Battle of Kothlis A battle at Kothlis occurred after secret Imperial construction data was secured during a raid on the freighter " Suprosa . " Rebel Alliance forces took a computer core holding the Death Star II plans from the freighter and delivered it to a Bothan Spynet safehouse on the colony world Kothlis . The site was raided by bounty hunters , and although Rebel commander Luke Skywalker was captured , the data core was smuggled out . The core was transferred to the CR90 corvette " Razor . " A battle started over the planet when the " Imperial " - class Star Destroyer " Motivator " arrived and captured the " Razor " . Rebel reinforcements arrived and destroyed the Star Destroyer , which plunged to the planet with the corvette in its hangar bay . A commando raid was launched to recover the data , and although surviving Imperial forces deployed to defend the wreckage , Crix Madine ' s commandos took the data before the reactor went critical . Prelude . The Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire was in a desperate struggle after the loss of its base in 3 ABY , and rumors began reaching Alliance High Command about the construction of a larger , more power Death Star superweapon . The Bothan Spynet received a tip from the Black Sun criminal organization that the Death Star II plans were being secretly transported on a freighter , the " Suprosa . " Commander Luke Skywalker , along with the smuggler Dash Rendar , traveled to Bothawui and met their contact Koth Melan in 3 . 5 ABY to train the Bothan ' s Blue Squadron to intercept the freighter . There was a vacancy , and Rebel pilot Ace Azzameen was assigned to the raid . The Rebels intercepted the freighter , which was heavily armed , and lost six ships in the raid . Skywalker disabled the freighter , and Rendar boarded and took the data core containing the plans . The plans were then brought to the Bothan colony Kothlis . The battle . Raid on the safehouse . Bothan technicians began decoding the data in a Bothan Spynet safehouse down on the planet , but the Imperials tracked the computer to Kothlis . After a Bothan technician was close to decoding the computer core , the safehouse ' s door exploded . The building was attacked by a team of bounty hunters looking for the bounty on Skywalker . As fire was traded in the storehouse , Melan fell to blaster fire while Skywalker used his lightsaber to defend himself . A Bothan grabbed the computer and ran off , and Luke was captured by the Barabel Skahtul . The technicians managed to take the data core away . Battle above Kothlis . The data managed to reach the CR90 corvette " Razor " in orbit around Kothlis . As the freighter proceeded to rendezvous with the Alliance Fleet , the " Imperial I " - class Star Destroyer " Motivator " jumped out of hyperspace and deployed its contingent of TIE fighters and interceptors , and managed to secure the " Razor " in a tractor beam . At that time , Rebel reinforcements which were supposed to rendezvous with the corvette decanted from hyperspace . Rogue Squadron , flying three B - wing starfighters , four T - 65B X - wing starfighters , and three RZ - 1 A - wing interceptors , escorted the medical frigate " Redemption . " The Rebels noticed the Star Destroyer , and Rogue Leader Wedge Antilles ordered his wingmen into battle , telling them to concentrate on the Destroyer ' s shield generators . He also told the X - wing and A - wing groups to attack the TIE fighters . During the battle , Rogue Squadron spotted a " Lambda " - class shuttle preparing to dock with the " Motivator " . Wedge Antilles then took out the shuttle , and proceeded to recover a supply of advanced proton bombs . The Rogues skirmished with the TIE starfighters , and Antilles destroyed the ion cannons facing the " Redemption . " The captain reported that the frigate was under attack , and Antilles commed the Rogues , ordering them to protect the frigate at all costs . He was also able to cause additional damage to the Destroyer . Pressing the attack , he took out the bridge deflector shields and the reactor . The " Motivator " then started to move into a position to jump to hyperspace with the " Razor " still in its hangar bay , but Antilles approached on a vector and took out the command deck . The Star Destroyer then started a slow plummet to the surface as Rogue Squadron strafed the ship . Antilles suggested that they contact Alliance command for support . Battle on Kothlis . As the Star Destroyer crashed into the surface , the surviving crew set up defenses . An Alliance GR - 75 transport carrying Crix Madine and a company of commandos subsequently arrived to secure " Razor " ' s computer core . As three of Rogue Squadron ' s X - wing starfighters escorted the transport to the crash site , Madine contacted them to provide support . The transport was under fire from several TIE squadrons . The Rebels were surprised to find a portion of the Star Destroyer ' s ground forces had survived the crash . Madine , after discovering that the " Motivator ' s " core was increasing in temperature , and was most likely going to go critical within minutes , was forced to land the transport on the nearby beach as he was unwilling to risk trying to get close to the doomed Star Destroyer . Still - operational AT - ATs and AT - PTs blasted their way