The iconic opening of the original Star Wars displays the power and might of the Empire
in comparison to the Rebel Alliance simply by showing a large ship fly by the camera
only to be followed by a seemingly endless Star Destroyer.
A weapon of terrible fear and oppression in the hands of the Empire, a captured Star Destroyer
would be a great military asset to the Rebel Alliance, as well as a symbol of hope.
So how would a team go about that?
In the current canon, the Rebels or the New Republic attempted to steal a star destroyer
on three separate occasions that we know of, using three different strategies, each with
varying levels of success.
You can read about each attempt in the main Star Wars comic line, Aftermath: Life Debt,
and Lost Stars.
Lost Stars is my favorite take personally, so I want to start with that one, and then
I’ll talk about the other two.
Chronologically, the mission in Lost Stars takes place last, during the Battle of Jakku.
Although the Rebellion, or technically the New Republic at this point, was winning the
war, they needed more vessels and they needed them faster than they could be built.
So strategies were developed to capture Imperial ships.
The plan developed to steal a Star Destroyer would make use of the Imperial defectors that
had working knowledge of the capital ships.
They would lead boarding parties that would attempt to secure and lock down specific systems
of the ship.
Theoretically, if they could control one auxiliary bridge, the engine room, and the weapons systems,
they could paralyze a Star Destroyer in space.
Actually claiming the ship would then require more boarding parties and more fighting that
was guessed to last days or even weeks.
Above the planet Jakku, the New Republic targeted the Star Destroy Inflictor for boarding.
It was chosen for the damage it had already sustained to its engines during the battle.
Before actually paralyzing the ship, the priority system to disable was the self-destruct.
Imperial regulations required captains to prevent the capture of their ships at all
costs.
New Republic soldiers successfully took the self-destruct systems offline, but the captain
of the Inflictor was particularly dutiful.
After ordering all hands to abandon ship, she set it on a crash course for Jakku, where
it would remain for the next thirty years.
So I know this was a failed mission, but it’s my favorite strategy.
It’s more grounded than the other two I’m about to cover.
The hope was that the beleaguered Imperial troops would simply surrender the ship once
their systems were down.
Barring a surrender, I could see it actually taking weeks to defeat an Imperial crew of
ten thousand.
I think it could have worked if the captain were less loyal, or they weren’t in orbit
above a planet.
Beyond the strategy, this is the one I would most want to see.
Troops fighting from one system to the next.
Self destruct, then engines, then weapons, then bridge.
If you’ve ever seen the film the Raid, that’s what it reminds me of.
Having to fight through an endless supply of troops to reach certain goals within a
certain time period.
That alone would make an awesome action film.
Jumping back in time a few years to shortly after the Battle of Yavin, The Star Destroyer
Harbinger was made part of a plan to sneak supplies to an oppressed world.
The plan was to capture it, load its escape pods with food and medicine, fly to the planet
in need, and jettison the pods before the Empire’s blockade discovered they were enemies.
Of course this entire plan hinged on the ability to ambush and overtake a Star Destroyer.
Han and Leia began the attack by using proton bombs to blow an opening in the hull near
the engine reactor.
Wedge then attempted to fire proton torpedoes into the opening to overload it.
When that failed, Luke had to go showing off by actually flying into the opening to make
his shot directly into the reactor, causing a chain reaction that would destroy the ship.
I know that sounds counterintuitive, but with destruction imminent, the Imperials abandoned
ship.
With significantly less opposition, the Rebels were able to board the Harbinger, jettison
the reactor before it exploded and escape into hyperspace.
Running on the secondary reactor meant operations were very limited, but the ship was theirs.
For the most part, I like this plan too.
I think it’s a creative way to reduce the Imperial forces on the ship, but the way it
played out in the comics was very ambiguous.
For example, Luke flies into the reactor core only to suddenly appear later in an engine
room with little explanation.
Also the jettisoning of the primary reactor and the secondary reactor lasting just long
enough for them to jump to hyperspace is a little convenient.
But let’s move onto Aftermath: Life Debt and strategy number three.
After the Battle of Endor, Han resigned his military position to help Chewbacca liberate
his home planet, Kashyyyk.
When it became clear the Empire would lose the planet, three Star Destroyers began an
orbital bombardment.
Han developed a plan to board and steal one of them, attack the other two, and save Kashyyyk.
This time around the plan was much simpler and more Han’s style.
His team loaded up a transport of giant spiders that were native to the wroshyr trees that
grew there.
They landed the shuttle on the Star Destroyer Dominion and set them loose on the crew.
After the Battle of Endor, the Empire was spread thin, and the ship was severely undercrewed,
its numbers in the hundreds.
So the distraction was enough to get Han to the bridge, but it was always a desperate
plan, and the Rebels were captured.
That is until the New Republic fleet appeared to cause enough confusion and panic for the
Imperial Admiral to flee his post, allowing Han and Chewie to secure the bridge.
Together with Admiral Ackbar’s ship, Home One, they destroyed the Star Destroyer Vitiator
and received a surrender from the Star Destroyer Neutralizer.
Again, the way this all played out was a little convenient for it to work, and the plan was
far-fetched to begin with.
That fits with Han Solo’s style, but I prefer the other stories over this one.
They were actual strategies with real objectives, not just loading up a shuttle with spiders
and winging it.
I do want to mention something from Lost Stars that’s relevant to all this.
Again, the attempt to take the Inflictor was made after both the Harbinger and the Dominion.
But Thane states that nobody had ever captured a Star Destroyer before.
The real reason is because the book was written first.
But I wanted to explore some in-universe reasons to justify that statement.
The Harbinger, while captured, was ultimately destroyed.
So maybe they aren’t counting it as truly captured and in service for the Rebellion.
The capture of the Dominion happened shortly before the Battle of Jakku, and we don’t
have a real timeline on when Thane made that statement.
He could have said that before its capture.
Or maybe it just wasn’t public knowledge.
But with that I’ll bring this video to a close.
Again, the events described here are all canon, but Legends has some examples of Star Destroyers
in New Republic service like the Errant Venture or the dreaded Lusankya.
If there’s interest there maybe I’ll do a Legends version of this video as well.
That’s it for today!
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