wing: The Bacta War