A question about Yavin Base

Swindle1984 · Post by **Swindle1984** » 2008-05-04 10:15pm

I seem to remember that the Death Star was expecting Yavin IV to have some serious defenses at the base itself (shields and turbolaser batteries, perhaps) as well as capital ships. When only thirty single-man fighters attacked, Tarkin just giggled and ignored them.

Darth Nostril · Post by **Darth Nostril** » 2008-05-04 10:19pm

It could well have been their main base of operations .... but as soon as Leia contacted Yavin from aboard the Millenium Falcon they began evacuation of essential personel
Mon Mothma & bel Iblis were conspicous by their absence
There's no way the rebels capital ships would have been of any use against the Death Star, so they were sent elsewhere, along with the leadership of the rebellion, leaving behind Dodonna, Leia and a skeleton crew plus whatever fighter pilots they could scrape together at the last minute that were willing to take on such a monumental task .... leading to Biggs vouching for his old friend & Luke being accepted as a pilot

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2008-05-04 10:45pm

Darth Nostril wrote:It could well have been their main base of operations .... but as soon as Leia contacted Yavin from aboard the Millenium Falcon they began evacuation of essential personel
Mon Mothma & bel Iblis were conspicous by their absence
There's no way the rebels capital ships would have been of any use against the Death Star, so they were sent elsewhere, along with the leadership of the rebellion, leaving behind Dodonna, Leia and a skeleton crew plus whatever fighter pilots they could scrape together at the last minute that were willing to take on such a monumental task .... leading to Biggs vouching for his old friend & Luke being accepted as a pilot

Strange that in the novel the leadership of the Alliance were....staying there, noting as I said, the Senators and Generals. Dodonna himself makes explicit mention of this. So obviously yes, a skeleton crew

.

So, you are going to present your source?

TC Pilot · Post by **TC Pilot** » 2008-05-05 12:49am

In case anyone's curious...

Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skyalker wrote:"You all know these people," he [General Dodonna] intoned with quiet power. "They are the Senators and Generals whose worlds have given us support, whether open or covert. They have come to be with us in what may well prove to be the decisive moment."

Anguirus · Post by **Anguirus** » 2008-05-05 01:38am

^ That is relevant. Foolish of them to do so, but it's indisputably canon that they did.

Also, Tarkin just blew up a whole fucking planet, why would they be going after Yavin IV if it wasn't housing the rebel leadership. Vader and Tarkin knew that Leia was a leader of the rebels which is why they let her escape from the DS. They also knew that she would lead them back to the highest echelon of the rebel leadership.

I'm not sure why Vader's and Tarkin's intentions matter here. They know nothing about the Rebel base other than that it exists. They don't even know for sure the Falcon is going to the base they want to find.

Straha · Post by **Straha** » 2008-05-05 02:16am

I think it'd be idiotic to assume Yavin IV was the entirety of the Rebel Alliance. It's quite probable that the Rebel Alliance had a small number of bases throughout the galaxy. So if the Death Star destroyed the Yavin Base utterly not only would the alliance lose a good percentage of its leadership and men but the sheer psychological impact of the Empire being able to crush an important base with one blast would probably cripple it.

It would especially fit if there were a small number of bases throughout the galaxy but Yavin was the main hub and organization point providing overall guidance for semi-independent cells throughout the galaxy.

Darth Nostril · Post by **Darth Nostril** » 2008-05-05 02:33am

Ghost Rider wrote:
Darth Nostril wrote:It could well have been their main base of operations .... but as soon as Leia contacted Yavin from aboard the Millenium Falcon they began evacuation of essential personel
Mon Mothma & bel Iblis were conspicous by their absence
There's no way the rebels capital ships would have been of any use against the Death Star, so they were sent elsewhere, along with the leadership of the rebellion, leaving behind Dodonna, Leia and a skeleton crew plus whatever fighter pilots they could scrape together at the last minute that were willing to take on such a monumental task .... leading to Biggs vouching for his old friend & Luke being accepted as a pilot
Strange that in the novel the leadership of the Alliance were....staying there, noting as I said, the Senators and Generals. Dodonna himself makes explicit mention of this. So obviously yes, a skeleton crew .

So, you are going to present your source?

After literally shedding tears that I had wasted money on the Black Fleet wankology I gave up on the EU and vowed never to contaminate my mind with such fanfic circle jerking ever again
To that end I haven't read any further novels set in the SW universe, I based my comment on my observations of the film, in that we only see Dodonna as the senior Alliance official, the scarcity of personnel prior to the destruction of the Death Star, the lack of any capital ships visible in the vicinity of Yavin IV and the sparse numbers of the attack force despatched to engage the DS
If indeed, as seems to be the case, there are EU canon sources that indicate otherwise I cede the point and notch it up to another "really fucking stupid thing the good guys did" in a canonical universe full of such stupidity

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2008-05-05 04:57am

Darth Nostril wrote:
Ghost Rider wrote:
Darth Nostril wrote:It could well have been their main base of operations .... but as soon as Leia contacted Yavin from aboard the Millenium Falcon they began evacuation of essential personel
Mon Mothma & bel Iblis were conspicous by their absence
There's no way the rebels capital ships would have been of any use against the Death Star, so they were sent elsewhere, along with the leadership of the rebellion, leaving behind Dodonna, Leia and a skeleton crew plus whatever fighter pilots they could scrape together at the last minute that were willing to take on such a monumental task .... leading to Biggs vouching for his old friend & Luke being accepted as a pilot
Strange that in the novel the leadership of the Alliance were....staying there, noting as I said, the Senators and Generals. Dodonna himself makes explicit mention of this. So obviously yes, a skeleton crew .

So, you are going to present your source?
After literally shedding tears that I had wasted money on the Black Fleet wankology I gave up on the EU and vowed never to contaminate my mind with such fanfic circle jerking ever again
To that end I haven't read any further novels set in the SW universe, I based my comment on my observations of the film, in that we only see Dodonna as the senior Alliance official, the scarcity of personnel prior to the destruction of the Death Star, the lack of any capital ships visible in the vicinity of Yavin IV and the sparse numbers of the attack force despatched to engage the DS
If indeed, as seems to be the case, there are EU canon sources that indicate otherwise I cede the point and notch it up to another "really fucking stupid thing the good guys did" in a canonical universe full of such stupidity

Uh hey Darth Nose Picker. The novelization of Star Wars: A New Hope is not EU "fanfic circle jerking" and is the about as high of canon as you can get, being only over ruled by the movie.

Darth Hoth · Post by **Darth Hoth** » 2008-05-05 05:03am

havokeff wrote:
Darth Nostril wrote:
Ghost Rider wrote: Strange that in the novel the leadership of the Alliance were....staying there, noting as I said, the Senators and Generals. Dodonna himself makes explicit mention of this. So obviously yes, a skeleton crew .

So, you are going to present your source?
After literally shedding tears that I had wasted money on the Black Fleet wankology I gave up on the EU and vowed never to contaminate my mind with such fanfic circle jerking ever again
To that end I haven't read any further novels set in the SW universe, I based my comment on my observations of the film, in that we only see Dodonna as the senior Alliance official, the scarcity of personnel prior to the destruction of the Death Star, the lack of any capital ships visible in the vicinity of Yavin IV and the sparse numbers of the attack force despatched to engage the DS
If indeed, as seems to be the case, there are EU canon sources that indicate otherwise I cede the point and notch it up to another "really fucking stupid thing the good guys did" in a canonical universe full of such stupidity
Uh hey Darth Nose Picker. The novelization of Star Wars: A New Hope is not EU "fanfic circle jerking" and is the about as high of canon as you can get, being only over ruled by the movie.

To add insult to injury, George Lucas wrote it himself.

Well, not really, but it is his name on the cover...

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2008-05-05 05:05am

Anguirus wrote:I'm not sure why Vader's and Tarkin's intentions matter here. They know nothing about the Rebel base other than that it exists. They don't even know for sure the Falcon is going to the base they want to find.

True, they don't know Yavin IV is the base by name, but they sure as hell know that they just killed Leia's Dad and destroyed her home planet, and they know that one of the last Jedi who has been in hiding for 20 years revealed himself to rescue her and they know that she has the DS plans or at least knows where they are and that she is a rebel leader that needs to get those plans to the other rebel leaders. Following her is a pretty safe bet.

