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The title of this article is conjectural.

Although this article is based on official information from the Star Wars Legends continuity, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.

"We touch down on an asteroid in the middle of nowhere…no atmosphere…there's gravity, but it's low. The recon droids say there's a small rebel base buried in the asteroid's surface. Intelligence thinks the Rebels are trying to set up a relay station to transmit illegal broadcasts to the nearby systems. We're here to break in and wreck the place."
Cadet Leader Kyle Katarn confirms the battle plan — (audio) Listen (file info)[1]

The Battle of AX-456 was a battle during the Galactic Civil War.

Prelude[]

When a Rebel Alliance comm center, the asteroid AX-456, was detected, Imperial Intelligence supposed that they were establishing a network of relay stations and it was surveyed by probe droids.

A platoon of stormtroopers led by Cadet Leader Kyle Katarn and Sergeant Major Hong were assigned to destroy it. The operation was also Katarn's Omega Exercise.

The platoon spent two days in a prestrike acclimation tank for the asteroidal conditions. They were trained in a simulation, based on existing information when the constructs were only 50% complete. Based on the probe's information, explosive charges were prepared in advance.

The battle[]

"Negative on greasing the Rebs, Sergeant Major. There's been enough killing today."
Kyle Katarn to Sergeant Major Hong — (audio) Listen (file info)[1]

The Imperator launched the attack, that was preceded by three sweeps by TIE fighters. Assault boat R-1 then landed on the asteroid surface in a place that it could offer fire support, and from where it could lift quickly.

The platoon found the installations completed. Dobbs, Trang and Sutu were assigned scouts from each squad and failed to find anything suspicious in the area. Kyle Katarn ordered to invade the main building; the second squad blew the lock, one provided cover, and Katarn invaded followed by squad three. The first opposition was eliminated by a high-explosive and a concussion grenade. Morley passed through the hole first, followed by Katarn, Hong, and squad two, and engaged the Rebel SpecForce in firefights.

AX456 DFSftE

Cadet Leader Katarn on AX-456.

Once the two airlocks were secure, two troopers armed with blaster cannons, led squad two. The hatch opened, and they fired at the exposed Rebels, and managed to secure the room and a passageway, although not before the Rebels called for backup. Hong led the charge and Kyle Katarn also marked his first kill. 30% of the stormtroopers were killed, and squad two was all but eliminated. After regrouping Kyle broke tradition by asking the medic to give aid to the Rebel survivors, after their troops, in order to interrogate them later. The assault boat called from more reinforcements and destroyed the antenna so as to cut Rebels from communicating.

Led by three heavily armed troopers, the platoon scouted the passageway, until the tunnel behind them collapsed, and Rebel fire came from hastily drilled holes, followed by grenades. Katarn had foreseen these events and managed to save his troopers's lives by giving timely commands. Rebels emerged behind a makeshift wall of droids advanced towards the platoon. Despite the small space, Katarn ordered the use of grenades, forcing the Rebels to retreat.

Kyle's command was in a dead end; with fourteen survivors, not able to retreat beyond the collapse, and without R-1 responding, they were forced to move forward. They scavenged ammo and Corporal Givens blew up the control panel of the durasteel door. Meanwhile the remaining Rebels, some armed with second-rate weapons, were trapped in the other side and expected the Stormtroopers behind a makeshift barricade of furniture, cargo modules and cable reels. Eventually they broke. Katarn noticed that a few of them were non-military and wouldn't allow a massacre, and ordered to stop; supposedly to save ammo, as he said to quiet Hong's surprise.

The Imperials progressed to the comm center until encountering fifteen or twenty Rebels who were ready to surrender. One of these Rebels, Jan Ors, had a particular impact on Katarn, who took a liking toward her. Katarn's dilemma was further exacerbated by the arrival of a freighter carrying Rebel reinforcements; despite Hong's suggestion (and formal protest), Kyle insisted that they shouldn't be killed, even though they made more potential prisoners than there were stormtroopers left to guard them. Instead, they just put explosive charges to destroy the machinery. gainst the protest of Hong, Katarn ultimately ordered his men to spare the prisoners and take up positions in the cafeteria, fortifying .

Evacuation[]

Katarn led the platoon to the cafeteria, fortifying it for the impending attack by the Rebel reinforcements, and waiting for the Imperials.

The Rebels used a crawler-mounted drill bit to break through the cafeteria and poured through the opening surprising the platoon, immediately killing five or six strormtroopers including Hong; Katarn and only six other wounded troopers survived behind a barricade. Two more Rebel ships, a strike team scrambled from the nearby Vasuuli relay station, landed shortly after and rescued the surviving staff of the station; the second one was destroyed by the incoming Imperial reinforcements, before a group of heavily armed Storm commandos swept through the empty base and found rescued the surviving stormtroopers.

Aftermath[]

"You probably won't believe me, but most of the troopers who died on that asteroid were good men."
"A lot of good people died that day Kyle. Some were on my side - some were on yours. That's how war is. You chose to be a soldier. What did you expect?"
"
―Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors, regarding their past encounter[1]

Although Katarn made unconventional choices and expected to be court-martialed, emerged an Imperial hero. Tales of the mission were exaggerated around the Academy and spoke about him showing extraordinary perseverance, "killing four hundred thirty six insurrectionists" and eventually "disabling an important communications installation" of the Rebels. The wounded were hospitalized and after exiting, Kyle confided his doubts and his strange experiences to his closest friend, Meck Odom.

He also attracted the attention of Jerec, who recently had killed his father, and was, perhaps quite ironically, decorated the Medal of Valor by Rom Mohc and Jerec.

Ors and Katarn later gained a close relationship, and Katarn defected to the Alliance after Ors revealed to him that the Galactic Empire killed his father.

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]


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