The Empire's aim was to destroy the Rebel base on the fourth moon of the gas giant Yavin, using its most formidable weapon: the Death Star. The Rebels had to launch an attack on this apparently indestructible space station, or be utterly destroyed.

All available X-Wings and Y-Wings were called into use, as well as all astromech droids. But Han and Chewbacca did ot lend any help to the effort. After having collected and loaded up the reward for rescuing Leia, Han decided to leave, saying he had some old debts to pay. The Millenium Falcon went off, leaving the Rebels facing an imminent death, and Luke extremely angry. Han's last words rang through his head, "Hey Luke... may the Force be with you."

There was however a certain person in the Yavin 4 hangar who would cheer him up, Biggs Darklighter. They had not seen each other since Biggs enroled in the Imperial Academy. Luke ws overjoyed to see his old friend again, and knew that they had much to talk about.

Luke had always wanted to be like his father, a great fighter pilot, and was honoured when Red Leader came over to him and spoke of his father, Red Leader recognised that Luke had inherited great piloting skills, and knew that he was invaluable to the Rebel effort. The Death Star was very close to be being within firinfg range, so there was no time to lose. Leia and the other high-ranked members of the Rebel Alliance gathered in the War Room, where they would be able to keep in contact with the fighter pilots. Threepio also went, fearing for Artoo's safety, who was currently sitting in Red Five, Luke's X-Wing.

The combined force of X-Wings, Red Group, and Y-Wings, Gold Group, launched and set a course for the Death Star. Having previously stolen the plans for the space station, the Rebels had managed to find a weakness. There was an exhaust port in the trench that encircled the Death Star, measuring two metres across. This led to the main reactor. It was ray shielded, so proton torpedoes had to be used, and only a direct hit would set off a chain reaction and destroy the Death Star. Gold Group was assigned with this seemingly impossible task, as Y-Wings are more rugged than the sleeker, faster X-Wings. Red Group was to fly cover for them, and make an attack run at the exhaust port if necessary.

On the Death Star, turbolasers were being manned, ready for the imminent Rebel attack. Tarkin stood next to a display counting down the minutes to when they would be within firing range of Yavin 4. He was absolutely certain that his brainchild would wipe out the Rebellion. The Rebels would obviously mount an attack, which would naturally be ineffective, but fun for him to watch. There was no doubt whatsoever in his mind that he would triumph, and gain great favour with the Emperor.

The X-Wings and Y-Wings moved into formation, and Red Group opened their S-Foils, allowing them to use their lasers. As they passed through the static field surrounding the Death Star, they were in awe of its size. Wedge Antilles summed it up in one remark, "Look at the size of that thing!" Red Group moved to attack speed, dodging the turbolasers, while Gold Group prepared for the first attack run. The X-Wings were causing havoc on the station's surface, wiping out laser emplacements and weaving between the slow but powerful turbolasers. But slow as they may be, the lasers drew first blood. Jek Porkins, Red 6, caught a direct hit, and could keep control of his ship. He blew up in a brilliant explosion. Luke had been hit, but Artoo had managed to control the damage, allowing Red Five to carry on.

The Imperials realised that their lasers were not doing nearly enough damage, so Vader ordered a flight of TIE fighters to launch, as well as going out himself. He knew he had to destroy the ships in the trench, and took two of the best TIE pilots with him as his wingmen. The Imperial ships took on the X-Wings ship to ship, and his made the odds against a Rebel victory even greater. Three Y-Wings were attempting the first attack run, but found themselves pursued by the Dark Lord of the Sith. They were detroyed within seconds. Another run was launched, this time Gold Leader was the one who would fire. Again Vader was on their tails, and Gold Leader was taken out.

It was left to Red Group to take out the Death Star, and so Red Leader formed up with two othe X-Wings. He ordered Luke to watch out for Vader and any other TIEs. Wdge and Biggs stayed with him. Red Leader commenced his run, and was far down the trench when Luke spotted Vader and his wing men. Still Red Leader carried on, although the pursuing TIEs were very close. One of the X-Wings was blown up, while the other moved to cover Red Leader, but was destroyed soon after. Suddenly Red Leader's targeting computer confirmed that he was within range. The torpedoes fired, but impacted on the surface. He pulled out of the trench, with Vader after him. He told Luke to start the last of the attack runs, while Vader pressed down on his laser firing controls and blew Red Leader away. Luke watched as Red Leader's ship flew straight into the Death Star's surface. It was now up to him. There was no-one else left. Ordering Biggs and Wedge to form up behind him, he commenced the last possible attack run, the Rebellion's last hope.

The three X-Wings flew into the trench, and built up speed. Biggs and Wedge looked around for the defending TIEs, and eventually saw them. Thay raced down towards the Rebel ships, and soon caught up with them. Wedge was hit, and had to pull out, lest he lose control and fly into Biggs or Luke. Vader ordered his wing men to let him go, seeing that was of no significance. He concentrated instead on the lead Rebel ship. Luke was pushing his engines to the limit, but suddenly Artoo was hit with a laser. He was rendered useless, but still Luke flew on. Then Biggs aseemed to be in some trouble. He was telling Luke to slow down, but Luke knew that that was not possible. If he slowed down now, the Rebellion was finished. Vader locked on to Biggs, and blew him into space dust. Luke could not believe it, but he had to put it behind him. He returned to his targeting computer, and continued to wait for the moment to fire. Suddenly he heard a voice. It was Ben's. Ben told him to use the Force, let himself go and allow the Force to guide him. Luke did not understand where the voice came from, but recognised it. He switched off his computer, and trusted himself, and the fate of the galaxy, to the Force. In the War Room, there was concern when they realised that Luke was no longer using a computer, but his instincts.

Vader told his wingmen to leave Red Five to him. He had no idea who was piloting it, but realised that he was strong in the Force. He was finding it difficult to lock Luke in his sights, but eventually his computer beeped, telling him that the Rebel ship would soon become floating space debris. His fingers depressed on the firing controls. At that exact moment, the Millenium Falcon dropped out of hyperspace from nowhere, blasted one of Vader's wingmen, which caught the other wingman off balance, who then panicked. Vader's shot went wide in the confusion, while his remaining flew his fighter straight into Vader's own ship, knocking Vader spinning out of the trench while the other TIE pilot slammed into the trench's wall. Han shouted over the intercom, "You're all clear kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home!" Luke placed his fingers on the firing buttons. The Death Star came within range and the superlaser started to come online. It was only a matter of seconds before Yavin 4 would become an asteroid field. Luke stretched out with the Force, and fired his torpedoes. It was known as the shot heard around the galaxy. The torpedoes went staright into the exhaust port, while Luke and the remaining fighters, along with the Millenium Falcon, flew away from the Death Star. Tarkin looked on and in his mind's eye saw the Rebellion become space dust. The Death Star blew up in a brilliant explosion, a ring expanding out from it as the power cores exploded.

On the fourth moon of Yavin, there was great celebration, and Luke and Han received medals for their extraordinary exploits. They became known as the heroes of Yavin, and few would ever better their achievements.