Tempest Force

Tempest Force
General information
Founder(s)	Emperor Palpatine Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod
Leader(s)	Colonel Dyer Commander Igar Major Hewex Captain Sarkli Unidentified stormtrooper Platoon Leader Sergeant Hume Tarl
Headquarters	Shield generator bunker, Endor
Historical information
Formed from	Select Imperial Army, Stormtrooper Corps, and Imperial Navy units
Date founded	Prior to 2 BBY
Date dissolved	4 ABY
Other information
Affiliation	Galactic Empire Imperial Army Imperial Navy Stormtrooper Corps

"It was I who allowed the alliance to know the location of the shield generator. It is quite safe from your pitiful little band. An entire legion of my best troops await them. Oh...I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive."

―Palpatine to Luke Skywalker, regarding the vulnerability of the Endor shield generator.

Tempest Force was an Imperial Army, Stormtrooper Corps and Navy joint-task unit stationed on Endor's forest moon during 3–4 ABY. The unit comprised some of the Imperial Military's best troops, with the total force strength being comparable to a legion. It was tasked with guarding the shield generator bunker on the Forest Moon from the Alliance to Restore the Republic as part of a trap set by the Emperor.

Description

Tempest Force was led by Colonel Dyer, Commander Igar, and Major Hewex. Other notable officers included Major Marquand, Lieutenant Watts, Lieutenant Grond and Lieutenant Renz. The unit consisted of members from the Imperial Army, Imperial Navy, and Stormtrooper Corps. The troops were made up of stormtroopers, scout troopers, and Death Star troopers, handpicked by Igar. They were also assisted by Captain Sarkli and his Storm commandos. Tempest Force had at least one AT-AT, Tempest 1, at least 39 AT-STs, and many speeder bikes. Overall, Tempest Force was comparable to a legion.

History

Beginnings

"I served six years in Tempest Force, rising to sergeant. We were one of the finest legions in the New Order."

―Hume Tarl

Tempest Force in action on Endor

Tempest Force was created in or before 2 BBY. Stormtrooper Hume Tarl joined that year and rose to the rank of Sergeant by 4 ABY.

When the Forest Moon of Endor was chosen as the Death Star II's construction site, Emperor Palpatine assigned Tempest Force to defend the Death Star's shield generator bunker. Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod, Colonel Dyer, and Commander Igar helped coordinate Tempest Force's troops and where they were to be positioned.

In 4 ABY, Palpatine planned to lure the Rebels into a trap to destroy them. He secretly let them obtain information about where the Death Star II was being constructed, so the Rebels would arrive to destroy it. Palpatine planned for any Rebel ground troops sent to deactivate the shield to be captured by Tempest Force, while the arriving Rebel fleet would be trapped and destroyed between the Death Star's shield and emerging Imperial-class Star Destroyers.

Battle of Endor

When the Rebel strike team landed, they were spotted by scout trooper Corporal Avarik and Sergeant Elsek. Avarik signaled for Elsek to get reinforcements, while he fought Rebel General Han Solo, but another Rebel, Chewbacca, managed to shoot down Elsek. The confrontation was witnessed by Sergeant Barich and another scout trooper, who quickly fled on their speeder bikes. Rebels Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker took Avarik's speeder bike and pursued them. When they caught up with Barich's partner, Skywalker jumped over to his bike and knocked the scout trooper off, taking the vehicle for himself. Two more scout troopers, Corporals Drelosyn and Misik, began following the Rebels and shooting at them, so Skywalker broke off to take care of the two while Organa continued following Barich. Using his speeder, Skywalker shot Drelosyn, causing him to crash into a tree, but was forced to jump off when his speeder became stuck on Misik's. With his lightsaber, Skywalker damaged Misik's speeder as he flew by again, making him crash into a tree, as well. Meanwhile, Leia kept up with Barich until he began shooting his blaster at her, causing her to fall off. Barich looked back to see her fall, but didn't realize that he was on a collision course for a fallen log, in which he and his bike exploded as he hit it.

Later, the strike team was nearly captured again, this time by an approaching AT-ST. However, the Rebels captured the pilots and forced them to make check-in calls with their superiors to explain their absence. Meanwhile, other members of the strike team met with the local Ewok tribe, who agreed to help them fight against the Empire. Skywalker separated from the group in order to confront his father, Darth Vader, and turn him back to the light side. He allowed himself to captured by Commander Igar, who brought him to the Sith Lord. Though Skywalker said he was alone, Igar still conducted a search of the area for any other Rebels, though he ultimately found none.

The next day, the Rebels regrouped and were showed the bunker's back entrance by some Ewoks, which was guarded by only four scout troopers. One of the Ewoks, Paploo, stole a speeder bike, resulting in three of the four scout troopers giving chase. The Rebels captured the remaining trooper and entered the bunker, with the exception of Nik Sant, who donned the trooper's armor and stood guard outside the bunker, taking up the trooper's position. The rebels ran into some stormtroopers in the bunker's hallways, but quickly defeated them and continued to the control room, where they forced the Imperials, including Major Hewex, against the wall and began planting charges.

Tempest Force captures the Rebels.

As part of the Emperor's plan, Commander Igar and Colonel Dyer were expecting them and sent in troops to capture the Rebels. Dyer accompanied the troops and was the first to enter the control room. He stuck his gun at General Solo and ordered him to freeze, but was killed when Solo threw a charge at him, knocking him off of a railing and into the generator room, below. Lieutenant Renz, along with the rest of the troops, arrived after and captured the Rebels. As they were led outside, Ewoks attacked the Imperials, leading to chaos.

