In 1 ABY, amidst the Galactic Civil War following the Battle of Yavin, the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic fought fiercely for urban dominance across the galaxy. One of the initial, smaller-scale operations orchestrated by Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith, to counter the growing Rebel Alliance activity was Operation Molecular Clamp. During the Empire's control of urban centers such as Bestine, Coronet City, and Theed, Darth Vader would arrive in his personal shuttle, the ST 321. Accompanied by Triumphant-class dark troopers, the Sith Lord aimed to galvanize Imperial support and enlist individuals for perilous missions targeting the Rebellion. Vader enlisted a group of skilled spacers loyal to the Empire to track down and eliminate Rebel military personnel. These spacers then traversed the galaxy, successfully assassinating ten Rebel Alliance members. Following their success, these Imperial spacers were reassigned to Operation Sieve.
The 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts, featured Operation Molecular Clamp as a quest before the game's closure on December 15, 2011. This quest was integrated into the game through "Publish 19," released on June 29, 2005.
When the Empire occupied cities like Bestine, Coronet, or Theed, Darth Vader would regularly touch down. Vader would present players of the Imperial faction with up to eight distinct quests, dividing them equally into "Combatant" quests (aimed at Rebel non-player characters) and "Special Forces" quests (targeting Rebel-aligned players). Operation Molecular Clamp was the first of the four Imperial Combatant missions that Darth Vader gave to players.