Radiant VII/Legends

"Don't they know that painting the ship red only makes it a better target?"

- Trade Federation gunner Jull Dremon The Radiant VII was one of many Consular-class space cruisers that were used by the Galactic Republic to provide transport to the government's diplomats.

Characteristics
The Consular-class cruiser Radiant VII was a 115 meter-long Space Cruiser. It had three Dyne 577 radial atomizer engines, and its Long Voltrans tri-arc CD-3.2 hypderdrive engine was a class 2. It had a crew of eight, and a passenger capacity of 16. It was equipped with two 8-person escape pods. The salon pod was capable of being ejected.

History
"Captain, look!''" "''Shields up!"

- The crew of the Radiant VII moments before its destruction.

The Radiant VII was built in the shipyards of Corellian Engineering Corporation above Corellia. Since 66 BBY it was in the service of the Republic Diplomatic Corps. Under Captain Maoi Madakor, it flew at the Battle of Galidraan.

Under Madakor and its new copilot, Lieutenant Antidar Williams, the ship's final mission took place in 32 BBY: delivering Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi to Naboo in a attempt to end the blockade that was placed on the planet by the Trade Federation. However, soon after landing inside the Saak'ak, the Radiant VII was destroyed upon Darth Sidious' orders, killing both crew members and preventing an easier escape by Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The two Jedi were then forced to escape from the Saak-ak. On their way through the vessel's hangar bay, Jinn and Kenobi took cover behind the Radiant VII's wreckage while they disabled a laser turret.

Behind the scenes
The Radiant VII first appeared in 1999 with Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.

The early designs of the Radiant VII had a smooth, "Coruscant-look" to it. After several iterations, George Lucas and Doug Chiang decided that the cruiser should have a strong visual link to the original trilogy. With that direction, Chiang and the Art Department devised a ship with a more rectilinear profile that echoed the design of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope's Tantive IV. One of the last additions to the cruiser was the small antenna array that rests above the cockpit. Lucas felt that the ship needed "a little extra something" to guide the audience's eyes to that section of the ship.

The vessel's destruction in the video game adaptation differs slightly from the the movie. In the movie, the Radiant VII was destroyed before the Jedi leave the conference room, but in the game, it explodes after Kenobi escaped the conference room and reached the hangar bay.

The vessel was also reimagined in LEGO form in 2005 for the opening cutscene of LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game, which was also included in the 2007 compilation re-release.

Appearances

 * Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan: Last Stand on Ord Mantell 1
 * Episode I Adventures 1: Search for the Lost Jedi
 * Episode I Adventures 3: The Fury of Darth Maul
 * Episode I Adventures 4: Jedi Emergency
 * Star Wars: Obi-Wan
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace novelization
 * Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace video game
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace junior novelization
 * Star Wars: Episode I Racer
 * Episode I: Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Jango Fett: Open Seasons 3

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga