The Battle of Ralltiir stands as one of the numerous armed conflicts that transpired on the planet. These conflicts ranged from its harsh subjugation in 1 BBY to its eventual liberation following the Battle of Endor. During this particular engagement, the Rebel Alliance's Red Squadron carried out a rescue mission to extract scientists from an Imperial blockade.
Around 0.5 ABY, a confrontation unfolded on Ralltiir. The Empire had received intelligence indicating that scientists aligned with the Rebel Alliance were in hiding there. In response, the Empire dispatched two Imperial Star Destroyers to establish a blockade and initiate an orbital bombardment of the planet, aiming to force the scientists' surrender. Following the rescue of defector Tycho Celchu, the Rebel pilots of Red Squadron found themselves redeployed to Ralltiir, prompted by Celchu's information about the ongoing battle. Despite Darth Vader and Palpatine's awareness that Celchu had likely divulged information about Ralltiir to the Rebels upon his defection, the latter deemed their acquisition of this information to be of little consequence. The scientists were confined beneath a DSS-02 deflector shield generator of their own design, which served as their sole protection against the Imperial forces dispatched to capture them. An assembly of AT-AT walkers was positioned on the surface near the scientists' location, while the Star Destroyers commenced their orbital bombardment of the capital city, resulting in widespread devastation. Red Squadron members Wedge Antilles and Lieutenant Sarkli, operating under the command of Luke Skywalker, were deployed to aid in the city's defense using T-47 airspeeders and to facilitate the scientists' escape.
As Red Squadron drew near to the city, one of the pilots successfully disabled an AT-AT by employing its tow cable system. Subsequently, Antilles reported receiving a distress signal from the scientists. One of the scientists informed Commander Skywalker that they had established a shield around the city, and also mentioned that they possessed bombs available for the Rebels' utilization. In response, Skywalker instructed his craft's gunner to prepare the tow cable.
Employing their tow cables to transport the bombs, Red Squadron engaged the Imperial walkers and transports that were assaulting the shield. Recognizing the imperative to halt the Imperial advance, Skywalker ordered the destruction of the three bridges encircling the city, with the demolition of one of these bridges also causing an AT-AT traversing it to plummet into the river below.
During the course of the battle, several AT-AT walkers managed to reach the main city and initiated an assault on the city-wide shield. The shield progressively weakened under the bombardment. Reacting swiftly, Red Squadron employed the tow-cable bombs to obliterate the "heads" of the AT-ATs, thereby terminating their assault on the shields. Furthermore, they detonated an Imperial transport situated near the northeast bridge, also managing to recover an advanced targeting computer for future application.
Red Squadron then proceeded to eliminate the remaining Armored Personnel Carriers and All Terrain Personal Transports that posed a threat to the shield. Ralltiiri soldiers also took part in the planet's defense.
Having successfully thwarted the main invasion, the Rebel operatives then landed within the city to escort five scientists to safety while neutralizing the remaining Imperial forces. Skywalker commandeered an AT-ST walker, drawing upon his familiarity with its operation acquired during his participation in the AT-ST Training Program during his time as a farmhand on Tatooine. Simultaneously, Lieutenant Sarkli made his way to a nearby Imperial Armored Personnel Carrier, accompanied by a stormtrooper, thereby defecting to the Empire. He and his stormtrooper escort boarded the APC, prompting Skywalker to realize that they had been lured into a trap.
Skywalker then employed the AT-ST to engage an Imperial APC, from which stormtroopers emerged. Skywalker continued his advance through the city, confronting an additional seven AT-STs, another APC, Viper probe droids, and stormtroopers operating a total of four E-Web heavy repeating blasters.
During his journey through the cities, Luke managed to acquire homing proton torpedoes from a corner.
He then emerged into a plaza featuring a statue near the compound's Blockade Runner, which was guarded by five more walkers, probe droids, two additional E-Webs, and another APC. Skywalker vanquished them all before detonating a section of the wall to create an escape route to the corvette. He then dismounted and guided the scientists to rendezvous with Captain Derlin. Derlin informed Skywalker that Imperial stormtroopers had boarded the ship. While Derlin was instructed by Skywalker to establish a perimeter around the scientists, Skywalker and the crew engaged the stormtrooper contingent, with Skywalker assuming control of an E-Web at one point. Several Rebel troopers were killed in action. Derlin reported to Skywalker that the Imperials had returned, prompting Skywalker to proceed to the arrival point and eliminate the stormtrooper reinforcements using various WEB-mounted blasters positioned near the ship's stern. Subsequently, he authorized Derlin to depart the planet. The corvette took off and bypassed the Imperial blockade, with Skywalker observing that they had narrowly succeeded in their mission.
The scientists were subsequently escorted off-world. In the aftermath of the battle, Darth Vader assured Galactic Emperor Palpatine that their destiny to overcome the Rebellion would be realized.
Sarkli, in the meantime, would rise to become one of the Empire's most accomplished spies, earning the personal favor of Emperor Palpatine himself, and attaining the rank of an elite Storm commando. Han Solo, during his final confrontation with Sarkli at Endor, alluded to his defection by remarking that he "chose the wrong side."
The Defense of Ralltiir was initially presented in the 2003 video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, where it was divided into two missions: Defenders of Ralltiir and Extraction from Ralltiir.
According to the audio commentary for "Defenders of Ralltiir", the level was designed to leverage light scattering effects, an aspect that was deemed underappreciated by players, particularly due to the challenges involved in animating the environment. Furthermore, the Defenders of Ralltiir mission was cited as drawing inspiration from the war in Afghanistan, utilizing images sourced from CNN's coverage of the conflict as references for the war-torn and desolate setting. Similarly, the Extraction from Ralltiir level was heavily influenced by World War II, specifically scenes from Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan, with the aim of achieving a "bombed-out Berlin" aesthetic, and was also rendered with greater detail due to its status as the ground-based portion of Ralltiir. The Blockade Runner segment was also inspired by the opening of A New Hope, and employed footage from the films as a reference for the finer details. Both "Defenders of Ralltiir" and "Extraction from Ralltiir" were initially conceived as sublevels within a single level, but the scale of each level, particularly the former, led to their separation. Consequently, a level in which Luke Skywalker was tasked with infiltrating an Imperial-class Star Destroyer in the aftermath of those missions was also ultimately cut. A similar cut was later implemented for Deception at Destrillion.
The player also had the option to disable several of the AT-ATs by entangling them with tow-cables, although given that the mission takes place long before the Battle of Hoth, where the strategy was chronologically first developed, this can be attributed to non-canon gameplay elements. However, at least one of these instances is considered canon, as it is depicted in the opening cutscene of Defenders of Ralltiir.
To secure a gold medal for the mission "Defenders of Ralltiir," players are required to utilize the tow-cable bombs on the AT-AT heads to swiftly eliminate them. The game's official guide advocates for this approach. Likewise, to acquire the Advanced Targeting Computer upgrade, the player must destroy the Imperial Transport at the northeast landing point before collecting it. This article assumes that the player has completed both of these objectives.
In "Defenders of Ralltiir", the Shield Generator model from the "Battle of Hoth" level in "Rogue Leader" is repurposed as the Shield Generator for the city. The bridges that the players destroy in "Defenders Of Ralltiir" are based off of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, some shots based around those seen in the trailer for Twister.
In the level "Extraction from Ralltiir", the player comes across a Statue of a Jedi Knight with the logo of the "Jedi Knight" Game Series at the base of it.