Death Star II plans The Death Star II plans were the top secret construction data for the Empire ' s planet - destroying superweapon , the second Death Star . As part of a devious scheme masterminded by Emperor Palpatine to destroy the Rebel Alliance , the plans were delivered into the hands of the Alliance through Black Sun leader Prince Xizor , under the guise of being stolen , providing them with the technical data needed to formulate the assault on the Death Star , culminating in the Battle of Endor . History . Background . Following the destruction of the first Death Star at the Battle of Yavin , the Emperor immediately ordered the construction of a new battle station that would surpass his first Death Star in both sheer size and destructive power . With the completion of this weapon , he planned to remove the scourge of the Rebellion from the galaxy for good and cement the New Order as the unquestioned galactic power . At some point , the Emperor devised a plan that would turn the same process by which the Rebellion destroyed the first Death Star into their ultimate undoing . Whereas Rebel spies stole the plans to the first Death Star , enabling them to formulate the assault that destroyed that battle station , the Emperor would allow the plans to his second battle station to intentionally fall into Rebel hands in order to draw them into a trap that would allow the Empire to finally destroy them . In 3 ABY , as construction on the new Death Star neared completion , the Emperor began to put his plan into action . The key to his machinations would be the Falleen Xizor , Dark Prince of the criminal organization Black Sun . Ultimately , Xizor would act as the Emperor ' s greatest pawn . The criminal leader ' s infinite wealth and influence , second only to that of the Emperor and Darth Vader , would be used to draw the Alliance into a false sense of security . Although devious and untrustworthy as most criminal organizations were , the Alliance did not necessarily view Black Sun as an enemy . As a criminal organization , it would only be reasonable to assume that Black Sun was a natural enemy of the Empire . It was this assumption that the Emperor foresaw and sought to exploit . The Emperor began mutual relations with Xizor sometime before the Battle of Hoth . Xizor would serve a two - pronged service to the Emperor : on one hand , the Dark Prince and Lord Vader were bitter rivals , jockeying for Palpatine ' s favor . Palpatine deliberately allowed Xizor to become privy to the knowledge that Luke Skywalker was in fact the son of Vader , and that the Emperor and Vader intended to turn him to the dark side of the Force . The Emperor realized that while Vader intended to keep Skywalker alive , Xizor would attempt to kill him in order to permanently discredit Vader in the eyes of the Emperor , in hopes of perhaps replacing him at Palpatine ' s side . If Xizor did succeed in killing Skywalker , it would mean no difference to the Emperor , for it would prove that the boy was not powerful enough to have been worth the effort to corrupt him in the first place , and his burgeoning abilities in the Force would no longer be a threat . Secondly , the Emperor would use Xizor to deliver the Rebels to him . In an effort to gain greater favor with the Emperor , Xizor introduced a plan to him to allow the plans to the uncompleted Death Star to fall into the hands of the Alliance . Knowing where the Death Star construction site was located and the construction time table , the Rebels were sure to launch an attack , and the Empire would be waiting to intercept and destroy them . Darth Vader didn ' t trust Xizor and warned the Emperor against his plans . Xizor actually wanted to gain the Emperor ' s favor and have the Alliance defeated . However , his plan B was that , in the unlikely possibility the Rebels would win this war , the eventual new order would not forget Black Sun ' s " generous contribution " to their victory . It is likely , however , that the Emperor first devised this very scheme and only allowed Xizor to believe it was his own idea in order to use him as a pawn . The Alliance is informed . The first bits of information linked to the construction of the second Death Star came by way of Imperial defector Commander Zaletta , hoping to prove his integrity to the Alliance . High on the Imperial command structure , Zaletta had a vast knowledge of secret Imperial projects . He informed the Alliance of a secret Imperial research facility in the Kuat system testing a new experimental reactor system , which was likely connected to the Death Star . Next , he informed the Alliance that a massive Imperial convoy was to pass through the Eidoloni system . It was discovered that the convoy , which consisted of XTS cargo freighters and was protected by a very large escort including the " Victory II " - class Star Destroyers " Protector " and " Vanguard " , was carrying construction material . The convoy was , unbeknownst to the Alliance at the time , headed for the Death Star II construction site over the forest moon of Endor . Xizor leaked information of a massive construction project being undertaken by the Empire to the Bothan Spynet through a female Black Sun contact , which likely was his own personal aide , Guri . The Bothans first attempted to learn of the details of this project by bribing a high - ranking Imperial officer into allowing them to infiltrate a slicer droid into the Coruscant computer network to locate and copy the plans , though this plan failed . They did , however , learn that that project details were being held in closely guarded special computers , of which one of these was being shipped secretly from Coruscant to Bothawui disguised as a simple freighter carrying fertilizer . Capture of the " Suprosa " . Koth Melan , a leader of the Bothan Spynet , chose to relay this knowledge to the Alliance for free , rather than sell the information as Bothans were known to do , out of disgust for the execution of his father by the Empire . Luke Skywalker and Dash Rendar , along with a group of Bothans with Alliance sympathies , planned to intercept the Imperial freighter " Suprosa " at Bothawui and steal the secret computer . Skywalker , in his personal X - wing , and Rendar , in his YT - 2400 light freighter " Outrider " , were joined by a dozen BTL - S3 Y - wing starfighter s piloted by the squad of Bothans and Alliance pilot Ace Azzameen . They successfully intercepted the " Suprosa " as it exited hyperspace , but quickly learned that the seemingly defenseless freighter was in fact heavily armed and shielded , and instructed not to surrender its cargo without a fight . The freighter managed to launch a single Diamond Boron Missile , which destroyed four of the Y - wings . Before Skywalker and Azzameen managed to subdue the freighter , six Y - wings were destroyed in total , including all twelve Bothan pilots on board . Rendar then boarded the " Suprosa " with a group of Bothans led by Melan to capture the computer . The resistance of the " Suprosa " was of course artificial , to ensure that the Alliance did not believe they had acquired the information too easily . Battle of Kothlis . In order to prevent losing the supercomputer to a self - destruction device , Melan took it to the Bothan colony world of Kothlis to be decrypted by a special team . However , while en route to Kothlis , the party was attacked by the Immobilizer 418 cruiser " Claw " and the " Victory I " - class Star Destroyer " Hunter " . However , the " Claw " was driven off by Blue Squadron , and the Rebels managed to arrive at Kothlis . Koth Melan and Skywalker , while decoding the data in a safehouse down on the planet , were attacked by a team of Barabel bounty hunters looking for the bounty on Skywalker , led by Skahtul . Melan was killed and Skywalker captured . During the assault a single Bothan managed to escape the safehouse and the planet with the computer along with Borsk Fey ' lya aboard his personal shuttle , " Fey ' lya ' s Pride " , just as Darth Vader and his personal flagship " Executor " arrived in system along with the " Imperial II " - class Star Destroyer " Avenger " . Two Rebel spies . Simultaneously , Rebel agents Tay Vanis aka Tiree and Yom Argo were supposed to receive them from the Bothans and pass them to the central command . Unfortunately , Tiree was captured on an unnamed planet . He left a message in his downed X - wing to communicate to any Rebel sent after him that the plans were hidden in the memory banks of droid LE - 914 . Argo ran away , his goal being to report to the Rebel command and lead a rescue effort for Tiree . He flew on his ship with his personal astromech droid . Unfortunately , as soon as Argo left the Bothans , he crash - landed on Lahsbane , killing himself and a Lashbee . The fate of " Razor " . Meanwhile , the surviving Bothan spies fled from Kothlis on " Fey ' lya ' s Pride " , with the stolen Imperial computer to " Kothlis II " , a space station in orbit around Kothlis . Around that time , Darth Vader ' s Death Squadron , the " Executor " , supported by the " Avenger " has arrived and begun its attack on Kothlis II , where the computer is transferred on to the " Razor " . Under covering fire from " Liberty " the " Razor " makes it safely to hyperspace . Vader had come to Kothlis to collect Skywalker as well as to make it appear as if the Empire was genuinely concerned with the " loss " of the plans . While en route to its rendezvous with the " Independence " , the " Razor " has come under attack by an Imperial pursuit group . The corvette is eventually captured by the " Avenger " , but managed to launch an escape pod which is picked up by the civilian Dreadnaught " Mercury " . She picked up an escape pod carrying a lone Rebel crewman , who had with him the plans for the second Death Star . Reclaim . " Mercury " then took the escape pod to the rendezvous point with " Independence " and launched the escape pod again to reach the Cruiser . " Avenger " though showed up again along with the " Executor " . The crew of " Independence " , however , managed to protect the pod while moving to the cruiser . Meanwhile , Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa searched for Tiree and found his clue , but Darth Vader himself was torturing Tiree and left him behind to die , hoping to lure Skywalker to a trap . However , when LE - 914 saw Tiree , she gave the plans to Luke and self - destroyed , buying the Skywalkers time to escape . Analysis of the plans helped the Alliance design the assault against the new Death Star . This also led them into a trap , since the station was fully armed and operational . The assault was foreseen by the Emperor and the fleet was surrounded in the Battle of Endor . Ironically , however , the plans proved to be the Emperor and , to a lesser extent , the Empire ' s doom . The Rebels , though caught off - guard and losing several crucial ships to the Death Star ' s very much operational superlaser ( including the medical frigate " Redemption " and the command cruiser " Liberty " ) , they managed to defeat the Emperor and destroy the mighty battle - station , dealing the Empire a crippling blow . Behind the scenes . While the adventure of the first Death Star plans and the Operation Skyhook has been thoroughly explored in the Expanded Universe , the story of how the Alliance acquired the plans for the Death Star II was first told in the post – " " Marvel " Star Wars " comics , with additional information coming later in " Shadows of the Empire " . Unlike the oft - used phrase " Death Star plans " concerning those of the first Death Star , the plans of the second Death Star are only vaguely referred as " structure data " or " blueprints " ; the name " Death Star II plans " is therefore conjectural . Different sources give different accounts of the fate of the plans around the Battle of Kothlis . While the plans did eventually end up in the Rebels ' hands in all cases , this article describes the events as told in " " .