Reklam Station

Reklam Station was a secret Imperial reclamation plant that orbited within the atmosphere of the planet Yarma in the galaxy's Yarma system. The facility was used to dismantle, salvage, and destroy thousands of outdated Galactic Republic starships, such as Y-wing light bombers.
In 2 BBY, the Weequay pirate Hondo Ohnaka revealed the location and purpose of Reklam Station to the early rebellion against the Empire, who, upon realizing their value in forming a strike fleet, decided to launch a reconnaissance mission to validate Ohnaka's information. After arriving, the rebels realized the vessels were being destroyed at an alarming rate. Altering the mission, Lieutenant Commander Ezra Bridger ordered the rest of his group to proceed towards the station and steal as many Y-wings as possible. Managing to escape detection by the station's technicians, the rebels landed on the underside of the plant and proceeded to refuel the starfighters. Before they could escape however, the rebels were discovered by a DTS-series Dismantler Droid and the bombers were locked down. In response, Bridger traveled up to the control tower, dispatching stormtroopers along the way, and confronted the station's commander: Brom Titus. Learning Titus had sabotaged the control unit, Bridger cut the station's power, releasing the fighters and causing the facility to plummet towards its eventual destruction.
==Description==
Reklam Station was a secret Imperial reclamation plant that orbited within the atmosphere of the planet Yarma in the Yarma system of the galaxy. Being a salvage yard, Reklam Station was used by the Galactic Empire—the successor state to the Galactic Republic—as a site where thousands of outdated Republic starships, such as Y-wing light bombers, were dismantled by specialized droids in order to reclaim their hyperdrives. After being salvaged, the starships were transported along a conveyor to a furnace and incinerated, with the remains being ejected out of a chute at the rear.
The station itself was a modified Imperial construction module. The primary, dome-shaped structure housed a control tower at the top, a large hangar intersecting through the bottom, and a repulsorlift array protruding from the underside. Extending from the side of the module, in line with the hangar, was a long platform dotted with cranes, control interfaces, and fuel tanks. Running along the length of the platform was the facility's conveyor, which featured magnetic locks in the event the vessels needed to be secured, and at the end was the furnace.
Dismantler droids, the specialized droids that dismantled Reklam Station's starships, also served as a security measure for the facility. Suspended in a dormant state surrounding the station, the droids were designed to reactivate and alert the control tower in the event of a perimeter breach before engaging the intruders directly.
==History==
===Age of the Empire===
Some time between 4 BBYAccording to Star Wars: Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy's Most Notorious, in the year 7973 C.R.C., Ketsu Onyo resigned from the Black Sun. It also dates the Battle of Scarif to 7977 C.R.C., four years after Onyo's resignation. Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates Jyn Erso's mission to steal the plans of the first Death Star, which concluded with the Battle of Scarif, to 0 BBY. Therefore, it can be calculated that 7973 C.R.C. is equal to 4 BBY. Since Onyo states in that she currently works for the Black Sun, the episode must occur by 4 BBY. Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates the Siege of Lothal to 4 BBY. Since that conflict preceded the events of , it can be concluded that the episode took place in 4 BBY. According to , is "set roughly three years before the events of A New Hope. Since Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates the events of A New Hope to 0 BBY, must occur in 3 BBY. Since takes place between and , it must occur around 4 BBY. and 2 BBY, Brom Titus was assigned to Reklam Station after being demoted from admiral to commander due to his failure in securing a group of rebels and preventing them from destroying the Imperial Interdictor.
====Rebel infiltration====
During a briefing at the secret base of the Phoenix Cell, the Weequay pirate Hondo Ohnaka, who had recently been rescued from Naraka prison by a group of rebels, the Spectres, informed the insurgents of Reklam Station and its complement of Y-wing bombers. The information had come from Ohnaka's cellmate, Terba, an Ugnaught worker who had escaped from the plant and was killed during the prison escape. In need of a strike fleet, the rebels realized the value of the Y-wings and decided to launch a reconnaissance mission to verify Ohnaka's claim.
Upon arriving at the planet, the rebels conducted a scan of the station and discovered that the Y-wings held there were being destroyed at an alarming rate. Unwilling to waste time contacting rebel command, Lieutenant Commander Ezra Bridger gave the order to continue to the station in order to steal the bombers themselves. Seconds later, their ship the Phantom was attacked by dismantler droids guarding the salvage yard. Managing to destroy the droids, the rebels evaded the station's scanners and landed on the underside of the conveyor platform. Aiming to deactivate the conveyor and stop the destruction of the Y-wings, the rebels encountered three Ugnaught slave laborers, who Hondo Ohnaka managed to convince to shut off the conveyor in exchange for their liberation.
While the rebels refueled the ships, one of the dismantler droids spotted the rebel Sabine Wren and alerted the station's commander, Brom Titus, who proceeded to dispatch a unit of stormtroopers, as well as override control of the conveyor and activate its magnetic locks. In response, the rebels Bridger and Rex proceeded to the control tower in order to shut of the conveyor and free the starfighters. However, before they could, they noticed Wren and Zeb Orrelios being attacked by a dismantler droid, prompting Bridger to tell Rex to help them while he continued to the control room. Taking control of one of the platform's cranes, Rex attempted to cripple the droid and, after a brief struggle, managed to pin the droid between the crane and a wall apparatus. Dismounting from the crane, the clone fired at the volatile device, causing it to explode and damage the droid, allowing him to push it off the edge.
After dispatching the stormtrooper contingent in the hangar, Bridger reached the control room and used his lightsaber to take out the guards and disarm Titus. Discovering the officer had sabotaged the control unit, Bridger decided to destroy the station's power generator, cutting off power to the conveyor and causing the station's repulsorlift generators to detonate. With Ohnaka having left with the Ugnaughts in a stolen Sentinel-class landing craft, Bridger ordered the rest of the rebels to escape with the Y-wings while he headed to the Phantom. Before he could reach the vessel however, it was knocked off by a falling crane. Unable to establish communications with the rest of his unit, Bridger realized he had no hope of escaping the doomed station, and so held onto one of its protrusions as the structure fell deeper into Yarma's atmosphere. Above the planet, Bridger's master, Kanan Jarrus, and the pilot Hera Syndulla learned of Bridger's absence, and they flew down to the station in an attempt to rescue him. With Syndulla flying alongside the plummeting facility, Jarrus managed to grab hold of Bridger and pull him into the Ghost. As they escaped, Reklam Station continued its fiery descent towards destruction.
==Commanders and crew==
In 2 BBY, Reklam Station was in command of Commander Brom Titus. From the station's control tower, Titus oversaw the facility's smooth operation through consultation of the technicians monitoring the plant's systems. Slave labor was employed on the station, with Ugnaught workers being forced to maintain the salvage yard's machinery. Slaves working on Reklam Station were stripped of their names and assigned a number, such as Melch, who was designated "Laborer 429."
==Behind the scenes==
Reklam Station was a location created for the Star Wars Rebels Season Three premiere TV movie, Steps Into Shadow, which originally aired on September 24, 2016. As shown by the episode's reference to General Dodonna, Reklam Station plays an important role in the Star Wars canon as the location where the rebellion steals the Y-wings that were used in the attack run on the Death Star depicted in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.
Andre Kirk was an artist who worked on concept art for Reklam Station.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow 
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==Sources==
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*Star Wars: On the Front Lines
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*Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles
*Cyphers and Masks
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*Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
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==Notes and references==
Category:Galactic Empire space stations
Category:Orbital stations
Category:Salvage yards