Operation Handoff

Operation Handoff was a mission undertaken by the rebels to protect Senator Mon Mothma, who publicly condemned the reign of Emperor Palpatine, and ferry her to Dantooine. These events sparked the official formation of various rebel cells into the Alliance to Restore the Republic, with a skirmish occurring in the Archeon Nebula between the Galactic Empire and the rebels of Phoenix Cell and the Massassi Group in 2 BBY, during the early rebellion against the Empire.

Phoenix Squadron dispatched Hera Syndulla and her crew, the Spectres, who destroyed a tactical infiltration pod sent to find her. They met up with Mothma's shuttle, the Chandrila Mistress, and her escorts from Gold Squadron, part of the Massassi Group of rebels. After a brief skirmish with Imperial warships, the rebel teams traveled through the Archeon Nebula using the Archeon pass, a dangerous hyperspace route they hoped would dissuade the Empire from pursuing them. They were tracked, however, by a prototype TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighter and its TIE/IN interceptor escorts. The rebels managed to elude their TIE pursuers and two Star Destroyers, commanded by Governor Arihnda Pryce and Admiral Kassius Konstantine, by firing proton torpedoes into the nebula's gas clouds to damage the Imperial ships.

The rebels safely delivered Mothma to Dantooine, where she broadcast a speech to the galaxy in which she declared open rebellion against the Empire. This led to the arrival of several rebel cells, which joined together to formally build the Rebel Alliance that would one day be responsible for toppling the Empire and giving rise to the New Republic.

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