When Admiral Demetrius Zaarin's plan to capture Emperor Palpatine and rule the Empire failed, he and his co-conspirators fled. Zaarin and his allies would then attempt to loot Imperial facilities and space stations as they fled.
One space station that Zaarin's forces looted was the factory ZA-13. ZA-13's survival was critical, as Zaarin's fleeing forces already destroyed every other TIE Avenger factory station in the Omar system. Imperial Admiral Thrawn was dispatched to secure ZA-13 and drive off Zaarin's looters. Thrawn's task force, with the aid of ace Imperial pilot Maarek Stele, drove off Zaarin's ships, the Assassin-class corvettes Z-Oz Group, the modular conveyors Z-Cod Group and the YT-1300 light freighter Coral.
With the loss of several other TIE Avenger facilities across the Empire, the recapture of ZA-13 became a top priority. Maarek Stele again was chosen to be the lead flight as he had to escort personnel to ZA-13 while repelling another attack by Zaarin's forces, led by the Carrack-class light cruiser Z-Jumimi and three CR90 corvettes from the Z-Caplure Group. The Imperial-class Star Destroyer Render arrived to relieve Stele.
Thrawn was then given orders to guard the facility while it was converted from making hyperdrive units to full TIE Avenger production. During the conversion, however, Rebel raiders attacked the convoy, code name Rope 17, that was bringing the parts for the conversion to ZA-13. The Rebel fighters and bombers were armed with their new magnetic pulse warhead. Admiral Thrawn's forces quickly drove the Rebels off, and routed the origin of the raid. The Rebel raiding force came from a Rebel space station, RS-32, which manufactured Mag Pulse warheads.
Thrawn knew this would be a chance to strike a major blow to the Rebels and sent most of his task force to capture RS-32, leaving two EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigates behind to defend ZA-13. Admiral Thrawn successfully captured RS-32, but while the brunt of his forces were away, the rogue Admiral Zaarin launched a strike on ZA-13, destroying the factory and a large number of the loyalist forces defending the facility.
The loss of ZA-13 further crippled the Galactic Empire's TIE Avenger production capabilities, ultimately providing Admiral Zaarin an edge over his adversaries.
- TIE Fighter: Defender of the Empire: Official Secrets & Solutions
- TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM: The Official Strategy Guide