Bravo 1

"That's Captain Ric Olié in Bravo One. Battle-hardened at Chommell Minor."

- Ars Veruna, pointing out Bravo 1 to Senator Palpatine

Bravo 1 was one of the first N-1 starfighters produced, manufactured by 33 BBY. The ship was flown by Captain Ric Olié when he led Naboo Royal Space Fighter Corps's premiere starfighter squadron, Bravo Flight, into combat. Olié outfitted it with a customized control configuration. In 32 BBY, a megacorporation called the Trade Federation occupied Olié's homeworld, the planet of Naboo, with its Droid Army, and when negotiations with the Federation failed, Olié, in Bravo 1, took part in the Naboo Space Battle with his men. Their aim was to destroy transmitters on an orbiting Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship that controlled the droids. The Control Ship was destroyed, which deactivated the Federation's entire force, with the effort of Bravo Squadron fighters.

Description
"The N-1 Starfighter represents the pinnacle in Naboo military technology."

- Captain Panaka

Bravo 1 was an N-1 series Naboo starfighter designed by the Theed Palace Space Vessel Engineering Corps and Nubia Star Drives, Incorporated for use in the planet of Naboo's Royal Space Fighter Corp, the dogfighting branch of the Royal Naboo Security Forces. As it was flown in royal service, the yellow starfighter was given a traditional chromium finish across the bow and on its underside. The three-pronged ship was eleven meters long. Captain Ric Olié, who piloted Bravo 1 as the commander of a squadron called Bravo Flight, outfitted the vessel with a customized control cluster.

Along the central prong rested the cockpit with room for a single pilot immediately anterior to a space for an astromech droid and a pylon for connecting to hangar fueling stations. There was Futhark script on the outside of the cockpit to the pilot's left. Weapon systems were housed in front of the cockpit and consisted a complement of eight proton torpedoes and two laser cannons that fired green bolts. The torpedoes, released from two internal dispensors, fired from a single launch tube located under the craft's bow. The outer prongs were Bravo 1 wings, each sporting a 221 sublight engine. For faster-than-light travel, it was propelled by a Monarc C-4 hyperdrive. Bravo 1 was also equipped with life support, communication systems, deflector shields, and a sophisticated autopilot.

History
"This is Bravo Leader. Bravo Two, intercept enemy fighters. Bravo Three, make your run on the transmitter station."

- Ric Olié, commanding Bravo Squadron from Bravo 1

From his coronation, Naboo's King Ars Veruna maintained a project, designing the N-1 starfighter with Nubia Star Drives, Incorporated and Theed Palace Space Vessel Engineering Corps. By his abdication of the throne in 33 BBY, Veruna was able to have some produced. One of the first manufactured was Bravo 1, which was then assigned to a new squadron composed entirely of the crafts, Bravo Flight. It was piloted by the squadron's leader, Ric Olié, under the call sign Bravo Leader, and saw combat at the planet of Chommell Minor against a group of pirates. To test Bravo 1 and the rest of Bravo Squadron, Olié led them on strafing runs destroying asteroids.

At some point, Olié personally modified the craft's control configurations to his liking. In 32 BBY, the Trade Federation responded to increased taxation by the Galactic Republic with an invasion and blockade of Naboo. Bravo 1, alongside other Bravo starfighters and their pilots, was within a Royal Palace hangar in the planetary capital, Theed, when the Federation took control of that building.

After a month of failed negotiations, Veruna's successor as Naboo's Monarch, Queen Padmé Amidala, decided to free her homeworld with force and she led a task-force to storm her palace. One of her first steps was to free the hangar's captives so Bravo Squadron could disable an orbiting Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship that was commanding the Trade Federation Droid Army forces stationed on Naboo. Olié boarded Bravo 1 and took off with his men, transmitting the coordinates of the space battle to every N-1 starfighter in the area so any available ships could assist them. Bravo 1 and Bravo Squadron skirmished with enemy Vulture droids and on an order from Olié split between those who would continue to stave off the droids and those that would attack the ship's transmitters. Bravo 1 was part of a strafing run, but its laser cannons could not pierce the ship's deflector shields.

Meanwhile, a Bravo Squadron N-1 from the hangar that was not flown into battle, Bravo Fighter, received the coordinates from Bravo 1, and its autopilot propelled it to that location. After some time, it was shot down and landed inside the Control Ship. When it was brought to Olié's attention, he ordered his pilots to stay out of the Control Ship and to buy Bravo Fighter time to escape. Bravo Fighter pilot, a boy named Anakin Skywalker, fired proton torpedoes into the ship's main reactor, destroying it. Bravo Squadron's assault deactivated all the Trade Federation droids on the surface, giving Amidala leverage enough to compel them to sign a treaty and release the planet. Olié continued flying with Bravo Squadron for the next few years afterward.

Commanders and crew
Ric Olié flew Bravo 1 while fighting with Bravo Squadron. He was born on Naboo, and at the time of the Trade Federation's invasion he was considered the best pilot on that world. Olie believed his R2-series astromech droid, R2-A6, was a good luck charm, so he made sure to fly with that droid when piloting Bravo 1.

Behind the scenes
Bravo 1 first appeared in the novelization of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and later in the film itself, both of which were released in 1999. An expansion of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game, Theed Palace Limited, released in December 2001 contained a card called "Bravo 1" that identified the ship as such. The ship's first appearance outside the card and other material expanding upon Episode I was in 2012's Star Wars: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Darth Plagueis
 * Star Wars: Starfighter
 * Star Wars: Battle for Naboo
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace novelization
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace junior novel
 * Star Wars Manga: The Phantom Menace 2
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 4