TK-710

"You think these guys ever heard of bathing? Mine smells like the guy slept in it."

- Han Solo complains about TK-710's armor

TK-710 was the designation of a male stormtrooper who served in the Galactic Empire's Stormtrooper Corps. In the year 0 BBY, he was stationed on board the Death Star battle station when the light freighter known as the Millennium Falcon was pulled in by the station's tractor beams. TK-710 and fellow stormtrooper TK-421 were posted to guard the entrance to the Falcon in Docking Bay 327 while a scanning crew checked the interior of the vessel. The crew of the Falcon ambushed the scanning crew and then impersonated them in order to lure TK-710 and TK-421 inside, also incapacitating the stormtroopers and taking their armor.

Tricked aboard the Falcon
"Hey, down there! Could you give us a hand with this?"

- Han Solo lures TK-710 and TK-421 onto the Falcon

TK-710 was the designation given to a male individual by the Galactic Empire's Stormtrooper Corps, which he served in as a stormtrooper. In the year 0 BBY, TK-710 was stationed onboard the Empire's Death Star battle station while it was in the Alderaan system to destroy the planet Alderaan. Shortly after the planet's destruction, the YT-1300 light freighter known as the Millennium Falcon was pulled into Docking Bay 327 onboard the Death Star by tractor beams, and after the freighter was searched by troopers, TK-710 and his comrade TK-421 were assigned to guard its entry ramp.

A scanning crew was then sent on board to scan the entire vessel for life forms; however, before they could begin they were ambushed by the Falcon's captain Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca. Solo then impersonated one of the crew and called down to TK-710 and TK-421, asking for them to help with some of the equipment. The two troopers made their way up the freighter's ramp and quickly drew their weapons upon seeing Solo and Chewbacca, but the crew of the Falcon were faster. Chewbacca clasped one of them around the throat from behind while Solo managed to grab the other's arm and divert the trooper's shots above his head while shooting the trooper at point blank range through a joint in his armor.

An impersonated Imperial
Solo and his ally Luke Skywalker then took TK-710 and TK-421's stormtrooper armor and disguised themselves, using it to sneak through the Death Star to try rescue Princess Leia Organa. The MSE-6 series repair droid MSE-6-G735Y encountered the disguised pair and recognised the two trooper's armors, but noted that someone other than TK-421 was wearing his armor, although Chewbacca scared the droid away before it could act on the discovery. The Empire later became aware of what had happened to TK-710 and TK-421 after TK-421's corpse was discovered hidden in a crawl space.

Personality and traits
Han Solo was impressed by how quickly TK-710 reached for his gun on board the Falcon, although the trooper was still not fast enough to save himself. Upon donning TK-710's armor, Solo discovered that the helmet smelt of bad breath and he complained that it smelt as though the trooper had never taken a bath.

Equipment
TK-710 wore stormtrooper armor and carried a E-11 blaster rifle.

Behind the scenes
TK-710 first appeared in canon in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, which was released on May 25, 1977, although the character did appear earlier in the Star Wars Legends novelization of the film written by Alan Dean Foster and released on November 12, 1976. TK-710 was not identified in the film, and was portrayed by an uncredited extra. The character would eventually received the designation TK-422 in the Legends continuity when a card with that title was released as part of the Special Edition Limited set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game released in 1998; however, the trooper's canon designation was revealed to be TK-710 by the short story "Of MSE-6 and Men", which was written by Glen Weldon and released as a part of the From a Certain Point of View anthology on October 3, 2017.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
 * A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy
 * Star Wars: A New Hope junior novelization