The rescue on the Chimaera refers to the successful rescue of the smuggler Talon Karrde, who was imprisoned aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera in 9 ABY by Grand Admiral Thrawn and his forces. Thrawn had planned to interrogate Karrde and learn the location of the hidden Katana fleet. The rescue was orchestrated by Karrde's second-in-command Mara Jade and the Jedi Luke Skywalker, who sneaked aboard in a supply shuttle, infiltrated the detention block and escaped with Karrde on the Millennium Falcon. As a result, the previously-neutral Karrde became an ally to the New Republic and sold them the location of the Katana fleet.
In 9 ABY, the smuggler Mara Jade was captured by Grand Admiral Thrawn's flagship, the Chimaera, while she was picking up the Etherway from impoundment on Abregado-rae. Thrawn was seeking the location of the hidden Katana fleet, which he believed was in the possession of Jade's employer, Talon Karrde. Jade decided the only way to escape Thrawn's custody was to provide the fleet's location, so, in order to keep Thrawn out of harm's way, she asked to be released so she could track down Karrde and obtain the location for the trade. Thrawn agreed. However, after releasing her, Thrawn tracked Jade's ship and arrested Karrde when the two met, much to Jade's anger. Jade herself was recaptured along with Karrde and later released. Karrde was imprisoned aboard the Chimaera, where Imperial interrogators tried to get him to give up the Katana fleet location and tried, unsuccessfully, to convince him Jade had knowingly betrayed him.
Disgusted by Thrawn's actions, Jade decided to break Karrde out of imprisonment and sought the assistance of the Jedi Luke Skywalker, who she despised for his role in the death of Emperor Palpatine and had vowed to kill in the past. Skywalker agreed to assist her, and the two infiltrated the Chimaera in a supply shuttle in the Wistril system. Disguised in TIE pilot uniforms and using stolen passwords to slice into the computers, Jade and Skywalker reached the detention block and freed Karrde, who remained in good spirits because the worst stages of the interrogation had not yet begun. The trio then escaped the detention area through the garbage compactor and Karrde donned a TIE pilot suit himself.
Millennium Falcon escapes from the Chimaera.
Upon learning of the escape, Thrawn shut down the ship's computer and sounded an alert. After correctly deducing Skywalker was among the rescue party, the Grand Admiral ordered his Noghri bodyguard, Rukh, to collect all the ysalamiri from the Star Destroyer's engineering and systems control bays and bring them to the hangar, with the hopes of preventing the Jedi from escaping. Karrde, Jade and Skywalker were unable to reach their supply shuttle due to Thrawn's alert, so Karrde suggested they steal a vehicle from deep storage instead. There they found the Millennium Falcon, which, unbeknownst to the trio, had earlier been captured over Endor. Thrawn deduced they would find the ship and ordered his troops to stop them, but he was too late. Karrde piloted the Falcon out of storage and out the hangar bay. While Skywalker held off pursuing TIEs from the gun turret, Karrde flew along the Chimaera's hull and exhaust trail, which maximized his cover until he could jump the hyperspace and escape.
Although Karrde had previously attempted to remain neutral in the Galactic Civil War, his capture made the smuggler realize the Empire was his enemy. As a result, immediately after escaping Chimaera, the trio went to Coruscant and Karrde decided to sell the Katana fleet's location to the New Republic.
- The Official Star Wars Fact File107