Sometime after the Battle of Yavin, the Rebel Alliance carried out a hijacking of the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Harbinger.
The hijacking[]
With Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca, Sana Starros and C-3PO onboard the Millennium Falcon, the freighter conducted two bombing runs on the Harbinger. The first missed, but the second penetrated the hull, opening a small breach in Sector 19-A. This opened up a path to the Star Destroyer's main engine reactor.[4]
Wedge Antilles, flying an X-wing starfighter, made another bombing run with the intent of striking the reactor and overloading it. His torpedoes missed their mark, so Luke Skywalker flew his own X-wing inside the destroyer and scored several hits with his laser cannons, overloading the reactor.[4]
With all Imperial personnel in the area dead or incapacitated, and the reactor due to overload before the emergency engineers could shut it down, the Harbinger's admiral ordered the crew to abandon ship.[4]
As the shuttles began leaving the crippled destroyer, the Falcon landed in the hangar bay and the hijackers jettisoned the reactor. As it exploded, the departing shuttles reported to Imperial High Command that the Harbinger had been lost, and the admiral contemplated suicide when he realized that Darth Vader would hold him personally responsible.[4]
Aftermath[]
The survival of the Harbinger in rebel hands went unknown to Imperial High Command for at least a week, but several TIE fighter patrols were dispatched to investigate the disappearances of Imperial shuttles in the sector.[4] It did not, however, escape the notice of Darth Vader,[6] who sent Task Force 99 to reclaim the destroyer[2] and capture Skywalker. The rebels, meanwhile, used the ship to break the siege on Tureen VII.[7]
Appearances[]
- Star Wars 22 (First appearance)
- Star Wars 23 (In flashback(s))
- "The Rebellion's Biggest Heist"—Galactic Adventures Storybook Collection
- Star Wars 24 (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars 25 (Mentioned only; in opening crawl)
- Star Wars 26 (Mentioned only)
- Aftermath: Life Debt (First mentioned) (Indirect mention only)
Sources[]
It's Star Destroyer-Hijacking Time in Star Wars #22, Plus New Covers Revealed for Darth Vader #25 on StarWars.com (backup link)- Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia
- Star Wars: The Rebel Files
- Star Wars: Build Your Own X-Wing 62 (Starfighter Aces: R2-D2 – Going Solo) (Indirect mention only)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Star Wars 21
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Star Wars 23
- ↑ Star Wars 26
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 4.27 4.28 4.29 4.30 4.31 4.32 4.33 Star Wars 22
- ↑ This event occurs between the Battle of Yavin, which takes place in 0 BBY as stated by Star Wars: Galactic Atlas, and the assault on the Mako-Ta Space Docks, which Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition places one year after the Battle of Yavin, and therefore taking place in 1 ABY. As such, this event occurs between 0 ABY and 1 ABY.
- ↑ Star Wars 24
- ↑ Star Wars 25
