Occupation of Bespin

"Attention! This is Lando Calrissian. Attention! The Empire is taking control of the city. I advise everyone to leave before more Imperial troops arrive."

- Lando Calrissian

The Occupation of Bespin was a minor skirmish in the Galactic Civil War between the Cloud City police under Lando Calrissian (who turned to the side of the Rebel Alliance) and the Imperial stormtroopers under Darth Vader, that led into the Empire gaining control of the gas planet Bespin.

Prelude
"They arrived here just before you did. I'm sorry."

- Lando Calrissian



It started out as an initial agreement between the Baron Administrator Lando Calrissian and Lord Vader: Calrissian would aid Vader in capturing several Rebel commanders, in exchange for the continued freedom of his colony.

The rebel ship called the Millennium Falcon entered and landed in Cloud City, piloted by Han Solo and the Wookiee Chewbacca. They also had princess Leia Organa, the Protocol Droid C-3PO and the Astromech Droid R2-D2 on board. Its crew was greeted as welcomed guests by the Calrissian, who gave an especially warm welcome to his old "Friend" Han Solo. They were given accommodation in which to dwell in while their ship was being repaired. After a while, Calrissian invited them to a dinner arrangement, which turned out to be a trap, set by Darth Vader

Lord Vader wanted to use Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Chewbacca's capture as a lure to capture his primary objective, the Force-sensitive Rebel commander Luke Skywalker. Indeed, Han Solo was tortured, but not asked questions in order to trigger a response from Luke through the Force, sending him to rescue his friends.

Change in plans
"I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further."

- Darth Vader



Vader had Solo frozen in carbonite, to test to see if the freezing methods would effectively work on Luke Skywalker. This was an important part of his plan; he would either take his frozen son to the Emperor for training as a Sith Apprentice, or change plans and cooperate with him against his master. He had Solo shipped to the gangster Jabba the Hutt by way of the Bounty hunter, Boba Fett.

This was a violation of his agreement with Calrissian, something Vader casually dismissed as a change of plans. Shortly afterward, Vader's hopes were realized as Skywalker's ship was detected heading towards the city. As Vader left to prepare for his confrontation with the young Rebel, he gave clear instructions to Calrissian to keep Leia and Chewbacca on the planet, violating the agreement again.

Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker had landed in the city and caught a glimpse of his friends being taken away by Imperial troops. He was caught in a brief firefight with Boba Fett, who was protecting his cargo. Though Princess Leia managed to shout a warning to him, Skywalker continued further into the city, ending up in a carbonite processing chamber where he faced Vader in lightsaber combat.



Realizing that the situation was deteriorating, Lando Calrissian arranged for his Wing Guard to free Leia Organa and Chewbacca from their Imperial escorts, and while escaping, alerted the populace to the Empire's takeover of the city, thus causing a mass-panic that aided the group in slipping past most Imperial patrols.

The duel between Vader and Skywalker continued out onto an enormous wind tunnel, where Luke would lose his right hand to Vader's lightsaber and have his true parentage revealed. Even as Vader beckoned him to join the Dark Side and thus help end the Galactic Civil War, Luke stood defiant and chose to take his own life by falling from the platform they were on. As he plummeted towards the ground, he was sucked into one of the side-openings and emerged below the city, grabbing onto a weather-vane.

Conclusion


In a final attempt at survival, Skywalker contacted Princess Leia through the Force, who having escaped in the Falcon, now ordered the ship to turn around to look for him. As they were rescuing Skywalker and taking off again, a patrol of TIE Fighters appeared off the tarmac and gave chase. The fighters had already been deployed for patrol duty even before the formal takeover of the planet.

Having escaped the planet, the Falcon now headed out into space, where it encountered the Executor in orbit. Attempting to flee into hyperspace, the crew found that Imperial technicians repaired their hyperdrive, but disabled it in the event of their escaping the city.

As the Executor prepared to take the ship by tractor beam, the astromech droid R2-D2 managed to activate the hyperdrive and the Millennium Falcon escaped once again.

Aftermath
Even though his prey had escaped, Darth Vader let his forces descend on Bespin and seize all gas mining facilities, effectively ending the autonomous position of the system.

Bespin and its remaining population had to endure the occupation of an Imperial garrison under the command of Hugo Treece for many months, until the Battle of Bespin, which would see the Empire driven out of the colony.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Battlefront
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars 55: Plif!
 * Star Wars 56: Coffin in the Clouds
 * The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * The Truce at Bakura
 * Tatooine Ghost
 * Heir to the Empire
 * Jedi Search

Non-canon appearances

 * Tag & Bink Are Dead
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga

Notes and references
Subyugación de Bespin