Battle of Imperial Center The battle of Imperial Center was a conflict which took place near Imperial Center around 3 . 5 ABY between forces loyal to the rogue Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin and those loyal to the Galactic Empire after Zaarin decided to launch a coup against Emperor Palpatine . Bringing his flagship , the " Imperial " - class Star Destroyer " Glory " , to the Coruscant system , he caught the Emperor in his private ship , the Star Destroyer " Majestic " . Zaarin disabled the ship and boarded it , capturing Palpatine by using the Force powers of Emperor ' s Hand Arden Lyn and her students to overcome the Emperor ' s own powers . As Zaarin ' s escort shuttles returned to the " Glory " with the captive Palpatine , a flight group of six TIE / D Defenders led by Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader and Colonel Maarek Stele appeared out of hyperspace . Stele inspected the shuttles and disabled the one carrying the Emperor . Zaarin responded by launching TIE Avengers to assist , but it was too late . Vice Admiral Thrawn arrived in the Star Destroyer " Vanguard " along with the corvette " Mescue " . The " Mescue " boarded the Emperor ' s shuttle and rescued him , while Stele , Vader and the remaining TIE Defenders destroyed Zaarin ' s TIE Avengers . Zaarin saw that his coup had failed and left the Coruscant system in the " Glory " . Prelude . Shortly after the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY , Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin , head of the Galactic Empire ' s TIE Series research and development , plotted to kill Emperor Palpatine and assume the Imperial throne . While Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader was preoccupied with the hunt for rogue Imperial Admiral Harkov , who had defected to the Rebel Alliance — a campaign which Zaarin openly supported — as well as his own personal crusade against Prince Xizor , head of the Black Sun crime syndicate , Zaarin finalized his plans . The Grand Admiral sought to draw like - minded personnel within the Imperial Navy to his personal command and recruited the services of Emperor ' s Hand Arden Lyn as his agent on Imperial Center . Lyn , an ancient practitioner of the martial art teräs käsi , had herself decided to turn against Palpatine shortly after the Battle of Yavin three years earlier , after the Emperor failed to deliver on his promise to resurrect her deceased lover , Xendor . Immediately after the death of Xizor around 3 . 5 ABY , Vader discovered that the remnants of Harkov ' s fleet had fled to the Ottega system and traveled there aboard the " Imperial I " - class Star Destroyer " Garrett " to oversee its destruction . Seeing his opportunity , Zaarin began to move his own fleet to Imperial Center . Meanwhile , the Grand Admiral dispatched several " Assassin " - class corvettes to the Ottega system , ostensibly to reinforce Vader ' s own forces , but with orders to attack the " Garrett " upon arrival . Though the " Garrett " survived the attack , it suffered critical damage . With the " Garrett " unable to return to Imperial Center in time to stop Zaarin ' s coup , Vader selected Colonel Maarek Stele to lead a group of prototype TIE Defenders on a mission to stop any attack on the Emperor , taking one of the starfighters for himself . Despite an ambush by Zaarin ' s forces in the Parmel system the TIE Defender group was able to rendezvous with the Nebulon - B2 frigate " Osprey " , before proceeding on to the Coruscant system . The battle . Bringing his flagship , the " Imperial " - class Star Destroyer " Glory " , to the Coruscant system , Zaarin caught the Emperor in his private ship , the " Imperial I " - class Star Destroyer " Majestic " . With Lyn ' s assistance , Zaarin was able to catch Palpatine unaware and his forces disabled and boarded the Star Destroyer . With the help of her students , the Gamorrean Thok and the stormtrooper 17786 , Lyn used her Force powers to nullify the Emperor ' s own powers and he was taken into custody . Vader and Stele soon entered the system with their TIE Defender group and promptly received a distress signal from the " Majestic " . Moving toward the ship , the group detected the launch of six " Delta " - class JV - 7 escort shuttles from Haven and Hellcat groups , carrying the troopers from Zaarin ' s boarding party , along with the captive