Skirmish at Haven During the Galactic Civil War , the Rebel Alliance Fleet engaged in a skirmish with an Imperial " Strike " - class medium cruiser at Haven , the Rebellion ' s secret deep - space rendezvous point , in the aftermath of the Battle of Hoth . Driven from their Hoth fortress in the face of overwhelming Imperial might , the surviving Rebel forces regrouped with the tattered remnants of the Alliance Fleet at a point far beyond the Galactic Rim , where they believed the Empire would not track them . The battered Rebel Alliance desperately sought sanctuary and time to recoup its staggering losses , as did Jedi Luke Skywalker , recovering with the fleet from his recent lightsaber duel with the Dark Lord Darth Vader on Bespin ' s Cloud City . Although Haven was remote , the Imperial Strike cruiser had discovered the Alliance Fleet by chance . The Rebels responded quickly by jamming the Strike cruiser ' s transmissions and sending Wedge Antilles and the elite pilots of Rogue Squadron to destroy the enemy vessel , lest it escape to reveal their position . Flying in their X - wing starfighters , the Rogues had little trouble dispatching the Strike cruiser ' s TIE fighter complement before eliminating the cruiser itself with a flurry of proton torpedoes . Nevertheless , with its secrecy compromised , the fleet soon broke formation and headed back toward the galactic plane in search of a new haven . Prelude . The Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY proved to be the Rebel Alliance ' s worst battlefield defeat of the Galactic Civil War . The Galactic Empire ' s overwhelming strength drove the Rebellion from its headquarters on the ice planet as the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader personally sought to capture his Rebel son , the burgeoning Jedi Luke Skywalker . Although the Hoth defeat cost the Rebellion greatly , the Alliance leadership escaped to regroup with the Alliance Fleet at a secret deep - space rendezvous point far beyond the Galactic Rim , codenamed Haven . Meanwhile , Vader engineered the Imperial takeover of Bespin ' s Cloud City as well as the capture of Rebels Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa . But the Dark Lord ' s trap failed to net his true prize , Skywalker , who escaped Bespin with Organa and newfound ally Lando Calrissian after fighting a fierce lightsaber duel with Vader in which the young Jedi lost his right hand . The defeated Rebel heroes eventually reached the Alliance Fleet at the rendezvous point , and Calrissian soon departed aboard the starship " Millennium Falcon " in search of Solo , whom Vader had given to the bounty hunter Boba Fett for delivery to crime lord Jabba the Hutt . Skywalker , Organa , and Calrissian ultimately planned to rendezvous on the planet Tatooine , where they knew Fett would eventually arrive to link up with Jabba . Haven lay at a position above the galactic plane , far from any stars and from where the Rebels believed the Empire would track them . To reach the rendezvous point was a perilous journey , one that required the Alliance Fleet to ascend out of the galaxy ' s gravity well . Many ships could not survive such a trip , and additional losses were certain . For the Rebellion to take such a risk was a sure sign of desperation but also spoke of its dedication to regroup and continue fighting . Yet victory over the Empire seemed hopeless for the fleet ' s tattered remnants , and the fortunes of war offered the battered Rebels little time to regain lost strength . The skirmish . Strike cruiser inbound . Mere hours had passed since Lando Calrissian ' s departure from Haven when crisis met the Rebels once more . The surprise appearance of an Imperial " Strike " - class medium cruiser sent the Alliance Fleet scrambling to intercept its hostile intruder . The rendezvous point was indeed remote , but the Rebel armada registered a sizable anomaly on scanners , and the Imperial vessel had happened upon its position by chance . Still recovering from emergency prosthetic limb replacement surgery aboard the medical frigate " Redemption " , Luke Skywalker was all too eager to jump into his T - 65 X - wing starfighter and do his duty to help the fleet , but Leia Organa and the droids C - 3PO and R2 - D2 talked him out of it — not only did he need to rest , but his X - wing was undergoing maintenance anyway , rendering the point moot . Nevertheless , the fleet still boasted the services of the elite pilots of Rogue Squadron , recently arrived at Haven following action at Hoth . Indeed , the fleet held