The Rebel Lambda-class T-4a shuttle Maria delivered the plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star battlestation to Princess Leia Organa aboard the Alderaanian CR90 corvette Tantive IV. The rendezvous was interrupted by the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Immortal, but the Tantive IV escaped to hyperspace with the plans.
Using stolen Imperial communications satellites, the Alliance to Restore the Republic acquired plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star battlestation. Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan was chosen to carry the plans to Alliance High Command aboard the Alderaanian CR90 corvette Tantive IV, and a rendezvous was arranged with the Rebel Lambda-class T-4a shuttle Maria.
Three T-65 X-wing starfighters preceded the Maria to the rendezvous point, arriving to find the Tantive IV already in the area, hidden among a convoy of CR90 corvettes carrying supplies bound for Alderaan. With the Tantive IV unable to identify itself for fear of arousing Imperial curiosity, Captain Keyan Farlander, piloting the X-wing designated Red Two, began scanning the corvettes to locate it. When Farlander confirmed the Tantive IV was present, the Maria emerged from hyperspace to board it.
Moments later, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Immortal entered the area and launched eight Assault Gunboats before quickly jumping back into hyperspace. Farlander used proton torpedoes to quickly eliminate two of the Assault Gunboats, before he and the X-wings from Gold Squadron engaged the rest. One of the Imperial starfighters made it past the X-wings and attempted to disable the Tantive IV with its ion cannons, but Farlander was able to give chase and stop it in time. After the Maria completed its boarding operation, the Tantive IV fled to hyperspace and the Rebel ships withdrew.
The battle first appeared in the 1993 LucasArts video game Star Wars: X-Wing, in the eleventh mission of "Tour of Duty II: The Great Search", "Deliver Plans to Princess Leia." If the player fails to prevent the Tantive IV being disabled, the Immortal returns and attempts to capture it. However, Farlander's after-action report in X-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide confirms that the ship escaped to hyperspace unscathed.
The delivery of the Death Star plans depicted in X-Wing differs from the version of events presented in the 1981 National Public Radio adaptation of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, wherein the plans are transmitted from the planet Toprawa to the Tantive IV while the craft feigns malfunction, before coming under attack from the Star Destroyer Devastator.
- X-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide
- X-Wing Collector's CD-ROM: The Official Strategy Guide
- The Official Star Wars Fact FilePart 11