Below is a summary of the events and plot that unfold during each campaign of TIE Fighter. This description assumes completion of all Objectives in each mission, including Bonus Objectives.
Following the Imperial attack on the Rebel base on Hoth, Rebel ships have been scattering throughout the region and attempting to find routes to safer havens. Rookie Imperial Navy pilot Maarek Stele goes out on his first sortie, a routine cargo inspection of freighters passing by Imperial space station D-34. During the inspection Stele identifies a Mugaari freighter carrying escaping Rebels, and assists in disabling the craft and protecting the boarding crews against a small retaliatory strike as they attempt to capture it. The Rebels, realizing that D-34 is poised to block one of their important escape routes from Hoth, make an attempt to destroy the station alongside their Mugaari allies, but are thwarted by the efforts of Stele and his TIE Fighter squadron-mates, and by the arrival of the Star Destroyer Hammer.
The Empire traces the Mugaari hyperjump signatures to a cargo loading area in deep space, where Mugaari and Rebel ships are attempting to exchange cargo. The frigate Fogger is dispatched to destroy all cargo ships in the area, and Maarek Stele is assigned to a TIE Bomber squadron for this attack. Before the battle, he is approached by a shadowy figure who asks him to keep his eyes open for anything unusual during the mission. During the fight, Maarek takes the initiative and scans several of the fleeing transport vessels, discovering a ship full of Rebel advisors at the meeting area, confirming an alliance between the Mugaari and the Rebels.
While this attack is taking place, the Rebels launch their own attack on D-34 and manage to capture the station. The Fogger rushes back to retake the station as the Rebels attempt to abscond with imperial equipment. Maarek Stele, this time in a TIE Interceptor, once again performs admirably by stopping the container transport carrying the loot and returning it to Imperial hands. He has finally proved himself as an elite pilot, and is inducted into the Secret Order - a group that reports directly to the Emperor and executes his will through the Imperial Navy. From this point on he receives special orders from them, to perform seemingly-unusual tasks during combat.
D-34 is quickly recaptured by the Empire, and the launching point of the Rebel attacks on the station is confirmed to be the Calamari Light Cruiser Lulsla which is lurking nearby. The Empire decides to attack the cruiser immediately in several waves, using heavily-shielded Gunboats. Stele is selected to lead the first wave of the attack. The Secret Order, suspicious about the immaculate timing of the Rebel attack on D-34 (while Imperial forces were busy attacking the cargo loading area) asks Stele to look for evidence of treason in Imperial ranks. Stele's squadron strips the cruiser's fighter complement, and then returns on a second sortie to destroy the cruiser's protective minefield and finally the cruiser itself. During this battle, inspection of some cargo containers being loaded onto the cruiser reveals a shipment of Imperial probes. This confirms the Secret Order's suspicion that the Rebels are being supplied by an Imperial insider, though it is still unclear who that might be.
Shortly after this attack, Admiral Harkov —a senior Imperial fleet commander— travels to Coruscant to meetclandestinely with the leader of the Rebels, Mon Mothma. He pledges allegiance to her cause, for a price.
The Empire has decided to intervene in a protracted civil war between the Dimok and the Ripoblus, the two warring factions of the Sepan people. They have sent the Victory Star Destroyer Protector, under the command of Admiral Harkov, to end the conflict by force.
As soon as the Protector reaches the sector, a nearby Ripoblus convoy requests Imperial assistance to defend it from a Dimok raid. The Secret Order, suspicious about Admiral Harkov's recent lackluster performance, asks Stele to keep his eyes open once again. During the battle he inspects the Ripoblus convoy, discovering that it is carrying weapons - including a shipment of Imperial arms. Despite the sudden arrival of the Dimok Cruiser Falaricae, and several attempts by the Dimok to steal the cargo, they are quickly driven off. The Ripoblus convoy itself is then seized by the Empire. The presence of Imperial weapons in the hands of the Ripoblus greatly troubles the Secret Order.
The Ripoblus soon launch a retaliatory strike on Dimok science station Youst. The Empire, seeking to once again assert its dominance and deter further fighting, sends in the Protector to defend the station. The attacking Ripoblus warn the Imperials to back off, claiming that Youst is in fact a weapons research facility. Stele manages to confirm this by scanning one of the station's modules, and a boarding party is dispatched to capture the Dimok station while Stele's TIE Bomber squadron simultaneously drives off the Ripoblus attackers. While the Protector's forces are busy with Youst station, the Ripoblus frigate Dromon appears and attempts a surprise attack against the Star Destroyer. Stele quickly withdraws from the fight to help destroy the Dromond, and eventually the Ripoblus retreat as Youst station is captured by the Empire.
A short time later, several Dimok scientists —upset about their government subverting their science to make weapons— hijack the Dimok System Patrol Craft Glas. They attempt to defect with it to the Victory, requesting Imperial political asylum. Dimok government craft quickly appear to try and stop the defection, but are destroyed by Maarek's TIE Interceptor squadron. Just as the Dimok forces begin to retreat, Ripoblus forces join the battle to replace them. Despite all attempts against it, the Glas reaches the Victory in one piece. Its crew is offloaded, replaced with decoys, and sent back out to space on autopilot, to be destroyed by the unwitting final wave of attackers.
The rescued scientists reveal that the Dimok and Ripoblus leaders have declared the Empire a common foe, and are now planning to meet in deep space to arrange an alliance. The Imperial Navy decides to capture both leaders simultaneously. The task is very dangerous, since both sides have brought their Nebulon-B Frigates to the meeting. A heavily armed force of Imperial Gunboats and Transports assaults the meeting and takes both transport craft intact, despite the sudden appearance of the enemy cruiser Falaricae. It later turns out that the captured shuttles did not in fact contain the leaders of each faction, but rather their children - intended to be swapped as hostages to ensure the success of their alliance. By capturing the children, the Empire has inadvertently solidified the bond between the Dimok and Ripoblus against them, making further warfare unavoidable. In addition to all this, Stele manages to scan several cargo transports that had unexpectedly arrived at the meeting place, all carrying stolen Imperial goods.
The conflict has finally take its toll on the Protector's fighter contingent, and Admiral Harkov decides to take this opportunity to replace his lost ships with state-of-the-art TIE Advanced fighters. The Escort Carrier Tropsobor arrives with the new fighters and begins to offload them to the Protector. As soon as the first TIE Advanced fighters take off towards the Protector, the Dimok and Ripoblus launch an all-out assault on the Star Destroyer in a last-ditch attempt to drive the Empire out of their sector. The Light Cruiser Ben Het arrives and launches multiple waves of fighters to draw the Protector's fighters away. Once the Protector and Tropsobor are left mostly undefended, multiple Y-Wings arrive to attack the Tropsobor with torpedoes. Stele's TIE Fighter squadron sticks to its escort duty and deals with the Y-Wings, and eventually the entire Imperial force assaults the Ben Het and its escorts, destroying them all.
The devastation caused to the Sepan fleets finally convinces them to accept Harkov's invitation to a peace conference, where they acquiesce to Imperial supremacy and an end their long civil war. However the Secret Order are dismayed to learn that during the final battle, Maarek Stele detected a small Imperial shuttle that took advantage of the fighting to slip onto the Protector, bringing with it a Rebel leader who was taken clandestinely to Harkov's office and spent several hours there. The Order finally have the evidence they wanted: Harkov is a traitor, selling arms to the Rebels.
While the Secret Order contemplates how to handle the information acquired during the previous campaign, Maarek Stele is reassigned to Vice-Admiral Thrawn's flagship, the Victory Star Destroyer Stalwart. The Stalwart embarks on a new project to bring law an order to the lawless Outer Rim by constructing a new space station in the Pakuuni sector.
The Stalwart arrives at a cargo loading area where containers full of station parts had previously been set up, only to find that the loading crews have abandoned the area, presumably due to the threat of Rebel attack. Maarek is dispatched to fly around the cargo yard and identify which containers hold the necessary station parts. As soon as he's done scanning the yard and the Imperial lifters have been launched to collect the cargo, Rebel Y-Wing bombers spring out from several containers and begin to attack the lifters. They are followed by multiple squadrons of advanced Rebel fighters coming to hit the Stalwart, including state-of-the-art B-Wing bombers. The Stalwart scrambles its fighters and bombers, defeating the Rebel attack and recovering all relevant containers, destroying the remainder.
The next phase of the operation requires clearing out a local staging area belonging to Pakuuni pirates, so that an Imperial station can be constructed in its place. The Modified Frigate Ludwick is sent to handle the operation. As leader of a TIE Bomber squadron, Maarek engages and destroys several Corellian Corvettes and their fighter escorts, then discovers that one of the containers is carrying a group of Rebel advisors. The container is stormed and captured by the Imperials. Once this is accomplished, the Ludwick prepares to hold the area until the Stalwart and the station construction crews can arrive.
With the first wave of freighters carrying station parts scheduled to arrive at any moment, the Rebel Frigate Huntress suddenly appears and begins to launch wave after wave of fighters to attack the Ludwick. Unfortunately, due to losses incurred in the previous battle, the Ludwick is unable to launch TIE Bombers to deal with the Huntress, and must instead rely on modified missile-carrying TIE Fighters and Interceptors to engage incoming enemies. After a long and grueling battle in which Maarek struggles to shoot down a slew of enemy starfighters and torpedoes, the Huntress is finally destroyed and the Stalwart arrives to secure the area.
Most of the construction goes without a hitch, but as soon as the Stalwart moves out of the area to tend to some other business, the Rebels make another attack on the partially-finished station - this time backed up by several Corellian Corvettes. Fortunately, the Ludwick has been provided with several Gunboats for this mission, and they tear into enemy forces easily. During this battle, Maarek disables a Rebel shuttle carrying several high-ranking officers that is fleeing from one of the destroyed Corvettes. The shuttle is captured by the Empire and the officers brought in for interrogation.
Once station construction is completed, Vice-Admiral Thrawn decides to inspect the station personally, and selects Maarek Stele to fly as his personal escort. Due to losses and repairs to the Ludwick's TIE Fighter and Interceptor fleet, Maarek has to perform this role in a TIE Bomber, and does so spectacularly despite multiple waves of Rebel starfighter attacks - earning Thrawn's admiration.
The last step of the operation is to bolster the station with a permanent patrol fleet. The first ships to arrive are two System Patrol Craft, but the Stalwart must jump away to escort additional ships into the sector. During this vulnerable stage, the Ludwick is left alone with the station and SPCs, and must defend them against the Rebels' last-ditch effort to dislodge the Empire from the Pakuuni sector. Once again, Maarek Stele locates and disables the Rebel shuttle carrying their command personnel, who are taken in for interrogation.
With the station secured, the Stalwart and its fleet can finally leave the area, knowing that the piracy and dissent that have plagued the Pakuuni sector have finally been replaced with Imperial law and order.
Maarek Stele is once again transferred to another fleet, this time under the command of Admiral Zaarin. Zaarin is in charge of developing the Empire's new starfighter, the TIE Advanced (also known as the TIE Avenger), modeled after Darth Vader's personal starfighter. Zaarin is looking to add a hyperdrive to the design, but the only suitable drive is being developed by the Habeen and Nharwaak on planet Mylok IV. Though the Habeen are quite happy to do business with the Empire, the Nharwaak do not like this idea and prefer to work with the Rebels.
Zaarin sends his Modified Frigate Shamus to Mylok IV to receive a sample of the Habeen hyperdrives for testing. Maarek Stele is chosen to fly escort for a freighter convoy bringing these engines and expert technicians. As the Empire had suspected, the convoy is ambushed by Nharwaak fighters and Corellian Corvettes as they make their way towards the Shamus, but Stele's TIE Fighters destroy the enemy before they can finish off the freighters.
The Empire suspects that the Nharwaak intend to sell the same hyperdrives to the Rebellion. Imperial patrols are sent out to determine where the Nharwaak have stored their hyperdrive shipments. Once the loading area is located, the Shamus is sent to attack and destroy the entire shipment and its defenses.
The Imperial attack on the Nharwaak facility triggers an escalation in the conflict. The Nharwaak attempt to raid a Habeen research facility just as crucial cargo is offloaded to it. Zaarin quickly dispatches the Modified Corvette Phoenix and a contingent of TIE Bombers led by Stele to blunt the Nharwaak attack, while Imperial transports arrive to evacuate the facility's crew and equipment. The Empire's quick response and success in this mission dramatically improves relations the Habeen.
The time has finally come to sign the deal with the Habeen, formally absorbing them into the Empire in exchange for their hyperdrive technology. A meeting between Zaarin and the Habeen leadership is scheduled to take place at a secret location in deep space, but Nharwaak spies manage to discover the details. Multiple Nharwaak ships arrive to disrupt the meeting and attack the Shamus and Habeen ships. Maarek Stele and his TIE Interceptor group manage to shoot down many incoming torpedoes and destroy the attackers themselves. With the deal signed, a group of freighters delivers the first shipment of miniaturized hyperdrives to the Shamus, to be installed in production TIE Advanced fighters.
In response to the Empire-Habeen contract, the Nharwaak finally decide to sell their hypderdrives to the Rebellion. In a mirror of the previous mission, a group of Nharwaak Corvettes arrive at a secret meeting place to rendezvous with the Rebel Frigate Xerxes and hand over the engines. Imperial Naval Intelligence manages to discover the location and timing of the meeting, and Zaarin sends the Shamus to disrupt it and destroy the Xerxes. This action seals the fate of the Nharwaak hyperdrive project, and ensures that the Empire maintains a technological lead.
With the new hyperdrives in storage, Zaarin hurries back to his R&D facility to install them in the new craft. Soon after, Darth Vader arrives to witness a demonstration of the capabilities of the new TIE Advanced fighters. He is most impressed, and even requests to take one of the prototypes to the Emperor himself.
Maarek Stele returns from Mylok IV and is once again reassigned to Admiral Harkov's flagship Protector. Stele is instructed to lead a small TIE Interceptor squadron to clear a Rebel supply cache surrounded by a minefield. Before embarking, he is met by a member of the Secret Order who tells him that the mission puts him in suspiciously high risk, and advises him to be on alert for anything unexpected.
The mission starts normally enough, with Stele demonstrating to his wingmen how to clear a minefield with an unshielded fighter. Things take a strange turn when the mission commander begins taunting Stele about his "loyalty". Then, as Stele destroys the Rebel cache, the Modified Frigate Osprey —a Secret Order ship— jumps into the area and informs Stele that he has been set up by Harkov. Stele's wingmen turn on him, and multiple waves of TIE Advanced fighters are launched from the Protector with the explicit orders to shoot Stele down at all costs for being "The Emperor's stool pigeon".
Stele fights for his life in a desperate attempt to get to the Osprey, while the Frigate launches several TIE Interceptors wings to assist him. Suddenly, a Rebel Calamari Cruiser jumps into the system and launches multiple fighter wings who also target Stele and his allies exclusively. At one point in the battle, a shuttle is launched from the Protector and heads to the Rebel cruiser, carrying Imperial officers. Once Stele reaches the Osprey the ship jumps out of the system to safety.
The Secret Order now has conclusive evidence that Harkov is indeed a traitor, and that he and the men under his command are collaborating with the Rebellion. The Imperial Navy gears up for a massive pursuit of Harkov's fleet, to try and stop the Protector from defecting to the Rebels. Darth Vader himself is informed of this turn of events, and after conferring with the Emperor he decides to lead the hunt personally. Stele's familiarity with Harkov's tactics is deemed invaluable for the operation. He is reassigned to Recon Group, an elite squadron of the Secret Order.
With Stele's help, the Secret Order determines that Harkov's first move would be to resupply the Protector at a nearby Rebel station. Several wings of Gunboats are sent out to locate that station, under express orders to engage only Rebel ships but avoid Harkov's forces — unless attacked first. Maarek is personally instructed to inspect the Rebel cargo containers to help determine what supplies Harkov's ship might be missing. Maarek's group is the one to find the Rebel station and attack it, destroying all present cargo. When the Protector shows up, Maarek is assaulted by multiple enemy TIE Advanced fighters, as well as a dozen Rebel A-Wings. Despite the odds, Maarek shoots down several enemy craft and even briefly attacks the Protector before withdrawing from the area.
The second phase involves a surprise attack against a Rebel convoy coming to resupply the Protector. In the third phase, Stele is charged with stripping the Protector of its TIE Advanced fleet in preparation for the attack on the Star Destroyer itself. For this mission he gets his first opportunity to fly his own TIE Advanced in combat, giving the enemy TIE Advanced fighters a taste of their own medicine. Partway during the battle, the Protector sends a shuttle over to the Rebel station, and Maarek flies close enough to determine that Harkov is in fact on board. It is unclear why Harkov is moving himself to the station, but Maarek is given orders not to attack the shuttle, as Darth Vader wants to capture Harkov alive. Soon after this, the Protector jumps out of the system, and Maarek returns home to prepare for the final assault.
Imperial starfighters attack the Rebel station, which is surrounded by a heavy minefield. The Imperial Star Destroyer Garrett, commanded by Darth Vader, arrives and launches transports to disable the station and board it. As the attack on the station itself commences, several ships begin fleeing it in various directions. Maarek Stele is instrumental in scanning these ships, determining which one Harkov is on, and disabling them for capture before any can jump away. The Rebel Frigate Olinor appears during the battle to attack the Garrett and keep it busy, but the Imperials manage to drive it off. There is no sign of the Protector, which seems to have left Harkov to his fate.
Harkov is taken to the Garrett and is interrogated by Lord Vader. Unfortunately, he manages to resist and does not reveal the location of the Protector or the remainder of his fleet. Vader, realizing that Harkov will not speak, decides to Force-choke him to death. The hunt continues.
For his role in the campaign and his admirable performance in service of the Emperor, Maarek Stele is inducted into the Inner Circle of the Secret Order of the Empire.
Now that Zaarin's TIE Advanced model is finally finished and deployed to combat units, he has begun work on a new model titled the TIE Defender - an extremely fast and powerful craft. The Emperor himself has requested to receive a demonstration of the this new weapon.
Back in Zaarin's service, Maarek Stele is tasked with protecting the prototypes as they are being loaded from Zaarin's research facility into cargo transports. Despite the location of the facility being a closely-guarded secret, Rebel fighters and bombers appear in the middle of the operation to destroy the containers. They are thwarted by Stele and the arrival of the Frigate Thunderer.
At the next jump point, the cargo transports are to offload the TIE Defenders into the Escort Carrier Hininbirg for transport to Coruscant. Just before the operation begins, the Secret Order receives intelligence that the Rebels are setting up to ambush this transfer as well - clearly indicating that someone in Zaarin's staff is feeding them insider information. Sure enough, as soon as Maarek Stele's TIE Advanced wing arrives at the transfer point, he discovers Rebel Corellian Corvettes setting a minefield at the nav buoy, to destroy the incoming Imperial ships. Stele clears the minefield and defends the transports from Rebel fighter and bomber attacks until the Hininbirg can jump away with the precious cargo.
The new TIE Defenders arrive at Coruscant for the Emperor's inspection. He and Darth Vader agree that these craft are superior to the recently-introduced TIE Advanced. Vader tells the Emperor that Zaarin suspects a Rebel spy may have infiltrated his staff, which would explain how the Rebels managed to attack both shipment stages. Additionally, Zaarin claims that the Rebels have gotten their hands on some new weapon, though it is currently unclear what that weapon might be.
In the meanwhile, Zaarin's research facility has begun developing a new weapon of their own, a beam weapon of some kind. The security leak has yet to be discovered, but a shipment of critical equipment is arriving at the station and must be protected. Maarek Stele and a wing of Gunboats are assigned to defend the freighters as they slowly approaches the station. As expected, Rebel ships once again appear to attack the convoy. This time however, Rebel B-Wings appear to fire some sort of new missile at the freighters which causes severe damages to their systems. Maarek takes the initiative and disables one of the B-Wings, while destroying the other attackers. Rebel A-Wings arrive to try to stop the Empire from capturing the disabled B-Wing, but are destroyed as well. The craft is towed back to the research facility, and the new Rebel weapon —dubbed the "Mag Pulse"— is taken to be disassembled and studied.
Imperial Naval Intelligence tracks this new Rebel weapon to its manufacturer, Galactic Electronics. The corporation has apparently been selling the weapon to the Rebels, an act of treason that the Empire will not tolerate. As punishment for the crime, Maarek Stele is sent with a Gunboat wing to raid Galactic Electronics' research facility Pondut and seize all material and personnel. Stele punches through the station's Z-95 Headhunter defense screen, then disables several craft attempting to flee the station, including that of an arms dealer. Imperial transports disable and capture the station, at which point Admiral Zaarin's flagship, the Imperial Star Destroyer Glory, arrives to collect everything. During this battle Stele once again manages to disable and capture a Rebel Y-Wing carrying the Rebellion's new "Mag Pulse" weapon.
Zaarin finally completes his beam weapon - a combat tractor beam for small starfighters - and proceeds to distribute the weapon to his fleet. With Galactic Electronics' research and prototypes captured, Zaarin can now begin work on the "Mag Pulse" in the hope of making this weapon usable by Imperial fighters. Maarek Stele, meanwhile, is authorized to begin training to fly the TIE Defender.
Darth Vader has finally tracked down the late Admiral Harkov's flagship, the Victory Star Destroyer Protector. It is attempting to defect to the Rebels, and is currently picking up critical supplies from a Rebel deep-space cargo loading area. The Imperial Navy is determined to stop the Protector at all costs.
To prevent the Protector from escaping again, the fleet sends the Interdictor Cruiser Harpax to jump into the Star Destroyer's proximity; So long as the Harpax remains nearby, the Protector would not be able to use its hyperdrive. TIE Advanced wings led by Stele attack the cargo that the Protector was hoping to collect. However Harkov's forces have apparently set a trap, as partway through the battle their Frigate Akaga as well as the Rebel Light Cruiser Warhawk jump into the system and box the Harpax in. As a last-minute shipment of replacement pilots arrives at the Harpax, and with enemy fighters approaching from all directions, Stele returns to the Interdictor to prepare for defensive action.
Darth Vader receives a briefing about these events and reports them to the Emperor, who is optimistic. Vader mentions that the Secret Order are worried that Harkov's fleet is preparing another surprise. The Emperor instructs him to rely more closely on the Secret Order's pilots. Vader boards the Star Destroyer Garrett to come to the Harpax's rescue.
Aboard the Harpax, the situation is dire; It is now being pursued by all three enemy capital ships, and the Frigate Akaga will soon reach firing range. The Imperials decide to launch an attack on the Akaga to take it out before it can catch up. Stele leads a TIE Advanced wing armed with heavy bombs to destroy the ship, and manages to do so (under heavy attack from multiple TIE and Rebel craft) just as the Harpax's shields collapse from its pursuer's barrage. The Garrett arrives from hyperspace ahead of the Harpax, but it is still too far from the battle to render direct assistance.
With the Warhawk now closing in on the fleeing and wounded Harpax, fighters from the Garrett deploy to take the Rebel ship out, while Admiral Zaarin dispatches a force that is expected to arrive shortly and assist in destroying the Protector. The Warhawk is destroyed before it can take down the Harpax, the Interdictor reaches relative safety next to the Garrett, and all remaining Imperial forces turn on the Protector. While the fighters are busy, Zaarin's forces finally arrive - but instead of assisting the Garrett they turn and attack it. Multiple Corvettes and Assault Transports converge on the Garrett as it tries to fend them off. Finally, the Protector is destroyed and Maarek Stele manages to wipe out Zaarin's ships as well.
