Battle of Endor Analysis 2

The fleet pulled up when Lando noticed that the shields were still up, and the ships moved in random directions to avoid collision. Surprisingly during the turn around, the Alliance ships didn’t crash into each other. A few minutes later, they were turned around and started to reform. Admiral Ackbar ordered his ships to “take evasive action” meaning he trusted Calrissian; Calrissian volunteered for it. Ackbar might’ve ordered that evasive action as simple reflex of he noticed something was wrong but wasn’t sure what it was/ That might’ve been why he said “may the force be with us” (other than as a battle prayer)

Admiral Ackbar orders the Green Group to “stick close to holding sector MV-7” That might’ve meant he wanted the A-Wing Squadrons to stay close to the sector to defend it if necessary, but not to stay there, but be free to move some distance from it. The novelization says steer course for holding sector, however.

The Imperial Fleet leaves hyperspace or from behind the moon, blocking Alliance fleet between Imperial Fleet and Death Star II’s shield. They are said to be in “sector 47” and “RT-23 and PB-4” for the novelization. RT-23 and PB-4 may be the parts of space near Endor where the Imperial Fleet came from behind in a clamp or pincer movement

The Imperial Fleet was made of the following: the Moddell Sector fleet, Death Squadron and the personal ships of the Grand Admirals (like the Eleemosynary, Recondite and Magic Dragon)

Emperor Palpatine placed a series of Interdictor Cruisers at the edge of the Endor System and combined with the Death Star II's and Endor’s (the Moon and Gas Giant’s) own gravity well, any attempt by hypering out of the area was futile. If the Rebels wanted to flee, they would have to fight their way through the Imperial Fleet, then the Interdictors and the rest of the sector fleet in the outer system (a “Battle Line“), as well as deal with the Gas Giant Endor, the Moon and the Death Star II’s gravity wells, making a extended retreat nearly impossible. For the Rebels, in theory at least some of their fleet would be able to escape. Of course, other ships were in the outer system, an entire sector fleet. Only Interdictors in the fleet would allow the Rebels to escape, as Interdictors have relatively few weapons for a ship of its size and the shields are weaker because the Gravity Well projectors drain energy from the shields allowing the shields to fall earlier in combat, unless the captain orders energy to be shunted from the gravity well projectors to the shields, which incidentally, allows the Rebels/smugglers/pirates/etc. to escape

The Imterdictors were arranged in a ring around the system's hyperspace exits. There were four known hyperspace routes to Endor, one each from the planets Sanyassa, Zorbia, and Trindello. The “Sanctuary Pipeline” was artificially created, it was a route from Sullust that required maintenance for continued usage by removing debris, checking for debris, etc.

The Imperial fleet sends some TIE squadrons forward in order to distract and harass the Alliance.

It is said that the Executor only has 2 wings, 144 TIE fighters, but in actuality it is much higher, as Curtis Saxton has shown in his Technical Commentaries that it can carry thousands of craft and Darksaber mentions thousands of TIEs, even though the Executor there is 8 km, so maybe it is twice as large. “thousands” means a minimum of 2,000 TIEs, but as it is around 17.6 km, it could be twice as much at minimum. Short for that: a shitload of TIEs to deal with.

A-Wing squadrons use their jammers to significantly decrease the accuracy of the Empire's TIE starfighters, explaining why few losses are taken by Capital Warships and star fighters, especially given Palpatine is still alive at this point. Green Squadron (which were A-wings) were ordered to screen the larger Rebel capital ships from Imperial fighters and bombers

The B-Wings were also essential to the survival of the Rebel Fleet and minimizing of losses caused to it. They were used in thinning the ranks of Imperial fighters and capital ships, and later focused their firepower on the Imperial communications ship and helped in the Executor attack.

Fighter combat ensues between Rebel and Imperial fighters, concentrated within the perimeter of the Rebel fleet. No capital ship losses yet. The Alliance keeps its fighters by the fleet so they have a higher survival chance, and they have the advantage, as many Alliance ships also shoot at the TIEs

Calrissian orders the other Rebel fighters to “draw their fire away from the cruisers”. Were the TIE fire sufficient to damage the Rebel Calamari Cruisers, particularly the MC40s in the fleet, or did the TIEs catch the Calamari Cruisers with no shields, or just by surprise (those ships recently turned around, 180* with the officers scrambling to navigation controls from battle stations, avoiding other Rebel ships, etc. so there is confusion. Maybe they just don’t want the TIEs to harass them, or he only meant to do that to TIE bombers. Would a dispersed TIE force (being drawn away from the cruisers) be easier to be destroyed by fighters and other Rebel capital ships?

In one part of the battle, the Millennium Falcon and Red Squadron had to defend the communications ship MC80a Independence (not the Home One-type Independence) and the Medical Nebulon-B Frigate Redemption (which had virtually no weapons) from an Imperial onslaught. In the first 9 (9.26) minutes, 160 TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors were destroyed, and if the Redemption (or the Independence) was destroyed, that would make the morale loss worse, as well as messing up the already-bad communication systems the Alliance had.

However, TIEs do manage to destroy some smaller warships, mainly Corellian Corvettes, Medium Transports and other small ships.

The Calamari Cruisers have antistarfighter cluster bombs, which often managed to take out many TIE squadrons. They are identical to the other bumps on the ships which carry supplies, sensor arrays, other weapons, like Laser, Turbolaser and Ion Cannons. These used surprise, due to the close range, needing to be within  300 meters (1,000 feet) The shrapnel does some of the damage, then the proton grenades can damage some smaller starships. Dampeners protect the cruisers themselves. The grenades that compose the bomb are indiscriminate. Because of this, these are the best used when friendly craft are vastly outnumbered by the enemy. Many of the 160 TIEs in the first waves destroyed in the first minutes were likely destroyed by cluster bombs and laser cannons on the Calamari Cruisers (and other warships)

It is said that at the Battle of Endor, the Rebel pilots memorized the location of the cluster bombs. They must have good memory, as each Calamari Cruiser has the cluster devices at different locations due to the calamari individualization of their ships and the fact that there were dozens of Calamari warships at Endor.

TIE craft pilots were trained to be overzealous and aggressive. This was effective at many engagements, frighteningly effective at many against poorly-defended and small capital ships. At Endor, the Calamari Cruisers were large and well-defended and many TIEs rushed right into the traps, being destroyed by them.

17 TIE bombers arrive, which attack the Redemption.  Some shields fail on the Redemption, hull damage is taken on ship. TIE bombers also fire missiles at Home One, which takes hits to its’ shields

More waves of TIEs arrive to attack and distract Rebel Fleet, keeping them busy. However, Rebel cluster traps and Rebel capital ship fire destroy at least some of them.

Lando notices that only the Imperial fighters are attacking, and wonders why the Imperial Fleet is holding. At the Imperial Fleet, Piett tells the Executor’s captain to hold their current position as Palpatine has “something special” planned for them, and the fleet is only to keep them from escaping the battle

Now, from Admiral Piett’s bridge, you could see the Death Star II and the Rebel Fleet. The other Imperial warships were behind the Executor and to its’ sides.

Palpatine orders the Death Star to open fire, destroying the Calamari Cruiser Liberty which was in a long-range battle in one shot. It seems as the aft 100-200 meters of the ship survives, but the movie makes it seem as if it is disintegrated.

Palpatine wants to “fuck with” his prey, showed by the fact that he orders his fleet to hold position, when they can attack and that the Death Star shoots one of the smaller Calamari Cruisers.

Jerjerrod also liked “fucking with his prey” also, as shown when he destroyed the Calamari Cruiser Liberty, one of the medium-sized Calamari warships, instead of the 3< Home One-class warships, or any other large ships. He also could’ve done that because he was inexperienced in combat, as he governed the backwater and relatively-peaceful Quanta Sector before his reassignment to the Death Star II.

It takes 2 minutes to recharge and shoot the Superlaser again. The Death Star likely took longer, as Palpatine liked “fucking” with the Alliance.

The DS II has 9 superlaser beams, and can fire off-center more than the DS I. Its’ laser dish glows green, but that could be reflected light.

The Liberty carried many of the Munitions for the operation, so other than the loss of many munitions there was the loss of fighters, troops, equipment and weapons (like Attack and Hover Tanks and more.

The Alliance is shocked to discover the Death Star’s superlaser is operational, as they though it was only half-built and the main weapons wouldn’t be operational yet. The Rebela are even more shocked that it can aim and destroy a 1.2 km Mon Calamari warship, especially when the station itself is 900 km in diameter.

The shield is opened for a few seconds to allow the superlaser to fire and hit the Alliance ships. This needs a lot of coordination, if the shield stays open for too long the Alliance can send some fighters and warships in to attack the half-completed station. If it is left up too long, the super laser will overload the shields and destroy them, then continue on to destroy the Alliance ships. This could keep the shields down for an extended period of time or overload the generators to the point beyond quick repair, leaving it exposed for an extended time allowing the Alliance to attack. A portion of the shield would be lowered, around 1-2 km or hundreds of kilometers if necessary for a few seconds. However, the Imperial fleet was jamming the Alliance Fleet, so would the Rebels know about the lowered shields? They could notice the super laser encountered no resistance, what would they think about that. Did they think the shield was up when they noticed the lack of impediment by the Superlaser? Did they start to distrust Calrissian?

It is interesting that rebel fighters still hit the deflector shield. Is the Alliance fleet still packed up against the Death Star II, or did the pilot not see the shield, or was the person busy dealing with losing enemy fighters.

Lando persuades Ackbar to stay, as this would be their only chance to destroy the Death Star, and the Alliance would die if the DS would be operational, and many Alliance worlds would stop giving support and would surrender or be destroyed in weeks.

Lando wants the fleet to get closer to the Star Destroyers to “punch a hole in the Imperial Fleet through which we might escape” and the Calamari cruisers might not want to engage close to the Star Destroyers. They attack each other from a distance now.

Ackbar’s captain notes that they don't stand much of a chance against the Star Destroyers. They out-gun The Calamari Cruisers, and they're more heavily armored. In some cases, the Calamari cruisers only have 20 less weapons, but for Home One, there are only 29 Turbolasers and 36 Ion Cannons compared to the 120 guns on the Imperator-Class Star destroyer.

Over the next 20 minutes, the forward ships have made contact with the Imperial fleet and are engaging each other in battle line combat. Ackbar orders his ships to focus on their power generators to allow fighters to attack. Fighter craft focus on the scanner dome/shield generator domes on Imperial warships.

Earlier, Home One couldn’t win in a fight against 2 Imperator-class Star Destroyers without fighter support and then barely, but Emperor Palpatine was “energizing” his troops. The shields on Home One held, though.

2 ISDs after losing the bridge in an engagement with Home One lost engine control and fell a few kilometers closer to Endor before stopping dead. Did the repulsors reactive for both. Did they reach a more stable orbit (but the way the ships are tilted make that idea weird) Did they crash into Endor, at least one did.

However, the Calamari Cruisers have more shield generators, and redundant systems, as well as the point of their shields recharging faster, allowing them to last longer in a fight.

The bridge and other main systems aren’t standardized, also making it hard for the Star Destroyers to know where to hit. The Alliance cruisers know where to hit.

Star Destroyer shields don’t have as much backups, and the recharge is slower. However, the shields are more powerful.

A Home-One class warship is destroyed (the Defiance maybe), representing a large loss in men, material and firepower

The fact that “ship after ship” was destroyed by the Death Star II’s superlaser shows the very large size of the Alliance Fleet at Endor and how long the battle took. “ship after ship” could mean dozens of ships and that they are Calamari Cruisers, the Death Star couldn’t target smaller warships unless coordinated with the Star Destroyers.

General Calrissian orders his ships to engage the Imperial Fleet at point-blank range, removing the Star Destroyers’ main Turbolaser advantage and making it harder for the Death Star to hit the Alliance ships.

He says that “they’ll last longer than we will against that Death Star, And we might just take a few of them with us” meaning that they have a higher chance of survival against the Star Destroyers than against the Death Star

Calamari Cruisers seem to have the advantage at close (point-blank range) combat (but that could be due to the fact that Palpatine died)

Alliance fighters move close to the Imperial Capital warships and used the ships as a shield. The TIE fighters couldn’t fire discriminately as much, even though the ISD shields could take it.

Originally, some Alliance fighters were destroyed but it was equalized and the Alliance took less losses than the Imperials later. The Empire still had the TIE advantage. The capabilities of the TIE Interceptor enabled it to play a “pivotal role” in the battle (advance targeting computers, with 10 laser cannons, fast speed and great maneuverability). Once the Rebel ships maneuvered their ships into close proximity with the Imperial warships, these starfighters became the Empire's major attack force, believed to destroy almost half of the Rebels' own fighters during this stage of the battle. The pilot loss is unknown, many of them likely survived and were recovered in battle. TIE Interceptors exploited the weaknesses of the A-Wings and B-Wings, as a result the Imperial starfighters were able to win a high percentage of their engagements, but in other cases the A-wings did very well against TIE interceptors. Besides serving as the command ship in the Imperial Fleet, the Executor also provided covering fire for other Imperial Capital ships.

The Imperial warships have trench guns that don’t have much maneuverability with targeting smaller fighters but are somewhat decent with ship-to ship combat. The guns at least provide some intimidation to fighters flying through the trench.

Imperator-class Star Destroyers’ engine glow can be yellow or white

The Alliance’s point was to hold off as long as possible until the shield fell around the Death Star. Fleets engage at point blank range, “beating the shit” out of each other, like at the Battle of Coruscant.