numerical superiority over the Strike cruiser — the frigate " Redemption " , two CR90 corvettes , three GR - 75 medium transports , BTL Y - wing starfighter s , and various other vessels , in addition to the Rogues ' six X - wings — but the Rebels ' momentary advantage meant nothing if the Imperials were to report their position . Directing the skirmish from aboard one of the fleet ' s medium transports , a Rebel commander impressed upon Rogue Squadron Commander Wedge Antilles via comm of the need to eliminate the Strike cruiser before it could escape . Rogue Squadron to the rescue . As Rogue Squadron zeroed in on the Imperial warship , Antilles ordered Rogue Five to sweep wide and for the rest of his pilots to stay close to him . The Strike cruiser quickly deployed nine TIE / LN starfighter s of its own while its commander ordered his pilot to send their coordinates to Darth Vader with a message indicating that they had found the Rebel fleet . However , the Rebels had already employed jamming measures , effectively preventing the Imperials from sending out any transmissions . The Rebel commander ' s medium transport opened the skirmish by destroying one of the oncoming TIE fighters with its laser cannon , and the dogfight was soon joined between Rogue Squadron and the eight remaining Imperial fighters . To the Rogues ' advantage , the TIEs broke formation after making their first pass , allowing the Rebel fighters to take control of the engagement . Antilles ' pilots had little trouble sweeping through their Imperial foes , with the exception of Rogue Three , who allowed two TIEs to close in on his tail . One of the pursuing TIEs landed a hit on Rogue Three ' s engines , but Rogue Two came to the rescue by piercing one of the TIE ' s solar panel s with laser fire , which sent the Imperial fighter crashing into its wingman , destroying both in a fiery blaze . With all the TIEs dispatched , the Strike cruiser turned to run , setting off a chase between the Rebels and the fleeing Imperial vessel with its jeopardizing knowledge of the Alliance Fleet ' s location . The Strike cruiser diverted full power to its rear shields as it fled , which deflected fire from the Rebel commander ' s pursuing medium transport . However , such a shielding configuration merely left the Strike cruiser ' s bow exposed , an easy target for the pilots of Rogue Squadron . Rogue Five , whom Antilles had ordered to sweep around the combat zone at the engagement ' s onset , moved in for a frontal assault , and the Rogues destroyed the Strike cruiser with a barrage of proton torpedoes . Aftermath . Rogue Squadron eliminated the Strike cruiser and its TIE fighter complement while suffering no major casualties , but the Alliance Fleet ' s secrecy had been compromised nonetheless . As a precaution , the Rebel commander altered the fleet ' s course , and the armada broke formation and began heading back toward the galactic plane . The commander informed Leia Organa via viewscreen aboard the " Redemption " that his decision could mean a delay in her plans to rendezvous with Lando Calrissian on Tatooine , but the princess understood that the safety of the fleet took priority over her personal desires , and she reasoned that Luke Skywalker badly needed the extra time in recovering from his encounter with Darth Vader . A report of the Alliance Fleet ' s possible location did reach Vader , who intended to follow up on the lead in his continuing search for Skywalker , but Emperor Palpatine had other plans for his minion . The Emperor ordered Vader back to the Imperial throneworld of Coruscant to negotiate shipping arrangements with Prince Xizor of the Black Sun crime syndicate as part of the Empire ' s secret construction of the second Death Star battlestation . Behind the scenes . The skirmish at Haven appeared as the opening sequence in the first issue of the Dark Horse comic book series " Star Wars : Shadows of the Empire " , written by John Wagner and illustrated by Kilian Plunkett . The first issue was published on May 7 , 1996 . During the comic ' s development stage , in response to issue 1 ' s first draft , Lucasfilm Licensing editor Allan Kausch instructed Wagner to insert into and then eliminate from the battle a Strike cruiser as part of the Imperial forces . Kausch noted that since TIE fighters are not equipped with hyperdrives , they could not have reached the Alliance Fleet ' s location without a capital ship carrier . In addition , Kausch required that the first draft change the line " Ready photon torpedoes ! " to " Ready weapons ! "