Rescue from the Dargon

Following the recent raid on the MB-C1 medium transport Suprosa and the subsequent theft of a supercomputer, Darth Vader was dispatched to investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack. Imperial forces had apprehended high-ranking Rebel and Bothan prisoners attempting to flee Coruscant. These prisoners were placed aboard the Dreadnaught Dargon, which was scheduled to meet with the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Garrett. Imperial intelligence believed the Alliance would launch an assault, either to rescue their allies or, if that failed, to destroy the dreadnaught.

Maarek Stele was ordered to replace the previous TIE Advance pilot and provide escort for the Dreadnaught. Shortly after, numerous Rebel starfighters, including A-wings, B-wings, X-wings, and Y-wings from Red Squadron, appeared. As Stele engaged the fighters, two Corellian Corvettes known as Keeper arrived, carrying Explosives. This indicated the Rebels' willingness to destroy the Dreadnaught rather than simply disable it and rescue their comrades. Stele assisted the Dargon in repelling and destroying the corvettes. Simultaneously, a similar number of starfighters from Gold Squadron arrived, further complicating the situation. A modified corvette named Hut'to arrived to obstruct the Dargon's path, followed by Blue Squadron. Despite the intense fighter combat, Stele quickly destroyed it. Soon after, the Mon Calamari Cruiser Columbia appeared, but by that time, the Dargon had already jumped into Hyperspace.

Before the Dargon could reach the Garrett, it experienced engine failure, leaving it approximately 23 Kilometers away. Suspecting sabotage, and with Vader growing impatient, an assault transport named Sigma 1 was dispatched to board the Dargon and transfer the prisoners to him for interrogation. Stele launched his fighter to oversee the operation. By this point, Sigma 1 had already secured the prisoners, escorted by TIE Fighters, and was en route to the Garrett. However, a modified frigate named Bay Point arrived and launched A-wings and Y-wings to intercept the transfer. Although the Rebel fighters managed to eliminate the TIE Fighters, their efforts were once again thwarted by Maarek Stele and his wingmen, who engaged and destroyed the Rebel fighters, allowing the transport to reach the Garrett.

While Vader interrogated the prisoners, Stele underwent a debriefing regarding the capture of the Suprosa. Desiring as much information as possible, Vader decided to target the Bothan trade routes to gather further intelligence about the freighter's location.

This battle initially appeared in the 1994 PC game Star Wars: TIE Fighter within the expansion pack Enemies of the Empire, which was released in 1995. It is featured in the twelve "Battle" campaign called Prelude to Endor as the first mission of the first phase and the second mission of the second phase. This article's information is based on the "Medium" difficulty setting. On "Hard" difficulty, an equivalent number of fighters from Grey Squadron are added, along with multiple A-wings from Yellow Squadron for the first mission. The second mission also includes a greater number of A-wings to contend with.

However, the initial stage is also present in the computer game Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, released on April 30th 1997, as one of the missions in Operation: Quick Strike. Here, players can participate in the mission "Rescue from Imperial Prison Ship Dargon" on either the Rebel or Imperial side, with each side having conflicting objectives. Victory is not essential to progress to the next set of missions. Like all missions in Operation: Quick Strike, the battle itself is considered canon, but the canon outcome remains unknown. The mission features Rogue Squadron engaging the TIE Avengers and Assault Gunboats escorting the prison ship Dargon, while Red Squadron provides cover for Gold Squadron as the Y-wings disable the Imperial Dreadnaught.

Once the Dargon is disabled, the Calamari Cruiser Columbia arrives nearby to launch Typhoon Group, a trio of Gamma-class ATR-6 assault transports, in an attempt to board and capture the Dargon. Subsequently, the Victory-class Star Destroyer Callisto arrives to rendezvous with the Dargon, along with an Imperial ATR-6 transport called XP-1 carrying a team to repair the damage to the Dargon.

Given the large number of Y-wing starfighters and the mag pulse warheads carried by Rogue Squadron, it is almost certain that the Dargon will be disabled. Whether it is then captured by Alliance Special Forces or recovered by the Imperial repair crew aboard XP-1 largely depends on player actions and remains uncertain.

This article assumes Star Wars: TIE Fighter as the official Legends canon story.