Battle of Nocto
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The Battle of Nocto marked the final engagement of the Rebel Alliance and the Empire's Task Force Vengeance. It was the last-ditch attempt of Admiral Senn to destroy the Alliance shipyard in the system with the meager remainders of his task force.
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[edit] The battle
Having raided and worn down Senn's Task Force Vengeance during the past few weeks, the Alliance did not expect the Admiral to know where shipyard Calenz was located.
It came as a big surprise to the Alliance crew when the Super Star Destroyer Vengeance, flanked by the Imperial Star Destroyer Rage, dropped out of hyperspace. Due to a miscalculation on Senn's part (or not knowing the exact location of the facility) both capital ships dropped out of hyperspace well beyond their weapons' range, which bought the Rebels crucial time to scramble both Rogue and Green squadrons.
Only minutes after the starfighter launch the ISD Rage corrected the tactical mishap by performing a microjump, effectively ending up on the opposite side of the facility and forcing the Rebel starfighter squadrons to split up, if they were to defend the facility.
Mon Calamari cruiser Liberty soon reacted to the distress signal of the shipyard and reached the system soon enough to position itself between the Star Dreadnought and the shipyard. However, Rogue and Green squadrons were effectively tied up by the Imperial fighter defenses, and a few Imperial bombers managed to unleash their payload upon the shipyard. Simultaneously the Super Star Destroyer launched a squadron of Assault Transports, loaded with heavy rockets intended to destroy the Mon Calamari warship once and for all.
Against great odds, Green squadron in combination with ramming attacks by three Airam Dreadnoughts managed to knock out the Super Star Destroyer's bridge deflector shields, at which point an Airam corvette, loaded to the fullest with space bombs, dropped out of hyperspace with the intention of ramming the Vengeance's bridge—a task in which it succeeded, despite all the Star Destroyer's gunners, killing Admiral Senn on bridge and heavily damaging the vessel, leaving only a small amount of armor to break through for Green squadron.
Both the SSD Vengeance and the ISD Rage are believed to have perished in this battle, but the same is true for the shipyard.
[edit] Aftermath
The complete annihilation of Task Force Vengeance's remainders was a significant blow to the Galactic Empire, as it had lost at least twenty-five capital ships over the weeks, including their starfighter complements and the reinforcement fleet sent to assist Senn.
The remoteness of the Airam sector meant that the Empire was not likely to send another expedition force of significant size to pacify it, thus ensuring both the independence of the people and a safe haven for the Rebel Alliance, where they could regroup and rebuild their strength.
[edit] Behind the scenes
The actual canon outcome of the Battle of Nocto is disputed, because the two Balance of Power campaigns (for the Empire and the Rebellion, respectively) have alternate endings depending on which side the player is on. One interpretation is to assume that all missions and cutscenes from both campaigns are canonical -- with the exception of the outcome of the Battle of Nocto where the Imperial and Rebellion forces destroyed each other. In the game itself it is either the Vengeance or the shipyard which is destroyed by the player's forces with the other required by mission goals to survive. However, the Imperial victory includes a formal statement that Rogue Squadron was wholly eradicated, thus clashing with canon.
