- "I never saw a fighter wing take out a Victory-class Star Destroyer before…and we got all our ships away besides. Not one single transport got tagged."
- ―Motto Shemson
The Battle of Xyquine II was fought during the Galactic Civil War, when Cracken's Flight Group under Pash Cracken covered the evacuation of the Rebel base on Xyquine II without taking a single loss. During the battle, Cracken invented the Cracken Twist.
Prelude
During the Galactic Civil War, Cracken's Flight Group was stationed on Xyquine II, at a Rebel base from which they undertook frequent shipping raids. The Galactic Empire became aware of the base's location when a probe droid located the base.[1]
The battle
- "Cracken Flight Group requests permission to make the Imperials reconsider their attack strategy, sir!"
- ―Pash Cracken, to Gingal
At a time when a major covert Rebel operation was taking place and several prominent Rebels happened to be in the system—including Wedge Antilles and Han Solo—an Imperial force including at least one Victory-class Star Destroyer entered the system once all fifty Rebel sensor drones covering the area were disabled.[2][1] The cessation of the drones' transmissions was noticed by communications technician Motto Shemson, who alerted Commander Gingal, the watch commander. Gingal called for an evacuation in the twenty minutes before the Imperial forces reached the base, but Wing Commander Pash Cracken burst into the control room to warn the senior officer that the Imperials would be able to listen to Rebel transmissions once they launched. He suggested that, to counter it, Rebel crews be briefed in advance to subtract two from the second digit of the exit vector coordinates that would be transmitted—a deception that would throw off Imperial pursuit. Gingal agreed to the plan, increasing the second digit of the transmitted vector by two.[1]
Cracken led his flight group into the air and against the enemy's Victory-class Star Destroyer. Without taking a single casualty, the fighters destroyed the capital ship, allowing every single Rebel to escape the base without any losses.[1]
Aftermath
The Battle of Xyquine II proved significant due to Cracken's invention of what came to be known as the Cracken Twist. The predetermined alteration of a digit of a transmitted vector when Imperial eavesdropping was feared became a standard Alliance and New Republic tactic.[1]
Behind the scenes
The Battle of Xyquine II was first mentioned in The Last Command, in which Han Solo mentions that the battle was "two years ago" as of 9 ABY.[2] The Last Command Sourcebook, however, places it prior to the Battle of Endor.[1] The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia later resused the information from both the novel and the sourcebook in different entries, contradicting itself.[3]
Appearances
"The Cracken Twist" — The Last Command Sourcebook (also reprinted in The Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook) (First appearance) (In flashback(s))- The Last Command (and unabridged audiobook) (First mentioned, in book)
Sources
- The Last Command Sourcebook
- The Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook
- Star Wars Encyclopedia
- A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Third Edition, Revised and Expanded (under "Pash Cracken") (Indirect mention only)
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
Pash Cracken in the Databank (original site is defunct)