Battle of Boz Pity (Galactic Civil War)

"Boz Pity was a graveyard world, littered with the remains of giant, extinct beings. We didn't want our bones to join them, but the situation looked grim. If this was going to be Renegade Squadron's last stand, we were going to make the Empire remember it."

- Commander Col Serra

During the Galactic Civil War, a battle took place around 0.5 ABY on the planet Boz Pity between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance. The battle occurred when the Empire discovered the Alliance's new main base on Boz Pity, through a tracking device the bounty hunter Boba Fett had planted in an R5 droid captured by the Alliance. With this information, the Empire launched a full-scale assault on the Boz Pity base, sending a large fleet to destroy the Alliance forces stationed there. Once the Imperial fleet emerged from hyperspace over Boz Pity, it landed several ground troops and walkers to assault the base. The Alliance's new elite fighting force, Renegade Squadron&mdash;led by the Commanders Han Solo and Col Serra&mdash;defended the base's main gate from the invading Imperial stormtroopers, while the rest of the Rebels stationed on Boz Pity were able to evacuate.

Although the Renegades were able to destroy an All Terrain Armored Transport walker and several All Terrain Scout Transport walkers using particle cannon turrets and explosives, the advancing Imperial forces eventually overpowered Renegade Squadron, forcing Solo to order the squadron to fall back to the rear of the base. There, the Rebels held out against the Empire's superior numbers until they were able to evacuate Boz Pity via LAAT/i gunships.

Prelude
"It was a trap, and we had walked right into it!"

- Commander Serra

Around 0.5 ABY&mdash; during the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic&mdash;the Alliance secretly set up a new main base on the planet Boz Pity in the Mid Rim, shortly after being forced to evacuate its previous base on Yavin 4. Later that year, Renegade Squadron&mdash;the Alliance's new elite fighting force composed of spacers and pirates, formed and led by former smugglers, Commanders Han Solo and Col Serra&mdash;was able to free a number of Rebel prisoners being held by the Hutt Cartel on Tatooine.

While the Renegades escaped Tatooine to the Alliance base on Boz Pity with their liberated comrades, the squadron also brought back an R5-series droid it had captured. However, unbeknownst to Renegade Squadron, the bounty hunter Boba Fett, out to collect the Empire's bounty for information on the Rebel Alliance, had installed a homing beacon into the droid. With this information, the Empire launched a full scale invasion of the Rebels' base. A few hours after Renegade Squadron arrived at Boz Pity, an Imperial fleet dropped out of hyperspace over the planet.

The battle
"A few hours after we arrived at Boz Pity, an Imperial planetary assault force descended upon us."

- Commander Serra

With their base compromised, Alliance Admiral Ackbar quickly ordered an evacuation of Boz Pity, with some Rebels using their tamed carrion spat pack animals as transports to easily traverse the base. However, the Imperials soon landed ground forces on the planet, hoping to halt the Alliance's escape. As the Imperial ground troops, speeder bikes, and walkers approached the Rebel base, Renegade Squadron was tasked with holding off the Imperial Army while the rest of the Alliance's personnel made it off the planet. Serra, realizing that the Renegades would not likely survive the battle, planned to slow the Empire's advance by any means necessary. Serra ordered his squadron to capture and hold the base's main gate, the only entrance into the base. With the gate secure, the Renegades were able to repel the first wave of Imperials, destroying an All Terrain Scout Transport walker and killing several Imperial stormtroopers.

However, as the second wave of Imperials approached&mdash;which included many more stormtroopers and an All Terrain Armored Transport&mdash;Serra realized that the Rebels were not strong enough to defend the main gate and ordered Renegade Squadron to fall back deeper into the base. Solo placed a container of thermal explosives at the side of the gate house and told one of his men to place a detpack next to the container. As the Empire's AT-AT arrived at the main gate, the Rebels triggered the detpack and the thermal explosives. The resulting explosion blew out the AT-AT's forward two legs, causing the walker to crash down. With the walker destroyed, the Imperials were forced to fall back and regroup.

The temporary Imperial retreat bought the Renegades some time, and Solo ordered his squadron to set up a pair of particle cannon turrets and several laser cannons as the Imperials launched their third attack wave, with two AT-STs in front of the assault. As the Imperials moved deeper into the Rebel base, however, they experienced heavy fire from Renegade Squadron's turrets and suffered several casualties, including the AT-STs.

Though Renegade Squadron had destroyed the first few attack waves, more and more Imperial stormtroopers flooded into the base. During the resulting firefight, Ackbar was shot by an Imperial sniper and injured. Hearing the news, Solo ordered a member of Renegade Squadron to bring a bacta container to the injured admiral. After being partially healed, Ackbar was able to make his way to the evacuation zone.

It soon became obvious to the Rebels that the Boz Pity base was lost, as the Imperials were now deploying more AT-ST walkers and pushing back the Renegades. The Empire managed to capture the Rebels' particle turrets and laser cannons, using them against the retreating Alliance troops. Solo ordered Renegade Squadron to the evacuation zone, an ancient sacrificial circle at rear of the base, and to defend the area as he prepared several LAAT/i gunships for launch. Using T4-B heavy tanks for support, the Renegades held off the enemy advance for a few minutes. Finally, Solo was able to get the gunships ready for liftoff, and Renegade Squadron escaped Boz Pity and the Imperial fleet.

Aftermath
Although the Alliance lost Boz Pity to the Empire, Renegade Squadron and most of the Alliance's personnel there successfully made it off the planet and evaded the Empire. Soon after the battle, Rebel Commander Luke Skywalker discovered the remote ice planet of Hoth, which would serve as the Rebels' new main base until 3 ABY. Renegade Squadron would continue to serve the Alliance, making several hit-and-run attacks against the Empire over the next few years.

Years later, after the defeat of the Empire and the formation of the New Republic, Jedi Knight Tionne Solusar of the New Jedi Order tracked down Col Serra&mdash;who by then had retired from military service&mdash;to ask him about Renegade Squadron for her archives. Serra told Solusar about many of their battles and missions, including the Renegades' defense of Boz Pity.

Behind the scenes
The battle's first and only appearance to date is in the video game Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron&mdash;released October 9, 2007&mdash;which tells the history and feats of Renegade Squadron. The battle itself makes up the game's sixth campaign level, in which the player, a member of Renegade Squadron, assists in the defense of the Boz Pity base. In the level, the player must help defend the main gate, destroy the AT-AT walker, heal Ackbar, and protect the evacuation zone as the Rebels retreat.

The video game mistakenly states that Boz Pity is in the Outer Rim Territories, when in fact the planet is in the Mid Rim, according to the Star Wars: The Essential Atlas Online Companion.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron