Mid Rim Retreat

The Mid Rim Retreat, initially known as the Mid Rim Offensive, was a campaign launched by the Alliance to Restore the Republic against the Galactic Empire in the Mid Rim during the Galactic Civil War. Commencing around 1 ABY, the Alliance brought the fight to numerous worlds in the Mid Rim, but were forced to halt when their fleet became overstretched and their army commanders failed to sufficiently coordinate on a sector level.
In 2 ABY, the order came for Alliance forces to fall back soon after when the offensive collapsed at several key points, with the Alliance evacuating bases in the Mid Rim and withdrawing from many worlds. Some of the Mid Rim revolutionaries stayed behind to harass Imperial forces that were anticipated to return. In 3 ABY, the Imperial governor of the planet Haidoral Prime defected to the Alliance's 61st Mobile Infantry, better known as Twilight Company, offering them extensive knowledge to help the Alliance take out key resourceful locations in the Empire's territory.
Soon after, the Alliance forces launched a coordinated effort to distract Imperial forces and allow the Alliance fleet to complete its withdrawal from the Mid Rim. While Twilight Company launched a campaign on the planet Coyerti, where they put Chalis's knowledge to the test, other Alliance forces were present on various different worlds.
After leaving Coyerti, Twilight Company was pursued through the Metatessu sector by Imperial forces which had followed a hypermatter trail being left by the hyperdrive of the company's CR90 corvette the Thunderstrike. In order to repair this and break free of Imperial pursuit, Twilight Company raided an Imperial heavy freighter for the necessary supplies. The company was successful and repaired the hyperdrive.
==Prelude==
During the time of the Galactic Empire, a Galactic Civil War began between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance. The Alliance secured its first major victory at the Battle of ScarifRogue One: A Star Wars Story in 1 BBY before then destroying the Empire's Death Star superweapon at the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY. In the time afterwards, the Empire moved to rout the Alliance from its hiding spots in the Outer Rim Territories, including the Rebel Refueling Base at the planet Vrogas Vas, as well as locking down the Core Worlds.
The Alliance General Carlist Rieekan, believing the Empire was in a state of disorganization, saw an opportunity in the Imperial Military movements to begin an offensive into the Mid Rim Territories. He proposed the campaign to the Alliance Commander-in-Chief Mon Mothma in a document, stating that using their ground forces to capture and hold Mid Rim planets would be the ideal next move for the Alliance and that the Rebellion enjoyed much sympathy in that region.
==The offensive and retreat==
===Failed advance===
Rieekan's proposed offensive in the Mid Rim began around 1 ABY, the Alliance still bolstered by their victory against the Empire at Yavin. The campaign was one of the largest operations the Alliance had ever launched against the Empire, with thousands of ships and hundreds of battle groups participating. In the wake of the campaigns commencement, the Galactic Emperor, Sheev Palpatine, had his Sith apprentice Darth Vader kill Moff Coovern and Minister Khemt, two individuals among the highest ranks of the Empire who the Emperor blamed for the loss at the Battle of Yavin. The deaths were officially reported as tragic accidents.
Among the vanguard of the campaign was the Alliance's 61st Mobile Infantry, better known as Twilight Company, led by Captain Micha Evon. The company was deployed to many worlds, fighting the factory-deserts of the planetThe Odyssey of Star Wars: An Epic Poem Phorsa Gedd and capturing the Ducal Palace of the planet Bamayar. Lieutenant Caluan Ematt took part in the offensive on various locations including the planet Ord Tiddell. The Saurin resistance, a rebel cell based on the planet Durkteel, also assisted in the Mid Rim offensive. Karie Neth and Lanna supported squadrons throughout the campaign by working as ground crew and maintenance.
However, nine months into the campaign, the Alliance High Command halted the offensive due to an overstretching of the Alliance Fleet as well as a lack of coordination between Alliance army commanders on a sector level. General Jan Dodonna reported the stalling to Commander-in-Chief Mothma, suggesting that mobile starfighter units like the Alliance's Rogue Squadron could help with relaying reports and attacking opportunistic targets to break the pause in the Mid Rim campaign.
