WLO-5 speeder tank

The WLO-5 speeder tank, also known as the Ubrikkian tank or Pirate tank, was a repulsortank with heavy armor and weaponry used by a Weequay pirate gang operating out of the backwater planet of Florrum. They were considered to be an operational equivalent to the AAT used by the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

Characteristics


The tank was flanked on each side with one large turbine engine. It was armed with one laser cannon turret, which could turn 360 degrees and was located on the top of the tank. The turret gunner sat in the open, behind the laser cannon, protected only by the gun's side-armor. Two additional crewmen piloted the craft from inside the vehicle, protected by its heavy armor. The additional crew had access to sensors and computer-based targeting software.

The craft could also function as a troop transport, with pirates capable of jumping out from the middle section of the tank. It was favored by pirates because of its ease of use, repair, and modification. Hondo Ohnaka was known to operate several of these vehicles.

History
"Kill him! Kill him! He's no representative! He's a plague!"

- A Weequay tank gunner after Jar Jar drove his tank against another tank

Turk Falso, the lieutenant of Hondo Ohnaka wanted to steal the spice ransom send by the Republic in exchange for the captive Count Dooku. His plans to steal the spice failed and to cover up his deceit he told Ohnaka that the Republic hadn't send the ransom, but an army. Falso convinced Hondo to send tanks to destroy the army.

These tanks were called "Bombad clankers" by Jar Jar Binks, upon seeing them. During the rescue of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi from Ohnaka's pirate gang, the Gungan Representative Jar Jar Binks was captured by pirates in the tanks, while traveling to confront the group in tanks. When he walked onto one of the tanks, Binks' clumsiness caused him to slip and cause the tank to hit the tank next to it. The tank then veered into the power line to Ohnaka's base, causing the electricity in the pirate base to go out. The Jedi were freed from their torture device, but Dooku escaped his cell and he left Florrum in a stolen saucer craft. The clones and Binks then approached the pirate compound, hidden from view inside two stolen tanks and together with the Jedi, they left the planet in the Twilight.

Ohnaka would later use one of the tanks to raid a nysillin farm on Felucia.

Behind the scenes
These tanks were similar in design to the AAC-1 hovertank from Star Wars: Battlefront II. The laser cannon on the tank was based on that of the MS-1 fire-linked heavy laser cannon on AT-ATs. LEGO has created a set of the tank featuring Hondo Ohnaka, Turk Falso and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The set was released August 1, 2009.

Appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
 * LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
 * LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars