Death Star Uprising

"Way I heard it, nine guys broke out, one of them a Jedi."

- Anonymous Imperial CPO to Tenn Graneet

The Death Star Uprising was a relatively large prison riot, originating in Detention Block 2180 aboard the first Death Star, where Rebel Alliance captives-of-war attempted to escape by fighting their way into two hangars and stealing a Sentinel-class landing craft. Although the prisoners' escape was completely prevented, their rioting may have only been a diversion for a more important and ultimately successful objective; a section of the Death Star plans was secretly stolen during the uprising and transported into the possession of Rebels located at a covert base on Polis Massa.

Pre-battle
During the later stages of the Death Star's construction, captured Imperial enemies from all across the galaxy were quietly sent to the top-secret space station for interrogation and imprisonment. A group of captives of the organized Rebel movement became acquainted with an unidentified Human Jedi prisoner who was also confined to Block 2180. He had devised a simple plan to escape from the Imperial battle station that could be initiated with the co-operation of the other inmates.

The battle
The Empire was probably not alerted of the stealthy prison-break until after the rioters had raided an Imperial arsenal, arming themselves against expected stormtrooper counterattacks.

The first stormtroopers to become aware of the riot were those in Hangar 84-G who met up with the elite 501st Legion troopers&mdash;coincidentally aboard the Death Star for an exterior inspection&mdash;that assembled in the hangar and drove off the Rebels through two blast doors that they poured in through. Most prisoners could not be recaptured without a fight and so were shot down in the unanticipated bloodshed. Hangar 84-G was at last secured and locked-down by the Empire after a few minutes of assault and the Rebels instead moved on toward the Fire Control Room where the superlaser was located.

Meanwhile, stormtroopers rushed across walkways toward the superlaser, blasting a Rebel who had stolen the Death Star's schematics. Unfortunately for the Empire, the bridge normally spanning a reactor tunnel, which led to Hangar 84-G on one side and the Fire Control Room on the other, had been taken down earlier. The stormtroopers instead had to use the alternate (and much longer) route through the prison area. In the meantime, other Rebels had managed to arrive at Hangar 85-G, just beyond the Fire Control Room, capturing it long enough to beam a separate, partial set of the schematics to a Rebel base on Polis Massa. The other sets would be stolen at the Battles of Danuta and Toprawa.

All the rioters in the Fire Control Room were blasted and the Imperial troopers moved onward to Hangar 85-G before the Rebels could completely board and hijack a Sentinel-class landing craft as an escape shuttle. With not more than two minutes before take-off, stormtroopers burst into the hangar eliminating as many escapees as they could. Their Jedi leader at last exposed himself in a desperate sprint toward the shuttle, but a moment later, Imperial shock troopers had blown it up.

The frenzied Jedi ignited hislightsaber and cut through any trooper that stepped into his path. The Jedi and his squad of troopers were eventually gunned down. Imperial intelligence later tracked the missing schematics to Polis Massa, where an even more fiery skirmish would eventually break out.

Ironically, if it hadn't been for this uprising, the 501st Legion would have been wiped out when the Death Star exploded. Darth Vader, furious with the potential problem, replaced the 501st with a different legion of troopers.

Related battles
Several months later, a second, smaller battle occurred when Princess Leia Organa was captured and held in the Death Star.

Reclusive Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, allied with Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Luke Skywalker, was transporting R2-D2, an astromech droid holding the Death Star plans, to Leia's home planet of Alderaan. It turned out that the Death Star had annihilated the world when Leia had refused to divulge the location of the Rebel Alliance, and the Imperial space station subsequently captured the small group when the Millennium Falcon came out of hyperspace near the remains of Alderaan and chased a TIE Fighter into the range of the Death Star's tractor beam.

As an alternative method of delivering the plans to the Alliance, they attempted, and succeeded in, rescuing the Princess. In the process they downed many squads of stormtroopers and managed to escape in their ship, the Millennium Falcon, thanks to Obi-Wan sabotaging the Death Star's tractor beam.

The Jedi was almost at the door to the Falcon's hangar when he was ambushed by Darth Vader, who engaged him in a lightsaber duel. The Jedi eventually allowed the Sith Lord to kill him.

At that point the Falcon fled, and after a small intervention from Imperial TIE Fighters, escaped with Leia into hyperspace.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Death Star

Levantamiento en la Estrella de la Muerte