vechicle class: | Shuttle |
manufacture: | Sienar Fleet Systems |
engine: | Ion/Hyperdrive engines |
lenght: | ???? |
max. speed: | ????? |
crew: | 4 |
troop capacity: | 20 * |
cargo capacity: | 80 tons of cargo * |
armor: | light, deflector shield |
weapons: | three double blaster cannons two double laser cannons |
* The shuttle can carry 20 passangers or 80 tons of cargo, not both
The Imperial Shuttle Craft are based loosely upon the tri-wing symmetry of Incom's T-16
skyhopper, the standard Imperial shuttle has become a mainstay of imperial
governmental transportation. The vessel's unusually strong defensive
shielding made it a favorite of Palpatine's who usually traveled alone in a
luxuriously-appointed private shuttle dedicated to his use only.
While the shuttle is generally best suited to space travel,
atmospheric flight is made more stable by the ship's three huge wings
surfaces. While the large center wing is fixed and static, the port and
starboard wings must be raised to a vertical position for landing. This
feature makes the Imperial shuttle quite graceful during takeoffs and
landings. Boarding and debarkation take place via a long, telescoping ramp
that extends from the lower forward fuselage, just beneath the
cockpit.
An unusial feature of the
Lambda-class shuttle is its twin-gear landing system. A forward,third
landing leg was made unnecessary by the shuttle's extremely heavy power core
and hyperspace motivator unit, which ride squarely atop the ship's legwells.
The great energies generated by the vessel's power plant allow it's high
number of weapons emplacements, making the shuttle quit formidable when
attacked. Rotating twin laser turrets on the leading edge of each lower wing
give the ship a variety of possible firing arcs, and cannon emplacements
affixed facing fore and aft provide secondary firepower.
The
labda-class played a vital role in the Rebel attack during the Battle
of Endor. An Imperial shuttle, launched from the Mon Calamari flagship, was
used by the Rebel forces in order to gain access to the Imperial power field
generator on the planet's surface. Using an intercepted entry code, the
shuttle Tydirium made it's way safely through the Imperial defenses
surrounding the planet and successfully landed only a few kilometers from the
intensely-guarded power station. The next day, General Han Solo and his
troops breached the security of the generator station and destroyed it,
leaving the orbiting Death Star open to attack by Rebel forces.