Below is a summary of the events and plot that unfold during X-Wing Alliance. This description assumes completion of all objectives in each mission, not necessarily including the bonus objectives (as these are often incredibly difficult to achieve).
It is a short time after the Battle of Hoth, and civil war is raging across the Empire. The Twin Suns family-operated shipping business run by the brothers Tomaas and Antan Azzameen is trying to survive despite the difficulties. Tomaas, however, is taking a greater risk smuggling goods for the Rebels.
During one mission, while delivering much-needed Bacta fluid to a Rebel outpost, Imperial Star Destroyers show up to stop Tomaas and his oldest son and co-pilot Galin from leaving. Their ship - the YT-2000 Corellian transport Otana - gets mildly damaged in the battle, and Tomaas escapes to Twin Suns' repair station for some emergency repairs. His brother Antan, who happens to be operating the station that day, is outraged that Tomaas has risked his family's well-being by assisting the Rebels, and refuses him service. Tomaas tries to convince Antan that he's taken precautions and was not identified, but Antan refuses to hear it. The Otana has to limp back to their home base - Azzameen Station - straining relations between the two brothers.
Tomaas has decided that his youngest son Ace is finally old enough to pilot one of the family's old YT-1300 Corellian transports. Ace takes the Sabra out on a routine cargo run with his droid Emkay as co-pilot, while his older sister Aeron pilots the Selu, a similar ship. The two take some cargo from Azzameen Station to Harlequin Station. On the way there, Aeron confides that her friend Olin Garn has joined the Rebellion. Emkay is very excited to hear this, suggesting that the Azzameens should join the Rebels as well - but Aeron dismisses the idea outright.
Once the cargo is dropped off at Harlequin, the System Patrol Craft guarding the station suddenly leaves, while two Pursuer Escort Craft belonging to the Viraxo — the Gilgam and the Enkidu — jump into the area. The station controller begs the Azzameens to help defend the station. Aeron is reluctant, but the PECs turn and attack the two freighters, forcing a fight. Fortunately, the Viraxo quickly realize they've bitten off more than they could chew, and hastily retreat. The two transports pick up some containers and head back home. The station's controller is very grateful for the assistance, and later sends Ace the Key to Harlequin Station as a show of their gratitude.
Tomaas is worried about certain shipping recording going missing from the database, and asks everybody to be more alert when entering new data. Meanwhile, Ace's older brother Emon returns to Azzameen Station. When he hears about the scrap with the Viraxo, he decides to take Ace out on some gunnery practice, with Emkay piloting the ship while Ace mans the turret. Emon flies the Andrasta, a Firespray-class attack ship, dropping targets for Ace to shoot down. They later head into a debris field where Ace practices firing on some empty containers and Emon shows off his skills piloting the Andrasta. When the target practice is complete, Emon suggests they jump over to Dunari's Rest, a nearby casino.
When they get there, Emon spots several Viraxo ships, including one that attacked Harlequin Station earlier. The Andrasta and Sabra attack, and even manage to shoot down a few ships, but the main Viraxo ship jumps away and the station's manager is angry at Emon for causing a ruckus. Forbidden from landing at the casino, the Azzameen ships return home. Emon is quite impressed with Ace's gunnery skills, and notes that he might bring Ace along on some actual missions in the near future. He gives Ace a drink chit for Dunari's Rest, to be redeemed at a later time.
K'Armin Viraxo sends a warning to the Azzameens to stay out of their way, boasting that the Azzameens cannot compete with the Viraxo. Aeron tries to upgrade the database system to get rid of the errors they've been having, but accidentally erases the entire thing. She and Ace fly out to re-scan all of the cargo containers in person with their YT-1300s before their father can find out about her mistake. Aeron tells Ace that things have been heating up ever since the Rebels destroyed the Death Star at Yavin, and that the Azzameens' competition with the Viraxo has been ratcheting up as well. She says that K'Armin Viraxo might be a crime boss of some sort, and that he's rumored to have bribed the Imperials to look the other way.
At one of the cargo storage areas, they discover a raider cargo ferry attempting to steal one of their containers, and quickly shoot it down before it can escape. Ace picks up a mercenary flag from the wreckage as a souvenir. At the next cargo area, the situation is much worse: A Viraxo ship, the Enkidu, is doing something with one of the containers. The Azzameens engage the Viraxo's escorts and destroy them, but the Enkidu aborts its mission and quickly jumps to hyperspace. A scan of the container it was handling indicates that it is full of Spice - a contraband material. Aeron takes the container and the ships return home safely, but it is clear that the Viraxo are attempting to get the Azzameens in trouble with the Empire. It's also clear that security of two main cargo areas has been completely compromised, and all containers will have to be moved somewhere else.
Tomaas and Galin fly off for another smuggling run. Before he departs, Galin sends a message to Ace expressing a growing sense of trepidation, urging Ace to keep an eye on the others and make sure that they don't fly alone. News of the compromised storage area security angers Antan, who blames the children's earlier fight at Harlequin Station for provoking the Viraxo into an underhanded play. Nevertheless, Antan draws up a plan to beat the Viraxo at their own game. Aeron will fly the Selu under a different name and transponder code, masquerading as one of the Viraxo's regular suppliers. Under this guise, she will drop off the Spice container at the Viraxo 54 cargo facility at Denbo. Ace and Emon will then attack the station briefly - just enough to draw attention from nearby Imperial forces who will come check it out, and hopefully find the Spice on board.
Unfortunately, the plan goes wrong almost immediately when Ace and Emon arrive too early, while Aeron is still in queue to dock at the facility. What's worse, the Enkidu is the ship in front of her. Ace and Emon clear out the fighters and attack the Enkidu, forcing it to take off and fight. Aeron gets impatient and decides to just drop her cargo, causing the Viraxo 54 to scan her ship and determine its real identity - launching fighters to attack it. Despite the setback, Ace and Emon destroy the Enkidu and begin to attack the facility itself; However the Selu loses her engines during the escape attempt, and Emon has to pick Aeron up. Ace destroys the Selu and all three Azzameens jump away safely just as the Imperial Victory Star Destroyer Intruder arrives to check out the commotion. Back home, Antan is ecstatic with the damage caused to the Viraxo by this operation, and Ace hangs the Selu's original nameplate in his quarters in memory of the old ship.
Tomaas returns home, and is furious that Antan put the children's lives at risk with his reckless plan against the Viraxo; However he himself is about to put his own children's lives at risk on a mission for the Rebellion, whose victory he believes is of critical importance. He arranges another smuggling run to take a large shipment of bacta to the Rebels aboard the medium transport Vasudra, with Emon, Aeron and Ace flying cover for him in their ships. Since Aeron's ship was destroyed, she takes out the Otana on this mission. They are to meet a smuggler at Saruwan Station, follow him to a secret rendezvous point to pick up the bacta, and get home before any Imperials show up.
The contact is found on the scout craft Ravenno at Saruwan station, and at first berates Tomaas for his tardiness - though Tomaas claims he arrived exactly on time. The contact is finally supplicated, promising Tomaas that the operation should go very smoothly, and leads the ships to the rendezvous where the Xiytiar Transport End Run waits for them with the bacta tanks while smuggler fighters fly defense around it. The Vasudra docks with the transport, but moments later the End Run reports a problem with its pumps. Several technicians in space suits fly out, supposedly to repair the pump from the outside, but Emon becomes suspicious as the technicians seem to make their way towards the Vasudra's engines - apparently to disable them. Just then, a pirate Corellian gunship named Loose Cannon jumps in, and Tomaas's contact declares that the Azzameens must surrender immediately.
Emon and Aeron immediately turn to attack the gunship, while Ace shoots down the fighters as well as the escaping Ravenno. After destroying the enemies, they turn to the technicians and blow them out of the sky. Meanwhile, Tomaas and Galin fight and defeat a boarding party attempting to take over their ship by force, and eventually manage to "convince" the End Run's captain to complete the bacta transfer in exchange for the crew's life. With the precious cargo in the hold, the Azzameens jump back to their station. Tomaas is very proud of his children for their performance, and Aeron even suggests letting Ace fly the Otana now that he's proven himself a very capable pilot. To celebrate, Emon breaks out a bottle of illegal Zairona ale which he had rescued from the wreck of the Loose Cannon, and shares it with his young brother. The gung-ho droid Emkay expresses his disappointment that no Imperials arrived to be shot down.
Despite a warning sent by Olin Garn telling the Azzameens that the Empire has deployed a large number of fleets in the area, Tomaas is intent on delivering the bacta to the Rebel Alliance immediately. The Vasudra, escorted by the Andrasta and Otana (with Ace finally at the helm of his father's ship), jumps out to the Brint-wo colony to rendezvous with Olin Garn, who will lead them to an Alliance hospital where they will offload the cargo. Garn takes off in an X-Wing and jumps together with the Azzameens to the hospital. On the way there, he inquires about Aeron, but Tomaas playfully declines to answer him. When they reach the hospital, many ships are present, whether docked or docking, and Garn explains that these are the wounded arriving from the Battle of Hoth and its aftermath. He excuses himself as he must return to the Defiance, and jumps to hyperspace. The Vasudra docks with the station and begins the bacta transfer.
Just then, the Imperial-II Star Destroyer Corrupter and two Lancer frigate escorts jump into the system. The commander of the Corrupter warns the Rebels that any craft attempting to escape will be destroyed. The Rebels order Tomaas to reverse the bacta pump, and the Otana and Andrasta to join the station's X-Wings in screening against the waves and waves of TIE Fighters and Bombers launched from the Star Destroyer. Soon Ace gets his first TIE Fighter kill, and even tractors a piece of it on board as a momento. Unfortunately, the Rebels decide not to let Tomaas go as they suspect he may have led the Imperials to the station - to which Tomaas agrees since he wishes to allay any suspicions. The Rebels are far outnumbered by the Imperials, and as ships scramble away to hyperspace the Corrupter's TIEs manage to get close enough to destroy several of them. Finally, the Corrupter gets into range and opens fire on the hospital itself. It shoots at the Vasudra and destroys it. Emon and Ace are shocked by the death of their father and oldest brother, and Ace wants to fly in to rescue any survivors, but Emon quickly gets a hold of himself and pulls Ace out of the battle to jump back home.
