Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon

"Jabba, this is your last chance. Free us or die."

- Luke Skywalker

The Skirmish at Carkoon, also called the Battle of Carkoon, was an event in which Jabba the Hutt attempted to kill Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca by throwing them into the Great Pit of Carkoon, home of the Sarlacc, after Han's attempted rescue. However, Luke had devised a plan to rescue Han and kill Jabba, if necessary.

Origin
Jabba had recruited Han Solo to smuggle spice throughout the Galaxy. However, on one mission, Imperial star destroyers ambushed Solo's ship and he jettisoned the spice. Infuriated, Jabba placed a bounty on Solo. At the Subjugation of Bespin, the bounty hunter Boba Fett captured Solo and delievered him to the Hutt crimelord.

The Beginning
Lando Calrissian had infilitrated Jabba's palace as a guard, in case of an emergency. They did not know how close they would come to experiencing that. Luke Skywalker sent R2-D2 and C-3PO to deliver a message to Jabba the Hutt. Unknown to anyone else however, Luke had concealed his newly constructed lightsaber in R2. The message played by the droid ordered that Jabba free Solo or face the power of the young Jedi. It also presented the droids as gifts to the Hutt, in order to show that he wanted a peaceful agreement rather than a battle. Jabba refused to surrender his favorite prize, foolishly underestimating the Jedi.

The Bounty of Chewbacca
Leia Organa, pretending to be the bounty hunter, Boushh, presented the Wookiee, Chewbacca, as a bounty. Jabba paid her 35,000 credits in exchange for the Wookiee. The following night Leia tried to free Han. She succeeded in releasing him from the carbonite, but they were captured. Jabba imprisoned Han and added Leia to his harem of slave girls.

The Jedi Returns
Luke Skywalker had no trouble getting past the Gamorrean guards and even Bib Fortuna, thanks to a mind trick and force choke but the Hutt crimelord was a much more worthy oponent. He was immune to mind tricks and refused to release Luke's friends. Luke was then thrown into the pit of the Jabba's rancor. Luke threw a rock at a button, bringing the gate down on the rancor and crushing its spine. Furious, Jabba then ordered Luke, Han and Chewie to be thrown to the Sarlacc.

The Battle


Onboard the skiff, Luke jumped off the board, but caught it and jumped back up. Luke's lightsaber was concealed in R2-D2, who shot it to the Jedi. In the ensuing skirmish, Han Solo inadvertently knocked bounty hunter Boba Fett into the Sarlacc's mouth. Luke defeated dozens of Jabbas cronies, throwing many overboard to the Sarlacc. Lando Calrissian, under the alias of Tamtel Skreej, helped defeat some of the bodyguards on a desert skiff.

Close call
During the struggle Lando was knocked into the Pit of Carkoon. Han and Chewie tried to rescue their friend, however, he was grabbed by the Sarlacc. During this struggle Han hit Boba Fett's jetpack with a vibroaxe, activating it and causing him to go flying into the Sarlacc pit. Shortly after, Han was able to free Lando by wounding the beast with a blaster, forcing it to release him.

Taking out the cannon
A cannon onboard Jabba's sail barge was causing trouble by shooting at Han and Luke. Luke jumped onto the barge and attacked Jabba's men. One of them shot him in the hand, exposing his mechanical limb. Luke managed to deflect the other blaster bolts and kill all of the henchmen, including the gunman.

Endgame


As a battle raged outside the sand barge Leia cut off the power. In the dark she managed to choke Jabba to death and escaped from her chains. She hurried to join Luke on the deck along with R2 and C-3PO. He told her to fire the barge's cannon at the deck, setting off a chain reaction which destroyed the sail barge and all aboard. Luke, Lando, Han, Chewie, Leia, R2 and 3PO escaped, having killed the evil Hutt.

Aftermath
Boba Fett managed to escape from the pit days later, thanks to his Mandalorian armor and iron will. He was then found by a fellow bounty hunter, Dengar, after crawling out from the Sarlaccs beak.

The death of Jabba cancelled the debts of many individuals, and as such, Luke was held with considerable favor for removing that dangerous complication in their lives. In response to his son's death, Zorba the Hutt placed a bounty on Leia, which the Desilijic kajidic later extended to Han, Chewie, and Luke. The bounty was not formally rescinded until Leia's election as Chief of State, as the Hutts did not wish to further antagonize the New Republic.

Victims of the Sarlaac

 * Skiff 1 crew:
 * 1) Kithaba
 * 2) Velken Tezeri
 * 3) Weequay skiff master
 * 4) Weequay hunter
 * 5) Vedain
 * 6) Taym Dren-Garen


 * Skiff 2 crew:
 * 1) "Doallyn-like skiff guard" - the CCG identified this crewman as Doallyn, however Leland Chee has specified that Doallyn was never at the battle.
 * 2) "Mercenary Pilot" - Human with a DL-18 blaster that receives a force kick from Luke. It's likely that he boarded the second skiff from the sail barge because he was not on the skiff at the start of the struggle.
 * 3) "Green Nikto in gray" - uses the same mask as Giran.
 * 4) "unnamed shirtless human"
 * 5) "Unknown Kajain'sa'Nikto" - this Nikto was also made into an action figure.
 * 6) Gailid
 * 7) Pote Snitkin


 * Sail Barge
 * 1) Unknown Weequay
 * 2) Yotts Orren

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * The Lost Lightsaber