through the Star Destroyer ' s hull and began to attack the Rebel transport . The transport deployed three T - 47 airspeeders , and Rogue Squadron landed and switched craft . They then used their harpoon and tow cables to trip up the AT - ATs , concentrating on the foremost walker , which was in the shallowest water . During the battle , Wedge Antilles noticed an object within a small hole of what remained of the " Motivator " command bridge . He briefly broke away from the battle and ended up picking up a supply of homing proton torpedoes . While Rogue Squadron provided covering fire and targeted the armored vehicles , Madine and his commandos engaged in a firefight with stormtroopers and their E - web blaster nests . Antilles and the Rogues then switched to four BTL - A4 Y - wing starfighter s at the transport and started bombing the AT - PTs which were approaching under the surf . After neutralizing any remaining functional batteries and destroying the Imperial armor , Rogue Squadron covered Madine ' s charge to the Star Destroyer . Madine informed Antilles when the last of the walkers were destroyed . The ground troops took orders from the Rogues during their attack . Eventually , Madine reported they had spotted weak spots in the Star Destroyer ' s hull , and Rogue Squadron then proceeded to bomb the weak point to grant him and his men entry to the Star Destroyer . Madine and the commandos succeeded in retrieving the data from " Razor " , and the transport took off and circled around , and the surviving commandos boarded the transport as it landed . The Rebels fled Kothlis while Rogue Squadron engaged pursuing TIE fighters . The information — the Death Star II plans — was later delivered to Alliance leader Mon Mothma . Aftermath . The information collected from the data core , coupled with other information collected by Rebel agent Tay Vanis , convinced the Alliance High Command of the reality of the new Imperial battlestation . Alliance High Command ordered the fleet to disperse to discover more information . Skywalker was later able to escape the bounty hunters by using his Force powers , and joined up with Lando Calrissian . The Alliance later launched an attack on the under - construction battlestation . Although the capture of the plans was part of a trap laid by Emperor Palpatine , the battle resulted in his death , the redemption of Darth Vader , and the destruction of the superweapon . Behind the scenes . The battle of Kothlis first appeared in 1995 in during the mission titled ' Strike on Kothlis ' at which point the Empire captures the Kothlis II , a space station in orbit around Kothlis . The next appearance was in 1996 with the " Shadows of the Empire " multimedia project . A quote from that chapter of the novel includes a reference to THX - 1138 . There are two conflicting sources for the capture of the " Razor . " The battle as described above is the storyline as it appeared in the 2001 video game " " in two consecutive missions . , " Razor Rendezvous " and " Vengeance on Kothlis " . In the 1999 video game " " the story goes a little different , though the outcome is the same . This article follows the " Star Wars : Rogue Squadron II : Rogue Leader " version , as it is the later source , and was pictured in the art book " . " The surviving Bothan spies flee from Kothlis on " Fey ' lya ' s Pride " , with the stolen Imperial computer to " Kothlis II " . Around that time , Darth Vader ' s Death Squadron has arrived and begun it ' s 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 . 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 " . " Mercury " escaped to hyperspace to rendezvous with the " Independence " . While transferring the escape pod to the " Independence " the " Avenger " and the " Executor " emerge from hyperspace and begin their attack . The " Mercury " and " Independence " manage to escape once more and thus finally securing the Death Star II plans in the hands of the Alliance . In " Rogue Squadron II : Rogue Leader " , any damage performed to the Star Destroyer in the first mission carries over to the next mission . This article assumes the player took out the ion cannons to protect the " Redemption " . At the end of the mission , the player can deliver the coup - de - grace on the " Motivator " by performing a kamikaze run on the ship , the requirements of the mission stated the player can still get a Gold Medal if they only lose one life , and the " Rebel Strike " Official Nintendo Strategy Guide suggests that the player does so to finish the mission with a Gold Medal . This article assumes the player did not do so , as Antilles canon ically survives , and respawns are a game mechanic . If the player destroys the Star Destroyer before the " Razor " goes into the hangar bay , it can be seen floating in space in the ending cutscene , although it canonically falls to the surface with the " Motivator . " In the second mission , the player must protect the commandos . They can have casualties but not too many , although the mission will fail if the transport gets destroyed . The default craft for the first mission is the B - wing , and the default craft for the start of the second mission is the X - wing . There are two separate tech upgrades to be found in the missions . Finding them fulfills the bonus objectives .