Operation Starlight

Operation Starlight was a Rebel Alliance mission whose objective was to reassemble the Alliance Fleet after its scatter following the Battle of Hoth. However, every attempt to reassemble the fleet put the Rebellion at the mercy of the Empire because they became able to crack the rebel transmissions and destroy the rebel divisions, so the Alliance looked to new uncracked codes to bring together the fleet. Commander Grek of the Fourth Division derived the plan's name from the Starlight Beacon, a navigational station that had been constructed in the High Republic Era.

The Pathfinders of the Fourth Division conceived a plan to steal an ancient Autonomous Translator Module, Mark II droid from the Imperial Museum on the Imperial capital Coruscant. The droid could translate the Trawak language which the Imperials had yet to crack. After breaking into the museum, the Pathfinder Needle provided a distraction for Kes Dameron and Frell to sneak into the curator's gallery and steal the talker droid. Although Needle died in the process, the Pathfinders were able to bring the droid to the Rebellion.

After a struggle, the rebels were able to get the droid to translate the codes to the Trawak language. The codes were then delivered to Starlight Squadron who were given the task of bringing the codes to the Sixth Division, but when the squadron arrived near Felucia, the Sixth Division had been destroyed. Imperial probe droids tried to steal the codes stored in the rebel pilot's astromech droids but the pilots destroyed their astromech to prevent this. Starlight Squadron was then ambushed by the Tarkin's Will led by Imperial Navy Commander Ellian Zahra. During the fight, Starlight Squadron destroyed many of the Star Destroyer's hangar bays but Starlight Leader Shara Bey was struck down and forced to stay behind as the rest of the squadron barely escaped.

Desperate for a victory, Skywalker joined Starlight Squadron as they answered a distress signal from the Eleventh Division on the planet Ab Dalis. The Eleventh Division was trapped by the Imperial Star Destroyer Ultima II and was under siege from the surface of the planet. As Starlight Squadron was fighting off the TIE fighters, Skywalker received the coordinates to blow up the planet surface underneath the Ultima II. Although Skywalker missed his shot, the other members of Starlight Squadron destroyed the target which caused a volcanic eruption to occur and destroyed the Ultima II. Rebel leader Mon Mothma thanked the squadron for the rescue. The rebel fleet would reunite for the Battle of Panisia.

Text and facts from the “Operation Starlight” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.