Evacuation of Vorknkx Project Base

Following the discovery of the Vorknkx Project Base and the preceding attack by treacherous forces commanded by the renegade Grand Admiral Zaarin, loyalist forces under Grand Admiral Thrawn determined that evacuating the base and relocating the project was the optimal strategy. This decision stemmed from Zaarin's willingness to deploy his own flagship, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Glory, to seize the technology. The loyalist forces opted to utilize a Muurian transport named Shadow to transport a Hyperdrive engine to the project's test platform, a CR90 corvette designated Vorknkx. Simultaneously, several escort transports were tasked with evacuating the personnel from the XQ5 Platforms V1 and V2.

As the evacuation process was underway, 3 Carrack cruisers from Z-Pata and 4 Assault transports from Z-Sigma arrived, intending to capture the Vorknkx.

Maarek Stele, piloting a Missile Boat, arrived to defend the station. He began by targeting the Assault transports, scanning them to confirm the presence of Stormtroopers within. He then launched one rocket at each transport to destroy them and prevent their capture. Shortly after the battle began, TIE Defenders entered the fray, aiming to clear the minefield and then destroy the Shadow before it could deliver the hyperdrive. While the TIE Defenders successfully cleared the minefield, Stele intercepted them. In the meantime, the Shadow successfully delivered the hyperdrive to the Vorknkx, and the ship jumped to hyperspace.

Recognizing the failure of their mission, Zaarin's remaining forces initiated a retreat. After preventing any remaining TIE Defenders from jumping to Hyperspace, Stele, despite facing heavy laser fire, managed to scan the cruisers. He then supported the escort transports in engaging the cruisers by launching all remaining Warheads. Although he managed to destroy one of the cruisers, he exhausted his warhead supply. A Combat utility vehicle named Reload arrived to resupply him, and Stele ordered it to reload his craft while he maintained a safe distance from the enemy ships. During the reloading process, 3 Rebel B-wings arrived to attack the station. Once Stele's boat was reloaded, he alternated between destroying the remaining cruisers and the B-wings, preventing any enemy craft from escaping. With the sector cleared of both Zaarin and Rebel forces, two of the escort transports boarded the stations and evacuated the remaining personnel before escaping into hyperspace.

The evacuation achieved its goals, and the Vorknkx was relocated to a concealed asteroid base known as To-phalion Base. Thrawn received a demonstration of the cloaking device, which left him impressed. He inquired about the project's progress and learned of a potentially devastating instability when the device was used in conjunction with hyperdrive engines. Thrawn requested that the staff keep him informed of any developments, as he had plans for the device to use against Zaarin.

Stele was later awarded the Medal of Liberty upon his return. However, instead of continuing his pursuit of Zaarin, he was reassigned to serve Darth Vader.

This battle is depicted in Battle 11 Mission 7 of the 1994 PC game Star Wars: TIE Fighter. This article assumes the completion of all "Primary", "Secondary", and "Bonus" objectives.

Interestingly, the Combat utility vehicle is referred to as Encore by the Imperial Officer issuing orders. However, within the game, it is identified as Reload.