Phantom

"Another great surprise the Ghost packs is the Phantom. It's a starfighter that's hidden, in plain sight, on the back of the Ghost."

- Ezra Bridger

The Phantom was a modified VCX-series auxiliary starfighter that could dock with its mothership, the Ghost. The Phantom was widely used by the crew of the Ghost, who were also known as the Lothal rebels and the Spectres. The Phantom was used by these rebels on numerous missions against the Galactic Empire.

Description
The Phantom was a modified VCX-series auxiliary starfighter that was attached to the VCX-100 light freighter known as the Ghost. The rebel Sabine Wren painted a Sando aqua monster on the Phantom's hull.

The Lothal rebels
As part of Ghost auxiliary vessel, the Phantom was owned by the Twi'lek pilot Hera Syndulla. Her crew included the former Jedi Padawan Kanan Jarrus, the astromech droid Chopper, the former Lasat Honor Guard Garazeb Orrelios, and the teenaged Mandalorian weapons expert and artist Hera Syndulla. During a raid on an Imperial convoy, Chopper manned the Phantom laser cannons when the mother ship was attacked by several TIE fighters.

During a heist on Imperial supplies on the Outer Rim planet Lothal, the rebels encountered a Force-sensitive human boy named Ezra Bridger, who took a ride aboard the Ghost. After escaping his improvised holding cell, Ezra manned one of the Phantom laser turrets before being relieved by Sabine. Still attached to its mother ship, the Phantom took part on a mission to rescue Wookiee slaves being shipped to the spice mines of Kessel. Following these adventures, Ezra decided to become Kanan's Padawan and to join the crew of the Ghost.

Further Adventures
Later, the crew of the Ghost learnt that the Jedi Master Luminara Unduli was imprisoned at the Spire, a high-security prison on the planet Stygeon Prime. While Chopper waited aboard the Ghost, the other rebels flew down to the Spire aboard the Phantom. Hera piloted the auxiliary shuttle and deployed Kanan, Ezra, Sabine, and Zeb onto a landing platform. While the other rebels entered the prison, Hera attached the Phantom to the side of the prison. To avoid detection, she powered down the auxiliary vessel and activated a jammer.

Hera's companions quickly discovered that Luminara was dead and were trapped by the Grand Inquisitor and several stormtroopers. Meanwhile, the Phantom sensors detected something approaching the shuttle. Hera initially taught it was a TIE fighter but quickly discovered that it was a large swarm of tibidees, which had mistaken the shuttle's jamming system for a mating call. Hera quickly detached the shuttle from the prison but was pursued by the tibidees. Later, Hera managed to win over the tibidees and use them to harass the Imperials while she rescued the other Lothal rebels. They then flew back to the Ghost and fled into space.

The Phantom and its mother ship later took part in a mission to intercept an Imperial convoy transporting a large kyber crystal. Kanan flew the Phantom while Hera piloted the Ghost. The two rebels had learnt about the convoy from Ezra, who had infiltrated Lothal's Academy for Young Imperials, and a cadet named Zare Leonis, who was sympathetic to the rebels. While the Phantom distracted the convoy's TIE fighter escorts, the Ghost destroyed the Gozanti-class cruiser carrying the kyber crystal. This triggered a vast explosion which destroyed the Imperial convoy. The Phantom narrowly managed to escape the explosion by linking up with the Ghost, which then jumped into hyperspace.

After a supply raid on Lothal, the Phantom was pursued by several TIE fighters and had its fuel line damaged by a laser strike while navigating through a canyon. After the mission, the Phantom and the Ghost docked with each other, Ezra, Chopper, and Zeb ran a diagnostic scan but failed to check it due to their bickering. During a supply run to Fort Anaxes, an old Republic base on the asteroid PM-1203 that had been abandoned some time after the Clone Wars, the ruptured fuel line was discovered. Hera and Sabine were stranded on the asteroid and surrounded by several hostile fyrnocks. Their mission proved successful despite some close calls with the beasts, in part thanks to explosive rhydonium canisters. Kanan, Ezra, Chopper and Zeb arrived in short order to rescue the two and the Phantom was recovered as well.

Rising Challenges
After sabotaging the Empire Day celebrations in Lothal's Capital City, the rebels fled into space on the Ghost. They were accompanied by the Rodian fugitive Tseebo, an Imperial Information Office employee who wore a cybernetic implant containing Imperial secrets. During a brief dog fight, Chopper manned the Phantom laser cannons but was knocked out by a laser blast. Before the Imperials could inflict further damage, Tseebo transmitted coordinates into the Ghost hyperdrive which allowed the rebels to escape into hyperspace. However, the Grand Inquisitor succeeded in planting an XX-23 S-thread tracker onto the auxiliary vessel's hull.

While traveling through hyperspace, Chopper detected the homing beacon on the Phantom hull. To prevent the Empire from capturing Tseebo, Kanan and Ezra decided to use the Phantom as a decoy vessel to lure the Inquisitor away from the Ghost. The Phantom exited hyperspace above the asteroid PM-1203 and landed at Fort Anaxes. There, Ezra used the Force to command the fyrnocks to attack the Grand Inquisitor and his stormtroopers. After escaping the Inquisitor, Kanan and an exhausted Ezra escaped aboard the Phantom and linked up with the Ghost.

Since Ezra had tapped into the Dark Side during his confrontation with the Inquisitor, Kanan decided that his Padawan should embark on his Jedi trials to ascertain whether he had the discipline to be a Jedi. While meditating with his Jedi holocron, Kanan discovered that there was a Jedi Temple on Lothal. He used the Phantom to take his apprentice there. After Ezra sensed the temple's presence, Kanan landed the shuttle near the temple. After Ezra passed his Jedi trials, he and Kanan returned to the Ghost with the Phantom.

Behind the scenes
The Ghost attack shuttle was first identified as the Wolf in concept art that appeared in a video released on October 12, 2013. The video featured concept art from the upcoming animated series Star Wars Rebels. However, the ship was revealed as the Phantom at the January 2014 Nuremberg International Toy Fair, which announced a LEGO set featuring the shuttle. The set includes a detachable cockpit, a cargo hold for storing Ezra Bridger's Imperial cadet helmet and blaster, a spring-loaded missile, and encourages players to fly the Phantom into battle against the Galactic Empire's TIE fighters.

Despite showing an access hatch only at the rear of the craft, the Phantom has been shown to unload its' crew regardless of which way it docks to the Ghost.