- "Honestly, we're lucky he got away. Fett's flying Slave One."
- ―Lando Calrissian, to Chewbacca
Slave I, also spelled Slave One, was a modified Firespray-31-class patrol and attack craft used by the infamous Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett before the Clone Wars[6] and later his unaltered cloned son, Boba Fett, just prior to the Fall of the Republic and during the reign of the Galactic Empire.[14] The ship in its original form was produced by a subsidiary company of Kuat Drive Yards, based on the planet Kuat.
Description
Design and modifications
Slave I was a Firespray-31-class patrol and attack craft[2] that was modified as far back as its time under Jango Fett. During this time, the only overt weapon systems leftover from its standard layout were the tail blaster cannons, but he still made sure to upgrade them, allowing these cannons to be fired with greater precision.[21]
Already during its time under Jango, Slave I was a very effective and customized ship, armed with superior shielding technology, high levels of endurance, and an arsenal of hidden and overt weapons. When his son, Boba Fett, took on the ship, he made his own modifications, so Slave I was filled with heavy-duty shield generators, several new weapons systems, and various types of auxiliary sensor systems. Additionally, a secret military sensor, which could be used for jamming and masking, allowed Slave I to disappear from the majority of scanning systems. The craft was equipped with overwhelming weaponry that could take out other heavily armed ships. However, with the exception of the twin blaster cannons, the weapons systems remained hidden to make the ship appear as if it was lightly armed.[21]
Interior
Jango put Slave I through extensive modifications after several harsh battles in space. Because the original fit of Firespray patrol craft was only furnished for short-term patrol runs, he added spartan crew quarters due to the long hunts he partook in. He also altered the previously police-regulation cages into coffin-like cabinets that were less-humane but better controlled his prisoners. By the ship's use under Boba, Slave I had what were described as "prisoner cages," which had six immobilizing bunks. In the cockpit, sensor scopes displayed readouts for the starship's navigation, atmospheric data, and weapons systems.[21]
The interior of Slave I included a deck situated on a gyro system, allowing the occupants to stay upright no matter what position the ship was in. The ship also had a holoprojector in the main cabin as well as six chairs for passengers.[8] The artificial gravity on each deck re-oriented, depending on the flight mode the ship was in.[21]
History
In the service of Jango Fett
- "He must have put a homing device on our hull. Hang on, son. We'll move into the asteroid field, and we'll have a couple of surprises for him."
- ―Jango Fett
Jango Fett stole Slave I whilst undertaking a job on Oovo IV,[22] a prison moon that Firespray attack craft were used to guard,[23] outfitting the craft with a number of weapons, including laser cannons, projectile launchers, and seismic charges.[24] While under Jango's ownership, the ship was used to travel to Ord Mantell[10] and in a dogfight over Geonosis against a Jedi starfighter piloted by Obi-Wan Kenobi.[6]
After Jango's death during the First Battle of Geonosis,[6] the craft came into the possession of his son, Boba, who used it throughout his failed quest to kill the Jedi Master who had beheaded his father, Mace Windu. Boba, his ally turned mentor Aurra Sing, Castas, and Bossk traveled to the planet Florrum to meet with Sing's friend, spice pirate Hondo Ohnaka in the ship. After the arrival of the Jedi Master Plo Koon and Padawan Ahsoka Tano, Fett and Bossk were captured. When Sing tried to escape on Slave I, Tano leaped onto the ship's hull and sliced off a wing with her lightsaber. After this, Sing lost control of the ship and it crashed,[11] with the Jedi believing Sing to be dead. Ohnaka pulled her out of the crash site[25] and took ownership of Slave I for a short period of time,[12] before it returned to Fett's ownership near the end of the Clone Wars.[13]
Boba Fett's deadly craft
- "You didn't just hurt my ship— you went inside?"
"It was a tiny charge. Barely did any damage. Just wanted to shake you up a little."
"Still… the disrespect. That vessel belonged to my father." - ―Boba Fett and Zuckuss
The ship became well-known to the galaxy's fugitives, who recognized it as the ship owned by one of the galaxy's deadliest bounty hunters.[24] The ship was once repaired at the Gall Imperial spaceport.[27] During the Galactic Civil War, the adult Boba flew Slave I to rendezvous with the Imperial fleet, where Darth Vader tasked Boba and a group of bounty hunters to capture Han Solo. Boba tracked Solo and his ship, the Millennium Falcon, to Cloud City, landing the Slave I on the East Platform. After Solo's capture, Boba transported the carbon-frozen rebel to bring him to Jabba the Hutt's custody at his palace on Tatooine.[14]
During Fett's journey, however, he became sidetracked upon learning about the return of Nakano Lash,[28] using Slave I during his search for his former ally to end his personal vendetta. After returning to his mission to bring Solo to Jabba, certain that Lash would die,[29] Fett eventually took Slave I to the "smuggler's moon" of Nar Shaddaa, taking Solo to Doc Ragon to ensure he would survive his carbonite imprisonment. Low on credits, Fett agreed to kill pit warrior Wyrmen Lictor in exchange for the work, but, while Fett was away, Ragon was killed and Solo was taken[30] by agents of Crimson Dawn.[26]
After the new head of the organization, Qi'ra, sent a message showing Solo to Jabba, the Hutt believed Fett had double crossed him and put a bounty on Fett. On Nar Shaddaa, Slave I was the site of trap launched by bounty hunters Zuckuss and 4-LOM, yet Fett defeated them both. Hacking into 4-LOM's head, Fett used Slave I to return to Tatooine, where he learned Jabba was offworld and that Crimson Dawn had returned.[26] During the Attack on the Executor, Fett finally regained possession of Solo and traveled to Tatooine to receive his payment. He also had a carbon-freezing chamber installed on the ship in case Solo thawed again and used it against IG-88B. After defeating the assassin droid,[31] Fett finally sold Solo to Jabba and received his payment.[32]
After the war, with Fett believed dead at the skirmish at the Great Pit of Carkoon, Slave I was kept in a hanger at Jabba's Palace, now under the control of Bib Fortuna. Eventually, Fett and his new partner Fennec Shand infiltrated the palace and retrieved Slave I. Fett then used the ship to track down and destroy the Kintan Striders. From there, Fett flew to the Pit of Carkoon with the hopes of finding his lost armor. As the Slave I descended into the pit, the sarlacc attacked them, latching onto the craft with its tentacles. Shand dropped a seismic charge into the sarlacc's maw, killing the creature and freeing the ship.[33]
Sometime later, Fett and Shand flew Slave I to the planet Tython, where they had tracked the Mandalorian Din Djarin and his Force-sensitive foundling, Grogu. After Grogu was kidnapped by dark troopers belonging to Moff Gideon, Fett flew his ship into Tython's upper atmosphere to identify Gideon's light cruiser. With Djarin's own ship destroyed and Fett now in Djarin's debt to help protect Grogu, Fett agreed to fly Djarin to Nevarro aboard Slave I as part of his plan to retrieve the child.[16]
Departing from Nevarro, Fett took Djarin and Cara Dune to the Karthon Chop Fields to retrieve Migs Mayfeld. He then flew the party to Morak, where Djarin and Mayfeld infiltrated an Imperial rhydonium refinery and Djarin accessed a computer terminal giving him the coordinates to Gideon's vessel. After the two men finished the mission, Fett rescued them from the roof of the refinery. As Slave I was flying away from the scene, it was targeted by two TIE fighters. Fett used a seismic charge to destroy the fighters.[8]
Following the Morak mission, Slave I was used to attack Imperial shuttle 2743 carrying Dr. Penn Pershing, a scientist working for Gideon. Slave I then transported Djarin to Lafete to recruit Bo-Katan Kryze and Koska Reeves in the rescue of Grogu. After tracking down Gideon's cruiser and attacking the ship, Fett jumped into hyperspace per the group's plan. Sometime after the mission's success, Fett collected Shand and landed Slave I on Tatooine. There, the two invaded Jabba the Hutt's former palace, killed Bib Fortuna, and took over the remnants of Jabba's criminal empire.[17]
Fett had Slave I stored in the palace's hangar during his gang war with the Pyke Syndicate.[19]
Behind the scenes
In the 2015 reference book Ultimate Star Wars, Slave I was mistakenly named as Clone 1 on two occasions.[2] Since at least 2020,[34] Slave I has been referred to as simply "Boba Fett's starship" in official material;[35] the last media to do so was the book The Odyssey of Star Wars: An Epic Poem published on September 28, 2021.[36] In June 2021, a then-upcoming LEGO set of the ship set was renamed "Boba Fett's Starship",[37] and the URL for the ship's entry on the official StarWars.com Databank was similarly changed,[38] though the entry itself remained titled Slave I.[39] On September 19, 2024, the Databank entry was renamed to "Boba Fett's Starship" to match its URL, with no mention of the name Slave I. Despite this, the ship has yet to be officially renamed in canon.[40]
Appearances
Non-canon appearances
- LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Exit from Endor" (In flashback(s))
- LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Flight of the Falcon" (In flashback(s))
- "Duel of the Bounty Hunters" — LEGO Star Wars 47 (Mentioned only)
- "Play the Music!" — LEGO Star Wars 72
- LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Scary Starship"
- LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Trick-or-Treat"
- LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Boba Fett's Throne Room Party"
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Happy Celebration 45th Anniversary A New Hope"
- LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "A Gift from Grogu" (as artwork)
- LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation (In flashback(s))
- LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Hot Day Hijinks"
- LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Mech My Day"
Sources
Non-canon sources
- LEGO Star Wars: Build Your Own Adventure
- LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation | Official Trailer | Disney+ on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link) (Posted on StarWars.com)