The Tydirium, a Sienar Fleet Systems manufactured Imperial Lambda-class shuttle, served as both a courier and a transport vessel within the Prefsbelt system. Later, it found itself stationed at Outpost 327 above Zhar, where General Crix Madine of the Alliance to Restore the Republic successfully seized it. Madine's objective was to leverage the shuttle and its accompanying clearance codes to enable a strike team's infiltration of the Forest Moon of Endor, which was then orbiting a newly constructed Imperial battle station, identified as the second Death Star. The strike team's mission was to disable the deflector shield safeguarding the still-incomplete Death Star, assuming their plan unfolded successfully.
However, despite this initial Rebel acquisition, the ship subsequently reverted to Imperial control, being housed at the Prefsbelt Naval Academy situated on Prefsbelt IV. Under Madine's renewed direction, the shuttle was once more liberated, this time by the skilled pilot Wedge Antilles. Subsequently, General Han Solo and his strike team utilized the Tydirium to infiltrate Endor's moon, as originally intended. General Brenn Tantor coordinated this mission to deactivate the deflector shield, remaining aboard the Tydirium while the rest of the team embarked onto the moon's surface. Following the Battle of Endor, which culminated in the destruction of Death Star II, Solo commandeered the Imperial Star Destroyer Accuser with the assistance of the Tydirium.
The Tydirium conformed to the standard specifications of a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle. It was equipped with deflector shields rated at 200 SBD, and its hull rating stood at 66. Measuring 24 meters in length, it typically required a crew of four for operation, while offering passenger capacity for up to twenty individuals. In situations requiring augmented staffing, a crew of six could be accommodated, comprising a pilot, copilot, navigator, gunner, communications officer, and engineer. As with all Lambda-class shuttles, the Tydirium incorporated a distinctive tri-wing configuration, featuring a fixed central dorsal wing and two folding wings positioned on either side. During flight, the side wings would rotate into an inverted Y shape, retracting upwards upon landing.
Lambda-class shuttles, exemplified by the Tydirium, were recognized for their exceptional resilience and robust defensive capabilities within the Imperial fleet. The ship's defensive array included two double laser cannons and two double blaster cannons, complemented by a rear-mounted double blaster cannon designed to deter pursuing vessels. Furthermore, the shuttle boasted some of the most impressive deflector shields available to the Imperial forces. These shields were powered by a network of multiple generators. Pilots unfamiliar with the vessel often found the Tydirium to be surprisingly swift, agile, and relatively straightforward to operate.
Initially, the Imperial Lambda-class T-4a shuttle Tydirium served the Empire by conducting courier and transport missions within the Prefsbelt system after its initial construction. Circa 4 ABY, the Tydirium was stationed at Outpost 327, situated within the Zhar system. The shuttle carried a particular set of clearance codes. These codes would grant passage through the deflector shield surrounding the Death Star II battle station, then under construction and orbiting the forest moon of Endor. They would also allow landing on the moon's surface. This valuable information reached Bothan spies, who recognized its potential benefit to the Alliance to Restore the Republic in their efforts to destroy the Death Star II. The spies relayed this intelligence to the Alliance, leading to the assignment of Admiral Yamarus and his Liberty Task Force to capture the shuttle.
General Crix Madine devised a strategy for acquiring the shuttle. His plan involved leading a specialized team of commandos and a skilled pilot to infiltrate Outpost 327 and seize the shuttle. Madine believed the outpost's lax administration meant the shuttle's clearance codes were outdated but still valid at Endor. Once secured, the shuttle was to be delivered to Yamarus' flagship, the Liberty.
To transport the commandos discreetly, Yamarus selected Ace Azzameen, whose family's civilian transports were available to the Alliance. One of the Azzameen ships, the YT-1300 light freighter Sabra, would appear as a neutral merchant vessel to Imperial customs patrols. The mission proceeded successfully, with the commandos seizing the Tydirium. However, as the shuttle escaped, TIE/sa bombers were deployed to intercept it. Azzameen requested reinforcements, and Rogue Squadron arrived to cover the Tydirium's escape. The shuttle, Rogue Squadron, and the Sabra returned to the Liberty safely.
Ultimately, the Alliance only utilized the clearance codes from the Zhar mission. The Tydirium returned to Imperial hands, prompting a subsequent Alliance attempt to steal it from the Prefsbelt Naval Academy on Prefsbelt IV. Crix Madine again oversaw the mission. The shuttle was stored on the academy's northernmost platform. Wedge Antilles was dispatched to Prefsbelt IV to personally steal the shuttle. He infiltrated the academy stealthily and successfully secured the craft, departing with an escort of Alliance starfighters.
The stolen shuttle was then relocated to the hangar bay of Admiral Ackbar's flagship, the Home One, as preparations commenced for the Endor infiltration. As part of these preparations, the ship underwent a refit, which cosmetically altered its appearance from a personnel transport to a cargo shuttle. In addition, Madine assigned his best security slicers to disguise the ship's registrations and history.
