Sidney Shortfang

"Back on Tredway, I killed in defense of myself and my friends, and I still cannot justify it."

- Tormey

Sidney Shortfang was a Pada pacifist and miner in the Sil'Lume Asteroid Belt. He was friends with Gideon Smith, a fellow miner, and was a devotee of the peaceful resistance movement led by Erling Tredway.

Biography
In 0 ABY, Sidney Shortfang was working in the Sil'Lume Asteroid Belt when he encountered Luke Skywalker who had come to the Sil'Lume system to investigate the location for a possible Rebel base there. After witnessing the capture of Erling Tredway by Imperial troops led by Governor-General Sebastian Parnell, Sidney joined Gideon Smith in his ship, Rockcan to fly to 24 Tredway to warn Tredway's family of his capture. However, they arrived too late, and the asteroid had been attacked by the Empire, and the workers there massacred. Alongside Skywalker, the group explored 24 Tredway, but during the investigation, Shortfang was forced to kill Imperial soldiers in self-defense, a fact that greatly haunted him, as his species held a strict pacifist worldview. Despite this, Shortfang continued alongside Skywalker to warn any survivor's of Tredway's capture. Working together, the group located Erling's sister, Dena Tredway, who had been badly injured in the attack but was able to survive thanks to the help of droid workers at the facility. Using Shortfang and Smith's experience as miners, Skywalker was able to bring the badly injured Dena out of the mines and loaded her into the Rockcan. The group then dropped her off at a nearby asteroid inhabited by Doctor Ire Eleazari, Dena's friend.

As Eleazari healed Dena, Shortfang and his allies headed for Tol Ado, a prison planet where Erling had been taken following his arrest. The group infiltrated the base by posing as Imperial prisoners after Skywalker donned an Imperial uniform. Working together, the group was able to locate Erling's cell in the Deathblock and convince him to escape. However, after learning that his home and family had been massacred by the Empire, Erling was filled with rage for the perpetrators, abandoning his doctrine of peaceful resistance. This fact greatly distressed Shortfang, who had hoped that Erling would reaffirm his faith in peaceful resistance. During their escape, Erling instigated a firefight with the Imperials which resulted in the death of Gideon Smith and caused Shortfang to confront his hero about his hypocrisy.

As the three Rebels made their way through Tol Ado's sub-facility in order to find an escape route, they encountered the Wookiee Warburton's resistance group. Shortfang, Skywalker, and Tredway were forced to defend the sub-facility from attack to prove that they were not spies. During the attack, Sidney saved Erling from being killed, but was badly injured. A Quarren resistance member pulled him from the battlefield and brought him back to their base to tend to his wounds. Leaving Shortfang behind, Skywalker and Tredway were eventually able to escape Tol Ado.

Behind the scenes
Sidney Shortfang was created by Troy Denning and appeared in one of the role-playing strands of the 1990 West End Games role-playing supplement Jedi's Honor. During the scenario, the outcome of the adventure is dependent on the reader's choices. Skywalker can choose to abandon Sidney and Gideon to work on finding a Rebel base, leaving the two miners two their own devices, but this action results in a failure of the scenario.

The outcome of the battle in the sub-facility directly impacts the fate of Sidney Shortfang. If Skywalker allows Tredway to botch the ambush, the attack does not fully defeat the Imperials, and Sidney dives in front of Tredway, absorbing the blasterfire meant for Erling and sacrificing his life to defend his hero. If Skywalker stops Tredway from botching the ambush, the Imperials are soundly defeated but Sidney is injured when he pushes Tredway out of the way of a blaster attack. In both scenarios, Skywalker and Tredway escape Tol Ado without Sidney.