Battle of Sullust (4 ABY)

"What of the reports of the Rebel fleet massing near Sullust?"

- Darth Vader

The Battle of Sullust was a confrontation between the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the Galactic Empire, fought during the Galactic Civil War in 4 ABY. The battle was an attempt to lure the Imperial Navy away from the forest moon of Endor in preparation for the upcoming Battle of Endor. Commander Col Serra's unit, Renegade Squadron, participated in the battle, which would turn out to be a trap laid by the local Imperial officer. The squad held their own until the planet was liberated. However, Palpatine saw through the Alliance's plan and did not send the Imperial Navy to Sullust, as the Alliance predicted.

Prelude
During the Subjugation of Bespin in 3 ABY, Han Solo, founder of the Renegade Squadron unit, was frozen in carbonite by Darth Vader and taken by bounty hunter Boba Fett, brought to Jabba the Hutt. Despite not having a commander, the unit continued to fight and achieve victory over the next year. In 4 ABY, a team led by Luke Skywalker infiltrated Jabba's Palace and freed Solo. The unit now complete, Commander Col Serra launched an attack on Korriban, where Emperor Palpatine was making a Sith pilgrimage. The Emperor's shuttle contained databanks of sensitive information on his schedule, and while he was trapped in a Sith tomb by the unit, a soldier stole a databank from the shuttle, which was later used it to confirm that the Emperor would be on the Death Star II during the Alliance's attack on it.

The next step was to lure the Imperial fleet away from Endor, where the incomplete second Death Star was located. A Rebel fleet amassed near the planet Sullust, hoping to get the Emperor's attention. Renegade Squadron was then deployed to capture the Imperial Garrison stationed on the planet.

The battle
After the unit landed on the planet, they quickly stormed the Imperial outpost, which suspiciously had little to no defenses. Alarmed, Col Serra contacted Alliance command to inform them that the unit might have fallen into some sort of trap. His suspicions were correct, as an unidentified IG-88 unit appeared and ambushed the unit. It was equipped with a shield, rendering it invulnerable to blaster fire. Serra thought of this as a sort of "payback" to Renegade Squadron for humiliating Darth Vader during the Battle of Hoth. Nevertheless, the unit quickly picked up on the source of the shield, a lightning conduit, which was quickly destroyed. The droid became vulnerable, and the unit forced it to retreat, but not before causing heavy damage to the droid.

Following the IG-88's retreat, a number of gravity well projectors were activated, preventing any escape for the Renagade Squadron. To disable the gravity wells, the shield generator would have to first be disabled. The lone Imperial officer carrying the codes was assassinated, and his codes were taken by a Renegade Squadron soldier and downloaded into the shield mainframe. Now vulnerable, the gravity well projectors were destroyed. The unit would continue to hold off Imperial reinforcements until Sullust was liberated, after which they were forced to pull out due to the imminent Battle of Endor, where they were required to be present.

Aftermath
Darth Vader was notified of the Rebel presence in the Sullust system and gave these reports to Emperor Palpatine, who paid little attention to them, instead focusing on his own plot to destroy the rebel fleet over Endor. Renegade Squadron realized they had been unsuccessful, soon heading to Endor to assist General Han Solo in battle. The liberation of Sullust would be the unit's penultimate battle, before its disbanding.

Behind the scenes
"Reports of a Rebel fleet massing near Sullust" were first mentioned by Darth Vader in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, and the gathering was featured in X-Wing Alliance. The Expanded Universe never elaborated any further on the said event until Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron was released in 2007, giving the details of the battle. Jokingly commenting on the battle, game programmer Mark said:

"Don't listen to the old man when he says 'it is of no concern,' dude -- because the Renegade Squadron is plenty cause for concern."

- Mark (game programmer)

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron