Raid at Spaceport THX1138 During the early stages of the Galactic Civil War , this raid was conducted by the Galactic Empire on Spaceport THX1138 , a spaceport used by the travel agencies of the Galactic Tourist Bureau , including Star Tours , located at the Earth system . The raid was conducted because a Rebel spy was detected on one of Star Tours ' StarSpeeder 1000 s . Prelude . Around 2 BBY , the Rebel Alliance was officially declared , with the Galactic Empire unwittingly unleashing it on the galaxy . At least one year later , Alderaanian Captain and secret Rebel Alliance member Raymus Antilles arranged to ship C - 3PO and R2 - D2 to the Star Tours intergalactic travel agency to ensure the successful expansion of its operations . This move led the Galactic Empire to suspect that the travel agency was a Rebel front . The raid . Some time later , around 0700 hours one morning , a Rebel spy boarded the StarSpeeder 1000 for Star Tours Flight 1401 ( ST - 1401 ) among various civilian passengers . Due to a last - minute mix - up , protocol droid C - 3PO replaced AC - 38 as the pilot . Learning of the spy ' s location , the Galactic Empire dispatched a fleet composed of several " Imperial " - class Star Destroyers and several TIE fighters to surround Spaceport THX1138 . Imperial agents including a contingent of stormtroopers , under Darth Vader ' s orders , boarded the station and identified one of the passengers as the Rebel spy just before the speeder ' s departure . When they attempted to stop the ship and board it , astromech R2 - D2 opened fire with the ship ' s blasters and took off , firing on Imperial ships before escaping into hyperspace with the Rebel spy . Prior to its escape , however , Vader had hired the Mandalorian bounty hunter Boba Fett to retrieve the vessel in case it escaped . Behind the scenes . This article is based on the beginning of the " " ride . The ride randomly chooses one of two conflicting sequences of events . One possibility is that ST - 1401 is cleared for takeoff , only for several dozen stormtroopers , four skytroopers , four TIE / LN starfighters , and Darth Vader ( riding on a Hover Platform ) to descend on the runway and force ST - 1401 to stop . After Vader reveals that a Rebel spy is aboard and declares the spy ' s arrest , ST - 1401 attempts to escape by backing out . However , Vader stops it and attempts to reel it in via the Force . R2 - D2 , however , activates the StarSpeeder 1000 ' s weapons systems and fires them at Vader . Vader is forced to release the vessel from his grip in order to deflect the cannon blasts with his lightsaber , with the stormtroopers proceeding to fire at the escaping vessel and the TIEs taking off in pursuit . R2 - D2 then destroys one of the TIEs upon escape , forcing the other three to scatter , before taking off into hyperspace . Another possibility is that ST - 1401 is scanned by an Imperial Prowler 1000 exploration droid before it can clear departure regulations . In addition , then - smuggler Han Solo , whose ship , the " Millennium Falcon " , is docked next to the StarSpeeder 1000 , has a run - in with stormtroopers that were presumably deployed to capture ST - 1401 . Afterwards , both the " Millennium Falcon " and ST - 1401 escape the station , with ST - 1401 on the " Falcon " tail while evading Imperial ships , and the " Falcon " aiding ST - 1401 in escaping . The " Falcon " eventually attacks one of the Star Destroyers , severely damaging it , thus allowing the StarSpeeder 1000 to escape from the Imperials into hyperspace . Although the StarWars . com blog entry " " confirmed Vader ' s involvement in the raid , it did not specify whether Vader had personally led the troops in attempting to halt ST - 1401 . As such , the article is written with events from both scenarios .