Liberation of Coruscant (Galactic Civil War)

News of Palpatine's demise sparked a spontaneous uprising among Coruscant's inhabitants—then known as Imperial Center. Citizens took to the streets, engaging Imperial forces, launching celebratory fireworks, dismantling statues of Palpatine, and defacing symbols associated with the Empire. The ensuing crackdown resulted in numerous casualties, and the planet remained under Imperial dominion. Despite the death of Emperor Palpatine at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, the galaxy remained largely under the control of feuding Imperial warlords. Ysanne Isard, the Director of Imperial Intelligence, held Coruscant. Recognizing the strategic importance of the galactic capital, the New Republic resolved to capture the planet, aiming to deliver a final blow to the Galactic Empire.

The New Republic initiated its invasion strategy by securing key worlds in proximity to the Coruscant system, including Borleias. In the latter part of 6 ABY, the Provisional Council sanctioned a clandestine mission to Coruscant. The mission's objective was to assess Imperial strength on the planet, laying the groundwork for a full-scale invasion. The Council then opted to strike against the capital world, Coruscant, devising numerous strategies for its conquest. However, these plans proved impractical and were subsequently abandoned. Admiral Ackbar, the Supreme Commander of the New Republic Armed Forces, advocated for deploying military specialists and starfighter pilots to scout the planet, identifying potential vulnerabilities in its defenses.

As a diversionary tactic, the New Republic orchestrated the escape of 16 Black Sun criminals from Kessel by Rogue Squadron, who were then transported to Coruscant. Simultaneously, other, more reliable, operatives were dispatched to the planet, while some—such as Iella Wessiri—were already stationed there. Admiral Ackbar and General Airen Cracken deemed Rogue Squadron the most suitable unit to execute the scouting mission.

Rogue Squadron personnel infiltrated Coruscant individually or in small teams. Erisi Dlarit and [Corran Horn](/article/corran_horn-legends] traveled together aboard the Jewel of Churba, disguised as a Kuat noble and her telbun in the ultra-class section, while Commander Wedge Antilles and Pash Cracken posed as Imperial officers in a lower class on the same vessel. Upon arrival, they connected with their Intelligence contacts, who facilitated their assumption of new identities. Other Rogue Squadron members arrived via Mirax Terrik in Pulsar Skate. Terrik's cover was blown, preventing her from leaving the planet and narrowly escaping capture. She later convened with Antilles, Cracken, and Iella Wessiri at the Galactic Museum to determine her next course of action.

During their mission, Horn, Dlarit, and Winter had a near encounter with Imperial Intelligence agent Kirtan Loor in the Grand Corridor of the Imperial Palace. Loor could have recognized Horn, jeopardizing their presence in the capital. This incident, along with a conversation about Tycho Celchu with Winter, prompted Horn to clear his head with a walk. He stumbled upon the Headquarters, a cantina where he observed a meeting between Celchu and Lai Nootka, a Duros weapons dealer. As Horn attempted to tail Celchu and the stranger—whom he suspected was Loor—Black Sun operatives intervened, summoning their leader, Zekka Thyne. Horn evaded Thyne's henchmen by commandeering a speeder bike from outside the cantina.

Gavin Darklighter, Riv Shiel, Nawara Ven, Rhysati Ynr, Aril Nunb, and Ooryl Qrygg encountered members of the Alien Combine in a cantina following a sweep by stormtroopers who were rounding up Quarren. Asyr Sei'lar, believing Darklighter to be a bigot, decided that the Alien Combine should execute him as a warning to Imperials. Consequently, all six Rogue Squadron members were led to a warehouse serving as the Alien Combine's headquarters.

Ven assumed the role of a lawyer, attempting to reason with the Combine's leaders and persuade them that Darklighter was not a bigot. Before a decision could be reached, Imperial troops attacked, and Horn's speeder bike crashed through another entrance, causing chaos. During the ensuing conflict, Darklighter saved Sei'lar's life, convincing the bothan that he was not prejudiced. Horn joined forces with Darklighter, Sei'lar, and others, but they were unable to locate Nunb—who had been captured by the Imperials for use in experiments involving the Krytos virus. Horn and Darklighter confided in Sei'lar, providing her with a clearer understanding of the events that transpired in the cantina and warehouse.

Following the reunion of Rogue Squadron members, joined by the Alien Combine, they were informed of a change in their mission parameters. Antilles was tasked with devising a plan to disable the planetary shield, ready to execute it on short notice. He convened a planning session with Horn from Rogue Squadron, Wessiri and Winter from New Republic Intelligence, Sei'lar and Dmaynel Kiph from the Alien Combine, and Thyne and Vorru from the Black Sun.

Their strategy involved inserting modified computer cores into the main computer controlling Coruscant's systems. This would allow them to use control codes to deactivate the shield at will. Winter and her team were instructed to create the modified program, which Alien Combine members working at the core manufacturing plant would then insert during production. Ultimately, three auxiliary memory cores were equipped with the special program granting access to the shield.

The operation to deliver the modified memory cores proceeded smoothly, and the Imperial technician responsible for selecting the cores chose one of the modified ones. As the technician departed, a large contingent of Imperials raided the warehouse in an attempt to thwart the anticipated New Republic assault on Coruscant. Antilles quickly deduced that Thyne had betrayed them and that the Black Sun lookouts had failed to report the Imperials' arrival. While all New Republic personnel escaped the ambush, Antilles was forced to activate his secret backup plan, concealed from the other task force members—Tycho Celchu and Rogue Squadron's protocol droid Emtrey were on Coruscant, procuring equipment and establishing safehouses for the squadron.

During the skirmish, Horn and Terrik became separated from the rest of the unit and encountered Inyri Forge, who led them to a Black Sun hideout. There, Horn was threatened by Thyne, but Forge, realizing that Thyne had left her to die at the hands of the Imperials, shot Thyne before he could kill Horn. From Thyne, Horn learned that another traitor, besides Thyne himself, had divulged information about the operation to Loor. Eventually, Terrik, Horn, and Forge rejoined the other Rogues and discovered how Celchu and Emtrey had rescued them from stormtroopers. Learning of Celchu's survival alerted Horn to the possibility of his betrayal, prompting him to file a report regarding the meeting he had witnessed at the Headquarters two weeks prior.

Rogue Squadron decided that if they could condense a large amount of water and create a super storm, they could destroy the energy shield protecting Coruscant with lightning strikes.

To do so, Rogue Squadron and its allies split into three teams: The first team flew support in Z-95 Headhunters, while the second team hijacked a construction droid and brought it to the command building, forcing an evacuation of imperial staff. There, the third team took remote control of one of the orbiting solar mirrors. The tightly focused light beam from the solar mirror rapidly boiled one of the planet's reservoirs. This caused a huge electrical storm which interrupted the power supply to the shield station and the inner planetary shields soon collapsed, leaving only the main shield layer intact.

It was up to Rogue Squadron's Corron Horn to fly through the electrical storm and take out a power sub-station with the Z-95's concussion missiles, resulting in a power cut which finally disabled the entire the planetary shield.

With the shields neutralized, a New Republic armada spearheaded by Admiral Ackbar entered the system. This fleet effortlessly overwhelmed the Imperial defenses, as Ysanne Isard had only allocated a limited number of Star Destroyers to safeguard the capital world.

To circumvent detection by the Imperial sensor network, which would have occurred with a large-scale ground invasion, General Brenn Tantor deployed a small initial ground force near Coruscant's north pole. This force proceeded to seize Imperial command centers and disable sensor nodes. This enabled Tantor to deploy a larger force undetected, which he employed to assault the defenses separating him from the Imperial Palace.

However, Coruscant's capture was not easily achieved, as forces under Grand General Malcor Brashin continued to mount resistance against the New Republic invasion force, resulting in intense urban warfare.

One of the significant challenges faced by the New Republic was the heavily fortified walls isolating the most critical areas of Imperial City from the outside. After a protracted battle, the New Republic successfully breached Imperial defenses and seized several vital maintenance and command facilities. This marked the beginning of an extensive operation to clear out the inner defenses, as Republic troops advanced deeper into the city, drawing closer to the Imperial Palace, where the Empire prepared its final stand.

As the battle neared its conclusion, the remnants of the Imperial High Command barricaded themselves within the Imperial Palace. The Coruscant Defense Forces were entrusted with defending the palace, with General Tal Ashen's Elite Force taking the lead.

General Solo dispatched a small force commanded by General Rand Talor, assisted by Luke Skywalker, to seize the palace. This task force comprised New Republic troopers, including mortar troopers, and various vehicles: combat speeders, T3-B heavy tanks, attack tanks, and two Blaster Cannons. Aerial support was provided by the Millennium Falcon and two squadrons of advanced X-wing fighters and heavy Y-wing starfighters.

Upon reaching the vicinity of the palace, the New Republic forces encountered the first gate and engaged Imperial forces. They proceeded to destroy the two advanced turrets and the troops guarding the gate, as well as the gate itself. They then entered the streets of the Palace District and fought a number of stormtroopers, AT-series walkers, and some mobile artillery units. Utilizing their blaster cannons, they also demolished numerous defensive towers. After destroying a second gate, along with two more advanced turrets guarding it, Lancer Squadron, consisting of seven B-wing fighters, arrived to reinforce the New Republic forces. The X-wing and B-wing starfighters played a crucial role in destroying Imperial TIE Advanced x1s and TIE/D Defender deployed from nearby Imperial airbases.

The New Republic then advanced on the Imperial Palace. However, they discovered that the bulk of Elite Force, led by General Ashen, was waiting for them near an Imperial fortress with several elite troopers, bounty hunters, dark troopers, and various other heavy vehicles. Ashen himself rode in an AT-AT. During the firefight, the New Republic forces demonstrated their superiority. Ashen's AT-AT was brought down, but the general survived the crash. Ashen crawled out of the wreckage, pistol in hand, and began to fire on Republic troops alongside his stormtroopers. Shortly afterwards, Ashen was shot and killed. Not long after this, his remaining troops were killed and the Imperial fortress was destroyed. After fighting with Imperial Guards, the New Republic task force finally captured the Imperial Palace from the Empire.

The New Republic soon rescued Rand Talor's wife, Kath, who was imprisoned in the palace. Brenn Tantor also found his brother, Dellis Tantor, whom he had long thought dead. Aside from the few rescued prisoners, many Imperial officials and functionaries that were found were lynched by the New Republic soldiers. These included the President of the Bureau of Punishments as well as the School of Torturers, as well as the Court wardrobe designer and a multitude of servants of all ages, sexes, and species who at most only had minor crimes against the fledgling New Republic and otherwise were completely innocent of any crimes whatsoever, many of whom didn't even have names reported. On a similar note, looting had also been committed by the New Republic soldiers, with it being partially done by the time they fully conquered it.

Shortly thereafter, Coruscant fell under the authority of the New Republic. The planetary defenses of Coruscant were surprisingly inadequate for a world of such significance. The battles on the planet itself were also limited, mainly due to the sheer size of the planet. However, Director Isard was nowhere to be found within the Imperial Palace. To make matters worse, the planet's alien population was being ravaged by an artificial plague known as the Krytos virus. This resulted in widespread fatalities. A battle at Yag'Dhul ensued in a desperate attempt to secure the bacta needed to cure the non-human population. Even as the New Republic fought on Yag'Dhul, Imperial warlords continued to control approximately half of the galaxy.

Following the loss of Coruscant, the Imperial Ruling Council under Ars Dangor relocated to Orinda, which became their place of exile until the Dark Empire reclaimed Coruscant in 10 ABY.

Before the advent of the X-Wing series, the capture of Coruscant was established as occurring in 8 ABY, shortly before the Thrawn campaign.

This battle was also featured in the Clone Campaigns expansion for Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. However, it was portrayed as an Old Republic mission rather than a Rebel Alliance/New Republic operation.

During the mission in Galactic Battlegrounds, players have the chance to encounter Jar Jar Binks by thoroughly exploring the entire map. Given that his appearance is most likely an easter egg, its canonicity remains uncertain.