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The Toscan 8-Q starfighter was a one-person starfighter manufactured by Shobquix Yards. During the Galactic Civil War, it was almost obsolete.
Characteristics
One of Shobquix's few production-model fighters, the Toscan utilized a cockpit design produced by Koensayr Manufacturing which predated the introduction of the BTL Y-wing starfighter. It had respectable speed and was armed with two laser cannons.[1]
History
The Toscan fighter was designed well before the Clone Wars as an open-frame starfighter for other shipyards to modify in order to fill various starfighter roles. The original model had only basic shields, hyperdrive, navicomputer, and weapon system, but extensive space was left for heavier weapons, additional crew, greater cargo capacity - whatever improvements were desired. However due to the high cost of modifications and the fact that most shipyards preferred to modify their own models, the program was a horrible failure. Only few hundreds were bought by various shipyards as test vehicles - the rest were sold at discount to private buyers, who most of the time didn't have resources to modify the ship to its full potential.
Although obsolete in times of the Galactic Empire, the 8-Q served as a capable member of many pirate forces and private defense fleets, especially in less-developed areas of the galaxy, particularly the Outer Rim, Wild Space, and the Unknown Regions. The m'Yalfor'ac Order made use of some customized Toscan 8-Q fighters, where the hyperdrive was removed to improve speed and firepower.[1]
Behind the scenes
The ship was originally called the "Tocsan 8-Q starfighter" in Alliance Intelligence Reports and Secrets of the Sisar Run, but all subsequent sources refer to the ship as "Toscan."
A "Toscan Fighter" with a virtually identical external appearance appears in the computer game Star Wars: X-wing Alliance, but it has significantly heavier weaponry consisting of quad laser cannons and dual ion cannons and is described as an "advanced space superiority fighter" produced by Sienar Fleet Systems. This inconsistency is explained in The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide as Sienar using Shobquix-built frames to create a gunship model to test out several of the systems later used in the Skipray Blastboat.
Appearances
- Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
Sources
- Alliance Intelligence Reports
- Pirates & Privateers
"Special Military Unit Intelligence Update" — Star Wars Adventure Journal 15- The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide
