The Star of the Tion, a significantly altered YT-1300 freighter, served members of the Alliance. Their assignment was to distribute updates across the Alliance's dispersed cell networks during the Galactic Empire's reign. Its exterior was distinguished by a white base color accented with green stripes.
As the Star of the Tion entered the system of Lianna, an industrial planet, its crew observed a substantial Imperial fleet obstructing the space lanes leading to the world. The presence of such a large war fleet suggested that the Empire was searching for something, as there was no ongoing combat. Utilizing their ship's enhanced sensors, the Rebel crew detected a small craft, approximately the size of a two-person escape pod, that appeared to "flicker" intermittently. The refined sensors enabled the crew to identify the craft as a probe droid equipped with a small cloaking device by the Empire. This discovery unveiled the Empire's classified cloaking shield initiative, known as NOVA. Consequently, their routine mission was altered to include the retrieval and neutralization of the plans from the Santhe/Sienar Technologies Corporate Headquarters situated on Lianna.
Following the disruption of the NOVA project, the Star of the Tion found itself pursued by two Lianna-class picket corvettes—the Reliant and the Audacious. These corvettes attempted to intercept the Rebel ship's jump to hyperspace. Unlike typical space chases, where the space between pursuer and pursued is largely empty, the area surrounding Lianna was congested with a multitude of vessels, including small freighters, luxury yachts, cruise ships, bulk freight cruisers, and various other types of spacecraft.
The Audacious maneuvered to guide the Rebels toward the Reliant, and the picket ships nearly managed to trap the Alliance ship between them. However, they failed to successfully corral the Star of the Tion, leaving it to face the Victory II-class Star Destroyer Warlord, a ship of an older class assigned to sector patrol. Despite competent command, the Warlord had its elite TIE squadron reassigned to a sector experiencing increased Rebel activity, replaced by inexperienced pilots. This allowed the Star of the Tion to skillfully navigate and fight its way through the blockade, ultimately escaping.
After initiating the jump to hyperspace, the Rebels examined the retrieved plans to confirm their integrity. However, the Liannan engineers had incorporated sophisticated copy-protection protocols into their work. A virus, deeply embedded within the software, activated five hours after the plans were extracted from the computers. This malicious code successfully erased all data from the storage device onto which it had been downloaded, rendering the NOVA project plans unusable.
Subsequent modifications to the ship included the replacement of its standard laser cannons with an upgraded, light-duty turbolaser system. This enhancement may have been a subtle contribution from Lady Santhe (a secret Rebel sympathizer) of the Santhe/Sienar Technologies Corporation. It was likely a reward to the crew of the Star of the Tion for their sabotage of the NOVA project, a complex Imperial entanglement for her on Lianna.