Tydirium/Legends

"Let's see what this piece of junk can do."

- Han Solo on the Tydirium

The Tydirium was a Sienar Fleet Systems Imperial Lambda-class shuttle, occasionally used as a personal shuttle by Darth Vader. It was later captured by Wedge Antilles and Ace Azzameen, and used by the Rebel Alliance in their plan for the Battle of Endor. After that, it was used as a strike shuttle.

Description
The Tydirium was a standard Lambda-class T-4a shuttle. It boasted deflector shields with a 200 SBD rating, and a hull rating of 66. 24 meters in length, it required a crew of four to operate, and could hold twenty passengers.

The codes
In approximately 4 ABY, an Imperial Lambda-class T-4a shuttle called the Tydirium was stationed at Outpost 327, located in the Zhar system. The shuttle was carrying a set of clearance codes that would allow users to pass the deflector shield enveloping the under-construction Death Star II battlestation orbiting the forest moon of Endor, and land on the moon itself. This information came into the hands of Bothan spies, who knew that the Alliance to Restore the Republic would appreciate such a luxury, as they sought to somehow destroy the Death Star II itself. The spies passed this information onto the Alliance, and the task of capturing the shuttle was assigned to Admiral Yamarus and his Liberty Task Force.

General Crix Madine formulated a plan as to how to retrieve the shuttle. He suggested that he lead a team of crack commandos, and a skilled pilot, infiltrate Outpost 327, and commandeer the shuttle. As the outpost was inefficiently administreated, Madine suspected that the shuttle's clearance codes would not have been updated, and would still be usable at Endor. Once stolen, the shuttle was to be brought back to Yamarus' flagship, the Liberty. To ferry the commandos to the outpost covertly, Yamarus selected Ace Azzameen, whose family transports were stationed aboard the Liberty. One of the Azzameen ships, the YT-1300 light freighter Sabra, would look like a neutral merchant ship to the Imperial customs patrols that guarded Outpost 327. The mission was undertaken, and the commandos successfully commandeered the Tydirium. As the shuttle escaped the facility, however, TIE/sa Bombers were scrambled to destroy it. Azzameen called for reinforcements&mdash;Rogue Squadron arrived in time to cover the Tydirium ' s escape. The shuttle, Rogue Squadron, and the Sabra all made it back to the Liberty safely.

The craft
Some time afterwards, the Alliance mounted an attempt to steal another Lambda-class shuttle, also called Tydirium, from the Prefsbelt Naval Academy on Prefsbelt IV. Crix Madine was in charge of the the mission. The shuttle itself was being kept on the academy's northmost platform. Wedge Antilles was sent to Prefsbelt IV to personally steal the shuttle&mdash;stealthily making his way to an outpost, Antilles killed an Imperial pilot and stole his TIE Fighter. The Rebel pilot then approached the academy, and stole the shuttle. As he departed, Antilles was escorted by a pair of T-65 X-wing starfighters.

Role in the Battle of Endor


"Shuttle Tydirium requesting deactivation of the deflector shield."

- Han Solo

The stolen shuttle was moved to the hangar bay of Admiral Ackbar's flagship, the Home One in preparation for the infiltration of Endor. General Han Solo was to lead a group of commandos onto the forest moon, and destroy the deflector shield generator which was protecting the orbiting Death Star II. Ideally, this would allow Ackbar and the Alliance Fleet to strike at the battlestation, and destroy it. The general's shuttle command crew included the Wookiee Chewbacca, as well as the Humans Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker. Placed in the cargo hold of the ship was a Battlefield Holographic Control Interface, from which General Brenn Tantor would co-ordinate the operations. Solo himself piloted the shuttle, with Chewbacca serving as co-pilot. Departing the Home One, Solo made a hyperspace jump, eventually reaching the Endor system.