Palpatine . As they moved to intercept , Vader instructed Stele to identify the shuttle carrying the Emperor . After determining that Palpatine was aboard " Haven 3 " , Stele joined his wingmates in engaging the other shuttles , choosing to leave Palpatine ' s shuttle until it could be disabled without fear of damage . Once they were destroyed , Stele dispatched his group toward the waiting " Glory " while he used his ion cannons to disable " Haven 3 " . With Palpatine ' s shuttle disabled , the loyal Imperial " Assassin " - class corvette " Mescue " arrived in the area to board the vessel and rescue the Emperor . At around the same time , the badly damaged " Majestic " was able to escape into hyperspace . With the situation turning against him , Zaarin responded by launching TIE Avengers to assist , but Stele ' s group moved to engage them . The TIE Defenders eliminated the attacking TIEs , losing all but Stele and Vader in the process . Around the same time , Vice Admiral Thrawn arrived in the " Imperial I " - class Star Destroyer " Vanguard " to assist the Imperial forces and began launching TIE bombers to attack the " Glory " . Around ten minutes after Vader ' s group arrived , Palpatine was safely aboard the " Mescue " and Stele joined the TIE bomber attack on the " Glory " . Seeing that his coup had failed , Zaarin fled into hyperspace . Palpatine was taken to a secret location while Imperial forces planned their pursuit of Zaarin . Aftermath . The Emperor had been rescued but both Zaarin and Lyn had escaped . Stele was rewarded for his part in rescuing the Emperor in a ceremony attended by the cream of Coruscant society at the Imperial Palace . As the Emperor watched from high above , Stele was presented with the Emperor ' s Will medal by Lord Vader . The Emperor continued to take great interest in Stele , instructing the Secret Order of the Emperor to train Stele in the Force , and the pilot went on to become an Emperor ' s Hand . Thrawn pursued Zaarin into hyperspace and began a long campaign to defeat the rogue Imperial , who focused on gaining technological superiority with starfighters , first by attacking in the Omar system , before Thrawn drove him to the Outer Rim Territories and eventually the Unknown Regions . Zaarin later made a second unsuccessful attempt on Palpatine ' s life , before he was ultimately defeated by Thrawn . Thrawn was promoted to the rank of grand admiral , taking Zaarin ' s place in the circle of twelve . The task of hunting Lyn was given to High Inquisitor Antinnis Tremayne . With the failure of the coup , Lyn released Thok from her service and began searching for the Kashi Mer talisman in her continuing attempts to bring Xendor back to life . She was eventually killed by Palpatine in 10 ABY . Behind the scenes . The battle was first featured in the 1994 LucasArts video game " " , in which players fly as Maarek Stele . The battle is depicted in the mission " Save the Emperor , " the fifth and final mission of the game ' s seventh tour of campaign , " Treachery at Ottega . " In " TIE Fighter " , which of the three shuttles in Haven group carries the Emperor is randomized . " " established that Palpatine was canon ically aboard " Haven 3 " in its mission walk - through , which is presented as Stele ' s after - action report . The battle has since been referenced in several other sources , including " The New Essential Guide to Characters " , " The New Essential Chronology " and " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " . Arden Lyn ' s involvement in the battle was first mentioned in the " Star Wars Gamer 5 " article " " The Emperor ' s Pawns " " by Abel G . Peña , Juan Schwartz and Pablo Hidalgo , which also elaborated on Stele ' s fate following the battle . In the manuscript for the original version of Peña and Daniel Wallace ' s " Star Wars Insider 66 " article " " " " , entitled " " Dirty Dozen : Imperial Grand Admirals " " , more information is given about the battle than in the final version . The article indicates that Zaarin ' s timing was motivated partially by a desire to strike before Grand Admiral Martio Batch ' s TIE Phantom project took away his technological advantage , and that Lyn was not alone in pacifying the Emperor but was aided by her pupils . Lyn ' s pupils , Thok and 17786 , were later confirmed to have assisted her in Peña and Rich Handley ' s 2013 article " " .