The Cudgel functioned as a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle and was assigned to the Ultimatum, an Imperial-class Star Destroyer. Following the destruction of their initial _shuttle, Truncheon, by the rebellious miner named Skelly, Captain Rae Sloane of the Imperial Navy sent the Cudgel to the spaceport located on Gorse, a planet known as the Highground, to retrieve herself and Count Denetrius Vidian. Regrettably, Skelly detonated the Cudgel as soon as it touched down at the spaceport, compelling Sloane to request a third shuttle named Bastinade.