The Fresian campaign was a campaign of the Galactic Civil War that occurred in 1 BBY. One of the war's first major campaigns, it was prompted when the Galactic Empire attempted the nationalization of the Incom Corporation.
Unhappy with the impending nationalization of their company, Incom scientists attempted to provide the Alliance with the location of 4 prototype T-65 X-wing starfighters on Fresia to use against the Empire. The Rebels dispatched a small task force under the command of Captain Raymus Antilles to obtain the X-wings, but complications arose when the Star Destroyer Tyranny was discovered in Fresia's orbit
Antilles's task force, in formation at the beginning of the battle.
In order for the task force to attack Fresia, it was first necessary to draw away the Tyranny from the planet. Antilles decided to stage an attack on Kuat, the Tyrannys usual station, to try and draw the Star Destroyer back.
The Rebels began the attack on Kuat's orbital shipyards with 5 CR90 corvettes. the Tyranny refused to answer their distress call several times, but eventually did when the shipyard commander issued an Emergency Code Zero. The Tyranny came out of Hyperspace with its shields down, so the Rebels dealt it a great deal of damage before retreating
Even though the Tyranny had been lured away from Fresia, it had deployed several sentry drones that would prevent unauthorized ships from entering the system. The Alliance conceived a plan to use an Astromech droid to slice into an uplink station on Wayland to register the Alliance ships as guests for Incom's nationalization ceremony.
The Rebels landed and quickly took the uplink station. However, the droid required time, and the Imperials fought hard to retake the station. The Alliance forces hung on long enough to steal the codes, then departed the planet under fire.
Rebel forces assault the Imperial power generator.
With the landing codes secure, Alliance forces were able to safely make it to the surface of Fresia. They deployed south of the Incom facility, and quickly punched through the garrison. They advanced through the facility, until the Imperials launched a last-ditch effort in front of the location of the prototypes. The Rebels punched through, seizing the fighters. The Rebels quickly escaped with their prize.
The Empire retaliated by arresting the Incom scientists and taking them to be imprisoned on Kessel. En route to the planet, a Rebel task force attacked the Imperial convoy, freeing the scientists.The freed Incom scientists would later prove to be invaluable to the Alliance. Their schematics allowed the Rebellion to launch the production of X-wings.
The leaders of the Rebellion Ackbar, Garm Bel Iblis, Mon Mothma and Bail Organa study the T-65 X-wing starfighter.
The X-wing prototypes obtained from Fresia would lead the Alliance to the full production of X-wing starfighters, a design that would go on to serve with distinction throughout the rest of the Galactic Civil War and beyond. The X-wing would soon get its first opportunity to prove its worth at the Battle of Turkana, where it was able to defeat prototype Imperial TIE/In starfighters of similar performance. Indeed, much of the later success of the Rebellion would be due to this superb fighter, eventually becoming the starfighter of choice for elite pilots such as Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles.
- Star Wars: Empire at War: Prima Official Game Guide
- Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption Expansion: Prima Official Game Guide
- Star Wars: Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide