Battle of Mos Espa The Battle of Mos Espa was a conflict fought between the citizens of Mos Espa , a city on the planet Tatooine , and an army of Tusken Raiders led by the Tusken King . The battle took place sometime after the conclusion of the Battle of Yavin during the Galactic Civil War , but before the Battle of Hoth . The catalyst for the engagement was the theft of three sacred artifacts from the Sand People . They were stolen by a spacer from the Tusken relic cave so that they could be studied by a scholar named Srimaur . Following the looting of the cave , a group of Tuskens marched on the city and occupied it . Kav Goldor , the leader of the city ' s militia , and several spacers retook the city and prepared its populace to defend themselves against the advancing Tusken army and their leader , the Tusken King . In a fierce battle , the spacers , citizens , militia and Kav Goldor were successful in killing the Tusken King and his elite guard , liberating the city of its occupiers . The prelude . The trouble began shortly after the Battle of Yavin when a Human scholar named Srimaur hired a spacer to infiltrate the relic cave of a tribe of Tusken Raiders , an indigenous and hostile species of Tatooine , and find three specific relics for him to study . These relics were a chieftain ' s skull , a krayt dragon head , and a ghastly gaderffii baton . The spacer entered the cave to search for the relics , but was discovered and attacked by several Tusken relic guards after stealing the final item . Nonetheless , the sentient escaped , and returned to Mos Espa to deliver the items to Srimaur . When the spacer informed Srimaur about being discovered , the scholar knew that the Tuskens would seek retribution for the theft of their relics . He asked the spacer to rally a group of other spacers skilled enough to fight , and to speak with Kav Goldor , leader of the Mos Espa Militia . Goldor was shocked to hear about the approaching hoard of Tusken Raiders , and pleaded with the spacers to aid in the city ' s defense . Feeling it was the least they could do , the spacers agreed to help , and regrouped on the outskirts of town to formulate a strategy with Goldor . The battle . While Goldor and the group of spacers planned their response to the Tusken threat , the raiders invaded the city and drove out most of the civilian population . Among the Tusken Raiders were domesticated banthas and massiffs , both of which were capable of repelling any potential liberators . Goldor and the spacers began their attack by retaking the city ' s cantina and using it as a staging area for the continued liberation of the other key buildings within the city . While at least one of the spacers stayed inside the cantina to defend Goldor , the rest went out into the city to liberate the starport , university , medical center , hotel , cloning center , the combat guild hall , and a junk shop belonging to the Toydarian Watto from the Tuskens which occupied them . As Tuskens poured into the cantina in an attempt to kill Goldor , the spacers knew that defense would be a failure if the seasoned militia man were to die . When the spacers eradicated all Tuskens from the seven key buildings , the populace began to reenter the city , and the Tuskens ceased their relentless assault on Goldor , who had only suffered a bruised knee after falling off a bar stool . However , the liberation of Mos Espa was still far from complete . Countless more Tusken warriors began to pour into the city , forcing many of the civilians to flee to the safety of the city ' s hotel , managed by Mon Calamari Javran Mu . In order to secure the liberation of Mos Espa , citizens with expertise in various fields had to be mobilized by the spacers to the other six key buildings . These experts were stationed in the slums near Watto ' s junk shop , a lone house in the middle of town , and a mansion . These three areas were constantly attacked by the Tusken ' s in an attempt to kill the experts , whose skills ranged from scientific endeavors to military expertise . However , the three areas were well defended by the spacers , allowing a group of these experts to reach each of the city ' s key facilities . While the city remained under attack , expert citizens reached the combat hall to aid Major Berok Skoff in upgrading the militia ' s equipment , and training them for combat . Some reached Watto ' s shop to help produce and arm an armada of DUM - series pit droids to act as a deterrent to further Tusken attacks . Others reached the medical center , cloning center , and university , to mobilize expert medics and learn as much about the Tusken ' s weaknesses as possible . Commander Da ' la Socuna of the Rebel Alliance ' s Crimson Phoenix Squadron oversaw the scholars ' research on the indigenous Sand People . Those which reached the starport were able to assist as ground crew to launch Human pilot Macy Malo in her BTL Y - wing starfighter , which she then proceeded to use in executing a bombing run over the city against the Tuskens . When each of the key buildings were fully staffed , Goldor called on all spacers , militia , and droids to rally near the cantina to fight off one final push led by the Tusken King himself . As the denizens of Mos Espa waited and prepared , five Tusken Warlords fought to make way for the King , but were defeated . Finally , the Tusken King marched toward the collected force with four of his Tusken Honor Guards . In a final clash , the King and his followers engaged the large number of citizens defending the city . The fierce battle eventually ended , when the King was successfully slain . With their leader dead , the remaining Tuskens , including their banthas and massiffs , either retreated , or were killed off . Finally , the liberation of Mos Espa was complete . Aftermath . The city of Mos Espa sustained minimal damage during the attack . On the other hand , the Tuskens suffered heavy losses during the battle , including the death of their King and his honor guard . Exact casualty numbers among the Mos Espa citizenry were never accounted for , but it is known that no more than ten civilians were killed . The spacers largely responsible for the successful defense of the city were commended for their efforts . Each of the spacers received the Mos Espa Token of Heroism for their selfless defense of the city . Several interesting and powerful items and weapons were also looted from the Tusken King ' s corpse , including his rucksack and elite versions of the Tusken Cycler rifle and gaderffii baton . Behind the scenes . The Battle of Mos Espa first appeared in the 2003 video game " Star Wars Galaxies : An Empire Divided " , a developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts , prior to its closure on December 15 , 2011 . It was added to the game as " Tusken Army " , a high level combat challenge known as a " Heroic Encounter " on November 1 , 2007 as part of the " Chapter 7 : A Collection of Heroes " game update . The battle was also recreated in a special Heroic Encounter scenario for the " Star Wars Galaxies " Trading Card Game expansion set " Squadrons Over Corellia " released in December of 2008 . Players who completed the trading card game scenario would receive the Rucksack of the Tusken King loot card . The Trading Card Game was also shut down alongside " Star Wars Galaxies " . Before accessing the encounter , players were required to finish a pre - quest for Srimaur , involving the theft of three Tusken relics . Once completed , players could group up with other players who met the prerequisites to perform the encounter . The first phase of the encounter required the defense of Kav Goldor in the Mos Espa cantina , while the other players liberated seven key structures spread throughout the city . The death of Goldor would result in the failure of the mission . The second phase required the deliverance of three expert citizens to each of the key structures . The deaths of ten citizens would also result in a mission failure . During the last phase , all of the players and tasked with defending the city would rally near the cantina for a final battle against the Tusken King . Killing the Tusken King would result in the success of the Heroic Encounter . Players who completed the encounter would receive a Mos Espa Token of Heroism which could be used to buy rewards for their character at the township of Aurilia on Dathomir . Additionally , killing the Tusken King gave the player ' s character a point to their critical hit reduction combat statistic , reducing the chance an enemy would critically strike them . This effect could be gained up to a maximum ten times per character . The Tusken King had several highly sought after loot items , including the aforementioned rucksack , rifle , and baton . Additionally , players could loot anywhere from 150 , 000 to 200 , 000 credits from the King . These credits were evenly split among all players present at the time of his death , depending on the group loot settings . Although players could choose not to do the " Tusken Army " pre - quest or Heroic Encounter , this article assumes 100 % game completion .