Around 0.5 ABY, the Mandalorian bounty hunter known as Boba Fett successfully apprehended a group of individuals from the Rebel Alliance, including Admiral Gial Ackbar. Fett then turned Ackbar over to the Galactic Empire and proceeded to sell the remaining members of his captured crew into slavery with the Hutt Cartel, specifically in the city of Mos Eisley located on the planet of Tatooine. In response, the Alliance tasked their newly formed elite unit, Renegade Squadron, which had been established by former smugglers turned Rebels, General Han Solo and Commander Col Serra, with a mission to liberate the prisoners. The Imperial garrison stationed on Tatooine attempted to thwart the Rebels' efforts to free their comrades, but Renegade Squadron was ultimately successful in their rescue operation. Initially, the Rebels celebrated the mission as a triumph and a remarkable achievement by Renegade Squadron.
Unbeknownst to them, Fett had secretly placed a tracking device within an R5-series astromech droid that had accompanied Renegade Squadron on their assignment. This allowed the Imperials to locate the Rebels' new base situated on Boz Pity. Years afterward, following the Empire's downfall and the formation of the New Republic, Serra recounted the story of Renegade Squadron's rescue mission on Mos Eisley to Jedi Knight Tionne Solusar, who was gathering information for her archives.
During the Galactic Civil War, specifically around 0.5 ABY, the Rebel Alliance dispatched Admiral Gial Ackbar, a Mon Calamari, to Saleucami on a scouting expedition. His objective was to assess whether the planet was suitable as a potential new Alliance base, following the loss of their base on Yavin 4. However, before Ackbar could reach his destination, his transport came under attack by Boba Fett, the Mandalorian bounty hunter, who sought to claim the bounty offered by the Galactic Empire for captured Rebels. Fett used the laser cannons of his ship, the Slave I, to disable Ackbar's transport above the planet by targeting and destroying its engines. This attack resulted in the deaths of some of Ackbar's crew, and Fett managed to capture the Admiral and the surviving members.
Shortly thereafter, Fett sold Ackbar to the Galactic Empire. When the Rebels liberated the Admiral during a battle at Kessel, Ackbar revealed that the remaining crew members had been sold into slavery to the Hutt Cartel in Mos Eisley, a spaceport city situated on Tatooine. Alliance High Command then deployed Renegade Squadron, a newly formed unit composed of spacers and pirates led by former smugglers General Han Solo and Commander Col Serra, to Tatooine with the intention of rescuing the prisoners. They were unaware that the entire situation was a carefully orchestrated trap by the Empire.
Renegade Squadron arrived at Mos Eisley aboard the Millennium Falcon, Solo's ship, and immediately disembarked on the southern outskirts of the city. Col Serra, the second-in-command of the squadron, instructed the Renegades to seize control of the local cantina in order to gather information in exchange for drinks and establish a stronger presence within the city. However, as they made their way to the cantina, they were ambushed by stormtroopers belonging to the local Imperial garrison.
After battling through the stormtroopers, Renegade Squadron reached the cantina and neutralized the stormtroopers stationed there. Following the successful capture of the building, the squadron encountered a Rodian with Rebel sympathies, who offered to guide them to the prisoners' location. The Renegades followed the Rodian across the street to a hangar owned by the Hutts, protected by a force field, while fending off additional Imperials attempting to intercept the Rodian. Upon confirming that the hangar was indeed the prisoners' holding place, Solo tasked the squadron with locating and destroying the three shield generators powering the force field.
Despite the generators being scattered throughout the city, Serra swiftly identified their locations and shared the information with the squadron's tactical maps. Two generators were situated in the city's southern slums, while the third was located in the bantha pens on the northern side. After eliminating the stormtroopers guarding the generators, the Renegades successfully rendered them inoperative. With the shield generators disabled, Renegade Squadron was finally able to enter the hangar. The stormtroopers guarding the prisoners attempted to repel the Rebels, but Renegade Squadron defeated them after a brief engagement and secured the hangar.
The prisoners were confined within a small cell inside the hangar, prompting Solo to use a fusioncutter to free them. The remaining Imperial garrison forces attempted to retake the Hutt hangar to prevent Solo from freeing the slaves, but Renegade Squadron managed to hold off the Imperial assault for a few minutes while Solo completed his task. As soon as the prisoners were liberated, the Imperials deployed two AT-STs to trap the group within the Hutt hangar. However, the Renegades destroyed the two walkers while the freed Rebels made their way back to the southern slums where the Falcon awaited them. With all the prisoners onboard, General Solo prepared the ship for takeoff while Commander Serra and the rest of the Squadron defended the landing site. Once the ship was ready, Solo ordered everyone aboard and departed, leaving Tatooine and the remaining Imperials behind.
Although the Alliance viewed the mission as a successful and miraculous rescue, it was later discovered that the entire operation had been a trap. Boba Fett, anticipating the Rebels' rescue attempt, had secretly planted a tracking device on an R5-series astromech droid that accompanied the Rebels during the mission. Fett tracked the Rebels to their new base on Boz Pity, and after a few hours, an Imperial fleet emerged from hyperspace above the planet, initiating an attack on the base.
Years later, following the establishment of the New Republic, Jedi Knight Tionne Solusar sought out Col Serra to inquire about Renegade Squadron for her archives. He shared accounts of many of their battles and missions, including the mission to Tatooine.
This mission was featured in the video game Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron, which details the various battles and exploits of Renegade Squadron during the Galactic Civil War. The battle itself constitutes the fifth level of the game's campaign mode.