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'Star Wars' Battle of Endor gets the 'Real Fake History' treatment

What might have happened during the Battle of Endor if no one understood what Nien Nunb was saying? Machinima's "Real Fake History" interviews the co-pilots who could have ruined it for us all.

Nien Nunb's language barrier could have lost the Battle of Endor if it wasn't for Lando. Lucasfilm

Any "Star Wars" fan will tell you that the Battle of Endor was a crucial moment for Rebel forces trying to overthrow Darth Vader and his attempt to build a second Death Star.

If it wasn't for Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker, C-3PO and R2-D2 helping to take down the Empire -- not to mention the countless Ewoks who ended up giving their lives that day -- where would we be today?

As part of its new "Real Fake History" series that parodies History Channel shorts, YouTube channel Machinima takes a closer look at the Battle of Endor from "Star Wars Return of the Jedi."

Ken Burns-like documentary-style interviews feature two co-pilots who were also in the Millennium Falcon cockpit with Lando Calrissian and Sullustan smuggler Nien Nunb that fateful day when they attacked the second Death Star and lead the Rebels to victory.

The former Rebel pilots, Bill Bendix and Mark Stargazer, talk about the stressful mission that almost didn't succeed.

"We don't know what to do," Bendix said in the video. "We didn't have any training. They just put us in uniforms and threw us in there and said, 'Help out Lando.' And to make matters worse, I don't speak Sullustan. So I had absolutely no idea what Nien Nunb was saying."

"Who the hell brings in a co-pilot that doesn't speak the same language as everybody else?" Stargazer asked. "It's unprofessional! What are you saying?! We're under attack!"

He's got a good point. Not everyone can speak alien languages, especially during a war. Han Solo understands the Wookiee language of Shyriiwook, and of course, Huttese. Luke Skywalker can decipher droid beeps and Jawaese. And C-3PO knows all the languages including Ewokese (though technically some of those phrases are Tibetan).

Luckily, Lando perfectly understood Nunb's native tongue of Sullustese (which is derived in real life from a mix of Kenyan languages Haya and Kikuyu), even if the other pilots didn't, and they ultimately helped the Rebels win the war again Darth Vader and the Empire, once and for all.

More historical events to be dissected in upcoming "Real Fake History" episodes include the Battle of Castle Black from "Game of Thrones," the Battle of New York City from "The Avengers" and the Battle of Hong Kong from "Pacific Rim," just to name a few. New episodes of "Real Fake History" air Tuesdays on Machinima.

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"We didn't even get to wear seat belts! It was horrible working conditions," Stargazer revealed. Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/CNET