Destruction of Sernpidal The destruction of Sernpidal , also known as the First Battle of Sernpidal , occurred in 25 ABY when the Praetorite Vong — an advance force of the extra - galactic Yuuzhan Vong invaders — employed the tactic Yo ' gand ' s Core , pulling the moon Dobido to Sernpidal ' s surface . A small team led by Han Solo and Chewbacca successfully rescued a number of Sernpidalian s during the destruction . History . Background . As a prelude to their main invasion of the galaxy , agents of the Praetorite Vong had stirred up chaos in the far edges of the Outer Rim Territories . The Praetorite Vong expeditionary force had established a bio - engineered yammosk on icy Helska IV to coordinate their warships . Meanwhile , one of their agents , Nom Anor , had stirred up a war between the twin - planets Osarian and Rhommamool in the Expansion Region to spread the New Republic and the Jedi thin . Another agent , Yomin Carr , had secured the remote ExGal - 4 outpost on remote Belkadan due to its proximity to Vector Prime — a small hole where the Yuuzhan Vong fleet could penetrate the energy field surrounding the galaxy . This site was also chosen due to its proximity to the New Republic / Imperial Remnant border ; allowing for a weaker military response from the Republic . Due to Sernpidal ' s close proximity to Belkadan and its status as the most heavily populated enemy world in the Dalonbian sector , there was a chance that the Republic would quickly discover the Praetorite Vong ' s presence on Belkadan and destroy the yammosk ; setting back the Yuuzhan Vong invasion plans . The expeditionary force ' s commander Prefect Da ' Gara and his charge Nom Anor , who had returned from Rhommamool , discussed strategies including destroying Sernpidal ' s environment . However , Nom Anor suggested destroying Sernpidal and killing as many enemies as they could . This disaster would lure some of the New Republic warships into the region where they would be ambushed and destroyed . In the end , Da ' Gara agreed and suggested deploying Yo ' gand ' s Core tactic to destroy Sernpidal . This involved planting a gravity - focusing dovin basal on the planet and using it to drag down an orbiting planetoid ; in this case Sernpidal ' s smaller moon Dobido . The resulting collision would destroy Sernpidal ' s atmosphere , killing its people and rendering the world uninhabitable . A Fateful Run . After being sent on a cargo run to the planet by Lando Calrissian , the " Millennium Falcon " arrived at Sernpidal City ' s docking bay . Being rudely ignored by several Sernpidalian s , Han , Anakin Solo , and Chewie were unable to obtain any help unloading the cargo that Lando had requested be dropped off . Han was eventually greeted by an elderly man who , seemingly calmer than the rest , informed Han that he would have no trouble unloading his cargo . Venturing into the city , the three found that its citizens were in complete disarray . The old man , who had introduced himself as the Mayor of Sernpidal City , informed them that the cause of the pandemonium was the locals ' belief that the goddess Tosi - karu was arriving . The Mayor realized Han ' s confusion and pointed toward the sky at the approaching moon . Upon seeing that the moon was headed on a direct collision course with the planet , Han decided to investigate . After having circumnavigated the moon several times , Han concluded that Sernpidal had , at the most , seven hours before the collision . Anakin was also able to deduce that something was pulling the moon down each time it revolved around Sernpidal . After arriving back on planet , Anakin was able to sense that whatever was pulling Dobido down was located east of Sernpidal City . Han , knowing that Anakin would be the only one able to find it , reluctantly allowed his son to go search for the cause along with the Mayor , who had offered to accompany him . Meanwhile Han and Chewbacca began loading as many people as they could onto the " Falcon " . Destruction . Upon arriving , they discovered that the cause of Dobido ' s descent was a Dovin basal — a bioengineered Yuuzhan Vong creature . Anakin , in an attempt to destroy the basal , fired upon it with a blaster , though this proved ineffective . The " Falcon " then arrived to assist Anakin and the Mayor . However , the Mayor was reluctant to leave and stated that he would not allow the basal to escape the planet ' s destruction . Jumping into the basal ' s hole , the mayor used a thermal detonator to destroy it , sacrificing himself in the process . After arriving back in Sernpidal City , Han Solo was able to organize a refugee convoy through the use of the " Falcon " and several other freighters . As the winds picked up , Anakin was knocked into the distance , forcing Chewbacca to rescue him . Chewbacca , although able to bring Anakin to the safety of the " Falcon " , was himself knocked away by another burst of wind , placing him directly into the path of the fast - approaching moon . Anakin , who had piloted the " Falcon " while his father stood on the entrance ramp in an attempt to rescue the stranded Chewbacca , flew away from Sernpidal City when he realized it was too late to save Chewbacca . The Wookiee stood in the moon ' s trajectory , bellowed his last heroic roar , and was crushed along with the countless number of Sernpidal citizens who could not , or refused to , escape . Unknown to the refugee convoy , the Yuuzhan Vong had arranged for a swarm of grutchin to ambush the convoy . During this time Kyp Durron , having lost his Dozen and Two Avengers to a similar grutchin attack , was rescued by Han Solo . The refugee convoy was able to fight off the grutchin only to find coralskippers chasing them . The convoy eventually arrived at Dubrillion , but only to find that they would be forced back into battle when the Yuuzhan Vong attempted to invade that planet . Aftermath . The death of Chewbacca had a severe impact on the entire Solo family , as well as many others , such as Luke Skywalker . Han blamed Anakin for leaving Chewbacca behind , and it would be many months before the two were able to reconcile . Anakin , however , also blamed himself , and delved further into his own beliefs , despite his brother Jacen ' s protests . Because of his losses , Anakin would begin pushing himself harder and harder against the invading enemy forces , trying to live up to Chewbacca ' s sacrifice while keeping other loved ones from slipping away , only to be killed himself over Myrkr two years later . Later on , Sernpidal was used to grow worldships , and Rogue Squadron led a successful assault on it .