Battle of the City of Bone During the Galactic Civil War , in the year 3 ABY , the Galactic Empire and the local Mandalorians of the planet Mandalore fought a decisive battle in the Mandalorian City of Bone , headquarters of the local Imperial leader , the Suprema . The battle began in revolt of the Imperial slaving operation on the planet , when the energy source to the slaves ' energy links was destroyed , freeing them and triggering an ensuing uprising . Although initially meant to be a simple rescue mission of Tobbi Dala , who had been captured by Imperials and detained in the City of Bone , the rescue soon spread to all the Mandalorian slaves in the city . Led by the Mandalorian Protectors Fenn Shysa and Dala with help from Rebel leader Leia Organa , the Mandalorians stormed the Suprema ' s office to open the blast doors to the city , which had been closed at the beginning of the battle . After overpowering the Suprema , Dala decided to stay behind to open the gates to the city since he had sustained a mortal wound during the struggle . Aboard a commandeered hovercraft , Shysa and Organa were able to exit the city to join the freed slaves and Shysa ' s forces , who had triggered the attack . After their escape , Dala closed the blast doors behind them to stop the pursuing Imperial squadron . However , the Imperial ships were unable to change course away from the closing doors and crashed into the walls of the city . As the Imperial craft exploded , they ignited the fuel in the city , creating a chain reaction that filled the structure with fire , killing all inside . Prelude . Following the end of the Clone Wars and the emergence of the Galactic Empire from the ashes of the Galactic Republic , the planet Mandalore was in dire straits , having been driven into poverty by siding with the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the war . The premier business on the world , MandalMotors , who had helped build starships for the Separatists , was subject to a hostile takeover by the Empire , and the board was replaced with Imperial advisers and the lead Imperial adviser , the Suprema , was brought in to round up the populace for forced conscription . The slaves were to be subjected to hard labor with the dual purpose of crushing their spirits and using the slave labor to help run mines , farms , and factories to fund the Imperial war machine . The Suprema established his operations in the City of Bone , a massive structure built as a then defunct adventure tourist attraction and made in the image of a 400 - meter Mythosaur skeleton that resided on the outskirts of Mandalore ' s capital city , Keldabe . Originally sold to the Empire as a local garrison for credits greatly needed by the local Mandalorian clans , the city became a distribution center for the captured slaves , bound by energy link restraints as they awaited assignment . The Imperial slavers reveled in torturing the hapless slaves , feeding them out of gruel troughs and beating them for even small outbursts . In a few short months , the Suprema had enslaved the majority of the population , but he was not without opposition . The Mandalorian Protectors , Fenn Shysa and Tobbi Dala , two of only three survivors of the Mandalorian attack on Norval II years prior during the Clone Wars , had begun forming an armed guerrilla resistance in the days following the Empire ' s first arrival on Mandalore , when the galactic government had attempted to appear benevolent and their interactions with the Mandalorians over " beskar " mining operations , legitimate . But once the Empire ' s grip over their homeworld had become strangling , " Mand ' alor " Fenn Shysa and his secret resistance were labeled as outlaws , though members of the Mandalorian clan - based government decided to secretly help the two soldiers recruit others and train them to fight against the Imperial authorities . Working out of their forest headquarters , the Mandalorian strike force raided slaving convoys , killing the Imperial slavers and freeing their kinsmen . During this long struggle for independence , the Mandalorians were visited by Princess Leia Organa and her protocol droid C - 3PO , who were on a mission to Mandalore in search of the bounty hunter Dengar . Dengar had been rumored to have been working with Boba Fett during the search for the " Millennium Falcon " following the Battle of Hoth . The Rebel commander hoped that Dengar would lead them to Fett ' s location , who was in possession of the captured Han Solo , trapped in carbonite . Dengar was currently working for the slaving ring to capture Fenn Shysa , who was leading the resistance on his own due to Tobbi Dala ' s capture following a failed mission to the City of Bone . Shysa had actually managed to capture Dengar and was in the process of exchanging the bounty hunter for Dala during Organa ' s arrival . However , Organa managed to disrupt the exchange by releasing Dengar and attempting to bring him back to the Alliance base on Arbra . The attempt to steal Shysa ' s prisoner was foiled when Dengar transmitted a message to the Imperial command . Organa and C - 3PO were captured and brought back to the City of Bone to be imprisoned alongside Tobbi Dala . The battle . Infiltration and revolt . Undetected by the Imperials , Fenn Shysa infiltrated the city , disguised as a stormtrooper . He then freed both Organa and Dala from their imprisonment in the city ' s detention cells and led them to the hangar bay . As the group tried to figure out a way to escape from the Imperials , Shysa shot a flare out of a side window . Shysa ' s Mandalorian forces , who were hiding in the woods awaiting his signal , immediately began their attack , firing at the Imperials stationed at the perimeter . The attack was meant to distract the Imperials as Organa , Dala , C - 3PO , and Shysa made their