Raid at Spaceport THX1138

During the early stages of the Galactic Civil War, a raid was conducted by the Galactic Empire on Spaceport THX1138, a spaceport owned by the travelling agency Star Tours, located at the Earth system. The raid was conducted because of the detection of a Rebel spy on one of the StarSpeeder 1000s.

Prelude
Around 2 BBY, the Rebel Alliance was officially declared, with the Galactic Empire unwittingly unleashing it on the galaxy.

At least one year later, Alderaanean Captain and secret Rebel Alliance member Raymus Antilles arranged to have C-3PO and R2-D2 be shipped to the Star Tours intergalactic travel agency to ensure its successful expansion of its operations. This move also led the Galactic Empire to suspect that the travel agency was a Rebel front.

The raid
Some time later, around 0700 hours one morning, a Rebel spy boarded the StarSpeeder 1000 ST-1401 among various civilian passengers. Due to a last-minute mix up, protocol droid C-3PO replaced AC-38 as the pilot. Learning of the spy's location, the Empire dispatched a fleet composed of several Imperial-class Star Destroyers and several TIE fighters to surround Spaceport THX1138. Imperial agents including a contingent of Stormtroopers boarded the station and identified one of the passengers as the Rebel spy just before the speeder's departure. When they attempted to stop the ship and board it, astromech R2-D2 opened fire with the ship's blasters and took off, firing on Imperial ships before escaping into hyperspace with the Rebel spy.

Behind the scenes
The article was based on the beginning of the Star Tours: The Adventures Continue ride. Because of the nature of the ride, there are two conflicting possibilities of what might happen in the mission:

One possibility is that the ST-1401 was cleared for takeoff, only for several dozen Stormtroopers, four Skytroopers, four TIE/LN starfighters, as well as Darth Vader (the latter riding on a Hover Platform) descending on the runway and forcing the ST-1401 to stop. After Vader reveals that a Rebel spy is onboard and declares the spy's arrest, the ST-1401 will attempt to escape by backing out. However, Vader stops it and attempts to reel it in via the Force. R2-D2, however, activates the StarSpeeder 1000 weapons systems and fires them at Vader. Vader ends up being forced to release them from his grip in order to deflect the cannon blasts with his lightsaber, with the Stormtroopers then proceeding to fire at the escaping vessel and the TIEs taking off in pursuit. R2-D2 then destroys one of the TIEs upon escape, forcing the other three to scatter, before taking off into hyperspace.

Another possibility is that the ST-1401 was scanned by an Imperial Prowler 1000 exploration droid before it could clear departure regulations. In addition, then-smuggler Han Solo, whose ship, the Millennium Falcon, was docked next to the ST-1401, ended up getting into a run-in with stormtroopers that were presumably deployed to capture the ST-1401. Afterwards, both the Millennium Falcon and the ST-1401 proceeded to escape the station, with the ST-1401 on the Falcon tail while evading Imperial ships, and the Falcon aiding the ST-1401 in escaping. The Falcon eventually attacks one of the Star Destroyers, severely damaging it and thus allowing the StarSpeeder 1000 a chance to escape from the Imperials into hyperspace.

As such, the article is written with events from both scenarios.

Appearances

 * Star Tours: The Adventures Continue