Surprisingly, the Empire didn’t have a Plan B, seeing the Battle Of Coruscant. However, this fleet was in the outer regions so that might affect it. However, the Personal Star Destroyers of some Grand Admirals also were there, they might’ve provided additional support. Palpatine thought the DS would destroy the Alliance as they tried to blast a hole in the Imperial Fleet. They tried that, but they then decided for point-blank range fights.

An advantage for the Alliance is shown when a Rebel Cruiser, having sustained critical damage after destroying a Star Destroyer ("its back alive with fires and explosions") rams and destroys another Imperator Star Destroyer in a suicide run. Cargo ships and Medium Transports loaded with explosives are set on collision courses with Imperial ships, with the Crews abandoning ships.

The Death Star II is able to destroy a Bulk Cruiser with its‘ superlaser, much smaller than Calamari Craft, but the targeting might’ve been coordinated by the nearby Star Destroyers, to help the DS II superlaser dish correctly aim. It might’ve been too hard to hit other Rebel ships, they were behind other Star Destroyers, and it was considered too risky to try that again.

Palpatine’s idea relied on that the rebels, thanks to the jamming, would rush in to attack and then they would further dilute their forces by smashing into the energy shield. Thanks to Lando that did not happen.

The communication ship is attacked, which was heavily damaged from an engagement with a Rebel Cruiser it had subsequently destroyed. Its damages were reparable however, so the Rebel fighters struck quickly. Green Wing crashes into the destroyer's front batteries, destroying them.

Part of the “communication ship” could be the bridge tower with several bridges seen in the cutscene after Luke falls down after Vader throws his light saber in an opening

Alternatively, it would be the VSD Dominator, of the ISD-II Avenger. However, the Avenger survives and retreats, to lead Operation Shadow Hand. The VSD Dominator is too small and doesn’t have enough firepower to destroy a Calamari Cruiser.

The idea that the reactor is exposed to the outside by hangars is scary. Shields might’ve been able to protect it, if they were not damaged from the Rebel Warship

Remaining fighters fire into the vessel's open cargo bay, where power reactors are located. That weakness is another advantage of point-blank combat. The Communications Ship is destroyed, when internal explosions reach a point were the power reactors explode.. Blue Leader is killed in the explosion. The Jamming is stopped, and the Alliance knows where the shield is at, but it is still there. B-wings from Blue Squadron likely helped destroy the Comms Ship

Some time during the battle, the Millennium Falcon chased 2 TIE Interceptors up towards the underside of the Executor. Both TIE Interceptors were destroyed by the Rebels, however the Lando got the Millennium Falcon in a large area of fire. To prevent their destruction Lando flew the Falcon into the main hanger of the Executor. This means that in battle, maybe they got so into the battle (intense concentration on destroying the 2 TIEs) that they didn’t notice that they were getting dangerously close to the Executor, and also showing that Rebel craft can get close to the Executor without being destroyed, the battle was that frantic and confusing (2 fleets engaging each other at point-blank range, one fleet fighting to survive and using desperate tactics like suicide runs can create chaos, especially after the communication ship’s destruction.) That also showed that the Executor’s main hanger is decently large, or that Lando isn’t as bad as he says as a pilot (alternatively, Nien Numb could’ve piloted it)

They ran through the ship and collided with a repair gantry causing only superficial damage to the Rebel ship. Were the shields up, probably. They then raked the hanger with concussion missiles and both quad laser cannons, but had enough to use against the Death Star II. The damage they caused resulted in a huge fireball which allowed them to be obscured from Imperial Gunners while they made their escape out of the hanger. Fire can obscure sensors, or the confusion and surprise also did that. Was the fireball hot enough to mess up the sensors?

The Shield around the Death Star is taken down. It “sputtered” meaning it might lose power, then disintegrate of collapse. Red Group and Gold Group begin their attack run, a few ships, 7-8. The shield’s demolition takes down Imperial Morale, as the Death Star II is vulnerable to Alliance Capital Ship and fighter attack.

The Rebels had to destroy the ISDII Vehement, as well as and 128 TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors that were screening the area that the Rebels needed to get through. Couldn’t they fly around it, but the TIEs would pursue them. They said that they needed to punch through the fighter screen protecting the Death Star II. The Millennium Falcon, again led the attack. The ISDII Vehement was in support of the TIEs to prevent the Rebels from getting through. It is weird, that the Vehement held its position. Couldn’t the ships turn around, as the rear has the least guns. The ISDII Vehement took damage, as the Rebel Y-wings of Gold Squadron took down its domes, then shot the hull with laser cannons and proton torpedoes, while the Falcon attacked as well as dealt with the TIEs. The ISD-II Vehement exploded, and the Rebel forces dealt with the remaining TIEs, then attacked the Death Star II.

Colonel Salm ordered Grey Squadron to disable Imperial capital ships that were still in the way between General Calrissian’s fighters and the Death Star II. Couldn’t the Falcon and the Rebel fighters simply avoid of fly between the Imperials, or would TIEs (launched from the ships) attack them

Admiral Ackbar calls it the “Death Star” not the Death Star II of the Second Death Star. Is this due to simplicity as Ackbar doesn’t know much Basic, of do the species that currently make up the Rebellion know what he is talking about it. Can people pick up what he means, due to the differing species. Even during the New Republic, will they understand him?

The Millennium Falcon, 2 X-Wings, 2 A-Wings and 1 Y-Wing began their run into the Death Star II. The novelization, however describes “dozens” of Rebel starfighters; They may have done distraction and stayed near the surface or tried other tunnels for their Death Star core runs.

Could’ve missiles done it? They probably couldn’t have done it, due to running out of fuel before reaching the core, 450 miles of traveling, avoiding tunnels, pipes, etc. Droids probably couldn’t do it, it wold have to be remote-controlled. Jamming wouldn’t allow that. Therefore, living pilots had to be sent.

Why did the Millenium Falcon attempt the Death Star II Core run? Lando makes it seem as this was his plan all the time.

1. It is easy to repair from the inside (other Rebels crewed the Falcon, like Ace Azzamen, Airen Cracken and more. The other crewmembers helped with shield and weapon power, manned its 2 quad-turrets and R2 droids could easily repair shield generators from the inside and maybe from outside too.

2. It has strong shields-it can take heavy damage, which is needed to survive for the core run, dealing with TIEs harassing the Alliance fighters and hitting the edges of tunnels. It would also com in useful for surviving explosions (it survived the Death Star II explosion when it started to overtake Lando, unlike a unshielded TIE interceptor which was easily destroyed from the explosion)

3. Lando lead the attack, it would be good to participate in the attack or supervise it. It would be a boost to have your leader fighting alongside of you, helping you, covering you, etc.

4. Lando is a decent pilot, He was taught by Han Solo and the Falcon was his first warship, he would be able to fly it in the tunnels easily and fly out in time

5.“They were desperate, especially with the Star Destroyers outside, the Death Star taking out the fleet, and having already lost many fighters because the shield was up and their attack had been postponed. Anything that can fit, get it in there and destroy the main reactor! However, only 1/5 of the Alliance fleet was destroyed. The Death Star II only destroyed one other warship after the point-blank engagement and the Alliance was winning the fleet engagement. Perhaps the Falcon wasn't orginally intended to go in, but they lost SOOOOOO many ships because of the trap that Lando figured he'd better head in. It might’ve been a “spur of the moment” decision”

6. “This could possibly be from the book, so take it for what it's worth, but I seem to recall that the smaller fighters (ie X-wing, A-wing) didn't pack enough firepower to blow up the DS II core like the Falcon did.”

7. “I would think the two things the falcon really has on it side are, one, as already suggested it's big, so essentially it's too big to pass, that means worst case scenario the falcon was meant to be expendable and stay in between the front fighters and the TIEs, and act as a buffer against the TIEs.”

Palpatine is killed. The Imperial Fleet is disorganized and Morale is taken really down. Because of his death, the Alliance eventually wins, due to TIE fighter incompetence. Jerjerrod orders the Death Star to move to destroy Endor, as that was Palpatine’s last order . It seems as the Imperial Fleet moved close to the DS II to protect it, or to get shelter from when the DS II destroyed Endor. It likely was disorganization, also

Ackbar talks into a “multi-frequency war channel” That must be for all the Rebel Frequencies. Did the Imperials find out about the shield’s demolition, or did the Imperials’ sensors detect it by themselves. He used a “war channel” so is there must be a channel fro civilian use for the Rebels (by now, and even before Yavin, there were several planets who defected to the Rebels.

The Total Rebel fighters attacking are described as a horde and others fight their way into the Death Star from other openings in the superstructure. As they head to the surface, a still-massing but disorganized force of TIE fighters chase them, which likely were the TIEs from the Star Destroyers. Obsidian Squadron defended the station, and likely pursued the Alliance Fighters into the station. Scythe Squadron defended the inside of the station, and also pursued the Rebels.

The turbolasers on the DS II had many more anti-starfighter defenses, but Palpatine was dead, and many turrets weren’t complete, so the turrets had a hard time hitting Alliance fighters.

The Alliance likely used the unfinished parts of the Death Star as an advantage and made some TIEs crash into construction equipment.

The Death Star starts to launch some TIEs, the Imperial Fleet pursues the Alliance Fleet, moving closer to the Death Star. The Imperial fleet moves near the Death Star’s northern hemisphere, where it would be safe and the Alliance Fleet still fought the Imperial over the Death Star II

The Alliance fighters Enter the Death Star. Jamming does force some Alliance fighters to crash, but most of them stay intact. TIEs take some Rebel fighters out, but much less, as the Emperor is dead, taking many of their skills away.

Grey Group is called in to remove a blockage in the Tunnel core, The Falcon has to go the long way to the core using a side tunnel for a time until they pas the blockage. Some of Grey Group (B-wings) manage to open the block by the time the reactor is destroyed. Did they use proton torpedoes, or were the attack runs commenced by the Falcon and other Rebel craft enough to re-assure them that their torpedoes would not be needed for the reactor attack, or lasers are effective enough. B-wings are slow, so maybe they are able to slow down, fire their weapons and turn around back quickly or blow the hole while going at full speed and maneuver back out through the other tunnels.

The tunnels reaching to the Reactor were for easy maintenance access to the Core and other portions of the station. 4 tunnels go from the surface to the Reactor, and there were dozens, maybe hundreds of smaller tunnels leaving back to the Death Star’s surface. They are also described as “power channels” deeper to the Core. The outer tunnels are more with the construction, and the inner portions are more complete, with power tunnels, etc.

In order to slow the various Rebel starfighter squadrons in the Death Star II heading for the Main Reactor and distracting TIEs, Moff Jerjerrod responded by flooding the area with water or hypermatter to hinder the Rebel's progress, and issue an evacuation order to the crew.

The Death Star II also used jamming to slow down the Alliance forces in the superstructure.

In a New Hope, they show how easy it is to shoot fighters in a confined area from the rear. It is weird, however little losses were taken in the Death Star chase scene. However, it was winding. Another thing is how most of the TIEs pursued the wrong fighters to the surface, ignoring the real threat. These TIEs may have been the ones at the Imperial Fleet, so they didn’t know.

At this point, in order to distract the TIEs that made their presence known (they already knew the TIEs were there) by destroying Red 2 and to try to survive to the Core, Lando Calrissian orders most of the other Rebel fighters to go back to the surface, drawing many of Obsidian Squadron’s TIEs with them.

Tycho Celphu also lead the TIEs “on a merry chase thorough the Death Star” so maybe he didn’t immediately return to the Death Star II’s surface, but simply flew through the battle station, shooting targets of opportunity while baiting the TIEs (or shooting to bait the TIEs) until the main reactor/core was destroyed by Wedge Antilles and Lando Calrissian.

The reason the TIEs didn’t shoot the Rebel ships were perhaps the TIE pilots were worried about hitting something important, That deep into the station, and especially in the core, there's plenty of stuff around that wouldn’t respond well to being shot. The Rebels posed a higher threat than a miss-fire, but in a situation like that, the TIE pilots may not have been thinking very clearly, as Palpatine is dead.

The Empire standardized parts, so it was easier to build the DS secretly, and the TIE pilots could know what not to hit. It is likely that the Imperial pilots feared that their laser fire could have destroyed the reactor. The Imperial pilots did not recognize the danger the Rebel fighters posed to the Death Star likely.

Admiral Ackbar decides to try to get a Calamari Cruiser and some Corvettes closer to the Executor. Some Alliance ships were destroyed when one Corvette crashed into an ISD bridge, damaging the ship slightly. Another was destroyed by a few salvos of heavy turbolaser (Ion Cannon?) fire (the 4 huge guns on top)

It seems that a Liberty-type of Calamari Cruiser can be disabled by 2 ISDs firing their 8 guns. However, that ship may have also have had problems, as they were fighting for some time, maybe Hours and that ship already took some damage, explaining why 6 Corellian Corvettes and several fighter elements protected it.

An ISD can take a suicidal Corellian Corvette hitting the top deck by the bridge, However, the 2 domes were destroyed in the attack. Why? Were the Rebels still desperate enough to use Suicide tactics gainst the Enemy, or was that ship already heavily-damaged and mainly abandoned (it seems like that, there were small explosions on the ship)? This is interesting, as a suicidal Corellian Corvette, the Thunder crashed into the SSD Vengeance’s bridge during the Airam Campaign a few months ago, destroying it and the top deck allowing the B-wings to destroy the ship. However, the ISD hit by the Corellian Corvette still had shields up. Another example is during Daala’s attack 8 years later, a suicidal Corellian Corvette rammed the 13X, destroying it but it hit the engines.

