Battle of Kessel (11 ABY)
- "Well, Solo, ready to lead the attack?"
"I never intended to take the Falcon against a Death Star. I was just giving Lando a lift to Kessel."
"Think of it as an added bonus" - ―Mara Jade asking Han Solo to help lead the attack against the Death Star prototype
A battle was fought above the planet Kessel in 11 ABY, between the Imperials from the nearby Maw Installation and the Smugglers' Alliance.
The battle
Prelude
- "Attention, everyone! Hurry with those repairs. I want to destroy something as soon as possible."
- ―Tol Sivron to his crew
After the Smugglers' Alliance took control of Kessel and its moon from Moruth Doole, Lando Calrissian, accompanied by Han Solo, arrived and met with Alliance member Mara Jade. Calrissian had recently gained a large sum of money and was looking to invest in the spice mining operations on the planet. Not long after the trio met and discussed Calrissian's purchase, the Death Star prototype arrived, having escaped a New Republic attack on the nearby Imperial research facility, Maw Installation. Onboard was Tol Sivron and most of the installation's personnel.[1]
The space battle
- Mara Jade: "Warning! We've detected a large vessel approaching Kessel—and I mean large."
- Han Solo: "Lando, check the scanners."
- Lando Calrissian: "Not just large, it's the Death Star."
- ―Mara, Han, and Lando notice the Death Star prototype on the Millennium Falcon's scanners[1]
As soon as the Death Star was spotted, the Alliance ships stationed on the moon began launching to attack the prototype. Sivron planned to determine the Death Star's destructive capabilities by test firing its superlaser on Kessel, claiming that it might as well have been a Rebel base. The Death Star fired but, due to its poor calibration, hit the Garrison Moon instead. Although the moon housed the Alliance's ships, only three were destroyed when the moon exploded; the rest having already launched.[1]
The prototype began firing its superlaser at the oncoming smuggler ships, but only succeeded in destroying one, as the remainder were small and fast enough to avoid the blast. The battle quickly turned into a stalemate, as the prototype's superlaser was too inaccurate and charged too slowly to take out the freighters, and the freighters themselves lacked the firepower to cause any serious damage to the prototype. Realizing that their best chance was to wait for help from the New Republic to arrive, the Smugglers' Alliance forces pulled back to regroup, and Sivron used this as an opportunity to return to the Maw.[1] Just before it was able to leave, the Falcon, with Solo, Calrissian, and Jade onboard, secretly secured itself onto the prototype using its landing claw, and accompanied it on its journey back. The Falson's crew subsequently attempted to detonate the prototype's main reactor, but only succeeded in causing minor damage.[1]
Aftermath
- "You know, this is all kind of beautiful in its own way."
- ―Lando Calrissian on the Garrison Moon's debris raining down on Kessel
The Smugglers' Alliance had been planning to use the Garrison Moon as a base for their mining operations, so the destruction of it was a major setback for them. The moon's destruction also bombarded Kessel with debris, although most of the planet's installations were subterranean, meaning that it proved a relatively small setback. Lando, though upset at the moon's destruction, later considered the raining debris somewhat beautiful.[1]
The Death Star prototype returned to the Maw, where the arrival of Admiral Natasi Daala's Star Destroyer, the Gorgon, was turning the tide of the battle in favor of the Empire.[1]
Appearances
- Champions of the Force (First appearance)
Sources
- The Essential Guide to Characters
- The Jedi Academy Sourcebook
- The Essential Chronology
- The Official Star Wars Fact File 85 (ACA4, Founding the New Jedi Academy)
- The New Essential Chronology
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- The Essential Reader's Companion