The Search for the Nonnah was an operation in approximately 1 ABY. During a battle with Imperial forces over Chorax, the Rebel Alliance starship named Nonnah was damaged and forced to crash-land on the surface of the planet. The Nonnah, which carried stolen Imperial equipment and Rebel troops, was considered vital by both the Alliance and the Empire. The ensuing search for the crashed ship took place in the river valleys of the planet.
The Alliance sent Rogue Squadron, led by Luke Skywalker, and an evacuation shuttle to rescue the survivors; the Empire sent a squadron of TIE bombers along with a Sentinel-class landing craft carrying a ground strike force to destroy the ship and prevent the stolen equipment from falling into the Rebellion's hands. Rogue Squadron stalled the bombing runs and ground forces long enough to allow the safe escape of the shuttle carrying the survivors.
After the successful Rendezvous on Barkhesh around six months after the Battle of Yavin, the Rebel Alliance forged ahead on worlds marginalized by the Galactic Empire. In one case around 1 ABY, the Rebels pushed their luck too far, and pilots of Rogue Squadron were called to clean up the mess. The starship Nonnah, which carried stolen Imperial equipment and Rebel troops, had crash-landed in the river valleys on the planet Chorax. The cargo on board the ship was extremely valuable to the Empire, but rather than attempting to retrieve the cargo, the Empire decided to attempt to destroy it to prevent it from falling into Rebel hands.
Rogue Squadron, flying A-wings and led by Commander Luke Skywalker, went to Chorax to retrieve the equipment and troops before the Imperials could find them. Imperial forces set out to find the Nonnah at the same time as the Rebels. At the northern lake, numerous Imperial probe droids surrounded the area.
As Rogue Squadron flew down a canyon close to the Nonnahs position, six TIE Interceptors attacked straight-on. The Rogues engaged the TIEs, shooting down several of them. The Rebel pilots also engaged the probe droids. The opposing sides had three possible crash sites nearby to search. Soon after the opening dogfight, the Nonnah was located at one of the crash sites. The Rogues and Imperials traveled to the site of the wrecked starship, which was stern-down in the water. An Imperial Sentinel-class landing craft put down on land across from the Nonnah and disgorged an AT-ST walker as well as three XR-85 tank droids to attack the Rebels. The Rogues destroyed the Imperial forces as a Rebel Lambda-class shuttle went to the surface to rescue the crew of the Nonnah. Eight TIE/sa bombers reinforced the Imperial task force and began bombing runs on the Nonnah and the rescue shuttle. Skywalker launched his craft's concussion missiles to destroy the AT-ST and the tank droids.
The crashed Nonnah
In pairs, TIE bombers began their first attack run. As the second wave moved into attack position, the landing craft deployed three AT-PTs to provide additional firepower for the bombers. Despite overwhelming odds, the Rogues shot down all the TIE bombers and held off the other Imperial forces long enough for the shuttle to complete the evacuation.
As the shuttle left, another squadron of TIE interceptors pursued it. Rogue Squadron escorted the shuttle to the extraction point, and the survivors were rescued. Once the shuttle had escaped, General Rieekan ordered Skywalker to lead the Rogues away from the battle site. As Skywalker and the Rogues escorted the shuttle away, Skywalker executed a barrel roll.
Rogue Squadron successfully completed their mission, and the survivors and cargo of the Nonnah were extracted. Sometime after after the mission was completed, Rogue flight was once again called into duty when the Imperial general Crix Madine requested an appointment with General Rieekan on Corellia.
The search for the ship Nonnah is the subject of the third mission of the 1998 video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, titled "The Search for the Nonnah." The player's default craft is the A-wing, equipped with lasers and missiles to target Imperial forces. The game's official guide outlines the background information to the mission and suggests the player target the TIE interceptors to protect his wingman, as well as accurately targeting lots of enemy units. The player will fail the mission if the evacuation shuttle is destroyed, or if the wreckage of the Nonnah is destroyed before the shuttle can finish evacuating it.
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide