Star Destroyer Ambushed Above Utapau

Tarabba Sector, Outer Rim — The Imperial Star Destroyer Marathon has been ambushed by suspected rebel forces during a relief mission over the third moon of Utapau, authorities have confirmed. The rebels, who are reported to have ambushed the Marathon with Clone Wars era starfighters and a Venator-class Star Destroyer, were forced to retreat after a brief skirmish. The Marathon sustained only minor damage, according to witnesses on nearby Utapau.

The identity of the rebels remains unknown at this time, though officials have confirmed that a number of rebel starfighters were captured in the incident and their pilots held for questioning.

The Marathon, according to a statement from the Moff of the Tarabba Sector, was responding to a distress signal over Utapau 3 when the Venator-class Star Destroyer—a variant of the newer Imperial-class—arrived on the scene, deployed starfighters, and commenced a coordinated attack on the Imperial ship. The fighters, as well as the Venator-class vessel (which is reported to have identified itself as the "Freedom") were commonly used by the Old Republic during the Clone Wars. This has prompted speculation that the "Freedom" could be a rogue Republic crew from that era.

Imperial officials warned that it is too early to speculate as to the identity of the rebels, and that more information would be known once the captured pilots had been questioned. The Moff's statement also denounced "anyone who would attack one of His Majesty's vessels on a relief mission to help those in need," referring to the distress signal that brought the Marathon to the Utapau System. However, who it was that sent the distress signal, and why, remains unknown.

But witnesses—some of whom on Utapau who watched the skirmish through macrobinoculars, and some of whom who happened to be in orbit—claimed that a third ship was present at the scene and appeared to have suffered damage to its engines, seeming to corroborate the Imperial version of events. The Coruscant Journal has not verified this, however.

Meanwhile, the Empire has disseminated an alert to shipyards across the galaxy to be on the look out for a Venator-class Star Destroyer without proper identification and seeking fuel and repairs. Holos of the rebel ship have also been widely shown in Imperial media. Officials have expressed optimism that the rebels will be found, stating that it is "only a matter of time."