Antan grieves for his brother Tomaas and nephew Galin, but argues that they brought it upon themselves by aiding the Alliance directly. He suspects that it was the Viraxo who had sold out the Rebels to the Empire. He also warns Ace that the Empire will soon be coming for them all, and says he'll pull all the strings he can pull in order to buy some time. In the meanwhile, he suggests that Ace and Emon stay low and plan a memorial service for their father and brother.
Soon enough, warrants are issued for the arrest of the Azzameens on counts of treason. It also seems like the Empire intends to confiscate all Azzameen assets and hand them over to the Viraxo - confirming that the Viraxo had been colluding with them. Fortunately, Antan has a plan of escape. He and Emon set off to recover some crucial supplies from one of their storage yards, while Ace and Aeron fly over to the Twin Suns repair station to get everything from Antan's safe. After that, they will jump to the Outer Rim Territories and hopefully disappear. All Azzameen company employees are released from service as the ships depart Azzameen Station for the last time.
Ace and Aeron arrive at the repair station and Aeron dashes inside to get to the safe while Ace picks up a container of warheads. While Aeron's making her way, the Victory Star Destroyer Furious jumps in and orders the Azzameens to surrender. It is accompanied by Viraxo ships. TIE Fighters and Bombers are launched against the station while Aeron and Ace scramble out and barely make it to the jump point before they're intercepted. Back at Azzameen base, they are attacked by several more Viraxo fighters, which they shoot down. Emon makes it back to the station, but reports that he and Antan were ambushed as well, and that Antan has been captured.
Antan's intended destination in the Outer Rim is unknown to any of the siblings, but they have no time to think about it as the Star Destroyer Corrupter jumps in and begins to launch its fighters. In their desperation, the Azzameens decide to take the only possible alternative: use a set of coordinates Olin Garn gave to Aeron in case of emergencies, which will take them to the Rebel fleet. Upon arriving they half-expect to be arrested, but Olin vouches for the siblings and they are taken in as refugees. Aeron and Emon soon take off to go look for information about their uncle Antan, while Ace receives an invitation to join Red Squadron - Luke Skywalker's squadron - and serve with the Rebels aboard the Calamari Cruiser Defiance.
Aboard the Defiance, Ace is put through multiple tests to see whether he can be certified to fly the various starfighters employed by the Rebel Alliance, and to instruct him in the various tactics used by the Rebels to achieve victory in the face of superior odds. This is done with several mock battles recreating real situations that Rebel craft had encountered in the past. Olin Garn, now a Lieutenant in the Rebel fleet, flies as Ace's instructor for both training missions.
The first mission is bomber training. Ace flies a Y-Wing against multiple targets, returning to the Defiance to re-arm before each additional attack. First, he takes out a cargo storage facility by blowing up containers and then destroying the station itself. Next up, he attacks a repair yard inside a heavy minefield, firing torpedoes at a Carrack cruiser from long range to avoid the mines. The final attack simulates an assault on a moving convoy protected by two light frigates. Ace shows great competence by being the first pilot to destroy the entire convoy before it can jump to hyperspace, and learns how the Rebels use Hit-and-Run Tactics to avoid getting overwhelmed by Imperial counter-attacks.
Next, Ace goes through a series of dogfight trainings in an X-Wing, against increasing numbers of TIE Fighters and Interceptors, with increasing numbers of wingmen to support him. This culminates in a simulated attack by the Victory Star Destroyer Marut on the Cruiser Defiance, with the X-Wings working together to defeat waves of TIE Bombers while being outnumbered. Through superior teamwork (and owing to their superior starfighters), the Rebels destroy all attacking fighters and drive the VSD off.
With these missions complete, Ace is finally qualified to join Red Squadron as a cadet. To celebrate his acceptance into the unit, his squadron-mates buy him a bottle of Tauntaun cologne - so he can "smell good on the outside!"
Though the Rebels have been defeated at Hoth, their fleeing ships are still making their way out of the sector to safer havens. The Rebels are doing their best to stretch out Imperial forces as much as possible, so that the Imperials cannot attack any particular convoy in force - giving the fleeing ships a better to escape or at least to survive until help can arrive. Ace joins a mission where the Rebels attack an Imperial convoy heading to Hoth — where the main Imperial fleet still lingers — hoping to force the Imperials to invest more patrols into guarding their supply lines instead of chasing the Rebels. The attack is fairly straightforward, despite the Imperial Strike Cruiser Scythe escorting the convoy, which releases multiple TIE fighters. Eventually the Scythe is driven off, and the rest of the convoy is destroyed.
Ace receives a message from Emon, who reports that Aeron has finally found Uncle Antan: An old Azzameen mole that had been working for years inside the Viraxo organization has reported that Antan is being held by the Viraxo at one of their facilities while K'Armyn Viraxo attempts to ransom him back. Emon devises a plan to attack the facility directly and rescue Antan. Ace requests and receives leave from Rebel service for this mission, taking the Otana to rendezvous with Emon. Together they fly to the Viraxo station, which launches multiple Planetary Fighters to take them out. They fight through this defensive screen, and even take out a shuttle of Viraxo VIPs that happen to arrive at the station. Ace docks with the platform, letting Emkay off to rescue Antan. The station launches even more fighters, which Ace shoots down with the Otana's turret, while the Andrasta provides area cover. Emkay gets Antan on board, the Otana lifts off, and both ships destroy as many Viraxo assets as they can find in the area. However before they can destroy the rest of the facility, the Victory Star Destroyer Condemnation arrives and drives them off. The Azzameens jump away to a safe location where Ace transfers Antan to Emon's ship.
Ace returns to the Defiance, where he receives a message from Antan promising to find some way to liberate the Azzameens' home station. As a thank-you for saving his life, Antan also sends Ace a pair of ancient dueling swords dating back to the Old Republic, which he had won off the prince of Jar'Kai in a duel.
The Rebel tactic of attacking convoys seems to be working, with the Empire spreading its forces ever thinner to protect them. However it seems that the Imperial fleet is still tracking Rebel movements with ease, and Admiral Ackbar suspects that they're deploying probe droids much like the ones that discovered the base on Hoth. Ace is sent as part of a pair of A-Wings to perform reconnaissance of the area, and the pair end up running into none other than the Star Destroyer Corrupter's battlegroup. They scan its escorts to determine their composition and what method they are using in their search while evading the many TIE Interceptors sent after them. The A-Wings quickly determine that the Empire is indeed scattering probe droids in the area - and are actually in the process of doing so. Ace destroys a set of probes, and finally shoots down one of the ships, before escaping home. Ackbar is particularly pleased to note that the scan revealed Imperial Admiral Holtz to be in command of the Corrupter - a man who will surely react badly to such an embarrassing defeat.
Ace's girlfriend contacts Aeron, only to discover that Ace has joined the rebellion. She reacts in utter disgust. Ace has no time to argue anyway, as the Rebels discover that several captured Rebels from Hoth are being sent to slave labor camps aboard the dreadnought VTR-LX. Rebel ships are sent to intercept, disable, and board the dreadnought, retrieve the prisoners and escape. They find the Imperial ship refueling at a civilian station, surrounded by many civilian ships. However as the X-Wings are busy engaging its escort gunboats, the VTR-LX jumps away. Red Leader figures that the only likely Imperial destination nearby is the station Bundil II, so the starfighters jump there, and luckily that's where the VTR-LX went. While Y-Wings work on disabling the ship, Ace and his group tackle fighters and bombers launching from the station, then destroy some containers full of prison equipment. An assault transport full of commandos arrives to board the dreadnought and release the prisoners, and is almost destroyed in the action, but manages to fulfill its mission. The commandos also leave a "surprise" on the dreadnought - a large bomb that destroys the ship. The Imperial frigate Archon arrives to try to stop the attack, but the remaining rebel ships manage to jump away safely.
Everyone is celebrating on board the Defiance, and Ace is bought many drinks by the rescued prisoners and other pilots. They are particularly happy about the rescue of Commander Kupalo - an officer who formerly served on the Defiance. However Ace receives a disturbing message from K'Armyn Viraxo, trying to threaten Ace to stay out of the family's business and out of the Viraxo's way. Aeron, however, is intent on doing the opposite. She contacts Ace, telling him that she's discovered a scavenging operation recovering Imperial tech from the debris near Hoth, and located an Imperial probe droid there. She intends to capture the droid, and repurpose it to spy on the Viraxo. Thanks to his brilliant work in the previous mission, Ace is given leave to take the Otana out to Hoth.
The Otana arrives at the coordinates supplied by Aeron, but detects a small force of pirates making a beeline for the probe. Ace engages and destroys the R-41 fighters escorting a Muurian transport and destroys them, but the transport manages to pick up the probe first. He chases it down and "convinces" it to release the probe, then picks it up. The Otana then jumps to a civilian customs checkpoint, where Aeron hoped the probe would go unnoticed due to the heavy traffic in the area. Unfortunately, as the Otana approaches the station it is ordered to stop and submit to an inspection. Before Ace can even react, multiple pirate ships jump into the area and begin to attack the station - raiding its cargo. Several Y-Wings even engage the Otana, but Ace hops into the turret while Emkay pilots the ship, shooting down incoming torpedoes and bombers until the ship flies clear. The pirates eventually focus on the station, allowing Ace to jump away to his rendezvous with Aeron, where she picks up the probe and flies home. Ace returns to the Defiance, and later receives a memento from Aeron as thanks for his help - a small model of an Imperial probe droid that she had assembled from random space junk.
