Rescue on Utapau

The Rescue on Utapau was an operation coordinated by Admiral Ackbar to retrieve members of a resistance force on Utapau.

Background
Wongata Kelvin, having left the 1337 N00B5 in 0 ABY to return to Utapau, led a resistance movement among the Pau'ans against the Empire. The planet was remote, and the Empire did not divert excessive resources to fighting the resistance, but it did leave garrisons of troops to intimidate the populace.

Aware that the Pau'ans could not purge the Imperials from the planet with the resources available, Wongata opted to send as much of his men to join the Rebellion as possible. The first wave of these recruits managed to escape the planet on civilian craft, but as the Imperial troops noticed the sudden flux of emigration, they soon began to monitor outgoing ships more closely, preventing safe escapes. With most of the resistance trapped on the surface of Utapau, Wongata Kelvin managed to run the small blockade in his CR90 corvette Ancient, and contacted Alliance High Command to request assistance.

Mon Mothma consulted with General Morgan regarding the tactical feasibility of retrieving the freedom fighters, and ultimately Morgan formulated a plan, which he proposed to Admiral Ackbar, which required a diversion over Tarabba Prime to lure the vessels in the Imperial blockade away from Utapau. Morgan was conscripted to lead the diversion, using Ace Squadron to defend the MC80 star cruiser Liberty.

When Ace Squadron defended the cruiser long enough for reinforcements to arrive, they were summoned to Utapau to assist with the rescue operation.

The battle
When the Rebel fleet materialized over Utapau after a cruiser started causing trouble over Tarabba Prime, the Imperial commander in charge of the Utapau counterinsurgency deduced that the Tarabba mission was a diversion. Unable to call back the fleet in time, he instead powered a shield generator over the capital city that prevented starships from entering or leaving. Though this did stop the transports from reaching the docks, it could not keep out the unshielded airspeeders belonging to Ace Squadron.

The Ace pilots fought through several groups of AT-STs and AT-ATs before arriving at the shield generator at the bottom of the sinkhole. After destroying the shield generator, the evacuation transports reached the landing site to pick up the Utapauan freedom fighters. Though a squadron of TIE bombers arrived, Ace Squadron was able to fight them off and the transports safely made it back to the fleet.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Ace and Commander