An initial skirmish of the Galactic Civil War resulted in the obliteration of a Rebel listening post situated on Ryloth.
Having acquired details from the starship records of a captured smuggler regarding a Rebel presence within a nearby star system, the Imperial detachment stationed on Nal Hutta saw its commander opt to dispatch Viper probe droids to survey the surrounding planets. Upon the discovery that Ryloth harbored a Rebel stronghold, an Imperial strike force was immediately deployed with the aim of its complete destruction.
The Imperial vanguard moved swiftly to secure a landing zone, facilitating their commander's arrival on the battlefield. A faction of Jawas sympathetic to the local Rebels mounted an assault on the Imperials en route to the Rebel base. Following a brief engagement, scout troopers employed thermal detonators to demolish the Jawas' sandcrawler dwelling.
The Imperials proceeded to dismantle the Rebel power generator, intending to disable the base's shield generator. With this accomplished, TIE bombers were summoned to execute a bombing raid on the Rebel complex, encompassing a barracks, a light vehicle factory and a communications array. Utilizing the remnants of the power generator as a strategic command center, the Imperial contingent advanced into the Rebel base to raze the barracks. In the wake of a desperate Rebel counter-attack against the Imperials, a final bombing run was initiated, eradicating all remaining Rebel elements.
The Ryloth Battle constitutes one of two introductory combat levels featured in Star Wars: Empire at War.
Despite the apparent elimination of all Rebel forces on Ryloth during this battle (subsequently leading to presumed Imperial occupation of the planet), the Imperial campaign later depicts Ryloth seemingly under Rebel control once more. The circumstances surrounding this Rebel re-establishment remain unexplained.
Similar to the preceding combat training level, players may occasionally commence with 10,000 credits instead of the intended zero. This discrepancy enables players to construct ground forces of their choosing, facilitating the effortless destruction of the Rebel base within the mission.
An anomaly exists wherein the Sandcrawler fails to materialize at its designated location. This immediately fulfills the objective, effectively bypassing it.