Battle of Kessel ( Black Sun Insurgency ) The Battle of Kessel during the Black Sun insurgency of 24 ABY was part of their plot for galactic domination . Pre - battle . Since the death of Prince Xizor during a skirmish on Coruscant in 3 ABY , the crime syndicate Black Sun had fallen from its old glory through infighting and had been keeping a low profile for decades . Somehow , they came under the leadership of Czethros , who aspired toward galactic domination . Part of his plan to defeat the ruling New Republic was to plant sleeper cells in positions of political , economical and military power . Sleeper cells were also planted on the spice mining world of Kessel , which was being managed by the Sullustan Chief Administrator Nien Nunb . Among these sleeper agents were the Second Administrator Torvon and Kymn . During an assassination attempt on Nien Nunb in the carbon - freezing sections of the processing facility , Torvon was instead killed . Meanwhile , at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4 , the andris spice addicted Anja Gallandro fled the moon on the transport " Lightning Rod " to retrieve a stash of andris hidden beneath the ice caps of the ocean world of Dac . In response , her Jedi friends Zekk , Jacen , Jaina , Tenel Ka , Lowbacca and his translator droid Em Teedee went after her on another transport " Rock Dragon " . During their mission , they arrived at Kessel where Jaina , Lowbacca and M - TD stayed behind to help Nien Nunb after hearing about the failed assassination attempt and that his workers were turning against him . The Coup . On a normal working day at the spice mines , a large cargo transport from Ord Mantell arrived under the pretext of carrying new office equipment including food supplies , recharge packs and atmospheric enrichment generators . Having docked , an exit hatch on the craft opened , and the captain strode out and greeted Nien Nunb , pretending to recognize him . He told Nien Nunb that he had brought a special surprise for him and told Nunb to watch him open the cargo doors . When the door ' s of the vessels cargo bay opened , out came the surprise : an army of armed mercenaries . They charged down the cargo chamber firing their weapons in the air , creating much chaos and confusion . Even Kymn had drawn his weapon and shot at a guard near the communications array . The Black Sun sleeper agents also joined the newcomers in defeating the loyal workers and guards . Soon , Black Sun had captured the facility with little blood and Nien Nunb found himself a prisoner . However , Jaina , Lowie and Em Teedee managed to evade capture and could only watched as Czethros himself arrived and rallied his followers . Over confident , he announced that Kessel would become his new base of operations where Black Sun could coordinate lightning strikes on the New Republic . He also mentioned that he would use the planet ' s sophisticated transmitter to transmit messages to the infiltrators in the key governmental positions in the New Republic , ordering them to strike . Though small in number , their revolution would happen so quickly and so widespread that it would topple the New Republic . Following the coup , Nunb and his loyal followers were incarcerated at what remained of the Imperial slave barracks while many other workers and a few hapless cargo pilots were kept within force fields . Counterattack . While hiding in the spice mines , the Jedi used Em Teedee to hack into the facility ' s computer systems , causing the fire - retardant and sewage containment systems to assault Czethros and his henchmen , distracting them temporarily . Later , when Kymn and two other henchmen entered a turbolift , Em Teedee froze it in place with an urgent clean - and - refurbish authorization code . While hiding in an empty atmosphere factory , the Jedi decided that their primary mission was to sabotage Czethros ' s transmitter which he intended to use to send a signal to the Black Sun sleeper cells scattered across the galaxy . First , they needed explosives to blow it up . Second , they needed someone to plant the explosives . Em Teedee was selected for the job because his small size made it hard for him to be detected and he could hover . During their exploration of the control rooms in the mine labyrinth , they found two packaged cylinders containing explosives small enough for Em Teedee ' s microrepulsorjets to carry . They attached these to the droid ' s casing using a special quick - release knot . The Jedi also encountered the alien smuggler and Black Sun lieutenant Lilmit who fled into his ship to hide from both the Jedi and Czethros . Continuing with the mission , Em Teedee flew with the explosives towards the transmitter ' s vast dish and attached the explosives to its central control point . When the miniature droid was within a hundred meters of the transmitter and its guards , the transmitter exploded , thus ruining Czethros ' s plans to send out a transmission to the sleeper cells scattered across the galaxy . Having accomplished that , the Jedi and Em Teedee went to free Nien Nunb and the other prisoners . On the way , they used their Force powers to overwhelm one of the mercenaries . With the prisoners freed , Nien Nunb and his workers rushed to the main armory and control chamber , where they armed themselves to retake Kessel from Czethros . In the control chamber , Nunb and Lowie keyed in commands into the computers there that blocked access to Czethros and his henchmen . During the fighting , Nunb lured the treacherous Kymn , the captain of the cargo cruiser and their troops into a deep section of the mines and then sealed them with heavy plasteel barricades , keeping them out of trouble until the authorities arrived to arrest them . Now all that was left was Czethros himself . Seeing that his plot had failed , he fled to the main cargo bay where he tried to persuade Lilmit to help him escape Kessel . However , Lilmit declined long enough for Jaina , Lowie , Nien Nunb and Kessel security troops to arrive . However , Czethros managed to escape on a turbolift down into the carbon - freezing facility . However , they still pursued him . Refusing to surrender and not wanting to be captured alive , Czethros fell into a vat of carbonite where he was flash - frozen as Han Solo had been decades earlier . Aftermath . Later , the Chief of State Leia Organa Solo commissioned the thawing and interrogation of Czethros . As a result , the New Republic uncovered the Black Sun sleeper cells in the key governmental positions across the galaxy , thus desolating the Black Sun for over a century .