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Calamarian Revolt

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For other uses, see Battle of Mon Calamari.

We forced the Empire off our world once. They fought with blasters and fighters, destroying cities at will. We fought with whatever we had - kitchen utensils, industrial tools, our bare hands. We won that time.Gial Ackbar

The Calamarian Revolt, also known as the Great Revolt, was the uprising in 1 BBY which saw the Mon Calamari species rise up against the Galactic Empire who had been occupying their homeworld for nearly two decades and drove the Empire offworld. The resulting battle liberated the Mon Calamari and Quarren from the Empire and led to their eventually joining in the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The liberation of Dac was notably one of the few successes of the Rebellion's otherwise-disastrous first campaign, Operation Domino.

Prelude

Together Juno, Bail, and I brought Dac into the Alliance fold—that's a story you may have heard before. But you may not have grasped how important a role Juno played. She fought alongside me at Heurkea and engineered the plan that sent the 181st TIE Fighter Squadron off on a bantha hunt, publicly embarrassed Tarkin, and gave our people and the Quarren the courage to rise up against the Empire. The campaign at Dac would become a template for our efforts—a small, strategic attack with enormous symbolic value.Gial Ackbar, in Ackbar: Wartime Correspondence, volume 8

During the nearly two decades of Imperial control of the planet,[11] the Mon Calamari and Quarren maintained a low scale resistance. One of the founders of the resistance, the Mon Calamarian Gial Ackbar, had spent the preceding years working with other like minded people to oppose the Imperial control of their homeworld.[15] The techniques of the early resistance were not openly violent or apparent- ranging from industrial slowdowns, acts of sabotage, and defiant protests. The Empire struck back- though with propaganda rather than force. Imperial xenobiologist Obo Rin published several works claiming that the Empire had first discovered Mon Calamari, in an effort to erase the worlds past history and connection to the Galactic Republic.[11] Still, the Mon Calamari and Quarren refused to submit to Imperial rule. Even the long animosity between the Quarren and the Mon Calamari was set aside, as Quarren leaders rallied their people beside their "planet-brothers." Ironically, one of these Quarren leaders was Seggor Tels, who had been led by jealousy of the Mon Calamari to sabotage Calamari's planetary shields to pave the way for the Imperial conquest of the planet.[9]

Early during Galactic Civil War, Ackbar was freed from Imperial enslavement during a Rebel attack on Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin's shuttle.[15] Then, in 1 BBY, a Rebel Alliance team, consisting of former Senator Bail Organa, Captain Juno Eclipse, and the holodroid PROXY infiltrated the Heurkea Floating City. The mission was supported by Gial Ackbar and Seggor Tels's Mon Calamari and Quarren freedom fighters. The operation resulted in the capture of Imperial Commander Evir Derricote and in the public humiliation of Imperial forces, especially Grand Moff Tarkin and the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing.[16] The success of this operation gave the Mon Calamari and Quarren enough courage to revolt against their oppressors.[1]

Over the time, Emperor Palpatine was tired of the acts of defiance.[7] Following the Heurkea operation,[6] the Empire decided to make an example by executing an orbital bombardment of three floating cities.[7] The order of Emperor Palpatine was executed by Admiral Garrus Tharydine, the Imperial commander overseeing the occupation of Mon Calamari.[10] The attacks were swift and severe, incinerating the cities and their inhabitants. It was believed that this show of force would cow the world's population. In reality, it provided the catalyst for open rebellion to Imperial rule.[7]

The Revolt

The Mon Calamari have thrown off Imperial control and attacked the Empire's fleets orbiting above them.Mon Mothma

Imperial occupation forces were caught off guard by the reaction of the Mon Calamari and Quarren. Across the planet Dac the long oppressed fought back. At first, many fought Imperial forces with nothing more than kitchen utensils or hand tools fashioned into weapons.[7] Yet, thanks to early efforts of the resistance, numerous secret weapons caches that had been secreted away over the previous two decades were deployed against Imperial forces. Workers in the Mon Calamari Orbital Shipyards sabotaged Imperial warships in dock and diverted captured materials to the resistance. Stolen materials were used in secret ship-construction sites located beneath the seas of Calamari and outfitted privateer craft which plagued Imperial starships. Caught completely by surprise by the ferocity of the rebellion, Imperial forces abandoned the planet entirely.[11]

During the retreat, Imperial forces loaded their ships with Mon Calamari slaves before leaving the planet. However, these vessels were intercepted at the edge of the Calamari system by a Rebel Alliance starfleet comprised of several Mon Calamari Star Cruisers - the Independence, the Liberty, and the Defiance - who had escaped the Imperial conquest of the planet decades earlier and joined the Alliance Fleet in order to participate in the liberation of their home planet.[6] In the ensuing battle, many Imperial ships were destroyed and most of the slaves freed. Though the Empire suffered many losses, Imperial pilot DS-61-4 managed to survive the battle.[18] By the end of the Calamarian Revolt, Imperial forces had all but abandoned the entire Calamari sector.[19][6]

Aftermath

When we resisted, our cities were attacked, to set an example for the rest of the galaxy... But this experience only hardened my people's will to resist... And transformed them into formidable fighters for the Alliance!Admiral Ackbar

The united peoples of Mon Calamari had finally achieved their long sought goal of freedom from enslavement by the Empire. Their victory became a beacon of hope for the downtrodden peoples of the galaxy.[11] However, the planet Mon Calamari remained officially neutral[21] as the Mon Calamari Council did not vote to fully join the Alliance to Restore the Republic, in part due to Quarren fears of an alliance with another Human dominated group;[11] however, Ackbar was still able to convince his people to join the Rebel Alliance en masse.[15] Mon Calamari starships joined the Alliance and the Mon Calamari Shipyards turned their production to build warships at high speed.[11] Mon Calamari immediately became the premier source of capital ships for the Rebellion.[6]

After the Battle of Yavin, Ackbar and several members of the Mon Calamari Council were rescued on Daluuj[22] by the Heroes of Yavin.[23] Thus, in 1 ABY, the Mon Calamari Council finally decided to make the planet become a full member of the Alliance.[5]

The Calamarian Revolt was one of the few successes of Operation Domino, the Rebel Alliance's earliest campaign against the Empire. On nearly every other world where the Alliance Military stoked revolt, the uprisings were swiftly crushed by the Galactic Empire.[4] In the aftermath of the liberation of Mon Calamari, the Mon Calamari and Quarren swiftly fortified their sector.[6] The Calamari Defense Force was established[8] and Rebel warships joined the defense of the Calamari sector.[11]

An Imperial fleet immediately tried to reconquer the system, but it was defeated by Admiral Ackbar.[17] Because of the limited number of Imperial warships in the region,[11] Grand Moff Therbon, the ruler of the Maldrood Oversector that included Mon Calamari Space was unable to retake Mon Calamari in the following years.[6] After the liberation of Mon Calamari, the Destabilization branch of Imperial Intelligence infiltrated the Quarren city of Morjanssik. Imperial agents aimed to resume the civil war between the Mon Calamari and Quarren but they were stopped by Rebel operatives.[3] Over the years, Grand Moff Therbon grew frustrated with his inability to retake Dac and finally ordered the bombardment of the Mon Calamari colony world of Ruisto in 2 ABY.[6]

Behind the scenes

The release of the game Star Wars: Empire at War has caused some continuity problems in regards to the liberation of Mon Calamari. A level on the Imperial campaign of the game shows a much different version of the battle, set right before the Battle of Yavin. The battle itself contradicts numerous previously established sources, including the The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds, and The New Essential Guide to Characters. The mission is most likely only designed for game play, not to represent the actual historical liberation of Calamari.

Appearances

Sources


Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Essential Guide to Warfare, p. 147
  2. ↑ According to Strongholds of Resistance, the cruiser Independence that served as the Rebel flagship during the Battle of Turkana joined the Rebel Alliance following the liberation of Mon Calamari.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Death in the Undercity
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Essential Guide to Warfare, p. 163
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Essential Guide to Warfare, p. 182
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 Strongholds of Resistance
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 The Star Wars Sourcebook, p. 77-78
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Dark Empire Sourcebook, p. 83
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 WEG icon2 "The Shame of Seggor Tels" — The Star Wars Sourcebook (also reprinted in Second Edition), p. 78
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide
  11. ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds, p. 96
  12. ↑ Alien Anthology
  13. ↑ Dark Empire Sourcebook
  14. ↑ The Essential Guide to Warfare
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Heir to the Empire Sourcebook, p. 14
  16. ↑ Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II novelization
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Star Wars: Empire at War
  18. ↑ Swccglogolg  Star Wars Customizable Card Game — A New Hope Limited (Card: DS-61-4) (backup link)
  19. ↑ The Essential Atlas, p. 79
  20. ↑ Dark Empire 2
  21. ↑ The Essential Atlas, p. 147
  22. ↑ The New Essential Guide to Characters, p. 16
  23. ↑ "Revenge of the Jedi"
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