- Imperial officer: "I've got activity on the scanners! Ships dropping in from hyperspace—all classes, all the way up to Mon Calamari cruisers!"
- Zahra: "Ambush."
- Gorr: "This many ships, commander…why…it has to be…the entire rebel fleet."
- Zahra: "Every last Rebel Alliance ship in their pathetic fleet…here, now, to destroy this ship and kill us all. They think they've won. Couldn't have planned it better myself."
- ―An Imperial officer, Ellian Zahra, and Gorr[4]
The Battle of Panisia was a battle of the Galactic Civil War that was fought[7] between 3 ABY and 4 ABY[5] at the Outer Rim Territories[3] planet Panisia.[7] The battle began when the forces of Imperial Commander Ellian Zahra learned the location of a division of the rebel fleet[4] after the Crimson Dawn assassin Deathstick informed the Imperial Anti-Terrorism Watchline of the rebel base there.[3] Zahra had her Star Destroyer, the Tarkin's Will, travel to Panisia[4] where they began to bombard the base and its ships. During the course of the battle, Deathstick was able to complete her own personal mission of capturing Cadeliah, the heir to the Mourner's Wail Syndicate and Unbroken Clan criminal syndicates, who had been taken in by the rebels.[3]
Sometime after the arrival of the Imperial forces at Panisia, rebel reinforcements arrived after General Leia Organa was given coordinates by Lady Qi'ra, the leader of Crimson Dawn, in order to defeat Zahra and her forces.[4] After she gave a motivational speech to the crew of her ship, Zahra had the Tarkin's Will dive to Panisia, which encouraged the rebels to follow the ship into the planet's gravity well, where the Tarkin's Will fired its ion cannons and disabled the hit rebel ships which then began to fall onto the planet below. This left the rebels with a tough choice, to either fire on their own ships as they would not be able to evacuate them in time before they reached the base and allow time for the forces of the division based on Panisia to be evacuated, or to evacuate the crews of the of the disabled ships and risk them hitting the rebel base. The rebels ultimately decided to fire on their own ships. As the Tarkin's Will continued its dive to the base, it pulled out of it shortly before impact, which destroyed a number of the base's ships. Zahra then ordered for the Tarkin's Will thrusters to be turned on full, which incinerated the remaining ships and base as it made its way into space.[7]
When the Tarkin's Will reached space, Zahra ordered it to fire on the rebel flagship, Home One, but unbeknownst to the commander, the ship had been infiltrated by rebel Pathfinders led by Sergeant Kes Dameron in an attempt to rescue his wife, Shara Bey, who was being held prisoner aboard the Tarkin's Will. After they rescued her, three of the Pathfinders destroyed the ships primary reactor, which caused massive damage to the vessel, including taking down its shields. The move allowed the rebel ships to fire on the Tarkin's Will, and the vessel suffered catastrophic damage, though the crew attempted to repair the hyperdrive and made calls for reinforcements. Zahra ordered the ship be abandoned as it fell into Panisia, and she escaped aboard an escape pod. When she reached the surface, Zahra contacted Organa personally and requested the general come and hunt her where she was left for dead.[7]
Appearances[]
- Crimson Reign 2 (First appearance)
- Star Wars (2020) 22
- Star Wars (2020) 23
- Star Wars (2020) 24
- Bounty Hunters 23 (Indirect mention only)
- Bounty Hunters 25 (Indirect mention only)
- Bounty Hunters 26 (Indirect mention only)
- Crimson Reign 5 (Indirect mention only)
- Star Wars (2020) 26 (Indirectly mentioned only; in the opening crawl)
- Bounty Hunters 30 (In flashback(s))
- Bounty Hunters 31 (Indirect mention only)
- Bounty Hunters 32 (Indirectly mentioned only; in the opening crawl)
- Bounty Hunters 42 (Indirect mention only)
Sources[]
Crimson Dawn Exposes the Mysteries of the Empire and More from Marvel's March 2022 Star Wars Comics – Exclusive Preview on StarWars.com (backup link) (First mentioned) (Indirect mention only)- The Knights of Ren Strike in Crimson Reign, and More in Marvel's April 2022 Star Wars Comics – Exclusive on StarWars.com (backup link)
- A Tale from Obi-Wan's Youngling Days and More from Marvel's May 2022 Star Wars Comics – Exclusive Preview on StarWars.com (backup link)
- Commander Zahra Wants Revenge in Marvel's Star Wars #23 – Exclusive Preview on StarWars.com (backup link) (First identified as Battle of Panisia)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Bounty Hunters 21
- ↑ Star Wars (2020) 26
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 Crimson Reign 2
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 Star Wars (2020) 22
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The events of Crimson Reign 2, including the Battle of Panisia, take place after the Escape from Cloud City and before the Rescue of Han Solo, which are dated to 3 ABY and 4 ABY, respectively, by Star Wars: Galactic Atlas.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Star Wars (2020) 24
- ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 7.18 7.19 7.20 7.21 7.22 7.23 7.24 7.25 7.26 7.27 7.28 Star Wars (2020) 23