escape . However , the Suprema had anticipated the maneuver and ordered the city to be sealed by closing the blast doors . At the same time , Dala commandeered a hovercraft from Dengar who was in the hangar bay . After tying Dengar up and placing him in the back of the craft , the Rebels made their way for the exit , only to find the doors sealed . The stormtroopers and slaver guards began to fire on the craft , trying to bring it down , since the hovercraft was stranded in the air with nowhere to go . As the Rebels exchanged fire with the Imperials , Organa ordered Shysa to pilot the ship towards the energy link master control , which powered the slave restraints . By concentrating fire on the box , the device was destroyed , freeing the Mandalorian slaves residing in the city . Organa called out to the slaves , encouraging them to rise up against their oppressors . Assault on the Suprema ' s office . As a major battle began to erupt in the city , the Rebels took the opportunity to pilot their craft toward the Suprema ' s office . The group planned to force the slaver to open the blast doors to let them make their escape . Leaving Dengar tied up in the hovercraft , the group stormed their way to the Suprema ' s position only to find the door locked . Organa quickly improvised by blowing down the door , but found the Suprema waiting for them with a blaster drawn . Dala attempted to fire on the Imperial slavelord , but was hit in the chest by a blaster shot . As the Suprema attempted to shoot at the rest of the Rebels , Dala threw himself forward , grabbing the Suprema ' s blaster hand , preventing any further attack . While the Suprema and Dala struggled in the office , Shysa jumped forward , kicking the Suprema and knocking the blaster out of his hand . Distraught over the wound that Dala had sustained , Shysa began to strike the Suprema with the butt of his blaster , in an attempt to beat the Imperial officer to death . However , Organa was able to stop Shysa , telling him that they might need the Suprema later . Shysa relented and went to attend to his fallen friend . Unfortunately for the Mandalorian leader , Dala had sustained near fatal injuries , and he bid his friend farewell , promising that he would open the doors to the city . After an emotional goodbye , Organa , C - 3PO , and Shysa left both Dala and the wounded Suprema and made their way back to the hovercraft , where Dengar was still tied up . Escape . Before the Rebels had broken into the office , the Suprema had been able to get a transmission out to Shrike Squadron , a flight group made up of Imperial escort fighter s , who came to the city to quell the uprising . As the Rebels made their way to the exit in their hovercraft , they came under attack by the Shrikes . Although they attempted to return fire , they were outnumbered , and the Imperials threatened to overwhelm them . However , several freed slaves decided to help the Rebels escape . Many of the former Mandalorian slaves were able to escape from the city during the fighting , but those had stayed behind to rescue their liberators . As the hovercraft passed by , the former slaves threw a gruel trough in the path of the pursuers , knocking one of the Shrikes out of the air and causing it to crash . The diversion allowed the Rebels to make space towards the exit , which had been opened , true to Dala ' s word . As the craft exited the city , Shrike Squadron converged on the Rebels , continuing their pursuit . However , before they could get to the exit , Dala closed the blast doors . Unable to turn away in time , the airspeeders crashed headlong into the city walls . The massive explosion ignited the fuel and ammunition within the city , consuming the city in fire and killing all the Imperials inside , including the Suprema and Tobbi Dala . As the hovercraft carrying Dengar and his Rebel captors departed the city back to the Mandalorian camp , they witnessed the destruction , their triumph sobered by the sacrifice of their friend . Aftermath . Back at the forest base , the Mandalorians celebrated their victory . Many of the former Mandalorian slaves decided to join Shysa ' s resistance , bolstering their forces . Shysa interrogated Dengar , but he had not actually been Fett ' s accomplice , only overhearing a conversation that Fett had a secret base in the Anga system . Although Organa was depressed over not being any closer to finding Solo , she was encouraged by the victory and returned to the Alliance headquarters . Shysa claimed that the attack was not a fatal blow to their enemies , but the battle proved more damaging than Shysa had first surmised , and Dala ' s sacrifice became the pivotal blow in ridding the world of Imperials . Following the battle , Shysa decided to reform his force into the new Mandalorian Protectors . Due to Leia Organa ' s aid in the operation , the Mandalorians joined the Rebel Alliance . Under Shysa , the Protectors began a campaign against Grand Admiral Miltin Takel who oversaw the Mandalore sector . Behind the scenes . The battle of the City of Bone was the main conflict appearing in " " , written by David Michelinie and drawn by Gene Day and Tom Palmer . Following the end of the battle , Shysa claims that , " the blow [ they ] dealt the slavers was cripplin ' but not final , " apparently showing that the battle did not mark the end of the Imperial presence on the planet . However , the 2005 article , " The History of the Mandalorians " by Abel G . Peña , claims that Tobbi Dala ' s sacrifice helped remove the slavers from Mandalore , apparently confirming that the battle was more crippling than Shysa had first presumed . The battle was mentioned once again in the article , " Aliens in the Empire " , written by Peña and Rich Handley , when it gave the history of the Suprema who was present and killed during the battle .