75235 X-Wing Starfighter Trench Run

75235 X-Wing Starfighter Trench Run is a Star Wars 4+ set released in 2019.
== Background ==
Following the preliminary attacks on Yavin IV, a fleet of 22 X-wing, 8 Y-wing, and 2 R-22 Spearhead starfighters scrambled to assault the station. The Death Star attempted to use its batteries to defend itself, but the defenses were designed primarily to fight off capital ships, not the small and agile Rebel ships. The fighters destroyed several turrets and a rookie pilot known as Rookie One destroyed a giant ion cannon mounted on the Station, in order to set the stage for the main phase of the assault.
The station commander, Grand Moff Tarkin, dismissed the attack as futile and refused to deploy the station's vast TIE squadrons. Tarkin also refused to evacuate when his chief, Moradmin Bast, attempted to warn him that the Rebels may have found a weak spot in the station. But Darth Vader, realizing the material threat, ordered his personal fighter squadron to scramble on his own authority. The TIE fighter squadron attacked the Rebel forces soon after they realized that their laser batteries were failing. An order was passed on, to stop all turbolasers from firing, letting the TIEs do the job, and to avoid the risk of Imperial fighters being shot down by friendly fire. The Rebels engaged in duels with the starfighters, destroying several to clear the way to the trench.
As the rest of the Rebel fighters engaged Vader's forces, three Y-wings from Gold Squadron began their attack run on the trench. They were followed by Vader in his TIE/Advanced, flanked by Backstabber and "Mauler" Mithel in TIE/LNs. Vader shot down Tiree (Gold Two) and Jon Vander (Gold Leader) in the trench, then shot down Davish Krail (Gold Five) as he attempted to escape. Following the failure of Gold Squadron, the Rebel tacticians on Yavin 4 directed Red Leader to keep half of the group out of range, and Red Leader instructed Reds Two, Three and Five (Wedge Antilles, Biggs Darklighter, and Luke Skywalker, respectively) to hold back while he led the second trench run, flanked by Reds Ten and Twelve.
Red Squadron made a second bombing run, with Garven Dreis (Red Leader) making the attack itself, while Red Ten and Red Twelve attempted to hold off Vader and his fighters. While both his companions were shot down, Red Leader succeeded in making the run, but his proton torpedoes exploded on the exhaust port's surface, leaving a near miss and also killing some stormtroopers inside from the force of the explosion. The remaining X-Wings attempted to cover Red Leader on his exit from the trench, but Dreis, who had been hit and damaged while exiting the trench, ordered them to maintain their position and prepare for their run, just before being shot down by Vader.
Skywalker was in the lead, while Darklighter and Antilles maintained a greater distance behind him in order to shield him from the Imperial fighters. The three pilots traversed the trench at full throttle in order to keep the TIEs away. Vader and his wingmen gave chase, and opened up on the X-Wings at long range. One of the wingmen's shots scored a minor hit on Wedge's X-Wing, damaging the engine array, and he was forced to abandon the trench run, unable to keep up with his wingmates. Vader instructed his wingmen to let him go and maintain their pursuit of Biggs and Luke. As they closed the distance, Biggs threw his X-Wing into a weave maneuver, erratically moving around both laterally and vertically, to deny his pursuers a clean shot at either his leader or himself. While this was successful against Vader's wingmen, the Dark Lord of the Sith anticipated his opponent's move through the Force and eventually got a clear shot at Biggs, killing Luke's childhood friend from Tatooine and leaving Luke without any assistance in the trench.
Vader, sensing that the last pilot, Skywalker, was strong in the Force, prepared to kill him (unaware at the time that Skywalker was his own son). However, at the last moment, Han Solo and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon surprised Darth Vader and, with a laser blast, destroyed one of his wingmen, Backstabber. In the confusion, the other wingman, Mithel, panicked and collided with Vader's fighter, sending himself crashing into the trench and Vader careening out of control into space. With the Force aiding him, Luke fired his torpedoes, both of which entered the port perfectly. On the Death Star's bridge, Admiral Motti called out that torpedoes were in the main shaft and would hit the reactor. The Death Star exploded just seconds before its main gun would have destroyed Yavin 4. Grand Moff Tarkin and almost the battle station's entire crew were killed.
== LEGO.com Description ==
==Minifigures Included==
==Gallery==
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==External links==
Category:Star Wars
Category:Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Category:2019 sets
Category:70000 sets
Category:75000 sets