Capture of the Link

The Capture of the Link was a battle fought during the Zaarin insurrection.
==Prelude==
The commander of the Victory-class Star Destroyer Zeplin, Namuura Din, expressing sympathy for the Rebel Alliance's cause, decided to defect from the Zaarin government faction of the Galactic Empire as well as the Galactic Empire itself to the Rebel Alliance. To prove himself to the Rebel's MC80 Star Cruiser, the Link, he supplied them with information detailing that the lead to the Death Star II at Endor was a trap devised by Emperor Palpatine, as well as the Missile Boat prototype, the Sealion just as the Imperials located and captured him and his ship. The Link managed to escape with both the knowledge on Endor and the Sealion, which Din admitted when Vader interrogated him. This led to the capture of the Link to be top priority. Tau Squadron, led by Maarek Stele, was to be deployed to bombard the Link shields to 0%, and then allow Mu Squadron to move in and disable it, and then allow Omega 1 to board the ship and capture it, with Alpha Squadron providing starfighter backup.
==The Battle==
As soon as Stele was launched from the hanger there were Z-95 Headhunters right behind him, he ignored them and went towards the Link, as soon as he could but the Sealion managed to jump to Hyperspace which the Garrett soon jumped to pursue.
Stele destroyed the transport Fetch which carried Fuel Rods from the Class-C container which was also destroyed, preventing what was suspected which was an engine overload. With the Immobilizer 418 cruiser Bew'a keeping the Link from going anywhere, Stele then engaged multiple Z-95s, X-wings, A-wings, T-wings and R-41 Starchasers. With the fighters dwindling and the cruiser's shields failing, the modified corvette Crater arrived to try to reinforce the Link, followed by B-wings to attack the assault transport Omega 1 soon afterwards followed by Muurian transport Confal to provide transport support. All the reinforcements were destroyed and Omega 1 boarded the Link and after capturing the Cruiser, the Garrett arrived to deploy two more transports to the Link as two Y-wings launched from the cruiser, followed by A-wings which were easily eliminated. Soon a Nebulon-B2 frigate Qork, followed by an Ton-Falk-class escort carrier Mist arrived to resupply the Garrett as a final wave of B-wings attacked the ships only to be destroyed.
==Aftermath==
The Link was captured, but the Sealion was sent to a Rebel Base to be reverse-engineered, requiring the Imperials to pursue it and either recover or otherwise destroy the Sealion.
Meanwhile, Emperor Palpatine summoned Grand Admiral Thrawn to his throne room. He told Thrawn that all preparations were ready for the final attack at Endor, and that the Rebels will soon see the futility of their resistance against his rule. He then demanded that Thrawn bring the hunt for Zaarin down to its final conclusion, and that he not fail him. Thrawn then informed him that he has studied Zaarin's ways closely and came up with a solution to the conflict, one that will ensure that Zaarin fall into a trap that will result in his death. Palpatine then expressed satisfaction with Thrawn's progress, and declared that with Zaarin and the Rebel Alliance soon out of the picture, the Galactic Empire's victory will be completed.
==Behind the scenes==
This battle appears in the 1994 PC game Star Wars: TIE Fighter on Battle 13 Combat 3. This article assumes "medium" difficulty, while on "hard" difficulty, oddly enough, R-41 Starchasers and T-wings do not appear.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars: TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM
==Sources==
*TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM: The Official Strategy Guide
Category:Battles of the Emperor's Will campaign