Battle of Toprawa

The Battle of Toprawa was an early battle in the Galactic Civil War in which the Alliance to Restore the Republic captured a large portion of the Death Star plans from the Galactic Empire. It was the first significant space battle for the fledgling Rebellion, and its first major victory.

After raiding an Imperial convoy above Toprawa and capturing the plans, augmenting them with other plans from a research station on the planet's surface and yet others from a facility on Danuta, the Toprawa Rebels needed a way to transmit the plans off Toprawa and into the hands of the larger Rebellion. The Empire declared the planet a restricted zone, but the Rebels got their chance when Princess Leia Organa arrived in-system in the Tantive IV. The Toprawa Rebels seized an Imperial communications center and transmitted the plans to the Princess's ship while holding off Imperial ground forces. The Tantive IV narrowly escaped the system, with the Star Destroyer Devastator in pursuit, but the majority of the ground forces were killed in the process, and the others were forced into hiding.

While the plans would later help the Rebellion destroy the Death Star, Toprawa was not so fortunate; the Empire retaliated and razed the planet's surface, driving its inhabitants into subjugation.

Text and facts from the “Battle of Toprawa” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.