Alliance Intelligence completes its analysis of the data collected by Ace when he interrupted the probe droid deployment. Scans of the Corrupter reveal that it has finally become immobile due to damage suffered previously during the Battle of Hoth, and is now awaiting a new hyperdrive. A convoy of transport ships, led by the frigate Monitor, is bringing the new hyperdrive and technicians to the Star Destroyer's location, along with other crucial war materials. The Rebels launch a hasty B-Wing attack on the convoy before it can reach the Star Destroyer. The attack manages to knock out some of the ships, but several make it to the jump beacon. Ace's flight group chases them halfway to the Corrupter itself before the most crucial ships are finally brought down and the Rebels can retreat.
The returning pilots have no time to rest, however, as the Rebel fleet plans to use the Corrupter's immobility to escape the sector entirely. They plan to attack multiple sensor relay stations in the area, and use the confusion to attack their real target: Sensor Station ISO 24. The station is heavily defended, including a large complement of TIEs and four weapon emplacements. Assault transports jump in to jam the station's outgoing signals, after which X-Wings and B-Wings arrive to destroy the entire facility and leave a gap for the Rebel fleet to jump through.
With the Rebel fleet safely away, Admiral Holtz finally receives word that the sensor station has been destroyed just as his ship's hyperdrive is repaired. However instead of chasing the Rebels, he receives orders to return to Coruscant for a full inquiry into his failure to stop them. When the Corrupter attempts to jump to hyperspace, its drive fails again.
For his participation in the break-out from Hoth, Ace Azzameen is promoted to the rank of Flight Officer, and is awarded the Badge of Merit.
The Rebels are worried about a recent development in the Vilonis sector. Rebel convoys have been getting destroyed by an unknown force, with only scattered reports of "strange ships" attacking them, but vanishing before any Rebel response arrives. The Mon Calamari cruiser Liberty is sent to the area to investigate, but in order not to draw attention to itself it will go there alone. Due to recent combat losses, the Liberty will need a new complement of fighter crews, and Red Squadron is being transferred there from the Defiance.
The transfer involves multiple transports carrying the unit's equipment and officers, including the unit's new commanding officer, Commander Kupalo - the same man rescued by Ace from slave labor in a previous mission. Ace has the honor of flying escort for this convoy in an A-Wing. In the Belat system, the Rebels receive a distress signal from a nearby civilian convoy. When the A-Wings go to investigate, they find the convoy is under attack from waves of bizarre new TIE fighters - dubbed TIE/E1s. These fighters are fast and nimble and carry a single turbo-laser that can easily demolish any Rebel craft. Fortunately, Ace's superb flying skills in the A-Wing interceptor help most of the civilian ships survive the ambush. At one point during the battle, Ace notices an Imperial escort transport which he attacks, driving it off. This causes all of the TIE E1s to mysteriously shut down. Once hte civilian convoy is secure, the A-Wings link up with the Liberty, just as the rest of the Rebel convoy docks with the ship.
The Rebels are very much interested in capturing some samples of these new "Experimental TIE Fighters". To this end, they've created a mock convoy, piloted by computers programmed to behave like a suspicious Rebel convoy deliberately avoiding attention, in order to lure in an Imperial attack. Ace and his flight group are sent out in Z-95 Headhunters - an aging starfighter model that predated the X-Wing - to further make the convoy seem like an easy target. These Rebel craft, however, are armed with the new Ion Pulse missiles, which can shut down an enemy craft in one hit. When the Z-95s arrive on the scene, the Imperials are already there - but with two completely new types of TIE experimental models: One a TIE Fighter with two turbo-laser turrets, and the other a TIE Interceptor armed with multiple missile launchers. The Z-95s quickly disable one of each type with their Ion Pulse missiles, and proceed to disable the others. Two escort transports present are also disabled. Rebel craft come to pick up the disabled craft, and Ace destroys all remaining TIEs.
Rebel engineers on the Liberty begin to disassemble the TIEs immediately. The escort transports are found to be loaded with communications equipment - probably controlling the TIEs remotely. Unfortunately, the transport crews were suffocated to death by a life support failure that triggered as soon as their craft were disabled.
Olin Garn tells Ace he hasn't heard from Aeron for quite some time, and is starting to get worried. Meanwhile, Ace receives a message from his uncle Antan, who says that he has learned that K'Armyn Viraxo is going to take his private yacht to a resort near Destreg II. Talking about "family honor" and the death of Ace's father and brother, he implores Ace to join Emon in intercepting and destroying the yacht and finally taking revenge for all the Viraxo had done to the Azzameens.
Ace takes the Otana to the intended ambush point near the resort, where he and Emon engage and destroy the yacht's escorts and close in to destroy the yacht itself. However, Emkay scans the yacht before it is destroyed, realizing that there were no life-forms on board. Just as the Azzameen brothers realize they've been set up, a large group of bounty hunter ships arrive - claiming that they are here to collect on a hit contract issued by the Viraxo. Ace and Emon manage to destroy the ships and jump out of the area before any Imperial patrol can arrive. Antan sends a message to Ace, apologizing for sending him bad information, claiming that his contacts must have been compromised. Nevertheless, he says that this action will make K'Armyn Viraxo fear for his life - and that this in itself is at least some measure of revenge. Emon, who doesn't seem all that fazed about the affair, sends Ace a memento from the mission: the steering wheel of the destroyed yacht, with the Viraxo emblem replaced by an Azzameen emblem.
Meanwhile, Rebel engineers have completed disassembly of the experimental TIEs, and has come to the conclusion that they are indeed remote-controlled from the escort transports that accompany them into battle. Intelligence has located a facility which may be connected to these new fighters, possibly a manufacturing site. They plan to raid the facility, grab all data that can be found, and then blow up the main computer to set back Imperial research. Despite plenty of experimental TIEs defending the facility itself, the raid goes pretty much without a hitch. The commandos finish their mission and board their transport to head back home, when a new group of TIEs appears - of a completely new design. These new craft are much faster, deadlier, and more agile than anything previously encountered, and they attempt to plow right through the X-Wings to get at the transport. Thanks to Ace dogfighting these superior craft, the commando transport manages to jump away at the last second. Lieutenant Pauling, leader of the Rebel "Storm Unit" commandos, personally contacts Ace later to thank him for rescuing his team. Nevertheless, these new "TIE Defenders" spell a much greater threat than anything encountered by the Alliance thus far.
Unfortunately, the Rebel fighters fleeing the Imperial facility have been tracked to the Liberty. Before the cruiser can jump back to a safer location to analyze the data it has gathered, it is beset by a large fleet of experimental TIEs and their control ships. This time, the craft include a new variety of TIE Bombers fitted with a massive engine that boosts them to roughly the speed of an A-Wing; and a variety of "kamikaze" TIE Fighter that is altogether more like a cruise missile than a fighter. The Liberty scrambles every craft it's got in order to take these down. Ace, having paid close attention to the analysis of the new Imperial equipment, fights through the waves of fighters to get at the escort transports - taking them out and disabling the entire enemy fleet. The losses among the Rebels are nevertheless staggeringly high.
The data from the Imperial facility is finally analyzed, revealing that the new fighters are part of a program conducted by a man called Director Lenzer, whose goal is to develop an artificial intelligence that can pilot a fighter as well as a living person. This would allow the Empire to replace all of its pilots with an extremely skilled program that doesn't need rest, food, or even air - allowing for a whole new generation of superior spacecraft deployed throughout the galaxy. Alliance Intelligence gets to work attempting to find Lenzer's primary research facility, but the project is so secret that few people in the Empire even know it exists. In the end, it is one of the Recon squadrons that locates the facility, and a plan of attack is quickly drawn up.
The assault is carried out by a large Rebel force consisting primarily of B-Wings, with heavy X-Wing support. A large number of TIE Defenders and experimental TIEs take off to intercept them on the way in. Additionally, it seems to be controlled from a massive Imperial research ship, the Sardis, emitting a signal similar to the one previously used to control the experimental TIEs. Ace takes the initiative and destroys several free-floating TIE hangars, effectively removing the station's primary defense. He then leads the B-Wings to concentrate their fire on the research ship to sever its connection to the TIEs. After that, destroying the station becomes a breeze.
Ace Azzameen is awarded the Group Commander Citation for his initiative in the battle, and is promoted to Lieutenant Jr. Grade for his actions throughout the campaign to eradicate the new TIE menace. The Alliance is hopeful that the destruction of the research facility, and the Empire's (presumably) first TIE-controlling research ship, would finally discourage the Empire from any further attempts to pursue artificial intelligence piloting technology. However, unbeknownst to them, Admiral Zaarin's flagship arrives at the scene of the battle, and collects several key pieces that would allow them to continue their research.
While investigating a possible break of their own public network, the Alliance intercepts a message on the Imperial network which is encrypted with an outdated Rebel code. The message indicates the location of an Imperial convoy carrying slaves — and claims that the Alliance would find these particular slaves "interesting". The Alliance suspects a trap, but sends a contingent of Y-Wings and X-Wings to check it out anyway. At the given coordinates, they find the Star Destroyer Goliath dropping off a convoy of Sentinal landing craft, bound for the Golan One station for slave labor. The Y-Wings scan the ships up close, determining that several are indeed carrying slaves. Under heavy fire from TIEs launched by both the Star Destroyer and the station, the Y-Wings disable the slave-carrying ships, and assault transports arrive to pick them up. Once the Rebel force is back on the Liberty, it is revealed that the rescued slaves are all Bothans sympathetic to the Rebellion - though the source of the enigmatic message about their location remains unclear.
Rumor spreads throughout the fleet that the Rebels are running out of warheads for their starfighters. Soon after, Aeron and Emon arrive at the Liberty. Emon gets busy trying to score dates for his younger brother among the female pilots, and even gets one interested in dating Ace - a certain Twi'lek pilot named "Lady Blue". She says she rarely dates other pilots, but was impressed with Emons stories about Ace. They schedule a date for after she returns from her next recon mission. Lady Blue even sends Ace a picture of herself.
Aeron then approaches Ace with an interesting offer. She's heard about the warhead shortage, and has done some research. She discovered that the Viraxo have recently gone into business selling weapons to the Empire, and are preparing to deliver a shipment of warheads from an unknown source. This is a perfect opportunity to hurt the Viraxo, while simultaneously helping the Rebellion. Uncle Antan was somewhat reluctant to invest family resources, but was persuaded to send several Azzameen freighters to pick up the cargo during the raid.
Ace and Aeron take out her ship, the Corellian transport Sabra, to the Virxao storage facility. The first part of their attack is fairly straightforward, as they punch through several Razor fighters to get to the containers and verify that they are full of warheads. Azzameen ships come in and pick up this cargo, but then an unidentified Bulk Cruiser jumps into the area with several fighter escorts. A quick scan reveals that these are not Viraxo ships, but Black Sun syndicate ships. The Bulk Cruiser appears to be carrying more warheads - indicating that the Black Sun criminal syndicate has been supplying the warheads to the Viraxo. Ace tangles with the slow but heavy Supa Fighter escorts as they try to take down the Azzameen freighters, but the Azzameens manage to abscond with the cargo in time. They are taken straight to a rendezvous with Rebel corvettes, who will distribute the warheads to the fleet. Uncle Antan is appeased with a small shipment of warheads that he'll be able to sell for some profit, and the Rebels award Ace and Aeron with the Alliance Civilian Battle award for their help in resolving the warhead situation.
Ace himself is about to go on a recon mission - a dangerous one. Another mysterious transmission is received on the Imperial network, this time indicating that an important Imperial research facility is operating in the Kuat system, close to Kuat Drive Yards. The facility is lightly defended, but within range of a major response fleet. The Alliance decides to send a recon-in-force mission to scan the facility and determine what to do with it.
X-Wings and A-Wings arrive at the site to find a truly massive research facility, though the area is rather calm, aside from a number of assault gunboats. While the A-Wings keep them busy, the X-Wings take out the station's defenses and its comms satellites to delay Imperial response. A quick scan of the station reveals that it houses a massive experimental reactor of some sort. The X-Wings are ordered to destroy the station, but they quickly run out of torpedoes and the station is far from destroyed. Just then, the Imperial Star Destroyer Juggernaut arrives and begins to launch fighters. Ace is ordered to quickly find a way into the station and attempt to destroy the reactor itself. He blows open a hatch on the upper level, which leads through a small opening straight to the reactor. He fires a torpedo at the reactor, initiating a chain reaction. Then he quickly turns around and flies out before the reactor explodes and annihilates the station. All Rebel fighters withdraw at once.
Ace returns to the Liberty to celebrate the success of the last operation, and then withdraws to his quarters to prepare for his first date with Lady Blue. Sadly, he then receives a message notifying him that she had been killed in action during her recon mission. He hangs her portrait in his quarters, in memoriam.
Whoever is supplying information to the Rebels seems to be highly knowledgable, but their identity is still totally unknown. Nevertheless, they're using Imperial equipment and frequencies to transmit the data, so the Rebels decide to check out any nearby Imperial relay centers to try and determine where the transmissions are coming from. Soon enough, they discover the correct relay and send Ace with a group of A-Wings there. Several TIE Fighters launch to meet them, and the Rebels have to clear away a large minefield they had not anticipated. Nevertheless, the relay is properly inspected, and the modified corvette Python arrives to download the data. Then, the Imperial escort carrier Halberd arrives and begins launching TIEs against the corvette, which Ace and his group struggle to intercept. During the data download, however, the Python suddenly receives a new signal through the relay using an old Alliance frequency. They record the data and head home with the A-Wings.
On the Liberty, the signal is analyzed and appears to contain a message from an Imperial officer, who claims to have been the source of all the recent information coming through the relay. According to his message, he wishes to defect to the Rebellion. Alliance High Command ponders this information, still unsure whether the whole affair has been one big Imperial ruse.
Ace turns on his personal terminal to receive another threatening letter from K'Armyn Viraxo, warning the Azzameens to leave his territory. Uncle Antan, conversely, has different plans, and sends Aeron to explain it to Ace. Antan wants to plant a listening device on one of the Imperial comms satellites at the same location attacked in Ace's previous mission, exploiting the fact that the facility is now largely undefended. He's hoping that the listening device will help the Azzameens keep track of the Viraxo's dealings with the Empire, and perhaps learn more about their connection to the Black Sun syndicate.
Ace and Aeron fly out in the Sabra back to the comms station, and upon arrival they discover a small group of Imperials replacing the minefield. They take out the Imperials and their mines, then find a satellite with some shoddy wiring. Aeron jumps out in a space suit to hack the satellite while Ace patrols around her. Then, an Imperial assault shuttle jumps in and drops a handful of stormtroopers in space suits, some of whom go after Aeron and the satellite. Ace struggles to hit the tiny targets, but manages to save Aeron from being blasted out of the sky. Just as Aeron is done with her hacking, the Imperial strike cruiser Hurricane jumps in, blocking the Sabra's way to the jump point, and begins to launche TIE Fighters. The Sabra punches through the fighters and out through the jump point.
Back on the Liberty, Aeron once again bids farewell to Ace and leaves. Ace installs a satellite he had cheekily nabbed during the mission as a new ceiling fan in his room. While doing so, he gets a message from Koth Melan, a member of the Bothan Spynet, complimenting him on the stealthy hacking of an Imperial satellite. Melan also notes that they've decided to give Ace the Bothan Friendship award.
Rebel High Command has finally reached a decision regarding the defecting Imperial officer: They've decided to take him at his word, and help him cross the fence. Commander Kupalo of the Liberty is transferred to the frigate Redemption, which then follows a group of X-Wings to a safe rendezvous point. The X-Wings proceed alone to the next waypoint, where they attack the Imperial station that the defector is located on. Shuttles flee the station, and in the commotion Ace quickly identifies shuttle AA-23 - the one carrying the defector - and transmits the rendezvous coordinates to him, destroying the others. The X-Wings and the AA-23 jump back to the Redemption, where the Imperial officer identifies himself as Commander Zaletta and requests formal asylum.
However, as soon as Zaletta is safely on board and the Redemption is making preparations to jump back to the fleet, the Star Destroyer Subjugator jumps in with the Interdictor cruiser Restrainer - preventing the Redemption from leaving. As TIEs are launched against the Rebel frigate, a distress signal is sent to the Liberty, which jumps in to launch its fighter squadrons. The melee is massive, with Ace shooting down TIE Bombers while dodging Interceptors and eventually even a whole squadron of TIE Avengers. Nevertheless, Y-Wings launched from the Liberty manage to take out the Interdictor, and the Redemption jumps away before it can be destroyed. It is now down to a punching match between the Calamari Cruiser and the Star Destroyer, and both take severe damage, but the pilots of the Liberty get the upper hand and destroy the Subjugator, allowing the Liberty to limp back to the fleet.
Commander Zaletta is immediately thrown in the brig, as the Rebels suspect that he led the Empire to the rendezvous point. Strangely, Zaletta continues to protest his innocence. However the reason for this soon becomes clear, when shuttle AA-23 makes an unauthorized takeoff from the Liberty, leaving behind time bombs that destroy one of the cruiser's flight decks. X-Wings take off from another deck to pursue it, but the shuttle deploys a set of homing mines that takes them all out. A quick check reveals that Liberty's flight officer, Commander Kupalo himself, was the one who stole the shuttle. It is theorized that he was an Imperial mole this whole time. To make matters worse, the AA-23's computers had not yet been wiped, which means they contain both sensitive Rebel information as well as whatever data Zaletta was trying to hand over to the Rebels.
A-Wings are immediately scrambled to all nearby jump points to intercept and stop the AA-23. Ace and Olin Garn happen to be the pair that finally locates the shuttle. Kupalo tries launching more mines, but Ace is too quick and destroys them. The A-Wings pummel the shuttle and convince it to stop, whereupon an assault transport is sent to recapture Kupalo. Unfortunately, the Star Destroyer Imperator arrives to pick up Kupalo, and launches its entire TIE complement to destroy the transport and the A-Wings before they can escape. It is only thanks to Ace and Olin's superb flying that the transport and shuttle can make it back to the fleet in one piece.
Kupalo is examined, and determined to have been brainwashed by the Empire during his time as their prisoner. He may never recover from the procedure they put him through. On the other hand, Zaletta is cleared of any wrongdoing, and begins work with Alliance Intelligence to decipher all of the information he had brought with him on the AA-23 when he defected. Ace Azzameen is promoted to the rank of Lieutenant for his assistance in facilitating Zaletta's defection and chasing down Kupalo, and is awarded the Mantooine Medallion. He and Olin Garn celebrate together, as Garn expresses his admiration for Ace's performance during the last mission.
Emon has been gone on a "secret mission" for some time, and no updates could be sent due to restrictions put on all e-mail communications by Alliance Security during the hunt for the defector. Now that the defector's been found and rescued the restrictions are lifted, Aeron contacts Ace immediately. She tells Ace that Emon's been on some sort of "vendetta" against the Viraxo, though she has no further details. Since Emon is gone, she needs Ace's help in running supplies for the Rebellion - and she intends to steal those supplies from the Viraxo. Since the Rebellion is involved, Aeron asks Ace not to tell Uncle Antan about the operation, given his reluctance to work with them.
Ace and Aeron take the Otana to a rendezvous with several Azzameen freighters. They all jump to a Viraxo storage facility. Through her satellite hack, Aeron has learned that this particular station will be lightly guarded when they arrive - with all of its defenders off escorting a freight convoy to Black Sun. However as soon as they arrive, the Azzameens detect multiple Black Sun starcraft defending the facility, including a system patrol craft. Ace, unfazed, attacks the starfighters (with help from several Azzameen heavy fighters they'd brought along), and destroys them all as well as the SPC. The freighters hurry (as much as they can, anyway) to dock with the cargo containers and hoist them away, when suddenly the Viraxo freight convoy arrives with a considerable escort - this time including a Marauder corvette. Once again Ace engages the enemy, and Aeron's turret skills shine as she shoots the fighters out of the sky. Finally, the corvette is destroyed, just as the last few Azzameen freighters turn to jump away. Ace destroys the rest of the facility and follows the freighters to Vergesso Base, a Rebel mining facility deep inside an asteroid field. Black Sun fighters attempt to follow them, but are quickly dispatched by the Otana and the Rebels.