General Han Solo was tasked with leading a group of commandos onto the forest moon to destroy the deflector shield generator protecting the orbiting Death Star II. Success would enable Ackbar and the Alliance Fleet to attack and destroy the battlestation. The general's shuttle command crew included the Wookiee Chewbacca, and the Humans Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker. A Battlefield Holographic Control Interface was placed in the cargo hold, from which General Brenn Tantor would coordinate the operation.
Prior to departure, Skywalker noticed that the stolen clearance code was interfering with the ship's transponder. However, he and Chewbacca were able to resolve the issue. Solo piloted the shuttle, with Chewbacca as co-pilot. After departing the Home One, Solo made a hyperspace jump, stopping at an uninhabited system before reaching the Endor system.
As the Tydirium neared the forest moon, it was hailed by the Imperial Star Dreadnought Executor, guarding the Death Star II. The Executor's traffic officer, Controller Jhoff, demanded identification, which Solo provided, requesting deactivation of the deflector shield for landing. The Executor then requested the clearance code, which Solo transmitted, although Organa doubted its validity. Despite Solo's outward confidence, he also began to question the team's safety. Moreover, Skywalker, a Jedi in training, sensed the presence of Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith, on the Executor, but Solo dismissed the notion.
Admiral Firmus Piett then contacted the Tydirium, requesting details of its cargo and destination. Solo claimed to be carrying "parts and technical crew for the forest moon." Meanwhile, Vader, indeed present on the Executor's bridge, took a personal interest in the Tydirium. He questioned Piett about the shuttle's clearance code, which, although outdated, checked out. Sensing his son Skywalker on board, Vader allowed the shuttle to pass. Solo, growing impatient, suspected Imperial deception. Just as he prepared to flee, the Executor granted clearance. The shield deactivated, and the Tydirium landed on the forest moon.
Solo landed the shuttle in a clearing a few miles from the Imperial shield generator. The team camouflaged the craft with foliage to avoid detection. After disembarking, they were unable to destroy the shield generator before the arrival of the Alliance Fleet. Nevertheless, the shield generator was eventually destroyed during the ensuing battle, and the Death Star II was destroyed. Tantor continued coordinating operations from the hidden shuttle, as Alliance reinforcements landed to help defeat the remaining Imperial forces.
Although the battle had concluded, some Imperial forces remained at Endor. With Major Bren Derlin in command of planet-bound Alliance forces, Solo and Chewbacca pursued other objectives. After performing maintenance on the Tydirium, they took it into orbit to assist in eliminating the remaining Imperial forces. Solo's strike team, clad in stolen stormtrooper armor, accompanied them. Solo decided to attempt to steal the Accuser, one of the surviving Imperial I-class Star Destroyers.
Using the clearance codes from the Executor encounter, Solo and his crew infiltrated the Accuser, reached the bridge, and ordered the crew to evacuate. The ship then joined the Alliance fleet. The shuttle continued to serve the Alliance, undergoing several refits, including the addition of two turbolasers. In 7 ABY, the smuggler Starter claimed to have stolen the Tydirium from Darth Vader, although few believed him.
The shuttle Tydirium debuted in the 1983 film, Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, penned by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. The narrative surrounding the Rebel Alliance's acquisition of the shuttle prior to Return of the Jedi has been depicted in various sources, each presenting conflicting accounts. In the short story "Starter's Tale," featured in 1994's Star Wars Adventure Journal 4, Starter claims to have single-handedly stolen the shuttle, a claim dismissed as fictional by other characters.
The 2000 computer game Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance involves the player character, Ace Azzameen, transporting commandos to a space station above Zhar to capture the shuttle, which they then return to the Alliance. The role-playing scenario "Stealing the Shuttle" aligns with the events of X-wing Alliance. This was later contradicted in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, released one year later. In Rogue Leader, the player character, Wedge Antilles, infiltrates an Imperial academy and steals the shuttle himself, successfully delivering it to the Alliance.
Leland Chee, the maintainer of the Holocron continuity database, addressed this discrepancy by stating that both thefts occurred, with the events of X-wing Alliance preceding those of Rogue Leader. This implies that the Imperials recaptured the shuttle between the two events.
However, the 2007 sourcebook Star Wars: Complete Cross-Sections states that Azzameen's team stole the shuttle's clearance codes, used in Return of the Jedi, while Antilles stole the physical shuttle. This contradicts X-wing Alliance, where the stolen shuttle is identified as the Tydirium, and its cargo is described as "codes". For this article, all events from all sources are considered canonical within the Star Wars Legends continuity, including Chee's statement of the dual shuttle thefts. In Rogue Leader, Antilles' infiltration can be performed in either a BTL Y-wing starfighter or a T-47 airspeeder.
In Kyle Katarn's Tale, Abel G. Peña established that tydirium is the name of an ore in the Star Wars universe. This was intended to suggest that the shuttle was named after the ore, inspired by the shuttle bay names in X-wing Alliance.
In the non-canon comic Tag & Bink Are Dead, the Tydirium is depicted as Wilhuff Tarkin's personal shuttle on the first Death Star. Tag Greenley and Bink Otauna steal it to escape the battlestation, eventually delivering it to the Alliance.