An uncredited, small, monochrome, and illustrated publication was included alongside Kenner's Imperial Troop Transporter toy. The booklet does not list an author or artist.
Following their departure from the Rebel Blockade Runner, Darth Vader instructs a group of stormtroopers to locate R2-D2 and C-3PO. On the planet Tatooine, Dewback mounted patrols discover the abandoned escape pod. Subsequently, the Troop Transporter is dispatched to pursue the missing droids. The Transporter's scanners detect a Jawa sandcrawler, leading to its interception. Stormtroopers issue warning shots before conducting a search of the sandcrawler. They learn that the droids were previously on board but were sold to "Owen Skywalker." Satisfied with this information, the Troop Commander orders an attack on the sandcrawler, resulting in the death of the Jawas and the vehicle's destruction.
The story as presented in this booklet conflicts with established canon from that period in a few instances. The booklet refers to Owen Lars as "Owen Skywalker." It asserts that the Troop Transporter, a repulsorlift vehicle, was responsible for the attack on the sandcrawler carrying C-3PO and R2-D2. However, when Luke and Obi-Wan examine the scene in the film, they discover animal tracks. (It is conceivable that another Imperial unit arrived later to fabricate the misleading evidence; Obi-Wan does suggest the scene was staged.) Most notably, the booklet concludes with the Troop Transporter destroying the sandcrawler, yet the sandcrawler is clearly undamaged when Luke and Obi-Wan discover it in the film.
The command given by Darth Vader, "Either come back with the plans or don't come back at all!" in this work, was referenced on two separate occasions in the late '00s. The 2008 novelization of The Force Unleashed features Drexl Roosh stating, "come back to camp with something we can sell, or don't come back at all!" Furthermore, in the 2009 article "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Praji," by Nathan O'Keefe, Vader's line serves as the epigraph for the "Second Chances" section of the article.