Trench run

"Get set up for your attack run!"

- Red Leader

The trench run was the name of the most critical portion of the Battle of Yavin.

Plot
Rebel tacticians analyzed the Death Star plans and determined that the most promising strategy to attempt to destroy Death Star I was to maneuver their starfighters through a trench in the northern hemisphere of the Death Star and fire a proton torpedo into a small thermal exhaust port approximately 2 meters wide. If successful, a direct hit would cause a chain reaction that would destroy the Death Star.

The rebel starfighters that participated in the Battle of Yavin consisted primarily of X-wings (Red Squadron), which would play a space-superiority and support role, and smaller number of Y-Wing bombers (Gold Squadron), which would be primarily responsible for the actual assault on the exhaust port.

The Battle
Red Squadron and Gold Squadron reached their positions and three Gold Squadron Y-wings initiated their attack run on the exhaust port as Red Squadron and the remaining Y-wings maintained position overhead and fought off Imperial TIE fighters and surface-based guns.

Darth Vader, in his TIE Advanced X1, personally intervened at this point, and entered the trench flanked by two Black Squadron TIE Fighters, in pursuit of the three Gold Squadron Y-Wings. The surface- and tower-based guns on the Death Star ceased fire to avoid the risk of "friendly-fire" casualties. Vader, accompanied by his wingmen, quickly closed the distance with the slower and heavier Y-Wing fighters and destroyed two of the three. The remaining Y-Wing, Gold Five, was forced to abandon the run and was soon destroyed.

The Rebels then attempted another trench run with the lighter and faster X-Wings, of which six were remaining. The Rebel tacticians on Yavin IV directed Red Leader to keep half of the group out of range, and Red Leader instructed Reds Two, Three and Five (Wedge, Biggs, and Luke) to hold back while he led the second trench run, flanked by Reds Ten and Twelve. Vader and his wingmen once again gave pursuit, but took longer to catch up to the faster X-Wings in the trench. They picked off Reds Ten and Twelve, but not before Red Leader reached the exhaust port. He fired his proton torpedoes but they missed their mark and impacted on the surface of the Death Star instead of going into the exhaust port as intended. The remaining X-Wings attempted to cover Red Leader on his exit from the trench, but Red Leader told them to maintain their position and prepare for their trench run, just as he was destroyed by Vader.



Luke then assumed de facto command of Red Squadron and commenced the third trench run, the last chance for the Rebels to destroy the Death Star before it came into range of Yavin IV. Luke was in the lead, and Biggs and Wedge maintained a greater distance behind him in order to shield him from the Imperial fighters. They traversed the trench at full throttle in order to keep the TIEs away. Vader and his wingmen gave chase, and attempted to fire on the X-Wings at long range. One of their shots scored a minor hit on Wedge's X-Wing and he was forced to abandon the trench in his crippled fighter. Vader instructed his wingmen to let him go and maintain their pursuit of Biggs and Luke. They steadily closed the distance and Vader was eventually able to get a clear shot at Biggs, killing Luke's childhood friend from Tatooine and leaving Luke without any assistance in the trench.

Vader and his wingmen then sped down the trench after Luke, as Luke neared the exhaust port. At this critical moment, Luke heard the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi telling him to "Use the Force" and "Let go", prompting Luke to deactivate his targeting computer. The Rebel technicians on Yavin IV questioned this decision, but Luke reassured them that everything was all right. Vader had by this time gotten near enough to Luke to get a weapons lock on his X-Wing, and took a potentially fatal shot. However, the blast hit R2, rendering him inoperative for the remainder of the mission but causing no apparent direct damage to Luke's fighter.

At the same moment, the Death Star completed its orbit of Yavin and came into range of the moon that was home to the Rebel base. The Death Star began procedures to fire its superlaser on Yavin IV.

Back in the trench, Vader again got Luke in his sights, but just as he unleashed a volley of laser fire on Luke, the TIE squadron was surprised by an attack from above, which destroyed one of Vader's wingmen. The source of the surprise attack was the Millennium Falcon, piloted by Han Solo and Chewbacca. Vader's other wingman reflexively veered off course in surprise, nicking Vader's TIE and then crashing into the wall of the trench. As a result of the glancing collision, Vader's fighter spun out of control into space.

His pursuers gone, Luke was then clear to fire his proton torpedoes at the exhaust port, and he scored a direct hit. The surviving Rebel craft fled the Death Star in the seconds before the chain reaction reached the central core of the massive space station, destroying it in a glittering fireball.

Legacy
Some time after the battle, the run was ported into a simulation. One version allowed the pilot to fly with a new B-Wing in order to compare its efficiency against the classic X-wing.

Behind the scenes
In the novelization of A New Hope, the X-wing squadron in the Battle of Yavin is referred to as Blue Squadron, and the Y-wing squadron is referred to as Red Squadron.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars: X-Wing
 * Star Wars: Rebel Assault
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader