The liberation of Lothal and the destruction of the Imperial Seventh Fleet was a major
boost to the morale of the Rebel Alliance, as it proved that the Empire was not invincible.
The Rebellion now took center stage no longer hiding its opposition, but to the Empire it
was but a minor setback as across the galaxy their ultimate weapon was almost ready to
be unleashed.
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This is the story of the official beginning of the Galactic Civil war with the Battle
of Scarif!
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Following their victory on Lothal the Rebel Alliance hesitated, not sure what to do next,
as the liberation of Lothal hadn’t even been a priority nor authorized by the high
council or commanding officers.
The success of the Spectres laid the seeds of doubt among the soldiers of the alliance,
who were now apprehensive of Mon Mothma’s continued insistence on finding a diplomatic
solution as well as other leaders’ push for covert means and avoiding direct action.
This led many of the common soldiers to defect to other branches of the rebellion which had
broken off with the Rebel Alliance.
Among them was the group of Saw Gerrera who had become known for his brutal and successful
hit and run tactics and was considered a dangerous terrorist by the Empire.
Their divisions and quarreling would soon come to an end however as the Empire was about
to finish its weapons program codenamed Project Stardust - the Emperor’s long-kept secret
that was to give him complete domination of the Galaxy.
Let us step back to 23 BBY and the history behind the weapon.
Project Stardust was a plan to build a colossally large Battlestation with the capability of
destroying planets through a laser device powered by the energy of kyber crystals which
had long been used by the Jedi and Sith to power their lightsabers, and by this time
was a new technology being pioneered in other uses.
The Project stemmed from early Sith plans but truly found its roots during the lead
up to the Clone Wars with the original plans coming from the Geonosians weaponsmiths’
“Ultimate Weapon Project”.
These plans were given to Count Dooku for safekeeping and he passed them to Chancellor
Sheev Palpatine who was the Sith Lord Sidious in disguise.
Palpatine shared them with the Republic Special Weapons Group and convinced them to build
it using the rumor that the Separatists were building their own super battle station.
The project was to be kept under the utmost secrecy and the truth would only be known
to a select few such as the future Grand Vizier Mas Amedda and the Director of the Imperial
Military Department of Advanced Weapons Research Orson Krennic, with the latter in charge of
the project.
During and after the Clone Wars, resources were diverted to the project by hidden means
using scientists to work on projects such as scientist Galen Erso’s Project Celestial
Power, which had a pretext of researching sustainable energy.
Resources from random mining operations were then channeled into the work which was hidden
near Geonosis.
But despite the personal interest of Palpatine in the project it took a long time to complete,
as the need for secrecy put a strain on the available resources.
This was compounded upon with the raids made by partisans on the lightly defended convoys,
the Geonosian worker revolts, the covert operations of the then hidden rebel alliance, and more
crucially the work of the kyber power system being stalled as Galen and his family fled
into hiding in 17 BBY after discovering the truth of their involvement with the help of
Saw Gerrera.
Krennic was very persuasive in keeping the worries of his superiors in check and his
critics, namely Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, who considered the project as a drain on resources.
Despite this opposition, Krennic was able to make good progress, especially after the
capture of Galen Erso on Lah’mu in 15 BBY.
Although the Kyber crystal power problem was solved and the work resumed, his belief that
he had broken Galen would be Krennic’s undoing.
Project Stardust was entering its final phase by the time Lothal was liberated and Tarkin’s
first target upon its completion was to be the Rebel Alliance base once it was discovered.
It became known that Galen sent an Imperial cargo pilot who was sympathetic to the Rebel
Alliance, named Bodhi Rook, to deliver a message to Saw Gerrera who was on planet Jedha.
But when the latter arrived and delivered the message, he was imprisoned by the old
rebel, who had grown paranoid and distrusted Rook’s defection.
The Empire, knowing that Rook held sensitive information announced a big bounty for his
capture, bringing what otherwise would’ve been a minor defection to the attention of
Rebel Alliance intelligence who started investigating hearing rumors of a “Planet Killer” and
Galen’s message, but could not get into contact from Gerrera and his rebel group called
Partisans.
They needed someone who could reach out to Saw and to this end, they rescued and recruited
Galen’s long-lost daughter and old associate of Saw, Jyn Erso.
The mission was to be led by Rebel Alliance Intelligence Officer Cassian Andor who would
be accompanied by Jyn Erso and his rewired KX security droid K-2SO, and they were to
head to the Holy City of Jedha and try to establish contact with the Partisans and then
find the Pilot and the message.
They did not have to wait long as they were caught in one of the Partisan attacks against
the empire and escaped by the skin of their teeth with the aid of Baze Malbus and Chirrut
Imwe, former Guardians of the Kyber Temple that once stood in Jedha.
This rescue was temporary as they were soon captured by the Partisans.
