Mission to Mos Eisley (Galactic Civil War)

"Chances were the captured crew were dead or sold as slaves already, but nobody on Renegade Squadron believed in abandoning good men."

- Col Serra telling Tionne Solusar about the battle years later.

The Skirmish on Tatooine occurred during the Galactic Civil War when the Rebel Alliance discovered that a group of Rebels, captured by Boba Fett, had been sold into slavery to the Hutt Cartel in Mos Eisley, Tatooine. The Alliance assigned Renegade Squadron, under the command of the smuggler turned rebel General Han Solo and Commander Col Serra, the mission of rescuing the prisoners. The squadron was able to save the Rebel prisoners, and the mission was at first thought to be a success and a miracle rescue on the part of Renegade Squadron. It later turned out, however, that Fett had actually placed a tracking device in an R5 unit the Rebels had taken with them, leading the Imperials back to the their new base on Boz Pity. Serra would later recount this battle to Jedi Knight Tionne Solusar for her archives years later after the Battle of Endor.

Prelude
While on a scouting mission for the Rebel Alliance to Saleucami, Admiral Ackbar had been attacked over the planet by the infamous bounty hunter, Boba Fett looking to collect the bounty on captured rebels put up by the Galactic Empire. Fett was able to disable Ackbar's ship over the planet using his ship, Slave I, killing some of the crew, and capture Mon Calamarian and the surviving crew. Fett sold Ackbar to the Galactic Empire, and when the Rebels liberated the Admiral in the Second Battle of Kessel, he revealed that the crew had been sold into slavery to the Hutt Cartel in Mos Eisley&mdash;a spaceport town located on the planet Tatooine. Alliance Command dispatched the Rebellion's new elite fighting unit, Renegade Squadron formed and led by Han Solo and Col Serra, to Tatooine in hopes of rescuing the prisoners. They were unaware that the entire scenario was actually a trap orchestrated by the Empire.

Finding the prisoners
Renegade Squadron arrived at Mos Eisley aboard the Millennium Falcon and immediately deployed on the southern side of the city. The squadron's second-in-command, Col Serra, ordered the Renegades to the local cantina to see if anyone there would talk for the price of a few drinks. While en route to the cantina, they were ambushed by troops from the local Imperial garrison.

After fighting their way through the Stormtroopers, Renegade Squadron arrived at the cantina and fought of the Stormtroopers stationed in the cantina. Once they had successfully captured the cantina, Renegade Squadron found a Rodian with rebel sympathies who agreed to take them to where the prisoners were held. Renegade Squadron followed the Rodian, fending off more Imperials along the way, to where the Hutt Cartel was keeping the Rebel prisoners. They were being held in a force field-protected hangar and Solo dispatched the squad members to find and destroy the three shield generators that powered the force field.

Although the generators were scattered around the city, Serra was able to find were they were and uploaded the information to their tactical maps. Two were located in the city's southern slums, and the last was in the bantha pens on the northern side of the city. After disabling the generators, Renegade Squadron was able to finally move inside the hangar. The Stormtroopers inside the hangar who were guarding the prisoners attempted to fend off the rebels, but after a brief fight, Renegade Squadron was able to capture the hangar.

Freeing the prisoners
The slaves were locked in a small prison cell on the wall next to the hangar's main entrance, therefore it was necessary for Han Solo to use a fusion cutter to free them. The remaining Imperial garrison tried to retake the Hutt hangar to stop Solo from freeing the slaves, but Renegade Squadron was able to hold back the Imperial assault. After a few minutes of work, Solo finally was able to cut open the cell door, freeing the prisoners.

As the liberated rebels were rushing to their transport, the Imperials sent in two AT-STs to try to pin the group in the Hutt hangar. The Renegades however destroyed the two Imperial walkers while the rebel prisoners made their way to the Millennium Falcon. When all the prisoners were aboard, General Solo prepped the ship for takeoff while Commander Serra and the rest of the squadron defended the landing site. Once the ship was ready to go, Solo ordered everyone aboard and took off, leaving Tatooine and the remaining Imperials behind.

Aftermath
Although the Alliance considered the battle a success, it was later learned that the entire mission was a trap. During the skirmish, Boba Fett was able to secretly plant a tracking device on a R5 unit that had accompanied the Rebels during the mission. Fett was able to track the Rebels to their new base on Boz Pity and after a few hours, an Imperial fleet exited hyperspace over the planet beginning the Battle of Boz Pity.

Years later, after the formation of the New Republic, Jedi Knight Tionne Solusar tracked down Col Serra to ask him about Renegade Squadron for her Jedi Archives. He would tell her about many of their battles and missions, including Tatooine.

Behind the scenes
The Skirmish on Tatooine made its first and only appearance in Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron, which recounts the various battles and exploits of Renegade Squadron during the Galactic Civil War. The battle itself makes up the fifth level in the game's campaign mode.

In the game, right after the Rodian contact agrees to help the player, Col Serra will ask if they can trust him or not. Solo then replies that he knows what happened to the last Rodian to double cross him in this cantina. This is obviously a reference to when Han shot Greedo at the Mos Eisley cantina in Star Wars Episode IV.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron