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The Raider-class corvette was a corvette model in service with the starfleet of the Galactic Empire manufactured by Kuat Drive Yards. One Raider II-class, the Corvus, was used by the elite Inferno Squad, later the squad of the New Republic and the Resistance.
Characteristics[]
A Raider II-class corvette under attack by Rebel fighters.
The Raider-class corvette was a sleek and roomy vessel at 150 meters for a sizeable crew and featured 3 engines and a hyperdrive. The dark grey protrusions on the craft were actually solar collectors, nearly identical to those found on the starfighters of the TIE-series. These ships could be operated with a pilot and a co-pilot and were armed with ion cannons, dual heavy laser cannons, concussion missiles, and turbolasers.[5] The ships also had a small hangar on the starboard side, that could hold at least 2 TIE fighters.[9]
History[]
Two Raider-class corvettes were part of an Imperial task force ordered to eliminate insurgents in the Umbara system led by Admiral Carlou Gendling. Gendling's inability to act decisively resulted in the destruction of one corvette and critical damage to the other corvette.[2] Shortly after the Battle of Yavin,[5] one Raider II-class corvette,[4] the Corvus, was utilized by the elite Inferno Squad, led by Commander Iden Versio[5] and by the time of the Battle of Endor, it was still used by the squad.[9]
During the evacuation of Yavin 4, one corvette was aboard the hangar of an Imperial Star Destroyer. Rebel pilot Lieutenant Evaan Verlaine was assigned to infiltrate the Destroyer and buy time for the evacuation. She took the corvette, which she rammed into the mighty vessel, ejecting at the last moment. The impact was enough to knock the Destroyer off course when it fired, causing the blast to level the top of a nearby mountain. The act bought enough time to finish the evacuation.[6]
Two Raider-class corvettes fell into the hands of a raider crew that crossed paths with Commander Ellian Zahra,[8] who offered her tactical skill to them in return for their loyalty. Zahra's crew attacked the Alderaan Survivor Fleet to draw out and finally seek revenge her nemesis, General and Princess of Alderaan Leia Organa so she could return to the Imperial Navy and get promoted to Admiral by Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine himself, whom she confronted aboard one of the corvettes. After Jedi Commander Luke Skywalker brought damage to the corvette's systems, Zahra's crew, including the other Raider-class corvette, abandoned her aboard the vessel as the Rebel Alliance Navy closed in.[11]
The Raider-class corvette was still in use decades after the fall of the Empire
A Raider-class corvette was present during the Battle of Var-Shaa, and was destroyed by New Republic fighters.[12] One Raider-class corvette was captured by a Starhawk-class battleship and brought to its hangar.[13] The Raider-class corvette ultimately outlived the Empire,[14] which fell in 5 ABY. Decades later, after the rise of the First Order in 21 ABY,[15] the Raider-class remained in use, with some being used by First Order collaborators.[14]
Behind the scenes[]
The supposed Raider-class in Episode VII
The Raider-class corvette was originally created by Fantasy Flight Games to fill a gap in their Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game, which is now classified as Legends.[16] The look of the corvette was designed and created by artist Ben Zweifel.[17]
The ship officially returned to canon in the novel Thrawn in 2017. However, a wreckage in The Force Awakens (2015) resembles a Raider-class. When questioned on Twitter, Matt Martin said that while it looked like one, he would be surprised if ILM would have made a model for the ship.[18]
Appearances[]
- Star Wars Battlefront II
- Star Wars: Starfighter Missions
- Friends Like These
- Thrawn (First appearance, simultaneous with audiobook)
- Thrawn audiobook
- Battlefront II: Inferno Squad
- Battlefront II: Inferno Squad audiobook
- Star Wars Outlaws
- Sana Starros 1
- Sana Starros 2
- Sana Starros 3
- Sana Starros 4
- Sana Starros 5
- Bounty Hunters 32
- Star Wars (2020) 48
- Star Wars (2020) 49
"Hunted" on the official Electronic Arts Star Wars YouTube channel (video) (backup link)- Star Wars: Squadrons
- Victory's Price
- Victory's Price audiobook
- "Tales from Wild Space: The Flat Mountain of Yavin" — Star Wars Adventures (2017) 2 (In flashback(s))
Non-canon appearances[]
- Star Wars: Visions — "Lop & Ochō" (Ambiguous canonicity)
Sources[]
- Star Wars: Armada — Imperial Raider Expansion Pack (Card: Impetuous)
- Star Wars: Armada — Imperial Raider Expansion Pack (Card: Instigator)
- Star Wars: Armada — Imperial Raider Expansion Pack (Card: Raider I-class Corvette)
- Star Wars: Armada — Imperial Raider Expansion Pack (Card: Raider II-class Corvette)
- Star Wars: X-Wing Second Edition — Hotshots and Aces Reinforcements Pack (Card: Stabilized S-Foils (Closed)) (Picture only)
- Star Wars: X-Wing Second Edition — Hotshots and Aces Reinforcements Pack (Card: Stabilized S-Foils (Open)) (Picture only)
- Starships and Speeders
- Star Wars Starships & Vehicles 4 (Starships and Vehicles: Star Destroyers and Siege Dreadnoughts)
- Star Wars: Unlimited — Spark of Rebellion (Card: Ruthless Raider) (SWUDB backup link)
- Corvus (ship) in the Databank (backup link)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Starships and Speeders
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Thrawn
- ↑ Friends Like These
- ↑ 4.0 4.1
Corvus (ship) in the Databank (backup link)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Battlefront II: Inferno Squad
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Tales from Wild Space: The Flat Mountain of Yavin" — Star Wars Adventures (2017) 2
- ↑ Sana Starros 5
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Star Wars (2020) 48
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Star Wars Battlefront II
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Star Wars: X-Wing Second Edition — Imperial Raider Expansion Pack (Card: First Order Collaborators)
- ↑ Star Wars (2020) 49
- ↑ "Hunted" on the official Electronic Arts Star Wars YouTube channel (video) (backup link)
- ↑ Star Wars: Armada — Nadiri Starhawk Expansion Pack (Card: Magnite Crystal Tractor Beam Array)
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Star Wars: X-Wing Second Edition — Huge Ship Conversion Kit (Card: First Order Collaborators)
- ↑ Star Wars: Timelines
- ↑ Here Comes the Imperial Raider on Fantasy Flight Games' official website (backup link)
- ↑ Ben Zweifel (@pixelgarbage) on Twitter: "Box art for the new Imperial Raider that I designed! It was just announced." (screenshot)
- ↑ Matt Martin (@mattmartin) on Twitter: "It sure does look like it but I would be surprised if ILM made a Raider model... but you never know!" (backup link)