Darth Nostril · Post by **Darth Nostril** » 2008-05-05 05:32am

havokeff wrote: Uh hey Darth Nose Picker. The novelization of Star Wars: A New Hope is not EU "fanfic circle jerking" and is the about as high of canon as you can get, being only over ruled by the movie.

I didn't realize you were referring to the novelization of ANH (that's what I get for speed reading this thread, my bad)
Never read it myself, I gave up on SW novels of any flavour after the massive let down of the post-Thrawn pulps (I still have bad dreams about Darksaber)
Anyway I ceded the point already, canon sources disproved my hypothesis

Anguirus · Post by **Anguirus** » 2008-05-05 08:40am

Following her is a pretty safe bet.

"Pretty safe bet" =/= "knowledge of who and what is at the base."

Straha · Post by **Straha** » 2008-05-06 02:13pm

Anguirus wrote:
Following her is a pretty safe bet.
"Pretty safe bet" =/= "knowledge of who and what is at the base."

They don't particularly care how much is at the base or not, or even if it is a base. The message that Tarkin is trying to set with the Death Star is simple: "If you hide or assist rebels in anyway we will utterly destroy your planet. You will, in essence, cease to be." So following her is going to get their message out whether they go to a core world, an outer rim planet or the rebel base. It's also a much safer bet that Leia, being the goody two-shoes that she is, will go to a rebel base to offload the plans knowing that the Death Star will follow her there. That way she reduces the chances of billions more innocent lives dying because of her.

Anguirus · Post by **Anguirus** » 2008-05-06 05:54pm

They don't particularly care how much is at the base or not, or even if it is a base.

Then they should not be quoted as authorities on who or what is at the base in this thread. That's my first, last, and only point.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2008-05-06 11:30pm

Anguirus wrote:

They don't particularly care how much is at the base or not, or even if it is a base.
Then they should not be quoted as authorities on who or what is at the base in this thread. That's my first, last, and only point.

It's obvious that they're aware that the Alliance has a base of operations which includes the leadership.

Anguirus · Post by **Anguirus** » 2008-05-06 11:40pm

^ No, it's obvious that they *suppose* this to be true. They have no apparent source of intel other than the princess. If General Dodonna and friends had decided to evacuate the base when the Falcon showed up, Tarkin and Vader would be wrong. If they had never been there in the first place, Tarkin and Vader would be wrong. If the Falcon had flown to a totally different planet to throw off the DS, Tarkin and Vader would be wrong about THAT star system.

They are not authorities on the VIPs that their enemy has at the planet/moon that Leia's rescuers fly to.

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-05-06 11:40pm

The point of the Correllian Treaty to unify the commands of the 3 largest rebel groups and ensure better coordination. For that to work, there has to be some kind of central hub of operations. So if there isn't one, how do they even coordinate?

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2008-05-07 12:39am

Anguirus wrote:^ No, it's obvious that they *suppose* this to be true. They have no apparent source of intel other than the princess. If General Dodonna and friends had decided to evacuate the base when the Falcon showed up, Tarkin and Vader would be wrong. If they had never been there in the first place, Tarkin and Vader would be wrong. If the Falcon had flown to a totally different planet to throw off the DS, Tarkin and Vader would be wrong about THAT star system.

They are not authorities on the VIPs that their enemy has at the planet/moon that Leia's rescuers fly to.

Yeah no shit. That's why Tarkin says "I'm taking an awful risk Vader. This had better work." Tracking Leia, like I said, is a safe bet. They know she is going to lead them somewhere important.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2008-05-07 05:27am

Since they were so fixated on the "hidden Rebel base", I think intel had narrowed down the Rebellion's structure to a single major general HQ and C4ISR hub, of which they only needed the location.

Jade Falcon · Post by **Jade Falcon** » 2008-05-08 04:25pm

It wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibilities that there are a fair number of resistance movements against the Empire, but I would imagine the Rebellion that we know is the most organised with the most influential backers.

I also get the idea, and I'll admit this comes from a variety of sources like the EU, that after both the destruction of Alderan and the Death Star that the Rebellion gained a lot of credibility and gained a lot more support. So, yes, I would say Yavin IV is the main base.