Mission to Zhar

The Mission to Zhar was a mission on the part of the Rebel Alliance to retrieve Imperial shuttle Tydirium in 4 ABY.

Prelude
After they had captured the Death Star II plans from the freighter Suprosa, the Alliance tasked a team of Bothan spies to infiltrate the Death Star operation and discover what information they could. After a daring rescue operation to retrieve the Bothans on their return, the Alliance discovered enough information to begin their plans. Key to the strategy was obtaining the necessary codes to enter the Endor system, fortunately for them, the Alliance had learned of an Imperial shuttle that carried the codes they needed. They set in motion an audacious plan to steal the shuttle from a heavily guarded Imperial outpost

The mission
The starship tasked with this dangerous operation was the Mon Calamari Cruiser Liberty, who had among her ranks a pilot whose talents were perfect for the operation. This pilot was Ace Azzameen, whose experience flying freighters, particularly in dangerous situations, was unparalleled among Liberty's pilots.

Leaving Liberty in his customized YT-1300, the Sabra, Ace set out for the Zhar system, with a team of commandos onboard. Before he could enter the system itself, Ace had to pass through the Imperial Customs station at the edge of the system. After transmitting a false ship's manifest that the Alliance had provided, there followed an agonizing wait as the manifest was verified, all the while Ace had to use all of his piloting ability to avoid getting to close to the patrolling TIE/ln starfighters while "remaining casual."

Eventually, the Sabra was given clearance to proceed. To Ace's surprise, just as he was preparing to make a brief hyperjump in-system, the Victory-class Star Destroyer Inexorable arrived. Ace made the jump quickly, before Inexorable could identify him, and his true cargo. When Ace arrived in-system, he found the Imperial outpost, Outpost 327, to be surrounded by a huge amount of TIE Fighters, freighters and cargo containers. Again, Ace found himself having to avoid the Imperial fighters as he made his way to Outpost 327's hangar, where the Tydirium was docked. Ace succeeded, despite a near fatal mistake by the facility's commander, who failed to recognize the Sabra on his roster for several minutes.

The mission was further complicated by events after Sabra docked. The commando team was slow in getting the Tydirium ready for launch, causing Sabra to be docked far longer than the outpost's commander was happy with, this caused Ace's co-pilot, Emkay, considerable consternation as he made excuses in an attempt to keep the command center sending a team down. Just as the commandos were finished, the outpost's commander sent out and order to seize and detain the Sabra. Their time up, Ace blasted his way out of the hangar and called in Rogue Squadron.

The TIE Fighters swarmed the Rebels, in an attempt to stop them. Meanwhile, TIE/sa bombers were scrambled to intercept the Tydirium. However, Ace was able to stop them and allow the Tydirium to escape into hyperspace, a few seconds later, Ace and Rogue Squadron followed.

Aftermath
However, the Empire somehow retrieved the shuttle sometime later, possibly intercepting the ship before it reached the Rebel fleet. As a result, she was re-captured by Wedge Antilles during the Mission on Prefsbelt IV.

Alliance General Han Solo was able to use the Tydirium to infiltrate the Endor system along with his commandos, prompting the Battle of Endor.

Behind the scenes
The games Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader and Star Wars: X-wing Alliance, the only two sources to detail the shuttle's capture, give conflicting information. Leland Chee has confirmed that both happened, and Mission to Zhar came first.

In the book Star Wars: Complete Cross-Sections, it is stated that the codes were retrieved by Ace at Zhar, but the shuttle itself was stolen by Wedge Antilles during the mission on Prefsbelt IV.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance