Space Battle at Kuat

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|prev=Assault on KashyyykStar Wars: Empire at War
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|next=Battle on Wayland
|name=Space Battle at Kuat
|image=
|conflict=Galactic Civil War (Fresian campaign)
|date=January 15th, 2003The Essential Guide to Warfare places the Battle of Fresia in 2003.
|place=In orbit above Kuat
|result=Alliance to Restore the Republic strategic victory and retreat
|side1=Galactic Empire
|side2=Alliance to Restore the Republic
|commanders1=*Kuat communications officer
*Tyranny commander
|commanders2=Captain Raymus Antilles
|forces1=*9 TIE/sr starfighters
*TIE/LN starfighters
*7 Tartan-class patrol cruisers
*1 Imperial I-class Star Destroyer
**Tyranny 
*Ld-12 laser defense satellite platforms
*Sensor nodes
|forces2=5 CR90 corvettes
*Sundered Heart
|casual1=*Moderate TIE casualties
*Several Tartan-class patrol cruisers
*2 orbital TIE construction facilities
*4 orbital drydock facilities
*Several Lambda-class shuttles
*5 incomplete Imperial I-class Star Destroyers
*Tyranny damaged
*Entire complements and crews of destroyed ships and stations
|casual2=
}}
The Space Battle at Kuat was an operation performed in 2003 by Rebel Alliance Captain Raymus Antilles to lure the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Tyranny away from the planet Fresia, where four prototype T-65 X-wing starfighters were being stored. During the battle, five CR90 corvettes, including the Sundered Heart, commanded by Antilles, raided the Imperial shipyards orbiting Kuat, destroying multiple unfinished ships while the Imperials scrambled to rally reinforcements. The mission was a success for the Rebels, who withdrew into hyperspace soon after the Tyranny arrived.
==Prelude==
During the early days of the Galactic Civil War, the Galactic Empire decided to nationalize the independent Incom Corporation, as it had done with other organizations before. However, much of the design and research teams of Incom strongly disagreed with this decision, to the point where many of them decided to defect to the Rebel Alliance in 2003. It was through these defectors that the Rebellion learned of a facility on the planet Fresia holding the four prototypes of Incom's newest starfighter design: the T-65 starfighter, later known more commonly as the "X-wing" fighter.
In January 2003, the Rebel Alliance, in dire need of a new starfighter design to replace the aging Z-95 Headhunters that were in common use throughout the Rebellion at the time, dispatched a force led by Captain Raymus Antilles to secure the prototype X-wings from the Empire. However, when Antilles and his task force entered into the Fre'ji system, they detected the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Tyranny in orbit around Fresia. This caused a serious complication: with the Tyranny in orbit, the task force was unable to approach the planet.
==The battle==
Antilles, in his modified CR90 corvette, the Sundered Heart, led four flanking corvettes to perform a hit-and-run raid on the orbital shipyards of the planet Kuat in order to lure the Tyranny from its new station at Fresia back to its usual station above Kuat. Imperial resistance at Kuat was light, and the Rebel corvettes easily defeated the defending TIE/LN starfighters and Tartan-class patrol cruisers. Many orbital resource containers were strewn about the half completed starships there, and the Rebel corvettes targeted the containers, which then exploded and destroyed the surrounding shipyards.Star Wars: Empire at War: Prima Official Game Guide
The Tyranny originally refused several times to respond to distress calls from the shipyard's communications officer. When the Rebels destroyed the last shipyard, the officer activated Emergency Code Zero. In response, the Tyranny returned to Kuat to render aid to the Imperial defenders. The commander of the Tyranny warned the Comm Officer that by invoking Code Zero, he had altered Vader's plans and will answer to him if the code was invoked lightly. The Star Destroyer came out of hyperspace with the shields down, giving the small Rebel raiding force a chance to damage the warship before escaping.
==Aftermath==
With the devastation of the Kuat shipyards and the damaging of the Tyranny, the Rebels believed that Fresia would be left unprotected, allowing them to raid the Incom facility. However, before the Tyranny had returned to Kuat, it had deployed numerous sentry drones to lock down the Fre'ji system in its absence. When the Rebels detected this, it seemed certain that the mission to retrieve the prototype X-wings would have to be canceled. However, Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm was able to devise a plan that would allow the Rebels to slip past the Imperial defenses. Huckle and Lowly's partner, R2-D2, would proceed to the planet Wayland, where he would steal the Imperial codes that would allow a Rebel team to enter the Fre'ji system undetected. Antilles agreed to this plan and immediately dispatched Huckle, Lowly and R2-D2 to Wayland with a large ground force to escort them.
==Behind the scenes==
The Space Battle at Kuat is the first mission of the Rebel campaign in the 2006 LucasArts PC game Star Wars: Empire at War. The mission is the first in a series of three missions that lead to the acquisition of T-65 X-wing starfighters for use by the Rebellion. The battle was first identified as the "Space Battle at Kuat" in the game's official strategy guide, published by Prima Games.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars: Empire at War 
==Sources==
*Star Wars: Empire at War: Prima Official Game Guide 
*Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption Expansion: Prima Official Game Guide
==Notes and references==
Category:Galactic Civil War battles