Jyn revealed who she was and her relation to Gerrera, so they were to be taken to him
as prisoners.
After a heated reunion, Gerrera showed Jyn the message in which her father revealed his
efforts in undermining Project Stardust and the ultimate weapon named the Death Star.
While Galen was working on the main weapon and the power supply of the station, he secretly
placed a flaw within the reactor of the station, creating an easy way to destroy it - if the
reactor was destroyed the entire station would go with it.
In order to find the reactor, they needed to get the Death Star’s schematics which
he revealed were housed in the imperial data vaults on the planet Scarif.
Before they could leave, however, the Death Star entered the orbit of Jedha under the
command of Grand Moff Tarkin who wanted to test the now complete station and destroy
Saw Gerrera and the security breach caused by Rook.
On his command the station fired directly at the Holy City, destroying it nearly instantly
and causing a shockwave that nearly killed the Rebel team.
Cassian, Jyn, Baze, K-2, Chirrut were rescued by Rook.
Gerrera and his partisans were not as fortunate.
Having escaped Jedha they quickly jumped into hyperspace bound for Eadu with the intention
of rescuing Galen as requested by Mon Mothma, but due to the stormy climate crashed on the
planet’s surface.
They decided to continue their rescue operation, but before they managed to save Galen, the
Rebel Blue Squadron attacked the base at the command of rebel General Draven resulting
in Galen’s death.
This showed that different groups within the rebellion were still vying for their goals
and were uncoordinated.
With nothing else to do on the planet, Cassian’s group stole an Imperial Zeta Class shuttle
and returned to the rebel base at Yavin IV.
The Rebel Council was summoned on the moon and Jyn and her comrades presented their evidence
of the Death Star and its ability to destroy entire planets to the shock and alarm of the
council members.
Nearly all of them were now advocating for peace or calling for the disbanding of the
Alliance much to Jyn’s fury who demanded an attack on Scarif to recover the plans and
then destroy the Death Star.
This plea was ignored.
Storming out of the council room Jyn was met by her comrades who informed her of their
willingness to embark on the Scarif mission.
Many other rebels were fed up with the Council's indecisiveness and also wanted to join her
group.
She accepted their offer and gave them her thanks.
They left Yavin aboard the captured shuttle under the call sign Rogue One.
The planet was protected by an orbital shield gate, but Rogue one’s Zeta-class Heavy Cargo
Shuttle had access codes.
Having bypassed the security shield over Scarif, Rogue One landed with Cassian, Jyn, and K-2
disguising themselves and made their way to the citadel to get the schematics while the
rest of the team set up for a diversionary attack.
On Jyn’s command Rebel commandos blew multiple explosives on the launching pads around the
imperial base, and the Action on Scarif commenced.
After the bombs on the landing platforms were detonated, Krennic, who had arrived moments
earlier, ordered an immediate response, and the garrison was deployed to the platforms
believing they were facing a large attack.
The jungle helped the rebels and their unit led by Baze and Chirrut ambushed the storm
troops upon their arrival, who sustained heavy losses and were pinned down.
The rebel attack was also aided by Rook and his men who from their ship were misdirecting
Imperial units through the coms and diverting even more men from the citadel.
Their attack was eventually pushed back however as the garrison’s AT-ACT walkers.
The Walkers were terrifying killing machines, with armor impenetrable to the rebel small
arms.
The rebels were pushed back to the beach and many were killed along the way.
Just as the last of them were about to be cut down, X-wing starfighters from Blue Squadron
suddenly appeared.
Their weapons were more than capable of fighting the AT-ACTs and as the Imperial garrison on
Scarif didn’t scramble its limited contingent of TIE-fighters to intercept, the X-wings
were unopposed, and the rebels easily destroyed the walkers, halting the Imperial advance.
The main forces of the Rebel Alliance had arrived.
Hearing the Imperial dispatch that Scarif base was under attack, Rebel commander Admiral
Raddus learned that this was Rogue One doing.
He gathered his forces and made way to Scarif contradicting the orders of the Council much
to the encouragement of the soldiers who joined him.The Rebel fleet consisted of Admiral Raddus’s
MC75 Star Cruiser, the Profundity, 4 Braha'tok-class gunships, 6 CR90 corvettes, 3 EF76 Nebulon-B
escort frigates, 3 Sphyrna-class Hammerhead corvettes, 12 GR-75 medium transports and
were supported by fighter wings Blue Squadron, Green Squadron, Red Squadron, and bomber wing
Gold as well as the Ghost belonging to the Specter cell which liberated Lothal from the
empire.
The Imperial orbital garrison was situated around the shield gate itself which was immobile
but held capable defense guns as well as a considerable number of TIE fighters within
its docking bay.
This was complemented by 2 Imperial i-Class Star Destroyers - Admiral Gorin’s Intimidator
and the Persecutor.
