Shadow Chaser Shadow Chaser was a unique shuttle produced by the Second Imperium , for use by the Shadow Academy . Though she was a unique prototype , the " Shadow Chaser " was of a recognizably Imperial design , probably standing in the same lineage as the " Theta " - class and " Lambda " - class shuttles . Before she was stolen by Luke Skywalker and his students , Brakiss considered the " Shadow Chaser " to be the Shadow Academy ' s finest small ship . Characteristics . " Shadow Chaser " was a small , compact ship , capable of carrying perhaps a dozen people . She had a sleek hull sheathed in nearly indestructible quantum - crystalline armor , a technology pioneered in the Sun Crusher , which gave her a distinctive oiled - silver gleam . In the bow was a narrow cockpit with seats for two pilots and other flight crew , and the stern of the ship enclosed a small engine room , but most of the hull was taken up by a single main cabin , which contained passenger seating , with a series of escape pods in the aft bulkhead . Each of these could carry one person , but for security reasons , their homing beacon signals were encoded in a way that only the Shadow Academy could decrypt . Other onboard amenities included several sleeping bunks and a small galley area , which were either located in the rear part of the main cabin , or else along the corridor leading aft to the engine room . There may also have been a separate cargo hold , though it is possible that the main cabin served this function as well . The ship was armed with laser cannons in retractable turrets , and she had deflector shields in addition to her nearly impregnable hull armor . History . The " Shadow Chaser " was originally piloted by a Nightsister named Garowyn , who used it to ferry Imperial supplies to the Great Canyon Clan on Dathomir , as well as to transport new Force - sensitive recruits from her homeworld to the Shadow Academy . However , the ship was stolen when Luke Skywalker and Tenel Ka , posing as promising new recruits for the Shadow Academy , threw Garowyn into one of the " Shadow Chaser " ' s escape pods and jettisoned it . Skywalker and Tenel Ka planned to use the ship to gain access to the Shadow Academy and rescue Jacen Solo , his twin sister Jaina , and Lowbacca the Wookiee , who had been unwillingly recruited as students there . When the " Shadow Chaser " came out of hyperspace on the course pre - programmed in by Garowyn , the Shadow Academy de - cloaked in front of her . Skywalker and Tenel Ka guided the craft into one of the Shadow Academy ' s docking bays and encountered the Solo twins , Lowbacca , and a reprogrammed M - TD . After a confrontation with Brakiss and Tamith Kai , they escaped aboard the " Shadow Chaser " and brought it to the Jedi Praxeum at Yavin 4 . After expressing her thanks to Skywalker for rescuing her children , Chief of State Leia Organa Solo allowed Skywalker to keep the shuttle , telling him that he deserved it , and reasoning that the Academy could use a fast ship . Subsequently , the " Shadow Chaser " was used as a transport by the Jedi Academy . Garowyn would later try unsuccessfully to recover her " one joy " from Jaina Solo and Lowbacca on Kashyyyk , but the shuttle did not see action during the Second Imperium ' s attack on Yavin 4 , due to being trapped inside a hangar bay . The " Shadow Chaser " was later used by Luke Skywalker to transport Raynar Thul to his family ' s merchant fleet .