Krayt's Honor

The Krayt's Honor was a Gozanti Cruiser captained by Siqo Vass, who, along with his crew, utilized his ship as an escort for independent merchants. The merchants, who found themselves constantly harassed by criminals in the employ of the Trade Federation, were constantly grateful to Vass and his crew for their services, but the Federation themselves eventually came to target the Krayt's Honor specifically. Fortunately for Vass, he and his crew were found themselves in favor with the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, who offered them safe haven on the arid world of Tatooine. From there, the Krayt's Honor continued to prove an irritant to the Trade Federation.

Description
Initially constructed by Gallofree Yards, the Krayt's Honor was armed with eight side-mounted laser turrets for defense, in addition to several quad cannon turrets that protected the ship's dorsal and ventral hulls. Apart from the standard armament, the ship boasted a variety of modifications: located in the ship's bow were a trio of turbolaser cannons, in addition to a pair of fire-linked proton torpedo launchers, which carried an expanded payload.

The ship's captain, Siqo Vass, would utilize the torpedoes as an opening salvo in an engagement, but would not reveal the ship's highly illegal turbolasers unless he had to. When used, however, the turbolasers were able to cause considerable damage to capital ships. For defense, the Krayt's Honor boasted military grade deflector shields that were able to hold off starfighter attacks, but not those of capital ships.

History
The Krayt's Honor was captained by the Kel Dor Siqo Vass, although, to escape the widespread humanocentric prejudices of the galaxy, the Human Layn Wynest posed as captain. The ship was crewed by a wide variety of sentient beings from various races, including Ithorians and Feeorin. During the Republic Classic era, the Krayt's Honor found work as an escort for independent merchants that found themselves targeted by raiders and privateers acting covertly under the influence of the Trade Federation. In order to do so, the Krayt's Honor worked as a Q-Ship&mdash;by appearing to be a common cargo craft, Vass could lure assailants in close enough to destroy them with the cruiser's hidden weaponry. The merchants themselves highly valued the actions of Vass and his crew, but the Krayt's Honor soon drew the Federation's ire and attention. To make matters more difficult for the crew, a bounty was placed on Vass' head.

Fortunately for Vass, one of the ships saved by the Krayt's Honor was the Star Jewel&mdash;the personal yacht of crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, who was grateful enough to offer the crew and their ship safe haven on the Outer Rim Territories world of Tatooine, one of the rare ports that the Federation wanted nothing to do with. In both 32 BBY and 22 BBY, the crew took the ship to the spaceport of Mos Espa. As they made their home on Tatooine, Vass and his crew were able to continue to harass the Federation, even during the pan-galactic Clone Wars. Eventually, they were brought into conflict Federation craft, as opposed to the hired guns they had fought in the past.

Behind the scenes
The Krayt's Honor first appeared in 1999's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, as an unidentified background ship in the film's Mos Espa sequence. It appeared again, three years later, in 2002's Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, again in scenes taking place at Mos Espa. In 2006, the ship was identified, and its backstory elaborated upon by "KenobiDX67" through StarWars.com's Hyperspace feature, "What's the Story?" KenobiDX67's work was later expanded upon in the 2007 edition of Starships of the Galaxy.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Notes and references
Krayt's Honor