Battle Name : | Scramble! [Tour of Duty 3 (The Gathering Storm Campaign), Mission 4] |
Battle Location : | Above the planet of Bestine |
Battle Occurred : | Very short time before the Battle of Yavin, after Princess Leia is arrested by Darth Vader over Tatooine |
Battle Type : | Defence (For the Rebels) |
Force Making Attack : | Galactic Empire |
Opposing Forces : | Galactic Empire / Rebel Alliance |
Victorious Force : | Rebel Alliance |
Imperial Personnel : | Unknown |
Imperial Force Composition : | ISD Immortal, 10 TIE Interceptors and 22 TIE Bombers (Have Proton Torpedoes and Concussion Missiles) |
Rebel Personnel : | Captain Keyan Farlander (Red 3) and Flight Cadet Gart (Unknown position in Red Squadron) |
Rebel Force Composition : | MC80a Defiance, Red Squadron (3 X-Wings, have 6 Proton Torpedoes) and Blue Squadron (2 A-Wings, have Concussion Missiles) |
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Imperial Survivors : | Unknown |
Surviving Forces : | ISD Immortal, TIE Interceptors and TIE Bombers |
Imperial Loses : | TIE Interceptors and TIE Bombers |
Rebel Survivors : | Captain Keyan Farlander and Gart |
Surviving Forces : | MC80a Defiance, Red Squadron and Blue Squadron |
Rebel Loses : | None |
The MC80a Defiance was stationed above the planet of Bestine, a site of an important Rebel base. The ISD Immortal conducted a surprise attack on the Rebel vessel. Most of the experienced pilots stationed on the MC80a were on other missions. Farlander took Gart with him on a temporary assignment to the MC80a Defiance, just to observe and train new Rebel pilots. They were there only for an hour when the ISD Immortal came to attack. The Rebel vessel could only launch a few fighters in its own defence. Blue Squadron was already on its way intercepting the attacking TIEs before Red Squadron was launched. The ISD Immortal was nearly 16 km away off the port side of the MC80a Defiance. The first wave of attacking TIEs was about 4 km off the starboard side, the 12 TIE Bombers were being led by 3 TIE Interceptors.
When Farlander was out of the hanger, he redirected shield power to the engines and reset the cannon charge rate to maximum. He then transferred cannon power to the shields and targeted the nearest TIE Bomber, Gamma 1. He ordered his wingman to attack his target. He then switched to proton torpedoes and targeted Gamma 6. The TIE Bombers had already launched their first salvo of proton torpedoes at the MC80a as Farlander's targeting computer started to acquire a lock. Farlander was witness to another 6 TIE Bombers being launched by the ISD. As he closed in on TIE Bomber group Gamma, he switched back to lasers and put the shield recharge rate back to normal. Firing along the length of their formation in hopes of breaking it up. A few TIE Bombers did turn about, but most of them kept going and as Farlander turned in behind them, he had to be careful when firing because they were so close to the MC80a.
The gunners on the MC80a
were unfortunately doing an excellent job of protecting their ship from
the TIE Bombers. Farlander searched out the TIE Bombers and ordered his
wingman to go after them, then he targeted the others for himself. He also
chose to ignore the TIE Interceptors. A short time after the ISD Immortal
had launched its TIEs it hypered out of the area. At the mid point of the
battle it returned back off the starboard side of the MC80a. By this time
the Rebels were chasing down the last hull damaged Imperial fighters. With
his R2 Unit informing him that the ISD had returned, Farlander headed off
towards it, leaving the remaining Imperial fighters for his comrades. The
ISD soon began to launch 7 TIE Interceptors and 4 TIE Bombers. Farlander
targeted one of the TIE Bombers and saw that Blue Squadron and his wingman
had come to help him out. The TIE Bombers, unlike the previous ones were
armed with concussion missiles and used them against the Rebels. Before
long the MC80a Defiance escaped into hyperspace, and with that the
Rebels disengaged and hypered out of the area.