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- "He's destroying the whole fleet! Thousands of warriors are dying!"
- ―Leia Organa Solo
The Battle of Pinnacle Base was fought between the New Republic and the forces of the Reborn Emperor Palpatine over the Republic base at the Pinnacle Moon. Some event of the battle was foretold by Bodo Baas's Master.
Prelude
After Luke Skywalker was taken to Byss and became the reborn Palpatine's apprentice, Luke's twin sister Leia Organa Solo traveled there to attempt to rescue him. Unfortunately, she only succeeded in getting herself and her companions captured. However, Luke aided their escape and provided them with the command codes that controlled the World Devastators ravaging Mon Calamari, allowing the New Republic to win the battle.[2]
However, when Luke attempted to openly rebel against the Emperor, he was beaten into submission by the Sith Lord during a contentious duel at the Emperor's Citadel on Byss.[2]
Palpatine's arrival
Palpatine making his demands to the New Republic via hologram.
- "Leaders of the Rebel Alliance, I have no quarrel with you. Give me the woman Jedi, sister of Skywalker… return the precious object she stole from me. A shuttle is waiting to send her to my ship, and then I will discuss a truce with the Alliance."
- ―Palpatine makes his demands to the New Republic leaders
Arriving above Pinnacle Moon in the Eclipse accompanied by two Allegiance-class battlecruisers, a third ship and a subservient Luke in tow. Palpatine's sudden arrival caught the New Republic defenders off-guard, allowing the Sith Lord to make his demands unchallenged. He demanded that Leia Organa Solo surrender to him and board his vessel, and bring along the Jedi Holocron she had stolen from him. He also promised that if the Republic complied with his demands, he would discuss a truce.[1]
After studying the prophecy of Bodo Baas's Master told her by Baas's hologram, Leia willingly boarded Eclipse, where Palpatine held her brother, Luke, under his influence. Attempting to break Organa and bring her unborn child under his influence, Palpatine goaded Skywalker into attacking her and proving himself still worthy of following the way of the dark side of the Force. Parrying his attack with her new lightsaber, Leia reached out to Luke's lingering good side, and managed to bring Luke out of his mental captivity. The Jedi Master turned on his former master.[1]
The battle
The duel
Luke Skywalker versus Palpatine.
- "My ally is the Force. Through the strength of the Force, your shroud of evil has been lifted from my mind."
"So be it… THROUGH THE POWER OF THE FORCE YOU WILL DIE!" - ―Luke Skywalker and Palpatine
Enraged, Palpatine brandished a blue-bladed lightsaber and attacked Luke. The two then engaged in a vicious lightsaber duel. The fight was powerful and brutal, with both combatants changing battle positions, utilizing several fighting styles and trading numerous blows. Even Leia, who was watching the fight, could not even see any movements; but she could feel the tremendous power of the clash, as titanic waves of light and darkness; eventually, the light was winning. Despite his viciousness and tremendous power, Palpatine was finally driven off guard and defeated by Luke, who was aided by his sister's Force harmony, losing his left hand.[1]
Force storm
Aboard the Eclipse, Palpatine meets his end.
Despite losing his hand, the Sith Lord was hardly defeated. He claimed that he saw through the dark side that Luke wanted to overthrow him and take his place as Emperor. Declaring that the Jedi underestimated his power, and enraged by the loss of his limb, Palpatine summoned a Force storm and began to destroy the New Republic fleet.[1]
Using the Force, Skywalker and Organa Solo surrounded Palpatine with a wave of light side energy, cutting him off from the dark side, and, thus, his power. With Palpatine unable to control the storm, it spun out of control and began to devour the Eclipse. The Skywalker siblings escaped the ship as it was torn apart, taking Palpatine's current incarnation with it. After destroying the Eclipse, the storm quickly dissipated.[1]
It is unknown if Eclipse's escort fleet retreated or engaged the remnant of the Republic fleet, or were destroyed when Palpatine lost control of the Force storm. It is probable that they retreated, as the Republic fleet still held numerical superiority, meaning an eventual New Republic victory.[1]
Aftermath
At the time, it was believed that the Emperor was destroyed aboard his capital ship. However, Palpatine's spirit survived, eventually transferring his essence to a new body.[5]
Pinnacle Base, and the entire planet of Da Soocha V were later destroyed by a single projectile from the Reborn Emperor's new superweapon; the Galaxy Gun.[6]
Behind the scenes
The Battle of Pinnacle Base first appeared in the issue Dark Empire 6: The Fate of a Galaxy of the Dark Empire series of comics. The battle was conceived and written by authors Tom Veitch, illustrated by artist Dave Dorman and colored by colorist Cam Kennedy. Veitch used this as the climax of the story; pitting the Sith Lord Palpatine against the Jedi Skywalker and his sister Leia.
The Battle of Pinnacle Base would eventually be featured in the Dark Empire audio drama, which witnessed the climax take on a whole new personality through the voice acting of John Cygan (Luke Skywalker), Ann Patricio (Princess Leia) and Nick Jameson (Emperor Palpatine). This duel features an interesting reversal in that the Jedi involved is wielding a red lightsaber and the Sith involved is wielding a blue-bladed weapon.
Appearances
- Dark Empire 6: The Fate of a Galaxy (First appearance)
- Dark Empire audio drama
- Tyrant's Test (Indirect mention only)
- Fate of the Jedi: Omen (Indirect mention only)
Sources
- Dark Empire Sourcebook (First identified as Battle of Pinnacle Base)
- Galaxy Guide 11: Criminal Organizations
- The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons
- Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 Dark Empire 6: The Fate of a Galaxy
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Dark Empire 5: Emperor Reborn
- ↑ Dark Empire Sourcebook
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 The Essential Chronology
- ↑ Dark Empire II 1: Operation Shadow Hand
- ↑ Dark Empire II 5: The Galaxy Weapon