XJ-2 airspeeder

The XJ-2 airspeeder was a Narglatch AirTech customized vehicle owned by Bail Organa during his tenure as Senator of the Alderaan sector, and Viceroy of Alderaan itself. After seeing fellow Senator Simon Greyshade's XJ-6 airspeeder, Organa purchased the custom XJ-2, which sported a red and silver color scheme. The airspeeder became a hobby of Organa's, and he would work tinkering with it when he was not pressed to attend to Senatorial duties. With the advent of the Clone Wars, Organa took the XJ-2 with him to Coruscant, where he found himself spending most of his time.

He registered the speeder under the alias of "Org Banelli," allowing him to operate without the attention of the authorities. Along with several other Senators, Organa was considering ousting Supreme Chancellor Palpatine at the conclusion of the war, and he needed to be able to move covertly. When the war did conclude, Organa used the speeder to rescue Jedi Master Yoda from Palpatine's clutches. Returning to Alderaan, Organa found himself dedicated to forming the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and as a result, the speeder gathered dust. He gave it to his adopted daughter, Princess Leia, and taught her piloting skills when she came of age. The speeder was eventually destroyed when the Death Star I obliterated Alderaan, but a line based on the model was later put into production by Narglatch during the Galactic Civil War.

Characteristics
A unique, customized craft, the XJ-2 was a small, two-seat vehicle. The seats themselves were made of blue-hued leather. It sported a red and silver color scheme, selected by Senator Bail Organa, and in the hands of an able driver, the speeder could reach high and potentially hazardous speeds. As a precaution, the steering yoke was modified to allow for sharp turns. Though entirely new, the vehicle was based on an older airspeeder model. The later reproductions of the speeder were good at handling, and boasted impressive speeds, but it excelled at both acceleration and climbing.

Purchase and mofidications
Narglatch AirTech, a small independent company, developed custom kits for airspeeder development. Their products were aimed at the upper class and more prestigious inhabitants of the Republic, such as Senators and Core World aristocracy. The XJ-6 airspeeder model was purchased by Senator Simon Greyshade of the Vorzyd Sector, and his tendency to display it before his peers inspired Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan to buy his own Narglatch speeder, the XJ-2.

Modification of the speeder became Senator Organa's hobby, and when he was not being called upon to address matters of State, he could be found in his garage on Alderaan, working on the XJ-2. Deciding that it would be wise to keep a means of covert movement, Organa registered his speeder under the false name of "Org Banelli".

Usage
With the Separatist Crisis demanding Organa's full attention as a Senator, he found little time to work as an aspiring mechanic, and so the XJ-2 received less and less attention. When the Clone Wars broke out, Organa spent most of his time on Coruscant, and he brought his speeder along with him. In 22 ABY, Organa learned from a contact that the Sith were planning to destroy the Jedi Order, so he flew his speeder to the apartment of Senator Padmé Amidala, to try and organize through her a meeting with the Order. As the war progressed, he grew weary of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's constant amendments to the constitution, and so met with other Senators, such as Mon Mothma and Giddean Danu for frequent airing of grievances. The "Banelli" ruse allowed him to escape the notice of Palpatine's offices, and travel to the designated meeting points with a minimum of fuss.

As the Clone Wars came to a sudden halt in 19 BBY, the XJ-2 saw considerable use during the chaos of Operation: Knightfall, part of Order 66. When fires broke out at the Jedi Temple, Organa sped there in his speeder to investigate. He was stopped by clone commander CC-1119, who advised him to leave. After watching CC-1119 and the 501st Legion gun down Zett Jukassa, a Jedi Padawan, the horrified Organa fled the scene in his XJ-2.

In the following days, Organa witnessed Palpatine's Declaration of the New Order. Disgusted with what he saw, he aided and abetted Jedi Master Yoda's assassination attempt on now-Emperor Palpatine. The attempt failed, however, and Organa once more used the speeder to help Yoda escape the clutches of the Emperor's clone troopers. The "Org Banelli" registration helped Organa avoid arrest, and allowed him to return to Alderaan, with the speeder, in peace. For a short while, he resumed his modification of the vehicle, but the forging of the new Alliance to Restore the Republic meant that the XJ-2 would eventually gather dust.

When Organa's adopted daughter, Leia, came of age, he gave her the XJ-2 as a birthday present. Using the airspeeder, he taught her basic piloting skills, which were essential when handling such a high-speed and dangerous craft. When Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin decided to use Alderaan as a test for the highly destructive capabilities for the Death Star I, the XJ-2 was destroyed in the ensuing explosion.

The craft was later produced in larger numbers by Narglatch AirTech, and was in use during the Galactic Civil War. The speeder was considered a classy one, and those utilizing it were held in high regard. The speeder was also covered in a consumer report from Corellia Times on the HoloNet. Corellia Times gave a good rating all round, with particular recommendation for the craft's acceleration and climbing ability.

Behind the scenes
The XJ-2 airspeeder first appeared in George Lucas' Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, where it was used as a mode of transport for Bail Organa's character. The vehicle's back story would later be developed by "Master Devwi" through the StarWars.com Hyperspace feature, "What's the Story?". Devwi's Databank entry explained that Organa's speeder was of the same model line as the XJ-6 airspeeder, which featured in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Through the XJ-6, Devwi made a connection to the greater Expanded Universe in his entry as well, including the character of Simon Greyshade from 1978's Star Wars 18: The Empire Strikes; Greyshade had been associated with the XJ-6 by the HoloNet News website. The speeder is also featured in the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game set Champions of the Force as a "loot card", which players can redeem for an actual speeder in the computer game Star Wars Galaxies.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith / novel / comic / junior novel
 * The Clone Wars: Wild Space
 * ''Star Wars Galaxies