Battle of Onderon ( Galactic Civil War ) The Battle of Onderon was the final battle between the reborn Emperor Darth Sidious ' s forces and the New Republic during the devastating Operation Shadow Hand . With his last clone body succumbing to accelerated aging due to genetic tampering , Darth Sidious had sought to claim possession of the infant Anakin Solo ' s body — the grandson and name - sake of his late apprentice Anakin Skywalker . Receiving information that the Solos had relocated to the planet Onderon in the Inner Rim , he dispatched his new flagship the " Eclipse " - class dreadnought " Eclipse II " along with a taskforce of Dark Side Adepts and Royal Guards . During the battle , Luke Skywalker and his Jedi team engaged Palpatine , his Dark Jedi and Imperial Guards in a fierce duel , which resulted the final death of Darth Sidious and his escorts . However , two Jedi Rayf Ysanna and Empatojayos Brand were killed while several members of the Jedi team received various injuries . Meanwhile , a Rebel strike team lead by Lando Calrissian and Kam Solusar struck the Imperial flagship " Eclipse II " and succeeded in sabotaging the vessel ' s automated hyperdrive engines . This set the vessel on a course for the Imperial throneworld of Byss in the Deep Core where it would exit hyperspace at the precise location of the Galaxy Gun — another of the Emperor ' s superweapons . The resulting explosion destroyed the two massive weapons of war while the planet Byss itself was destroyed by a loose projectile . The death of Emperor Palpatine on Onderon and the destruction of Byss and the surrounding Imperial fleet scored a heavy blow for the New Republic against the Imperial Remnant , which fragmented into several factions . History . Background . Having returned in yet another clone , Palpatine continued his campaign against the New Republic . Armed with the deadly superweapons , the Galaxy Gun and his " Eclipse " - class Super Star Destroyer " Eclipse II " , Palpatine forced many New Republic worlds to submit to Imperial rule . Despite his the growth of his Empire , Palpatine was again growing frail and weak . The resurrected Emperor also began to succumb to accelerated aging due to genetic tampering done to his clones by the treacherous Sovereign Protector Carnor Jax . He tried to clone other bodies so that he could resurrect himself , but Jax had succeeded in tainting even the genetic source material . Even his scientists and doctors were rendered helpless . With his body wasting away rapidly , he went to the Sith world Korriban to consult the ancient Sith Lords . Clearly stating that even they could do nothing about his degenerating body , they advised him to gaze into the Oracle stone , where he saw Anakin Solo . The Sith told him that this boy would either be his salvation or his doom . They told him where to find him : Onderon . Destruction of the " Eclipse II " . The Emperor brought the " Eclipse II " to Onderon , where the Solos had relocated their children . While the New Republic engaged the Imperials , a team of Jedi led by Luke Skywalker along with Han Solo , sought out the Emperor . Brand sensed the Emperor ' s intense darkness in a nearby shuttle . They fought their way to the Emperor ' s shuttle past his guardsmen and stormtroopers , but did not find him aboard the ship . Instead , they encountered a Dark Side Adept , whom informed them that they had been deceived and that the Emperor has slipped down to the Kira Fortress to find Leia and her child . During the battle , a strike team lead by Lando Calrissian and Kam Solusar infiltrated Palpatine ' s flagship , by attaching the freighter " Millennium Falcon " to the Star Dreadnought ' s lower hull . The astromech droid R2 - D2 sabotaged the vehicle ' s automated hyperdrive engines and set the vessel on a course for Byss , exiting hyperspace at the precise location of the dreaded Galaxy Gun cannon . Despite attempts from the " Eclipse II " ' s crew to override the command , the Star Dreadnought entered hyperspace . The procedure went so fast , the crew of the " Millennium Falcon " did not have time to detach before the jump , and so went on an involuntary journey towards the Deep Core with the warship . Meanwhile , on the Galaxy Gun , the engineer Umak Leth attempted to aid his Emperor by arming the Gun . As the Galaxy Gun was being prepared , the " Eclipse II " suddenly came out of hyperspace , ramming the cannon and destroying both vessels . The " Millennium Falcon " managed to disconnect from the Star Dreadnought before impact and prepared to enter hyperspace . As the Gun was struck by the " Eclipse II " , the armed missile was fired by the cannon , in a vain attempt at hitting the ship that was on a collision course . The missile got caught by Byss ' s gravity well , exploded upon impact and destroyed the planet , taking some of the orbiting fleet along with it , as well as the wrecks of the Galaxy Gun and " Eclipse II " . The " Falcon " managed to exit the Beshqek system before being hit by debris from the explosion . Claiming Anakin Solo . Meanwhile , Palpatine faced Leia and demanded the possession of her youngest child Anakin Solo , stating that he was no longer willing to be gentle to her . She fought back , managing to knock the Emperor off his feet with a powerful Force Push ; allowing her children to slip to safety . Enraged , Palpatine stood and unleashed a barrage of Force lightning . Leia fought back but was no match for the Emperor , and was finally knocked unconscious by one of his lightning bolts . With Leia immobilized , Palpatine now attempted to enter Anakin ' s body . Before he could complete his plan , Skywalker and two other Jedi — Rayf Ysanna and Empatojayos Brand — arrived . Palpatine , along with two Dark Jedi fatally injured Brand with force Lightning despite his attempts to fight back . However , Palpatine ' s use of the Force drained his weakened clone body . The Dark Jedi T ' iaz then engaged Ysanna in a lightsaber duel but was killed himself . However , Rayf was then cut down by the Dark Lord himself , whom Rayf had underestimated , even stating that a frail old man like Palpatine would be easy to defeat , and that he would protect anyone Palpatine tried to harm . Nevertheless , he could not defend himself from the rage and the tremendous power of the Emperor , despite the inferiority of his clone body . After having killed Rayf , Palpatine noted that it was not the first time he saw a " poor fool " die with the Jedi fire burning in his eyes . Skywalker tried to stop the Emperor from grabbing Anakin . The Emperor ignored Skywalker ' s warnings and fought back with all his remaining energy against the Jedi Master . Despite the loss of his adepts , he finally managed to grab the boy . Leia and Han Solo attempted to stop Palpatine ' s efforts to claim their child . Leia commented that she would only let Palpatine get the baby " over her dead body " . Han quickly shot the Emperor in the back , which Palpatine purposely did not block so that he could be free of his physical form and " enter the child as he had promised " . Luke knew that this would be the beginning of the end , as they could not fight Palpatine ' s ghost . His last clone body destroyed , the Emperor ' s cackling spirit flew towards young Anakin Solo , but was intercepted by the dying Brand , who threw himself in the way . The Purge survivor shielded the baby with the light side of the Force and bound the Emperor ' s departing life essence to his own , taking it with him as he became one with the Force . Railing and cursing the Skywalkers , Palpatine ' s spirit was dragged into the depths of Chaos . There he would experience disembodiment in darkness , perpetual madness as if to always live with an open wound , terror without respite . Aftermath . Darth Sidious , considered by many to be the greatest Dark Lord of the Sith of all time , was finally dead . With his death , the Galactic Empire splintered again into several factions . Because of this , as well as the previous losses sustained by the Imperial Civil War and the Empire Reborn campaign , the Galactic Empire also permanently lost any chance of reconquering the Galaxy .