The Emperor's Shadow served as the exclusive shuttle and private yacht for Emperor Palpatine.
Palpatine's personal yacht and shuttle, known as the Emperor's Shadow, belonged to the Galactic Emperor. The New Republic Intelligence Service suspected that the Shadow featured a complete cloaking device, rendering it virtually impossible to trace. Rumors suggested the yacht rivaled the size of a CR90 corvette.
Jeng Droga, an Emperor's Hand with a telepathic bond to Palpatine, guarded the Emperor's Shadow during the Imperial Period.
In 4 ABY, the captain Droga, a Dark Jedi, piloted the Shadow to Kaal, a planet in the Mid Rim's Yushan sector, awaiting his master's orders. When the Emperor died his first death during the Battle of Endor, Droga experienced his master's demise through the Force. Aboard the Emperor's Shadow, Droga was overcome with agony, screaming in pain. He then descended into madness, strangling a crew member before attacking the rest with his dual lightsabers. During his frenzy, he destroyed the bridge controls of the Emperor's Shadow, causing the ship to crash into one of Kaal's oceans. Palpatine's spirit, having survived Endor, traveled to Kaal and possessed Droga. Empowered by Palpatine's immense dark energy, Droga succumbed to insanity. Eventually, Grand Vizier Sate Pestage managed to extract Palpatine's essence from Droga, enabling the Emperor to inhabit a clone body.
In 6 ABY, Talon Karrde learned of a rumor that the Emperor's Shadow had crashed on Kaal, also mentioning it was equipped with a cloaking device. Karrde, disguised as Syndic Pandis Hart, the chief purchasing agent for the Sif-Uwana Council, and his associate, Quelev Tapper, journeyed to Kaal to investigate. Tapper purchased a submersible from a local dealer and started searching for the yacht near the Unis Islands. Tapper located a submerged vessel matching the description and informed Karrde. Meanwhile, negotiations with Tirgee Benyalle, the ruler of Kaal, for the Sif-Uwana Council to conduct harvesting operations in a specific area failed. Karrde instructed Tapper to rig the ship to explode. Tapper followed through, placing explosives throughout the wreckage. It was never confirmed if the destroyed vessel was indeed the Emperor's Shadow, nor if it contained a cloaking device.
After the Thrawn campaign, the Emperor's Shadow's supposed advanced cloaking shield drew the attention of the New Republic, who sought to study the technology. The Galactic Museum Artifact Recovery Office was prepared to finance a covert mission to Kaal to recover the vessel.