Ace drops Aeron off at the station, and says she hopes that the money paid by the Rebels for the desperately-needed supplies will help convince Uncle Antan that dealing with the Rebels can be profitable for the company. She also says that she's going to be looking deeper into the connection between the Viraxo and Black Sun. Ace returns to the Liberty and decorates his quarters with a large piece of debris collected from one of the Black Sun starfighters he'd destroyed, bearing their emblem.
Meanwhile, Commander Zaletta tells Alliance Intelligence that the Empire is building something big, and that they are shipping massive quantities of materials through the Eidoloni system, often escorted by a seemingly-excessive number of capital ships. This indicates that the project is of extreme importance to the Empire, and the Rebels decide to check it out. Zaletta is appointed as temporary Flight Officer of the Liberty to replace Commander Kapulo, and he plans a mission where a pair of A-Wings will go inspect one of these convoys up close to determine what it is carrying. Ace is selected to fly on this mission.
Ace and his wingman arrive at Eidoloni to find the area still empty, but only moments later a massive cargo fleet jumps in, escorted by two Lancer frigates as well as the Victory Star Destroyers Protector and Vanguard. To make matters worse, both capital ships launch TIE Avenger squadrons, making Ace's job that much more dangerous. Nevertheless, while his wingman covers his six, Ace blasts past each and every transport at full speed to scan their cargo, discovering large amounts of durasteel, fuel, and tibanna gas. Once all freighters and containers are scanned, the A-Wings take the initiative and destroy a few freighters on the way to the nav buoy, then jump back to the Liberty. Analysis of the cargo reveals that Zaletta was right: The Empire is building something big, perhaps a new base or a shipyard. According to the scans, the ships themselves belong to the Xizor corporation - one of the largest shipping companies in the galaxy.
Shortly after Ace gets back, Emkay calls him urgently to the Otana. It seems that the Empire has launched an attack on the Vergesso asteroid base, and Aeron is now stuck there. The Otana launches immediately to try and save her. When the Otana reaches the asteroid field, it is greeted with a terrifying scene: The Super Star Destroyer Executor — Darth Vader's gigantic flagship — as well as the Star Destroyer Avenger and two smaller Victory Star Destroyers all blockading the base. Dozens of starfighters - including Vader's own TIE X1 - are embroiled in a dogfight above the asteroid, and any friendly ships attempting to escape are destroyed in a barrage of laser fire. Ace speeds past the Star Destroyers, hoping to slip past in the commotion, but no such luck; The Imperials quickly notice the Otana and launch fighters to take her down. Fortunately, Emkay's turret gunnery and Ace's flying combined are no match for them, and they manage to survive the blockade heading inward. Ace reaches the asteroid base and docks with it, jumping into the turret and taking down any fighter or bomber that approaches. As the Star Destroyers close in to firing range, Aeron finally gets on board - and the Otana flies all the way back, past all of the Imperial ships, to get to the nav buoy and jump back home.
Aeron is overjoyed at her rescue and compliments Ace's flying skills, though Emkay is resentful that his gunnery was not similarly appreciated. Aeron tells Ace that during her stay on the base she confirmed that the Viraxo have indeed allied themselves with the Black Sun syndicate. She theorizes that the Vergesso base was attacked because it is owned by Ororo Transportation, who recently tried to compete with the Tenloss Syndicate - a member of Black Sun. If the Executor itself arrived to oversee this attack, it means that Black Sun may be cooperating with the Empire in some way. Before Aeron leaves the Liberty to go meet Antan and tell him about these developments, she gives Ace a photograph of herself with the miners at Vergesso, which he hangs in his quarters.
Koth Melan, leader of the Bothan Spynet, contacts the Alliance urgently. He claims that he's received information that a seemingly-innocuous freighter - the Suprosa - is carrying information about a major Imperial construction project, perhaps the same project that the Empire has been sending massive convoys to. Alliance High Command decides to capture the freighter immediately, despite the fact that Melan's source for this information is the Black Sun syndicate. The Rebels view the operation as important enough to send Luke Skywalker, Dash Rendar and Koth Melan himself to lead it. Commander Zaletta recommends sending Ace Azzameen as a pilot for one of the Y-Wings that will go in to disable the freighter itself.
The starfighters arrive at the ambush point just before the Suprosa jumps in. Luke Skywalker orders the freighter to shut down its engines and prepare to be boarded, but the captain of the ship protests his innocence, claiming that he is carrying a shipment of fertilizers. A quick scan of the ship, however, reveals that it is heavily armed, and it even launches a homing mine that Rendar tries (and fails) to destroy as it attempts to jump to hyperspace. The Y-Wings quickly disable the ship, which is then boarded by Rendar's YT-2400 Outrider. Taking over the ship, Rendar's men find a small computer and carry it back into the Outrider. The data is encrypted and the computer could self-destruct if tampered with, so Melan suggests taking it to the Bothan colony on Kothlis, where the Bothans could decipher it safely.
The ships jump to hyperspace, but emerge nowhere near Kothlis. Instead, they're pulled out of hyperspace by the Interdictor cruiser Claw and its Victory Star Destroyer escort Hunter. Unable to jump away, Luke orders the Y-Wings to engage the Claw while he and Rendar fight off fighters and bombers launched by the Hunter, as well as multiple assault gunboats arriving from hyperspace. Ace's entire Y-Wing group, except himself, are killed in the attacks on the Interdictor, but eventually he manages to take out the ship's shields - forcing her to retreat to hyperspace immediately. Luke, Rendar and Ace turn their ships around and jump to Kothlis, where the Liberty is already waiting for their return. Luke later sends Ace a message congratulating him on his spectacular flying skills.
The Bothans get to work on deciphering the data straight away. Unfortunately, bounty hunters attack the safehouse where the decryption is taking place, killing Koth Melan and most of his men. One of the survivors - Borsk Fey'lya - quickly boards his shuttle and escapes to the Rebel base Kothlis II, orbiting the planet. However before he even has a chance to arrive there, long range scanners on the Liberty pick up the Super Star Destroyer Executor making its way to Kothlis, with its escort Star Destroyer Avenger. Unable to fight such a threat, the Rebels decide to abandon the base entirely.
The Imperials soon arrive and begin to destroy their way through the Rebel defenses towards the base and the Liberty, with Ace and the other Rebel fighters having to dogfight literally dozens of TIE Fighters, Bombers, Interceptors and even Avengers in defense of the fleeing Rebels. Borsk's shuttle finally arrives and docks with the Corellian corvette Razor, transferring the encrypted computer into it. The Avenger closes into range and begins attacking the station. Under heavy fire, the Razor takes off from the station moments before it is destroyed. It jumps away to try and reach Admiral Ackbar's flagship, the Independence. The Liberty, however, being the last to leave, is pummeled to near destruction by the Executor before finally making its escape in the nick of time.
Unfortunately for Ace, there is no time to rest: The Imperials manage to track the Razor's movements and send gunboats to attack it at its next jump point, disabling the ship. X-Wings are immediately scrambled to jump to the Razor and drive off its defenders while its engineers attempt to repair the engine. While the X-Wings are still busy fighting the gunboats, the Star Destroyer Avenger jumps into close proximity of the Razor and moves to capture the ship. The X-Wings fight the Avenger's TIE squadrons as they helplessly watch the Razor being pulled by tractor beams into the Star Destroyer.
One crewman on board the Razor overcomes the panic and takes the Imperial computer into an escape pod, jettisoning himself from the Razor in the nick of time. Just then, the unaligned Dreadnought Mercury responds to the Razor's distress calls and arrives on the scene, instructing the escape pod to fly into its hangar while its gunners and the X-Wings shoot down any TIEs that get close. The Mercury is sent coordinates to the original intended rendezvous point with the Independence, and it jumps there together with the X-Wings.
The Mercury launches the Razor's escape pod back into space, and it flies towards the Independence. Not long after the launch, the Super Star Destroyer Executor suddenly arrives within spitting distance of the Independence, apparently having intercepted the coordinates that were sent previously. Once again Ace's X-Wing group, together with Rogue Squadron X-Wings launched from the Independence, must fight off waves of TIEs attempting to shoot down the escape pod as well as the Independence itself. The Executor finally makes it into firing range of the Independence and begins to pummel the ship, forcing the X-Wings to draw its fire away while Ackbar's flagship makes its way to the jump point. The Independence is badly damaged, but successfully jumps away.
Ace returns to the Liberty, where he is greeted with great cheer. He is promoted to the rank of Captain, and is awarded the Corellian Cross medal for his participation in the attack on the Suprosa and for protecting the Imperial data throughout its entire journey to the Independence. Ace and his surviving squadron-mates even receive commendation from Admiral Ackbar himself. Meanwhile, on board the Independence, Alliance crackers finally manage to decipher the Imperial data, discovering to their horror that the Empire is building a second Death Star. The Rebel fleet immediately begins to disperse across the galaxy, each ship tasked with doing whatever it can to seek any clues of the location of this new menace before it can become operational.
Emon finally makes contact with Ace, but only to alert him that pirate activity in his sector has been growing at a worrying pace. Meanwhile, data gathered by Alliance Intelligence indicates that the Death Star is not yet completed. On the other hand, an Imperial attack destroys the main Rebel supply center along with all freighters stationed there at the time - causing a severe supply shortage for the Alliance. Fortunately, General Lando Calrissian has established contact with a trading coalition led by a man named Dunari (of Dunari's Rest, visited at the beginning of the game), and has convinced him to negotiate some sort of deal to smuggle supplies to the Rebels.
