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 Droids 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 Cells. 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 Dark Empire II 6 of the Star Wars: 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 Star Wars: Empire's End without any explanation on how he survived.
==Appearances==
*Dark Empire II audio drama
*Dark Empire II 6 
==Sources==
*
*The Essential Guide to Characters
*The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
*Star Wars Encyclopedia
*The Essential Chronology
*A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Third Edition, Revised and Expanded
*The New Essential Guide to Characters
*The New Essential Chronology
*The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
==Notes and references==
Category:Battles of New Alderaan
Category:Battles of Operation Shadow Hand