The Rebels took advantage of the situation and freed themselves, while some of the Imperials, including Hewex, sealed themselves back in the bunker. As the battle raged on, the Ewoks incapacitated many Imperial troops with rocks and destroyed several AT-STs with logs. The tide of the battle turned when one of the AT-STs, Tempest Scout 2, piloted by Major Marquand and Lieutenant Watts, was captured by Chewbacca and several Ewoks, who used the walker to destroy other AT-STs. Several Imperials believed that Marquand and Watts had turned against them and ordered the walker to stand down, not realizing that it had been captured by the Rebels.

Outside the bunker's back entrance, Solo, Organa, and R2-D2 tried to open the door, but their efforts were unsuccessful, as both Organa and R2-D2 were non-fatally shot, and Solo's attempts to hot-wire the door accidentally shut the blast doors, further locking them out. Chewbacca, piloting the stolen AT-ST, arrived, however, and Solo had a new plan. He put on Marquand's uniform and used the walker to contact the bunker's control room, telling Hewex that the Rebels were on the run and they needed reinforcements to pursue them. Hewex fell for the trick and ordered the back door to be opened to allow three extra squads to help. When the doors opened and the Imperials ran out, they were quickly surrounded by Rebels and surrendered.

Solo and the Rebels entered the bunker and once again began setting charges. When the charges were primed to explode and the Rebels ran out of the bunker, Captain Sarkli confronted Solo near the entrance but was shot and killed. The bunker exploded and the shield generator was deactivated, allowing the Rebel fleet above to begin attacking the Death Star, which they managed to destroy.

Post-battle

With the Death Star gone and many Imperial higher-ups killed, the remaining Imperials of Tempest Force either were captured, formed holdouts, or evacuated. The rebels began landing more troops and taking them out. Some of the Imperial troops that were taken prisoner were almost happy to be captured, as it meant getting away from the Ewoks that had terrorized them.

One scout trooper was part of a squad that, prior to the battle, had been sent to the far side of the moon. After the battle, they received no further orders and were unaware of the Rebels's victory. For over a year, the squad stayed put and slowly died, one by one, until the scout trooper had enough and deserted his post. A month after leaving, the trooper ran into a rebel trooper who had also been left behind. The two formed a truce and made their way to the bunker, where they found it destroyed. Using an abandoned AT-ST, the pair made their way to a Star Destroyer that had crashed during the battle and contacted a nearby freighter for help. The rebel left on the freighter but the scout trooper stayed behind, choosing to remain on Endor.

Notable members

Leaders

• Commander Igar—commanding officer of Tempest 1
• Colonel Dyer—leader of ground troops

Tempest Scouts

• Lieutenant Arnet—Imperial Army pilot of Tempest Scout 1
• Major Marquand—Imperial Army pilot of Tempest Scout 2
• Lieutenant Watts—gunner of Tempest Scout 2

Navy troopers

• Major Hewex—leader of Navy troopers assigned to bunker
• Imperial Navy trooper Fenson
• Imperial Navy trooper Vesden

Ground troops

• Lieutenant Renz— assumed command of ground troops in the bunker upon the incapacitation of Colonel Dyer
• Sergeant Hume Tarl
• Corporal Drazin

Scout troopers

• Lieutenant Grond—coordinator of scout trooper actions
• Sergeant Barich
• Sergeant Elsek
• Sergeant Irol
• Corporal Avarik
• Corporal Drelosyn
• Corporal Misik
• Corporal Oberk
• Unidentified scout trooper

Tempest Force on Endor

Vehicles

• At least 1 All Terrain Armored Transport
  • Tempest 1
• At least 39 All Terrain Scout Transports
  • Tempest Scout 1
  • Tempest Scout 2
  • Tempest Scout 3
  • Tempest Scout 4
  • Tempest Scout 5
  • Tempest Scout 6
• At least twelve 74-Z speeder bikes

Behind the scenes

Although not named in Return of the Jedi, the Endor expansion of the CCG goes into detail regarding Tempest Force. Many of the cards also reference to the subjugation of Kashyyyk. It is possible that an earlier version of Tempest Force was present there.

In one of the deleted scenes for Return of the Jedi, Moff Jerjerrod's dialogue referred to the unit as being composed of "several battalions," even though Palpatine in the movie itself implies that its size was comparable to a legion.

Appearances

• Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
• Star Wars: Return of the Jedi novelization (First appearance)
• Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi junior novelization
• "Marooned" — Star Wars Tales 22
• "Apocalypse Endor" — Star Wars Tales 14 (In flashback(s))

Sources

• Star Wars Word Puzzles (Picture only)
• Star Wars: The Art of the Brothers Hildebrandt (Picture only)

•  Star Wars Customizable Card Game — Endor Limited

•  Star Wars Customizable Card Game — Endor Limited (Card: Colonel Dyer) (backup link)
•  Star Wars Customizable Card Game — Endor Limited (Card: Commander Igar) (backup link)
•  Star Wars Customizable Card Game — Endor Limited (Card: Elite Squadron Stormtrooper) (backup link)
•  Star Wars Customizable Card Game — Endor Limited (Card: Sergeant Irol) (backup link)
•  Star Wars Customizable Card Game — Endor Limited (Card: Tempest Scout 1) (backup link)

• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• The Essential Guide to Warfare
•  Star Wars: The Card Game — Core Set (Card: The Endor Gambit) (Picture only)

Notes and references

In other languages

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