Dunari plans to attend the negotiations in person. The Muurian transport Saloon, carrying a group of Rebel delegates, is sent to meet him on board his yacht in deep space. To keep a low profile, the Rebels send a group of Z-95 Headhunters to escort the delegates, though they expect a nearby Imperial patrol may interfere with the meeting. The Saloon quickly docks with Dunari's yacht, the Raw Deal, but immediately an unidentified Marauder corvette and its escorts jump in and demand the surrender of all present craft. Dunari says these are raiders, and that they would not take any prisoners alive, so Ace and his group engage and destroy them all. Soon afterwards, the Imperial patrol does indeed arrive with a scout craft and several gunboats, which are also destroyed. Finally, just as the negotiations are concluded, the Star Destroyer Corrupter jumps into the system and begins to launch TIEs, but is far too late to stop everyone from escaping into hyperspace.
When Ace returns to the Liberty, he learns that the negotiations were indeed successful. Dunari's trade coalition will smuggle supplies to the Rebellion, while Rebel fighters provide escort for their convoys - particularly convoys raiding Imperial targets. Dunari also confirms that Admiral Holtz of the Corrupter was assigned to command this sector, as punishment for his failure to stop the Rebels during the escape from Hoth.
It's not long before the Rebellion is called on to fulfill its part of the bargain. One of the member groups of Dunari's trade coalition, the Hurrim, intends to carry out a raid on a civilian freight convoy carrying Imperial arms. The Rebels send Ace and a Y-Wing group to disable the craft so they can be boarded by Rebel freighters, which will later divide the goods between the Hurrim and the Alliance as per the terms of the deal. Since the convoy is piloted by civilians, all friendly craft are ordered to avoid destroying any ships or killing any crew, and the Hurrim Z-95 Headhunter pilots escorting the Y-Wings promise to follow these guidelines as well.
The starfighters arrive near the Corvalis space colony, just as the convoy is getting far enough from the nearby Imperial station. They command the freighters to stop, and most comply; However the two armed Xiytiar freighters refuse and throttle up towards their hyperspace point. The Hurrim express outrage that the freighters defied them, and begin to attack with potentially-destructive laser fire. As response, the Rebel Y-Wings attack the Hurrim and barely manage to kill them before they can destroy any of the freighters. The Y-Wings get to work disabling the Xiytiar transports before they get away, and Rebel freighters jump in to capture the cargo. The Imperial station, seeing these events unfold, launches TIE Interceptors to stop the Rebel craft, but Ace demonstrates exceptional flying skills as he keeps the Interceptors occupied with his slow bomber while the Rebels make their escape.
Rebel High Command is furious with the Hurrim, who have acted as nothing better than pirates, and probably caused massive damage to the reputation of the Rebel Alliance in the eyes of unaffiliated civilians. They bring the issue up with Dunari, who claims he had no idea what the Hurrim were planning and ejects them from his trade coalition. Strained relations with Dunari are the least of the Rebels' concerns, however, since the Hurrim already have knowledge of the location of several Alliance storage depots.
Ace receives a message from Emon urging him to avoid speaking openly on electronic communication channels, as he suspects that someone has bugged Azzameen ships and is closely watching their activities. Not long after this, the Liberty docks at Dunari's Rest, and Dunari himself approaches Ace with alarming news: Emon has been captured, and is being held at an Imperial facility known as Quesna Base. Dunari expresses his admiration of Tomaas Azzameen, saying he wishes he could have been there with him at the end, and saying that Tomaas's idealism and the risks he took to assist the Rebels is what convinced Dunari to do the same. Now he wishes to repay Tomaas by rescuing his eldest surviving son.
Dunari has already drawn up a plan: The Otana and Dunari's personal Muurian transport Deadman's Hand will fly to an Imperial stockyard, where they will pick up a canister of explosives marked as harmless tibanna gas. They will then deliver the canister to Quesna Base, which is expecting a tibanna gas shipment. Once the crate explodes, the commotion should be enough for Dunari and his men to board the base and rescue Emon. The plan goes without a hitch for once, and Ace has an easy time picking apart the TIE Fighters launched by the base - as well as several gunboats that just happen to jump in. Dunari gets Emon on board quickly, and the two ships jump to hyperspace before any serious Imperial response can arrive.
Emon is badly injured from a beating administered by the Imperials, so Dunari takes him aboard the casino to be cared for. In return for his assistance, Dunari only asks Ace to put in a good word for him with the Rebels, seeing as their mutual relations are strained over the incident with the Hurrim. He reiterates that he is just as appalled as the Rebels regarding the Hurrim's conduct, and that he has placed a bounty on the leader of the Hurrim, Golov Nakhym, for what his men did to the civilians. He also gives Ace a VIP pass to the casino, and urges him to use it soon before Emon eats and drinks the casino to bankruptcy.
Ace realizes he still hasn't cashed in the drinking chit Emon gave him when they were refused entry to the casino a few years earlier, but it's too late: Imperial gunboats arrive to attack Dunari's Rest, with other Imperial capital ships not far behind them - including the Star Destroyer Corrupter. It is assumed that the Hurrim had divulged Dunari's association with the Rebels to the Empire. The casino is evacuated under fire, as Rebel starfighters battle it out with waves upon waves of TIEs. The Imperial strike cruiser Lament is shot down by Rebel B-Wings, who then attempt to attack the Corrupter, but are driven off when the modified frigate Cerebus arrives and fills the area with turbo-laser fire. The last craft to launch from the casino is Dunari's yacht. He reassures Ace that Emon is safely aboard with him, and that he will take his revenge on Golov Nakhym for his betrayal. The ships jump to hyperspace just as the Corrupter comes within firing range of the casino itself.
Dunari reaffirms his commitment to the Rebellion, insisting that the deal he signed with them must stand. However the Hurrim have begun a new campaign of their own - attacking civilian ships while claiming openly that they are doing so for the Rebellion, hurting their reputation severely. Dunari suspects that they are trying to muscle in on his business as well, since they often target his trade coalition's ships. The Alliance sends out scout craft in an attempt to locate the Hurrim's base of operations.
The Hurrim attack a trade coalition storage plant, and kidnap several members of Dunari's advisory board. Two of the board members manage to escape from the Hurrim base aboard the shuttle Merte, and manage to reach the civilian starport at Camen. However they are pursued closely by Hurrim ships, so the Liberty scrambles a group of A-Wings to protect the shuttle as it tries to flee. Ace and his wingman take out several waves of fighters in a rapid and dangerous dogfight, clearing the way for the shuttle to jump to its next waypoint in an asteroid field. However when they reach the asteroid field, the fleeing board members discover a tracking device on board. They shoot the device, but it is too late; A Muurian transport and several escorts jump in and attempt to shoot the Merte down. The A-Wings clear away the fighters, then take turns baiting the transport to fire at one of them while the other attacks it. Finally, with the transport destroyed, the Merte jumps over to the Liberty.
Emon recovers from his injuries and is met by Ace and Aeron. He thanks Ace for saving him from the casino. Aeron agrees with Emon's assessment that the Viraxo appear to know every move the Azzameens make, meaning that they must have compromised the Azzameens' security somehow. She believes they have a mole in their organization, and the only way to make sure is to examine their communications record. The only problem is that the datacore was taken from Azzameen Station by the Imperials after they attacked it. Fortunately, Aeron has discovered that it has been dumped in an Imperial scrap yard.
The Otana and Andrasta fly out to the scrapyard, where they locate the container with the datacore inside. Emkay ejects from the Otana and flies over to the container, checking the datacore for bugs and tracking devices. While he's out, several groups of unidentified T-Wings enter the area, ordering the Azzameens to leave - saying that they shouldn't be snooping around. Emon tries to get them to identify themselves, or explain why they have a problem with the Azzameens, but receives no answer. Ace and Emon destroy the T-Wings before they can damage Emkay, and after the battle the droid gets back into the Otana with the datacore. The attack confirms Emon's suspicion - no one could have known of their plan to raid the scrapyard without listening in on their comms. The Azzameens jump back to the Liberty, where Ace transfers the datacore to the Andrasta. Emon leaves to go meet Aeron so she can analyze the data, and warns Ace again not to trust anyone in the family business. Not long afterwards, Ace receives another message from the Bothan Spynet, expressing their admiration for his raid on the Imperial scrapyard and offering him an honorary membership in their organization.
While Ace was away, the debriefing of Dunari's board members was completed, and the Rebels pinpointed the location of the Hurrim's home base: Deep inside an asteroid field. An all-out attack on the base is organized to rescue the remaining board members from the base, and then destroy it. Multiple B-Wings and X-Wings take part in this mission, as well as the Rebel frigate Jericho. The B-Wings quickly take out two modified corvettes guarding the perimeter, punch through the gun platforms hidden between the asteroids, and begin to attack the station itself.
The Star Destroyer Corrupter suddenly arrives and launches multiple craft. These stream out towards the Jericho, threatening to destroy it. As the B-Wings and X-Wings tangle with the ever-increasing number of TIE Interceptors and Bombers, Dunari suddenly appears on the aging Dreadnought Longshot, together with a complement of fighter craft. The Dreadnought parks itself in front of the station, its turrets blasting away at the station's shields and at any Imperial fighters attempting to approach. Under this barrage, the station is finally disabled. A shuttle attempting to take off from the station is quickly identified, revealing that it carries none other than Nakhym himself. It is quickly disabled for capture as well.
Rebel assault transports begin arriving to board the disabled station and shuttle. The Jericho and Longshot turn their turrets towards the TIEs, but the Corrupter moves into range and destroys the Longshot. Fortunately, Dunari and his crew make it to the lifeboats in time, and an additional craft comes in to recover them. Realizing that the Corrupter will try to take out the Jericho next, the B-Wings fly through the TIE Interceptor screen and assault the Star Destroyer itself, taking out its shield generators and finally blowing the ship apart. The Rebels easily clear out all remaining TIEs, and once the assault transports are done loading, the rebels destroy the Hurrim base. All ships then jump away, carrying the rescued board members, Golov Nakhym, and even several Rebel freighters that had been captured by the Hurrim during their previous raids.
