Crafted by Sienar Fleet Systems, the EX-4-9 served as a TIE/ln starfighter within the ranks of the Imperial Navy during the era of the Galactic Civil War. By the year 3 ABY, the Star Dreadnought Executor, a vessel of the Executor-class Star Dreadnought variety, had a total of 144 starships at its disposal, to include EX-4-9 among the two full wings of TIE/LN starfighters. It is recorded that around this time, EX-4-9 navigated the treacherous Hoth asteroid field.
The EX-4-9 came into existence in 2003 as a card featured in the Star Wars Trading Card Game's Empire Strikes Back expansion. The card's imagery is a modified version of a still taken from the 1980 original trilogy movie, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. For the card, the lead TIE fighter in the image was altered; a rotated shot of Black 11, a TIE/LN starfighter from the 1983 original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, was superimposed onto the original The Empire Strikes Back still, replacing the original lead TIE.