Defending a relatively unimportant planet, the garrison was quite relaxed by the time
Raddus’s fleet appeared.
The imperials were only getting reports that the surface battle was won and thus left the
shield gate open.
As soon as the Rebel fleet appeared however the balance of power shifted and Raddus ordered
Blue Squadron under General Antoc Merrick to support the surface attack.
Many of his fighters and support ships got through before the shield gate was closed
and helped their comrades.
Now with the ground situation stabilized Raddus went on the offensive sending Gold and Green
Squadron to probe the shield gate to reestablish contact with Rogue One as the gate blocked
their transmission frequencies.
Ghost and Red Squadron were to defend the main fleet, while the rest of the fleet kept
the Star Destroyers at bay.
However, instead of using his superior firepower, Admiral Gorin took up a defensive position
to protect the shield gate as he was waiting for reinforcements.
The shield’s defensive emplacements were too strong to overcome and the Rebels weren’t
able to break the shield with their medium craft bombers and they were forced back when
the TIE squadrons were launched, as the imperials outnumbered them.
Raddus sent Red Squadron in to reinforce them but the battle was by now going ill with one
GR-75 transport as well as 1 Braha'tok gunship destroyed, with the rest of the fleet heavily
battered.
However, the Rebel admiral knew that retreat was not an option and so continued to press
the attack.
At this time all of the TIE fighter squadrons were fighting within the perimeter of the
rebel fleet, which left the Imperial Star Destroyers vulnerable.
When a breach opened in the TIE fighters right flank it was noticed by Jon Vander, commander
of Gold Squadron, who ordered his bombers to form on him and immediately made a run
on the Persecutor with ion torpedoes and disabled the vessel.
Suddenly the Rebels received a signal from Rogue One as Rook was able to get through
the shield’s jammer.
Rook told Raddus that they had the Death Star plans but they needed him to destroy the shield
gate to send the data files as they were too large to get through while it was still up.
After confirming that he would do so, Raddus formed an ingenious plan: one of his Hammerhead
corvette’s - Lightmaker captained by Kado Oquoné was called up to implement it.
After the crew was safely evacuated with the exception of Oquoné and a skeleton crew,
the Lightmaker broke off from the fleet and made a large swing around the Imperial’s
right flank before turning alongside the starboard side of the Persecutor and then ramming straight
into it.
Lightmaker’s crew ignited full thrusters after impact, causing the Persecutor to turn
left straight into the Intimidator.
Admiral Gorin ordered reverse thrusters but by now Persecutor was turning too rapidly
and smashed into the upper castle of the Intimidator, severing it in half and permanently knocking
both ships out.
Persecutor and Lightmaker then both crashed into the shield gate ring and destroyed it.
This allowed the rebels on the ground to send a signal and almost immediately the Profundity
received a transmission from Scarif as Jyn successfully transmitted the plans from the
top of the tower.
With operational objectives achieved, the Rebels started planning to rescue the ground
forces and return to Yavin, but as they were making preparations the Death Star exited
hyperspace, with Darth Vader and capital ships not far behind.
Knowing that Vader could handle Raddus’s fleet, Tarkin ordered a single reactor ignition
volley upon the Scarif Citadel to safeguard their secret plans.
Even the deliberately weakened shot from the Death Star was destructive, and this blast
resulted in the deaths of Krennic, Rogue One, and all forces that were upon Scarif.
With evacuation impossible, the rebel ships now began their jump to Hyperspace.
Half of the fleet successfully escaped, but Darth Vader’s Devastator suddenly emerged
from Hyperspace causing the rest of the fleet to pull away with one GR-75 crashing into
the hull of the Devastator and being destroyed instantly.
The sheer firepower unleashed from the Devastator obliterated a Nebulon B frigate in a matter
of seconds and then pounded the already weak shields, destroying them and disabling the
Profundity.
This gave time for the rest of the fleet to escape, while Darth Vader boarded the Profundity
to secure the Death Stars plans they had taken.
However, before he could get them a few of the rebels escaped with the plans on Captain
Antilles ship Tantive IV which was docked in the hull and despite being not fully repaired
jumped into hyperspace with Vader in hot pursuit.
So concluded the Battle of Scarif.
The operation was a great success for the Rebel Alliance, as the only major blows being
the loss the Profundity, Admiral Raddus, and General Merrick, while the Empire lost all
of the Scarif garrison.
The fact that the Rebel alliance now had the Death Stars plans meant that they had a chance
to destroy Palpatine's monstrous battlestation.
The battle that was minor in size and number of participants, was about to change the course
of Galactic History.
We will talk about the aftermath of the Battle of Scarif in the coming weeks and we are planning
to cover the battles of many other fantasy, sci-fi, and space opera universes, so make
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