Destruction of ZA-13


Background


The second attack on Omar was once again an attempt by rogue Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin to disable the Galactic Empire's ability to produce the TIE Advanced starfighter. This offensive would leave Zaarin with a technological advantage over the loyal Imperial forces, as he could still produce his own TIE Advanced starfighters. He intended to achieve this by destroying platform ZA-13, the one remaining Imperial TIE Advanced facility in the Omar System that had been recently upgraded and retrofitted in a last ditch effort to continue production of the TIE Advanced.

The Battle


ZA-13 was defended by a pair of EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigates and several squadrons of TIE/IN interceptors and TIE/fc starfighters. These forces had been deployed to safeguard the facility following the defense of ZA-13 by Vice Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn was elsewhere leading an attack on the Rebel Alliance RS-32 in an attempt to seize the Rebels' new magnetic pulse warheads. Zaarin caught on to Thrawn's plans and seized the opportunity to destroy the poorly-defended platform.

Zaarin assaulted the space station with a full force of TIE Bombers, TIE/IN interceptors, and Gamma-class ATR-6 assault transports. Despite the presence of the two frigates, they were immediately overwhelmed by Zaarin's superior forces. One frigate was quickly destroyed, with the other barely escaping intact. The assault transports and Bombers began to relentlessly bombard the space station, eventually causing the entire station to break apart in space and explode.

Aftermath


The loss of ZA-13 marked the total destruction of the Imperial TIE Advanced plants stationed in the Omar System, effectively impairing the Empire's ability to produce such starfighters. What was worse was that Zaarin had tracked down Thrawn's forces in the Victory I-class Star Destroyer Sceltor and made an unsuccessful ambush on Thrawn, which he escaped thanks to Maarek Stele.

Zaarin then ordered Commander Raveen to pull his forces out to the Outer Rim Territories, where he renewed his campaign against the Empire. The loss of the TIE Advanced plants was a major setback for the Emperor's forces in their struggle against Zaarin.

Behind the scenes


The battle was first featured in Star Wars: TIE Fighter: Defender of the Empire, the 1994 expansion pack to the LucasArts video game Star Wars: TIE Fighter. The battle is depicted in the final cutscene of the game's eighth tour of campaign, "Strategic Warfare."

The battle is also explained in the debriefing of the eighth tour of campaign, mission 5 "Capture Mag Pulse Weapon".

Sources


  • TIE Fighter: Defender of the Empire: Official Secrets & Solutions
  • TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM: The Official Strategy Guide

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