The 8 Heavy Guns can be easily destroyed by Alliance fighters, but it often takes more to take those guns down.

The ISDs, after losing the guns facing the Calamari Cruiser decides to break off, while still shooting the Calamari Cruiser with the other guns while trying to gain distance. Maybe the Calamari Cruisers can inflict more damage than the ISD when the ISD is emasculated of its 8 heavy guns. However, the third ISD in the path decides to use all 8 of its guns to stop the Calamari Cruiser, turning when the first Guns can’t hit the Cruiser of are destroyed and then uses the other 4 on the other side, moving at nearly the same speed as the Calamari Cruiser, shooting it in a broadside.

Why didn’t the ISD guns try to shoot the engines? for the third ISD, the engines couldn’t be shot because the 88 Heavy Guns were on a higher angle. There were probably too many engines to shoot. The ship was close enough to Endor to the point that the curvature was barely visible, so maybe Repulsorlifts would stay up and continue to move the ship. Maybe they were sure the ship would be disabled.

At This time, the Executor had guidance system problems, and moves near the Death Star’s northern hemisphere. The Other Imperial ships stay near the Executor and the Alliance fleet is still in point-blank range. This is shown in Rebel Strike where the Executor slightly turned to the right, so Endor was visible on the left side of the Executor.

At least 24 Rebel Mon Calamari Cruisers and many smaller warships (most of the Alliance Fleet) attack the Commandship Executor, a “Super Star Destroyer” at the same time. This order was given by Ackbar to keep more Imperials from swarming the Rebel fighters within the Death Star's superstructure. It is having difficulties with its guidance system.

It seems that 3 B-wings can destroy an Imperator, as least an unshielded one (Star Wars manga) or at least heavily disable the ship (McQuarrie’s ROTJ drawings)

The Alliance warships ignore the Other Imperial warships’ attacks. In 30< minutes, the shields on the Executor fail at least temporarily.

From Admiral Piett’s bridge, you can now see the Death Star II’s surface showing how close the Executor is to the Death Star.

The Alliance fighters begin strafing runs on the Executor now unshielded. The ship is large enough to be nearly the size of the Death Star trenches and turbolaser turrets (also used on the Death Star I) were used. If they flew above the trench, it would be more likely that the Empire could shoot them down.

In the chaos at Endor, the Alliance fighters can easily survive to reach the hull of the Executor and other large warships, and hide in trench, and superstructure cavities until they reach the bridge or any other important parts.

The domes are destroyed, forcing Piett to intensify the forward batteries to defend the bridge as turbolaser accuracy is down and the bridge is vulnerable, as the bridge deflector shields are also taken down when the scanner domes are destroyed. The hypercomm transmissions are also weakened.

The Imperial Warship bridges are the command and control centers, the loss of it can cause a warship to lose power, have its engines and weapons malfunction, or even have the ship crash into planets and/or explode.

Green Leader’s A-wing, heavily-damaged from anti-aircraft fire on the Executor flies towards the bridge and crashes into it. Due to the corridor behind the command bridge, the A-wing explosion, any unused concussion missiles fired, the A-wing engines and fuel and more the explosion spreads thorough the command tower, destroying the navigation complex. The Bridge explodes, control can’t be transferred to a backup bridge and the Executor moves down several dozen kilometers crashing into the Death Star, killing all crew on the Executor, and the Alliance fleet (mainly Calamari Cruisers) moves to commence low-orbit bombardment on the DSII. The Executor also took with it a disproportionate fraction of the best young and midlevel officers and crews, as well as morale loss and command and control loss. The Battle turned into a confused rout.

When the Executor’s bridge was taken down, a chain reaction happened on power station after station on the middle third of the warship

Why did the Executor fall? The Executor, just like all the other imperial capital ships, did  not immediately engage the rebel fleet, and were simply ordered to hold their positions and take hits when the Rebels engage at point-blank range.  The rebels are not limited by command decisions from the Emperor, so they can concentrate all their fire on the Executor, and in some cases the imperials allowed the rebels to close to “point blank range” before returning fire, while in other cases long-range ship-to-ship battled did take place earlier. Also, the Rebels had 3 Home One-type Calamari Cruisers at least 10 times as powerful as an ISD, with 34 smaller Calamari Cruisers (each comparable to an ISD), and hundreds of smaller ships, either Nebulon -Bs, Corvettes, Bulk Cruisers and Assault Frigates, etc. Add on that suicide transports and warships, and the forward and bridge shields fell temporarily from the Rebel fleet. Because of the confusion of Battle, the death of Palpatine screwing up the battle motivation, and there being a Death Star to crash into, the backup bridge could’ve taken control and the ship could’ve fought on.

When the Executor went down and crashed, it took 10 starfighters, 2 cruisers and 1 ordnance vessel with it. Most other fighters and ships escaped. One Star Destroyer was also destroyed in collision when the Executor crashed.

The 2 cruisers and ordinance vessel might be Alliance, and they were caught in the explosions, not crashing into or hitting the ship.

When the Executor crashed, some captains realized the rebels won, and they ordered their warships to retreat, like Captain Dorja of the ISD-I Relentless and Captain Drysso of the ISD-II Virulence.

The Executor hit and crashed into the Death Star’s northern hemisphere close to the Emperor’s tower (less than 100 km) and it hit a complete portion of the battle station. However, Rebel Strike makes it seem as the Executor hit an incomplete portion.

The Crash of the Executor only exacerbates the panic, hysteria, and fear resulting from the Emperor's death. At this time, half of the Death Star’s crew is now Dead, Injured or missing. Other Imperials abandon the Death Star, Jerjerrod orders the Death Star II evacuated. It seems as many of them had problems finding a way to escape.

In the confusion, the half-built battle station was firing in all sectors, whether rebels were there of not. Moff Jerjerrod ordered concentration of all fire in the sector where the Rebel Fleet was closing in. How affective was this? The death of Emperor Palpatine allowed Rebel fleet bombardment and the crash of the Executor, which seriously took down command and control. Were the turbolaser shots good, accurate, or wildly shot. He ordered “all fire concentrated” in that sector. The Rebel fighters in the superstructure eluded the defense system. This is interesting, inside the battle station, there was a defense system. Was it the TIEs of Scythe Squadron who defended the interior of the station?

The Moff ordered the flooding of sectors 304 and 138. However this order made little sense to the aide he was ordering. Was the flooding ineffectual, or was it in the wrong sectors, missing where the Rebel Squadrons were at. He ordered 2 sectors flooded, with 150 digits in difference. Did this mean that other Rebels attempted the tunnel run, and weren’t seen in ROTJ? The Moff Jerjerrod ordered to accelerate the rotation and within 60 seconds the station would be able to fire at its new target-Endor. Some time passed and in 30 seconds the battle station would be able to fire at its target. Was it slower due to the damage done by the Executor’s crash, the reactor meltdowns, etc and the fact that it was half-built.

Heroism by the Imperials is in many places, like the construction worker who rescued Grand Admiral Teshik. Posts are abandoned, numerous reactors meltdown on the Death Star, from the Executor‘s crash. The rebel fleet is bombarding the Death Star. One can imagine the crushing effect on Imperial fleet morale the loss of Executor would've had anyway. The Death Star is now almost able to hit Endor. It won’t reach range.

After the Executor’s destruction, 6 more ISDs were destroyed in fights they should’ve have won. Admiral Pellaeon couldn’t keep the initiative, and many TIEs were destroyed. The Imperial forces took heavy losses, and kept fighting near the DS II.

The main reactor consisted of a large toroidal plasma-filled space surrounding a spheroidal structure at the very core of the battle station. The main reactor is a miniature sun, and it was very large. The chamber is around 90 km wide, 1/10th of the whole station.

At this point, 2 TIE Interceptors still chased the Falcon and the X-wing in the Core. However, what about Scythe Squadron defending the interior. They were likely dealing with the other Rebel attempts to attack the Core. The Sega Arcade game makes it seem that several TIEs from Scythe Squadron, TIE interceptors and fighters were at the Core and attempted to take down Wedge and Lando. The 2 quad-lasers, however kept them off the Falcon long enough to destroy the Core.

At this point of the tunnel, close to the core, the tunnel was thin, and “barely two planes wide” This protion also had more bends than the sections closer to the surface (at least for this portion)

It is weird on how far the Falcon and the X-wing traveled considering how big the Death Star II’s core is. They traveled 45 kilometers in 10=20 seconds. Of course, that could simply be a shortening of the time, Rogue Leader has it take longer to get from the en of the tunnel to the Core.

The TIEs didn’t hit the Falcon, only 1 shot fired at it. They should’ve shot the X-wing, as the destabilization wouldn‘t reach critical. They were probably afraid of destroying the reactor. Lando’s gunners also kept the TIEs “jumping” in the narrow space.

Wedge Antilles says that “it’s too big” and that “my proton torpedoes won’t even dent that” they have never seen a reactor “that awesome” (the chamber is 90 km wide, fuck yeah it is big) Lando, however says that his concussion missiles will be able to penetrate (they create shock waves on impact that goes through armor to destroy the vulnerable target inside) Lanbdo realizes that after he hit’s the core, they don’t have much time to escape again.

Red Leader (Wedge Antilles) fired proton torpedoes at the Power Regulator, starting to destabilize the Reactor and helping to overload the reactor.  He did it with a Corellian war-cry. Was it Old Corellian, it an updated saying that fits with the Rebellion, etc? Was it anti-Diktat (and by extension, Anti-Empire)? His 2 proton torpedoes hit “both sides” of the north tower and peeled off, accelerating. The explosion from the reactor power regulator moved to the right in a wave. The proton torpedoes worked, as the Death Star’s reactor core must be unshielded. However, the Main Reactor might be shielded; but that could also be the plasma from the gap.

Between the 2 connecting points of the reactor other than the thick plasma there is a thin tube of dense plasma from the lowest cone in the top part to the highest cone part of the bottom. The Death Star prototype, however has the gap as described as “an energy discharge”.  As the prototype is very similar to the Death Stars (DS prototype just a shell of battle station and in ANH Solo comments on “reactor leak, very dangerous”) Is that electricity, ionizing any gases (the size of the gap is HUGE, remember the reactor chamber is 90 km) so there must be a lot of power going through for the electricity to go that far and ionize any gases. However, isn’t this vacuum? However, the center might have air due to the artificial gravity effects, but you don’t see any effects of air. Nine troopers were killed when they repaired the Death Star prototype 7 years later, is the reactor using radioactive components also, or is something else? The hypermatter could have that effect. It was strong enough to penetrate spacetrooper armor, which is designed to withstand the radiation of space, as well as frying their systems (“blue lightning engulfed his control pack“). It was able to affect and break down the ship’s circuits. It was also strong to darken their faceplates. WTF is that reactor skin made of? Is it simply thick enough for the Death Star.

The Millennium Falcon then hit the bottom part of the Reactor, near the plasma torus with 4 concussion missiles 3 seconds later. The bottom part created a small explosion which stopped. The bottom part exploded and that disrupted the cone. That likely overloaded the reactor.

A TIE interceptor was caught in the plasma, and exploded, showing the power of the Energy. It could easily overwhelm the Falcon‘s shields. The plasma torus quickly expanded, showing a overload in power. The reactor top collapsed to the bottom, and the explosion started where the plasma is. It quickly filled in the chamber.

The shaft already was “caving in” in on top of him already. Is this a quick explosion? It was still slower than the first Death Star’s explosion. The Falcon moved through “moving shafts” and even through the forming and expanding walls of flame.

The Death Star essentially blew itself up, if the reactor wasn’t on, maybe it would’ve stayed

TIE Interceptors can’t survive the heat or explosions, that is explained as at that time they don’t have shields.

The explosion spread quickly, and spread throughout the tunnels. The X-wing made it out, but the Falcon was slower and barely escaped. Grand Admiral Nial Declann was killed when the DSII exploded.

By this time, Grey Group unblocked the hole in the Death Star II tunnel Lando used for his attack. Why didn’t they use any of the other tunnels? Maybe it was easier, they chose the easiest tunnel that they used and the easier it is, the faster it is to go and they chose the faster way as they’re afraid of being too slow and being caught in the explosion. Maybe the others might also have unexpected blockages in the tunnels and other Rebel fighters noticed that and warned that or Lando and Wedge’s “gut instinct” told them.

Admiral Ackbar ordered the Alliance Fleet to move away from the DS II and near Endor when the DS II started to explode, to save the fleet, cover the Alliance Commandoes and save them and the Ewoks from debris. Any small pieces were likely blasted into oblivion; Larger pieces were probably tractored to hit a different part of Endor, though many pieces were very large

Both Rebel and Imperial Fleets moved away from the Death Star II so they would not be caught in the explosion. Did they still fight each other during the moving away, or did the Imperial Fleet retreat to space away from the battle station (or in a different direction than the Rebel Fleet?) Then conducted the harassment for the next 4 hours?

An explosion still some distance away can de-stabilize an unshielded Imperial Lambda-class shuttle, Vader’s personal shuttle. When Luke took Vader’s shuttle an escaped, his craft “wobbled” Was the effect of the explosion when he was still in the hangar.

The explosion had several fragments that were the size of several Executors. Endor took heavy damage from meteor hits and a nuclear winter that lasted for Years. The New Republic kept this a secret but the Empire capitalized on it, probably. 30+ pieces of the Death Star were large, maybe 10-20 km long, and were visible during the explosion plummeting to Endor. Only one would be enough to cause mass-extinction, but there are more than 30 and there is the other debris falling.

Admiral Harrsk and some of the fleet retreated from Endor after they saw the DSII explode. Harrsk was badly injured and his ISD took heavy damage, however, it is said that Teshik was in command of the fleet, and took full command, after some time. Maybe Harrsk didn’t hear about it, the Death Star II’s destruction messed up communications.

The Death Star II's explosion almost completely disrupted ship-to-ship communications and scanners. Imperial ships accustomed to superior communications due to their equipment, etc. were caught unprepared for the sudden reduction in communication range. The Rebels who are trained to operate under less than ideal conditions, pressed their assault on various ships and the Empire's unified blockade action degenerated into a series of fierce single engagements, where the 6 other ISDs were destroyed in, when they should’ve had no problem with them.

Pellaeon took command after Teshik’s capture and ordered the other ISDs to retreat some time (4 hours) after the DS II was destroyed as they lost and staying would allow more ships to be captured or destroyed by the Alliance It seemed to be “illegal” but it was widely followed by many. They retreated to Annaj (a.k.a. Cannij Barr which was the Modell Sector capital and staging area for Imperial Fleet operations) There were some Imperial warships destroyed by the DS II explosion? The fleet was close to the DSII’s surface.

After the destruction of the SSD Executor, command should have properly passed from Fleet Admiral Piett to Grand Admiral Teshik, Admiral Harrsk of the original Captain of the ISD-II Chimaera. However, Teshik was on the DS II and couldn’t gain command for some time, he had to get to his flagship, and when he did many didn’t know he was back on his flagship. However, it seemed that it was able to at least somewhat fight under Teshik, but they were still beaten back by the Rebels. Gilad Pellaeon, however who at the time was the senior surviving officer of the Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera ordered a retreat from Endor after Teshik‘s vessel, the Eleemosynary was disabled and Captured by the Rebels.  One thing is that the retreat order from a junior officer out-ranked by many other present Imperials was widely heeded by other fleet commanders. Pellaeon may have a good reputation or the loss or Battle Meditation did that. Admiral Harrsk wasn’t in command then, his portion of the fleet fled the battle after seeing the Death Star II explode. The heavy losses also likely affected them. At Annaj, Admiral Prittick transmitted from Annaj, telling the rest of the Empire of the defeat at Endor, but many already knew.

Demoralized by the loss of the Executor, the Emperor and the Death Star, the majority of the Imperial Fleet retreated deeper into Imperial Space after 4 hours, believing that the Rebels could not take the war deeper into Imperial space or to the Imperial Throneworld, Coruscant. They were wrong, as in 3 years the New Republic took the planet. Interesting, the Rebels thought the war was over, and the Empire wad dead.

It is possible that AT-AT barges and Sentinel Shuttles were used to evacuate Imperial troops and equipment from Endor , from heavily-damaged Star Destroyers and from the Death Star II, while being escorted by TIE craft and other Star Destroyers to hyperspace. General Veers was one of those who escaped Endor.

The ISD-II Avenger escaped and lead Operation Shadow Hand 6 years later. Saber Squadron, led by Baron Soontir Fel and Turr Phenir was assigned to defend the Avenger. That may have been the reason the Avenger escaped, had a regular squadron (instead of the elite Sabers) been defending it, it might’ve have been destroyed.

The Accuser's captain was knocked unconscious while Lieutenant Page and his team secured the rest of the bridge crew. Then General Solo activated the ship-wide hull breach alarm and ordered the crew to abandon ship. This is interesting, at least Imperators have a ship-wide hull breach alarm. What happened to the crew, did they get to their fighters, get in shuttles, lifeboats and escape pods, to be captured by the Rebels? Or were they able to be picked up by the Empire before their fleet retreated. How was it activated, was it using air pressure sensors placed thorough the ship, and a abrupt decrease in air pressure activates the alarm, as well as shuts off the portion experiencing an air breach maybe. Is the alarm activated also using buttons, or did they hack into the program, and made it seem to be that way. The ISD Accuser was almost completely operational when the Rebels captured the warship. This was re-named Liberator.

The ISD Adjudicator was also captured, however its engines and power systems were almost totally destroyed. This was re-named Emancipator

During the battle the ISD Pulsar was forced to surrender to the Rebel Fleet.

The ISD Eleemosynary, lead by Grand Admiral Teshik was disabled 4 hours after the Death Star II’s explosion by Ion Cannon fire after harassing the Rebel Fleet for that long. After that, Captain Pellaeon of the ISD-II Chimaera ordered a retreat. Howerer, Harrsk ordered his portion of the fleet to retreat to the Deep Core to build up his fiefdom, as he was unwilling to take orders from Pellaeon. Teshik was eventually executed by the Alliance for war crimes.

The ISD Unrepentant came after the battle ended, and deployed several booby-trapped probe droids to the system, to see the Alliance Fleet status and movements.  It hypered out of the area before the Rebels could engage it. Rebel starfighters then destroyed the Probe Droids but several Rebel starfighters suffered damage from the Probe Droid's weaponry. It is interesting, Probe Droid guns can damage Alliance starfighters. Maybe at maximum charge, due to Rebel craft shielding.

A second wave of Imperial Probe Droids were launched against the Rebel Fleet and Rebel starfighters intercepted them. Did the Repentant hyper after the first wave was launched, moving to a different area? However, these Probe Droids were programmed to ram enemy ships when engaged, rather than scan the Rebel Fleet deployment. Several Rebel starfighters were destroyed by the droids and the MC80 Reef Home was dispatched to mop up the remaining booby trapped droids. The intel was minimal and contradictory. The captain was acting on his own to transmit to the Fleets regrouping at Cannij Barr.

A series of minor probing attacks were launched by Imperial Forces against the Rebel sentry ships, which damaged a few Rebel ships.

A Imperial Systems Patrol Craft can destroy a Corellian Corvette even with weaker shields and no turbolasers by outmaneuvering the Corellian Corvette‘s weapons, giving the Imperials time to wear down the shields. Were the gunners green, and couldn’t aim very good? If so, maybe the shields were strong enough for the ship to survive the battle or the captain ordered the ship to stay close to friendly ships in the point-blank melee. Maybe the guns were damaged in the battle, and the ship was still in patrol and didn’t get repaired. They also disabled the drive system. Maybe the guns couldn’t extend that far, even when not damaged.  The Daggerblade likely went behind the Corvette and shot it up from behind. The ship is called the “Old Republic” so maybe the ship is also old and not routinely maintained. The Daggerblade was likely part of the Sector Fleet in the outer edges of the system, Interdictors alone aren’t good combat vessels (grav-well projectors take up good portion of energy from shields and gun density is lower), they mainly keep the enemy from escaping using gravity-well projectors.

It seemed as the Empire had the advantage, 10 to 1 in numbers including the DS II but they still lost. They had the advantage because of the Death Star II, other than that the Rebel Fleet was likely equal in size to the Imperial Fleet of even had larger numbers.

The surviving Imperial warships ranged in capabilities from most of its fighters intact, and minimal damage, if any to heavy damage, domes destroyed, most engines knocked out (a wonder they managed to get it to Annaj) and most TIEs destroyed.

There were at least 4 Grand Admirals at Endor, and the Ruling Council. Many council members were killed when the second Death Star exploded, as Grand Admiral Declann.

Admiral Prittick was in command of the Imperial Fleet that regrouped to Annaj (Cannij Barr), he informed the rest of the Empire the DS II exploded, though slicers managed to get and transmit real-live feeds to the battle and the Death Star II destruction. The Fleet spent several days regrouping and repairing at the planet and its shipyards, before dispersing or retreating further.

These pictures and live feeds were transmitted over the hijacked Imperial Holonet. The Alliance HQ warship or other Calamari Cruisers, or even Captured Star Destroyers transmitted it, but it is possible the Holonet relay on Endor was used.

Anyone with a holoprojector could see it. Those who supported the Alliance reveled, and Imperial loyalists fainted and fell out. Even Coruscant, the Imperial Throneworld had celebrations, and the crowd took down a
Statue of Emperor Palpatine, until Isard ordered stormtroopers into the celebration, killing the participants.

Many Outer Rim Imperial worlds revolted, just like what happened after the First Death star’s destruction, but now they stayed free, as the Empire was still reeling from the loss of the Death Star, the Emperor, Vader and the Executor.

The Ewoks were ingenious enough to use Imperial Stormtrooper and Navy Trooper helmets taken from the battle. The Rebels decided to release all the Imperial Survivors, giving them a shuttle from which they flied back to the Imperial Fleet at Annaj.

Naboo seems to be nearly the same way it was 34 years earlier, and Naboo and Gungans are celebrating together

Mos Eisley also has cause to celebrate, the Rebel Alliance drove the Imperials off the planet at least 1 year ago and saved Mos Eisley from Imperial destruction. Luke Skywalker also killed Jabba the Hutt, freeing Tatooine from the Hutts.

We see the party on Endor, but what about in Space. Did Admiral Ackbar and the others party after sufficient repairs were made to the ships and people were rescued? Was it too sad for the Fleet Rebels? The Imperials weren’t happy, however.

Imperial Prisoners were released, sent on shuttles to the Imperial Fleet re-grouping near Cannij Barr (Annaj) after being dis-armed. Many of them likely defected to the Rebels, like what happened with Pter Thanas a few days later. Many (most?) of the Generator personnel and imperial army forces were likely killed when the shield generator was destroyed.

Nuclear Winter effect, quoted from Curtis Saxton:
“When a moon-sized metallic object in low orbit injects its debris and fallout into the atmosphere below, the result is an immensely potent "nuclear winter" effect which will last for years. Darkness enshrouds the ewoks' homeworld, killing plant life. Herbivore and carnivores starve in succession. A handful of ewoks seem to have been evacuated by the rebels, escaping the biocide, since they are seen briefly on Coruscant in Dark Empire. Nevertheless, there cannot be enough survivors to constitute a genetically healthy breeding population.”



Maybe when they were reconstructing Vader's choobies, Palpy had them put a lightsaber there instead. Why else would he have that codpiece?

THe Victory-II frigates were likely in the outer system, as well as the rest of the sector fleet (Interdictors were inteh outer system keeping the Rebels fron escaping, add that to the DS II and Endor's gravity wells (the moon and planet) and the rest of the system that is hard to navigate through and the Rebels are screwed, prison style. no chance of escaping



Once at the rendezvous, Pellaeon could not keep the fleet intact, as Admiral Harrsk, furious at being ordered about by a Captain and with sights set on his own power base, took his task force to the Deep Core and became the Empire's first breakaway warlord. Pellaeon handed command of the fleet over to Annaj's Admiral Prittick, but for reasons unknown Prittick did not remain in command of the fleet, which wound up again under Pellaeon's command. For his own part, Pellaeon remained loyal to the structured command of the Galactic Empire, first under the command of Grand Vizier Sate Pestage, then, after Pestage's murder, to Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard.

Imperial Casualties  
One half-completed Death Star, 900 km wide
 Half of crew and soldiers
 Resources of a moon
 Many manpower investment

Imperial Fleet
 Executor crashed, destroyed
 Communications ship destroyed
 At least 15 ISDs destroyed.
 At least 5 ISDs captured by the Alliance

Endor
 Many members of the shield command bunker staff
 Many stormtroopers
 At least 3 AT-STs
 At least 1 AT-AT

Alliance losses

Alliance Fleet
 1/5 of the Alliance Fleet destroyed
 Over 1/5 of Rebel pilots killed or injured
 At least 2 Mon Calamari cruisers destroyed by Death Star
 At least 2 Mon Calamari cruisers destroyed in point-blank combat
 Other warships by point-blank combat, Death Star II and TIEs
 Many Alliance fighters
 8 Rogue Squadron fighters shot down

Endor
 Many Ewoks and their vehicles
 Some of Rebel commando team
 One Rebel Commando left behind (because he was taking a piss and/or shit in the forest and left behind) Eventually picked up one year later.

Imperial Objectives failed
 Massed Alliance Fleet survived
 Luke Skywalker still a Jedi
 Alliance High Command survived
 Death Star II destroyed

Point-blank Objectives
 Much of Imperial Fleet destroyed
 Executor destroyed
 Death Star II’s core (and rest of station) destroyed
 Much of Imperial Fleet escaped

Alliance Objectives succeeded:
 Death Star II destroyed
 Emperor Palpatine killed
 Targets of opportunity destroyed

Fleet Trap Objectives
 Alliance Fleet survived until the Shield Generator was destroyed
 TIE waves held off
 Imperial Fleet engaged
 Communications ship destroyed
 Executor destroyed

Sources: (not alphabetized, sorry )
The Truce at Bakura
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi movie
ROTJ novelization (both versions, the old and new versions)
X-wing: Wedge’s Gamble
X-wing: Wraith Squadron
Darksaber
Who’s Who: Imperial Grand Admirals
Heir to the Empire
TIE Fighter
X-wing
X-wing Alliance
Rogue Squadron II
Rogue Squadron III
The New Essential Chronology
Unofficial Star Wars timeline
ROTJ Star Wars Manga comics
Complete Locations
Galactic Empire Databank
Star Wars Technical Commentaries
Nav-computer.com
Empire At War
Jedi Academy Trilogy (Champions of the Force)
Star Wars Wiciticities
Marooned
Darksaber
Star Wars Encyclopedia
Star Wars: Rebellion (video game)
Unofficial Star Wars Timeline (done by Nathan P. Butler)
Fuckload of other references