Liberation of Coruscant (Galactic Civil War)

The First Battle of Coruscant, also called the Liberation of Coruscant, was a conflict during the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the fledgling New Republic. Despite the death of Emperor Palpatine in 4 ABY at the Battle of Endor, the squabbling Imperial warlords still ruled most of the galaxy. Coruscant was in the hands of Ysanne Isard, Director of Imperial Intelligence. The New Republic realised the importance of Coruscant in the galaxy and decided to capture the planet in order to eliminate the Empire. The New Republic began capturing strategic worlds near Coruscant including Borleias.

However, Coruscant was protected by a powerful energy shield. Before the attack would begin, the shields would have to fall. So, Wedge Antilles and Rogue Squadron were sent undercover into Imperial City to sabotage the shield generator. Sixteen of the galaxy's worst criminals were also freed from the prison colony of Kessel and loosed on Imperial City so that they could create trouble. The government would later regret this, since these criminals would later resurrect Black Sun

Meanwhile, Rogue Squadron decided that if they could condense a large amount of water and create a super storm, they could destroy the energy shield protecting Coruscant with lightning strikes. So, the Rogue operatives hijacked a Construction droid to take them to the command building. There, they took remote control of one of the orbiting solar mirrors. The tightly focused light beam from the solar mirror rapidly boiled one of the planet's reservoirs. This caused a huge storm and the shields soon collapsed.

With the shields down, a New Republic force led by Admiral Ackbar entered the Coruscant system. This task force easily overwhelmed the Imperial force, since Ysanne Isard kept only a few Imperial Star Destroyers to defend the capital world. Very soon, Coruscant was in the hands of the New Republic. However, Isard was not to be found in the Imperial Palace. Worse, the planet's alien population was being killed by an artificial virus called the Krytos virus.