===The Empire strikes back===
The Mid Rim Offensive then began collapsing at several key points in 2 ABY, leading the Alliance High Command to order a retreat from six worlds—Charros IV, Durkteel, Jeyell, Ord Tiddell, Pothor and Trasse—and fallback to more fortified holdings. A number of Mid Rim revolutionaries evacuated with the Alliance, the rest staying to harass the Empire in its anticipated return. Imperial forces engaged the Alliance during it's evacuation of Ord Tiddell, where Lieutenant Ematt barely made it out on the last transport before the Empire destroyed its launchpad with artillery. Rieekan reported on the setbacks to Mothma, stating that the Empire was expected to take back the six planets in short order.
With the Empire driving into the Alliance's gained territory, the Rebellion was forced to begin a full withdrawal of its fleet from the Mid Rim, hundreds of battle groups turning into retreat. Twilight Company began evacuating bases it had helped set up and extracted rebel heroes and generals in the process. One world the company returned to was Phorsa Gedd, where the engineer Vifra notably joined the unit.
===The Haidoral defection===
In 3 ABY, Twilight Company fought on the planet Haidoral Prime, ultimately suppressing the local forces there. The company then began a recruitment drive to bolster their numbers when they received a message via a mouse droid from a defector inside the Governor's mansion claiming that there were rebel prisoners. Twilight Company subsequently sent First Sergeant Hazram Namir and his squad to investigate. Namir's squad infiltrated the mansion, finding that the Imperial Governor Everi Chalis had sent the message, wishing to escape from house arrest under external Imperial officers. Chalis offered to defect to the company, and so Namir's squad extracted her from the mansion.
Twilight Company left Haidoral Prime with Chalis. The governor was questioned by Captain Evon and a number of his colleagues including Namir. She claimed to have extensive knowledge offered to help the Alliance take out key resourceful locations in the Empire's expansive territory. Evon subsequently reported Chalis's defection and offers to the Alliance High Command, General Baccam Grafis agreeing to vet the governor's knowledge for validity. Rieekan relayed the news to Mothma in another report, suggesting that Chalis could be brought to meet the High Command at some point. Shortly after departing Haidoral Prime, Twilight Company, aboard their CR90 corvette the Thunderstrike and its escort the Braha'tok-class gunship Apailana's Promise, were involved in a battle with an Imperial patrol that had found them by chance. Both vessels survived the engagement with minor damages.
===The coordinated distraction===
Alliance forces soon launched a final coodinated effort to distract Imperial forces and allow the fleet to finish withdrawing from the Mid Rim. This comprised of a series of rearguard actions. While the Alliance's Twenty-First was present on the planetTarkin Bestine IV, another group named Bitter Pill Company was on a "trash heap" planet where the company lost its troop transport, but managed to find a replacement. However, the Alliance also lost control of the locations Unroola Dawn, Talrezan Four and Hope Station in the meantime, with General Amrashad perishing.
As a part of the distraction effort, Twilight Company launched a campaign on planet Coyerti to keep the Empire from killing the natives during their breeding season. The company sent numerous squads down onto the planet to attack Imperial positions such as an Imperial scout post and an Imperial fort. To test Chalis's knowledge on the Empire's resources, Namir's squad was sent to destroy a distillery, which would put the operations there back by ten years according to the former governor. When the Coyerti natives finished their breeding season, they assisted the rebels against the local garrison which they destroyed.
===Imperial pursuit===
Shortly after Twilight Company departed Coyerti, it was discovered that the Thunderstrike was leaking hypermatter due to a damages to the hyperdrive. Capitalizing on this, Tabor Seitaron, an Imperial captain who had been assigned to help hunt down Chalis and bring her to justice for her defection, had officers aboard the Herald, the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer which he operated on for the hunt, liase with various Imperial forces in the Metatessu sector to attack the Thunderstrike.
The Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise were attacked by an Imperial destroyer before being forced to fight another ambush in the Enrivi system, where they destroyed the attacking forces. The two vessels were additionally attacked in the Chonsetta system, where the Thunderstrike took additional damages from TIE interceptors. Evon called a meeting thereafter with his top staff and the bridge crews of both starships. In the meeting, they devised a plan to seize supplies from an Imperial freighter to repair the hyperdrive.
The Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise ambushed an Imperial heavy freighter in the Redhurne system, sending a number of squads aboard to fight the security and get the supplies. With the loss of eight, the squads were successful in their jobs, despite their withdrawal being rushed after the intervention of an Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser in the space engagement. Twilight Company fled the system with the necessary supplies to repair the Thunderstrike hyperdrive.
==Aftermath==
===Twilight Company's counterattack===
Shortly after Twilight Company's raid in the Redhurne system, the Alliance High Command congregated at Echo Base, the High Command's secret base on the Outer Rim ice planetUltimate Star Wars Hoth, for a strategy conference. Chalis and Evon were notably invited, and Chalis helped in making a grand strategy for the Rebellion. Shortly after the conference ended, however, the Empire discovered and attacked the base. Although most the High Command escaped, the Alliance fleet was scattered, and the Empire began hunting stray forces, chasing the Alliance deep into the Outer Rim.
Evon had been lost at Hoth, First Sergeant Hazram Namir taking his place as temporary command. Chalis deduced that the Empire was drawing forces from the Core Worlds to hunt the Alliance in the Outer Rim, taking advantage of the fact by formulating Operation Ringbreaker, a campaign that sought to force withdrawals from Kuat Drive Yards, the Empire's primary Star Destroyer manufacturing hub, with a series of smaller strikes before attacking the shipyard itself. Although the company was eventually stopped at the planet Sullust when the Thunderstrike was destroyed, the battle group was able to survive and take the capital city, departing the planet with many Sullustan recruits.
===Return to Durkteel===
Intelligence eventually reached the Alliance High Command about a second Death Star superweapon under construction at the forest moon of Endor. In preparation for an attack on the battle station, the Alliance coordinated a distraction effort to draw away Imperial forces, dubbed Operation Yellow Moon. To continue to keep the Endor preparations secret, Mothma arranged a mission to Durkteel, which the Empire had neglected to retake after the Mid Rim Retreat, in which her visit there would be leaked to divert Imperial attention.
Due to Mothma's importance, her aide, the archivist Hendri Underholt, convinced her to let him go to Durkteel instead of her as it was common knowledge that he traveled with the Commander-in-Chief a lot. Underholt's work included compiling non-electric documents regarding the Alliance's operations and resources, including ones on the Mid Rim Offensive and Retreat, in an archive known as the Rebel Files. Leaked information that Mothma was set to travel towards the Perlemian Trade Route reached the Cynabar's InfoNet, which questioned in a new report on whether the Alliance was planning another campaign into the Mid Rim and brought up speculation of Durkteel, Jeyell, Ord Tiddell, and Trasse being potential destinations for the Alliance leader.
Underholt traveled to the Alliance's Tak-Beam complex, bringing the Rebel Files with him. However, the Empire sent three Star Destroyers, which proceeded to bombard the complex, killing Underholt and burying the Rebel Files. However, the document was eventually recovered during an excavation in 34 ABY,The reference book Star Wars: The Rebel Files establishes that the in-universe artifact The Rebel Files was buried on the same day as the Battle of Endor, which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates to 4 ABY. Given that the former also states that The Rebel Files was rediscovered thirty years after the battle, the artifact must have been found in 34 ABY. long after the Empire's fall, and reached Leia Organa, a former rebel hero and leader of the Resistance, a private military with roots from the Alliance. Organa and Resistance officers Amilyn Holdo and Ushos O. Statura made annotations on reports regarding the Mid Rim events, as well as Ematt, who served as a major in the Resistance.
==Behind the scenes==
The Mid Rim Retreat first appeared in the 2015 novel Battlefront: Twilight Company, written by Alexander Freed. It was first identified as the Mid Rim Offensive in the 2017 reference book Star Wars: The Rebel Files, which was written by Daniel Wallace.
==Appearances==
*Battlefront: Twilight Company 
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==Sources==
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*Star Wars: The Rebel Files 
*Star Wars: Timelines
==Notes and references==
Category:Galactic Civil War campaigns