Reconnaissance mission to Ord Mantell The First Mission to Ord Mantell was a mission that Luke Skywalker and Han Solo undertook during the Galactic Civil War . The aim of the mission was to feed the Empire false information , leading them to believe that the Rebel Alliance was attempting to establish a new base on Ord Mantell . The Alliance believed this would lead the Empire away from their new base on Hoth . In order to achieve this misdirection , the Rebel Alliance sent Solo and Skywalker to the planet to fly X - wings on a false reconnaissance mission over the jungle planet The two Rebels intentionally allowed their starfighters to be sighted by an Imperial cruiser . Their escape plans were threatened , however , by the appearance of a second cruiser . Skywalker formulated an emergency tactic of merging the two starfighter ' s shields , effectively doubling their strength and giving the X - wings enough protection to withstand the imperial turbolasers and safely jump to hyperspace . Upon arriving at Echo Base , Han Solo and Luke Skywalker began to prepare for their next mission : hijacking a large amount of credits intended as an Imperial tribute , which was being paid by a shipping company once owned by the Organa estate before the destruction of Alderaan . The Rebel Alliance intended to use the credits to fund the purchase of equipment for their new base . The Rebels ' plan called for Han Solo , Leia Organa and the astromech droid R2 - D2 to send a code from Ord Mantell to divert the cargo container , using Leia ' s palmprint to access a secret backdoor into the shipping company ' s secure files . While they were engaged in the attempt , Luke Skywalker and protocol droid C - 3PO would liberate the container , secreting it away aboard the " Millennium Falcon " and leaving behind a fake cargo container in its place . Once the stolen container was aboard the " Millennium Falcon " , Solo ' s Wookiee co — pilot , Chewbacca , would activate the hyperdrive and the Rebels would make their escape . Before arriving on Ord Mantell , the group was met by their contact , an insectoid Nalrithian named Phoedros , who was to help them infiltrate the command center . Solo privately expressed his distrust of the insectoid agent , as its species had a " hive mind , " which meant that memories would be shared amongst " eggmates . " Leia , however , dismissed Han ' s fears out of hand , explaining that Phoedros had proven his loyalty to the Rebellion by killing an eggmate who was about to betray the Rebellion . On Ord Mantell , Han , Leia , Artoo , and Phoedros made their way to the computer center , and while Artoo was attempting to access the computer , Solo accidentally referred to Princess Leia as " Your Highness , " alerting the Nalrithian to the group ' s true identity . Before Artoo could send the release signal , Phoedros drew his weapon and forced Han to throw away his own blaster . " Phoedros " revealed that he was actually Cypher , a notorious bounty hunter who was Phoedros ’ eggmate , and that it had actually been Phoedros who had died in his place . Cypher planned to claim the bounties that the Empire and Jabba the Hutt had placed on Leia Organa and Han Solo , respectively . Cypher forced R2 - D2 to disengage from the computer before he had completed sending the signal , preventing the release of the cargo container ’ s shackle . Cypher then ordered Han to throw away his gunbelt , but Han instead used the belt to whip Cypher ’ s pistol out of his hand . The two dove for their weapons , but Solo narrowly managed to reach his blaster first and killed Cypher . As the release signal was prematurely shut down , the computer ' s safety protocols prevented it from being sent again and had activated an alarm , summoning a detachment of stormtroopers . Once they ' d discovered this , the group opted to head back to their ship . Back at the " Millennium Falcon " , Solo and Organa sent a comm message to Luke Skywalker , who was still waiting on the container ' s cargo bay once the alarm sounded and stormtroopers began to arrive . Using his lightsaber , Skywalker cut through the container ' s shackles and warned the crew to prepare for a ' flying catch ' before traffic control jammed their transmissions . Han took off , heading for the loading dock . Traffic Control ordered them to land , but , using a seductive voice , Princess Leia identified herself as Captain Valrond of the starship " Victory Ring " , who was running a test on her lifters . This confused the controller into leaving them alone long enough for Solo to maneuver into position . Chewbacca opened the ship ' s cargo bay and Luke piloted the cargo carrier into the hold , barely stopping in time as the " Millennium Falcon " took off into space .