No edit summary |
(Removing copy-and-paste job) |
||
| Line 51: | Line 51: | ||
|casual3=*All officers{{Ref|<ref name="SW52"/>}} |
|casual3=*All officers{{Ref|<ref name="SW52"/>}} |
||
|civilian=}} |
|civilian=}} |
||
| − | |||
{{Quote|So that's it. The problem is simple—the ''solution'' isn't! Since the ''Tarkin'' was built without the single flaw that allowed us to stop the Death Star, a direct attack would be suicide! Our only chance for success is to get a small group of commandos ''inside'' the ''Tarkin''—and destroy it from within!|[[General]] [[Carlist Rieekan]]|Star Wars 51: Resurrection of Evil}} |
{{Quote|So that's it. The problem is simple—the ''solution'' isn't! Since the ''Tarkin'' was built without the single flaw that allowed us to stop the Death Star, a direct attack would be suicide! Our only chance for success is to get a small group of commandos ''inside'' the ''Tarkin''—and destroy it from within!|[[General]] [[Carlist Rieekan]]|Star Wars 51: Resurrection of Evil}} |
||
In [[3 ABY]], a crack team of [[Alliance to Restore the Republic|Rebel Alliance]] commandos '''infiltrated''' the [[Tarkin (superweapon)|''Tarkin'']], an [[Galactic Empire|Imperial]] [[superweapon]], in an attempt to destroy the [[battlestation]] from within before its construction could be completed. The Rebels succeeded in sabotaging the station when [[Leia Organa Solo|Leia Organa]] rewired the ''Tarkin''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[superlaser]] activating mechanism to fire on itself. |
In [[3 ABY]], a crack team of [[Alliance to Restore the Republic|Rebel Alliance]] commandos '''infiltrated''' the [[Tarkin (superweapon)|''Tarkin'']], an [[Galactic Empire|Imperial]] [[superweapon]], in an attempt to destroy the [[battlestation]] from within before its construction could be completed. The Rebels succeeded in sabotaging the station when [[Leia Organa Solo|Leia Organa]] rewired the ''Tarkin''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[superlaser]] activating mechanism to fire on itself. |
||
| − | |||
| − | ==Background== |
||
| − | {{Quote|…why hasn't the Empire constructed a second battle station like the ''Death Star'' that almost destroyed our base on Yavin? Now we ''know'' why: they've been secretly channeling resources into the construction of a weapon that could be far ''worse!''<nowiki></nowiki>|General Carlist Rieekan|Star Wars 51: Resurrection of Evil}} |
||
| − | |||
| − | [[File:ImperialTeaParty-MSW51.jpg|left|thumb|160px|The ''Tarkin''{{'s}} commanding officers.]] |
||
| − | |||
| − | Following the [[Destruction of Aeten II|destruction]] of [[Aeten II]]<ref name="TNEC" />, a [[Rebel pilot]], [[Maraba Tev]], led a [[spy]] mission to the [[Patriim system]], where he stole a set of the ''Tarkin''{{'s}} schematics, revealing the battlestation's existence to the Rebel Alliance. Realizing the full destructive capabilities of the ''Tarkin'' and the incredible threat the battlestation posed, the Rebellion resolved to destroy the ''Tarkin'' before it became operational. [[General]] [[Carlist Rieekan]] organized and dispatched a small commando team to infiltrate and bring the battlestation down from the inside. The Rebel assault squad included [[Luke Skywalker]], [[Prince]]ss [[Leia Organa Solo|Leia Organa]], the [[Wookiee]] [[Chewbacca]], and the [[droid]]s [[C-3PO]] and [[R2-D2]].<ref name="SW51" /> |
||
| − | |||
| − | ==The mission== |
||
| − | {{Quote|Prime the ionic cannon! We'll blow those Rebels clear out of the galaxy!|[[Colonel]] [[Nord]]|Star Wars 52: To Take The Tarkin}} |
||
| − | |||