As the Tydirium approached the forest moon, it was hailed by the Imperial Star Dreadnought Executor, which was guarding the incomplete Death Star II. The Executor ' s traffic officer, Controller Jhoff, demanded that the Tydirium identify itself&mdash;Solo did so, and requested that the deflector shield be deactivated, which would allow them to land on the forest moon. In turn, the Executor requested that Solo transmit the clearance code. Solo complied, but Organa was not entirely sure that the stolen codes would work. The general seemed to remain confident, however, he too was beginning to doubt the team's safety. In addition, Skywalker, an aspiring Jedi sensed through the Force that the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, was on the Executor, but Solo dismissed the idea.

The Tydirium was next contacted by Admiral Firmus Piett, who requested the shuttle's cargo and destination. Solo claimed that he was carrying "parts and technical crew for the forest moon." Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Executor, on which Vader was indeed present, the Dark Lord had been taking a personal interest in the Tydirium. He quizzed Piett as to the shuttle's code clearance, and although it had used an older code, it still checked out. Vader decided he would let the shuttle pass, as he had sensed Skywalker, his son, on board. Solo, however, had grown impatient, and suspected that the Imperials were not going to let them through. Just as he prepared to flee the system, the Executor contacted them once more, and granted them clearance. The shield was deactivated, and the Tydirium was free to land on the forest moon.

Solo landed the shuttle in a clearing several miles from the Imperial shield generator. The team covered the craft with branches, leaves and mulch, lest it be discovered by an Imperial patrol. The team then debarked, but were unable to destroy the shield generator before the arrival of the Alliance Fleet. Nonetheless, the shield generator was eventually destroyed during the ensuing battle, and the Death Star II was successfully destroyed. Tantor continued to operate from the hidden shuttle, when the Alliance landed reinforcements on the forest moon to help rout the remaining Imperial forces.

After Endor
Although the battle was over, some remnants of the Imperial fleet at Endor remained. Major Bren Derlin was left in charge of any planet-bound Alliance forces, leaving Solo and Chewbacca free to pursue other objectives. The pair performed some maintenance on the Tydirium, before taking the shuttle into orbit, hoping to assist in eliminating the remained of the Imperial force. On board were Solo's strike team, touting stolen stormtrooper armor they had acquired during the previous battle. Of his own volition, Solo decided that he would attempt to steal one of the surviving Imperial I-class Star Destroyers, Accuser. Using the clearance codes he had used to bypass the Executor, Solo and his crew were able to successfully infiltrate the Accuser, make their way to the bridge, and order the crew to evacuate. The ship then became a part of the Alliance fleet.

The Alliance continued to use the Tydirium after the Battle of Endor, and one of the upgrades made to it was the addition of turbolasers to the vessel.

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 Azzameen's capture (in Alliance) came first. New information presented in Star Wars: Complete Cross-Sections shows that Ace Azzameen stole the codes for the shuttle, while Wedge, along with Rogue Squadron, captured the actual vessel. This information contradicts actual events in X-wing Alliance, which show the commando team stealing and piloting the shuttle to the hyperspace point and the Liberty. It is interesting to note also that an inspected Tydirium reveals its cargo as "codes".

The non-canonical comic Tag & Bink Are Dead states that the Tydirium was Wilhuff Tarkin's personal shuttle on the first Death Star. Tag Greenly and Bink Otauna steal it to escape, eventually bringing it to the Rebellion.

A shuttle Tydirium was included as one of the game pieces available in the Star Wars PocketModel TCG (Trading Card Game), and featured turbolaser capabilities. Since the Rebel strike force flying the shuttle was trying to maintain a low profile, and the crew aboard the Executor would have been able to detect any unusual design changes with their scans, the addition of turbolasers would have had to have been made after the Battle of Endor.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * Star Wars: Force Commander
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novel
 * Star Wars: Return of the Jedi 3: Mission to Endor
 * "The Deposition of General Solo" - The Truce at Bakura Sourcebook
 * Starter's Tale
 * Starter's Tale

Non-canon appearances

 * Tag & Bink Are Dead
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga