The clash high above Taloraan transpired during the era of the Galactic Civil War. Subsequent to the successful liberation of Wedge Antilles, which unlocked the full capabilities of the exceptional Rebel starfighter team known as Rogue Squadron, the Rebel Alliance initiated a series of targeted strikes against Imperial assets under the command of Moff Kohl Seerdon. Seerdon was actively consolidating his forces in preparation for a major offensive against the Rebel's crucial bacta supplies located on Thyferra.
Taloraan became the initial focus of these swift, disruptive operations. Here, the Empire conducted tibanna gas extraction activities, utilizing the gas to fuel their blasters. Rogue Squadron successfully obliterated the Imperial tibanna gas reserves stored within the floating platforms and inflicted substantial damage upon the resident TIE/LN starfighter squadron stationed on the planet.
During an assault on the Imperial spaceport nestled within the canyons of the planet Kile II, Wedge Antilles, a valued member of Rogue Squadron, suffered a crash landing. He was subsequently captured by Imperial forces and imprisoned within the spice mines of Kessel. With Antilles absent and his piloting skills unavailable, Rogue Squadron's effectiveness was considerably hampered. Luke Skywalker, commander of Rogue Squadron and a close comrade of Antilles, spearheaded a mission to Kessel, where they saved Antilles and other Rebel prisoners.
With Rogue Squadron restored to full strength, their efforts began to be directed at the Imperial Moff Kohl Seerdon. Seerdon's plan was to amass his forces to launch a major assault on the Rebel bacta supply on the jungle planet Thyferra. Bacta, a chemical vital for healing the wounded, was essential, and the Rebellion began their efforts to damage the Moff's resources through a series of hit-and-run attacks on Imperial installations. The initial target of these missions was the gas giant Taloraan, which housed the Moff's tibanna gas mining operations, used to power Imperial weaponry. Taloraan was chosen as the mining operation center because it had some of the highest-quality Tibanna gas in the galaxy, and the plan was to overwhelm the harvest facilities while allowing civilian operations to continue. To bolster the defenses of the Tibanna gas tanks, various TIEs were added to the local squadrons, largely due to the newfound importance of Tibanna gas to the Imperial war machine, and the Empire expected to control it by 2 ABY if there were no problems. It was believed that disrupting the Empire's mining operation would not only limit Imperial expansion within the Kelavine system, but also delay the Empire's weapons program by a minimum of three months. Since the Empire couldn't figure out how to implement shields on their Tibanna gas canisters (which could ignite if hit by a single blaster bolt), they compensated by implementing strategically placed compact turbolasers on the platforms.
Due to the interference of tibanna gas with Rogue group's A-wing starfighters, the scanners on the starfighters were recalibrated to Seven-Mark-Nine. Because numerous gas canisters owned by civilian organizations were installed on the same platforms as the Imperial gas, they had to be careful with their fire.
By the time they reached the fourth platform, Rogue Squadron used seeker missiles to eliminate the turbolaser defenses to ensure their success in destroying the Imperial gas containers with minimal risk.
After destroying several platforms of Imperial gas, a squadron of TIE fighters began to swarm Rogue Squadron from below, a common Imperial tactic used on gas giants. Thanks to Kasan Moor, a former TIE interceptor pilot who defected to the Rebellion, Rogue group avoided the ambush and continued to a floating city, where the last target was located.
During their raid on the last platform, Skywalker broke away and retrieved some advanced blasters located within Taloraan City's town square.
After Rogue Flight completed their mission, Wedge Antilles predicted that the local Imperial governor would be too afraid to report his failure to Moff Seerdon. Kasan Moor believed that the governor would not survive his confrontation with Seerdon, as the Moff was known for being unforgiving.
During the operations on Taloraan, a Rebel commando force infiltrated Seerdon's research facility on Fest and tried to escape with three stolen AT-PT walkers. Immediately after their victory on Taloraan, Rogue Squadron was sent to provide support.
The battle above Taloraan was portrayed in the videogame Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, as the game's eleventh campaign mission.