The Rebels return to the Liberty, victorious. Dunari's surprise appearance in their hour of need greatly strengthens his relations with the Alliance, and he even wins the Alliance Civilian Battle Award. The victory also helps the Rebels restore their reputation across the galaxy. Ace Azzameen is awarded the Admiral of the Fleet Commendation by Ackbar himself, and is promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Golov Nakhym and all of his accomplices are put on trial. With the Hurrim and the Corrupter now out of the way, Dunari's coalition can smuggle so much material to the Rebel fleet massing at Sullust that they can't even keep up. It is finally time for the Rebels to begin preparing for the final showdown.
Antan contacts Ace to announce that he will be away on some family business, but implores Ace to send him information about Rebel movements so that Antan won't get caught between the Rebels and the Empire. He is still opposed to the idea of helping the Rebellion, however. Ace is not sure how to take this request, and decides to ignore it. He sends a message to Aeron, explaining the situation.
Meanwhile, the Rebels have finally located the construction site of the Death Star: It is orbiting the moon of Endor. The Bothan Spynet, still looking to repay the Rebellion for their rescue of Bothan slaves several months earlier, volunteers to perform reconnaissance of the site to determine its layout and defenses. Borsk Fey'lya - now leader of the Spynet - arrives on his Dreadnought, the Tal'cara, to meet with Admiral Yamarus of the Liberty in person. Ace leads a pair of A-Wings as an escort detail for craft moving between the two ships.
As Fey'lya's shuttle makes its way from the Tal'cara to the Liberty, a large group of mercenary bombers arrives and begins to torpedo the aging Dreadnought. Many bombers are shot down, but more keep arriving to replace them, until a mercenary Marauder-class corvette jumps in and joins the fight. Ace diverts his attention to the corvette, and together with the Bothan Y-Wings they destroy the ship. A lone escape pod containing one occupant is ejected from it, and a Rebel shuttle is dispatched in the midst of the battle to pick it up. More mercenary fighters join in, with Ace and his wingman struggling to protect all of the Rebel and Bothan ships moving back and forth, but eventually the area is cleared and the capital ships jump away.
Fey'lya has agreed to have members of the Bothan Spynet infiltrate an Imperial freighter headed to the Death Star, and report back on what they've found there. However there are also very bad news: The mercenary who was captured in the escape pod in the last mission claims during his interrogation that the mercenaries were sent by the Sullustans to attack the Bothans. This comes as a great shock, since both are loyal members of the Alliance, and because the Sullustans are a very peaceful species. Alliance Intelligence theorizes that this may have been some sort of payback for the Bothans failing to warn the Sullustans that their planet was going to be invaded by the Empire several years earlier. Whatever the reason, this turn of events seriously threatens the Rebel Alliance. The Sullustans, on their part, vehemently deny any involvement.
Emon finishes some business he had, taking out a smuggler who was attacking civilian freighters, and promises to come visit Ace soon. Aeron contacts Ace and agrees that he did right not responsing to Antan's request, though she has no idea why Antan would ask for such a thing. Meanwhile she has bigger news: In their desperation to find the mercenaries' home base, the Rebels have asked her to perform a unique mission. They've learned from the captured mercenary that a Bulk cruiser — the Redhawk — is scheduled to deliver cargo to the mercenary base, wherever that is. Instead of sending Rebel ships to intercept the Redhawk, the Rebels want the Azzameens to fly their own civilian transports to find the cruiser and extract its flightplan from its on-board computer.
Ace and Aeron board the Otana and fly her to the cargo depot where the Redhawk is almost ready to leave. They quickly dock with the ship, and Emkay disables her security while Aeron attempts to download the flight logs. Multiple mercenary ships arrive and open fire on the docked Otana, but Ace shoots them down from the ship's turret. Finally, Aeron gets the information and uploads it into the Otana's navigation computer. The ship jumps to hyperspace, but arrives in the middle of an Imperial gunnery range - with half a dozen Star Destroyers in close proximity. They are ordered to power down and prepare to be boarded, but the Otana naturally refuses. Ace tries to pilot the ship away from dozens of pursuing TIEs while Aeron fires at them from the turret, until Emkay finally gets the return coordinates to the cargo depot and the ship jumps away.
Realizing that the flight logs of the Redhawk must have been doctored to trick the Azzameens, she decides to board the civilian cargo depot itself to get the flight logs straight from the source. Ace does so, but the station thinks they are pirates of some sort, and launches its defense fighters. Once again, Emkay and Aeron do their thing aboard the station as Ace handles the incoming craft with the Otana's turrets. Finally they get the correct coordinates, and make their final jump to the mercenary base.
When they arrive at the coordinates, they find the Redhawk docked at none other than the Azzameens' own Home Base station. It appears that the Viraxo had sold the base to the mercenaries. Mercenary craft launch to engage the Otana, and Ace shoots down a few, even quickly stopping to collect a mercenary's leather jacket he spots within the wreckage of one of the fighters he'd shot down. Aeron is livid that mercenaries are using her childhood home as a base of operations, but orders Ace to disengage and fly back to the Rebel fleet. The Azzameens hand the coordinates of their base to the Rebels, who immediately begin to plan their attack.
The Rebels decide to capture the base intact, in the hope of finding evidence in its computers to determine who really sent the mercenaries to attack the Bothans. Emon arrives in the Andrasta to join this attack, while Aeron and Emkay fly the Otana. They are joined by multiple Rebel X-Wings and B-Wings, led by Ace, to destroy the mercenaries defending the area, then protect an assault transport as it takes the base by force. When the force arrives at Azzameen Base — now renamed the "Falcon's Nest" by the mercenaries — they are beset by dozens of enemy fighters. Almost immediately, two ships take off from the base: A shuttle carrying Sullustans, and more surprisingly, Uncle Antan's ship, the Big Score. The Azzameens try to contact Antan, but he doesn't answer, jumping to hyperspace immediately with the Sullustans.
The fight is grueling, with waves upon waves of mercenaries coming in to shoot down the Rebels, as well as a Marauder corvette. They nearly take out the commandos before they can enter the base, but the Azzemeens fly defense for the ship and see it board and take over the station. However there is a complication: The mercenaries have planted a bomb in the main computer, which will detonate shortly. Aeron docks with the station to go handle the issue, as she is the most familiar with the base's computer systems. Ace and Emon defend the Otana against multiple torpedo attacks from incoming bombers, and eventually Aeron disarms the bomb and saves the station. All other mercenary craft are destroyed. Emon decides to take the Adnrasta and follow Antan, hoping to get some well-deserved answers, while Ace returns to the Liberty. Aeron stays behind with a team of Rebel technicians to try and analyze and data recovered from the base's computers, but she sends Ace a family crest she found on the station, which he displays proudly in his quarters.
Meanwhile, the Bothan spies make it out of the Death Star on board a freighter, and join a civilian convoy on their way back to the Rebel fleet. Unfortunately, it seems that the Empire has discovered the Bothan operation, sending scouts in all directions to find the freighter. The Star Destroyer Accuser stops the convoy for an immediate search. To make matters worse, the Interdictor cruiser Grappler has joined the Accuser, and is preventing the Bothans from jumping away before they can be captured. Ace and a Rebel group of X-Wings are launched to go help the convoy.
The Rebels arrive to find the Accuser ready to board the convoy. They launch torpedoes at the Grappler while Ace scans the ships to find three that are carrying Bothans. The Accuser launches its TIE Fighters and Interceptors to stop the attack, but the Grappler is soon driven off, at which point all of the civilian craft turn tail and attempt to make a run for it. The Accuser orders them to stop, and launches TIE Bombers to take them all out. The Rebels call the Liberty for assistance, but the Liberty has no fighters ready. They suggest calling a nearby Sullustan security base for help, but the Sullustans claim that their ships are already busy elsewhere. The TIE Bombers take out several of the convoy ships, including two of the ones carrying Bothans on board, but the third finally manages to escape. The Rebels jump back to the Liberty, having done all that they could.
The escaped Bothans tell Rebel Intelligence that the new Death Star is protected by a massive force shield being projected from the forest moon of Endor below. They also reveal that a shuttle, the Tydirium, has clearance to land on the moon's surface. Borsk Fey'lya thanks the Rebels, and Ace personally, for doing what they could and for saving those that could be saved, but is incensed that the Sullustans refused to offer their assistance during the mission, contributing to the death of many Bothans aboard the destroyed freighters. The Sullustans, on their part, claim they have evidence of their innocence.
The Rebels are intent on stealing the Tydirium for use in the Battle of Endor, but doing so with their own craft would likely cause the ship's clearance to be revoked immediately. Instead, Ace is asked to use the YT-1300 Sabra for this mission. Ace flies the ship to an Imperial customs station in the Zhar system, evading patrols while waiting for clearance to proceed into the system. He then makes a short jump to the Imperial orbital station where records altered by the Bothans grant him permission to land. Ace flies into the station itself, where pretends to be unloading cargo into the station. This is when a group of Rebel commandos disembark, reach the Tydirium, and steal it. The operation takes longer then expected, and soon the Imperials become impatient and order the Sabra to stop and submit to an inspection. This is when Ace calls the Rebels, who send a group of X-Wings to attack the station, creating a diversion. The Sabra joins the fight, and during the commotion the Tydirium takes off and begins to flee. The station and its escort — the Star Destroyer Judicator — begin launching multiple fighters against any ship they can find, including the Tydirium, but Ace runs interference and ensures the Tydirium's safe escape.
Back on the Liberty, Ace learns that the Sullustans have indeed managed to get evidence to prove their innocence: The shuttle fleeing from the Falcon's Nest mercenary base was part of a Sullustan commando raid to capture the mercenary leader, and was successful in that mission just before the Rebels arrived. The mercenary revealed that his group was hired by the Empire to discredit the Sullustans, in hopes of dismantling the Alliance. Ace vouches for the Sullustans personally to Borsk Fey'lya, who takes him at his word and announces that the Bothans and Sullustans are now at peace again. The Rebels send orders for the entire Rebel fleet to congregate at Sullust in preparation for the attack on the Death Star.
