Xagobah system

Encouraged by the swift victories in Polardio, Orto, and Denab, spirits are high here in the Xagobah system. Our team of Rebel Broadcasting Group (RBG) reporters have been granted access to one of the orbital defensive platforms that, for the first time in months, is back under local control thanks to the liberating heroes of the Rebel Alliance and her allies. Despite somewhat disrupted communication with the rest of the galaxy, the troops we interviewed displayed an admirable confidence in the cause they are fighting for, many far from their own homes.

This all changed when the Empire attacked. In the middle of the daytime cycle, alarms sounded throughout the station, and our team was directed to move closer to the escape pods in case the evacuation order was given. The exact facts and timeline surrounding the attack, and much of the day, continues to be shrouded in rumors, conflicting first-hand accounts, and classified documents. Despite this, but we have been able to piece together a reliable picture of the assault.

We have been able to determine that Imperial strike teams, disguised as maintenance workers, gained access to several key defensive stations. It appears the strike teams were able to penetrate the Rebellions’s security measures using a combination of former-Republic encrypted pass-phrases, and ship transponder codes. Catching the Rebel crews by surprise, the Imperials were able to take over the stations and open a corridor for Imperial transports and gunships to enter the system. With the ensuing chaos of stations firing on each other and new Imperial warships entering the system every second, the defenders were unable to prevent the Imperial forces from reaching the surface of several planets. Planet-side, Rebel army forces moved swiftly to overwhelm the Empire’s landing zones, but found themselves outmaneuvered and repelled. Utilizing the impervious swampland on the surface and their warships in orbit, Imperial elements were able to entrench themselves in some key population centers and hubs. The situation looked grim for the first two standard days of the Imperial counterattack. Both the space and ground elements of the Imperial forces enjoyed well-defended positions and open supply lines were proving difficult to break.

The tides turned on the third standard day, when a large Rebel force was able to intercept and disable a crucial Imperial convoy headed to the surface of Xagobah VII. A victory swiftly followed with Rebel boarding parties retaking the captured defensive stations. “This was as close to hell as I’ve ever experienced” one trooper told a RBG reporter. The rebel units were forced into close quarter combat against the elite stormtrooper corps, forcing both sides to pay a heavy price for each captured module, control center, and living area. Finally, on the fourth day of fighting, all the defense infrastructure in the system was back in Rebel hands and the door was closed to invading Imperial ships.

As their hopes for reinforcements dwindled, the Imperial Navy Ships based around Xagobah VII decided to hastily retreat, leaving remnants of their ground elements planet-side. But the fighting would continue. The Imperial forces left on the ground refused to surrender and chose to prolong the fight, utilizing the terrain’s natural defenses and moving into more populated areas for protection. While attempting to overwhelm the Imperial’s desperate opposition, a severe storm system formed which impeded the operation, grounding many of the Rebel fighter squadrons. As well as rendering the capabilities of utilizing precision tactical orbital strikes in the densely-populated urban centers impossible. As a result the Rebel gains on the surface slowed further and further. Alliance ground forces needed the next three days of intense fighting to declare the planet officially secure.

Engebo V, Engebo system

The brutal fighting has not spared more remote worlds, like Engebo V in the Danjar sector. This peaceful world of rolling plains and wandering nerf herds has been targeted for its decision to allow the Rebel Alliance to establish a supply base there and its willingness to supply the Alliance with necessary foodstuffs. Like in Mayagil, the attack was well-planned and efficiently executed. The system lacked the defensive infrastructure we saw in Xagobah, and so the invading Imperial fleet did not have to exercise the same caution as before when their forces landed and established supply lines. The battle was however, just as bloody and desperate, and was over just days before our reporters arrived in the system. The vast, open lands of the planet became killing fields. Devoid of the natural cover afforded by the swamps of Xagobah, troops were left exposed and vulnerable to open ranged combat. Undeterred, the Imperial troops landed in strategic locations and quickly established a substantial perimeter of connected “field of fire” fortifications. In the rush to reclaim this plant from the Rebels, the local fauna was underestimated, and the attackers encountered the vicious swarm predators known as the sketfish. The formidable creatures wreaked havoc on the equipment and non-armoured personnel. This confusion bought the Rebel forces enough time to regroup and disrupt the defensive lines, preventing the enemy from gaining a stable foothold on the planet’s surface. With the help of local farmers and miners, the Rebel forces persisted in storming the enclave without respite, each inch paid for in blood, sweat and tears. In the end, the rebel’s stubborn grit prevailed, and the remnants of the Imperial troops were evacuated from the system under heavy fire from Rebel ships in system.

Back in Xagobah, troops are now reorganizing, but remain on high alert. Off the record, we were told pickets of the Imperial Navy and unidentified vessels are still looming on the outskirts of the system, probing the defense network and gathering updated intelligence. Though the planet is no longer considered an active war zone, fears of saboteurs and Imperial sleeper cells have kept Rebel units on patrol across much of the planet. The holonet remains closely monitored, curfews are still in effect, and perimeters are still enforced around important government facilities. A local Rebel commander has told our team anonymously that this kind of fighting was what the public should expect more of in the months to come. “The time of rapid raids and flashy news is behind us. Powerful states lose wars not when they run out of munitions or lives” she explained while being treated by paramedics “...but when they run out of the will and drive to fight.”

It is pivotal in these volatile times that we keep this will alive. The will to fight those that would otherwise see us and our fellow sentients bound, flogged and in servitude. The Rebel Alliance has not lost it's will to fight and neither have countless allies across the galaxy. Make sure you have not become complicit or ignorant to the horrors the Empire distributes daily. We are alive. We are here. We will fight.