Darth Vader is dismayed by this turn of events; it seems Zaarin has decided to attempt a coup-d'etat against the Emperor, and will likely be attacking Coruscant very soon. Though the Garrett has destroyed all of its immediate opposition, it has sustained heavy damage and cannot jump to hyperspace. Fortunately, Vader had taken several TIE Defenders with him on the Garrett. He assigns Maarek Stele to fly a wing of Defenders to Coruscant, with Vader himself flying as his wingman.
The wing jumps from the Garrett to a rendezvous with the Secret Order's Modified Frigate Osprey, to be refitted with interceptor missiles. As suspected, Admiral Zaarin's forces ambush the fighters as they arrive, with the Osprey yet to arrive. Zaarin has sent an Interdictor Cruiser, the Harpago, to prevent the Osprey and the TIE Defenders from escaping. Stele and Vader proceed to destroy several wings of attacking Gunboats as they push through towards the Harpago. When the Osprey arrives, the Defenders turn their attention to the Interdictor and destroy it, but not before enemy TIE Bombers cause serious damage to the Osprey itself. Nevertheless, the fighters make it onto the Frigate and make the jump to Coruscant.
On the way to the Imperial capital, Vader receives word that the Emperor's personal Star Destroyer, the Majestic, has been boarded by Zaarin's forces at Coruscant. The Emperor himself has been taken captive and loaded onto a shuttle. He is being taken to Zaarin's flagship, the Star Destroyer Glory. Stele, Vader and their TIE Defenders launch to disable the shuttle and rescue the Emperor. They are ambushed by several TIE Advanced from Zaarin's fleet, and must fend them off while trying to disable the shuttle. Eventually, Vice-Admiral Thrawn's new flagship, the Imperial Star Destroyer Vanguard arrives and assists in the capture. It launches several waves of TIE Bombers to attack the Glory, and the ship takes heavy damage but still manages to jump to hyperspace. Once the Emperor is rescued, Thrawn's flagship begins the pursuit.
The Emperor, Lord Vader and Maarek Stele return to Coruscant, where Stele is awarded the Empire's most prestigious medal for his part in saving the Emperor's life. On the other hand, neither the Secret Order nor Imperial Intelligence have any idea where Zaarin has gone to, what he is planning, or why he would attempt to depose the Emperor in the first place.
It's not long before Zaarin reveals his current strategy: He wants to weaken the Imperial Navy by attacking its TIE Advanced production facilities, so that his own TIE Advanced squadrons can achieve total superiority. His Modified Frigate Raptor has jumped into the vicinity of three such facilities, codenamed Omar 1, 2 and 3. Maarek Stele is sent to protect the transports that arrive to pull the highly-skilled crews out before the Raptor can destroy them. Maarek and his wingmen are nearly killed drawing the Frigate's fire away from the facilities and transports, but eventually manage to knock out the turrets on the Raptor, disable, and destroy it. However they are unable to save the Omar facilities themselves, as dozens of enemy craft arrive to finish the job. Fortunately, the transports make it to hyperspace with nearly all of the Omar crews.
Zaarin wastes no time. While the Imperial Navy is defending Omar, Zaarin's forces also attack production facility ZA-13, which was once under Zaarin's own command. This facility assembles and installs the hyperdrives that Zaarin had acquired from the Habeen in the TIE Advanced and TIE Defender models. Zaarin's ships capture and loot ZA-13, and attempt to abscond with TIE Advanced components, hyperdrives, and high-tech equipment. Maarek Stele and his TIE Defender wing arrive to disable the fleeing transports for capture, and destroy any remaining enemy units. Stele also manages to capture Zaarin's officers attempting to flee ZA-13.
The Empire moves to recapture ZA-13 at once, with shuttles bearing crews and equipment that were rescued from the Omar facilities. With this being one of the last TIE Advanced manufacturing facilities in existence, Zaarin sees no choice but to destroy the entire station altogether. He sends a small fleet of Corellian Corvettes led by a Carrack Cruiser to destroy either the station of the craft coming to occupy it. Maarek Stele and his wing fight to prevent this, and manage to delay the enemy just long enough for the Star Destroyer Render to arrive and relieve them.
Station ZA-13 is damaged, but crews begin to repair it immediately. The Empire hopes to expand the facility to produce completed TIE Advanced craft rather than just their hyperdrives; This requires bringing in a large supply of construction equipment and materials. The convoy carrying this equipment is spotted by Rebel patrols and attacked en-route to the station. Maarek Stele and his flight are dispatched to protect the convoy as it limps towards the station. The Rebels appear in full force, with several Corellian Corvettes and dozens of starfighters, but are beaten back. The rebels are once again using Mag Pulse missiles, a technology now lost to the Empire due to Zaarin's defection.
Two Nebulon-B Frigates arrive to protect ZA-13, and Maarek Stele is reassigned to a unit sent to recapture Mag Pulse technology for future operations. Fortunately, it turns out that the Rebel attack on ZA-13 came directly from a facility that produces these weapons, and the Empire moves in to capture it with its equipment and crew intact. Thrawn's Victory Star Destroyer Sceltor arrives to collect these materials. For the first time during this battle, Rebels use their new starfighter design: the T-Wing; However it is still no match for the TIE Defender. With the Mag Pulse secure in Imperial hands once again, the Sceltor prepares to leave the system.
Unfortunately, Zaarin is already one step ahead of the Imperial Navy. Whether by sheer cunning or thanks to inside information, Zaarin has realized that the Sceltor will be busy attempting to acquire Mag Pulse technology. He has apparently concentrated his forces on the ZA-13 facility and destroyed it, along with one of the Frigates guarding it.
Now, Zaarin has decided to trap and destroy the Sceltor as well, before it can leave the Mag Pulse facility. The Interdictor Cruiser Grappler has jumped into the vicinity of the Sceltor, while the Modified Frigate Shadow has cornered it from the other direction.
Maarek Stele and his wingman's TIE Defenders —the last two such craft in Imperial hands— are fitted with Mag Pulse weapons and sent out to destroy the Grappler, which would allow the Sceltor to escape. As the fighters are being launched, one of Zaarin's Strike Cruisers jumps into firing range of the Sceltor and begins to launch its own fighters. The Sceltor and Stele's fighters barely manage to destroy the Strike Cruiser first, but the Sceltor is heavily damaged in the process. Stele can then turn his attention to the Grappler. The Mag Pulse missiles briefly shut down the Grappler's defensive turrets, allowing TIE Bombers to destroy the ship, and the Sceltor jumps away.
Despite the Imperial Navy's best efforts, most of their TIE Advanced production facilities are destroyed by Zaarin's fleet. Now that he has gained technological superiority, he withdraws his fleet to the Outer Rim Territories to continue the fight from there. Meanwhile, Thrawn is promoted to Full Admiral, and is tasked solely with destroying Zaarin's fleet. He personally requests Maarek Stele be transfered to his command.
With TIE Advanced production practically halted, the Empire's might now rests on its fledgling ability to produce the new TIE Defenders. Zaarin, knowing this, has launched a new campaign to destroy that capability as well. The Imperial Navy, weakened by these attacks on its manufacuring centers, now faces a serious threat of Rebel resurgence as well.
Zaarin launches an attack on the primary TIE Defender development facility. His forces take over the station and begin to strip it of equipment and technology. Thrawn sends Stele and his squadron to recapture the station with the help of Star Destroyer Adarga. Zaarin reacts to this by sending the Escort Carrier Jitte to defend the station. The carrier launches several wings of a new type of craft —TIE Fighters equipped with shields— but these prove no match for Stele and his TIE Defenders. Stele destroys several TIE Defender prototypes being flown out of the station, disables multiple shuttles for capture, and even takes out a sudden opportunistic Rebel attack aimed specifically to kill him and his wingmen.
Imperial forces hurry to repair the facility, as it is obviously a target of extremely importance for Zaarin. Soon enough, Zaarin makes his own move to retake the station using the same exact tactic as the Imperials did: by sending a massive wave of Assault Transports. Zaarin's own TIE Defenders make their first appearance as well. These forces begin their attack by targeting the Adarga, hoping to remove it from the battle before turning on the station. Maarek Stele flies this mission alone, as the other TIE Defenders on the Adarga are undergoing repairs from the previous battle. With the help of other squadrons from the Adarga, he manages to destroy the transports and even disables Zaarin's TIE Defenders for capture.
Two Rebel Corvettes that briefly enter the area during the battle drop off a set of deep-space probes, which indicates that the Rebels might also planning to attack in force soon. On top of this, Zaarin's assault has caused severe damage to the Adarga, and the threat of either the Rebels or Zaarin attacking again forces the Star Destroyer to abandon the area immediately. With no defenses remaining, there is no option but to abandon the research station altogether, taking the last two remaining TIE Defender prototypes to safety elsewhere.
The nearest Imperial cargo vessel is the freighter Mharsup, which arrives to take the TIE Defenders aboard. The shuttle G'Nabgib takes the station's crew and as much tech as they can carry. Maarek Stele jumps back into the system to defend this crucial operation. Zaarin takes no chances, joining the attack himself aboard his flagship, the Star Destroyer Glory. His ship launches wave after wave of fighters and bombers, which Maarek struggles to beat back almost single-handedly. As the station is destroyed behind them, the Mharsup and G'Nabgib jump to safety - just in time to avoid Zaarin's TIE Defenders coming to clinch the battle.
The Mharsup and G'Nabgib arrive at a remote rendezvous point where the freighter is tasked with transferring the TIE Defenders to a group of Corvettes. However even before the Corvettes arrive, Rebel starfighters jump in and attack from multiple directions. Gunboats are scrambled to join Stele's TIE Defender and defend the Mharsup. The freighter launches its stored TIE Defenders and escapes the area just before the Rebel Frigate Hunu jumps in and begins to launch fighters against the Corvettes. Stele not only shoots the fighters down, but also disables the Frigate so that it can be destroyed by the Gunboats. Unfortunately, while Stele is heading back to the Corvettes to escort them out of the system, several of Zaarin's TIE Advanced craft enter the system at long range. It is obvious that Zaarin now knows the location of the TIE Defenders and may be able to attack them at their next waypoint.
Instead of an ambush by Zaarin, however, the craft jump directly into an ion minefield set up by Rneekii pirates. The G'Nabgib, which jumped ahead of the rest of the convoy, has already been boarded and its passengers taken captive, and now the Corvettes and their precious cargo are under threat of being captured as well. A pirate Strike Cruiser has parked itself in the area to flood it with a screen of laser fire. Maarek Stele launches immediately to take out pirate Transports attempting to board the Corvettes and steal the TIE Defenders, while also destroying the many R-41 Starchasers and Ion Mines attempting to shoot him down. This lasts for many minutes, until several wings of Imperial Gunboats arrive to drive off the Strike Cruiser. One wing turns back to call for aid, while Stele and the others prepare to defend the now-disabled convoy against another attack.
A group of three Cargo Ferries are commandeered by Imperial forces in a nearby system, and jump into the vicinity of the convoy shortly afterwards, though they arrive a long distance away from the disabled Corvettes. Before they can close the distance, a strike group of Rebel starfighters and bombers appears nearby and splits up to attack both the ferries and the corvettes. With the Gunboats unable to intercept either force quickly enough, Stele attempts to intercept both forces simultaneously, shooting down their torpedoes and then attacking the starfighters themselves.
While the TIE Defender and the Gunboats are busy with the Rebels, a small force of Nami pirates jumps in close to the Corvettes. A fast Corellian Transport boards one of the corvettes and hijacks it, escaping before the Imperials can react. Stele manages to shoot down a few Nami ships, but cannot stop the corvette. At this point, Zaarin's forces also arrive - a dozen TIE Defenders, trying to kill Stele and shoot down the Gunboats - but are driven off by Stele's tenacious flying. With the area clear, the Cargo Ferry docks with the remaining Corvette and loads the last remaining TIE Defender prototype, then jumps with it to Coruscant. As a final insult, the Rneekii pirate Cruiser Sumpntodo jumps in and launches several wings of small Z-95 Headhunters to have a go at Stele, but after a short battle he manages to drive them away as well. Exhausted, Stele jumps back to base.
The TIE Defender prototype makes it to Thrawn's flagship for safekeeping. Thrawn, having examined Zaarin's behavior during the previous campaigns, is certain that he has devised a way to turn Zaarin's own weaknesses against himself. The Imperial Navy is dismayed by the capture of its top TIE Defender development specialists by one pirate group, and the capture of a TIE Defender prototype by another pirate group. They have no choice but to assume that the technology will eventually be replicated. Resources are immediately divested to an emergency program to develop a counter against TIE Defenders.
The Rneekii pirates, who had captured the TIE Defender scientists during the ion minefield ambush in the last campaign, have put the lead scientist up for ransom. The Empire has agreed to pay the price, and have arranged a exchange with the Rneekii. The Rneekii have agreed to allow one escort for the shuttle carrying the ransom, and Stele has been chosen to fly a Gunboat for this mission. However, the Empire does not intend to play fair; The Interdictor Cruiser Red Claw will jump into the system to keep the Rneekii from escaping while Stele disables the shuttle carrying the scientist, so that it may be recaptured. The Empire is also keenly aware that the Nami pirates who had stolen the TIE Defender prototype are also interested in this scientist to enable them to build more TIE Defenders, and is expecting them to attack as well.
The Rneekii arrive in their flagship, the Strike Cruiser Ayenzii, and launch their shuttle and its escorts. The Imperial shuttle and Stele arrive as well and proceed to the meeting point. 90 seconds later, the Red Claw jumps in and the battle commences. While Stele is tangling with the Rneekii starfighters, a group of Nami pirates jump in close to the Red Claw. Their bombers attack the Red Claw, while a Corellian Transport docks with the Imperial shuttle and captures the scientist. Fortunately, Stele reacts quickly and disables the transport for capture. The Ayenzii is then assaulted and destroyed. Despite this major vicotry and the destruction of the Rneekii pirates, the battle is not without its complications. For one, despite the hopes of the Secret Order, the Nami pirate leader Ali Tarrak was not aboard the captured Corellian Transport. Secondly, the Nami attack has destroyes the Red Claw's hyperdrive, leaving her stranded in the system.
With the Red Claw immobilized, two Corvettes are en-route to deliver a new hyperdrive and to take away the scientist and prisoners. However interrogation of the captured Nami and Rneekii reveals that the traitor Zaarin had negotiated with the Rneekii for the purchase of the now-rescued scientist, which means that Zaarin may know of the meeting's location. There is also a fear that the Nami could return in force. Stele is sent out in a Gunboat, along with what little is left of the Red Claw's fighter force, to protect the incoming Corvettes until help can arrive.
The first Corvette arrives and begins docking with the Red Claw. Just then, four wings of TIE Defenders from Zaarin's fleet jump into the system, surrounding the Interdictor and attacking it and the Corvette. Stele fights these off with a Gunboat as the Corvette takes aboard the rescued scientist and jumps away. Then, curiously, two Imperial Corvettes jump into the system, and one of them bears the same ID tag as the one that just left. It seems that the first Corvette was an impostor, and has just stolen the scientist. Before anyone can react to this, Zaarin's Strike Cruiser Kopsh jumps into the system and launches multiple TIE Advanced fighters to try and finish off the Red Claw. Fortunately, the Imperial Strike Cruisers Nagan and Shotel arrive and launch their own fighters, destroying the Kopsh. The (true) resupply Corvettes unload a new hyperdrive into the Red Claw. In the aftermath of the battle, the Imperials still have a hard time figuring out who exactly took the scientist - though they presume the cunning operation must have been the brain child of Zaarin.
With the Red Claw safely back in Imperial territory, Imperial Intelligence detects suspicious movements in a nearby sector. It seems that Tarrak and her Nami pirates are raiding an Imperial cargo loading area using TIE Defenders. Curiously, the Rebels have sent the Carrack Cruiser Jester to observe this operation. Stele is dispatched to defend a fleeing Imperial freighter, as well as to try and figure out why the pirates chose to attack this particular site. Stele does manage to protect the freighter against multiple Heavy Rocket attacks, and even confirms the use of TIE Defenders by the Nami pirates, but finds them too difficult to defeat in his TIE Advanced fighter.
