Ison Corridor ambush

After the evacuation of Alliance High Command from the Rebel base at Yavin 4 in 0.5 ABY, two convoys were directed to rendezvous in the Ison Corridor. Upon arrival, however, one of the convoys was wiped out by Imperial forces hidden in a nearby nebula.

The other convoy, led by the frigate Redemption, and consisting of six GR-75 medium transports escorted by the T-65 X-wing starfighters of Red Squadron's Rogue Flight, arrived to discover the area littered with ruined ship parts, with no sign of the second convoy. The frigate's Captain realized they had to pass through the debris field before escaping to hyperspace. Suddenly, squadrons of TIE fighters ambushed the convoy from three different directions.

At the start of the battle, Red Leader Luke Skywalker noticed an object within some space debris. Temporarily leaving the battle, he managed to find an advanced proton torpedo tech upgrade before returning to defend the transports.

Because of the agility of the arriving waves of TIE Interceptors, the Rebels needed a faster craft than their X-wings. At Wedge Antilles' suggestion, Skywalker docked with the frigate and took control of an RZ-1 A-wing interceptor, which incited Red Squadron's first use of A-wings in battle.

Once the Interceptors had been destroyed, the convoy entered the nebula, which stood between them and escape, and were attacked by more TIE Fighters and Interceptors hidden in the cloud. The Rebel pilots managed to destroy all nearby TIE fighter squadrons, although they needed to use their targeting computers to do so, at Skywalker's order.

Red Squadron was able to protect all the transports, leaving the nebula and successfully escorting the remaining convoy to Hoth.

The arrival of the Rebel supply convoy on Hoth supported the efforts of Alliance engineers to construct Echo Base, which would later be the site of a key battle in the Galactic Civil War. After the death of Red Squadron leader Narra and the destruction of Renegade Flight, Skywalker was promoted to Commander and put in charge of the squadron.

The ambush appeared in the video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. Picking up the upgrade in the mission will fulfill the bonus objective, and the player has the option of switching to the A-wing mid-mission. The convoy may take up to five casualties before failing the mission, but this article assumes 100% completion. The game's campaign was included in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, although the co-op version features nine transports to defend. This article follows the original portrayal. The objective to defend at least one transport remained.

Dialogue from Wedge Antilles revealed that the A-Wings were actually first deployed during this battle, leaving some contradictions regarding A-wings participating in battles taking place before the Ison Corridor ambush, and eventually led to a retcon where the ships before the battle were labeled as the R-22 Spearheads, the predecessor to the A-wing.

• Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide
• "State of the Arts" — Star Wars Gamer 9
• Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide