Battle of Nar Shaddaa The Battle of Nar Shaddaa , also referred to as the Incident at Nar Shaddaa , was a conflict between an Imperial task force and a collection of smugglers and pirates attempting to defend their homes on Nar Shaddaa . It was fought in orbit above the Smugglers ' Moon , in the Y ' Toub system in 4 BBY . Despite the fact that they were up against a well - trained Imperial strike group , the small group of smugglers were able not only to stand up to the Imperials , but force them out of the area around Nar Shaddaa . Led by Mako Spince and Han Solo , the smugglers bested the Imperial forces . Though the smugglers suffered severe casualties , they dealt the Empire many losses in return . Unknown to the smugglers was that Admiral Winstel Greelanx had been ordered to lose the battle by Emperor Palpatine , who wished to discredit Moff Sarn Shild of the Hutt Sector . Concerned with Shild ' s growing desperation for power , the Emperor planned to deal Shild a major blow by causing him to lose his political support in the fallout from the calamitous loss . Background . In response to growing Rebel activity , Emperor Palpatine ordered that Imperial Moffs crack down on lawlessness and sedition in their local sectors . Moff Sarn Shild was tasked with restoring Imperial authority in Hutt Space . Shild , who entertained thoughts of leading an insurrection of his own , renounced his ways and stood up to the Hutts , hoping to advance through the Imperial ranks . For the first time , Shild refused the Hutts ' bribery . He planned to make an example of Nar Shaddaa , the Smugglers ' Moon , which was the focal point of everything the Empire wanted to control . Shild intended to destroy the planetary city , proving to the Hutts that they could not expect to undermine the Empire forever . To that end , Shild ordered Admiral Winstel Greelanx to crush any opposition in the Y ' Toub system , then execute Base Delta Zero on Nar Shaddaa . Horrified at the incalculable financial devastation this would cause ( not to mention the lives of billions , though this mattered little to the Hutts ) , the Hutts convened on Nal Hutta to decide on a course of action . They hired the pirate Captain Drea Renthal to defend their planet . Also , they agreed to deliver an unprecedented bribe to Admiral Greelanx . Han Solo was selected by Jiliac and Jabba to offer the bribe to Greelanx , who accepted it in return for his battle plans and a promise to withdraw as soon as he could justify it , giving the smugglers a fighting chance . What neither Solo nor the Hutts knew was that Greelanx had already received a private communiqué from the Emperor himself , ordering him to lose the battle ; the bribe was merely icing on the cake . With Mako Spince , a former classmate at the Imperial Academy , Han devised a defense strategy . The smugglers of Nar Shaddaa united to defend their home from the Empire , and an impressive fleet of ragtag ships was assembled . Solo ' s strategy called for hiding the smuggler ships among an orbiting scrapyard of derelict ships close to the system ' s hyperspace arrival point . The ships would then attack the Imperial vessels from behind while Mako led a frontal offensive aboard Jiliac ' s personal yacht . Han ' s friend , the magician Xaverri , showed up to help the smugglers and was able to cast her greatest illusion ever — the image of a fleet of hundreds of ships that would distract Greelanx long enough for the smugglers to break through their shields . Captain Renthal , knowing that the additional firepower of the smugglers ' ships would increase her chances of success , agreed to coordinate with them . Solo and Mako knew when the Empire would attack , but did not tell anyone . A small handful of other smugglers were aware that they had the Imperial battle plan , but even they were kept in the dark . Instead , they drilled the pilots daily until the plan was well - practiced . While leaving to practice his duty as forward scout , Roa was alarmed when he detected Imperial vessels and realized he was no longer on a drill . Fleets . The smuggler fleet was a collection of ships belonging to many smugglers on Nar Shaddaa who agreed to set aside their differences and defend their mutual home . The Spacebarn owned and operated by Shug Ninx was a blur of activity with smugglers modifying their ships , adding weaponry and shields day and night . During the battle , Han Solo flew the " Bria " , Vuffi Raa flew the " Millennium Falcon " with his master Lando Calrissian manning the ship ' s weapons , Salla Zend flew the " Rimrunner " , and Roa piloted the " Lwyll " . Mako Spince commandeered Jiliac ' s yacht " Dragon Pearl " to use as the fleet ' s flagship , and found pilots for its six Z - 95 Headhunters . Dozens of other freighters , a few more Headhunters , and some CloakShape fighters rounded out the smugglers ' force . Renthal ' s fleet consisted of the modified Corellian Corvette " Renthal ' s Fist " , the ex - Imperial patrol craft " Too Late Now " , the light corvette " Minestra " , the bulk transport turned starfighter carrier " Golden Dreams " , six Y - wing starfighters , and her own Headhunters . Hutt Space was not a priority for the Empire , and the strike force reflected that fact . Greelanx ' s flagship was an older " Dreadnaught " - class heavy cruiser called " Imperial Destiny " , and it was one of the largest ships in his fleet . The remainder of his fleet consisted of two more Dreadnaughts , four " Neutron Star " - class bulk cruisers , a pair of " Carrack " - class light cruisers , and sixteen " Guardian " - class light cruisers , along with forty - four TIE fighters . Fortunately for the smugglers , Greelanx was not able to procure any " Imperial " - class Star Destroyers , which would have surely spelled doom for Nar Shaddaa . Battle . When Greelanx ' s fleet arrived , he deployed his ships in an utterly orthodox fashion , with the " Guardian " - class patrol ships in a shell formation and the larger capital ships deployed to the rear in wedge formation . The two " Carrack " - class cruisers were deployed to either side of the fleet to detect any flanking attempts . Roa in the " Lwyll " and a pair of other smugglers in small freighters fled toward the debris field which orbited Nar Shaddaa . One of the " Carrack " - class ships , the " Vigilance " , its four TIE fighters , and the " Guardian " - class ships gave chase . The intention was for some of the smugglers , the First Strike Element , to ambush the Imperial ships . Unfortunately , Falan Iniro in the " Take That ! " jumped the gun after mishearing Mako ' s command " Prepare to evade " as " Prepare to engage " , and was followed by two other freighters . Iniro ' s ship was quickly destroyed , but Niev Jaub was able to ram his crippled " Bnef Nlle " into the " Vigilance " . Mako then ordered the attack to begin slightly ahead of schedule , and the battle began in earnest . The " Dragon Pearl " entered a slugging match with the larger and more powerful " Vigilance " , and suffered heavy damage , but managed to batter down the cruiser ' s port shields . Mako then withdrew as quickly as the damaged yacht could manage , and called in Renthal ' s " Minestra " and " Too Late Now " to finish off the cruiser . The pirates blasted a hole in its hull , then disabled the engines and took out its bridge . At the same time , the First Strike Element ' s freighters took out multiple TIEs , and the " Millennium Falcon " and " Rimrunner " teamed up to take out three " Guardian " - class cruisers , including the " Lianna Guard " , which fell victim to the " Rimrunner " rear - firing missile launchers . During this stage , the " Too Late Now " and several freighters were lost , but the Imperial losses were even greater . In light of the smugglers ' unexpected success , and momentarily forgetting his orders from the Emperor , Greelanx moved his " Dreadnaught " s and bulk cruisers toward their fleet . The First Strike Element fled in an intentionally " disorderly " retreat . As the Imperials gave chase , they were drawn toward Illusion Point , the most critical part of the smugglers ' plan . When they reached that point , Xaverri activated her phantom fleet , and the Imperial sensors detected what appeared to be a large mercenary fleet approaching from Nal Hutta . The Imperials turned to face this new threat , and the bulk of the real smuggler fleet , the Main Strike Element rushed in to attack their exposed flank . To provide some added credibility to the illusionary fleet , Han improvised a somewhat reckless plan for the " Bria " , the " Millennium Falcon " , and the " Rimrunner " to perform a microjump into the midst of the false ships and make their own attack run . While the Imperials were distracted , Mako took the " Dragon Pearl " back into the fray . Despite the ship ' s damage , it and an escorting Y - wing managed to quickly destroy the bulk cruiser " Liquidator " in an attack from behind . At the same time , the " Renthal ' s Fist " destroyed the " Arrestor " with similar ease . The other five Y - wings targeted the " Peacekeeper " , which was still distracted by Han , Lando , and Salla ' s attack . While the Dreadnaught was much more durable than a bulk cruiser , two proton torpedo attack runs managed to batter down its rear shields . With the shields down , numerous smugglers swarmed the heavy cruiser and quickly knocked out its engines . The cruiser was caught in Nar Shaddaa ' s gravity well and was destroyed when it collided with the moon ' s planetary shield . While continuing to strafe the cruiser , Roa was caught in the shockwave of its explosion . He barely managed to land the damaged " Lwyll " , and escaped the ship just before it exploded . Having lost nearly half his fleet , Greelanx realized that he now had a valid excuse to withdraw . To the astonishment of his subordinates , especially Soontir Fel of the " Pride of the Senate " , the Admiral ordered a retreat . Fel obeyed the order , but withdrew as slowly as he could manage so as to pick up any TIE fighters that survived the battle . Of the forty - four which had entered the battle , only fifteen remained , and Fel managed to get them all into his ship ' s docking bays . Aftermath . The Battle of Nar Shaddaa was an embarrassing defeat for the Empire . Not only did it demonstrate that they could be beaten by hastily - organized and informally - trained pilots , which greatly encouraged the Rebellion , it demonstrated the dangers of corrupt officers . When Solo delivered the bribe to Greelanx as promised after the battle , he witnessed from inside a closet Greelanx ' s execution at the hands of Darth Vader , who would not listen to the Admiral ' s pleas that he had followed orders . Moff Sarn Shild committed suicide , which was just as the Emperor — perfectly aware of his plans to rebel — had wanted it . Killing Greelanx was merely tidying up a loose end . Due to how close they came to ruin , the Hutt Grand Council voted to double the amount of taxes the Hutts paid to the Empire in order to prevent further attacks and reprisals . The Empire made no further advances against the Hutts , although they kept their eyes on them at all times . Four years later , a raid on Rebel forces using Nar Shaddaa as a major node in their supply network met with greater success , though Hutt interests were apparently not specifically targeted . The crippled " Vigilance " was recovered by Captain Renthal , and renamed " Renthal ' s Vigilance " . It became the new flagship of her pirate fleet . In large part because of the events of this battle , the official field manual for officers within the Imperial Military , " " , specifically noted that the Empire must not underestimate smugglers when dealing with them , and also implied that because of the battle as well as the Hutts being vital for economic stability in the Outer Rim , they cannot do any aggressive actions against the Hutt Cartel , the employers of most smugglers , without first being cleared by Imperial Command beforehand , even with their lack of tolerance towards lawlessness . The Rebel General Han Solo , himself a former smuggler , while reviewing the book , took issue at the Empire ' s description of the event as merely being an " incident " , pointing out that the smugglers at Nar Shaddaa " kicked [ the Empire ' s ] tails ! " Behind the scenes . The Battle of Nar Shaddaa takes place in the novel " The Hutt Gambit " . It would later be shown in " " , with an emphasis on Soontir Fel ' s point of view . Oddly , the latter source makes no mention of the fact that the smugglers were victorious in the battle .