The Rebel capital ships begin arriving at Sullust, but the Defiance and Independence are hounded by Imperial forces and delayed. The Liberty launches its best pilots - Ace Azzameen and Olin Garn - to lead a group of A-Wings in protecting both craft and their escorts as they make their way over. The A-Wings find the Defiance and her fleet in good cheer, as they are greeted by their old Flight Officer from their time on the ship, but he also warns them that the Imperials will undoubtedly be arriving shortly. Indeed, almost immediately the Victory Star Destroyer Vagrant arrives with two Carrack cruisers for anti-fighter defence, and begins to launch fighters and bombers. The Defiance and her fleet push to the nav buoy while the A-Wings protect her from torpedo attacks. No sooner are the bombers shot down when multiple wings of assault gunboats begin jumping in from hyperspace at various points around the Defiance and torpedoing her as well. The A-Wings fly around frantically to stop these attacks, and the Defiance manages to make it through to hyperspace just before the Vagrant catches up with it.
The A-Wings return to the fleet with the Defiance, quickly rearming and repairing before immediately heading out to the Independence. They find Ackbar's flagship in much more serious trouble, with the Star Destroyer Immortal and two Victory Star Destroyers already launching their full complement of bombers against her. Once again the A-Wings leap into action to stop them. Eventually the Independence manages to rearm several B-Wing groups to launch against the Star Destroyers, and even manage to take down one of the VSDs. The bombers, however, are too much to handle, and many torpedoes find their mark. Despite her size, the Independence barely makes it to the nav buoy intact, but finally joins the fleet.
Ace Azzameen and Olin Garn are both awarded the Star of Alderaan - one of the greatest honors bestowed on any Rebel pilot. Ace Azzameen is finally promoted to the rank of Commander, the highest rank for a serving pilot. With all Rebel capital ships now at Sullust, the final preparations to attack the Death Star can commence.
With only a few days left before the final battle, Aeron arrives on the Liberty. She says Uncle Antan contacted Emon, saying he wants to talk with his nephews and niece. Emon calls his siblings, dropping a bombshell: Antan claims that Tomaas and Galin are not dead, but are in fact held on a prison station near Kessel. He wants the entire family to meet him at the old Azzameen Home Base, where he promises to explain his previous actions and help them plan a rescue operation. Aeron doesn't trust Antan, but Emon says they can't ignore the possibility that their father and brother are indeed still alive. As Ace, Aeron and Emkay board the Otana to fly back to Home Base, Olin Garn asks Ace to make sure Aeron is safe.
The Otana reaches Home Base to find the Andrasta and the Big Score already there. Antan explains that he was the one who hired the mercenaries to attack the Bothans, at the behest of the Empire. He says the Imperials promised to release Tomaas and Galin to him if he would do this, and that family means too much to him to pass up such an offer. He claims the Empire reneged on the deal as soon as the Rebels attacked the mercenary station, but he has used his connections to locate the two prisoners near Kessel. He's already arranged access to the prison, but Aeron would need to hack the computer to find out which specific wing they are being held in.
All three ships jump to the Kessel prison station, and the patrolling TIE Fighters do let them through. The Otana docks with the station, and Aeron begins rummaging through their systems to find Tomaas and Galin - but she can't find the names in the files. Antan implores her to keep searching, though she still can't find anything. That's when the Star Destroyer Devastator suddenly appears, announcing that the "Rebels" are all under arrest. It launches Interceptors, while the patrolling TIE Fighters turn to attack. Antan speaks to the Star Destroyer, saying he "fulfilled [his] part of the bargain", and jumps away. Aeron orders Emkay to immediately calculate a jump away from the station, but the Kessel sector is full of black holes, making the process incredibly time-consuming. Ace and Emon desperately fight the incoming TIEs which swarm all around them.
Suddenly, a Muurian transport appears from hyperspace - Dunari's Deadman's Hand. Dunari leaps into the battle to assist the Azzameens, and says that he knows the system well and can lead them to a "back door" - one that is heavily defended by the Empire, but requires no lengthy calculations. The ships jump together to a massive asteroid field full of defensive platforms and an Imperial base - the nav bouy tantalizingly waiting at the far end. The Devastator jumps in behind them, and guns its engines at maximum power. TIE Avengers appear at the other end of the asteroid field to block them off. With no choice in the matter, the Azzameens punch it and fly through the asteroid field, blowing away defensive platforms and any TIEs that get too close. The asteroid base also launches Interceptors to take them out, and the skills of the three pilots and their turret controllers are tested to the limit as the TIEs flock to them. Finally, having crossed the entire asteroid field and while nearly being overtaken by the Devastator, the three jump back to the Rebel fleet.
Dunari bids the Azzameens goodbye, promising that he will make Antan pay for his betrayal. He also promises to stay in touch with the Azzameens, as they have become like family to him. Before leaving, he gives Ace a bottle of Liquid Galaxies - a special drink from his old casino that twinkles as though it contains a billion stars. Back on board the Liberty, Aeron says goodbye to Ace before he goes to fight the Death Star, and promises to never call Ace her "little" brother ever again.
Alliance High Command shuts down their communications network; total radio silence in preparation for the Battle of Endor.
After months of preparation, the fleet is finally ready to attack the Death Star while it is still under construction. To disable the shield, the shuttle Tydirium carrying Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia is dispatched to land on the forest moon of Endor and knock out the generator. Data acquired by the rescued Bothan spies shows that the straight shaft that enabled the destruction of the first death star has been replaced in the new model with a series of winding tunnels, so Rebel starfighters will need to fly into the Death Star and attack the reactor from inside. The rest of the Rebel fleet will punch a way through whatever Imperial defenses are present, and protect the starfighters' escape route should additional Imperial forces respond to the attack.
Lando Calrissian, smuggler-turned-governor-turned-General, and his trusty Sullustan co-pilot Nien Nunb, climb aboard the famous Millennium Falcon from which they will lead the Rebel starfighter force in this attack. Admiral Ackbar, high-commander of the Rebel forces, will command the capital ships. The Millennium Falcon flies ahead of the fleet as every single Rebel ship makes the jump from Sullust to Endor, on their most important mission yet.
Upon arriving at the Death Star, Lando struggles to get any readings indicating whether the Death Star's shield has been successfully deactivated. The only explanation would be that the Imperials are jamming the signal - which can only mean that they were aware of the Rebel attack and have prepared for it. Lando orders all fighters to break off immediately, only to see that a massive Imperial fleet has positioned itself behind them and has blocked any route of escape. It's a trap!
With the Super Star Destroyer Executor taking its position at the front of its fleet, nearly two hundred TIE Fighters and Interceptors launched from the Star Destroyer fleet as well as from the Death Star assault the rebel fighters and ships. The Rebels fight valiantly through this first wave, weaving among their own capital ships as they chase and shoot down the TIEs. During the maddening dogfight, Lando notices that only the TIEs are attacking, while the Imperial capital ships stay back. The Rebels lose many of their fighters, but ultimately clear away the enemy.
Aboard the Death Star, the captured Luke Skywalker stands in the Emperor's chamber, observing the battle. It is then that the Emperor, hoping to enrage Luke and turn him to the Dark Side, reveals that the seemingly-incomplete Death Star is in fact fully operational. The Death Star's laser charges up, and fires a blast at the Rebel Calamari cruiser Liberty, completely annihilating it in one hit.
Ackbar orders all Rebel ships to retreat. Lando realizes that it would be safer for the Rebel ships among the Imperial Star Destroyers than it would be in the open where the Death Star could target them, and asks Ackbar to order the other ships to do so. Lando, seeing the Executor ahead of him, orders all fighters to engage the ship, taking out its shield generators. The ship is then easily destroyed with a torpedo shot to its bridge. As Lando intended, this causes a serious morale drop for the Imperials.
Lando bets everything on Han taking down the shield, ordering his fighters to attack the Vehement, a Star Destroyer blocking the way to the Death Star exhaust port. They must also tangle with a second massive wave of TIEs as they do this, but eventually the Vehement's shields drop and the ship is destroyed. Unfortunately, the Death Star fires again, this time destroying the Defiance. Nevertheless, as Lando had hoped, Han blows up the shield generator and the way into the Death Star is opened.
The Millennium Falcon dives into the Death Star exhaust tunnels, accompanied by a few Rebel craft, but also pursued by a number of TIEs. The tunnels are cramped and winding, with many obstacles blocking obvious paths. Lando locates the reactor deep inside the station and navigates there. On the way, Wedge spots a side-tunnel leading to one of the Death Star laser's firing shafts, and suggests they attack it. Lando flies into the shaft, destroys the laser's lense, and flies out before the laser can fire - knocking out the Death Star's main weapon.
Continuing down the main shaft, the Falcon arrives in a open space with no obvious exit. Wedge spots a group of stormtroopers in space suits setting up a large turbo-laser to block the ships' way forward, but the stormtroopers are quickly sniped by the Falcon's turret. Not far down the next shaft, the tunnel opens up into a massive chamber, at the center of which is the Death Star's main reactor. While Wedge fires his torpedoes at the north tower, Lando fires a pair of missiles at the heart of the reactor, initiating a chain reaction that begins to destroy the Death Star from inside. Lando and Wedge turn around and fly past the pursuing TIEs back into the tunnel as they begin the long journey out. Fortunately, members of the B-Wing grey group flew into the tunnels and used torpedoes to clear obstacles from the most direct path, allowing Wedge and Lando to easily navigate back to the surface. They exit the Death Star just in time to avoid the fireball from the reactor's explosion. Moments later, as the Rebel ships speed up and away, the Death Star explodes into a billion tiny pieces.
Ace Azzameen, who valiantly provided fighter cover for the capital ships throughout the entire battle, is the first Rebel pilot to be awarded the new Battle of Endor Hero medal. As recognition for his participation in every major campaign and every critical mission leading to the destruction of the Death Star, he is promoted to the rank of General, and granted immediate leave to see his family. Though the war is far from over, people all over the galaxy celebrate the death of both the Emperor and Darth Vader, and the beginning of a new future - a New Republic.
