Battle of New Alderaan ( Operation Shadow Hand ) A battle occurred on the planet New Alderaan in 10 ABY between the reborn Emperor Palpatine ' s forces and the New Republic . A party of Dark Side Elite under Palpatine ' s new Executor Xecr Nist infiltrated the settlement with the objective of assassinating the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and kidnapping the Force - sensitive Solo twins . However , they were intercepted by the Jedi and most of the party was killed . Meanwhile , the settlement came under attack from a complement of Imperial AT - AT walkers which quickly overwhelmed the lightly - armed defenders . However , the villagers were saved by the swift arrival of several freighters including the " Millennium Falcon " which destroyed several walkers and managed to evacuate the villagers . Prelude . Prior to the battle , the Emperor had sent a contingent of Scarab Droid s to murder Luke Skywalker in his sleep . The Emperor also sent his Executor Xecr Nist and his second in command Tedryn - Sha to kidnap the Solo twins . Unfortunately for them , Jem Ysanna and Leia Organa Solo confronted them and killed them while Vima - Da - Boda destroyed the Scarab Droids . The battle . In retaliation for the assault on his Citadel at Byss , the Emperor sent a force of AT - ATs to destroy the Rebel settlement at New Alderaan . The AT - ATs were the latest generation of the vehicle class and were equipped with the most powerful Imperial turbolasers and the new X - 80 Power Cell s . As a result , many buildings and gun emplacements were destroyed . Just as the village was about to be massacred , the " Millennium Falcon " , " Starhook Ten " , " Bespin Bandit " , " Hyperspace Marauder " and a squadron of X - wings came to the rescue . These new arrivals destroyed several of the AT - ATs . " Starhook Ten " landed and opened her cargo bay to the surviving refugees . However , the Rebels were forced to flee and New Alderaan was lost to the Empire . Behind the scenes . The second battle at New Alderaan first appeared in the issue " " of the " Dark Empire II " series of comics . The battle was conceived and written by authors Tom Veitch , illustrated and colored by colorist Cam Kennedy . Veith used this battle of the climax of the plot of " Dark Empire II " . The battle would eventually be featured in the " Dark Empire II " audio drama , which witnessed the skirmish take on a whole new personality through the voice acting of John Cygan ( Skywalker ) , Joe Hacker ( Han and Brand ) , Jim Ward ( Kam Solusar ) and Glynnis Talken ( Salla Zend , Vima and Jem ) . However , one major difference between the comic and audio drama is the depiction of Dark - sider Xerc Nist ' s part in the mission to New Alderaan . In contradiction to " Dark Empire II " , Nist does not participate in the fight between the Dark Jedi , Solusar , Rayf Ysanna , and Brand in the audio adaptation . Instead , he takes the Solo children and guards them as his darksiders fight the Jedi . After all members of the Dark Side Elite are killed , Nist tries to escape with the twins and almost reaches his ship , but is stopped dead by two blaster bolts fired by Leia Organa Solo . Nevertheless , Nist appears in the audio adaptation of " Empire ' s End " without any explanation on how he survived .