The latest footage from another Rogue One offers the biggest glimpse into the X-wing space battle we’ve seen yet. But what is that thing in orbit they’re attacking?
We’ve figured that the climactic battle in the first standalone Star Wars movie will probably come to a head during a ground assault on the beach planet of Scarif, the home base for the Empire’s deadly military operations. But in yet another international trailer for Rogue One, the X-wing strike on something in orbit above the planet shown in the new international trailer means we’re getting more space battles than we bargained for.
There have been shots of an X-wing battle since the second trailer was released in October, which was nice for the millisecond-long moments we got to see X-wings soar between some kind of structure floating above the planet. But we now have an idea of what they’re attacking.
It could have been some kind of Death Star-building orbiter, but the Empires superweapon is already built and at least partially operational in Rogue One. Instead, it seems like the space battle is to take out some kind of Star Destroyer docking station guarding Scarif. It makes good tactical sense for the Rebels. Take out the big guns guarding your other big guns, and catch them by surprise.
Hopefully the heroism by these X-wing pilots buys Jyn and her group enough time to steal the Death Star plans before it’s too late.
