After his T-65 X-wing starfighter malfunctioned close to the Cron Drift with the plans for the Galactic Empire's Death Star battle station aboard, the Alliance to Restore the Republic dispatched a team to save Biggs Darklighter, a Rebel pilot.
In the year 1 BBY, the Alliance to Restore the Republic deployed stolen Imperial communications satellites in the vicinity of the Cron Drift, aiming to intercept Imperial communications. One of these satellites successfully intercepted the plans for the Death Star, a heavily armored battle station armed with a superlaser capable of annihilating an entire planet. This information was then transmitted to the Rebel outpost known as AX-235.
Recognizing the crucial nature of this intelligence, the Alliance tasked Biggs Darklighter with its retrieval, sending him in a T-65 X-wing starfighter. However, shortly after departing from AX-235, Darklighter's X-wing experienced a critical failure near the Cron Drift. In response, the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser named Independence dispatched a squadron of three A-wings, under the command of Captain Keyan Farlander, to provide protection while repairs were carried out on his X-wing.
Almost immediately after the Rebel fighters emerged from hyperspace, Imperial Assault Gunboats arrived in the area. As the Rebels engaged these new combatants, Imperial Lambda-class T-4a shuttles attempted to seize the immobilized X-wing. During the engagement, Red Three was destroyed, but the remaining R-22 fighters managed to eliminate all of the shuttles before they could capture the X-wing. Eventually, the Rebel Lambda-class shuttle designated Rescue 1 arrived, accompanied by an escort of three CR90 corvettes. Rescue 1 successfully repaired Darklighter's X-wing, enabling the Rebels to escape into hyperspace.
Following the engagement, Darklighter returned to the Independence for debriefing. Concurrently, Circarpous Sector Command initiated the formulation of a strategy to deliver the plans to Alliance High Command.
This battle was initially depicted in the 1993 LucasArts video game titled Star Wars: X-Wing, specifically in the seventh mission of "Tour of Duty II: The Great Search", which was named "Protect a Disabled X-wing." Should the player fail to prevent the capture of Darklighter's X-wing by one of the Imperial shuttles, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer named Intrepid would arrive to recover it. However, Farlander's after-action report, as detailed in X-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide, clarifies that all three shuttles were destroyed and the Intrepid did not participate in the battle.