Scimitar

"This vessel was originally designed as a hunter-killer, with many unique capabilities. It is a very special ship. It has had very special owners."

- O-66, regarding the Scimitar

The Scimitar, also known as the Sith Infiltrator, was a heavily modified Star Courier and the personal starship of Darth Maul. After his defeat during the Battle of Naboo, the experimental starfighter was appropriated by Maul's master, Darth Sidious.

Characteristics
The Sith Infiltrator featured folding wings around its circular cockpit, and was secretly modified from a Star Courier manufactured by Republic Sienar Systems. The craft featured six laser cannons, a proton torpedo launcher and a minelayer. Along with its deadly armament, the Scimitar was equipped with a cloaking device that allowed it to disappear from view and any pursuing ship's sensors. Owing to the craft's experimental ion engines, radiator fins on the ship's wings were required to be open during flight in order to expel excess heat.

The ship carried three DRK-1 Dark Eye probe droids and the Bloodfin, a Sith speeder utilized by Darth Maul during his mission on Tatooine. The Scimitar was capable of tracking a ship's signature through hyperspace, something considered impossible for other ships.

History
"It is as you predicted my Lord. We've traced Count Dooku's signal to Dathomir's surface. What is your command?''" "''Jam their communications and cloak this ship from view. They won't know we've arrived until it's much too late."

- General Grievous and Darth Sidious

At the time of the invasion of Naboo, the Scimitar was the personal starship of Darth Maul, who used it in an attempt to track Queen Padmé Amidala on Tatooine. After his defeat, the ship fell into the possession of Maul's master, Darth Sidious.

During the Clone Wars, the Scimitar was used to transport Sidious and General Grievous to the surface of Dathomir, where the Sith Master had a duel with his resurfaced former apprentice and the Nightsister Mother Talzin.

Many years later, the Scimitar was still in the possession of Sidious, who now ruled the First Galactic Empire as Emperor Palpatine. It was held in Imperial Facility 729-D, located somewhere in the Inner Rim, and curated by the droid O-66. At some point before the Battle of Hoth, the bounty hunter Chanath Cha was entrusted with the modified Star Courier in order to retrieve the stolen Imperialis, Palpatine's luxury pleasure craft.

Chanath and O-66 used the Scimitar advanced tracking systems to find the Imperialis location. While O-66 waited aboard the Scimitar, Chanath boarded the Imperialis. O-66 also transmitted the Imperial yacht's operational codes. After Chanath had set the ship to self-destruct, she ordered O-66 to dock the Scimitar so that she, Lando Calrissian, and Lobot could flee the doomed Imperialis. However, O-66 refused to obey her orders because his primary directive was to protect and honor the Scimitar. Despite Chanath's threats, O-66 revealed he had removed her pulse bomb and flew the Scimitar away.

Behind the scenes
The Scimitar first appeared as Darth Maul's personal transport in The Phantom Menace movie. The ship's backstory was further explored in several Legends media and literature including Daniel Wallace's 2003 reference book The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels. The Scimitar later appeared in the Canon 2014 Dark Horse Comics Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, Part Four, which was adapted from an unproduced Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode. The ship later appeared in the 2015 Marvel Comics story Star Wars: Lando.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Battlefront II
 * Darth Maul, Part I
 * Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
 * "Probe Droid Problem"
 * Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, Part Four
 * Lando, Part II
 * Lando, Part III
 * Lando, Part IV
 * Lando, Part V

Non-canon appearances

 * Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes