Secret mission to Tatooine

"Darth Vader. Only you could be so bold. The Imperial Senate will not sit still for this. When they hear you've attached a diplomatic&mdash;" "Don't act so surprised, your highness. You weren't on any mercy mission this time."

- Leia Organa and Darth Vader

During the Galactic Civil War, the Alliance to Restore the Republic stole the plans to the Death Star, the Galactic Empire's planet-destroying deep space mobile battle station. Rebel spies transmitted the plans to Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan aboard the Tantive IV, and the corvette was pursued by the Star Destroyer Devastator to the planet Tatooine. This led to a battle on Tatooine, beginning in orbit between the Tantive IV and the Devastator. The corvette was boarded by Imperial troops, led by Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith. Organa was captured, but, before she was taken prisoner, she gave the plans to the astromech droid R2-D2 who, along with his protocol droid companion C-3PO, escaped to Tatooine aboard an escape pod.

Once on the surface, the two droids came into the possession of a group of Jawa scavengers, before being sold to moisture farmer Owen Lars and his nephew, Luke Skywalker. The Empire, meanwhile, learned that the droids were likely in possession of the stolen plans and searched the planet for them. Artoo fled from the Lars farm in search of Obi-Wan Kenobi, as the droid was carrying a message from the princess for the exiled Jedi Master. The message, which Artoo delivered to Kenobi with Skywalker's assistance, was the princess' plea for help, asking that the Jedi Master safely deliver the plans to Bail Organa, one of the founders of the Rebel Alliance, on Alderaan.

The Empire learned that the droids had been sold to the Lars family, and they killed Owen and his wife, Beru Lars, once the Imperial forces made it to the farm. His family having been killed, Skywalker agreed to leave with Kenobi and take the droids to Alderaan. They hired a pilot, Han Solo, in Mos Eisley, and Solo agreed to take them to Alderaan aboard his ship, the Millennium Falcon. The arrangement was discovered by Imperial troops, who attacked the ship before it departed. The Millennium Falcon blasted its way out of the Mos Eisley spaceport and evaded Star Destroyers in orbit. They arrived at the former location of Alderaan after it was destroyed by the Death Star, and they rescued Organa from Imperial captivity. Though Kenobi was killed by Darth Vader, the group brought the stolen plans to the Rebel base on Yavin 4, where the Rebellion launched the Battle of Yavin and destroyed the Death Star.

Prelude
"I have traced the Rebel spies to her. Now she is my only link to finding their secret base."

- Darth Vader, regarding Leia Organa

Prior to the Clone Wars, the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious, and his apprentice, Count Dooku worked with Poggle the Lesser, Archduke of Geonosis, to construct an ultimate weapon, a deep space mobile battle station capable of destroying entire planets. Sidious, publicly known as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, intended to use the weapon as part of his plan to control the galaxy. He put this plan in motion during the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, with the Separatists working to build the weapon. By the end of the war, at which time Sidious had transformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire, the station's spherical shell and laser-focusing dish had already been completed and the Death Star was under Imperial control. In the next few years, Moff Wilhuff Tarkin had been placed in charge of the project.

The two decades after the end of the Clone Wars saw the outbreak of a new civil conflict: the Galactic Civil War, fought between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance formed to challenge the Imperial regime. In its first major victory against the Empire, the Rebellion was able to steal the plans to the ultimate weapon, which had become known as the Death Star. The plans were transmitted by Rebel spies to Princess Leia Organa, the Senator of Alderaan, aboard the corvette Tantive IV. The princess, now the custodian of the stolen plans, was tasked by her father, Bail Organa, with bringing the plans to Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who lived in exile on Tatooine. Bail, one of the founders of the Rebel Alliance and who had known then-General Kenobi during the Clone Wars, wanted the Jedi Master's help in the fight against the Empire. Darth Vader, the Emperor's apprentice and one of the top Imperial agents, traced the Rebel transmissions to the Tantive IV, and he pursued the Rebels aboard the Star Destroyer Devastator.

Firefight over Tatooine
"Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you." "I don't know what you're talking about. I am a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan." "You are a part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor. Take her away!"

- Darth Vader and Leia Organa

The Tantive IV arrived in orbit of Tatooine, with the Devastator in close pursuit. The Star Destroyer dwarfed the corvette and overpowered it, knocking out its main reactor, before drawing the small ship into its lower hangar. As the Tantive IV was being pulled into the Devastator, Rebel troopers prepared for their ship to be boarded, taking positions in the hallway near the entrance from which the Imperials would enter. As stormtroopers readied to blast their way into the ship, they cut down the door and it exploded outward, and the Imperial forces swarmed into the halls of the Tantive IV. Some stormtroopers were shot down, but the Imperial troops were able to kill most of the Rebel soldiers waiting for them, while the others retreated. The stormtroopers chased the Rebels throughout the ship, killing many and capturing many others.

The stormtroopers checked the vessel's main computer and found that there was no trace of the Death Star plans. The plans were in the princess' hands, and she downloaded them into the memory banks of the astromech droid R2-D2, who belonged to her father and the ship's commander, Captain Antilles. In addition to the plans, she recorded a message for Kenobi introducing herself and telling him that her father had requested that he come to the assistance of the Rebellion. She begged him to help and to bring the Death Star plans to her father on Alderaan, saying that Kenobi was the Rebellion's only hope. She ended her recording and sent Artoo on his mission. The droid, along with protocol droid C-3PO, made his way to an escape pod, intent on delivering the plan and message to the Jedi Master.

Meanwhile, Darth Vader, who had boarded the ship soon after the attack began, interrogated the captured Antilles by choking him with his bare hands. The Dark Lord demanded to know where to find the Death Star plans, but Antilles claimed that the ship had not intercepted any transmissions and that it was simply a consular vessel on a diplomatic mission. Antilles, haven proven he would not talk, had his neck crushed by the Dark Lord, killing the captain. Vader ordered his stormtroopers to begin tearing the Tantive IV apart until the plans could be found, and that all passengers were to be captured and brought before him. The stormtroopers continued their search as ordered, and one group located the princess. They stunned Organa and captured her.

As the princess was taken prisoner, Artoo and Threepio boarded an escape pod and ejected it from the ship, bound for Tatooine. Imperial gunners aboard the Devastator noticed that the escape pod had been jettisoned but were ordered to hold their fire, as an Imperial officer believed that the escape pod had likely short-circuited. As the droids escaped, Organa was brought before Vader and denied any involvement in the Rebel Alliance, claiming instead that she was on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan and that the Imperial Senate would not be pleased with what Vader had done to the vessel. The Dark Lord ordered the princess to be taken away, and was then informed that the Death Star plans were not aboard the vessel. He also learned of the escape pod and ordered his men to retrieve them, as well as to send a false distress signal and then tell the Senate that the crew had been killed by some other means.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Defense
 * Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
 * Escape from Darth Vader