Imperial Intelligence surmises that the Nami had invited the Rebels to watch the performance of the TIE Defenders, possibly as a prelude to selling the high-tech fighter to them. This must mean that the Nami have either started to build their own TIE Defenders, or are gearing up to do so. Meanwhile, Admiral Thrawn travels to Coruscant to report to the Emperor that he has developed a new fighter - the Missile Boat - specifically designed to hunt down and destroy TIE Defenders.
Imperial Intelligence is proven correct when spies aboard Nami Strike Cruiser Nuance report that the ship is carrying TIE Defenders to an arms deal with the Rebels. Thrawn is adamant that the TIE Defenders should be captured, so Stele is sent out in the Navy's first operational Missile Boat to disable and capture the Cruiser. Destroying the Nuance's starfighter fleet proves no problem for the Missile Boat; However the Rebel Carrack Cruiser Prism, which arrives for the weapons deal, is a tougher cookie. It manages to drop a probe before being taken down by the by Thrawn's new Star Destroyer, the Grey Wolf, which arrives to complete the operation. The Nuance itself is captured with 8 TIE Defenders aboard. Its crew is interrogated to reveal that Tarrak has indeed begun manufacturing TIE Defenders.
Thrawn, noting the Rebel probe, realizes that the Rebels will soon be showing up to take their "rightfully owned" TIE Defenders by force. He decides to make a stand with the Grey Wolf and the new Missile Boats. No fewer than three Rebel Carrack Cruisers arrive for the attack, launching a slew of fighters against the Star Destroyer, but Stele utilizes the awesome power of the Missile Boat to destroy all three capital ships single-handedly. The Rebel starfighters attempt to launch rockets and bombs at the Grey Wolf, but Stele intercepts most munitions, resulting in minor damage to the Star Destroyer. Once the Rebels have been dealt a massive blow, the Grey Wolf receives immediate orders to change course, and jumps out of the system with Stele in tow.
Tarrak's TIE Defender manufacturing facility has been found, with Tarrak herself on board. The Grey Wolf launches an assault on the station with the intent to wipe it out. Thrawn, however, has convinced the Emperor that Tarrak should be taken alive and offered a chance to join the Empire as the brilliant strategist that she is. Stele clears a path through enemy starfighters and mines for Imperial bombers to attack the station, disable Tarrak's ship, and capture her. The Rebels come to Tarrak's defense with a Calamari Cruiser and two Strike Cruisers, but by that point the Imperials have already taken the upper hand and they proceed to destroy all three ships.
Thrawn and Tarrak travel to Coruscant, where Thrawn is promoted to Grand-Amiral. With the Nami TIE Defender threat resolved, the Emperor wishes to commit Thrawn and his fleet fully to the task of ending Zaarin's insurrection. Maarek Stele, meanwhile, is promoted to the rank of "Emperor's Hand" within the Inner Circle.
The traitor Zaarin is apparently attempting to withdraw to the Unknown Regions of the galaxy, where he hopes to recruit and rearm for another campaign against the Empire. Grand-Admiral Thrawn designates Maarek Stele's Missile Boat as a rapid-response unit that will react to any new reconnaissance or intelligence data on Zaarin's location, and places him under the command of Captain Kuuztin on the Star Destroyer Courageous.
An Imperial deep-space probe picks up a suspicious convoy headed in the same direction as Zaarin's fleet was heading. It is led by the old Dreadnaught Rahmat. Stele is sent to attack the convoy and destroy or capture it. Stele pummels the Rahmat with rockets when suddenly one of Zaarin's Modified Frigates —the Strident— appears and begins to launch fighters. It also launches a lone shuttle tasked with commandeering the freighters. Fortunately, this turn of events was predicted and planned for by Imperial Intelligence, and the Courageous jumps in to destroy the Frigate while other craft disable the shuttle and capture the freighters. After the battle, the prisoners recovered from the shuttle as well as its navigational logs provide important intelligence data about Zaarin's possible location.
The captives have indicated that Zaarin is staging for an ambush of Thrawn's forces. His Interdictor Cruiser Bomb and three Modified Frigates are loading up supplies for the battle at a nearby cargo loading area. Captain Kuutzin decides to pre-emptively strike at them, destroying all four capital ships at once. Stele is launched to knock out the defenses before the Courageous and its starfighters move in to destroy the ships. However, the whole affair turns out to have been a trap by Zaarin himself, as the Star Destroyers Imperator and Thunderer jump in with a full complement of TIE Defenders to destroy the Courageous and its entire fleet. Stele manages to jump away in time before being shot down. His Flight Officer observes that the loss of four of Zaarin's ships, as well as all of the stolen Imperial cargo that was destroyed during the raid, caused much more damage to Zaarin than the loss of one Star Destroyer caused to the Empire; but the victory was still marginal overall.
Thrawn decides to play Zaarin's own game by setting an ambush for him. The bait is one that Zaarin cannot resist: a mock shipment of Missile Boats. After Stele jumps in to tangle with the enemy advanced scouts, five of Zaarin's Corvettes jump in to launch a multiple waves of TIE Bombers against the convoy. Stele shoots down the fighters and bombers, and then proceeds to knock out the Corvettes. Thrawn's Star Destroyer Grey Wolf and its small fleet arrives, expecting a larger battle, but none occurs. Zaarin's forces did not even include any craft that could have captured the "precious" cargo. It is clear that someone inside Thrawn's fleet is leaking information to Zaarin.
Thrawn is unwilling to abandon his idea for a bait-and-ambush, instead deciding to up the stakes: He will risk an actual squadron of new Missile Boats to lure Zaarin into his trap. As the Imperials are getting ready to spring their trap, Zaarin pre-empts the maneuver by sending his Interdictor Cruiser Maelstrom and a whole host of TIE Defenders to attack Thrawn's own Interdictor, the Whirlwind, which is supposed to take part in Thrawn's trap. Stele jumps in to the rescue, destroying the Maelstrom and all attacking craft, but damage sustained by the Whirlwind takes this critical ship out of the equation, ruining Thrawn's meticulously-crafted ambush.
While the Whirlwind is under attack, Zaarin launches a simultaneous attempt to capture the convoy carrying the Missile Boats. Stele makes an emergency jump into the battle to intercept Zaarin's forces, while the Star Destroyers Grey Wolf and Resolution hastily prepare to jump in to help him. He manages to shoot down the first wave of fighters attacking the convoy, when suddenly Zaarin's flagship —the Star Destroyer Glory— jumps in, escorted by the Frigate Thinin and the Strike Cruiser Yaai. They launch a fresh new wave of fighters as well as Assault Transports to disable the convoy, but Stele manages to shoot them all down with the help of the convoy's few escorts. Stele makes quick scans of the three capital ships for intelligence purposes. The Glory and Resolution jump in and launch their bombers, which take down the Thinin and Yaai. However the Glory manages to escape to hyperspace yet again.
Despite Zaarin's fleet rapidly weakening, his taste for advanced technology does not abate. His next move is to attack a top-secret research facility where the Corvette Vorknkx is being fitted with an experimental cloaking device. The cloak had been in development for years, and Zaarin knew of the project, but it seems that someone has leaked word that the project has had some sort of breakthrough. The attack is being led by Zaarin's Modified Frigate Borus, which launches waves of TIE Interceptors, Bombers and Fighters. Stele delays them while a pair of Scout Craft lay mines around the corvette. When reinforcement Gunboats arrive, they converge on the Borus and destroy it. Zaarin then sends several wings of TIE Advanced to shoot Stele down, but this fails as well. With the minefield set up, the facility is secure for now.
Now that Zaarin's knowledge of the Vorknkx's location is revealed, Thrawn moves to immediately evacuate the facility. Zaarin beats him to the punch by immediately launching an assault with several Carrack Cruisers. Stele is scrambled to defend the experimental and the transports arriving to reactivate its hyperdrive. He uses the Missile Boat's heavy payload to take out all three cruisers and their Assault Transports, as well as to dogfight and defeat a wave of TIE Defenders piloted by Zaarin's top aces. Finally the Vorknkx jumps away, and Imperial transports evacuate the facility's personnel.
The Vorknkx is taken directly to another secret facility hidden inside an asteroid. Thrawn arrives to watch a demonstration of the new cloaking device, which goes flawlessly. The engineers hope to be able to install this cloak on starfighters in the future, though there seems to be a problem when using this device with hyperspace-capable craft. In the meanwhile, Stele is once again promoted within the Inner Circle. He now holds the rank of "Emperor's Eyes".
After the intense and constant fighting of the previous campaign, Maarek Stele's Missile Boat is recalled for repairs. In the meanwhile, Darth Vader requests that Stele be trasferred to his flagship, the Star Destroyer Garrett, for a special operation. Stele's first mission is to protect the Dreadnought Dargon as it makes its way to the Garrett. The Dargon is carrying high-ranking Rebel officers and several Bothans to be interrogated by Vader. They are suspected of being connected to the hijacking of an Imperial freighter near Coruscant.
Stele lead a TIE Advanced wing to the rendezvous to relieve its current escorts. As soon as those escorts leave, Rebel starfighters appear and attempt to disable the Dargon. Two Rebel Corvettes packed with explosives attempt to ram the Dargon to defeat its shields. Stele's wing barely manages to prevent this by shooting down all of the attackers. The Rebels seem to have placed their bets on their attack succeeding, as the Calamari Cruiser Columbia jumps in and begins to launch even more fighters, but by this point it is already too late and the Dargon jumps to hyperspace.
Unfortunately, upon exiting hyperspace the Dargon's engines fail, a long distance from the Garrett. Sabotage is suspected, but the reason for the failure is a secondary concern. The prisoners are loaded aboard a transport to be taken to the Garrett, while another transport ferries engine parts back to the Dargon. The Rebels send their Modified Frigate Bay Point to finish the job, parking itself halfway between the Dargon and Garrett and then launching multiple waves of fighters and bombers. The Bay Point ultimately fails to capture any Imperial ships, and is forced to retreat.
The prisoners are brought before Lord Vader, who interrogates them regarding the stolen freighter. The Secret Order reveal to Stele that the freighter was carrying top-secret information about a classified Imperial weapons program, and that the ship had universal Imperial clearance codes to anywhere travel freely. Given time, the Bothans could decypher and codes and acquire all of this sensitive data.
In an effort to discover information about the stolen freighter's current location, Vader initiates a campaign to raid Bothan trade routes and capture any craft encountered. Stele is sent on one such mission against a convoy of Bothan transports. With a wing of Gunboats, he destroys the escorts, disables the transports, and discovers that the containers they are transporting contain weapons, possibly headed into Rebel hands. The Garrett then arrives to seize everything. After interrogations and careful scrutiny of every part of these transports, Vader concludes that the stolen freighter has been taken to a facility near planet Kothlis. Meanwhile, the Secret Order suspect that something about this entire affair is not quite right, though they do not have any conclusions as yet.
The Garrett arrives at the facility to discover that the freighter is no longer present. Nevertheless, forces are launched to capture the station and analyze its logs. Stele is once again flying the Missile Boat, for the first time with a wingman. Before the launch, he is approached by a Secret Order agent who reveals that the Emperor is not as interested in the freighter itself as he is in learning about what is happening to it. During the assault on the facility, Stele scans a Rebel Corvette carrying decoders, and as per the Order's instructions he lets the ship go. The facility is captured soon afterwards, and reveals that the freighter was in fact carrying information about the Empire's new Death Star. The Bothans are apparently planning to decipher this information and hand it over to the Rebels.
Imperial Intelligence receives information that the Bothan Dreadnaught Doomer is meeting with the Rebel Calamari Cruiser Knights, possibly to deliver the information retrieved from the stolen freighter. Forces are dispatched to destroy the Bothans and capture the Rebel cruiser. The Secret Order contact Stele again, tasking him with capturing as many Rebels as possible in order to learn what they think about the information they are trying to acquire. Stele and his wingman jump in slightly too late, arriving next to the Rebel Cruiser and discovering that the Rebels have already set up a large minefield in the area. They take out the mines and starfighters, then destroy the Doomer and take down the shields on the Knights, at which time Imperial ships arrive to capture the cruiser intact. During the capture, the Rebel Modified Frigate Tarken jumps in to attempt a rescue of the Knights, but in turn it also gets captured.
Lord Vader is pleased with the number of prisoners brought to his interrogation. The Secret Order agent reveals to Stele that the information on the stolen freighter contained the location of the Second Death Star (Endor) as well as its operational status (not ready for operations). For his role in capturing two Rebel capital ships nearly singlehandedly, Stele is promoted within the Inner Circle to the rank of "Emperor's Voice".
The Emperor has finally revealed his plan to trap the Rebels at Endor to the Imperial Navy. Imperial Intelligence has detected a growing congregation of Rebel capital ships at a remote location, and estimates that this is where the Rebels will be marshalling for their grand attack on the Second Death Star. Maarek Stele is sent in to recon the meeting to determine whether the Rebels are indeed committing to an attack. The Secret Order also ask Stele to shoot down a shuttle containing a Bothan computer scientist who doubts the veracity of the information leaked by the Empire, to prevent him from voicing his doubts. Stele is instructed to shoot down some Rebel starfighters, but leave enough undamaged so as to ensure that the Rebels don't cancel their attack due to their losses.
At the military summit, Stele does detect and catalog a large number of capital ships, including the Calamari Cruiser Lutdze (carrying Admiral Ackbar), the Light Calamari Cruiser Sullute, the Frigate Viper and the Modified Frigate Kracken, among many other smaller ships carrying command personnel and war materials. He shoots down the doubting scientist's ship and evacuates the area. The scans confirm that the Rebels are indeed massing for a combined strike, as the Emperor intended, and reveal the exact composition of their force. However now that their rally point has been discovered, the Rebels are moving to a different rally point near the planet Sullust.
Vader is determined to pre-emptively strike at the Rebel ships and reduce their numbers before the final battle, delaying the Rebel attack and forcing the Rebels to call for more reinforcements. Stele is sent to intercept three capital ships as soon as they arrive at Sullust. To ensure that the Rebels would have to send their entire fleet against the Second Death Star, a Secret Order agent instructs Stele to destroy as many starfighters as possible. Stele leads a whole wing of Missile Boats on this mission, and arrives early at the rally point. The first Rebel starships to arrive are the Strike Cruiser Red Dog and the Modified Frigates Shmus and Barker. Stele and the other Missile Boats destroy all three targets, and shoot down numerous starfighters, before the remainder of the Rebel fleet arrives and the Imperials head for home.
Vader returns to Coruscant to report his success in delaying the Rebels, and convincing them that the Second Death Star is not yet operational. The Rebels will indeed commit their entire fleet and starfighter reserves to this attack. The Emperor is pleased, and decides that it is time for him to go to Endor to witness the final destruction of the Rebellion.
Emperor Palpatine boards his luxury yacht, the Excalibur, which will take him to his Super Star Destroyer headed for Endor. On the way to the rendezvous, the Excalibur is suddenly attacked by Zaarin's forces, and its escorts are destroyed. The Garrett immediately launches Stele in a Missile Boat along with a wing of TIE Advanced to counter this offensive and buy time for the Excalibur to jump to hyperspace. While multiple Gunboats attempt to assault the yacht, Zaarin sends his Victory Star Destroyer Zeplin and several other capital ships to attempt an interception - but they fail to catch the fast-moving craft. After many minutes of furious combat, the Excalibur finally escapes. The Star Destroyers Darkk and Indiko then jump in to drive off the Zeplin.
The Secret Order is dismayed to discover that some of the enemy Gunboats attacking the Excalibur were part of the Emperor's Personal Reserve Guards. Before a mole hunt can begin, an Imperial Spy reports disturbing news: Namuura Din, captain of the Zeplin, has learned of the trap that the Emperor is setting for the Rebels at Endor, and has decided to defect to their side. Not only could he spoil the trap, but his ship is also carrying a Missile Boat captured previously by Zaarin, which Din might hand off to the Rebels. Vader decides to capture the Zeplin intact, immediately, as it heads for a rendezvous with the Rebels.
Stele's Missile Boat and a group of Gunboats are tasked with disabling the Zeplin and protecting the capture operation. When they arrive, they realize that they were too late; The Zeplin had already concluded its meeting with a Rebel Calamari Cruiser, the Link, and has transferred the Missile Boat to it. Nevertheless, the mission continues and the Zeplin is captured with its captain on board. After interrogating Namuura Din, Vader realizes not only is the Missile Boat now in Rebel hands, Din also reveal the Emperor's plans to the Rebels.
Immediately after capturing the Zeplin, the Garrett leaves the system to pursue the Rebel Cruiser Link. Vader surmises that the Link's captain would not broadcast such sensitive information over the radio, and hopes that capturing or destroying the Link would prevent the secret from spreading. Forunately for the Empire, the Link stops dead in space, probably hoping to destroy its pursuer so as not to lead them to the Rebel headquarters. Vader takes this golden opportunity to launch Stele to take out the Link's shields and capture the ship intact.
As soon as the Garrett arrives, a Missile Boat takes off from the Link and jumps to hyperspace. The Garrett immediately jumps in pursuit. The Interdictor Cruiser Bew'a arrives to hold the Link in place while Stele and the rest of the taskforce knock out the Link and capture it. This is done by the time the Garrett returns - empty-handed. While the Garrett is sending out a crew and command officers over to the Link, the Modified Frigate Qork arrives to resupply the Garrett so it can resume the pursuit of the stolen Missile Boat. Under Vader's interrogation, the captured Rebel captain reveals that he had not passed the knowledge of the Emperor's trap to anyone.
Meanwhile, the Emperor has arrived at the Second Death Star and Grand-Admiral Thrawn goes there to speak with him. The Emperor wishes to rid himself of both the Rebels and Zaarin once and for all, and Thrawn is certain that he has found the perfect bait with which to lure Zaarin and finish him.
The Garrett tracks the Missile Boat's trajectory to a Rebel facility and cargo storage yard. Probes indicate no ships have left the area yet; It must be that the Missile Boat is in one of the containers. Fearing that the Rebels may use the Missile Boat at the battle of Endor, or reverse-engineer it to learn its secrets, the Imperial Navy wants to locate and destroy the correct container, though Vader decides to re-capture it instead. The operation does not go smoothly: Two Strike Cruisers attempt to assault the Garrett itself and cause it serious damage; and the Rebel Modified Cruiser Equator attempts to destroy the cargo retrieval ship carrying the Missile Boat. Nevertheless, the Rebel ships and their facility are destroyed.
The Missile Boat is safe in Imperial Hands once again. It is examined and confirmed that the Rebels did not yet attempt to disassemble it, meaning that they do not have knowledge of its inner workings. The Imperial Navy decides to retire all Missile Boats from combat duty altogether, including Stele's own ship, to prevent the chance of this ever happening again. In addition, Zaarin had devastated the Empire's Missile Boat production facilities just as he had done with the TIE Defender, so even spare parts for existing boats are too scarce for operational duties. Maarek Stele is transferred back to the command of Grand-Admiral Thrawn, and will join a TIE Advanced squadron from now on. The Emperor is keen to destroy Zaarin's insurrection before destroying the Rebels, securing a lasting peace in the Empire.
Thrawn's trap for Zaarin has finally been sprung. Zaarin's ships are attacking To-phalion base, the asteroid facility that is currently housing the Vorknkx cloaking device project. Stele's TIE Advanced squadron is being scrambled to engage and destroy the attacking craft. Stele helps shoot down more than a dozen Muurian Transports before they can do too much damage to the base's defenses. During the battle, a shuttle makes an unauthorized launch from the asteroid base, and is discovered to be carrying the spy that Zaarin had planted in Thrawn's fleet, as well as data on the Vorknkx project that he had stolen. Stele shoots the spy down, finally ending that threat.
Zaarin's second wave arrives soon after, and includes a whole squadron of Gunboats and Modified Corvettes. To make matters worse, a program implanted by the spy before he launched from the station shuts down the shields on all of the station's defensive weaponry emplacements, making them easy targets for ion cannons. Thrawn hastily transfers over to the Frigate Maru Ki to come to the station's aid, but it's up to Stele to hold off the enemy until he arrives. Stele's TIE Advanced wing destroys most of the enemy force before the Maru Ki shows up and eradicates the rest. Scans of the Corvettes reveals they were carrying troops - confirming that Zaarin is intent on capturing the facility.
Now that he's sure of Zaarin's intent, Thrawn signals to the rest of his attack fleet to join him at To-phalion, including the Star Destroyer Grey Wolf and two Strike Cruisers. With them should be arriving the Interdictor Cruiser Corvus - the final piece of the trap that would prevent Zaarin from escaping again. Thrawn is banking on Zaarin's hatred of him to split his forces between attacking To-phalion and the Maru Ki, buying time for the other ships to arrive. As expected, Zaarin arrives at To-phalion first with his Star Destroyer Glory, and a massive battle erupts between his TIE Defenders and the fighters of the Maru Ki.
The Glory drops what seems to be most of its starfighters, then jumps away to avoid attacks from the Maru Ki. Shortly afterwards, it jumps back into the system - this time within weapon range of both the Maru Ki and the To-phalion asteroid. It blasts at the asteroid until the base inside begins to disintegrate. The Vorknkx launches from the base, but instead of jumping away to hyperspace it makes its way into the Glory's hangar bay - stolen by more of Zaarin's infiltrators. The Grey Wolf arrives with its escorts, but the Corvus is delayed. Zaarin makes one final attempt to destroy the Maru Ki, and his Assault Transports cause it critical damage, forcing Zaarin to evacuate the ship in a small shuttle. With the Maru Ki seemingly destroyed and the Vorknkx captured, the Glory retreats to hyperspace. Only then does the Corvus arrives - only seconds too late. Zaarin's forces are cleaned up, and the Maru Ki just barely survives.
Thrawn had expected this turn of events. He'd arranged for a powerful tracking device to be planted on the Vorknkx. As soon as the Glory exits hyperspace, its position is pin-pointed and the final battle begins. Thrawn's ships (excluding the crippled Maru Ki) jump after the Glory and intercept it in deep space within the Unknown Regions - this time with the Interdictor Corvus in place so that no craft can jump away. On Zaarin's side are just a few smaller capital ships he had managed to scrounge up quickly for the battle, and they converge on the Corvus in an attempt to quickly destroy it and enable the Glory's escape. While the Grey Wolf slowly moves into position to protect the Corvus, Stele flies against the last remaining TIE Defenders in Zaarin's fleet while also protecting the Corvus from a barrage of heavy rockets and torpedoes.
The battle is fierce. Both of the Empire's Strike Cruisers, the Daring and the Ebolo sacrifice themselves in a head-on battle with the Glory. Multiple shuttles launch from the Glory as its shields go down, but Stele intercepts and scans them, confirming that Zaarin is on board none of these shuttles. Finally, just as the Glory is about to be destroyed, Zaarin launches the Vorknkx from its hangar bay and activates its cloaking device, slipping past the Imperials. As Zaarin orders the jump to hyperspace, he gloats about once again escaping Thrawn's grasp. However, as the ship jumps to hyperspace, the instability of the cloak in conjuction with the hyperdrive engine causes the ship to explode spectacularly into a million pieces.
The Secret Order promote Stele to "Emperor's Reach" - the highest rank within their organization. The Imperial Navy celebrates the long-awaited death of the traitor Zaarin, which they had fought for so fiercely and paid for so dearly. They await with great anticipation to hear the Emperor's announcement that the Rebellion had finally been defeated at the Battle of Endor.