| − | The Rebel commando team did successfully infiltrate the ''Tarkin'', first by docking on Hockaleg aboard the ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' listed as a vessel in need of repairs, and then mixing in among the ''Tarkin''{{'s}} construction crew and boarding a shuttlecraft that delivered them to the ''Tarkin'' in orbit. However, the Imperial superweapon would serve as a crossroads for three competing factions at the time of the Rebel infiltration. The [[Dark Lord of the Sith|Dark Lord]] [[Anakin Skywalker|Darth Vader]], recently arrived aboard the battlestation detected Skywalker's presence as soon as he boarded. Vader ordered all on-board security to vacate the area housing the ''Tarkin''{{'s}} main power reactors, planning to confront Skywalker there and turn him to the [[dark side of the Force]]. Meanwhile, a group of the ''Tarkin''{{'s}} commanding [[officer]]s, tired of living in fear of the Dark [[Lord]]'s iron discipline, planned to kill Vader before the day was out.<ref name="SW51" /> |
||
| − | |||
| − | The Rebels split up into three parties, each tasked with neutralizing a certain component of the ''Tarkin''—Chewbacca planned to destroy the battlestation's exterior [[tractor beam]] generator to allow for an escape, Organa would secure an evacuation route by seizing control of an [[escape pod]], while Skywalker would destroy the central reactor with a [[proton grenade]]. Vader immediately moved to the sector of the ''Tarkin'' housing the reactors to intercept Skywalker, ordering the battlestation to increase security along possible escape routes.<ref name="SW52" /> |
||
| − | |||
| − | [[File:TIEx1 Tarkin.jpg|right|thumb|250px|[[Anakin Skywalker|Darth Vader]] pursued the ''[[Millennium Falcon]]''.]] |
||
| − | |||
| − | Chewbacca, with the help of C-3PO, succeeded in blowing up the ''Tarkin''{{'s}} tractor beam generator after a conspicuous tangle with a trio of stormtroopers. Organa, however, was ambushed by four waiting stormtroopers in the ''Tarkin''{{'s}} escape pod bay. Although she quickly dispatched the group, Organa was forced to abandon the Rebels' planned escape route. Skywalker's mission was also foiled, not by Vader, but rather through the intervention of the ''Tarkin''{{'s}} commanding officers.<ref name="SW52" /> |
||
| − | |||
| − | Vader was already waiting for Skywalker when the latter reached the reactor generator room, but before the two warriors could meet, [[Colonel]] [[Nord (Imperial)|Nord]], one of the ''Tarkin''{{'s}} officers trying to kill Vader, remotely opened an [[airlock]] in the sector housing the reactor from the bridge, hoping to flush the Dark Lord out into space. The airlock breach nearly pulled both Vader and Skywalker to their [[death]]s, and ripped the proton [[grenade]] out of Skywalker's hands into the depths of space, but both managed to resist the pull of [[vacuum]]. Skywalker pulled himself into an open freight lift and escaped the area. Through his strength in [[the Force]], Vader overcame the pull of vacuum to reach the manual controls and close the airlock, but he knew Nord had just tried to kill him.<ref name="SW52" /> |
||
| − | |||
| − | [[File:Tarkin04.jpg|left|thumb|180px|The ''Tarkin'' exploded after [[Leia Organa Solo|Leia Organa]] set the superlaser's activating mechanism to fire on itself.]] |
||
| − | |||
| − | Meanwhile, Organa, finding herself lost, had unwittingly stumbled into the activating mechanism for the ''Tarkin''{{'s}} central ionic cannon. Knowing the Rebellion could never allow the Empire to use the ''Tarkin''{{'s}} superlaser, Organa bought her sabotage team a mode of insurance. She remembered the [[Death Star plans|original schematics]] to the first Death Star that R2-D2 had once helped secure, enabling her to switch a few wires in the firing mechanism, which reversed the polarity modes of the superlaser's fire controls, in essence setting the ''Tarkin'' to self-destruct should it ever fire its primary weapon.<ref name="SW52" /> |
||
| − | |||
| − | With their sabotage mission seemingly all but a failure, the Rebel team commandeered an unused [[Commandeered transport|transport]] and escaped from the ''Tarkin'', but Vader ordered a pair of the battlestation's TIE Fighters after them in pursuit. The sudden arrival of [[Lando Calrissian]] in the ''Millennium Falcon'' helped the Rebels escape the TIEs, only to prompt Vader to enter the fray in pursuit of the Rebels in his own [[Darth Vader's TIE Advanced x1|personal TIE fighter]]. The escaping ''Millennium Falcon'' managed to disable Vader's [[Starfighter|fighter]] but in doing so succeeded only in leaving both the Dark Lord and the fleeing Rebels in perfect firing sight of the ''Tarkin''. Nord ordered the battlestation's ionic cannon primed, hoping to wipe out both Vader and the Rebels at once, but just as the ''Tarkin''{{'s}} superlaser completed primary ignition and the battlestation's gunners activated the firing mechanism, the Empire's superweapon testbed exploded. In a roundabout way, the Rebels' sabotage mission had been a success, and Organa single-handedly destroyed the ''Tarkin''.<ref name="SW52" /> |
||
| − | |||
| − | ==Aftermath== |
||
| − | The loss of the ''Tarkin'' did not quell the threat of Imperial superlaser technology, however. The Empire unleashed the second [[Death Star]] only [[month]]s later during the [[Battle of Endor]].<ref name="RotJ">''[[Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi]]''</ref> |
||
| − | |||
| − | [[File:VaderContrailDeath-SWISE2012.jpg|right|thumb|200px|[[CT-4981]] dies in [[Anakin Skywalker|Darth Vader]]'s arms on [[Hockaleg]].]] |
||
| − | |||
| − | Stationed on the planet Hockaleg, Stormtrooper [[CT-4981]] witnessed to the destruction of the ''Tarkin''. Taking a [[shuttle]] in search of survivors, CT-4981 located and rescued Darth Vader in his damaged TIE Advanced x1 starfighter. Meanwhile, many of the project's laborers revolted and ran amok of the Hockaleg spaceport, attacking the Imperial [[Hockaleg Imperial headquarters|headquarters]] and the stormtroopers they encountered. CT-4981 and Vader landed on Hockaleg, only to find that the local population had rebelled. As they tried to retreat to their shuttle, Contrail saved Vader's life by shielding him from enemy blaster fire with his body. As soon as the [[Sith Lord]] was recognized, the revolt quickly ended.<ref name="VA" /> |
||
==Appearances== |
==Appearances== |
||
Revision as of 18:38, 28 September 2012
Warning: This infobox has missing parameters: unit1, casual4, unit2, commanders4, unit4, ppl4, unit3 and unrecognized parameters: BG2, imageBG
- "So that's it. The problem is simple—the solution isn't! Since the Tarkin was built without the single flaw that allowed us to stop the Death Star, a direct attack would be suicide! Our only chance for success is to get a small group of commandos inside the Tarkin—and destroy it from within!"
- ―General Carlist Rieekan
In 3 ABY, a crack team of Rebel Alliance commandos infiltrated the Tarkin, an Imperial superweapon, in an attempt to destroy the battlestation from within before its construction could be completed. The Rebels succeeded in sabotaging the station when Leia Organa rewired the Tarkin's superlaser activating mechanism to fire on itself.
Appearances
- Star Wars 51: Resurrection of Evil (First appearance)
- Star Wars 52: To Take The Tarkin
"Vader Adrift" — Star Wars Insider Star Wars Insider Special Edition 2012- Star Wars 55: Plif! (Mentioned only)
Sources
- The Essential Guide to Characters
- Template:WEG
- "ComicScan: Paint Him Black" — Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 11
- The New Essential Chronology
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (See "Tarkin")
- The Essential Atlas
- "Blaster" — Star Wars Insider 123
- The Essential Guide to Warfare
