The skirmish known as the Hungry Ghost conflict was a relatively small engagement that occurred in 0 ABY amidst the broader Galactic Civil War. This battle unfolded both within and around the Hungry Ghost, which served as the flagship for the Huralok pirate Redkihl Rokk and his band of pirates, all occurring above the planet Yavin Prime. The first Death Star, a superweapon capable of destroying planets, had been obliterated during the Battle of Yavin, leaving behind a field of debris. Redkihl Rokk and his pirate crew ventured to this wreckage field with the intention of salvaging components from the destroyed Death Star. However, Han Solo, piloting the Rebel vessel Millennium Falcon, stumbled upon the pirate ship and was promptly attacked by Rokk's Red TIE Fighters. The pirates then boarded the Millennium Falcon, seeking to seize the bombs it carried.
Yet, another Rebel operative, Luke Skywalker, arrived in his own starfighter and engaged the pirates. During this confrontation, his fighter sustained damage. Despite this, he managed to land in the Hungry Ghost's hangar and proceeded to navigate the ship, constantly pursued by the pirates. Concurrently, Rokk dispatched numerous spider droids to plunder the disabled Millennium Falcon's cargo. The crew of the Falcon defended against the droids until they managed to restore power to their ship. Solo threatened Rokk with detonating the bombs unless the pirates chose to surrender. After a physical altercation with Rokk, during which he injured the pirate, Skywalker made his escape from the ship through a hatch and returned to the Falcon. The Falcon then detached from the cables connecting it to the Hungry Ghost and evaded the ship's laser fire. Solo then activated the detonator, resulting in the destruction of the Hungry Ghost.
Leia Organa, a key figure in the Alliance to Restore the Republic, was rescued from the Death Star, the Galactic Empire's planet-destroying superweapon, by fellow Alliance members Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the latter two being Jedi. Following her rescue, the plans for the Death Star were discovered to be stored within R2-D2, an astromech droid in which Organa had previously hidden them aboard her ship, the Tantive IV. After studying these plans, the Alliance launched an assault on the battle station, which had followed Organa back to the Rebel's secret base on Yavin 4. Despite being significantly outnumbered, Skywalker, aided by Solo, successfully destroyed the superweapon, creating a large debris field around Yavin. The Rebels then evacuated their base before Imperial reinforcements arrived.
Skywalker, piloting his personal X-wing starfighter, initiated a hyperspace jump, heading towards Hoth to establish a new Rebel base within the system. Solo, along with Chewbacca, his Wookiee co-pilot, as well as Organa and C-3PO, a protocol droid owned by Skywalker, began their own hyperspace jump in the Millennium Falcon. However, Solo detected an unknown vessel amidst the Death Star wreckage. Suspecting Imperial spies, Solo decided to investigate. Before they could locate the ship, the Millennium Falcon came under attack from TIE Fighters painted red, a color scheme that suggested they were not Imperial. It was revealed that the mysterious ship was, in fact, the Hungry Ghost, commanded by the Huralok scavenger Redkihl Rokk and his pirate crew, who were scavenging for Death Star parts.
Recognizing Rokk as a potential threat, Solo attempted to retreat, having heard tales of Rokk inflicting drawn-out deaths upon his victims. However, the red TIE Fighters struck the Millennium Falcon with enough force to cause a complete power outage, forcing the Falcon to dock with Rokk's ship. Rokk then announced his intention to seize the Millennium Falcon's cargo, which consisted of bombs and other explosives. Immediately after docking, Luke Skywalker emerged from hyperspace in his X-wing and destroyed one of the red TIE Fighters. Following some initial confusion, the crew of the Millennium Falcon recognized the X-wing as Skywalker's. Redkihl Rokk employed twelve laser cannons to disable the small starfighter, but Skywalker managed to pilot the damaged fighter into the Hungry Ghost's hangar bay. Upon learning of Skywalker's survival, Rokk ordered his pirates to eliminate Skywalker before he could cause further trouble.
Meanwhile, the pirates deployed hundreds of spider droids to seize the cargo aboard the Millennium Falcon. Solo, Organa, and Chewbacca fought off some of the spider droids, nearly damaging critical systems of the Falcon in the process, but were unable to prevent the droids from taking the cargo. After debating a plan for escape, Solo entrusted C-3PO with a box containing a holographic message. C-3PO eventually encountered the Huralok captain and delivered the message. In the message, Solo threatened to detonate the bombs aboard the ship unless Rokk surrendered and allowed the Millennium Falcon to leave. Rokk, dismissing the smuggler's threat as a bluff, told him to "do as you will." Their conversation was interrupted by Skywalker, who had entered the bridge. Before Skywalker could attack, a laser turret behind Rokk fired, wounding Skywalker.
Rokk, threatening Skywalker with death, lunged at the Jedi. However, Skywalker used his lightsaber to sever some of the cables attached to Rokk, which supplied him with medicine. Enraged, Rokk attacked Skywalker again, challenging him to fight. Skywalker escaped through the hatch leading to the Millennium Falcon, accompanied by R2-D2 and Skywalker's protocol droid, C-3PO. After reaching the bridge, Organa embraced Skywalker, relieved at his safety, at least for the moment.
After Solo managed to restore power to the Millennium Falcon, the Falcon detached from the cables securing it to the Hungry Ghost, and the escaping freighter evaded the laser fire from the pirates. Once out of range, Solo activated the detonator. The bombs detonated throughout the Hungry Ghost. Rokk and all of his pirates perished in the explosion, and Rokk's ship was destroyed. The Millennium Falcon then resumed its planned course to Hoth.
The battle was first depicted in the magazine Star Wars Kids, in the comic "Death Star Pirates," written by Henry Gilroy. It spanned four issues of the magazine. Later, the comic was reprinted in Star Wars Tales Volume 2. Many details about the battle and its characters are not provided in the comic, such as the proper name of Rokk's ship or the species of Redkihl Rokk. However, in the sourcebook Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds, both the ship's name and the species are revealed.